the pulpits in times past sound with such words as these Lord remember bleeding and dying Ireland Lord this is Ireland that is a cast-out peoplâ— hat none cares for but when thou makest inquisition for blood remember them c. and those prayers which were put up from many a gracious heart which are now answered though now many of them haply are displeased and discontented with the return of their own prayers Secondly it is a mercy given in when all things were desperate and even all hope of a deliverance was gone Now is God a help found in the needful time of trouble when the enemies power and confidence was high and they said Ireland is our own we will pursue them even take them and satisfie our lusts upon them we will surely root out the English name from amongst us and we will try if they can swim into England it may be their faith will bear them up as that partie hath alwayes scoffed at godliness in all their successes but be no more mockers least your bonds increase Now when you had not an Armie in the field the whole Kingdom was their own and not a Garrison left in the whole Kingdom but one and that brought to the very brink of destruction also and must have been surrendred speedily after they made their approaches to it Now God gives in the mercy now doth the Lord judge his people and repent him concerning his servants when he sees that their power is gone and that there is none shut up or left Deut 32.36 when there is no Army in the field no souldiers in garrison now is the time that the Lord doth appear and take to himself his great power and raign Thirdly when the Lord doth therein exceed the expectations of his servants a deliverance they hoped for but not so great not so sudden so that when it came they seemed as men that dream and they can scarce believe that God would do so great things for them when the Lord is come to do them when the son of man comes shall he find faith upon earth its a faith in reference to the coming of Christ for to take vengeance on the Churches adversaries Isa 64.3 thou didst great things for us which we looked not for for God doth not answer prayers according unto our hopes but according to his own mercies as he doth not reward our services according to the measure of our duty but in the mouth of mercy Hos 10.12 a man doth sow in duty but he doth reap in ore misericordiae Fourthly when it is by the hand of those whom they have oppressed when the witnesses that were slain shall rise again and they shall destroy their persecutors by the sword that comes out of their mouthes then it is the greater mercy and far the greater confusion unto the enemy Isa 41.15 When the worm Jacob shall thresh the mountains and when the arm of the Lord should be made bare in it and his hand more immediately seen beyond the purpose courage and intention of men they are engaged before they are aware and victorie is won before they know they are engaged in a Battle when the Lord shall bend Judah for him and fill his bow with Ephraim and they shall have the honour of the conquest that have had their great share in their Torments and were by the enemies designed for destruction and they shall fall by their hand it makes the mercy far the greater Fifthly when it is such a mercy as lets us see still that God owns the same cause and however men warp and turn too and fro yet the good old cause in which the people of God were engaged against the Antichristian party the Lord owns that cause still and gives unto his people hereby hopes of a settlement For the Lord Christ when he rides forth in the conquest of the Gospel he doth ride forth conquering and to conquer not all at once but by degrees and doth give to his people yet a ground of their faith to see if they be of the seed of the Jews before whom they have begun to fall they shall surely fall God hath given us therein Hos 2.15 the vally of Achor for a door of hope it is true that Achor was a pleasant vally and it was sweet in it self therefore it was joyned with Carmel and Bashan but yet it was much more sweet in reference to the hope for it was at the first entrance into the Land of Canaan and as the first fruits gives them possession of the whole Sixthly it is still a carrying on of the grand design that the Lord Christ hath to do in the world in the latter daies for Christ in glory hath not only Saints to gather home to himself and to bind them all up in a bundle of life and he doth raign for their sakes for he is the head over all things for the Churches sake but the Lord hath also enemies to be subdued he must raign till he hath put all his enemies under his feet and he will be faithful as the Fathers servant in the one as well as in the other therefore Rev. 14. there is a harvest of all the Saints to be reaped and there is a wine press of wicked men at the same time to be trodden c. Now the great enemy unto Christ in the latter daies of the world is that wicked one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Baylon the great the Mother of Harlots Now so far as this tends to the promoting of that great design as it doth exceedingly so far should the Saints of God rejoyce therein for they must by degrees go into pâ—rdition and though all the former subjects would be fit matter for our meditation throughout this day and might have given us several Considerations of very publike concernment in reference to the mercy of the day yet at present I have chosen this rather to draw out your praises thereby concerning which I