these praises cry with the throat and lift up your voices like Trumpets And this argues that God's praises comes from your hearts when they are thus sounded as it were from your throats And this work exalteth you and that as high as the Heavens for it is the very service of Heaven only it is a greater service seeing the Proclamation of God's praises upon Earth tends to the propagation of them so as it is not in Heaven And truly he that is good at this is good indeed He is no Hypocritie for he is a self-denying man and one that loves God far above himself one that lives in God and delights in him and gives him the highest place in his heart Do what you can therefore this way and it will redound to a singular evidence of your sincerity 2. Endeavour also the Propagation of Christ's Kingdom pray for it and according to your capacity promove it You may remember what is written Psal 72. 15. where it is said of Solomon in the Type and of Christ in the Truth He shall live and to him shall be given of the Gold of Sheba Prayer also shall be made for him and daily shall he be praised Why must we pray for Jesus Christ yes by all means Of all that we pray for we must be sure to pray for Jesus Christ but not considered personally but Mystically You know how the people and the children prayed for Christ when they cryed saying Hosanná to the Son of David Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest The words are taken out of the 11th Psal ver 25 26. They cryed saying Hosanna that is Save I beseech thee It is as much as God save the King send now prosperity It is meant especially of Christ as King Christ and his Kingdom And we never say Thy Kingdom come but thus we pray for Christ who prayeth for us every day or else we should be in a very sad case And truly if the Kingdom of Christ be within us we shall be very sollicitous and active for the Kingdom of Christ without us which Kingdom of his this day is in a very low condition as to the professed power and purity of the Gospel And yet if we can do little or nothing else yet we may pray for the Kingdom of Christ Let us therefore lay the state thereof to heart this day How often do the Saints under the Old Testament pray for the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus under the New say they God be merciful to us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us That thy way may be known upon Earth thy saving health among all Nations c. Mark ye That singular blessing which God commanded Aaron and his Sons to pronounce upon the people of Israel The Lord bless thee and keep thee The Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee The godly in David's time turned it into prayer for the enlarging of the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus under the Gospel accounting it a great blessing to themselves to have it enlarged by the accession of the Gentiles though yet it was to be accomplished in the rejection of the Jews but it is as if we should say Let God do what he pleaseth with a Nation so that his Gospel may be propagated and his Kingdom enlarged in the World If God's way may be known upon Earth and his saving health among all other Nations We should account that the Lord is merciful to us aud blesseth us and causeth his face to shine upon us We should love the Kingdom of Christ above all the Kingdoms in the World and That it shall come to pass in the last dayes that the Mountain of the Lords house shall be established upon the top of the Mountains and exalted above the Hills and that all Nations shall flow unto it You know what great heaviness and continual sorrow of heart Paul had for his Brethren the Jews and kinsmen according to the flesh and yet he magnified his Office in that he was the Apostle of the Gentiles That is he accounted it to be a glorious Office to be a Preacher to the Gentiles So that Le◠the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus come whatsoever become of any Kingdom or of all the Kingdoms under Heaven Thirdly Live exemplarily that your paterns may survive you and live when you are dead Thus Paul lived Brethren saith he be followers together of me and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample And he denied himself to make himself an example to others You know saith he how ye ought to follow us viz. in orderly walking in your particular Callings for we behaved not our selves disorderly among you neither did we eat any mans bread for nought but wrought with labour and travel night and day that we might not be chargeable to any of you Not because we have not power that is night to be maintained at your charge but to make our selves an ensample unto you to follow us And thus also he did unto the Corinthians For thus did Christ deny himself to give us an example Joh. 13. 14 15. If I then your Lord and Master have washed your feet ye ought also to wash one another's feet For I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you Consider also 2 Cor. 8. 