13 26 2 5 91 1 Thessalonians 2 6 271 5 12 101 2 Thessalonians 2 7 477 3 1 10  14 124 1 Timothy 1 15 329 3 10 96  16 694 2 Timothy 2 26 30 Titus 2 16 330 Philippians 3 2 195  19 ibid Hebrews 1 5 92  6 ibid. 9 12 See p 247 after p. 248 10 27 18 12 14 31 38  27 377 13 5 57 Iames. 1 18 696 1 Peter 1 12 35 2 5 743 4 7 271 2 Peter 1 5 44 3 16 11 194 1 Iohn 2 16 529   545  18 206   271 5 19 42  21 483 2 Iohn 5 10 54 Iude.  3 189 192  4 191  6 550 Revelation 1 13 682  20 686 2 1 685  4 582  5 ibid.  21 452 579 3 8 716 4 00 579  3 682  6 567 6 22 669  2 683  12 to 14 723 8 27 688 9 1 196  2 ibid.  10 197  14 718 10 7 288 12 15 196 13 00 190 378 16 9 11 80 17 12 73 18 2 to 13 63 70 78 19 1 84 358 21 22 3 4 22 1 282 FINIS Books Printed for and sold by Francis Tyton at the three Daggers neer the Inner Temple Gate THE several following books of Mr. Richard Baxters Aphorisms of Justification with their explication annexed wherein is opened the nature of the Covenants satisfaction righteousness faith works c. in 12o. The Saints everlasting rest or a Treatise of the blessed state of the Saints in their enjoyment of God in glory in 4 o. Plain Scripture proof for Infant-Baptism in 4 o. The right method in 32. directions for getting and keeping spiritual peace and comfort in 12 o. The unreasonableness of Infidelity manifested in four discourses the subject of which follows viz. 1. The Spirits Extrinsick witness to the truth of Christianity on Gal. 3.1,2,3 With a determination of this Question Whether the miraculous works of Christ and his Disciples do oblige those to believe who never saw them 2. The Spirits internal witness to the truth of Christianity on 1 John 5.10 3. For prevention of the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost a Demonstration that the Spirit and works of Christ were the finger of God or the Holy war between Christ and Satan on Mat. 12.22,23 A Postscript against Mr. Lyfords exceptions 4. The arrogancy of reason against divine revelation repressed or proud ignorance the cause of Infidelity in 8 o. Christian concord or the agreement of the associated Pastors and Churches of Worcestershire with Mr. Baxters explication and defence of it and his exhortation to unity 4 o. A defence of the Worcestershire petition for ministery and maintenance 4 o. The Quakers Catechize 4 o. An Apology against the modest exceptions of Mr. T. Blake and the digression of Mr. Kendal whereunto are added animadversions on a late dissertation of Ludiomeus Colvinus alias Lodovicus Molineus M. D. Oxon. and an admonition of Mr. W. Eyre of Salisbury with Mr. Crandons anatomy in 4 o. A confession of faith especially concerning the interest of repentance and sincere obedience to Christ in our Justification and salvation in 4 o. Parliamenti Declaratio 23. May 1649. Duke Hambletons case argued by Mr. Steel now Lord chief Baron of the Exchequer in 4 o. The Levellers design discovered by Henry Denn in 4 o. The Collection of Orders of Chancery with the alterations and additions agreed on by the Lords Commissioners of the great Seal and Mr. of the Rolls in 8 o. The anatomy of Iohn Lilburns spirit and pamphlets in 4 o. A short discourse between Monarchical and Aristocratical Government in 4 o. The grand Case of Conscience stated in 4 o. A discours concerning the engagement or the northern subscribers plea in 4 o. Heart-bleedings for professors abominations in 4 o. An English translation of the Scottish Declaration in 4 o. A discovery of some thoughts wherewith many precious souls are burdened by Daniel King in 4 o. English Law or a survey of the houshold of God on earth with an Essay of Christian Government folio The false Brother in 4 o. The rise growth and fall of Antichrist together with the much desired and waited for succession of our Lord Jesus Christ by Edward Haughton Minister of the Word A vindication of Infant-Baptism and singing Psalms by Mr. Sydenham Minister at Newcastle Gospel-mysterie Gospel-life and light by Dorneford A Commemoration Sermon on the fith of November before the Parliament in 4 o. A Commemoration Sermon on the fifth of November before the Lord Maior called a Voice from Heaven in 4 o. Heavenly Treasure or mans chiefest good in 12 o. Communion with God in Ordinances the Saints priviledge and duty in 12 o. XXXI Select Sermons on special occasions in 4 o. All by William Strong Minister of the word of God The horrid bloody Spanish Inquisition in 12 o. Spiritual Barrenness EZEK 47.11 But the myrie places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed but be given to salt THey are great things which the Lord hath spoken of the latter days which are called by the Apostle 1 Cor. 10.11 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The ends of the world so you render it but Grotius renders it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eph. 1.10 The fulness and perfection of times Grotius Deus in omnibus actionibus prisci seculi semper ob oculos habebat tempâ—r a Messiae c. In which there shall be a perfection of Ordinances and of Churches and of Prophesies for the mysterie of God is in the latter days to be finished Rev. 10.7 There is a Kingdom of God which the Lord will set up or cause to arise Dan. 2.44 Which though it shall begin in the days of those Kings in the times of the Roman Monarchies yet it shall be the great Instrument in the hand of God to destroy the Monarchies for Iacob is in the hand of the Lord as a threshing instrument in the middle of the Nations either as dew from the Lord or as a Lyon amongst the Beasts of the Forest the Angels they poured out the seven vials full of the wrath of God which are the seven last plagues they came out of the Temple Rev. 15.6 And this Kingdom of God shall not come to perfection it shall not arise unto its greatness till judgement sit and dominion be taken away from the fourth beast to consume and destroy it unto the end Dan 7.26,27 It s true that the Church of Christ hath a mighty efficacy upon the world but it is secret invisible and comes not under humane observation Nisi oratione doctrina sustentaret Ecclesia mundum uno momento perirent omnia Luther on Gen. 30 But there will come a time when the power and glory of the Church shall be visible The mountain of the Lords house shall be exalted on the top of the mountains Lactantius when the prophesie of Lactan. p. 579. shall be
to the Crown and he being a gracious man did turn from all the abominations of his fathers and the land having peace for the first ten years of his reign he spent that whole time in reformation in reforming the corruptions of Religion and thought himself as a Magistrate so highly concerned in it that he used his power to take away the Altars of the strange Gods c. and his Authority was not onely destructive as some would allow the Magistrates to destroy what they will so they build nothing but it was astrictive also for he commanded Iacob to seek the Lord God of their fathers and to do his Law and his commandments This glorious work of Reformation being begun for about ten years carryed on never was any great work so begun in this world but mighty mountains of opposition have been raised against it nowhere is an Army of Ethiopians raised against him the greatest that we read of in any story of a thousand thousand chap. 14.9 and though it may be it was not their direct aym to hinder the work of Reformation yet this doubtless was Satans aym in stirring them up for as the aym of the good Angels is beyond that of the Instruments which many times they use Dan 10. last and when I am gone forth lo the Prince of Graecia shall come He shall fight with the Prince of Persia but is over-ruled therein to another end then himself intended So is the aym of the evil Angels also but the Lord who delights in Reformation and loves to see Temple-work go on will not suffer this good work to perish under so great an opposition and therefore this mighty Army shall not stand before a Reforming Prince and a praying people but they were all smitten before the men of Iudah and they returned home to Ierusalem laden with the spoil in great abundance At this time the Lord stirred up the spirit of Azariah the son of Obed who went forth to meet them he preached this Sermon unto the King and unto the victorious Army and he saith hear me O Asa and all Iudah and Benjamin Gods Messengers may require audience and obedience in the Name of God from the greatest men upon earth and that when they were in the height of their prosperity and glory for the Lord hath exalted his word over Nations and kingdoms to root out and to destroy and to build and to plant and it is not the least charge given against Zedechiah that he humbled not himself before Ieremiah the Prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord for though the men dye yet their words wil live and it will asuredly overtake men though they may seem for a while to escape it Zach. 1.6 Did not my words take hold of the fathers the sum of the Prophets Sermon is here laid down in three Doctrinal Propositions First That the Lord is with You whilst you are with Him Secondly If you seek Him He will be found of you Thirdly If you forsake Him He will forsake you Here is a Doctrinal Proposition with a particular Application the Proposition is this That they that do forsake God shall be forsaken of God 2 The Application is that if ye forsake God he will also forsake you that he hath so gloriously delivered and for whom he hath so eminently appeared riding upon the heavens and his excellency on the skye yet if he will turn his hand and consume you after he has done you good this is â—o perish with a double destruction as for a man to dye after he hath had some quickning works upon him is to be twice dead so for a man or a people to perish or be destroyed after the Lord hath done them good and seemed to rejoyce over them this is to perish with a double destruction For the opening of this Doctrine there are four things in the Text which are to be considered First we see that the desertion of a people never begins in God the Lord doth not forsake them till they forsake him There are two sorts of acts that God exercises over men some Actus dominii acts of soveraignty Secondly Actus justitiae the one respects men as creatures the other respects men as sinners Preterition is an act of soveraignty and that begins in God but desertion is an act of Justice and therefore must begin in us for the cause of all punishment the meritorious cause is to be found in the creature and doth begin in us and not in him It s true that all acts of mercy do begin in God and they have no ground in the creature he loves us first he shews mercy freely and what ever he doth it is for his own sake there is nothing in the creature that procures it The rise and foundation of mercy is in himself but acts of Justice have their rise from us for he doth in all judgements cleer this unto the creature that he doth not without cause any thing that he hath done and the Lord saith of all judgements hast thou not procured it to thy self is not this the wages that you have wrought and laboured for is not this the harvest which answers the seed that you have sowen for they that sow to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption c. So that the Lord doth never reject us till we reject him he doth never forsake us till we forsake him Rom. 6.23 the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life but acts of grace begin in God and they are meer gifts but all acts of Justice begin in us and are but the fruits of our own deservings he rejects us because we reject him first c. Secondly it may be supposed that they that have had the Lord much with them and have had great and eminent experience of his presence going with them yet they may forsake the Lord and depart from him Israel did so they forgat God their saviour who had done great things for them in Egypt wondrous works in the land of Ham and terrible things by the Red sea as Psal 10.6,21,22 and they that forget God will quickly forsake God a people may arise unto that foolish confidence in their own present condition that they may say Ier. 2.31 We are Lords we will come no more at thee a strange expression and they may walk towards God as if they were put into such an estate that they should now need God no more but that they could live without him we have now no more need of fasting and praying days of humiliation may now be intermitted for not onely months but yeers together What is this but for a people to say We are Lords we will come no more at thee we have not now the same need of God that we had in times past 2 Chron. 26.15 Vzziah was marvellously helped till he was strong but when he was strong his heart was lifted up unto his own destruction Isa 29.1 there
