so many Discourses that the Kingdom of Heaven is nigh at Hand that upon that very Consideration you may be most Zealous in it So I earnestly Pray you may be Blessed in your Lord finding you so doing Verily I say unto you he shall make you greater Rulers in a truly Evangelical Sense than now you are And as to the black and dark side I make no mention of it because I am perswaded better things of you and such as Accompany the Salvation and Glory of that Kingdom Herein I am Your most Humble and Affectionate Orator T. BEVERLEY A Discourse upon Evangelical Repentance to Salvation not to be Repented of and the Godly Sorrow working it 2 Cor. 7.10 For Godly Sorrow worketh Repentance to Salvation not to be Repented of but the Sorrow of the World worketh Death THERE is no more Universal Notion in the Soul of Man in those Things wherein he hath to do with God or even with Man or with Himself then to Repent that is to be sorry for what he hath done Amiss and wherein he hath Offended and to Resolve and Promise to Amend and to do the Evil he hath done no more It is fitted as a great Instrument of Reconciliation and a second state of Innocency a Reserve after the Ruin and Shipwrack of our First Innocency a Remedy a Reparation after the first Advantages of doing well are lost And it is the infinite Grace of God in a Mediator that there is such a Notion in the World It preserves it from being a Hell in regard either of the extremity and utmost Rages of Wickedness or of the Horrors and Fury of Despair It is the infinite Grace of God in a Redeemer That there is a Place of Repentance as the Apostle calls it Heb. 12. that is place and room for it in mans Heart and that there is place for it in the Acceptance of God that God does not scorn and utterly reject it against him that hath once sinned That he is not inexorable and not to be intreated concerning it For how woful and even Hellishly Miserable would man be without it That the Nature of Man is inclin'd to offer and accept such Repentance one towards another and so that there are mutual Forgivenesses among men and not unappeasable hatreds and that there is in a mans own Conscience a preparedness to acquiesce to be satisfied to Rest and to be Appeased upon finding in the Soul and Action a sorrow for sin and Reformation from it All this keeps the World from being absolutely Hell For Sorrow Dislike Trouble Remorse for what a Man hath done evil move a man to review to acknowledgment to bewailing to confession to change and reformation to a new course of Life and Action Seeing then Man is such a fallen such a Peccant and offending Nature it is infinite grace in God that there is such a Notion such Action in mans Soul as Repentance and that there is not an utter irreconcilableness an unpardonableness after Offense committed neither in Heaven nor on Earth not in the Court of Heaven nor in the Court of Human Nature one towards another nor in the Court of a mans Conscience within himself If it were not so every sin would be like the Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit Matt. 12. Unpardonable and because Unpardonable Impenitable or not to be Repented of and that not only in this World but in that which is to come the World would become a Theater of sin and damnation even a Hell without any Chancery any Appeal to Grace to Mercy or Relenting of Repentance from the hopes of Mercy the reverence and awes of Goodness and Forgiveness Now that which lies loose and scattered or disseminated sown through the whole human Creation That the word of God especially in the Gospel in the New Testament that the Spirit of God hath collected into a more full and solemn Doctrine and open'd the Foundation and laid bare and in view the root or the great place of it How it hath room and reception what are the Sources springs of Efficacy from which it Rises even in the Sacrifice Blood and Redemption of Christ and the mighly Efficacy and Grace of the Divine Spirit what is that godly sorrow which is given by God as the Elaboratory or the Instrument of God for the Operation of it what are the Laws and Rules of it the true form and constitution of it what are the motives and inward considerations mooving to it what are the signs and evidences of its Truth what is the proper time and space for it It resolves the Scruples or Cases of Conscience that may arise in the Soul of Man concerning it it shews the great Fruit certain Benefit and Advantage of it And all these are either most innately residing or some way reducible to this great and excellent Context of the Apostle in which regard I have chosen it and shall endeavour to bring Light accordingly to it and according to these heads I will by the grace of God endeavour to Discourse it 1. In regard it is Repentance to Salvation and that Salvation is no other but in Christ alone Acts 4.12 it plainly shews That the whole Redemption and Salvation of Christ is the proper Basis and Foundation of it the whole Area Court Space and most proper place of it and that the whole Notion and Spirit of it as any way Commensurate to or extended upon the whole human Nature hath its Rise and Original flows from some Communication to the human Nature from Jesus Christ the Redeemer and that yet the word of God and his Gospel only Reveals it fully and genuinely and his spirit is the supreme Operator of it 2. Here is plainly laid down to us the Elaboratory or Instrument God hath prepared in infinite Wisdom and Grace and inlay'd the Soul with in order to Repentance First as it is a Natural Affection subservient to it and then as it is Sanctified by God to so great an end Godly sorrow or sorrow after and according to God worketh down Repentance or brings it forth a sorrow opposed to the sorrow of the World that worketh Death 3. In that it is 1. Repentance to Salvation effectual to it 2. Repentance not to be Repented of 1. Not as a false counterfeit Repentance to be Repented of 2. Always to be carried on and promoted and not recall'â— repeal'd or revers'd but confirm'd by progressive repeated Acts and renewed after Falls 3. In that it is to or lays hold of Salvaetion 4. In that it rises not from an earthly spring or any sorrow not after God In all these Regards it yeilds just reason to Discourse the true Laws and Rules the Frame and true constitution the motives means and considerations for the signs and evidences of sincere Repentance 4. The admirable Fruit and Benefit of it is most visibly and illustriously set forth before us in those words It is Repentance to Salvation not to be repented of 1. It is
the Spirit of Bondage Rom. 8.15 For that Law of Self-preservation being seated so deep in Man the fear of an evil so Destructive to â—our Beings as wrath to come and the eternal Displeasure of the Supreme Being Nothing moves so strongly and powerfully nothing makes so violent concussions in the Heart of Man as these deep apprehensions or tears up the very Roots of that old sinful Frame and make it fly every way to change its Scituation and Posture for the avoiding of that Displeasure Thus Nineveh affrightned with that present dreadful Dâ—nunciation of Judgment turn'd it self every way to Attonement with God although the Judgment then Denounc'd did not râ—ach to Everlasting Punnishment how much more do the Apprehensions of Wrath to come and ever to come as was before observed of it move And though this is not the highest and noblest Kind of Motive yet it is such as our Lord earnestly and doubly recommends to his Friends I say unto you my Freinds fear not them that kill the Body and have no more that they can do Luke 12.14 but I will forewarn you whom you shall fear fear him that after he hath kill'd hath power to cast into Hell yea I say unto you fear him 3. The so greâ—t Assurance God hath given in Jesus Christ the Mediator and Redeemer that our sâ—â—s shall be Pardoned upon our Repentance is a most excellent motivâ— to Repentance and follows the former as that still Voice wherein God is did the â—arthquake 1 Kingâ— c 19.12 This Assurance is that which gives Life and Spirit to Repentance and also the true Evaâ—gelical Sweetness and Divine Temper to iâ— which else would turn into the Horrors of Cain and Esau which afterwards relaps'd into a Worâ—ly sâ—curity senselesness and sensiâ—ility for Cain went out from the Pâ—ese ce of the Lord Gen. 4.15 c. 36.15 and dwelt in the Land of Nod and fell to Building Esau bâ—came a greaâ— Earthly Prince and Faâ—her to many Dâ—kes without any further thought of the Birthrigâ—t or Blessing or else the ho â—ors arising from the sense of sin and Divine Dâ—spleasure turn into the Dâ—spair of Saul and Judas â—â—at are but the forâ—casts of Hell and everlasting sâ—pâ— aâ—ion from the presence of God and the light of his Countenance This sense of the Love and Favor of God in Christ is that which draws the Soul by the melting and dissolving that Stony Heart and making that stiff Neck and Iron Sinnew to be ready and pliant to all Holy Rules and Heavenly Motions and sweetens fear sorrow and horror into Love and Reverence and filial dispâ—sitions to Obedience while there are any beginnings of shedding abroad the Love of God in the Heart and when the Love of Christ begins to Constrain us This glance of the Eye of Christ on Peter wiâ—h Love and Grace made him go out and weep bitterly this sense of Mercy humbled David and Distill'd into all those Heavenly Penitential Expressions we have Psal 51. 