9. For ye know the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich And when Paul took his leave of the Elders of Ephesus who were never like to see his face more he leaves his example with them I have saith he coveted no mans Silver or Gold or Apparel Yea you your selves know that these hands have ministred unto my necessities and to them that were with me I have shewed you all things how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak The like did Samuel Thus also David left his example behind him for God set him up for a patern to all succeeding Kings in Israel whose Life and Reign God therefore measureth by their care to follow him as you may read frequently in the Books of the Kings and Chronicles For of such such Kings it is said They walked in the ways of David and of others that they did not so walk Examples are very prevalent in utramque partem either one way or t'other either for good or evil And therefore so walk according to God that others may follow you seeing your example will live whilest you live yea and when you are dead too For it will be said such a one lived thus and walked thus and thus he behaved himself in his family and thus in his fellowship with the Saints and thus in his dealings with his neighbours and with all men and thus he carried it under
thing that was in his Eye in his desire of prolongation of life For indeed it is the chief good of Man whom God made for himself and who therefore is to have this end continually in his aim and to be often thinking What shall I do to glorifie God For of him and through him and to him are all things to him be glory for ever Amen And all is lost that ends not in him that is Omega to whom you may well afford this honour when you consider that he is Alpha. He that is the first must be the last Take heed then of a narrow selfish Spirit which never looks so far as to this end and that makes many so unactive for God and his Glory You must therefore believe more and love more and then you will act to this end more c. Secondly Your love to the glory of God must extend to the Generations to come You must not therefore limit it to the present Generation and never be concerned that God may be glorified in future Ages even to the Worlds end But your desires herein must reach to the very end of the World For note the words of the Apostles Paul To God be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages world without end Amen His love to God's glory ran through all Ages even to Eternity And so should your love do or else you do not sincerely love it neither indeed can you love that his Glory be upheld during your own time and not love the continuance of it to the Worlds end And such was the love of the Saints in the Scriptures to the praise and glory of God say they We will shew forth thy praise to all generations And therefore 1. They desired the continuance thereof to the Worlds end 2. They would also endeavour it With my mouth saith the Psalmist will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations And this hath been their care still That the people which shall be created may praise the Lord. Thus you must love God's Glory both Intensively and Extensively As you must love the Glory of God that it may be extended to future Ages so likewise you must love his Kingdom or else you will never attend this great work unto which you have been exhorted God's Kingdom Power and Glory must go together in your prayers And this was much upon Hezekiah's heart when he said The Father to the Children shall make known thy Truth For he doth not say I will make known thy Truth to my Children though he purposed so to do but the Father that is every Father that feareth God not only in my time but in the generations to come Thus must your love be extended to the Kingdom of God and Thy Kingdom come must be always in your desires and endeavours Come how long even to the end of the world and never cease coming till Christ himself come Now if this be upon your heart and if you love that Christ should reign in the world you will do your utmost to promote it in your capacity in attending to the several Particulars propounded As you love God's Glory and Kingdom so must you love his Gospel For it is the Word of the Kingdom That is The Word whereby God's Kingdom is erected enlarged governed perfected It is that in which and by which our Lord Jesus doth reign in the world viz. as to his Spiritual Kingdom therein of which I now speak especially And you see in my Text Hezekiah's love to the Truth and to the making of it known from Generation to Generation whereas the Gospel is the Truth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Truth with an excellency called therefore The Word of Truth and The Word of the Truth of the Gospel The Truth made known not by the Light of Nature but by Revelation a mysterious Truth and therefore a great Truth that we use to say As true as the Gospel Now if you love this Truth as you have cause enough so to do you will do any thing that may tend to the publication and propagation of it by your praiers pains purses Counsels c. Fourthly As you must love God's Glory Kingdom and Gospel so you must love Souls The Father to the Children shall make known thy Truth Therefore the Father must love the Souls of posterity and have a zeal for the salvation of them that shall succeed And this will quicken your endeavours to the service of your Age when you shall look upon the Souls of successours as of equal value with your own seeing the ransom given for all Souls is the same And it is a blessed thing to be a lover of souls it makes a man like unto Jesus Christ whose love to Souls shines in his own blood wherein the kindness and love God our Saviour towards Man appeareth His kindness and Philanthropy i. e. love towards Man For God and our Saviour are great lovers of Men so should we be And Christ's delights were with the sons of Men from eternity We should not therefore terminate our love in Men's bodies we should love the Jewel far above the Cabinet and be frequently looking upon Mens Souls 1. In comparison with our own and 2. In the Blood of the Son of God and 3. In relation to Eternity especially the Souls of such as are near to us And the enlargement of our affections this way will amplifie our endeavours In Heaven we shall love Souls that are saved but here we must love Souls that they may be saved A work which determineth in Glory Now all this requireth a publick Spirit and an heart carried far beyond our selves For a narrow Spirit acteth within a narrow compass and is limited to private concernments And that is the reason why there is so little Generation-service performed All Men seek their own and not the things which are Jesus Christs Whereas our care should extend far beyond our own salvation and love to God's Glory future Ages Christ's Kingdom Gospel and precious Souls should all have a large room in our hearts and affections Thus you have had a great deal of work set before you which will dye together with you And to quicken you to it Consider That you know not how soon you may leave this world As Isaac said to Esau I am old and know not the day of my death and yet he lived 43 years after that Few men in Scripture knew the day of their death so as Hezekiah here did to whose life 15 years were added and he resolveth to spend them for God's Glory and the good of Posterity So do you as for the remainder of your days which may not be a quarter so many as his Only have a care to perform better than he did For when he was recovered he rendred not again according to the benefit done unto him Why what was the matter His heart was lifted up
all Shadows and Ceremonies and Partition-walls being removed This I suppose is the purport of Vers 4. After this followeth a very great Commotion compared to that great Earthquake in King Uzziah's dayes which made Men to flee for their lives But it is to be understood Spiritually viz. of Christ's voice in the Gospel shaking not the Earth only but also Heaven whereby a great change is made even in the Church by the shaking and removing of the Ceremonial-way of Worship and the Partition-wall and causing both Jew and Gentile as many as would be saved to flee to the Gospel and Gospel-way of Worship and Christ therein from the wrath that is to come This I conceive is the meaning of Ver. 5. Only whereas it is said And the Lord my God shall come and all the Saints with thee This may be meant Firstly Of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to set up his gospel-Gospel-Kingdom whither his Elect should be gathered unto him their Head But lastly and chiefly of Christ's second coming whereof Paul makes mention speaking of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his Saints For this Chapter leads us so far that nothing remaineth but this last and great coming of Christ unto which the Prophet cannot forbear to look and he looketh at it with much Faith and Joy 1. In that he applyeth the Lord God to himself The Lord my God shall come 2. In that he turneth his speech unto him And all the Saints with thee Briefly as for the Chapter it begins with the destruction of the Old Jerusalem and endeth with the erection of the New And whereas there is a Day spoken of so and so described as in my Text It is the day or the time that lyeth between these two Jerusalems Old and New It is not a Natural or Artificial day for such a day cannot suite with the scope of this Prophecy Nor was there ever any such day wherein it was lighter in the Evening than in all the day before And therefore by Day here we must necessarily understand a large tract of time for so Day is many times taken in the Scripture particularly the time of the Gospel is called the Day of Salvation And it is called that Day sixteen times in this and the two preceding Chapters which treat of the last times wherein such work is to be done as will take up many hundred years as you may see if you consult the Chapters at leasure And you see here when this day began viz. when the Gospel was first published viz. about the time of the destruction of the Old Jerusalem or somewhat before it and continueth to the setting up of the New Let me then put all the description of this day together into one Point and it is this Doctrine The Gospel-times unto the conversion of the Jews are one day intermixed with Light and Darkness known to God in the evening whereof it shall be light First The Day here is plainly meant of the times of the Gospel till the dayes of the new Jerusalem For you find this Day again Vers 8. and again Vers 9. so till you are led to the conversion of the Jews and the New Jerusalem Ver. 10 11. to the end Secondly This day is one day 1. A Day 2. One A Day And that for these Reasons 1. In that it hath light in it all along For Christ and the Gospel run through it And these carry light with them where ever they come It is true there is a mixture of darkness in it yet it is not called night but because it hath light in it therefore is called Day for the better part carries the denomination 2. It is a Day in comparison with the dark times under the Law especially the times immediately preceding the coming of Christ when besides the shadows of Ceremonies there was great darkness of ignorance 3. It is such a Day as is distinguished with remarkable periods viz. of Seals Trumpets Vials even as the Natural day is with hours and distinct divisions This we see at large in Johns Revelation 4. It is a Day in that it hath in it a blessed opportunity of working Luke 19. 