would acquaint thee O foolish simple sinner And if thou didst but minde mee in this how I am one with thee in all conditions and so will be to all eternity thy head and husband vine and glory But fourthly I mean by Christs sweet knocks his acquainting thee of thy union with him as well as his with thee by which Christ saith to the sinner thou art righteous in my righteousnesse and comely in my comlinesse and so farre faire yea altogether lovely there is no spot nor wrinkle in thee now none that I can see or my father either Who shall lay any thing to the charge of thee my love my dove my undefiled one it is God that justifieth Rom. 8.33.5 and I that died who dares to question thee my sister my Spouse my love my dove my undefiled one Cant. 1.2 3. If men doe it it is no matter if sinne do it it is no matter if Angels do it it is no matter what if sin Satan men and devils Saints and Angels all accuse thee and thy self too seeing I am he that justifieth all can doe thee no hurt and therefore be not thou abasht for I will bear thee out against all Sin death men and devils if thou wilt stick to me by beleeving in me but if thou dost not tossed thou wilt be and tumbled foyld thou wilt be and spoild of all thy hopes and comforts joy rest and peace which lyeth in my union with thee and thine with mee And therefore now stick to me for I will unto thee le ts see who dares condemne for I am he that justifieth in spite of men and divels all that comes to me and beleeveth in me and will do so still while my name is Christ Fiftly I know it is Christ by the place he knocks at the doore which is the heart of the sinner Well what of that first it is the most secret and retired part of man a place indeed which none can speak to but Christ I have had ere now many speak to my eare but never any but Christ could speak to my heart many would speak to my eare but that I little regarded now Christ speaks to my heart and this I cannot but weigh Light things were spoken to my eare O but Christ speaks serious things to my heart things concerning Gods glory things concerning my soule yea the everlasting welfare of it O this hearts speaking must be weighed O this hearts speaking must be considered it is as much as my life is worth yea it is as much as my soule is worth I have heretofore heard talke of Christ I have heretofore read of Christ I have heretofore disputed of Christ O but I never till now knew what it was indeed to hear Christ or speak with Christ or converse with Christ either nor thousands in the world as well as I that would be thought good christians and do passe for good christians by many O but now to my comfort I taste him now I see him now I feele him now I enjoy him and from this tasting seeing feeling and enjoying my soule is ravished my heart is warmed I am now filled with marrow and fatnesse Psalm Let him kisse me with the kisses of his mouth for his love is better then wine Cant. 11. v. 1. Yea then life it selfe so saith David I will now sing of my beloved he is the lilly among the valleys Cant. 2.1 2 3 4. Hee is the rose of Sharon he is white and ruddy the fairest of ten thousand Cant. 5.10 The chiefest of ten thousand the sweetnest of ten thousand for beauty love and sweetnesse there is none that can come neere him They are mad that minde him not they are mad that know him not they are mad that seek him not did men know as I do did men see as I do and enjoy as I doe they would say as I say they would sing as I sing Thou O Christ art beautifull thou O Christ art sweet thou O Christ art lovely yea altogether lovely thou O Christ art all yea stil I say thou art all all for beauty all for pleasure all for profit all for sweetnesse pure divine sweetnesse yea they would cry out thou art all thou art all thou art all O Christ At all times in all places and conditions all in wants all in straights all in peace and plenty all in bondage all in fredome all in health all in sicknesse making health by thy presence O Christ I say no more but thou art all in life and he that hath thee shall never die John 4.10 John 11.26.27 but shall live for ever with thee and therefore thou art all O Christ all in life all in death and eternity too 3. Col. v. 11. Revelat. chap. 22.1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life cleare as chrystall proceeding out of the throne of God and the Lambe THIS Revelation was showne to John the bosome Disciple of Christ Whence observe that divine glorious and spirituall revelations are to singular men to an Abraham will God discourse even as a friend God must acquaint Abraham with his intention concerning Sodom and Gomorrah before he can doe any thing How shall I doe this thing or hide it from Abraham saith God O the secrets of the Lord are revealed to them that feare