shall present you but with these three considerations First the least return that you can make of a mercy is praise to God for it and it is all that the Lord doth expect of you Hos 14. and we will give thee the calves of our lips it is all the promise that the Lord would have his people make to him in the time of their straits Afflictions they are stupefactive and of a confounding nature and they close the mouth Jâ—r 8.14 let us enter into our fenced Cities and let us be silent there for the Lord our God hath put us to silence but mercies they are of an expansive and dilating nature and they open the mouth as Hannah not only her heart 1 Sam. 2.1 was filled but her mouth was enlarged also Secondly if you do not return praises for mercies God will surely add Judgements unto mercies and will turn his hand against you do you evil after he hath done you good Hezekiah received a mercy but he did not render according to
When that Sea of glass Rev. 15.2 shall be pure as Christal as it was in the Primitive times now mingled with fire of contention and disaffection then shall Jehovah be one and his name one These promises are all for the Saints if they dye and never see them fulfilled yet they dye in the Faith of them Heb. 11.13 Rev. 3. I will write upon him the name of the City of my God new Jerusaâ—em That when the Lord shall reckon up his people at the last day and put every man with those of his own rank all they that dyed in the faith of it shall be reckoned as truly to belong thereunto as they that lived in the time thereof that enjoyed it Seventhly in reference to the destruction of the Enemies of the Church Rev. 14. The Lord Jesus Christ hath a Winepresse to tread and a Vintage to gather It 's the Winepress of the fierce wrath of God who is almighty when the blood shall be up to the briales of the horses c. which is in the times of the third Angel and it hath a more special and peculiar aspect upon the times in which we live then the Saints shall rejoyce when they see the vengeance and wrath of God upon the ungodly and they shall sing Hallelujah praise and glory and honour be unto thee O Lord for thou hast judged the great whore and avenged the blood of thy Saints c. Rev. 19.2 Eighthly the glory of Heaven is to come but the Saints do rejoyce here in the hope of it and do bathe themselves in thâ—se Rivers of pleasures which shall be for evermore c. By this hope Anima ascendit frequentèr currit plateas caelest is Jerusalem By this doe they see God in a fiducial though not in the beatifical vision And a man having this hope he doth purifie himself that he way be made a meet partaker of the blessed hope that is set before him So that all things to come do make for the good of the Saints surely things to come are theirs But what are the grounds of the interest that the people of God have in things to come Consider these five First the Lord hath ordered his eternal decrees concerning things to come so that they shall not only make for his own glory but also for the good of his people Eph. 1.11 for he doth work all things according to the counsel of his own will He did not onely from all eternity chuse his peoples eternal estates and chuse them to glory but he hath a decree that passeth upon all things to come in the government of this world as may conduce unto this end and as may further this great decree and grand design of God For though in the decrees of God some Divines doe observe that there are not priora posteriora because they are eternal and in aeternitate non est prius posterius yet there are subordinata one thing may be subordinated to another as the means are to the end for he hath chosen us to glory and virtue the one as the end the other as the means 2 Pet. 1.3 And so the grand design of God is the glory and eternal good of all the Saints and he hath subordinated all things in the government of the whole creation of God unto this great and principal end all things to come shall work together for their good Secondly it is for their sakes that he hath committed the world unto the government of Christ Isa 9.8 for it is by their Covenant that the world stands and 't is for their sakes that he hath undertaken the Government of the world Ephes 1. last He hath made him the head over all things to the Church Christ is not a head over all things as he is the head of the Church He is a head of guidance unto all things but he is a head of influence unto the Church also and he did undertake the government of all things for the Elect sake That he might gather them all together under one head even in him Eph. 1.10 And he that doth rule all things for their sakes they need not fear but he will over-rule all things for their good and therefore all things which are in the government of Christ doe belong wholly unto the good of the Saints Thirdly hence Christ doth exercise a peculiar providence over his own people which is a great mercy There is a common providence which doth extend unto the meanest creatures not a sparrow doth fall to the ground not a hair from off your head without it But there is a special providence over all the Saints he is the Saviour of all men but especially of them that beleeve 1 Tim. 4.10 It 's spoken of a temporal salvation and there is a special providence over the Saints in reference to temporal things Yet how apt are the people pie of God many times to distrust the providence of God even in these O ye of little Faith are you not much better then many sparrows c. Consider