4. When by the grace of God the Heart is deeply Affâ—cted with the sight of the great Evil abominable Foulness and Hatefulness of sin and with the Beauty of Holiness this is a most effective motive to Repentance when we are struck with the sense of the Intrins ck shamefulness of every evil way the falseness of those appearances of good that aâ—e found upon sin but werâ— an Inheritance of Lies it makes us hate every false way and cast away the Things that can yeild no true good or profâ— and of which we have reason for ever â—o be ashamâ—d the end of which is Death Rom. 6. Through the word of thy Lips I keep my sâ—lf fâ—â—m the Paths of the Destroyer Psal 17.4 Through thy Precepts I get understanding therefore I hate every false way Thy word is very pure therefâ—re thy sâ—rvant loveth it I hâ—ve found thy Precepts concerning all things to be right and I hate every false way The righteousness of thy Testimonies is everlasting give me understanding and I shall live Psalm 119. The Law of the Lord is right converting the soul the testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple the Statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the heart How sweet are thy words to my taste sweeter than honey to my mouth Moreover by them is thy servant warned and in the keeping of them there is great reward Psalm 19 All these are Expressions of the mighty Power of Holiness moving to Repentance from the Beauty and Amiableness of it self and the Odiousness of Contrary Sin and Evil. 5. The Word of God throughout all these is the Instrument of the Holy Spirit and with the Variety of its Divine Representations Collects and Diffuses into the Soul and Universâ—l Spirit of a Man being suited to every Faculty and Affection the Reasons and mighty Efficacies â—oth of Fear and Hope viz. the Wrath and Indignation against sin of Grace and Mercy in Christ to the truly Repenting sinner and together with them the Beauty of Holiness and the Hatefulness of Sin For the Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit executing Vengeance on sin and yet sparing the Humble Returning sinner and effectually moving him by it to Repentance 6. The sixth and last Motive I shall use is the true Consider tion of the Gospel state both as it is now and as it shall be in its Glorious Manifestation For that being a state so New and so different from the present state of Sin and Flesh and Corruption we can never be suited to it but by this great Change by Repentance for it the putting off the Old Man which is corrupt according to its deceitful Lusts Ephes 4.22 23. and putting on the New Man which is renewed after God in Knowledge Righteousness and true Holiness is most absolutely necessary to enjoy this Kingdom And this is the Truth of Repentance It is the having such an Eye upon him 2 Cor. 5.15 who is Risen from the Dead and to the Resurrection of the Dead it self as to know neither Persons nor Things as we knew them before after the Flesh On this account our Lord sent John as an Herald before him preaching and saying Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand And as soon as John had finish'd his Ministry of Repentance to shew it was not only the Message of the Fore runner but of the Lord himself whose way he was to prepare Jesus himself from that time began to preach and to say Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand Matth. 3.1 c. 4.17 he shewed to us this New state requires New Persons New Hearts and Spirits New Lives and Actions to lay the Foundations and Beginnings of it here and now and that it may break out into Salvation and Glory at the Glory of that Kingdom That it may be so tryed now as to be found unto Honour Praise and Glory at the appearance of Jesus Christ I come now to the second part of this
and its Camp and the full Accounts of that Desolation in Jamaica and Port-Royal were so just upon the Finishing the foregoing Discourse of Repentance as to give leave to take a very short notice in the Introduction Printed last and no more But it is of so great Concern and Interest to a National and Personal Repentance and Reformation that it could not in such a Discourse be passed over without a great disregard to the Works of the Lord and to the Operation of his hands which is so branded an Evil in Scripture-Account Psal 28.5 Esay 5.12 that an Appendix concerning it was even demanded And lastly because Earthquakes the Shaking Trembling and Moving the Earth is us'd as so constant a Symbol or Emblem of the Kingdom of God and Christ Bowing the Heavens Coming down and making a change in the Heaven and Earth that now are and in their whole State and Administration as appears by this Context I have therefore chosen to discourse upon And seeing as I have all manner of ways endeavoured to demonstrate and do not doubt I have by divine Assistance according to Scripture attain'd to do it that that Kingdom of Christ by Computation upon Times given by the most Sure Word of Prophecy is nigh at hand These Motions of the Earth in any parts of the World and more particularly relating to our selves and in this City where such a Symptom so generally observ'd as to be uncontestable is very rare ought to be taken notice of as calling aloud to us to Repent because the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand and a Forerunner of the change that Kingdom is to make That therefore which I design in this Discourse upon this Text is to shew That the great Symbol or Representation of the Kingdom of Christ in this so great Text of the Kingdom is the Universal Shake Concussion and Convulsion of Heaven and Earth and that therefore all the Shakes of this Earth ought to be taken notice of as parcels and pieces of that Greatest and Last Shake and as Pledges and Assurances of it and especially when by the Sure Word of Prophecy and the concurrent Judgment of most sober thinking Men concerning this matter who will not yet pitch upon the Time it is concluded it cannot be far off It is known that the Kingdom of Christ is so near I will therefore endeavour to comprise this short Discourse in these Heads 1. To observe how throughout this Text the Kingdom of Christ is shaded by the shaking Heaven and Earth once for all 2. From thence to make Remarks upon the nature of such Motions or Trembles of the Earth and their fitness to be such a Shade of the Kingdom of Christ and wherein they are so according to the Light of Scripture concerning these things 3. To observe the holy use that is to be made upon such Motions of the Earth in general and particularly in these propos'd to our Observation now and that with relation to Christ's Kingdom To begin with the first The occasion of this Context is thus The Apostle having given the Description of the New or Heavenly Jerusalem-state in the former Verses You are come to Mount Zion c. ver 22. c. he makes that great practical Application See that ye refuse not him that speaketh in order to the setting up a Kingdom for so by what follows must needs be intended that the Speaking is in order to the setting up a Kingdom For if they escaped not who refused the same great Prince when he would form a Kingdom on Earth among the People of Israel to be a Type of much a greater Kingdom How shall we escape who refuse him who now spoke from Heaven in the Effusion of his Spirit as a First-Fruits of his Kingdom and who is to be