42. Joh. 9. 4. 12. 35. 5. A Day in that it hath a Morning and an Evening The Morning began with the rising of the Sun of Righteousness when the day-spring from on high did visit us and the people that sat in darkness saw great light And the Evening lies in my Text immediately before the Jews conversion Thus it is a Day It is One day i. e. one and the same from Morning to Evening And 't is so upon two accounts First In that every part of the day is mixt with light and darkness though not equally mixt for sometimes it is more light sometimes more dark but more or less light and dark always And so the day is one and the same for constancy of light and darkness though not for the equality of both Secondly One and the same and like to it self because there is in it but one and the same Covenant and way of Administration according to what God hath promised saying Yet once more I shake not the Earth only but also Heaven And this word Yet once more signifyeth the removing of those things that are made that those things which cannot be shaken may remain The Legal Administration was shaken and removed at the coming of this day but the Evangelical shall remain to the very end of it And hence it is that the Church still appears in all the Periods of this day under the same form to the very last viz. of four living Creatures and twenty four Elders And thus it is unus idemque dies One and the same day from first to last This is the Second Branch of the point 't is One day Thirdly It is such a Day as is intermixed with Light and Darkness so that it is neither Day nor Night vers 7. But why then is it called a Day in the same Verse The meaning therefore is that it is neither perfect Day nor perfect Night but yet such as may well be called a Day for the reasons aforesaid onely with intermixtures of Light and Darkness But what is the Light and what the Darkness The Light is the light of Truth for these two go together Send out thy Light and thy Truth And the Darkness is the darkness of Ignorance Error Heresy Idolatry and Superstition And such a mixture there hath been in this Day and will be to the very Evening of it The clearest part of this Day was in the Morning thereof when the Apostles lived yet even then there was a mixture of this Darkness The Churches in Galatia were infected with the leaven of false Teachers mingling Law and Gospel in the point of Justification And some in the Church at Corinth denied the Resurrection of the Dead and others held that it was already past
years and at last lifted up their heads upon Mount Zion Seventhly Suppose the rise of Antichrist should commence as it is apprehended between the fourth and fifth Centuries you know the rise of the two Witnesses contemporates therewith after which they continue their prophesying during One thousand two huudred and sixty Daies a day put for a year And so too upon this account the darkest Daies did not want the Light of the blessed and everlasting Gospel yea so much Light as to uphold the denomination of a Day But since the Second spring of the Gospel arising from the Light introduced by Luther Melanchton and the German Theologues it is visible to the eyes of Adversaries how the Darkness hath declined and the Light shined more and more to this very day And thus it will be light and dark light as to Truth and dark as to Ignorance Error Heresy Idolatry and Superstition more or less unto the very Evening of the Day Secondly In this day there is a mixture of Light and Darkness in another respect viz. Trouble mingled with Tranquillity and Persecution with Liberty You know the sad times under the Seals by the rage of the Roman power against Christianity Yet some liberty was now and then enjoyed and silence in Heaven for half an Hour You have heard also of the Arrian Persecution under Constantius Julian and Valens yet all liberty was not destroyed For though Persecution and Liberty in their height are inconsistent as light and darkness the one in its height expels the other yet there was an interchange by the succession of one to the other sometims if not an intermixture of both as to a moderate degree For though Persecution and Liberty have not stood together in one and the same time and place in their height yet as for the light of the Gospel and Truth thereof that hath sometimes shined in showres of Persecution like as we have now and then seen the Sun to shine and the Rain to fall at one and the same time And thus you see how the Day of the Gospel hath all along hitherto been intermixed and interchanged with light and darkness The light of Truth and the darkness of Errour the light of Liberty and the darkness of Persecution And thus much for the third Particular