but the projects of this providence for the Saints good in reference unto things to come 't is exceeding remarkable how they have been overshaddowed by a special providence whilst they live in this world When the Saints shall come to Heaven and shall understand all the dealings of God towards them whilst they lived here below and the grounds thereof that they may give God the glory of it Suarez Beatus in Deo videt res omnes accommodas ad se pertinentes omnes circumstantias accommodatas Suarez Then when all things shall be opened and layd together then it will appear how gloriously God watched over them for their good by all things to come Fourthly hence it is that in the oeconomical Kingdom of Christ the Angels have their government and they doe order things to come strangely for the Saints good for though no creature can know things to come of themselves yet by Revelation they do for they receive from Christ Rev. 19.10 a spirit of Prophecie and they are employed as Officers under him in the government of all things Ezek. 1. The spirit of the living creatures is in the wheels and that was the Angels chap. 10.20 and ver 19. When the living creatures went the wheels went by them and when they were lifted up the wheels were lifted up for the spirit of the living creatures is in the wheels and this is because they are sent forth as Ministring spirits for the good of the Elect Heb. 1.14 And when Christ gives up his kingdom to the Father he will put down theirs for he will put down all rule and all authority and power for they were made principalities and powers onely under the kingdom of Christ and so long their principality shall last and no longer as we see Dan. 10.20 I goe forth and fight against the King of Persia and then the Prince of Grecia shall come
fulfilled Confundetur omne jus leges interibunt non fides in hominibus non pax non pudor neque securitas neque Regimen hujus confusionis haec erit causa quod Romanum nomen quo nunc regitur orbis de terr a tolletur And it is the duty of the people of God to eye the prophesies and to look out for their accomplishment for the day of the Lord draws nigh then shall the Lord be King over all the Earth and Iehovah shall be one and his name one Zach. 14.9 The most glorious and perfect prophesie of this Kingdom of God which he shall set up in the latter days we have Rev. 21.22 So in the last eight chapters of Ezekiel which that I may give you a little light into There are three things mainly to be explained First what is meant by the City and Temple here spoken of 2. Unto what time this prophesie doth belong 3. What the waters are which issue out of the sanctuary which being explained will be as a key to open all the rest of the mysteries that are therein contained First unto what time is this prophesie to be referred for it s a great part of a Saints skill to be able rightly to discern and judge of times that they may know what to pray for and what to expect and when to co-operate and work together with God Now the times to which this prophesie relates are the times of the calling of the Jews when their coming in shall be as life from the dead and a new Resurrection in the world which will appear to us by four Arguments First it shall be after the Jews shall be converted for it is said The house of Israel shall defile my holy name no more as they have done by their abominations setting their threshold by my threshold and their post by my post and by this means there was a wall of separation between me and them and in my anger I consumâ—d them chap. 43.7,8,9 Secondly It shall be after the Tribes shall be united After the sticks of Ioseph and of Iudah shall become one in the Lords hand Ezek. 37.19,20,23 And therefore the Land is now divided amongst all the twelve Tribes of Israel Chapter 48. 3. It shall be after the glory of the Lord is returned for the name of the City shall be Jehovah Shammah the Lord is there chap. 48. ult and he saith I will dwell in the midst of them for ever chap. 43.9 I will set my sanctuary in the middle of them for evermore chap. 37.26 For when he doth return in to them again he will never forsake them he did indeed hide his face in a little wrath and for a moment but with everlasting kindness he will have mercy on them Isa 44.8 Ezck. 39.29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them c. 4. It shall be before Gog shall be destroyed for he shall come up against the people of Israel when they are planted in their own land and when they dwell safely chap. 38.14,15 Then he shall come against them as a cloud and cover the land and the Lord shall give unto Gog a place of graves in Israel c. Therefore Israel must be planted first in their own land and dwell there safely therefore I conceive it to be the same time with that Rev. 21.22 when Jerusalem shall come down from God out of heaven and when the glory of the Lord shall be in the middle of them the Tabernacle of God shall be with men and he will dwell with them And after they are setled in their own land and the people of God have rest for a thousand years then shall Satan be loosed who before was not bound from temptation but from persecution that he could not stir up men to persecute the Saints but as soon as he is loosed he stirs up this last and great enemy and he doth compass the Tents of the Saints and this holy City and then the Lord shews himself eminent and glorious in his destruction So that after Antichrist shall be destroyed Satan shall be bound so