the Great Prince and who will appear in the Glory of his Kingdom the Lord from Heaven as he is called 1 Cor. 15. and then will set up a Kingdom in the New Heaven and the New Earth in a far greater Glory For though Christ came in great State then the Chariots of God were then twenty thousand c. As great Princes come with mighty Retinue of Horses and Chariots so did Christ on Mount Sinai yet that was but Christ as on Earth this from Heaven Psal 68. For his even the same Lord 's Voice shook the Earth Mount Sinai and the Parts about it did exceedingly shake But now as he is setting up a Kingdom both in the New Heaven and the New Earth so he hath promis'd I shake not only the Earth but the Heaven also It may seem strange an Earthquake should be given in promise it is rather a Threatning and Denunciation but because it is a close Forerunner of the Redemption of the Servants of Christ and even of the whole Creation therefore it is given in promise And because so blessed a State is not in present and immediately but to come therefore also it is promised as a thing future and to come I will shake And because this whole frame of Nature is defiled with Sin and Apostasie up to the very Heaven of God and his Saints therefore Christ promises to shake not only the Earth but the Heaven For there are spiritual Wickednesses in High Places or Heavenlies Sathan and his Host who are the Princes under him of the Power of the Air as well as the Rulers of the Darkness of this World and so the Heavenlies or Heavenly Places are more defiled than all the wicked Men on Earth can defile the Earth though they defile it so much but then Sathan shall fall as Lightning from Heaven All must be dislodged and dismounted For that Heaven shall be the Residence and Palace of Christ and his Saints and shall shine down into the new Earth beneath purified by Fire from the Defilements of Men so Heaven and Earth must both be shaken And therefore the shaking of Heaven and Earth may well be by promise since a new Heaven and Earth rise from hence by promise And Because all this is fulfilling of Promise therefore the Servants of Christ at so great a shake of the Powers of Heaven and Earth shall be less afraid than they are of a small Earthquake now they shall receive it with Triumph and rejoycing they shall say Oh blessed Day Oh blessed Appearance They shall lift up their Heads with joy because their Redemption draweth nigh Let us not therefore say That Day will be so terrible how shall we endure it It shall be given us in that Day to Rejoice who are his Redeemed And this Christ will do once more even at his Kingdom as if he should say I have shaken or permitted or ordered the shaking of the Earth many Times in various Places and on sundry Accounts I have shaken Nations and Kingdoms but now saith he I 'll do it once more and once for all And we may be sure this shaking hath never been yet for there hath not yet been
that we may not be pleased and contented with a Counterfeit with any other Repentance than that unto Salvation not to be Repented of Least we for ever Repent of our Repentance in Hell where there is no place of Evangelical saving Repentance but of that only which is a barren Fiery Horror and Despaire scorching the Conscience for ever and not allaying it with a Drop of Water to Cooll outragious Tongue Luke 16.24 Blaspheming at the same time God and Christ and our impenitent selves who would not Repent while we had space and place for our Repentance Infer 5. Let us by all the most moving Considerations of the Evil of sin the hatefulness and unreasonableness of it the sense of the Goodness and Grace of God in Christ all his Judgments all his Mercies the sense of an Eternal Misery and Punnishment from his Presence be strongly mov'd excited stirr'd and led to Repentance Infer 6. Let us rejoyce in the sweet Reposes of Conscience when we have truly Repented in the infinite Power Authority and Supreme right of God to Pardon upon Repentance not dependent upon Man nor upon the Will of Man Who is a God like unto him who Pardons Iniquity Transgression and Sin and casts it into the depth of the Sea who makes by his Pardon sins as Scarlet and Crimson to be White as Snow and Wooll that blots out Iniquity as a Cloud and a thick Cloud with the same Potency and Ease that the Sun does off a Cloud and with infinitely greater Let us Rejoyce in the great Efficacies of the Redeemer Pardoning sin upon Earth as the great High Priest of our Profession and the Bishop of our Souls Absolving truly Repenting Sinners by the Witness of his Blood sprinkling the Heart from an evil Conscience and speaking better things than the Blood of Abel The Blood as of a Lamb without spot Offer'd by the Eternal Spirit Purging the Conscience from dead works together with and even as the Author and Finisher of faith and repentance from dead works to serve the Living God Heb. 9. c. 10. c. 12. Let us rejoyce in the Witness of the Divine Spirit Sealing and Witnessing to us by Repentance washing the Body the whole Conversation as with pure water Let us rejoyce in all the Blessed Promises and Assurances of the Word of God made by it to sincere Penitents which are yea and Amen in Christ For all these are of far greater Authority Truth Certainty than All Bindings or Loosings on Earth whether by the Ecclesiastical as we call it Administration of the Keyes or by Men forgiving one Another however necessary these may be in their place Infer 7th Seeing the Kingdom of God and of Heaven is the great Motive to Repentance as hath been before on great Reason made out The high Reason we have to believe that by the Apostles calling it the Last time the last hour the ends of the World so many Hundreds of Years ago we must needs be now upon the very last issue and determination of that Time when the Kingdom shall appear in Glory and all other kind of Time shall be no more How great a Cloud does therefore Encompass us that we should by no means be willing or able to Rend to Engage us to run with Patience the Race of Repentance set before us Heb. 12.1 and to that End to lay aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset us looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Repentance that it may be to Salvation and never to be Repented of Hearing him who in the days of his Flesh because the offers and first appearances and First Fruits of his Kingdom were then begun Preach'd saying Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand so the full Harvest of that Kingdom being now ready to appear he does by the Voices of all his Prophets in the Old and New Testament instantly Preach to us Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand And of how strong and close Connexion the Kingdom of God and of Christ and Repentance are I shall more fully and largely at this time Represent as a most solemn Conclusion of this Discourse There is a fixed space given and a peculiar Interval Appointed Lying between the time of the Apostacy call'd the Time Times and Half Time or the 1260 Days and the Time of the Vials And it is 30 years making the 1260 1290 Years Dan. 12.11 even as the 45 Years of the Vials to the Absolutely blessed state of the Kingdom of Christ in Glory when the Saints shall all stand in their Lots fill up to that very Fulness of Times Now at this space of the Thirty Years the Spirit shall be powred out from on High The Song of the Lamb which hath been so long out of use that it becomes as it were a new Song and can be at first learnt only by the 144000 shall be Taught by them immediately and the Everlasting Gospel shall be without delay upon it Preach'd to every Nation Tongue and People under Heaven and then there shall be as in preparation to the Glory of the Kingdom of Christ but under the Influence of that Kingdom in Succession a mighty Spirit of Godly Sorrow working Repentance to Salvation never then indeed to be Repented of pour'd out upon all Flesh Now because this is a point of great moment to the Doctrine of Repentance and sets forth much of the Excellency of Repentance I shall give very great Scriptures and argue upon them for the truth of ir Scripture 1. The first Scripture I would insist upon shall be from a consideration of that great Ordinance of God concerning the Day of Attonement among the Children of Israel This Ordinance We find Levit. 23.27 In the tenth day of the seventh the Sabbattical Month there shall be a day of attonement It shall be an Holy Convocation to you and you shall afflict your Souls And you shall do no work in that same day For it is a day of Attonement to make Attonement for you before the Lord your God for whatsoever Soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same Day he shall be cut off from among his People And whatsoever Soul it be that doth any work in that same day the same Soul will I destroy from among his People It shall be a statute for ever throughout your Generations in all your Dwellings It shall be to you a Sabbath of Rest and you shall Afflict your Souls And on that day there were the great rites of Sacrifice the Bullock the sin Offering the Blood of which was carried into the Holy of Holies to make an attonement for the Vncleannesses of the Priests and People and to reconcile the Holy of Holies and the Mercy Seat and the Tahernacle of the Congregation and the Goat that was to be Kill'ed in the same Manner and the scape-Goat throughout c 16. Now that which I lay in the Foundation is That God never appointed