the mercy and this brought a Judgement upon him and upon the whole land 2 Chron. for let me tell you of all things God can least bear the despising and contempt of his mercies there are two things that are very terrible to the Saints and that they are afraid of and would be preserved from First that they reap not curses from the Ordinances of God which are usually the great means of blessing Secondly that they have not Judgements grow out of mercies because of their unanswerable walking under their present enjoyments Thirdly the praises of the Saints are as terrible unto the Churches enemies as their prayers you think it is your duty to pray often truly it is your duty to praise God also for Psal 8.2 out of the mouth of Babes and sucklings he hath ordained strength to still the enemy and the avenger it is spoken of Satan and of all spiritual enemies So the children of Israel 2 Chron. when they praised God in the beauty of Holiness God set ambushments they destroyed their enemies with the sword that proceeded out of their mouths Orabilibus telis and that is as much by their praises as by their praiers therefore if you would not have the present mercy prove a future judgement and if you would have the work go on let me exhort you as you did give in your assistance in prayer for this beginning of mercy so let not your praises be wanting with-hold not them for the perfection of it So let all thy enemies perish oh Lord but let them that love thy name be as the Sun going forth in its strength And now I address my self unto the words out of which I would speak something as matter of your thankfulness and meditation suitable unto this present occasion Babylon the great is fallen is fallen there are in the words four things to be opened First who it is that speaks Secondly who this Babylon is of whom it is spoken Thirdly why called Babylon the great Fourthly why its put in praeterito pro futuro is fallen and why it s set down by way of ingemination is fallen is fallen c. First who it is that speaks it ver 1. it is an Angel that came down from Heaven having great power c. By Angels some do expound the heavenly hosts those ministring spirits that are sent forth for the good of the Elect which are therefore called principalities and powers because of that great and that glorious government that the Lord hath committed unto them during the Mediator Kingdom of Christ Ezech. 1. the spirit of the living creatures is in the wheels so that they have a great hand in the government and the administration of all things below and in this doth their degrees of glory consist in officio in the office in which the Lord Jesus doth imploy them they differ not in their nature at all but only in their office as Zanch. observes answerable unto what the Lord Jesus will employ them in for they are the great instruments and officers in the ordering of all things and when Christ shall give up his Kingdom then shall they lay down theirs for Cor. 1.15,28 he shall put down all rule authority and power Calvin de principatu Angelico etiam intelligitur all power and authority that was set up by the oeconomical Kingdom of Christ shall at the giving up of that Kingdom be laid down and therefore according unto the particular services in which God doth imploy the Angels such a great work is committed unto one Angel and another great work is committed unto another 2 Dan. 10,21 Zach. 6.8 the Instrument of Vengeance went forth into the North So Rev. 7. there are four Angels that held the four winds that they must not blow upon the earth that is motus bellicos Impetus hostiles and some there are that sound the Trumpet unto war and then if the Angel go out before them he stirs up all the Instruments amongst men and all things shall succeed accordingly to that saying of Opera divinae providentiae Angelico administerio geruntur answerable unto the work so there is an Angel to whom the great care of it is by Christ committed for they are ministring spirits sent forth for the good of the Elect. Some by Angels understand messengers and Instruments raised up amongst men whether Magistrates or Ministers and so Brightman Brightman vir aliquis praestans egregius qui subito nec expectatus adveniet quemadmodum res quae coelitus delabuntur Suddenly and unexpectedly as if he had discended from heaven some great instrument that the Lord would unexpectedly raise up which I should not understand of any individual persons and bring it down to this man and the other as the seven Angels full of vials unto Rome not to seven individual persons but for seven sorts of Instruments â—nd officers that God would successively raise up for to finish that work which should though they be many all concurr as one person to effect that about which they are employed Now I shall chuse to put both these together and to understand it of heavenly Angels which the Lord Christ imploys in these administrations which have the first hand in the work and also all men all sorts of instruments and officers that those Angels do stir up and imploy for the Spirit of the living creatures is in the wheels and when I am gone forth the Prince of grace shall come therefore the Angels and the Instruments stirrd up and acted by the Angels the Lord looks upon as but one person c. So that first the ruine of Rome and all the Roman power is committed unto an Angel and therefore if all the power of the earth were engaged for it to support Rome yet this Angel is a mighty Angel and he will surely destroy it and if an Angel hath undertaken it he will not want instruments those that he will surely in all ages stir up to effect it Secondly Romes ruine as it is the work and office of the Angel so it is unto the Angels matter of joy and triumph for as the conversion of the Saints is joy to the Angels so is the destruction of the enemies also but especially unto those Angels that are employed as officers therein as Ezech. 9.1 there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto the Angels the ordering of that great work was committed and therefore they are said to have the charge of it the Babylonish Armie did the work but the Angel that had the charge of it ordered it Secondly of whom is this spoken it is spoken of Babylon Rev. 17.12.3 there is a woman seen riding upon a scarlet-coloured Beast full of names of blasphemy having seven heads and ten horns and this woman hath written upon her forchead mysterie Babylon the great the mother of Harlots who is it ver last it s that great City that reigneth over the Kings of the Earth Now this could not be litterally
set before other men and exalted above them for in Church societies it is not outward honours or wealth that exalts men men may be great men yet have but mean gifts and of little honour and esteem in the Church of God but also they are called by terms of authority they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this place and v. 7. they are your Guides Leaders and Commanders and therefore it is taken from the Master or Pilot in a Ship that turns it about to steer it in its right course and therefore they were of old called The Masters of Assemblies Eccl. 12. and this appears so much the greater if you do consider also that they speak to you in the name of Christ for 1 Thes 5.12 They are over you in the Lord and what they do require by vertue of their office they can do it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ as an Embassador hath great power because he speaks in the name of the King and they can enjoyn you as you owe obedience to Christ in whose name we speak and whose work we do therfore he that rejecteth you rejecteth me 1 Cor. 5.4 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ deliver such a man to Satan if they did it in their own name there were little power in it indeed but in the name of Christ there is great authority and there is this the more to be added because as it is a power given them by Christ and Christ is despised in them so it is a power given them by your own consent now for a man to give consent to put power into a mans hand and afterwards he denyes him the exercise of that power which he hath given him it is for a man to Judge and condemn himself in the thing which he himself allows therefore it layes a necessity upon you of subjection to this power both for conscience sake and as a thing that was done by your own free election and consent and so there is not only an authority that commands it but a Law of love also as a woman subjects her self to her husband not only as God hath commanded it and given him authority over her but also from a principle of love because this is the man that I did chuse to my self to obey and to be subject unto all my dayes therefore a double Law is broken in this respect and this still argues the greatness of an Officers power in the Church It s called the power of the keyes which doth note a very great authority and office Isa 22.22 power in the house the ordering of governing of all the affairs in a family shall go through their hands as it is said of Joseph what ever was done in all the land of Egypt he was the doer of it so it is true of them what ever is done in the Church of God it must go through their hands they must also be the doers of it and Math. 16.19 it is the keyes of the Kingdom of Heaven which is meant both of grace and glory a power to bind and loose in the Church by vertue of the Institution of Christ and what they do bind and loose or they remit or retain shall be so done in the world to come in the Kingdom of Heaven so that they shall open Heaven to the Church and if they shut them out heaven shall be shut out if they binde upon their consciences so will the Lord also in the world to come in Heaven and in this respect it is a far greater power then if a man had the keyes of the authority and Government of all the Kingdoms of the Earth Thirdly the subjects of this authority it is not the bodies lives of men or their estates but the authority is spiritual and it relates unto the soul only and this will appear First because it is managed only by spiritual means as the Kingdom of Christ is not of this world the management of things in the Church of Christ are not to be done in the way of the world it is not by any outward power and greatness or by authority and force of arms c. but all is ordered by the word 2 Cor. 10.5 The weapons of our warfare are mighty through God for it is this that is the Scepter of the power of Christ and all the authority that he doth exercise by his Ministers and Officers under him it is by the word only and if they wil not hear the word let such a man be unto thee a Heathen man let him be Anathema Maranatha to the coming of the Lord we must leave him as a man incurable we can do no more to him 1 Cor. 16.22 if the word will not reclaim him we have no way to deal with him but to set before him the Judgement that is written which if he despise then Church-Officers have no more to do but as they when they refused the Gospel did shake off the dust of their feet it will be easier for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of Judgement they have no power either to imprison or afflict their bodies or seise upon their estates if they obey not they can only leave men to the Judgement of the Lord. Secondly answerable unto the power such are the censures and they are all spiritual they relate unto the soul they can inflict no corporal punishment upon men but the Punishment in Scripture and first a binding of their sins Joh. 20.21 as they pardon sin in the conscience and in regard of their Church-state by receiving them after sinning upon their repentance So there is a binding of sin upon the conscience convincing a man of the guilt of sin and also the putting him out of the society so that the mans sin is bound in his own conscience and before the Church and the Lord saith It shall be bound in heaven and shall not be pardoned to him or if he be godly he shall not have the sense of pardon till by this ordinance of Christ he be again received Secondly they withdraw communion with him 2 Thes 3.14 If any man obey not our word note that man and have no fellowship with him that he may be ashamed all this is in reference to the soul that the man may be reclaimed it is only Mingle not with him that when he shall see all godly men to avoid him as a Pest and his communion as some filthyness he may thereby take shame to himself Thirdly deliver him to Satan 1 Cor. 5.4,5 Ordinances are means to inflict spiritual Judgements as well as to convey spiritual Blessings cast him out by a Judicial act from the Assemblies of the Saints and so being cast out he is in the world where Satan rules he shall have nothing to do with Ordinances more and yet all this is with special respect unto his soul it is for the destruction of the flesh that the soul may be saved in the day of the Lord therefore all power
Jacobs trouble Lam. 1.17 The Lord hath commanded concerning Jacob that the Adversaries shall be round about c. therefore by Jacob here is meant only Judah that is the two Tribes that did not depart from God in the Revolt and Apostacy of the ten Tribes and that those of Israel that for conscience sake did leave their Habitations and went and dwelt in Judah and Jerusalem yet there 's a time of trouble for them also 2. What 's meant by the time of trouble It 's in the Original Hab. 3.16 tempus augustiae a time of straits which is called a day of straits when the Lord did come up upon them and invade them with his Troops for so the Army of the Babylonians is called when they should be led into Captivity by the will and command of others for their Persons and Estates to be made use of as a prey to serve the wills and ends of strangers and servants For strangers Jer. 30.8 Strangers shall no more serve themselves of them And for servants Lam. 5.8 Servants rule over us and there 's none to deliver us out of their hands Now when the walls of the City were broken down the Temple destroyed the Worship of God prophaned and all the Ordinances of God trampled under foot all Order Authority deposed and all things subjected unto the wil and lusts of a conquering Army now it was a time of straits great straits in point of conscience for they would now be working them about to their way and perswading them to worship their Gods Jer. 10.11 Now to be under the power of men and not to be subjected to their lusts and serve the lusts of men it 's a great strait and straits also in respect of the affliction having their lives alway hanging in doubt having their bread by weight and their water by measure and in respect of succour in a great strait also for there was no deliverer Lam. 1.3 All her Persecutors overtook her between the streights that there was no escaping no way to avoyd them and therefore 2 Tim. 3.5 These shall be difficult times in which men should meet with great and variety of straits that they should not know which way to turn themselves c. Thirdly it 's called a great day magnum pro formidabile Cal. Terribilis aut mire calamitosa à magnitudine supplicii magnus nominatur Theodor. And we doe read of five Great Dayes in the Scripture First the day of the Lord spoken of in Malach. 