that the persecution of the Saints shall cease then shall this City and Temple be built which shall continue till the second coming of the Lord till the Heavens be no more the time therefore is to come do you long for it and pray for it Secondly What is meant by the City and the Temple prophesied of Here first it cannot be understood literally of a material City or Temple Peter Galatinus Peter Galatinus tels us that the Jews do commonly speak of a threefold Temple First the Temple of Solomon 2. The Temple of Zerubbabel 3. The Temple of Jacob which they say God shewed unto Iacob when he had the vision of the Ladder Now it cannot be spoken of the Temple of Solomon for that was destroyed before the captivity and therefore before this prophesie was revealed that was burnt with â—…re and for the Temple of Zerubbabel the measures and dimensions do no way agree thereunto for the glory of the latter house was inferior to the former Ezra 3.12 in many particulars as that the waters issue out of the Sanctuary and the trees that grow upon the River side and fishes in the River c. quae in secundi Templi instauratione nunquam fuerunt under the second Temple these things were not The materials shall not be in the Letter Foundations of Saphirs windows of Agats gates of Carbuncles Isa 54.11 and for the dimensions also Rev. 21.16 the height of the city shall be a thousand furlongs which could not be in the letter fulfilled and for the Temple there shall never be a restitution of the Jewish worship only the Lord doth as it is usual express Gospel Ordinances and Worship according unto the Ancient pattern Secondly it cannot be understood of heaven for these Reasons 1. It is new Ierusalem that comes down from God out of heaven Rev. 21.2 There is no Prince in Heaven but here the prince shall oppress the people no more 3. There is no priest in Heaven nor no Ordinances nor set times of worship which is plain here there 's the Priest and their several portions and set times of worship that when the people go in the Priest must go in and when the people go forth he must go forth 4. There is no measuring in heaven a city and a temple that is measured because it s built chap. 40.12 but this is a house not made with hands that cannot be meafured 5. They shall in this City be ashamed of all their former abominations but in Heaven there is neither sin nor shame chap. 43.11 6. This City shall have enemies that shall encompass it as we see Rev. 20.9 They shall compass the Tents of the Saints and of the holy city c. 7. And the waters that do issue out of the sanctuary are healing waters and the fruit of the Tree of life is for meat and the leaves
visionem videtur Sanctis promittere Adonai dominationem denotat plane filio congruit per quem Deus pater ut fecit mundum sic mundum moderatur And. Masius Andr. Masius in Josh 7. There shall be vision of Christ in glory and in the vision of him and full communion with him our holiness shall consist 1 John 3.3 When he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is Austin t was Austins wish to have seen Christum in carne if it were so desirable to have seen Christ in the flesh in his humbled estate how much more desirable to see him in his glorified to see the King in his glory Christ glorified and our selves as partaking with him in the same glory for we shall enter into our Masters Joy Enter into the Joy of our Lord. That as he sate down with the Father upon his Throne so we should sit with him upon his throne and this was the happiness that Job expected I know that my Redeemer lives and that I shall see him with these eyes or else we may understand it of the vision of God for it is that only that is the beatifical vision for God being the ultimate object of our faith Christ is but the intermediate object through Christ we believe in God he must be the ultimate object of our happiness and so to See is an Hebraeism and implyes both vision and fruâ—tion in vision for to know a thing in the most perfect way is called seeing in the Scripture 1 Pet. 1.12 The Angels desire to look into that is to have a through and a perfect knowledge of them and it implyes fruition Isa 53.11 He shall see of the travel of his soul and be satisfied Isa 66.14 Ye shall see and your hearts shall rejoyce that is of this you shall have experience and so to see the Kingdom of God is to possess it to enjoy it to have a part and a portion in it c. And this vision of God is double First fiducial which is by faith here for every believer must be first a Seer John 6.40 He that sees the son and believes in him So Mat. 5.8 Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Heb. 11.27 He seeing him that was invisible This is a fiducial vision and the truth is without holiness no man can thus see God But that I shall not restrain the text to Secondly beatifical that is to see God immediatly and that with such a perfect vision as the creature is capable of First to see God as he is in himself Secondly to see God as he is in your selves for our happiness consists in both these first to see God as he is in himself for we shall see him as he is this is called seeing him face to face here we see God but by Negatives via negationis as he is not denying unto God the imperfections you see in the creature I say this is rather to see him as he is not then as he is and by shadows and resemblances from the creatures via causalitatis and neither of these is to see God as he is but rather what God is not but as he is pleased