more and they shall know that his Name is Jehovah that he is the true God and all other Gods shall perish from the Earth and from under these Heavens Jerem. 10.11 c. 16.19 20 21. Thus as at the first preaching of the Gospel there were so great Conversions prickings in the heart and Repentances Acts 2 c. Because that was the fullness of time So there shall be much greater when the fullness of times eveâ— of All Time shall be For whatever was done by way of Inchoation and Beginning in the fullness of time shall be much more done at the fullness of times or of all time For That Gospel that was alway the everlasting Gospel shall then appear in that stile and be known by it The everlasting Gospel and therefore its Force Effect and Success shall be much greater than ever And it immediately follows upon this Preaching the Everlasting Gospel another Angel proclaim'd with a loud Voice Babilon is fallen is fallen before this it could not be done The Church of â—ergamus was blam'd for having them that held the Doctrine of Balam and who taught to eat things Sacrificed to Idols and Thyatyra for suffering them They had not Mourned that they might be cast out as the Apostle speaks 1 Cor. 5.2 and therefore they were Commanded to Repent and draw to Repentance all such among them that belonged to the Election of Grace Rev. c. 2. and here is that great Repentance by which Babylon is utterly cast out and fallen as it follows in the next Thunder or Voice from Heaven to that of the everlasting Gospel And then as it was in that Apostolic time they brought out their Books of curious arts and burnt them publickly even to the value of 50000 Peices of Silver so shall the curious arts of Idolatry Sorcery and Impurity be expos'd and for ever devoted at that time to the Flames Acts 19.19 Now how does this Recommend to us the Doctrine of Repentance throughout all our Generations and through the whole course of our Lives seeing the World of the Sav'd shall be thus Baptised with the Baptism of Repentance for the Remission of Sins just before Salvation And into this Treasury all ages of Saints in the World before this time have cast by Mourning Godly Sorrow and Repentance For have not their Tears been put into God's Bottle and are they not in his Books And at what time are they more likely to be Produced to their Etternal Account and Advantage than in such a day of Attonement and Reconciliation When the days of Refreshing that Blessed and Happy Age shall come forth from the presence of the Lord his immediate Appearance even the same Appearance that shall utterly abolish the man of sin 2 Thes 2.8 and revive and re-enliven the Saints that have Dyed and Slept in Jesus into the First Resurrection upon whom Blessedness is then Proclaim'd when all sins shall be perfectly blotted out and their holy Works alone shall follow them among which Repentance is one of the Principal in the Day of the Restitution of all things in the day of Salvation when it shall appear true Evangelical Repentance is never to be Repented of Acts 3.19 21. Rev. 14.13 And to move us therefore all and to provoke us to either the first Repentance if we have not yet Repented or to Renewed and advanced Repentance Rom. 13.12 let us consider how far the Night of the Apostasy is pass'd and the Day of Salvation is at hand How very near it grows How much more we see the Day approaching Heb. 10.24.25 For we are now in the 1255th day of the Witnesses 1260 days of Years of their Mourning and Sackcloth and upon the 25th day of the Last Month of the 42 Moons of Apostacy and when they end the Kingdom of Christ shall be immediately Proclaim'd How near then is the Kingdom of Heaven at Hand Infer 8. Because I know there is so great an unwillingness to believe such an Approach of the Kingdom of Christ Let us take as we stand in the National Community whereof we are this great Doctrine of Repentance into deepest and closest consideration For we find Scripture whenever it speaks to a Community as to the Kingdom of Judah and Israel in the Prophets it still speaks to them as such Communities as in the Language and Doctrine of Repentance and when it speaks to the Churches as in the second and third Chapters of the Revelation it speaks to them as such Communities and commands them to Repent as was before observ'd How necessary therefore to the National Body is the Doctrine of Repentance taken as relating to a Community How necessary must it needs be to every one of us not only as for our own Immortal Souls but as Parts and Members of the National Community and to the Church or Churches of this Nation that of the Church of England or the National Church as so many love to speak or to the Churches that are in England or Churches of England as others agreeably enough with Scripture speak as of the Churches of Judea of Galatia and thus undoubtedly there is a truth in both ways of speaking For when God hath given a Nation an universal consent in the Profession of the Name of God of Christ and of the Gospel they do in many great Regards and Accounts of Scripture come under such an Obligatory representation as a National Church as Judah and Israel in the times of the Old Testament came under And all particular Churches wherein so ever they differ in many particulars and make distinct Associations of themselves may be look'd upon as particular Churches and so Scripture vouches for them because they do in a Particular Union give themselves to the Lord and to one another yet notwithstanding they cannot what ever they may think put off their Relation to the whole Nation whereto they are United as parts nor to it as United with them in the substantial Essential Points of Christianity not so Adulterated but that such Church is look'd upon as a true Church by God and by Christ Nor can the more general or National Church Dis-interest it self in any of the more particular and Dissenting Churches seeing in God's account they are within it even those that are purest and have most of the Spirit and Power of Christianity and truly Purer than it self as in the general as the more general Church of Sardis had within it self the few purer Names that had not Defiled their Garments Rev. 3.1 c. This is when a more general Church is pure in substantials of Doctrine Worship and Laws of Holy Conversation it is otherwise when what is call'd a Church is Antichristian and Idolatrous in its substantials as in those of the Papacy and have no more Right to the Name of a Church than that Idolatrous assembly that cried up Diana of the Ephesians Acts 19. though it be there call'd by the same Name of a Church or Ecclesia
