deface Teach us our Lusts to mortify In virtue of thy precious Death That while to sin all-dead we lie Thou maist infuse thy Heav'nly breath To Righteousness our Spirits raise And quick'n us with thy Life and Love That we may walk here to thy Praise And after live in Heav'n above Grant we in Glory may appear Clad with our Resurrection-Vest When thou shalt lead thy Flock most dear Up to the Mansions of the Blest An HYMN Upon CHRIST's Ascension The Historicall Narration GOd is ascended up on high With merry noise of Trumpet 's sound And Princely seated in the Sky Rules over all the World around The Tabernacle did of old His Presence to the Jews restrain But after in our Flesh enfold A larger Empire he did gain For suffering in Humane Flesh For all he rich Redemption wrought And will with lasting Life refresh His Heritage so dearly bought Sing Praises then sing Praises loud Unto our Universal King * Act. 1.9 He who ascended on a Cloud To him all Laud and Praises sing Captivity he captive led Triumphing o're the Powers of Hell And struck their eyes with glory dread Who in the Airy Regions dwell In Humane Flesh and Shape he went Adorned with his Passion-Scars Which in Heav'n's sight he did present More glorious then the glittering Stars O happy Pledge of Pardon sure The Application to the Emprovement of Life And of an endless blissful State Since Humane Nature once made pure For Heav'n becomes so fit a Mate Lord raise our sinking Minds therefore Up to our proper Country dear And purifie us evermore To fit us for those Regions clear Let our Converse be still above Where Christ at thy right hand doth sit And quench in us all worldly Love That with thy self our Souls may knit Make us all Earthly things despise And freely part with this World 's good That we may win that Heav'nly prize Which Christ has purchas'd with his Bloud That when He shall return again In * Act. 1.11 Clouds of Glory as he went Our Souls no foulness may retain But be found pure and innocent And so may mount to his bright Hosts On Eagle's wings up to the Sky And be conducted to the Coasts Of everlasting Bliss and Ioy. An HYMN Upon the Descent of the Holy Ghost at the day of Pentecost The Narration WHen Christ his Body up had born To Heav'n from his Disciples sight Then they like Orphans all forlorn Spent their sad days in mournfull plight But he ascended up on high More Sacred Gifts for to receive And freely showr them from the Sky On those which he behind did leave He for the Presence of his Flesh To them the Holy Spirit imparts And doth with living Springs refresh Their thirsty Souls and fainting Hearts While with one minde and in one place Devoutly they themselves retire In rushing Wind the promis'd Grace Descends and cloven Tongues of Fire The house th' Amighty's Spirit fills Which doth the feeble Fabrick shake But on their Tongue such power instills Acts 2. That makes th' amazed Hearer quake The Spirit of holy Zeal and Love The Application And of Discerning give us Lord The Spirit of Power from above Of Unity and good Accord The Spirit of convincing Speech Such as will every Conscience smite Act. 2.37 And to the Heart of each man reach And Sin and Errour put to flight The Spirit of refining Fire Searching the inmost of the mind To purge all foul and fell desire And kindle Life more pure and kinde The Spirit of Faith in this thy Day Of Power against the force of Sin That through this Faith we ever may Against our Lusts the Conquests win Pour down thy Spirit of inward Life Which in our Hearts thy Laws may write That without any pain or strife We naturally may doe what 's right On all the Earth thy Spirit pour In Righteousness it to renew That Satan's Kingdome 't may o'repow'r And to Christ's Sceptre all subdue Like mighty Winde or Torrent fierce Let it Withstanders all o'rerun And every wicked Law reverse That Faith and Love may make all one Let Peace and Ioy in each place spring And Righteousness the Spirit 's fruits With Meekness Friendship and each thing That with the Christian spirit suits Grant this O holy God and true Who th' ancient Prophets didst inspire Haste to perform thy Promise due As all thy Servants thee desire An HYMN Upon the Creation of the World WHen God the first Foundations laid The Narration Of the well-framed Universe And through the darksome Chaos ray'd The Angels did his Praise rehearse The Sons of God then sweetly sung Job 38.7 At first appearance of his Light When the Creation-Morning sprung To deck the World