to represent himself unto our faith it s by way of reflection not intuition But we shall see him then as he is that is by these helps and means and through this glass no more but immediately face to face it is true that the infiniteness of the divine nature no created understanding is able to comprehend none can know God to perfection but God himself No not the Angels in Heaven nor the man Christ Jesus but yet all the Saints shall know God and see him unto their perfection so as to make themselves perfectly happy though they can never know him to his perfection for even a glorified understanding shall be finite and that cannot be capable of an infinite object we shall see him c. that is infinite but not modo infinito and this is that which is commonly called beatitudo objectiva blessedness in the object Secondly there is a seeing of God in themselves when the Saints shall see such a perfect image of the glory of God stamped upon them that they shall see more of God manifested in themselves of all his Attributes then they can see in the best of the creatures here below more then in all the works of creation and providence beside some weak appearances there are of the divine nature revealed in the Saints here but then they shall be full and glorious they shall shine as the Sun in the Kingdom of my Father there shall be more of the glory of God stampt upon their souls and bodies then there is brightness in the Sun and this is another thing wherein the happiness of the Saints shall consist the perfection of the image of God in themselves and this is commonly called beatitudo formalis to see God in themselves and to see God in himself in this doth the fruition of God consist and the happiness of the creature for ever and holiness is the means to attain to this vision there is no salvation without it it is only the holy man shall see God and they that think to attain it any other way deceive themselves for the expression is exclusive No man be he what he will be of what estate and condition soever high or low rich or poor be his authority never so great be his profession never so glorious let him make never so fair a shew amongst men let him be of never so great fame and repute let him be never so just amongst men and of a moral carriage and a good behaviour that no man can blemish him yet is he a holy man if there be no holiness in him there is no vision of God for him he can never see God by a vision of faith here neither shall he ever see him that is enjoy him in a vision of glory hereafter here there are great shews of holiness and shadows which are not so that men do count holiness and many are cryed up for Saints in their generation or as is the foolery of this age because other men will not they will canonize themselves for Saints but there is a holiness of truth that the Apostle speaks of Eph. 4. and such a holiness it must be not in name only but in truth not in word but in power and it is observable that the Apostle here makes it exclusive but only to the last particle he exhorts you to follow peace and holiness but he adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without which there may be a seeing of God without peace that is a man may follow peace and not attain it and yet see God but without holiness none can see him it is commonly by Interpreters restrained unto the vision of God in glory and therefore so I shall consider it only at this time and the observation that it doth
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
in an afflicted condition He went mourning all the day long for the oppression of his enemies and the Lord hid his Face And his soul was dejected within him but yet he had hope in God For I shall yet praise him who is the health of my Countenance and my God The Saints do comfort themselves in their saddest condition with their Interest in things to come that the Lord will wait on them and be gratious and will not keep his anger for ever Consider these Eight thiâ—gs Secondly But how shall things to come become the Saints In respect of good and evil things to come 1. They are delivered from temptations to come A man shall be delivered from them and not left unto them and there is a great deal of mercy in the preventing grace of God this way in being freed from temptations The Lord will not lead his People through the Land of the Philistines Exod. though it was the neerest way to the Land of Canaan lest the people see it and their hearts turn back again into Egypt c. And indeed the Lord doth strangely order things in his Providence that temptations may be hid from his Peoples Eyes Satan desires continually to winnow the Saints but the Lord rebukes him and all his temptations 2. If Temptations sometimes assault them yet he doth make provision for them against Temptation Satan hath desired to winnow thee saith our Lord to Peter Luk. 23.31 but I have prayed for thee The Lord lays in consolation for the future tryals of the Saints and as the Temptation was fore-appointed so also is the Consolation Jer. 10.11 When the children of Israel were in Babylon and should have temptations to worship other Gods they were bid to make this Answer The Gods that have not made the Heavens and the Earth shall perish from the Earth and from under these Heavens And 't is very observable that one Answer God puts into their mouths is wrote in the Chaldee Tongue c. So the Saints shall be able to withstand them by vertue of the Intercession of Christ c. 3. Afflictions to