and Zeal not only ought but must be reduc'd and redress'd in Towns and Cities and in all our Villages and most particularly in our Camps and Navies where they more than any where else if possible abound and where there ought to be greater Guard and Watch against them than any where else according to that Great Precept Deut. 23.14 2. If this be not done It cannot be except God hath left the Earth more than ever yet he hath done and forsaken it and walks in the Galleries of Heaven without Regarding but that there must be a Visiting for these things and that his Soul must be avenged of such a Nation as this Jer. 5.9 whether by Plague or Famine or War or evil and noisome Beasts or by a Complication of these Four yea though it be by a Fire yet unblown that is ready to flame out or by an Army of Wounded Men that our Destruction must come and much the more because the Light of his Truth is so open and clear among us because his Mercies and Deliverances have been so-Great and the Methods of his Providence so unusual in his unhinging for us the General Laws of Nature in Dethroning and setting on the Throne for our preservation Now if These his Great Acts and Wonderful Doings do not work to Reformation They certainly shall justifie God in our Destruction And yet we daily see our sins and Transgressions Growing up to the very Heavens so that that our Destruction cannot but be speedy 3. Except the Kingdom of Christ be as I have declared very near us And that we are not yet under some most dreadful Judgments it is an argument to me it is certainly so that the Kingdom of Christ is very near us when he will take to himself his own great Power and Reign and Reform by a through Purging his Floor either by pouring out his Spirit and perswading by his everlasting Gospel Malach. 4.1 and sitting as by a Refiners Fire and Fullers Soap throughly to purifie that Baptism with Fire or by the Day that shall burn as an Oven and consume the Wicked Root and Branch and because of this notwithstanding our great Transgressions and mighty provocations even though he hath lifted up his hand that he would destroy us yet he hath wrought for his Great Names sake that is his Kingdom 's sake and hath done nothing yet so remarkable against us Let us then that fear the Lord speak often one to another that a Book of Remembrance may be writ for us as for them that have feared the Lord and thought on his Name and that we may be spared in the day when he makes up his Jewels and gather'd as Wheat into his Garner when he shall burn up the Chaff with fire unquenchable Mal. 3.16 Matth. 3.12 Infer 9. Seeing Nations and Persons are under so strict Commands to Repent with that Repentance to Salvation the contrary whereof is expressed by Death There is therefore in the Kingdom of Christ a City of Life and under it a City of Death a City of Salvation whose Walls and Bullwarks are Salvation and a City of Destruction distinct from it and opposite to it Esay 19.18 c. 26.1 The one is the Residence of those who have Repented with that Repentance to Salvation not to be Repented of The other is the dark and dismal Receptacle of those who have either been wholly dissolved into the worldly Laughter and Mirth or been Sorrowers only after the worldly Sorrow that worketh Death The New Jerusalem is the City of Life and Salvation the City that hath the Tree of Life and the River of the Water of Life and the Nations of the Saved walk in the Light of it and are healed from any possibility of Dying by the Leaves of the Tree of Life and the Living are written in it Whatever liveth in it shall live even for perpetuity The Second Death hath no power over them Esay 4.3 Revel c. 20.6 c. 21.24 c. 22.1 2. On the other side there is the City of Destruction Esay 19.18 when Five Cities shall speak the Language of Canaan being of the Nations of the Saved There is one City that shall be called the City of Destruction the contrary to Salvation being of those appointed to Death This is the Congregation of the Dead Prov. 21.16 This is the City of Gog that is of the dead slain with the sword of Christ's mouth who hath a place of Graves the Valley of Hamon Gog of the Multitude of Gog. Ezek. 39.11 c. These though they are the dead that is slain with the sword of Christ's mouth yet they are as in a Community in a Polity for though they are condemn'd by the Word and Sentence of Christ they are yet the Wicked rais'd to Condemnation and so are in the State of Living but of a Living Death Therefore these dead have a City and the Name of it is Hammonah as the Name of the New Jerusalem is Jehovah-Shammah the Lord is there so the Name of this City is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 its multitude or a multitude is there For broad is the way and wide is the Gate that leadeth to this City of Heres to destruction and many there be which go in thereat Matth. 7.13 These are the multitudes that are gathered together to the Battel of Armageddon the Day of God Almighty shaded by a Battel the multitudes in the Valley of Jehoshaphat the Valley of the Judgment of Jehovah the Valley of Decision of the Doom and Sentence of Christ as the Sword of his Mouth and the Valley of Excision of Destruction Joel 3.74 Revel c. 16.14 16. Now these dead in their City of the dead lye dead during the Thousand Years bound Hand and Foot for that space The Rest of the Dead slain with the Sword of Christ's mouth But when the Thousand Years are expired they are let loose into the Appearance of Life Motion and Action They whose multitude are as the Sand of the Sea under their Name Gog Magog come up against the Beloved City and the Camp or Tower and Castle of the Saints and cover the breadth of it shewing themselves the same Impenitents they were and had been before the Thousand Years began the Never-Repenting Enemies of God and of Christ and of his Kingdom So they are finally judg'd Ezek. 39.11 c. Rev. 19.21 c. 20.5 to the end cast with Sathan who had alway deceived them with Death and Hell into the Lake This is the second Death Thus in the opening this dark Scripture Behold in these two Cities the Repentance to Life and Salvation never to be repented of the Impenitency to Death and Destruction never also to be repented of that we may chuse the first perswaded by Eternal Grace and Love and abhor the other as the Black Mark of being the Esau hated by God who found no place for Repentance as the Vessels of his Wrath the Border of Wickedness against whom he hath Indignation for ever
sensible of For as in the most admirable Knowledge of his Almighty Hand he took up our Earth and poiz'd it and in the Doing of it did as it were say How shall I give thee up London How shall I make thee as Admah and Zeboim the Cities the Lord overthrew as Jamaica or Port-Royal My Heart is turned within me my Repentings are kindled together I will not execute the fierceness of my Wrath I am God and not Man I will not enter into this City Hosea 11.8 9. as into Jamaica Behold then on Them Severity to Us Goodness if we Turn to him in his Goodness and so abide in it or else according to ordinary Rules we must be cut off also And there is indeed most of the Power and Wisdom of God in doing so much and no more For a rude and unskilful Hand can Throw Down Spoil and Destroy but only an Understanding and Almighty Hand could weigh the Earth as in Scales and as in a Ballance lift up and set down in the very same place and state And how much more of Love and Grace to melt and soften us as if he had said Behold what I am able to do to Ruin you in a moment But I will only shew what I can Do and I will Do you no hurt Oh that this Riches of Goodness Long suffering and Patience might lead us to Repentance who himself staid his own Hand and said to Himself What am I doing when none else could and He did it not I come now to the Second Head I propos'd for the Improvement of our Thoughts on these Earthquakes in general but particularly of that but just a Motion of the Earth in this City and the Royal Camp and other parts beyond the Sea That it is predictive and foretelling of a great Change in the World And of this I give these following Arguments 1. It is beyond all denial most evident that Scripture makes use of Earthquakes as the Conveyance of its Description of the great Works and Changes God will make for the Kingdom of Christ till it appears That course of Earthquakes Providence hath been in of late years is surely a Declaration of those great Changes he is about to make first by the Succession of that Kingdom and then by its own Appearance For if first Christ convey his Kingdom by Earthquakes as Types and Pledges it is but reasonable to expect when he alarms the World with Earthquakes he has something to do more than ordinary in the Advancement of it else his so great use of them in his Word would be but as the sounding of the Mountains and Amuse in vain By the so often use of Earthquakes he teaches us to expect by them Seeing as on one side he uses Earthquakes in his Word to express great Things for his Kingdom by so on the other side he uses Earthquakes that are so in Fact to and in