him often did God appeare to Moses and once he caused his glory to passe before him and proclaimed his name unto him I am the Lord the Lord gratious and mercifull pardoning iniquities transgressions and sinnes Exod. 33.18.19.20 Jacob wrestels with God and sees Christ in both his natures in a dream of a lader reaching from earth to heaven The Angel Gabriel was sent to Daniel to comfort him and strengthen him and at another time he appeared saying Daniel singularly Beloved I am come to comfort thee to strengthen thee peace be to thee be strong be strong and I will shew thee that that is revealed in the Scripture of truth Christs Kingdome the glory and dominion of it Antichrists kingdome with the 〈◊〉 of it and all the Monarchies besides small and great standing before Christ giving an account to Christ Christ was so revealed to Isaiah that foretold all almost he die or suffered his riding to Jerusalem and the manner of it Mary Magdalen shall conceive of Christ by the power of the most high over shadowing her and in her armes shall carry him that made the world her God and Saviour from place to place Paul was strook to the ground by Christ after taken up into the heavens with seeing such things that was unutterable So John sees here the Throne of God the Glory of God the River of Life the Tree of Life Secondly All glorious discoveries are of Christ and the Spirit He shewed me the River of life yea all my revelations as chap. 1. v. 1. and therefore it is called The revelations which God gave by Iesus Christ to shew unto his Servants of which it is said Blessed
and Hebr. 9. And for the golden pot of Manna it was a clear type of Christ who is the true Manna and the bread that came downe from heaven to give life to the world as himselfe speaketh John 6. I am the bread of life saith Christ to the Jewes And for Aarons Rod that lay in this Arke of Shittim wood its blosomes did signifie the sweetnesse of the Gospel and the Glory of Christ and the fruitfulnesse of his Members who bud and blosome continually by his renewing grace Fourthly To this City the Tribes and all the People of God resorted at set times to worship and all the world to trade and trafique it had twelve Gates which were not to be shut day nor night which John alludes to in the 12. verse of this chapter Glorious things are spoken of this City on the wals of this City saith God have I set watchmen which shall never keep silence till Jerusalem be made the praise of the whole earth this is the city which David saith If I forget thee then let my right hand for get its cunning which was his musicall skill by which he charmed the Devill in Saul many a time And this was that city too which melted the heart of Christ to think of its ruine saying O Jerusalem Jerusalem with rouling bowels â—ights and teares O that thou hadst knowne in this thy day the things that make for thy peace which now are hid from thine eyes For this Cities sake saith Isaiah will I not hold my tongue till Sion and Jerusalem be made the glory and praise of the whole Earth I shall speake no more of old Jerusalem the Type but of this new Jerusalem which is the Church and People of God But why is the Church of God called by the name of a City For three or four reasons which I will breifly hint at 1. It is compared to a city for numeration and the variety of this numeration 2. The Church of God is called a city for her visibility for she is not like a candle under a bushell but like a beakon on a hill 3. The Church of God may be called a city for her treasure and riches 4. It may be called a city for her peculiar priviledges which the Church of God hath from all the world like a city from your country townes and villages 5. In respect of her rivers your cities are fed and refreshed by some great river There is a river that the streames thereof shall refresh the City of God Psal 46. vers 5. And first Whereas it is compared to a city it denotes the Church of God are a great and numberlesse people as you cannot number the Inhabitants of a city no more nor lesse indeed can yee number the Church of God O saith God to Abraham In blessing I will blesse thee and multiply thee as the Starres in Heaven or the sands on the Sea shore so that if thou canst number them then shall thy seed be numbered Many shall come saith Christ from the East and from the West and shall sit down with Abraham I sack and Jacob in the Kingdome of God Here is the variety of the Church some comming in from the East and some from the West which is the most remote place that can be and implies them to bee the greatest sinners for Idolatry and Heathenisme yet saith Christ many of these shall come from both places which denotes variety O the long wayes out wayes by wayes and many wayes that Christ brings sinners to