4.6 I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the great and terrible day â—f the Lord that is interpreted Luk. 1.17 of John Baptist who was to be the forerunner of Christs coming And this is called a great day for the great manifestations of God wherein life and immortality should be brought to light by the Gospel the great changes of Ordinances and the great destruction of the Enemies the terrible Judgements that should then be poured out for Mal. 4.1 The day cometh that shall burn as an Oven and all that do wickedly shall be stubble that is when the Sun of Righteousness doth arise with healing in his wings c. And for the terrible Judgements that under the Gospel the Lord would pour out upon the world and that is meant Acts 2.28 Joel 2.3 The Sun shall be turned into darkness the Moon into blood before that great day of the Lord come It 's spoken of the great Judgements that the Lord Christ would pour out upon the world and thereby make way for the receiving the Gospel publickly for he doth shake Heaven and Earth and thereby makes way for the coming of the desire of all Nations for out of the Throne when Christ is exalted comes thunderings and lightnings and voices Rev. 4.5 Secondly there 's the great day of Jezreel Hos 1. last That is when the Lord shall call home his antient people and gather together the outcasts of Israel Which shall be a day in which the Lord shall appear in his glory for when he doth build Zion he doth appear in his glory a day of the restitution of all things a day of enriching of the world a day when new Jerusalem shall come down from God out of heaven and a day in which the kingdoms of the earth shall be given to the Lord and his Christ and there shall not be any more any pricking bryer or any grieving thorn in all the land there shall be no more a Canaanite in the land forever all persecuting Powers shall be subdued Thirdly there 's a great day when the battel Armageddon shall be fought Rev. 16.14 When all the Powers of the earth shall rally and gather together their broken Troops against the Church of God they shall be the greatest combination that ever hath been and in which all the opposite Powers shall be utterly and finally broken and thereby way shall be made for the vial poured upon the air which brings in the binding of Satan chap. 20. Now this battel with the issue of it we have chap. 19.19,20,21 Now from the great preparations that the enemies do make and the great destruction which then they shall be sure to find and the great things which shall follow upon this and that in this day the Lord will make way for therefore it 's called the great day of God Almighty when the Lord shall fulfil all his promises and prophecies and Christ shall be cloathed with a garment dipt in blood and his name shall be called the Word of God Fourthly the day of Judgement is a great day also the Angels are said to be reserved in chains of darkness unto the Judgement of the great day for then shall the son of man sit upon the throne of his glory and all Nations shall be gathered together before him and he shall separate them one from another as a Shepheard divides his Sheep from the Goats c. and he shall then passe a finall sentence an eternall judgement upon the eternal estates of men and set a gulph between them for ever which they shall never pass when he hath so done he shall resign or give up his kingdom unto God the Father and then all the present wayes of administration shall cease Fifthly when the Lord brings any speciall judgement or affliction upon his people that also is called a great day Zeph. 1.14 the great day of the Lord is near it 's a day of darkness and gloominess a day of clouds and thick darkness that Trumpet and Alarum against the fenced Cities and against the high Towers it 's a threatning of the same Judgement there which here the Prophet speaks of the captivity of Babylon and it s called the great day of the Lord and so it 's here called also Fourthly it 's said that it 's such a day that there is none like to it that is First it is the greatest evil that ever befell that people they had been smitten with Pestilence with scarcity
and that doth delight him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to retaliate that men may abundantly eat the fruit of their own ways and be filled with their own devices and the Lord makes in this retaliation a greater speed with some men then he doth with others answerable to the Mercies bestowed and abused some mens sins are as a basket of Summer-fruit quia maturitatem suam sunt assecuti Am. 8.12 Drusius they that have stood long under mercies and under Ordinances they do ripen the sooner and the Lord will surely hasten his work upon such a people habet sapientia justitiae sua compendia the Lord knows how to finish the work to cut it short in righteousness for a short work doth the Lord intend to make in the land Rom. 9.28 How long soever the work be that God makes with any other people yet with an unthankful people that lives in high abuses of goodness he will surely make a short work with them Fifthly At the same time when we begin to forsake God he doth begin to forsake us for so much must be taken from the beginning of the verse the Lord is with you whiles you are with him so we and some others render it dum fuistis Therefore the same date that our departing bears unto God the same also doth the Lords departing bear unto us at the same time when the Prodigal did but set the first step to return to his father the father did set forth to meet him and at the same time that any man departs and turns away from God at the same time doth the Lord turn away from him also and though it be not presently visible for our Apostacy from God is first in the inward man our souls draw back from him Jer. 6.8 at the same time also his soul departs or is dis-joynted from such a people and in such cases the Lord is very exact in observing of the time he keeps an account of it unto a day as we see it in Saul 1 Sam. 13 13,14 Now would the Lord have established the kingdom upon Israel for ever but now thy kingdom shall not continue now Saul departed from the Lord and from this time forth the Lord did forsake him and therefore 1 Sam. 13.2 it 's said that he reigned but two yeers over Israel that is Legitimè non rejectus á Deo so Junâ—post biennium a Shemuèle fuit so that though the kingdom did continue so many yeers â—fter or he continued in the kingdom yet he reigned as King but two yeers now he rejected God and now the Lord reâ—ected him from being King over Israel and though men discern it not yet there are symbolical precepts by which the Lord doth try men even at this day the Lord puts them upon such a business puts such power and such authority into their hands which they abusing and their heart departing from God in it they are under an evil aspect from God from that time forward that though their lives may continue and though they may for a time continue in their authority yet from that time he Lord departs from them and they do by degrees wither and decay insensibly degenerate in their zeal for God and his people Sad are the Records and the aspects of God upon great men in this kind such a day I tryed a mans integrity and his faiâ—hfulness I put power into his hand to honor me with it and yet his spirit departed from me his heart was false and unstable with me therefore from that day my soul is disjoynted from such a man will honor him no more Saul reigned long after before the people but from that time no longer in Gods account Sixthly In the same degree that a people do forsake the Lord will the Lord also forsake them and so much the Hebrew word also doth seem to import in existendo vos cum eo in your being with him he will also be with you and in your forsaking of him he will also forsake you The Lord departs from a people gradatim by several removes to see if there be any that will stir up themselves to take hold of God As the glory of the Lord departed from the Temple Ezek. 10.11 first he goes up from the Cherubins unto the threshold and from thence to the middle of the City and from the City unto the Mountain and these removes of God from us are answerable unto the degrees of our departing from him for in these things the Lord doth exactly observe a proportion As it is in the matter of outward afflictions so it shall be also in spiritual desertions Ezek. 7.16 as pride doth bud so the rod doth blossom violence doth rise up unto a rod of wickedness their rod is taken out of their own sins their own wickedness doth correct them and answerable to the growth of sin in them so doth the rod grow for them that it may be corrected And so it is in desertion also with the upright the Lord will shew himself upright if mens hearts be wholly with him he will be perfect and intire with them but if men be for God onely in shew he will be for them and with them onely in shew if they give unto him onely outward obedience he will give unto them onely a temporal reward if they do offer unto God but external service and that which is seemingly service but really a sin he will bestow upon them outward blessings that is that which shall be seemingly a blessing but really a curse a blessing in the thing but a curse to the man For the Lord will hold a proportion as we forsake him so he will in the same measure and degree forsake us also All the children of destruction are not born at once Hos 1. the first is Iezreel and the last Loammi yea and Gods own people answerable unto their departing from God so they shall find the Lords withdrawment from them David had his first ways 2 Chr. 17 and the people of God have their first Rev. 2.4 and they that do decline from God in holy obedience they shall finde the Lord will depart from them in reference to a gracious presence it shall not be with them as it hath been in times past they shall remember with bitterness after their departure from their former husband that it was better with them then it is now 2. Let us now look upon the grounds of this Doctrine that upon our forsaking of God he will forsake us and they are different according unto a double state of men in this life some are in a state of Nature and some are in a state of grace First they that are in a state of nature forsaking God shall be utterly forsaken by him and that for ever for the Lord doth deal with men according to the tenor of the Covenant under which he stands in all his administrations he is always mindful of his Covenant Now all men in
day of their deliverance shall come to the astonishment and amazement of the Nations and there are many great reasons that it must be a great day but I cannot insist upon them Seventhly the time of their calling shall be when the fulness of the Gentiles is come in blindness so long is happened unto them when the four Monarchs are cast down to dust in the period of them Dan. 7.12.13.14 after the destruction of Antichrist when the little horn is slain and his body given unto the burning flame now he comes to receive a Kingdom of the ancient of days and it shall be when the seventh Angels Trumpet shall sound then the Kingdoms and Nations under the whole Earth become the Kingdoms of the Lord and his Christ Rev. 11.16 which is from the setting up the abomination of desolation the 1290. days which shal be the year of the Iews redemption Dan. 12.11 which is to be finished four thousand year after which is 1335. daies but these are times â—hat I cannot now speak to Eighthly then shall be amongst them a glorious Church in which the presence of the Lord shall dwell Ezek. 37.27 I will set my Tabernacle among them for ever more And elsewhere Ezek. 48. ult the name of the City shal be Jehovah shammah the Lord is there Rev. 21.3 The Tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and it is not in Heaven for it is new Jerusalem that comes down from God out of Heaven and the Kings of the earth shall bring their glory to it and the glory of the Lord and of the Lamb shall be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the light of it and Rev. 21.12 twelve Angels at the gates and there shall be no use of the service of the Angels in Heaven they are sent forth as ministring spirits for the good of the Elect. But when they are gathered in as their Kindom begins with the Kingdom of Christ so shall it end also for he will put down all rule authority and power it is to be understood Etiam de principatu Angelico as well as of any other And they shall have the purest Ordinances Rivers of water of Life that is clear as Christal not running blood not mixed with fire Rev. 22.1 Not blood as is the Doctrine of Antichrist nor mixt with Fire either of affliction or contention as are the doctrines of the reformed Churches and then shall be the exactest discipline all that love and make a lye shall be without and the more of Gods order the more of his presence and his blessing for they shall see his face and his name shall bee written upon their foreheads c. Ninthly this Church of the converted Jewes shall be the Mother Church and shall be exalted above all the Gentile Churches the mountain of the Lords house exalted above the tops of the mountains Ezek. 16.61 then shalt thou be ashamed when I shall give thee thy sisters for daughters all the Gentile Churches shal know that they do receive as the Law from them at the first so now aboundance of light and nourishment great discoveries of God and of his grace for the light of the Moon shall be as that of the Sun and the light of the Sun seven-fold and the Temple shall be opened in Heaven and you may see into the Ark of the Testament all vailes shall be taken away both from the hearts of men and the mysteries of God and the Abdita the hidden things of God revealed the which should then be made fully manifest For he did not write the Word for the World to come but for the Life that now is and therefore there is nothing there hid that shall not be made manifest it shall appear unto the world that he wrote none of those divine mysteries in the word in vain Tenthly Then shall follow great peace and prosperity in the world all persecutions either from Enemies without or Tyrants within shall come to an end Ezek. 34.25.26 I wil make with them a Covenant of peace and wil cause evil beasts to cease out of the Land they shall dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods Esa 66.12 I will extend peace to her like a River that shall never be dryed up that when the enemies shall look when it will be dry it may be expected in vaine Labitur labetur Zach. 14.11 Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited persecutions from without for the four Monarchs shal bee destroyed and Satan shall be bound that he shall not stir them up to make war against the Saints Rev. 20. Ezek. 45.8 because their Princes before did slay them and not hold themselves guilty make nothing of oppression but now he saith my Princes shall oppresse my people no more a wall 12000 furlongs high Rev. 21.16 and for prosperity Esa 60.16.17 c she shall suck the milk of the Gentiles and the brests of Kings Eleventhly Over this people Iesus Christ shall in a glorious manner reign and that in a more eminent manner then he hath done over the Churches of the Gentiles for it is the Kingdom of David his Father which he is to sit on a Kingdom which he is yet to receive Ezek. 34.23.24 â—zek 37.25 Ezek. 21.26 David my servant he shall feed them and rule over them I will be their God and David my servant as a Prince amongst them when the dry bones are risen David my servant shall be their Prince for ever remove the Diadem c he will overturn overturn overturne and then will he come whose right it is The Scepter shal depart from Judah and they shall be many days without a King Any form of government of their own Hos 34. and what then they shall seek the Lord and David their King unto whom the Father hath committed all judgement Joh. 5.22 and in a special manner the Kingdoms and Nations over this people that from his presence their judgement is to go forth and therefore he shall in a more special manner be be King of the Jews as being his own people unto whom he hath a right of inheritance more then he has over any people of the world besides and yet I do confesse I do not see light from the Scripture to assert the personal reign of Christ upon Earth over them and the Saints reigning with him in his person I know Aliud est ChristuÌ„ regnare in Sanctis Aliud Sanctos regnare cum Christo both shall be in this life in some sense but yet whether Christ shall rule them by a personal residence upon earth is unto me still a doubt but this I say the Lord Iesus Christ hath a peculiar right unto the Kingdom of the Jews as he is of the seed of David And God will give him the Throne of his father David Twelfthly The people shall be exceeding holy in this Church walking in truth and sincerity there is a form of Godliness but there is little of the