his Providence to foretell some Changes for his Kingdom following them according to his Word 2. The Nations and Places where this Motion of the Earth came are such as are closely concerned in the Change that God is about to make being either of the Protestant Profession or of the Ten Kings that yet give their Kingdom to the Beast That God was pleas'd therefore to guide the Motion of unquiet Vapors over so many Countries and Cities it was like the sending the Cup and Yoke in Jeremy to so many Nations on whom he would execute his Displeasure by Nebuchadnezzar Jerem. c. 25. c. 27. so now he hath sent by this Earthquake as it were by a Messenger to make known to the Nations his Kingdom so near For so mild and gentle a Motion that had nothing of Wrath and execution of Vengeance in its Commission seems entrusted only with so great a Notice And I cannot but hope and am even assured That this City is to bear so happy a Part in the Kingdom of Christ that it shall be preserved for his Servant David 's sake and that God in Christ is the Holy one in the midst of it 3. That which above all assures me so is That Sure Word of Prophecy that Time is so near for the Succession of the Kingdom of Christ which is by Prophecy describ'd by a great Earthquake that I can understand nothing by this Move but that Introducing or Bringing it in with the Call of the Witnesses and the Fall of the Tenth of the Great City For I cannot understand that there is Space or Room for any other Change but of That to the Kingdom of Christ entring into its Succession wherein all shall have the Advantages of Repentance and Reformation by the pouring out of the Spirit and the Preaching of the everlasting Gospel even to all the World and the Converts of that Time shall be as the Drops of Dew from the Womb of the Morning A Change of so great advantages to the World that none have any reason to be offended or to complain of the Tydings except They who hate to be Reform'd I desire no other Beauty of Feet or Face than to bring and pubâ—ish it It is all holy pure spiritual benign and beneficent to those who have but any Desires after God Christ and Goodness both in inward and outward Bounties There is greatest reason it should be daiâ—y prayed for and daily it is to be praised Verily It may be said Many Kings Prophets and Righteous Men have desired to see the Things that shall then be seen and have not seen them and to hear the Things that shall then be heard and have not heard them Oh therefore that this may be what this gracious Heave of the Earth does presage as I have great Assurance it does That there is no more danger by it than this That we should take notice This Earth with great Sedateness gave a Motion with joy as John Baptist in the Womb to foretell It is with all its Kingâ—oms soon to become the Kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ wherein Righteousness shall dwell That soon after upon a Purification from all Defilements the Heavens over it and it self may become a New Heaven and a New Earth and the Will of God done as in parallel as in that Heaven and upon Earth But though I have endeavoured to make good my way all along yet I would in the Conclusion give a more solemn Answer to the chief Objections I have taken notice of Objct. 1. Some of the sagacious Observers of Nature have so trac'd extraordinary Events to their Causes that they have foretold particularly Earthquakes by observing the Ripeness of natural Causes for them Answ 1. Whatever Observations the wisest of Mankind have made they are not able so far to penetrate the Screws of Natural Causes fitted to the necessitating one another to such Effects but that supernatural Agents may give a Lift to the Wheels of Second Causes that usually move but on Earth viz. in a natural way to move much above Earth that
Malach. 1 4. Infer 10. Upon all this I conclude with that great Scripture Hosea 10.12 Sow we to our selves in Righteousness the Righteousness of Repentance springing from Faith in the Blood of Jesus Let us break up all our Fallow Grounds For the Just and proper time is near for an universal seeking God till he come and rain Righteousness upon us upon all the Earth This is indeed prepar'd peculiarly for Israel the Ten Tribes at their Conversion after the so long Captivity shadowed under riding ploughing breaking the Clods till the sowing in righteuusness at their restoration It is now near that they who have been so long lost that it shall be said of them These where have they been shall with the whole Gentile World seek the Lord. Let us count which way we can the time must be near exceeding near Whoso is wise and he shall understand the Scripture concerning these things prudent and he shall know them For the ways of the Lord are all righteous and true concerning them Vpright men shall know how to walk in them while transgressors fall most dishonourably and finally therein And when this is there shall be a great Rain a Rain of Righteousness that shall come down upon the World This shall make a mighty Change as the Earth is changed by a mighty coming down a pouring down of Rain after a long Drought so this Rain shall refresh the Inheritance of God that hath been so long weary Righteousness shall come down as showers upon the Grass and as the soft Rain upon the mow'n Grass as the former and latter Rain in their seasons It is prophesied of Jesus Christ coming in his Kingdom he shall come down so Psal 72.6 c. So that in his days Righteousness For the Righteous shall flourish and abundance of peace so long as the Moon endureth and then as Psal 85.9 10 11. His salvation shall be nigh all them that fear him that Glory may dwell in all the Earth Mercy and Truth shall meet together Righteousness and Peace shall kiss each other Righteousness shall look down from heaven or as the Rain from heaven shone upon with the healing wings of the Sun of Righteousness It shall represent the bow of the Covenant in the Clouds in the Day of this Rain Ezek. 1.28 Rev. 10.1 and Truth shall then spring out of the Earth in abundance This State shall be as irresistable as the Rain against which tho Princes Powers Councils and all their Armies should conspire they cannot help it yea the Heavens themselves commanded by God cannot withhold or restrain their showers any more than they can give them till the time appointed by God So it shall bring into the ways of Righteousness when Righteousness shall come down thus from Heaven All the prophaness and wickedness that is at this time shall not be able to hinder it any more than we can hinder the Rain It will not stay nor tarry for the children of men All the Promises and Prophecies shall come to pass at this time that God hath appointed and shall tarry no longer the windows of heaven shall be opened the waters above the Firmament shall come down the deep shall be broken up And whatever shall not then be rained upon shall be given to salt for ever And This shall be sudden as Elijah's Rain sudden and at an Instant beginning in a Cloud about as big as a man's hand and so covering the whole heaven But it cannot be till after the Apostacy till the droughty Moons of the Gentiles and of the Beast are expir'd It cannot be while the Days of the VVitnesses Sackcloth Prophecy last For they have power to shut heaven that it rain not in the days of their Prophesie That is it is determined by God It shall not rain in those Days Rev. 11.6 There was some of this Rain in the very beginning of the Reformation when the Thunders uttered their Voices But it stopped at their sealing yet the Effects remain to this Day in so much enjoyment of the Gospel as we have The heavens opened so far because it was the Morning of half time It stopp'd because it was but half time begun and not râ—n out At the end of half time or 1697. there shall be a full and effective Thunder and a much greater Rain of Righteousness even preparing for the Harvest Then he who sits upon the white shining Cloud shall bring forth even the harvest it self in the Glory of his Kingdom when he will weary as the Expression is in Job c. 37.11 the thick Cloud of Righteousness by so abundant a watering the Earth and scatter the bright Cloud by dispersing Righteousness in so great an abundance And it shall be turned about by his Counsel to do whatsoever he commandeth upon the face of the world in the Earth He causeth it to come whether for correction