of the Point in hand Fourthly This one day thus intermixed is known to God In some respects it is known to us and hath been known to others before us viz. that there is such a day and thus intermixed as aforesaid But it is known to God so as it is not known to us First It is known to him as the Efficient of it As it is said of the Natural day The day is his the night also is his he hath prepared the light of the Sun And again I form the Light and create Darkness I make Peace and create Evil I the Lord do all these things Thus it is with this Gospel-day The Lord is the Former of it who hath determined the times before appointed Secondly This day is known to God as being wholly in his power to order all things in it after the Counsel of his own will He knew the end from the beginning and what lyeth in the Womb of this day from the Morning to the Evening of it He knew what light and what darkness there would be in every period of the day whereas we know not what a day may bring forth and little did we think a year ago what Light of Liberty we should now enjoy nor do we know what darkness of trouble and confusion may arise again ere long We look sometimes for good and lo evil cometh and we wait for Light and there cometh darkness For it is not for us to know the times and seasons which the Father hath put in his own power We cannot make a Divine Almanack and define what day in this great day it shall be calm what day tempestuous what day it shall shine and what day rain We know not the Ordinances of Heaven nor can we set their Dominion in the Earth we cannot lift up our voices to the Clouds that abundance of Waters may cover us neither do do we know the way where the Light dwelleth and as for Darkness we know not the place thereof Known unto God are all things Thirdly This day is known to God in the Hebrew Phrase of knowing which includeth also the affections And therefore this day is so known of the Lord that it is regarded and cared for by him His Eyes are upon it that nothing falls out in it but by his special Providence And though darkness hath sometimes increased and far prevailed in this day yet the Light was never extinguished nor ever shall He hath still preserved a Lamp as he did in the Kingdom of David at the lowest ebb thereof About one hundred and fifty years ago when darkness lay upon the face of the Earth presently God commanded light to shine out of darkness which hath continued and encreased unto this very day Fourthly This day is known unto God in respect of the termination of it which we know not For what great mistakes have there been about the time of Antichrist's ruine and the calling of the Jews We know in the general that this Day shall have an Evening and that in the Evening it shall be light But when this Evening shall be we know not we cannot take the Light and the Darkness at the bound thereof But God doth perfectly know the Epocha of the reign of the Beast and his Number 666. And thus this day is known to the Lord and to the Lord only Fifthly In the evening of this day it shall be light First then What is this Evening It is the darkest part of this Day throughout which there was still more or less Darkness intermixed with Light as you have heard but now at the Evening-time there shall be more darkness than in any of the preceding parts of the Day How else were it an Evening But how can it be that the Evening should be so dark and yet that at Evening-time it should be light 1. In some respects it shall be the darkest part of the Day for it will be a time of very sore Troubles Wars and rumors of Wars and great Commotions For I cannot tell where to fix this Evening but under the Sixth Vial which shal be poured out upon the great River Euphrates That the waters thereof may be dried up and the way of the Kings of the East prepared In which words is held forth as our best Interpreters hold the conversion of the Jews At what time The three unclean Spirits like Frogs shall go out of the mouth of the Dragon and out of the mouth of the Beast out of the mouth of the false Prophet which are the spirits of Devils working Miracles and going forth to the Kings of the Earth and of the whole
World to gather them to the battel of the great Day of God Almighty And that must needs be a very sad Evening especially in respect of trouble great oppositions and commotions For there shall be as terrible Signs and Presages fore-running the erection of the New-Jerusalem as there were before the Destruction of the Old Hinc illae Tenebrae But how then shall it be light at this Evening time Secondly In some respect therefore it shall be the most lightsom part of the Day hitherto And indeed it will be the light of the Evening that will very much occasion the Darkness of it I mean the Light of the Truth that shall then shine forth shall darken the Kingdom of the Beast and cause his Followers to gnaw their very Tongues for pain For that is under the Fifth Vial and if the Kingdom be full of Darkness it must needs be that Christ's Kingdom will then be full of Light For the Witnesses will be â—isen long before the effusion of the Fifth and Sixth Vials and Antichrist be greatly consumed with the breath of Christs mouth viz. in the Preaching of the Gospel And therefore in this respect it must needs be a lightsome Evening and