with Christ for the term of vocation is union they were never cut off from their old root and never had experience of an ingrafting work never knew what it was to be translated Col. 1.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Verbum deductum ab iis qui colonias transferunt e natali solo Its a Metaphor taken from transplanting of Colonies They are in him by profession only without any real implantation for Christ as he is a vine upon earth has in him many unfruitfull branches though as he is a head in Heaven so he hath no dead members and this is the great ground of all barrenness and so all that a man doth is but building upon the sand when it flows not from Christ through the union of faith which is the ground of all fruitfulness Non semper ore non semper meditor sed vestio dormio bibo comedo c. Haec omnia si in fide fiant tanquam recte facta divino judicio approbantur As are my prayers so my eating drinking sleeping and clothing my self they are all Luther fruit abounding to my account in Christ Luther Gen. 33. Secondly he gives them up unto a heedless spirit in the things of God so much of Religion as shall uphold a form they take up but they regard not the keeping of their hearts and the approving of themselves unto God in secret there is a cultus conscientiae that is wholly neglected 2 Kin. 10.31 But Jehn took no heed to walk in the Law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart what shew so ever they make of Religion and how great so ever their pretences are yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 2.3 They neglect or they care not for the salvation that is offered therein Bernard Vita uniuscujusque non cognoscitur nisi in conscientia Bernard A mans life may seem as fair in a hypocrite and as fruitful as in a godly man but it is the inward frame of the heart and the constant care of that in which Religion doth consist and if a man do duties with a Spirit of inadvertency they are none of them fruits but leaves and make way for a judicial barrenness Thirdly he gives them up unto new opinions and these do ingross the heart and take up the strength of the man by contests of this nature whereas the kingdom of God consists not in meat and drink Rom. 14.17 and when men are given up to this then Hylar quas volumus doctrinas coaptamus Hylar That must go for true doctrine which is agreeable to their apprehensions and there is more pains taken in contending for and in maintaining of such opinions and things which we have made our own then there is about knowing or practising all the Truths of Christ and the duties of godliness besides and so the whole practice of godliness is neglected while the man is sinfully busied in novelties and unpractical curiosities and so urbem produnt dum castella defendunt when as in absoluto facili stat aternitas The things necessary to salvation are easie and as for lesser disputes be not much in them say Elias cum veniet Let us leave this unto the day of Resurrection which will declare of what sort every mans work is whither it be gold or silver hay or stubble and the truth is this is a grave in which Satan hath buried many a soul causing men to fall in love with their own births and apprehensions and thereby to take them off from the things which are of eternal concernment in the things of God which turn men commonly from Idolatry to Heresie Fourthly the Lord gives them up to have their thoughts set much upon other things as it was with the thorny ground the thorns sucking in the strength of the soil choaked the seed Matth. 13. One is taken up about getting an estate and another about raising a building of honor and another he is busied in the great affairs of a Commonwealth and he talks of making of Laws defeating of enemies saving of Kingdoms c. and in the mean while he himself is lost Matth. 7 22. There is a man busie preaching to others whilst he himself is a castaway and casting out devils out of other mens bodies when he himself is all the while in his inward man possessed of the devil and so while he is made a keeper of the vineyard he neglect to keep his own vine Cant. 1.6 And so many a great Statesman gives the same accompt at his death as Luther brings in Cicero complaining Luther Olim frustra me sapientem putatum vocem indignationis desperationis plenissâ—mam c. So that men never consider by their gifts and places and powers they bear fruit among men and be usefull to a Civil State they never think of being useful to the people of God and saving of their own souls but it s one thing to live fruitful towards God and another to be thought so by men as it s said of Jeroboams son There was found some good thing in him towards the Lord God of Israel Therefore consider that may be good among men which is not good towards the Lord God of Israel Fifthly After this the oath of God passes on the man there is a swearing in his wrath against men now as there was against Israel of old Hebrews 3. and therefore we also must take heed for this is the most dreadfull Judgement can come among men and this oath though it be secret yet it hath this effect that the Spirit of God in the common works and gifts is by degrees withdrawn for though there be a decree that passeth upon every mans eternal estate as an act of the Soveraignty of God Iacob have I loved and Esau have I hated and the foundation of God remains sure the Lord knows who are his yet there are many strivings of the spirit of God about a mans eternal estate before the Lord swear in his wrath he shall never enter into his rest for my spirit shall strive with that man no more Gen. 6.3 for as the Lord will not always suffer his Ministers to speak in vain therefore sometimes he saith they shall be a reprover unto such a people no more and therefore he will change the orb in which the stars sometimes shine he that hath them in his right hand so he will not always suffer his spirit to strive in vain and therefore he doth call home this Spirit as his extraordinary Embassador when he prepares open war against that man and all Treaties of peace are at an end the Lord will treat with him about the matter of reconciliation no more Sixthly after this there comes upon a man from the Lord as a fruit of this oath a spirit of slumber and a heart that cannot repent Isa 29.10 the word in the Hebrew is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same that 's used of Adam when the Lord took out his rib
give us is this Doctrine Holiness is the only way to happiness there is no seeing of God in glory without it none shall see God but the holy man And here for the right understanding of it we are to consider holiness three waies First quoad principium according unto the principle of it and that is Regeneration when the seeds of holyness that is holy principles are sown a new image is begun Secondly quoad incrementum according to the increase of it which is sanctification by which he that is new born to God grows up to the perfection of those habits received in the fear of God Thirdly quoad exercitium for the putting forth of those inward improved principles in a way of holy walking and this is in Scripture called obedience without holiness in all these suitable to the time and means that God doth vouchsafe man in a measure of truth and sincerity there is no hope to see the Lord. First Holiness quoad principium which is commonly called regeneration and without this there is no salvation John 3.3 Jesus said verily verily c. except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God we have first the manner of the assertion first nota dignitatis there is no truth but is a beam from the father of light but there are some truths more precious and of greater worth then others Secondly not a certitudinis all his words are true yet he doth set a special impress of truth for to be observed upon some words more then upon others Secondly the thing asserted except a man be born from above non unius partis correctionem sed totius naturae renovationem designat Calvin Calv. T is not the understanding is blind Labour to get it illightned the morals are ill Labour to reform them it is not the change of a mans way or his leaving some sins and taking up the practise of some duties but it must be A new nature as if he were new born into the world 2 Cor. 5.17 thou must have a divine nature a new creature there is nothing of the old building will serve all things must become new t is called therefore the new creation of God Thirdly the universality of the assertion aequivalet universali what age or calling or condition soever though this man were one that lived in the Church a Pharisee civil in his Conversation a Saint in his generation he was a man that had attained a more then ordinary pitch of knowledge a teacher and of a good disposition a man not bitter against Christ as the rest of his sect were and yet Christ saith to him he must be born again a man may be a member of a Church of a loving and ingenuous disposition a fair and unblamable conversation and a man of that eminency in knowledge that he may be a teacher of others and yet this man must be born again or he cannot see the Kingdom of God Fourthly the necessity he puts upon it also the Kingdom of God is both the Kingdom of grace here and hereafter of glory and to see it is frui to enjoy it participem fieri as ver 5. he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God so that to see it is to enter into or to have a mans own part and portion in it with the rest of the Saints so that let a man be never so great in the world never so eminent for profession let his outward carriage be never so upright nay Angelical yet if he hath no birth but his first birth he is not in Gods account a member of this Kingdom of grace nor hath any right to the priviledges of it here or of the Kingdom of glory hereafter he hath no part or portion therein There are two parables by which Christ doth hold this forth to us clearly first that of the marriage of the Kings son Matth. 22. there is a guest that comes without a wedding garment it is not a sleight thing to come to the ordinances in the Gospel in an unregenerate state if there be but one the King will come in to see the guests this wedding garment is Christ put on by faith in a work of vocation and the image of Christ begins in a man in the work of regeneration and he shall be cast out from the wedding that is so in the day when the Lord shall come and visit the guests so that parable of the foolish Virgins Math. 25. First Virgins they were and kept their garments from gross pollutions Secondly they were Professors and they joyned in society wih the wise Thirdly in high esteem they were for they had oyl in their Lamps they did shine as Lights in the world Fourthly they held out with great expectation unto the coming of the Lord for they went out to meet the Bride and yet they were shut out when the Bridegroom came because they had oyl in their Lamps but none in their Vessels the gifts of the Spirit of God are of two sorts some qualifying as the Spirit is forma assistens and works upon them in acts and this is oyl enough to cause them to make a profession and to shine as Lights in the world but some are renewing as the Spirit is forma informans A spirit dwelling in the Saints as a fountain of living Waters springing up to Everlasting life Now they that had the one without the other were shut out with I know you not c. And we have one famous instance in the Scripture and that is of Timothy he was born in the Church of godly Parents there was faith unfeigned in his grandmother Lois c. he was one Religiously educated for he knew the Scripture from a child and he was a child of a great deal of forwardness in so much that the People of God had great hopes of him there were many Prophesies that forespake him that he would be an eminent and a blessed instrument in the Church of God Paul saith according to the Prophesie forespoken that went of thee and yet for all this there had been no Salvation for Timothy but that he was begotten by Paul through the Gospel He is my own son in the faith 1 Tim. 1.2 And the reasons of it are two First it is in Regeneration that a man receives a new and another spirit 1 Cor. 2.12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit which is of God My servant Caleb hath another spirit saith God Numb 14.24 There is a double spirit that acts all Mankind all unregenerate men are under the power of the devil who is the spirit of the world the world lies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Ioh. 5.19 In aliquo posicum esse est sub ejus esse potestate Camer And this spirit acts and effects works in all the children of disobedience yea even in the elect before their conversion before their regeneration the strong man armed keeps the house till a