or for his Land Judgment upon his Enemies Mercy for his Kingdom Hearken unto this Oh whoever we are that profess the Name of Christ Stand still and consider these wondrous works of God as held out to us in the Prophecies of Scripture And then shall be held that great Feast of the Thousand Years to the Lord in which all the Feasts of the Lord that were the Types shall concur meet and unite the Feast of Weeks or Harvest the Feast of Passover the Day of Trumpets and Attonement the great Feast of Tabernacles Brief Considerations OF THE Late Trepidation of the Earth so sensible in this City and other Parts of this Nation and beyond the Sea particularly in the Kings Camp TOGETHER With that Tremendous Judgment on our English Plantation in Jamaica and so as upon our Selves by an Earthquake as both an earnest Persuasive to Repentance and Prognostick of the Kingdom of Christ. UPON Hebr. xii 25 c. See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh c. Whose Voice then shook the Earth but now he hath promis'd Yet once more I shake not only the Earth but Heaven also c. I Hope it will not be thought impertinent if I take advantage of the fresh Providences that have given an Alarm to this Nation by the late Concussion of the Earth most gently and by way of Admonition in this Chief City the Royal Camp and with so much dread and terror in that Colony of it self Wherein 2000 perished according to the most perfect Account Printed by Mr. Miller at the Gilded Acron in St. Paul's Church Yard Price 2 d. in Jamaica Because the Things are very great as they reveal from Heaven either the Power and Wrath of God in the Desolation he made by the last mentioned and of his Power and Goodness in the first mentioned within our selves immediately that he did so much and no more and so both ways move to Repentance and to Serve him with more Heed-taking of him with Reverence and Godly Fear as being a consuming Fire And also because this Warning God hath hereby given in this Nation
any one Judge between these two Repentances and accordingly even counsel himself concerning them Yet I must acknowledge this Discourse subject to these following Limitations 1. That the Arguments I have insisted upon prevail not only against a Death-Bed Repentance but against all Repentances that have no higher Spirit to move them than what I have now represented from hence therefore we may take the trial of our Repentance in general for though a Death-Bed is most subject to these mistakes yet whatever Repentance falls under them is by reason of them invalid and the later any Repentance is or the more it is occasioned by any Extremity which it doth not out-live the more subject it is to them 2. What I have said is not at all to be understood of the perfecting and consummating Repentance by higher and fuller Acts towards God at Death though enforced by the present Circumstances of the Case For true Repentance running through the whole life takes advantage of every thing much more of so considerable an Opportunity to unite all our strength for God as a Death-bed brings with it All that hath been spoken is designed against trusting to the Extreme Vnction of a dying Repentance just then begun 3. I have before resolved upon that tenderest Doctrin that it is possible among all the unhappy Circumstances of a Dying-Bed there yet may be this true Act of the Understanding Will and Affections turning to God and if there be this it would be the same and alike however these Circumstances alter and then it excels those temporary Amendments undertaken in the freest times of Life But because it is but possible and so almost impossible so unhappy a Case as not to have repented till just we die should fall out so happily the Intention of this Discourse stands good notwithstanding 4. I acknowledge the choice of the Soul can never be so free but it must be subject to infinitely the most worthy and preponderating considerations of the love and goodness of God the Redemption of Christ the greatness of eternal Happiness most indearing on one side of the fear and terror of the Lord the loss of a Soul everlasting perdition most perswasive on the other side so that if a Man cannot be free in his choice of Religion except he choose it without the force of any such consideration he can never be at all free for these are on all sides of him And further there is always the supream motion of the Grace of God which does not lessen but steer and exalt the freedom of the Will towards God The difference then between true and false Repentance in this particular is the same that is between just and rational consideration of all the motives of Hope and Fear and the hurry of them moving us not intellectually but as a Tempest or with the force of a meer Engine 2. Between the highest reasons carrying the chiefest force and leading along with them the lower ones and the lower doing all without the higher for want of which they are Sensual or Hellish 3. Between the government of meer Providence and of the Spirit of God 4. Between the Repentance of Cain Esau Saul Judas and the Repentance of David Manasseh Peter and Paul 5. I acknowledge the first Preparations of the Soul by God for himself may be with a great deal of noise and confusion Clouds and Darkness are the Dust of his Feet Storms go before him to prepare his way while these last there cannot be a serene calm Act of the Soul and he that doth not live till he hear that still Voice in which God is is in great danger of being lost in the Storm But if out of this Darkness and Confusion a holy and gracious Settlement proceed it is not the worse for being so introduced but is agreeable with the usual method of God The fourth Head I proposed is to weigh the Repentance of the Crucified Malefactor against our common Death-Bed Repentances which duly performed will be of great force against Presumption rather than minister it any Confidence For we shall find so much gathered together and pressed down into it that as Jewels have their Riches in a little room so his short Life of Penitency had an Age of Repentance in it It is so composed of Extraordinaries that it can give very little encouragement in ordinary Cases except just thus much that Repentance at Death is no absolute impossibility 1. Let us observe how his Repentance look'd to the several parts of Repentance for though it had but little time in this World to breath in yet with extraordinary diligence it was busie in all the great and most concerning Points Yet I account this of the least Remark in the History of his Repentance because it is easily imitable That in which it Excelled was the Evidences of Sincerity it carried 1. Yet take notice of his Sense and Acknowledgment of Sin which was not only a Confession of Words but of his very Soul for deliberating things in a Moment he pronounced himself self worthy of the Condemnation and Punishment he endured Magnum est poenitentiae signum in poena sua acquiescere Grot. in locum I confess this is not so infrequent in those who forfeited their Lives to Justice but how oft is it rather a Formality than the inward sense of the Mind condecently affected and possibly if we look upon the out-side of things we can find no great difference between him and others Yet it is a necessary part of Repentance The sacrifice of God is a broken and contrite heart Psal 51.17 2. In his Repentance lay a lively Faith in Christ first resting upon the principle And truth of the thing That Christ was a just Person that he had a Kingdom and then a particular Application to him for Mercy Lord remember me when thou comest in thy Kingdom 3. A quick sense of Eternity supplied Vigor to his Repentance an evident sight of something beyond this world For what more excites the Soul and shews it the necessity of a gracious Change than an everlasting Condition appearing to it To this end hath Jesus Christ brought life and immortality to light 2 Tim. 1.10 of which this Penitent made a very full Confession Lord remember me when thou comest in thy Kingdom He saw a Kingdom beyond the Cross and Death 4. An earnest desire to promote and propagate a sense of God into the Hearts of others was the immediate fruit of this Malefactors Repentance He admonishes the Impenitent Thief on the other side Dost thou not fear God He had such a Reverence of God that he expostulates the want of it in the other as monstrous and horrid His design was also exceeding Compassionate as well as Pious For it was an Endeavour full of Charity desirous his guilty Fellow-sufferer should be brought into the same Condition with himself We want much of the Compassion due to the Souls of others because we are so insensible of