this City or Fould which Christ speakes of to the Jewes saying I have other Sheep which I must bring into my Fould when they shall he are my voyce or whistle by my Spirit in their souls and so there shall be one sheep and one fould Christ commands and commissionates his disciples to go and preach the Gospell to every nation tongue and people and therefore saith Paul Iew and Gentile bond or free Scithian or Barbarian Christ is all and in all he hath all in his fould and so he is all to them And as he hath great number of these varieties so his church may well be called a numberlesse people and therefore saith Iohn I saw with the Lamb standing an hundred forty and four thousand besides a great number which no tongue could tell Well let us who were remote sinners not onely in respect of nature and gentilisme but in respect of parentage and families brought into the church of Christ one from popery and popish ignorance another from a cursed drunken and hellish family where God it may be never shined into one soul before he did into thine which mercy cals for as much thankfulnesse at your hands as ever Noahs Abrahams Lots Daniels O for God to appear to Abraham and enter into a covenant of life and peace and to single out Noah from the whole world and lead out Lot yea catch and carry out the lingering man to a Zoar and leave the rest for fire and brimstone did argue abundantly free grace Well friend doe not thou neglect to blesse God whilst thou hast any beeing for doing the like to thy soul by chusing and pulling thee out of sinne nature death and hell O saith Paul I have obtained mercy Secondly she may be compared to a city because of her visibility she is not like a candle under a bushel but as a fire a beacon on a hill your cities are spacious to the eye and so is the Church and shall be more and more for Christ now by his providence seemes to say arise and shine and shake thy self from the dust O captive daughter of Sion shew thy self and let the nations know thy strength power glory and greatnesse that they may be in love with thee and come in fall down and bow their neckes to thy sweet yoaks of obedience to Christ Thirdly the church of God is compared to a city for her treasure you know all the treasures of God are laid up in Christ as a store house to this city and every citizen hath as I may so say is the key of this storehouse by which he goeth and fetcheth out what treasure he will I mean the Spirit by which they may fetch out pardon peace righteousnesse yea any thing they need but still by the Spirit which is the key of David that shuts and no man opens that opens and no man shuts this Spirit saith Christ to his disciples shall take of mine and shew it unto you as Iohn 10. And this he doth to the whole church of God and truely you that know the Spirit knows he brings rich and costly things to your souls many times sometime pardon for sinne and them freely too which could not be bought out by tears and sorrows before he comes O saith the Spirit I have brought thee that for which thou weepest and mournest namely a pardon sealed in Christs blood and a crowne to purchast by Christs merits O sinner what thinkest thou of
seen the shore again lesse if less could be did your souls think to have seen this day which now you see what I can do and bring about that you might prize my face at last But in the fourth place whereas God doth promise they shall see his face It doth imply that great reward by which he will reward his servants that serve him so that Christians doe not fight as if there was no crown nor worke as if no wages O saith Paul I have fought the good fight I have finished the course and henceforth is laid up for me a Crowne of life and not for me onely but for all that love his appearance too And therefore Christian be thou faithfull unto the death and thou shalt have the Crowne of life Revel 2.10 Where Christ promised it unto thee for the incouraging of thee Christminded his owne glorie and so maiest thou as well as Moses see Christ speaks of it yea demands the Crown John 16.1 I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do and now glorifie thy sonne or reward thy son and then it is said I have glorified thee and I will glorifie thee O Friends you are now glorified as you sit by your union with Christ in the glorie of God which shineth round the heavens and makes them to be heavens indeed wel friends this is the glorie into which you must be taken to behold his face and then will not this be a reward a full reward ineeed tenne thousand times beyond all your doings and all your sufferings yea equall unto Christ his merits and to thine hearts desire a Saints desire is to see God and enjoy God nothing doth a Saint desire in comparison of that with our souls have we desired