But what is there in their destruction that is such matter of joy to hear of the shedding of blood and the destruction of many thousands and those many of them poor souls very unfit to dye to see them in garments rouled in blood is this matter of joy a man would rather think you should rather sit down and sigh to the breaking of your loins There are many things in it matter of joy and triumph unto the Saints as first they rejoyce in the Judgements of God Rev. 19 2. True and righteous are thy judgements for thou hast judged the great whore they do taste a sweetness even in the judgements of God as Ezek. 3.1 it was in my belly as honey even that roll which contained nothing but bitter lamentations yet it was very sweet to him the Saints love to see Christ with his sword girt upon his thigh and cloathed with a vesture dipt in blood and treading the wine-press alone travelling in the greatness of his strength Isa 63.1,2 Secondly because God hath appeared for the Churches cause and hath owned their quarrel and hath avenged the blood of his servants at their hands Rev. 19.2 when God doth appear for them and doth not leave them unto the will of their enemies but doth awake as a Giant in the behalf of his people this hath alwaies occasioned songs and rejoycing in his people the Lord hath triumphed gloriously over the horse his rider Exo. 15. not that they do triumph meerly upon the account of their own safety but they triumph because God hath triumphed over his enemies else to see so many drowned in the mercyless grave who would not have pittyed them Thirdly of all the Churches enemies that ever were this is the cruelest enemy the fourth beast is worse then any of the former and in the fourth beast the little horn was more fierce then his fellows they have been alwaies drunk with blood and their endeavour was to weare out the Saints of the most High Fourthly it shall be the last enemy for as soon as they shall be destroyed the seventh Trumpet sounds and then shall the mystery of God be finished it hath been an enemy to the Church of longest continuance of any their oppressions have lain longest upon the Church of God and the longer a burthen doth lie and hath been complained of the greater mercy you would count it to have it taken off if to be 430. years in Egypt and 70. years in Babylon be a long time for the people of God to indure yet this is a bondage that lasts 1260. daies in the greatest tyranny and rage that can be they Tread down the Temple Rev. 11.1,2 Fifthly when this enemy shall be destroyed the cup of her fornication shall be removed by which the men of the earth but specially the Kings of the earth have been made drunken Rev. 18.11 Now there is no man shall be their merchants more they had Chap-men abundantly before but now there shall be a dealing in that trade no more the same God that did cast out Satan in the Pagan way of Idolatry will also cast out Satan in the Antichristian way of Idolatry but they shall not deceive the earth by such sorceries any more for there is by this means a cloud that hath filled the house and no man could enter into the Temple Rev. 15.8 there was no considerable number of menconverted there was such a darkness and a smoake upon the ordinances of God and all his dispensations but all shall be removed Sixthly Lastly from the glorious fruit and consequences that shall follow upon the destruction of Antichrist the people of God will have great cause to rejoyce and praise God I le name only these four First then the Kingdoms of the world shall become the Kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ Rev. 11.15 there shall be multitudes converted unto the Lord. Secondly it shall be the inlet of all the promises now Christ shall be called the word of God he was so before but now he is called so for the accomplishment of it as Exod. 3.6 by the name Jehovah God was not known unto them Thirdly then all persecutions shall cease Rev. 20. Satan shall be bound so that he shall not stir up the world to the persecution of the Saints as he had done in times past Fourthly New Jerusalm shall come down from God out of Heaven there shall be that glory of the Church that the Kingdom and dominion under the whole Heavens shall be given up to it and they shall possess it for ever and ever Dan. 7. the mountain of the Lords house shall be exalted on the top of the mountains there is a triumphant state of the Church that is yet to come in this life when all the glory of the world shall be brought unto the Church and people of God Vse Seeing God hath in a degree accomplished this in this late mercy do you rejoyce with Triumph and say great Babylon is fallen for they are some of the most blind and Jesuited Papists in the world and those that profess oâ—herwise yet they do enter upon the Popish interest and engage in the same quarrel with them and take heed you be not deceived with vain words we see how not only this but the neighbor Nations do declare against them that seek to promote that cause of tyrannie and oppression which you have hitherto fought against let not your discontents carry you to the quite contrary point of the compass and your zeal against sects and heresies make you to succor their prophaness and to enter upon their interest and thereby to destroy that which you have endeavoured to build and to pluck down with your own hands that which you have so much with your purses and prayers laboured to set up I le only speak briefly to these five particulars to quicken you in this duty of praising God First it is a command that God doth give to all his Saints to rejoyce at Babylons downfal Rev. 18.20 rejoyce over her thou heaven universa sanctorum multitudo all the Saints but specially the Prophets and the Apostles the saithful Preachers of the word of God let not them be last in their joy and praises that had the great hand and were first in praying for it it is your duty and it lies as a command upon you and if you make conscience of other commands do not for fancies dispence with this Secondly they be Romes merchants only that be sad at it let them say Rev. 18.10 Alas alas that great City Babylon that mighty City this doth not befit the Sons of Zion but the merchants of Babylon and truly let me tell you a man may receive the mark of the beast in his right hand and may strongly promote the Popish interest that doth never wearâ—t by profession in his forehead Thirdly if Babylon shall fall then come out of her my people saith your God when Rome doth fall now is the time
is for the good of the soul that is committed to the Officers of the Church Thirdly all their power is for spiritual ends all with relation to the soul First for preservation they do watch over them that they be not deceived with corrupt Doctrines lest being led away with the error of the wicked they should fall from their stedfastness and because VVolves will come in watch therefore take heed to your selves and to all the flock Act. 20.30 and also lest they be corrupted in their practises for a little leaven will leaven a whole lump therefore Church Officers are made watch-men to discover the danger that is coming upon them and to prevent it Secondly for their edification therefore S Paul saith The power was given for edification that he had authority in the Church it was that he might have the greater opportunity to edifie the Church of God and 1 Thes 5.12 They labour amongst you and admonish and instruct you all is for the edification of the body of Christ till we all come to the unity of the faith and to a perfect man Thirdly for their salvation all is done that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord 1 Cor. 5.5 and therefore the great care of all the Officers mentioned in Scripture hath been of the souls of men and to see their souls prosper and their graces thrive how ever it was with them in outward things if they were rich in faith and abounding in hope and full of good works though it went never so mean with them in outward things they were not afflicted with it and therefore Paul is mightily troubled when they are turned away from the Truths of the Gospel and when any of them do walk scandalously to the endangering of the souls of the rest of the body c. Fourthly Officers must give an account of souls that are committed unto them Here first every man must give an account to God for his own soul and his own waies for we must all appear before the Judgement seat of Christ to this end 2 Cor. 5.10 Secondly every man shall give an account of the souls of others so far as either they have been under his power or he hath had a hand or been instrumental in their destruction as the destruction of Israel will be charged upon Ieroboham who made Israel to sin and Lev. 19.17 Thou shalt not bear sin for him Ab alienis meis Austin Austin and it is a terrible thing to be Instrumental in any mans destruction Thirdly but Officers in a special manner that do take the charge of souls they shall give an account for them that is according to the terms of the Prophet Ezek. 3.17,18 If thou give him warning he shall dye in his sin the blood shall be upon his own head thou hast delivered thy own soul but if thou do not give him warning he doth perish but his blood shall be charged upon thee it shall be required at thy hands it is the guilt of blood that is the greatest guilt and of all bloods the blood of souls yet this is that which lyes upon you which Erasmus saith Erasmus are fulmina non verba it s a terrible thing to consider such a charge upon him with such a danger A man that considers what account he hath to give of his own sins he would not be willing to take upon him also the guilt of other mens sins and give account for them Fourthly all that are imployed by God there will come a time when they must come unto God and deliver up their charge for the talents that they have received I had five Talents here they are and are improved to five more the unprofitable servant must come also that hid his Talent in a Napkin and conscience shall give up its charge when it layes down its viatory office delivering the man up perfectly unto the grace of God and Christ the Kingdom which some as Chrysostom do understand of the Church of the Saints and that fitly and truly unto the Father I have kept them through thy name take them now to thy self that they may be with me where I am and so for a man to lie down in the dust with this account and to appear before God with this truth Of all the souls that thou hast given me this is my account that I have brought them unto thee safe here am I and the children thou hast given me Fifthly of all trusts in the world that of souls is the greatest First it is the great thing in the man and the man is lost when his soul is lost and therefore in one place it is said loose thy soul and in another loose thy self it is eternal destruction when the soul is lost it is more worth then a world it will not profit a man to gain the world if he loose his soul Secondly it is the great thing that Christ betrusts us with he doth prize it above all things else all other Talents that he gives us are but for the good of the soul and it was in love to the soul that Christ did and suffered all that he did for poor lost man it was meerly for the redemption of his soul the great thing that Christ hath an eye to is the soul the which he hath most glory and about which he hath laid out most grace Thirdly it is that which Satan doth most of all oppose and desire to destroy he is indeed Abadon he hates all man-kind but his chief aim is at the soul he is a murtherer but he will murther the soul if he can that is it which he doth charge all his volleys at he cares not for mens estates and for their honours it is their souls that is the great thing in his eye therefore there is nothing is in so much danger and there is no such trust committed unto a man as the souls of men it is a greater trust then to have the charge of all the Kingdoms of the world Sixthly surely then they had need know the souls well that are under their charge they had need of a very exact account of them and to keep an account of them that shall give this account before Christ at the last day and therefore all that are heedless in this office and that for low and poor ends undertake such a charge and are negligent and are wanting in that labour and diligence in it it doth plainly argue that men do judge the account of souls to be but a small thing and that which may be easily passed over and truly as he that hath no care of his own soul will never take care of an others so he that makes no matter of giving up an account to Christ of his own soul it is no wonder if it be a small thing to him if he had the burden of all other mens souls upon him also but he to whom the account of his own soul is dreadful he