of the Spirit poured out of such a Glorious Kingdom of Christ come into its Succession and at the time when our Lord shall immediately Come in his Kingdom But then at the same time is cut off all possibility of Repentance after this Season of Repentance For as soon as the time of the Vials enters all possibility of Repentance is fore-doom'd as hath been said Now this Late Repentance shall be excited and stirred up to by the Preaching of the Everlasting Gospel and of this there were two great Symbols or Figures given in the very first Appearance of the Gospel viz. the Apostleship of Paul who was as hath been observed Born out of due Time into that High Mission agreeable to which is the Preaching of the Everlasting Gospel and the Repentance of the Dying Malefactor just as Christ was entring into his Kingdom And they are each a Hypotyposis or Pattern for them who shall Hereafter Believe on Him to Life Everlasting and Repent with the Repentance to Salvation never to be Repented of and especially at that Great Futurity of the Coming and Kingdom of Christ or the Coming of Christ in his Kingdom FINIS Books Printed for and Sold by William Miller at the Acorn in St. Paul's Church-yard where Gentlemen or others may be furnished with the best Collections either in whole or in part taking all the State-Matters Church-Government Sermons Divinity or Humanity In Folio ASSemblies Annotations in two Vol. Ainsworth's Annotations Book of Martyrs in three Vol. Ben. 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be as Convictive Proofs in their kind and as satisfactory to true Understanding Even so I affirm that the Prophetick Images and Numbers if they are attently eyed and compared may be as certainly Assur'd and Intellectual enquiries even satiated with the evidence of them Though they are not under such Proofs as the plain Doctrines and Precepts of Scripture yet by such a Probation as is most proper to them they are certain in their kind As the proof of so plain a point in its kind as Repentance is is as certain in its kind as the proof of Natural Religion in its Kind which is as certain as a Mathematick Proposition in its kind So sure is Prophecy In the Goodness of our Creator and Mediator in giving and sustaining our Faculties in the true use of themselves so sure are each of these and each of them in their kind as sure the one as the other even the Word of Prophecy sure as any For as I have often said even these Enigmatical parts of Scripture are most certainly as will be easily allowed infallibly true in their own sense They are therefore to be understood For so is all Truth They are Revealed and therefore it is intended by God they should be understood If to be understood they may be known they are truly understood by the Consciousness to ones self of the evidence of those Critierions and Marks of Truth most Connatural to them that All Parts answer one to another that they answer to what must be most apparently the main Scope and Intention of the whole and that Historical Matter of Fact answers all along which makes all certain As he that hath a Key to a Cyphar or to History in Picture or Emblem may be assur'd he hath it when he Finds all agree one part with another and the whole with what was reasonable to be expected and supposed to be the Design And if any one should say Why should this be Revealed to me so unworthy so little prepared with all the Advantages of Learning and Books I do most humbly Acknowledg the Dint of this Prejudice and can only Answer as I have done 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So it pleased him and to humble me to lowest Abasement However I most humbly Confess wholly by my own sin and guilt as in a solitary Patmos for it And I cannot but hope now I look upon my Testimony as near Finished and that things are just now upon their Complement he may be pleas'd also to Disconfine me when his Witnesses are so near Comming out of their Sackcloth and that I shall in their Rising rise out of this Civil Death But not my will but his will be done I have therefore I say upon the whole presented this Discourse as upon one Reason that by it you may look upon my other Treatises as not the Performances of a Fanatick or Phantastick or one that would 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Much less 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or what is Written but to speak forth the words of Soberness and Truth as well in the one as the other 2. That from the Conjunction of the one part with the other the Prophetick with the Doctrinal you may be as however I Hope and am Perswaded you are more excited and may move more Vigorously and Zealously in the Promoting National Repentance and Reformation as I have also in the Inferences of the discourse press'd seeing therein is most certainly the greatest Magnification of your National Office or Episcopacy that as having greatest nearness to the Affairs and Persons that are at the Top and who as Springs move what is below them you do therein 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 minister in Offering them up to God For not Worldly Grandieur nor any of the Cathedralities of your State nor an Animal or Sensitive however not Sensual Hospitality will sustain you but this is the best Account that can be given of such a Pre-eminence when it is indeed of National Superiority in an Elijah Like Fervor and Influence for National Reformation seeing it is certain in an Union in true Religion a National Episcopacy Devoted to its true ends tho in it self but Civil may be serviceable to National Godliness Hereon I have set my Foot in this Dedication to you and Acknowledgment of you that if you are indeed for and with God in your Pre-lations you will be Blessed not only with Good Wishes and Endeavours but with happy Successes not only in Word but in Power in such your Character and Station For all Wise and Good Mens Eyes are now upon you to know not your Names or Titles or Speech but your Power in Holy Influences upon the Nation from you But the very want of Blessing from Heaven and Success therein and to find that National Vices and Irreligion surmount your Sphere and grow up above it to Heaven is reason for great Humiliation and even Jealousy over your Constitution tho without your guilt But this will bear you in so great a Revolution so near as I declare to you For even as that Building call'd Pauls that is rising so Sumptuous e're it climb to its top shall only stand if it can be any way Serviceable in that Kingdom 's Succession so nigh so it may be supported else it s goodly Stones and Building will not at least to such an use as Cathedral only be one Stone left upon another with how magnificent a Zeal soever it be carried on It is begun too late to such a purpose if it be so intended Even so a National Episcopacy suffering the Loss of all that is but Hay and Stubble in it as by Fire may yet be Sav'd or Continue in its National Presidency if it can be found as such Serviceable for Offering up whole Nations more speedily to God and Christ else it will vanish away as Froth and empty Bubbles For let us all be sure the Kingdom of God is coming upon us which is not Word but Power Although therefore you do not smite the men-servants or Maid-servants or eat and drink with the Drunken Yet I humbly beseech you to take heed that as Wise and good Stewards set over the Houshold you give diligently that portion of Meat in due Season all the most efficacious Perswasions and Influences for Repentance and even National Reformation And herein what can be so mighty to perswade as if with United Applications to it You would search and encourage all that do search and hold out that sure Word of Prophecy that hath shone so long and yet shines in the Dark place of this Apostacy till the very day dawn and the day Star arise Because I most Humbly Assure you in the Name of the Great Master of the Family he will no longer delay his Coming but he is very near at hand I hope Providence hath Introduced you to such a purpose and as I humbly hope this Doctrine of Repentance is presented to your Hands together with