a time of greater Light than ever shined since the daies of the Apostles Thus you see what a time the Evening shall be But shall this Evening then determine this Day so that the Conversion of the Jews shall become another Day No But as this Day is one and the same and constant to it self as we have heard so shall the Day of the Jews Conversion and the time following be one and the same day with this But how Not in respect of Light and Darkness intermixed so as in the Day before the Evening but in respect of one and the same Covenant and way of Holy Administration still continued For the Ordinances now used shall be continued to the coming of Christ For it is observable First That this dark Time is not called The Evening but the Evening-time Quo tempore advesperascere Nox esse solet At what time it begins to be Evening or to look like an Evening and the Sun seems to be setting And therefore Seâ—â—ndly Though it is called an Evening-time yet there is no Night said to follow it Sol occubuit Nox nulla secuta est It is such an Evening wherein the Sun setteth and no Night succeedeth It is true One would little expect light in the Evening especially more light than in the Day before But such an Evening-time is this after which shineth the greatest Light that ever was seen since the daies of Jesus Christ You see then what this Evening is Secondly What is that Light that shall shine so gloriously at the Evening-time especially at the end of it Answ It is the same in kind and quality with that which shined before this Evening-time only it differeth in degrees For now the Light shall excel and that shall be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet Arise and shine for thy Light is come and the Glory of the Lord is risen upon thee c. Now as I may say the light of the Moon shall be as the light of the Sun and the light of the Sun shall be seven-fold as the light of seven Daies Yea The Sun shall be no more thy light by day neither for brightness shall the Moon give light unto thee but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting Light and thy God thy glory The Sun shall no more go down neither the Moon withdraw it self for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light But wherein shall this Light consist First There shall be a great effusion of the Spirit of God in those times whereof a Pledge was given in the Morning of this Gospel-day It shall come to pass in the last daies that I will pour out my Spirit upon all Flesh And the like we find in the words following my Text And it shall be in that Day that living Waters shall go out from Jerusalem c. And hereby is meant the Spirit of God with his Gifts and Graces compared to living Waters And these I take to be the same with Ezekiel's waters which rose at last to a very great depth Secondly Hence it followeth That there will be a very great light of Knowledg in this Day so that there shall not be so much need as now there is for one to teach another saying Know the Lord for they shall all know him from the least to the greatest And that shall be the time especially when The Earth shall be full of the knowledg of God as the Waters cover the Sea Thirdly This Light of Knowledg shall have a great influence into the Hearts and Lives of Men who shall shine eminently in Holiness insomuch that the inscription upon the Fore-head of the High-Priest shall then be put upon the bells of the Horses and the very Pots in Jerusalem and Judah shall be Holiness to the Lord Even Carters Cooks and Kitchin-Maids shall then shine in purity of life and there shall be no more the Canaanite in the House of the Lord of Hosts Fourthly That Day shall shine with the Light of Peace Tranquillity and Joy for these go together Esth 8. 16. Swords shall then be turned into Plough-shares and Spears into Pruning-hooks Nation shall not lift up sword against Nation neither shall they learn War any more Fifthly In that Day there shall be the Light of Comfort for this will follow necessarily from all the former and the Consolation will be both External and Internal viz. When the Spirit of God the Comforter shall be poured out so plentifully and when the Spirit shall have his Day as the Father and the Son had theirs And when Knowledge Holiness and Peace shall abound on the Earth when Turk and Pope and all that oppose the Kingdom of Christ shall be destroyed and Satan bound and confined to the bottomless Pit during the Thousand years I say This must needs be a very comfortable time Great then shall be the peace of Zions Children when God shall make her an eternal Excellency and a joy of many Generations when violence shall no more be heard in her Land wasting and destruction within her Borders but men shall call her Walls Salvation and her Gates Praise and when they shall come and sing in the height of Zion and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord who shall turn the former Mourning of his People into Joy and comfort them and cause them to rejoice from their sorrow For they shall come to Zion with Songs and everlasting Joy upon their Heads they shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away And thus you see the Light that shall be at the Evening-time and the Doctrine cleared in the several parts of it the Uses whereof now follow Uses First What hath