Church was a Jewish Church Blindness is therefore but in part Secondly non omnino it is not a blindness in all things but in respect of this one particular to see Jesus Christ to be the Messiah and the Saviour of the world the consolation of I srael which they expected and waited for in this respect they were under a judicial blindness they that were otherwise Ieshuron the seeing people and they that had lived in the valley of Vision and knew more of the mind of God then all the Nations of the earth besides for in Iudah is God known and his name is great in Israel c. so that there is a particular blindness in Judgement that as God may and doth hide some objects from a people as he did Lots door from the Sodomites and so the Disciples that conferr'd with Christ their eyes were held that they might not know him so the Lord doth in Judgement hide some Truths some Doctrines from men that they shal not see them 2 Cor. 3.15 to this day when Moses is read there is a vail upon their hearts that is in reference unto Christ and the things of Christ which are foretold and spoken of in the Old Testament but when they shall turn to the Lord the vail shall be taken away c. and so though they know much of the Law and the mind of God in respect of moral duties and the worship of the Lord required of them yet the intent of these either as Christ was hid in the one or as the other was a Schoolmaster to bring unto Christ so they had a blindness upon their hearts a blindness so in part was come upon them in respect of the object thus we may often note men may be knowing in some things and yet have on them particular blindness in others Thirdly in respect of the time it shall be but in part not a continual or everlasting blindness though it hath been a long and dreadful desertion as ever came upon any people never was any the like therefore the Apostle saith wrath is come upon them â—wordE the uttermost 1 Thes 2. â—6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which may be either understood of those particular persons as Beza saies who did oppose the present ministerie and so wraâ— might come upon them for ever to eternity an everlasting destruction refer'd unto the particular persons who did maliciously oppose the preaching of the Gospel or else it may be understood de atrocitate paenae and so the word is used 1 Pet. 1.13 Hope to the end or hope perfectly but the end is commonly put for the finishing of any particular dispensation so the end of judgement upon the Jews Dan. 9.24,26 and Luke 21.9 the end is not by and by and so the end of any Judgement or dispensation the end of the administration of the Kingdom of Christ 1 Cor. 15.24 then cometh the end Dan 12.9 Seal the Book till the time of the end till the time that God hath appointed for the calling of the Jews and the fulfilling of this mysterie 1 Pet. 4.7 the end of all things is at hand the total desolation of the Jewish state and worship not of the end of the world is it spoken So 1 Iohn 2.18 This is the last time we read This is the last hour of what of the world no but of this dispensation to the Jewish state before their utter ruine So wrath is come upon them to the end till the time that the Lord hath appointed when they shall be called and then the Lord will cause his fury to depart from them and that shall be when the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in then the wrath upon the Jews shall end and continue no longer but when the fulness of the Gentiles is come in then shall the blindness of the Iews be taken off and they shall be again ingrafted into their own Olive-Tree that is they that were called Loammi and were not a Church unto God but were cast off and termed desolate and forsaken they shall become a Church unto God again and so all Israel shall be saved By all Israel there is a double sense of it First some refer it only to the Iews and so all Israel is as much as tota gens Israelitica that whereas before even in the time they were broken off and the Gentiles grafted in and surrogated in their place there were many particular persons converted of the Jews and they were brought home unto Christ and added unto the true Church of Christ but yet the Nation still remained under blindness as rejected by Christ still but now that mercy which was before shewed unto particular persons shall now become National and it shall take in the body of the Iewish Nation which is yet preserved in their dispersions in great multitudes unto this great day of Jesreel So Beza Par. c. and they say Else the Apostle had revealed no such great mysterie to say that when as blindness was removed from the Iews then the fulness of the Gentiles that come in to the faith shall be saved and a great number of the Iews for it was plain that the Gentiles were converted and brought home daylie but the subject the Apostle had in the words is to speak of the coming in of the Jews which should be as a new resurrection and therefore they understood it not of spiritual Israel but of Israel according to the flesh others do understand it of the whole Israel of God that is of the whole Church of God which shall be made up of Jewes and Gentiles when it shall be presented by Christ unto the Father without spot or wrincle c. And it is a speech like unto that John 10. Other sheep I have which are not of this fold them I must bring in and these shall be one fold and have one shepherd What is there spoken of the conversion of the Gentiles is here spoken of the conversion of the Jewes c. and yet there is a mystery revealed in it also not to say that the Gentiles converted shall be saved that was a thing commonly known but that at the comming in of the Jewes there shall be a greater fullnesse of the Gentiles brought in and that the Gentile Church shall be great gaines by the Jewish convertion that as their casting off was the inriching of the worâ—d so their comming in should be life from the dead and that there should be a great addition to the comming in of the Gentiles and a second fulness of them brought in at the conversion of the Iewes and so all Israel shall be saved not onely natural Israel and those that were surrogated and ingraffed into their Room but also those that are supperaded unto both these For as is said Esa 60 3. the Gentiles shal come unto thy light and Kings to the brightnesse of thy rising I will send those that scape of them unto the Nations unto Taâ—shish Pull
power now there shall be much of the power of Godlinesse of the life of Christ manifested in them thy people shall be all righteous the branch of my planting that I may be glorified Esay 60.21 It is the Bride the Lambs wife having the glory of the Lord upon her Rev. 21.10,11 it s true there shall not be perfect holinesse in the Saints for there is a Tree of life for medicine as well as for meat Rev. 22.2 and they shall not be without Hypocrites those that shall cleave unto them by flattery but yet there shall be a glorious spirit of discerning even of them also and they shall be without not onely that make but they that do love a lie Thirteenthly This Church shall have abundance of converts and their Ordinances shall be exceeding fruitfull to bring in souls into the Lord Ezek. 37.9,10,11 Where the Waters come every thing shall live and there shall be a multitude of fish even as that of the great Sea exceeding many thy Gates shall be open continually not shut day nor night that they may bring the riches of the Gentiles and their Kings shall be brought and they shall flie as a Cloud and as Doves unto their Windows because of the glorious Majesty of the Lord that is seen amongst them c. Fourteenthly They shall be brought home into their own land and they shall dwell there they shall dwell in their own Citie as in the days of old and Ezek. 12. Ezek. 37.25 Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place even in Jerusalem they shall dwell in the land that I gave to Jacob their father wherein their fathers dwelt they shall dwell there even they and their Children and Childrens Children for ever Fifteenthly There shall be a perfect union between the ten Tribes and the two Tribes and the hatred shall depart that breach was never yet made up But then the sticks shall become one Ezek. 37.19 The envy of Judah shall depart and Ephraim shall vex Judah no more I wil gather them out of all Countries whither I have driven them in my anger and I wil give them one heart and one way and then Jehovah shall be one and his name one c. Jer. 32.39 Sixteenthly They shall be the great instrument in the hand of the Lord for to ruine and destroy the Turkish Empire when the Lord shall bend Judah for him and fill his bow with Ephraim Dan. 11.40.44 We read of the King of the South whom tidings out of the North and out of the East shall trouble There are several reasons why by the King of the South I conceive to be meant the Turkish Empire as that which had the next power and exercised the next Tyranny over the Jews and being come to a height there is tidings from the East and North troubling the gathering together of the Jews Ezek. 37.7 when the bones came together there was a great noise and a shaking and standing up they became an exceeding great and formidable Army and he saith that these bones are the house of Israel returning into their own land here is the tidings that trouble the King of the South there the Turk invadeth the glorious holy Mountain and then he comes to an end and none shall help him it is Euphrates must be dried up to prepare the way for the Kings of the East Rev. 16.12 that they may join themselves with the Western Christians Seventeenthly At their returning to the Lord there shall be by them a wonderfull blessing upon all the Gentile Churches their gain shall be much by it they were gainers by the Jews rejection their casting off was the inriching of the World their diminishing the riches of the Gentiles how much more their fulnesse Rom. 11.12.15 it shall be as life from the dead it is not I conceive spoken of the Jews that there comming in should be suddenly and by an act of almighty power as a resurrection as it is resembled Ezek. 37. but it shall be unto the Gentiles as life from the dead that is as misery is exprest by death so all joy and happinesse is exprest by life it shall be as it were a resurrection put a new face upon the world that as it shall be a glorious condition upon earth when all the Saints shall arise and stand upon the earth with joy being perfected in their graces and in their faculties so shall this be even unto the Gentiles as well as unto the Jews a resurrection Eighteenthly With the calling of the Jews the Kingdome of the God of heaven shall be set up that which is now so commonly called the fifth Monarchy shall begin when the four Monarchies are destroyed which shal be with the drying up the River Euphrates that is the Turkish Empire It s true that Christ hath a Kingdome during the rule of the Monarchies in the dayes of those Kings God doth set up a Kingdome but it is a little stone and it breaks the Image by degrees and then afterward becomes a Mountain and the Kingdome given unto the Saints of the most high Which in the Book of Dan. 7.27 it s meant the Jews who are every where called the holy people not of the Gentile Saints Dan. 8.24 and 12.7 and therfore it is they must take the Kingdome and possesse it and it shall be given to them which is not wel applied by all that will call themselves Saints and holy people as if they were to take to themselves the rule of all the Kingdomes of the world Nineteenthly Unto this time the perfect fulfilling of all the prophesie of God doth belong there are degrees of fulfilling the prophecies more or lesse in all times but it s unto this that the perfections of the World are reserved Rev. 10.7 its never before the 7th Trumpet sound that the mystery of God is finished that is all those secrets that were in the bosome of God to perform and which he revealed unto his servants the Prophets all those do not receive their full accomplishment all that God doth intend to do for his people in the advancement of his son in this World is now fulfilled and accomplished Lastly And this glorious condition shall continue unto this people unto the day of judgement that they shall suffer no more the Sun shall no more go down nor the Moon withdraw it self Esay 60.20 I will set my Tabernacle in the middle of them for evermore Ezek. 37.26 by an everlasting covenant and I will plant them in their own land with my whole heart and my whole soul and I will never turn away from them to do them good there shall be no more sorrow nor crying all tears from their eyes shal be wiped away and no more curse as they formerly had Rev. 22.4 they shal be cast out of the land no more c. There Sun did rise and set but now shal go down no more These things require further discussing then one hour permits But having
a labourer in Gods Vine-yard shall not go away without his penny Mat. 20. God will say Call the labourers and give them their hire yea to shew that he loves righteousness the unholy services of unsanctified men shall not go unrewarded only indeed as their heart is not perfect with God in the service so neither is his perfect with them in his reward for with the perfect only he will shew himself perfect Psa 18. but the reward shall hold proportion to the service the service unsanctified seemingly a service but really a sin so the reward shall be in it self a blessing but unto them a curse the service temporal only so shall the reward be Thirdly the person censured by the Lord though God approve and reward that which is good yet he doth not justifie that which is evil neither can his love to the one blind his eyes towards the other his eyes behold and his eye-lids try the children of men And therefore though he had done this great service yet in all that he had done the Lord saith to him he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord but not with a perfect heart he took no heed c. Grace is the Law written in the heart Jer. 3.33 the Table fleshly the heart the Ministers the pen the Spirit the Ink and Christ the Scribe which is the Apostles Metaphor 2 Cor. 3.2,3 the word is a mould Rom. 6.17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or into which you were delivered therefore answerable to the cutts in the mould such must be the impression of the thing moulded by it Now in the Law the mould there are two things Precepts enjoyning duty and Prohibitions forbidding sin now Jehu had not the Law written in his heart and therefore his heart was not right with God in either of these First for the Precept his heart was not right for he took no heed c. Secondly for the Prohibition his heart was not right for he departed not from the sins of c. The first part of the censure is upon the unsoundness of Jehu in respect of the Precept but Jehu took no heed and therein are four things setting forth his unsoundness First his inadvertency and inconsideracy he took no heed Secondly his partiality he took no heed to walk in the Law of the Lord integritas objecti Thirdly his inconstancy some steps he did set in this way but it was not his walk Fourthly his insincerity he took no heed to walk with his whole heart Many duties that his conscience was convinced of he neglected there was his partiality The duties which he did were perfunctorily performed therein he was heedless in the best duties that he did he had self-ends his whole heart was not in them there was his insincerity and the duties that he did set up he did take them up and lay them down as might stand with his own worldly and by respects he did not walk in them therein is his inconstancy and in them all his hypocrisie Before I come to these particulars I will speak a word to the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It may be rendered And Iehu but because it sets forth the unsuitableness between Gods dealing with Iehu and his towards God therefore our Translators have fitly made choice to render it here by the discretive particle but God had of an obscure Captain taken Iehu from amongst his brethren and set him upon the Throne of Israel admitted him to the highest earthly honour neither was this honour personal barely as some of the Kings of Israel was but hereditary God had as it were intailed it to his posterity and spake of his house for