come either they shall be delivered from them as Hezekiah thou shalt saith God be gathered into thy grave in peace God had an Ark for Noah and a Grave for Methusalah The Floud was appointed to come upon all the Earth well at the time appointed it comes But first Methusalah must be delivered for he lived until that very Year the Flood came and God provides him a Grave takes him away from the evil to come him does God deliver from it But Noah he must abide the tryal for him God provides an Ark and safely carries him through it Isa 4.5 Upon all the glory there shall be a defence The great water Floods shall not come nigh unto thee or else if they be afflicted they shall be gratiously supported under them The grace of God shall be sufficient for he hath promised When thou goest through the fire I will be with thee Isai 43.2 There is gratia perveniens assisteus in suffering as well as in sins and duties Psal 43.46 We will not fear though the earth be removed for there is a River the streams whereof shall make glad the City of God 4. Mercies to come to the Saints shall prove Mercies indeed Saul hath a Kingdom as wel as David but it was a mercy to David and therefore the Lord did qualifie him for it and gave him Kingly graces and weaned hii soul from the Mercy before he had Bernard Bern. Ecce paratum est cor meum vis me constituere pastorem ovium aut regem populorum My heart is as a weaned child Psal 131.2,3 And therefore it 's sayd Isa 30.18 that the Lord waits to be gracious he doth not defer because he is unwilling to bestow mercies upon us but because we are not prepared to receive Mercie for Mercies to unprepared soules are like unto Cordials unto foul stomacks the which do but increase the peccant humours and therefore the Lord never gives them till the season of them and till he hath prepared the soul to receive them There is a double right that the people of God have to Mercy First there is jus haereditarium a right of Inheritance and that they have as soon as they are converted but yet they are but then as a child in its nonage Secondly there is a jus aptitudinarium a right of fitness that is wanting and the Lord doth not give any Mercy in Mercy till both be found in the soul till there is a right of fitness as well as an hereditary right Fifthly Sins to come If God leaves under any temptation that we are foyled by it as that the best of Gods people may for I know no sin but may overtake such but final impenitency and the sin against the Holy Ghost yet all things shall work together for good to them that fear God Et si omnia qui ni etiam peccata Aug. Aug. If all things then sin it self is not excluded God makes a strange use of sin to his peoples good and benefit either to discover unto a man what is in his heart and so to abate his carnal confidence as the Lord did let Hezekiah fall to that end that the work of Mortification may be perfected and the Sword of Godly sorrow may go the wider and the Plough of Repentance the deeper and that shall be the fruit of it that the man may be more vile in his own sight or else to make him the more instrumental in that kind to do good unto others being able to comfort them with the same consolation with which he himself was comforted of God And being himself converted he may be the better able to convert and strengthen the brethren Luk. 22.32 And the Saints of God do see great Mercy even in their sins to come as well as in their suffering that as some of the Antients have blessed God for the Falls of the Saints those Horrenda naufragia by reason of the comfort and support and admonitions that they had from them So they do see cause many times to bless God for that Grace that brings so much good out of their sins also and so much they may promise themselves from a principle of Faith in regard of sinning as well as suffering Sixtly in respect of the happy and glorious condition of the Church that is promised in the latter daies there is a time coming when all the kingdoms of the earth shall become the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ Rev. 11.16,17 and unto the holy people of the most high Dan 17.27 And when the smoak out of the Temple shall vantsh and the Temple shall be opened in heaven and a man may see into the Court of the Testament which is within the vayl The darkness of the preâ—ent dispensation of God shall be done away and new Jerusalem shall come down from God out of heaven
Alamoth pro occultis for Gods hidden ones Psal 46.1 If the Saints are in the pit in which there is nowater now turn to your strong holds ye prisoners of hope satis praesidii in uno Deo Secondly Satan being the God of this world he doth alwaies rule the present world which God hath redeemed the Saints from Gal. 1.4 And the children of disobedience walk in the course of the present world The world is cast into variety of shapes but into what form soever the present evil world is cast into Satan is the god of the world and he doth apply himself to rule the world under all the forms into which the Lord doth cast it And therefore Hier om saith wel Erras mi frater erras si putas unquam Christum persecutione non pati c. If the world be Pagan Satan rules in the great Red Dragon and so brings the Saints into their time of straits If the face of the world change and it turn Christian then Satan rules also in that and casts out a flood after the woman If that Flood be dryed up then Anti-christ doth arise and he rules in him as a false Prophet and afterwards 2 