thee saith the Prophet Isaiah yea and this is the desire of every soul everie gracious soul O when the sense of Gods eternall love glorie sweetnesse lies boiling in it how strong doth the desire rise O friends no desire under heaven rises and heaves so like to mighty waters in the Soul as this desire when the sense of Gods love and glorie lies boiling in it and the mightie Spirit stirring of it thunders do not more shake the cloudie aire nor earthquakes move the dungie earth then these desires the soul of man when it is strongly rocking there O saith Moses shew me thy face or glorie while his soul was filled with the sense of it he would fain see it though he died the death for it but God spares Moses his life by hiding him and his glory for the present well-knowing Moses was lesse able for to see this glorie which he requests he might then we to see the Sunne through and through but shall Moses never see this glorie therefore because of weaknesse yes yes he shall he doth he now sees it and so shalt thou O happy Christian ere it be long what was it that took Peter when he had a glimpse of Moses on the Mount but the beames of this glory sparkling on his back like glittering suns and starres Well friends you wish and would but time shall passe and time shall come and you enjoy the thing you wish crave and often breatheth after namely that glory that Moses then appeared in namely on the mount well you shall I say you shall as sure as the Lord lives have it one day have it and be cloathed by it as with a garment down to the ground like the white robe Rev. 19.14 and then like Moses will your appearance be as cloathed with twinkling stars from Phoebus beames And now hearken O heavens and give ear O earth earth earth with all that dwells therin high low rich poor how God will glorifie his Son and his Son his Saints to their hearts desire with men and Angels admirations and astonishments too Well may David say O Lord I have none in heaven but thee and there is none in earth that I desire in comparison of thee nay Lord in comparison of thee I scorn crowns and kingdoms yea ten thousand tuns of Jewels marke none in heaven nor in earth saith a David in comparison of thee and thus God rewards a Saint according to his hearts desire when he promiseth to show his face unto them O this reward will make amends for all for all your sufferings for all your sorrows and now in the hopes of this raise your selves your souls in all your troubles and castings down and indeed nothing but this consideration will do it to any purpose for if by the losse of one creature you raise your selves by another What will you then do when all creature-comforts shall be taken away from you which God at first or last will surely doe And then what will ye then do ye all of you whose hearts are bound up in the creatures and things of this life But mourne mourn bitterly like Babylon crying alas alas Revel 18.10 How in one day have I lost all my hopes my creature comforts my friends my children my wife and husband my life and soul and Christ more worth then all ten thousand times over and over againe O unhappy man that I am O unhappy soul how wast thou deluded how was I deceived to think my self happy in a few dying creature-enjoyments O my bewitched soul who deluded thee who deceived thee time was thou heardst of God and Christ and hadst thou then minded him and served him as thou didst thy King thy lust and pleasures hee would not now have left thee as dying Wolsey once said that great Cardinall in his dispaire and horror But thou O precious Christian whose heart and hopes are placed in God shall dying say my hopes my heart and expectation lives for it was not here nor here below in dying things but a living Christ and now my soule shall live with him and because he lives I shall live also John 14.19 ye live in his presence live in his sight and now my soule my happy soule tell thou the world thy friends all that mournes for thy departure thy life thy life for which they mourne its sure and safe it s hid with God in Christ our lives are hid with God in Christ and when he shall appear we shall appear with him also as the Apostle speaks John 1.3.2 O glorious day O day of dayes unthought unminded by most of men now it appears not what we are but then it shall when the dust of this body more precious then the seed of stars and jewels shall be gathered and be carefully picked up by Angels sent forth by Christ from all the winds for that same purpose then my life was hid but now it is found where first it was in God and Christ in my own root and that to my dear souls content and therefore let me go to my home to my father to my husband to my God to my Christ and to my brethren for sure I shall be welcome as Jacob was to Joseph Welcome