a long time to come to the fourth Generation for which David was so thankful but yet Iehu took no heed Doctrine All the outward blessings in the world will never allure an unsanctified heart to serve God in sincerity unless Gods grace and Almighty Power go with them Doctrine Not to serve God with a perfect heart after a man hath had experience of the Profitableness of the service is a wonderful aggravation of his sin Who would not have reasoned God hath for one service raised me from a meer man to be the head of all the Tribes of Israel what will he do for me if I go on to serve him if a temporal reward be so sweet what is an eternal if he so far rewards an unsound what will he do a sincere service wherein my heart should be perfect with him surely the Holy-Ghost hath not said in vain the merchandize of wisdom is better then silver c. Prov. 3.15 and all thou canst desire cannot be compared to it and what cannot a man desire Mountains of Gold Alps of Gold sholes of pearl but yet the trading in it and the returns by it are more profitable then any temporal thing a man can imploy himself in yet so blind is the heart of a natural man that he cannot deduce out of such premises such a plain inference such an easie connexion Behold first a great engagement we hold our selves bound to all services that are lawful unto our benefactors God had set Iehu in the Throne and then he took no heed c. Secondly behold a great encouragement he that hath found one way gainful will be encouraged to the same again and he that hath found a service profitable will afterward in the same service be more abundant and though he had found one service so gainful to him as a Kingdom yet he took no heed either he took no care at all to do the service or else which is more probable he took no heed to do it acceptably to serve him acceptably with a reverent and godly fear as the Apostle speaks Heb. 12.28 But I come to the words themselves and in them to the first part of Iehus censure his inadvertency he took no heed in the original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word signifies to keep or observe with exactness or the greatest diligence that may be Iosh 6.18 and ye in any wise keep your selves from the cursed thing Psal 30.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If thou shouldest observe or straightly mark what is done amiss who shall stand and the Septuagent puts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is commonly used by Christ in the New Testament for all manner of heedfulness diligence and exact observation Iehu did not take heed he did not observe he did not strictly and carefully mark what he did in the service of God that so he might walk before him with a perfect heart Here is therefore First an evil thing he di◠take no heed and that was his sin Secondly an evil sign he took no heed and therein did manifest his hypocrisie and unsoundness of his heart First it is an evil thing he took no heed and that was his sin now because omnis negatio fundatur in affirmatione therefore here is the neglected duty supposed also And so we have
together for good by their Covenant all things are yours whether life or death c. 1 Cor. 3.22 Now this dealing of God with men living in the Church under the same Ordinances and enjoying the same priviledges being so different there can be no reason given of it but meerly the different Covenants under which they stand for God hath been and is alwaies mindful of his Covenant and according to it doth alwaies dispence himself to the creature Vse Let it awaken every natural man to seek for a translation Thy misery by sin stands in two things First that thou art under Adams Covenant Secondly that thou bearest his Image now we many times see our misery by the one the evil of our waies but few are sensible of the other the evil of our state and that is the greatest for this makes thee a bond-man whilest thou livest for the Covenant genders unto bondage and it cuts thee off from all hope of an inheritance hereafter for the bond-woman must be cast out with her children This is the translation which the Apostle speaks of being translated into the Kingdom of his dear son Col. 1.1 this is the passage from death to life Iohn 5.24 In this passage a of man there must be a double change First mutatio moralis a Relative change as when of a bond-man a man is made a free-man of a servant he becomes a son Secondly Physica a natural change that is when of a sick man he is made sound the first is the change of a mans Covenant and the second a change of his Image the one is done in Justification and the other in Sanctification and by both these old things are past away all things do become new 1 Cor 5.17 This translation all the people of God that ever went to heaven had experience of and this is that I desire all men in a natural state may be awakened to seek after But you will say who be the men that stand under this first Covenant I hope there be none such amongst us You may judge your selves by these two rules First he that is under the second Covenant hath an interest in him who is the prince of the Covenant he that was given as a Covenant to the Nations Isa 42.6 for we heard before that the two Covenants were made with two different heads and it is union with them that brings a man under either Covenant it is being in Adam that makes a man stand under the one and being in Christ that gives a man interest in the other for a man must be in Christ as he was in Adam that is in him legally standing under his Covenant and in him naturally that is bearing his Image Now if a man would know whether he hath an Interest in Christ or no let him take the Apostles rule and lay it unto his own soul impartially 2 Cor. 5.17 he that is in Christ is a new creature he is not barely new dressed or hath gotten a new out-side but he is within renewed in the Spirit of his mind he hath a new understanding new apprehensions of persons and things and those things which before he counted foolishness now he doth know them to be his only wisdom and those persons that he looked upon as the scum and off-scouring of all things these they judge to be the excellent ones of the earth and those dark and carnal apprehensions of the waies of God and the mysteries of Godliness that he had before they are now done and past away they have no affection to them for it is not enough for a man to have new words and new actions there is many a man abstains from the practise of many sins that their hearts love and many a man for some respects takes up the practise of some duties that his heart hates but such a man now loves that which before he hated and he now hates that which before he did love that which before was to him the only matter of his joy now becomes the only object of his sorrow thus he that is in Christ is a new creature If so then surely they cannot take themselves to be new creatures that have not so much as renewed their actions that were drunkards and so continue were Sabbath-breakers and Swearers and Userers and Scoffers and so continue still the comfort of whose lives comes in by evil it is their meat and drink they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence Prov. 4.27 It s their cloathing Pride compasseth them as a chain violence covers them as a Garment Psal 73.6 and it is their recreation it is a pastime for a fool to do wickedly Prov. 10.23 and there be no recreations that have any pleasure in them unless they be sweetned by sin surely thus walking in their old waies it is impossible they should be new creatures and not being new creatures they are not in Christ and not being in Christ the Prince of the Covenant they have no interest in the new Covenant Secondly he that is under the first Covenant is a bond-man as Ismael whereas he that is under the second Covenant is the son of the free-woman and receives from the Lord by that Covenant a free Spirit Psal 51.12 First he is in bondage by earthly engagements he can have no engagement but it is a snare to him The false Prophets were honoured by some of the Kings of Israel therefore they could not speak the truth to him neither to reprove his sin nor to discover the mind of God I must do such a thing though it be against my conscience to give such a man content I must not reprove such a sin because it will displease c. the Prophet Michaiah had a dis-engaged Spirit in this respect Secondly in bondage unto sin and under the power of their own lusts that though they may see many evils in themselves and confess it yet when occasion and opportunity serves and the lust represents it self they are no more their own thy cannot resist Eyes full of Adultery that cannot cease to sin 2 Pet. 2.14 and as men use to say they cannot choose c. Thirdly in bondage unto the creatures under the power of them 1 Cor. 6.12 one man cannot live without his honour another without his minion another without such an estate and all the thoughts of their hearts run out about such things and are wholly busied about meat and drink and cloathes and money and play and this wholly drinks up their spirits Fourthly in bondage under the guilt of sin and slavish and servile fears they go all their life long with a galled conscience filled with fearful apprehensions of death and Judgement for they all their life long for fear of death are subject to bondage Heb. 2.15 Consider seriously of these particulars and unto such men I speak as being as yet under the first Covenant and I exhort them to seek to be translated I speak not this to
Lord makes of a glorious estate unto his people after their deliverance But it is the first only that I am to speak to as being only proper for the present occasion Out of him shall come forth the corner Doct. The Observation that I shall deliver to you from thence is this When the Lord returns to his people in mercy he will give unto them Governors that shall support them that shall be for the supporting for the uniting and for the adorning of the Common wealth I say when the Lord returns to a people in mercy he will give unto them Governors that shall be for the support the uniting and adorning of the Common-wealth Here are but two things that the time will give me leave to speak to Therefore I shall omit the third I shall shew you that when the Lord returns to a people in mercy he gives them such Governors as support the Common-wealth they shall be as the Corner-stone upon which the weight of the building may lie Secondly he doth give them such Governors as shall be as the Corner stone that may unite the Common-wealth I shall begin with the first First good Magistrates are as the Corner-stone to support the Common-wealth it is true all the stones in the building do conduce to the upholding thereof for as it is in the spiritual building so it is in the Politick men are built as living stones but I say the main weight of it lies upon the Corner-stone because the weight of the building the burden of all lies upon the Magistrate therefore I say he is here resembled to a Corner-stone Now that a Magistrates business is to uphold the Common-wealth take notice of these four denominations in the Scripture First Magistrates are called the foundations of the earth Psal 82.5 and Mich. 6.2 where he speaks of the oppression of Magistrates he saith all the foundations of the earth are out of course I have said yee are Gods why you that are the foundations of the earth to pull up Magistracy is to pluck up all by the foundation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Secondly they are called the breath of your Nostrils Lam. 4.20 the breath of our Nostrils it is spoken of Zedekiah who was an evil Prince yet he hath this honourable title given him by the Prophet it is as possible for a man to live without breath as it is for a Common-wealth to subsist without Magistracy Thirdly they are called the shoulders upon which all the weight is born Isa 22. I will give him the key of the house of David I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulders a key is Symbolum potestatis an emblem of Government Now saith the Lord I will not put the key in his hand but I will lay it upon his shoulders Isa 9.6 Unto us a child is born the Government is upon his shoulder Principes mundani onus gubernandi rejiâ—iunt in humeros servorum it is but to let you see the weight of Government therefore it must be laid upon the shoulder and men must lay their shoulders to it In the last place Magistrates are called the Arms of the people the Arms of Moab are broken Ier. 48.25 I am not able to bear this people alone saith Moses Moses had not Arms sufficient to bear such a weight My beloved the great burden of all I say lies upon the Governors they are the Arms by which the people are born up Unus tantum subditus in Civitate Magistratus est Luther saith Luther there was but one subject in a City and that is the Magistrate the weight of all yes upon him And it must needs be so if you take his reason for he saith Ante peccatum Politia nulla fuit politia est remedium necessarium naturae corruptae all civil Government was but a necessary remedy that was brought in for corrupt nature Now if it be a remedy against corrupt nature the burdens of corrupt nature are exceeding many in so much as the Lord himself complains in Amos 2.13 I am pressed under your abominations as a Cart that is full of Sheaves therefore I say the weight of all the supporting of all lies upon the Magistracy they are the corner-stone upon whom the weight of the building lies But the great enquiry will be how are Magistrates the corner-stone of the Common-wealth how do they or how must they support the Common-wealth that their duty may answer their dignity that they may indeed prove corner-stones I shall give you five directions as briefly as I may First that the Magistrate may be a corner-stone to support the building he must take care that he uphold Religion that must be his first that must be his great care that which should be mainly in our eye in praying for them should be chiefly in their eye in practising 1 Tim. 2.2 Pray for Kings and those that are in Authority that you may lead a peaceable and a quiet life in godliness and honesty peace without godliness is but a vain and a mock-peace but because now this is made a controversie I shal offer three considerations which truly are to me unanswerable that the Magistrate is to take care of Religion Nay his great care his first care is to be of that pray observe them well because you are every where told now Magistrates have nothing to do with matters of Religion In the first place every Magistrate ought to rule with God Hosea 11. ver ult Judah rules with God the throne of the Magistrate is therefore called the throne of God When Constantine was exalted to the seat of the Empire it is said he was taken up into the throne of God Rev. 12.5 then the great care of Magistrates must be that they do not rule alone but that they have God to rule with them it is true the most high rules in the Kingdoms of mortal men Dan. 4.17 but he rules but as he doth rule in the Kingdom of the Devils he rules but by a way of providence but you that fear God should endeavour that God should rule among you as he rules among his Saints in waies of grace in waies of grace I say Now I beseech you consider let Religion be neglected or corrupted presently God forsakes that people Look but into the 10. and 11. Chapters of the prophesie of Ezekiel it is true the Lord doth not remove all at once but the glory of the Lord goes up first from the Cherubims to the threshold of the house from the threshold of the house to the midst of the City and from â—he City to the Mountains my Brethren if the glory of God leave your Ordinances once be well assured he will leave your City next the next move is that therefore whatsover you do if you would rule with God take heed that by this means he be not provoked to depart for a Magistrate ruling alone and a Minister preaching alone