Tim. 3.1,2 If a form of godliness be brought in under that he will rule and men be lovers of their own selves proud boasters treacherous high minded and despisers of those that are good and therefore there must needs be straits in all estates that shall await the Saints of God Thirdly the more spiritual light grows the greater are the straits that the people of God are brought into First because the more are their consciences seared 1 Tim. 4.2 It is not a cold Iron that will seare the Conscience but when there is evident clear convincing light and men be told of it and yet wil go against it their Consciences are seared by it and in Judgement they are given over unto a reprobate mind Secondly the more they are exasperated against the Truths of God because they do come nearer unto the sin against the Holy Ghost which is the Devils sin and it doth consist in malice upon a high and a rais'd light No men were so cruel as the Pharisees that did sin against the Holy Ghost and therefore if prophecying in sackcloth and ashes would satisfie the lusts of men in times past now killing is not sufficient but their dead bodies shall not be buried to express their former malice and rage against them and therefore in the latter times the straits of the people of God must needs be greater then ever they have been in times past Fourthly God wil by this make way for an utter ruin of the Churches Enemies the greater straits they do bring the Saints into the nearer is their destruction and the sooner will God arise I have seen the affliction of my people that are in Aegypt and I have heard their cry For the Churches Enemies must perish by the Churches hand and therefore they are said to be a cup of trembling and a burthe some stone The Church brought that mighty people into a condition fit to be consumed Jerusalem was to them a cup of trembling now they think to drink it off and it proves their poyson and when they have brought them to extremity that they thought all had been sure then they themselves perish It 's by the Churches straits that the Enemies are ruinâ—d When the ploughers plowd upon their backs and made long their furrows then will the Lord cut the cords of the wicked Psal 129.3 The Use is for Consolation to all the people of God and this I will reduce unto three Questions First with what mind God doth bring his people into straits What the thoughts of God are towards them when he doth it And here we shall see that God thinks thoughts of peace to them all the while and not of evil Jer. 29.11 Secondly in what measure will the Lord do it Thirdly unto what end For the first With what mind does the Lord bring his people into straits What are the thoughts of God towards them when he doth it First he doth it from a principle of Love and their Afflictions are grounded on the Second Covenant as their Mercies are other mens afflictions are from the First Covenant as a fruit of the Curse Mich. 7.9 the Church saies there I will bear the indignation of the Lord c. Why is God in indignation with his own people indeed he is angry with the wicked every day There is a double anger of God simplex redundans in personam he is angry at his peoples sins but yet he loves their persons and he afflicts them from a principle of faithfulness Psal 119.75 For he hath covenanted to keep them from the evil of the world he is to preserve them unto his heavenly Kingdom and he does as I may say sometimetimes preserve them in Salt and somtimes in Sugar as we use to doe with some things that we would preserve Secondly God looks upon your suffering as the suffering of Christ the Saints being one with him their services are Christs and their sufferings are Christs they bear fruit in him they live in him Col. 1.24 So they fill up what is behind of the sufferings of Christ Thirdly whilst he doth smite them he is afflicted with them in all their afflictions he is afflicted though Christ be in heaven yet he has the same nature there that he had here and he stands in the same relation to us now he is in glory that he did here he is not ashamed to call us brethren and therefore his compassion still remains Jer. 31.22 Since I spake against him I remembred him still my bowels are troubled for him The heart of God goes out unto all the Saints in their afflictions Fourthly whilst he doth afflict them he doth wait to be gracious Isa 30.18 He doth not defer deliverance because he is not willing to bestow it but because his people are not prepared for it that 's the reason they are so long out of glory Col. 1.12 because they are not yet meet to be partakers of the Inheritance with the Saints in life and to make them so he doth sit by as a Refiner and he will only purge away their dross by their afflictions Fifthly all the while they are in straits he doth take special notice of their sufferings and he is deeply displeas'd with the Instruments that afflict his people and he is preparing for their ruin all the while for he takes special notice of their wrong Rev. 2.2 I know thy work and thy labour and thy patience c. Exo. 3.7 I know their sorrows He hath a bottle for their tears Secondly he is deeply displeased with the Instruments Zach. 1.15 He sent his people into Babylon but yet I am sore displeased with the heathen I was but a little displeased and they helped forward the affliction So that whilst God doth use them as the rod of his anger
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
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