corner-stone to a Nation or to a Common wealth or to a Ciâ—y when you do thus uphold them And that is the first thing The Corner-stone aedificium sustinet it upholds the building I would speak something of the second the Corner-stone aedificium continet it unites it Magistrates are not only to sustain and to uphold but they are to unite Magistrates be called Healers Isa 3.7 they must bind up the wounds of the people The Lord Jesus Christ it is his glory and work 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he doth unite them all under one Head things in Heaven and things in earth Eph. 2.20,21 in Adamo nos omnes uni sumus Prosp that as in the first Adam so it is true in the second Adam it is in him they are made one and united The Corner stone is to unite as well as to support Oh But you will say to me It is union that we all long for we are a divided people shall we alwaies eat the flesh of our own arms shall Ephraim be against Manasseh and Manasseh against Ephraim and both against Judah still The staff of bonds is broken amongst us shall it alwaies remain broken what way is there that there might be a healing in this that this breach might be made up Why truly the hand of the Ruler must be first in this thing that the mercy may be called by his name the hand of the Ruler must be first in it you that are the Corner stones must unite the building you talk of perswading the people to unite I say the hand of the Ruler must be first in the union I but you will say how can that be I beseech you let me give you a few directions and then I shall from all make a short Application and conclude The waies of union are these five and I desire you that are in Authority to lay them to heart In the first place Religion is the great bond of union therefore I say let it be your great care that there be a unity in Religion the greatest breach is in that Odia-religionum sunt accrbissima no breach like that You shall see what began a breach between Israel and Judah it was Religion upon a Politick respect when God rent the Kingdom from the house of Rehoboam but observe the Politick difference might have been made up and Jeroboam out of his Devilish subtilty foresaw it 1 King 12.17 he saith if the people go up to Jerusalem to worship their hearts will turn again to the house of David saith he The Politick difference would have been made up therefore saith he I will make them two Calves one in Dan and the other in Bethel and this shall set them at a perpetual distance the difference the Politick difference might have been made up the State difference but the difference in Religion would never therefore this was the way to divide them perpetually If ever you will unite the people there must be your foundation So the Lord begins when he will unite his people Zach. 14.9 Iehovah shall be one and his name one you shall have but one God and you shall worship him one way by one name Now you have many Gods and many names Ichovah shall be one and his name one Ier. 32.39 I will give them one heart and one way one way in what one way in Religion that is the main thing he speaks of or as the Prophet saith Zeph. 3.9 They shall serve the Lord with one shoulder I desire therefore that no man would take delight in keeping up differences in matters of Religion take heed of it either upon this ground because you look upon it as policy to uphold parties or else it may be because you dare not displease either party take heed of it I say be valiant for the truth upon earth in this contend earnestly for the faith once given to the Saints usually a girdle was an ornament belonging to the Magistrates in former times it is fit for those that are Rulers to wear it still have your loins girt about with truth Eph. 6.14 Beloved it is true I expect not that all men shall be of one mind one judgement I know men see with different light and I know that while the smoke of the Temple lasteth as it shall be during the pouring out of the Vials Rev 15. I know the Sea of glass will be mingled with fire but in this you should be of one mind you must be in the fundamentals that without which there can be no Religion no Christianity he that speaketh against these openeth his mouth wide against Heaven Neither say I that the Magistrates judgement in this should be the rule as some men suggest then you will have the Magistrates judgement to rule in matters of Religion No we have a sure word of prophecy and we know this sure word of prophecy is not dark in that in things necessary The Apostle tels us plainly there is a pattern of wholsom words to which we must keep 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and though it is true the grossest errors in the world would shroud themselves under Scripture and flie thither for a refuge saith Iustine Martyr Justine Mâ—…r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such a man expounds the Scripture secundum sensum non quem legit sed quem Attulit August August they would offer violence to the Scripture they would flie thither for refuge but upon examination it would appear that the Scripture gives no such shelter Well that is the first thing if you would unite the great body unite in Religion Let Ichovah be one and his name one Secondly if Magistrates would unite the people then take heed agree amongst your selves if you would have union amongst the people I say agree amongst your selves if the Corner-stones once fall asunder you may easily expect many cracks in the building differences amongst Governors must needs cause strange distractions among the people for they are generally led by parties and personal respects therefore if you would heal this breach now which you all seem to complain of begin with your selves Physitian heal thy self heal your own differences first all divisions amongst your selves this is the way the Lord takes in Hos 1. ult he saith they shall appoint to themselves one Head they should have many Governors united all under the Lord Jesus Christ they should be all under one head I beseech you consider it how comes it to pass then Governors in their Politick meetings meet with as great confusion as they did in their Church Ecclesiastical meetings 1 Cor. 14.26 how is it saith the Apostle that every one hath a Psalm and every one a Doctrine and every one hath a Revelation and every one hath an Interpretation let all be done to edifying every man did seek to shew his gifts and to lay out his own parts without all respect to the edification of the Church So many times it proveth in Politick meetings too It is good advice
to himself in his own iniquity did not hide a sweet morsel but had respect to all the Commandments and hated every false way Secondly he was a friend to Reformation in the purity and spirituality of it which consists not onely in casting out the old rubbish of corruption in doctrine and worship but laying a new foundation not onely an outward Reformation of Ordinances but an inward reformation of members Re. 11.1 The corruption of the Church is so express'd There are many when God is about to reform his Church will bear the name of Christians Isa 54.11,12 I will lay thy stones with fair colours and thy foundations with Saphyrs when the Church of God sparkles in the eys of the world as many times it does it shall have many followers There is saith Calvin a double foundation a foundation of doctrine on which the Church is built and of members of which the Church is constituted and this he saith is meant here the Church shall not be built of every ordinary and Common-stone but new-Jerusalem shall be built with precious stones and without shall be dogs and every one that loves and makes a lye and in comparison of what now it is they shall be all eminent Saints then as it is said thy people shall be all righteous every one of them and this will distinguish in an eminent manner the Saints from the men of the world and therefore no wonder if godliness has so few friends in the world Color omnibus unus 3 He was a man in all his relations of a very publik spirit he was far from making those private advantages to himself that many do of kindred and friends he was one had impoverisht himself for the publick service to my knowledge and never sought and profess'd never would recompence from the State Many men will serve the kingdom whilst they serve themselves upon it and the while they serve the State they have wrought well for themselves dives potestas pauperem facit Rem-publicam 'T will be an honor in after ages that a man hath made no advantage of his publick trust when every man is making gain from his interest to promote himself and his family thereby 4 He was a man very humble of a meek and a sweet temper free from the common bitterness that is in men he had much of the Dove and of dovelike simplicity and much of the wisdom though very free from the craft of the Serpent a man full of sweetness and love of an amiable and a winning conversation which surely are things in the sight of God in great price 5 He was a man of a very faithful spirit which truely now is very hard to finde We may well say the faithful man is perished falshood is now grown the wisdom and the policy of the times for men to pretend grace and intend nothing less to look one way and row another to speak words smoother then butter when they have war in their hearts and to betray his brother with a kiss and with Ioab stab him in an imbracement and he that can carry it with the greatest fairness and smoothness is the wisest man and this is the great policy of our times 6 Lastly He was and I wish all that are in places of trust would consider this exceeding industrious and active in the care of the publick much lay upon him he did not spare his pains and his time even to the neglect of his own necessary affairs yea the necessity of nature for a support of nature many a time as I can witness and the sad condition of the kingdom lay very heavy upon him he was willing to his power to put men a work ere he had wages for them from the publick Many men are active but it is when there is something to be gotten that does oyl their Chariot wheeles they love to tread out the Corn but to plow in hope and to labour barely for the publick good I fear there are but few such in the kingdom I le appeal now to you that knew him you knovv these things to be true I doubt not but God has rewarded him according to his works God with Vs whilst We are with Him At a publick Fast before the Parliament Iune 9. 1652. 2 Chron. 15.2 But if ye forsake Him He will also forsake you THe Lord having rent the kingdom from Rehoboam according unto the vvord that he had spoken and left him only tvvo Tribes that his servant David might have alvvays a light before the Lord in Ierusalem this remainder of the kingdom did he seek to establish to strengthen himself in but as Luther observes qui regit signum est in quod Satan omnia jacula dirigit therefore as he doth of men endeavour to corrupt the first the prime of their yeers so he doth also to Magistrates the prime of their Government that he may lay corruption in the foundation and therefore he forsook the Law of the Lord ch 12.1 and men in Authority sin not alone principum delicta sunt plano diabolica they have many that fall with them therefore it is said that he did not only forsake the Law of the Lord but all I srael with him having thus departed from the Lord they now betake themselves unto other Laws having chosen unto themselves other Gods for they forsake God that forsake his Law and they build high places and Images and groves upon every high hill and under every green tree and there were Sodomites in the land also who did according unto all the abominations of the Nations permittente Rehoboam so also he did give them a toleration its true that he did not set them up by authority but he did connive at them and let them alone he did not look upon it as his duty to use his Authority and turn the edge of it against them but there was something else in it for it was done nomine praetextu religionis Pet. Mart. it being the way that the heathens did worship their Gods and who shall limit the Consciences of men that way of worship which they shall think fit that they are to use and who shall controll them and so set themselves in the place of God if men as Sodomites or Ranters will worship God who hath power to gainsay them for uncleanness in opinion will soon bring in uncleanness in conversation and Abijam succeeded his father in all these abominations for he walked in all the sins of his father that he had done before him as Rehoboam did in the abominations of the heathens which the Lord had cast out before them for men may be the sons of those per imitationem to whom by generation they have no relation and they that cast others out of authority and yet be their successors in the same abominations they are in Gods account their sons though their posterity be disinherited by them and this was the state and condition of the kingdom when Asa came