with Beauty bright Within six Days he finish'd all What-ere Heav'n Earth or Sea contain And sanctify'd the Seventh withall To celebrate his Holy Name Then with the Sons of God let 's sing Our bountifull Creatour's Praise Who out of nothing all did bring And by his Word the World did raise O Holy God how wonderfull Art thou in all thy Works of might Astonishing our Senses dull With what thou daily bringst in sight The fit returns of Night and Day The gratefull Seasons of the Year Which constantly man's pains repay With wholesome fruit his Heart to chear The shape and number of the Stars The Moon 's set course thou dost define And Matter 's wilde distracting Iars Composest by thy Word Divine The Parts of th' Earth thou holdest close Together by this sweet Constraint Thou round'st the Drops that do disclose The Rain-bow in his glorious Paint Thy Clouds drop fatness on the Earth Thou mak'st the Grass and Flow'rs to spring Thou cloath'st the Woods wherein with mirth The chearfull Birds do sit and sing Thou fill'st the Fields with Beasts and Sheep Thy Rivers run along the Plains With scaly Fish thou stor'st the Deep Thy Bounty all the World maintains The Application All these and all things else th' hast made Subject to Man by thy Decree That thou by Man might'st be obey'd As duely subject unto thee Wherefore O Lord in us create Clean hearts and a right spirit renew That we regaining that just state May ever pay thee what is due That as we wholly from thee are Both Gifts of Minde and Bodie 's frame So by them both we may declare The Glory of thy Holy Name An HYMN Upon the Redemption of the World through CHRIST in his Re-introduction of the New Creature THe Lord both Heav'n Earth hath made The Narration His Word did all things frame And Laws to every Creature gave Who still observe the same The faithfull Sun doth still return The Seasons of the Year And at just times the various Moon Now round now horn'd appears The Plants retain their Virtue still Their Verdure and their Form Nor do the Birds or Beasts their guize Once change or shape transform 'T is
many as receive they become the sons of God as being born 2 Cor. 4.16 not of bloud nor of the will of the flesh but of God And this also is that inward man of which Paul professes that though the outward perish is yet in the true Saints of God renewed day by day Wherefore he that is arrived to this Substantiality of life will be fixt in all useful Divine Truths and the Reasons that grow on such a Root will be found solid and permanent by him that has the Root but where they are merely verbal and imaginarie and float onely in the Brain the Heart being animal and brutish they may easily prove very weak fugitive and vanishing Not that they are so in themselves but may appear so to those who have onely the Picture of the Flower in their Brain not the Root in their Heart in which is the Pavilion of Life and inmost Tabernacle of God in the Soul He that lives in this dispensation of life O Hylobares can never be dissettled in his thoughts touching the Existence of God and his Providence or the Immortality of the Soul For he cannot be prone to suspect the Soul's capacity of living separate from the Body whiles he perceives her to live at that distance and defiance with the Body already while she is in it nor at all doubt of the Existence of God whose power spirit impulse and energie he so distinctly perceives in his own Soul For such is the nature of the Divine Life that none that feels it but must confess it not to belong to any creature as such but to be the very Power and Spirit of God actuating the Soul How can he then doubt of Him whose power and presence he so sensibly feels Wherefore this Dispensation of Life Hylobares is all in all to him that desires to philosophize with steddiness and solidity Hyl. These are great and magnificent things which you declare O Philotheus but yet such as seem to me neither incredible nor unimitable And therefore God willing I shall endeavour as well as I can to steer my course according to the Rules you have intimated and make it my main scope to attain to that state which you call the Dispensation of Life For I see all is very vain and shadowy without it But in the mean time I must crave pardon of Philopolis that I have occasioned Philotheus to mis-spend so much of that time that he thought too little for his own design and for the present purpose in hand Philop. Philotheus speaks so favourly and edifyingly of every subject he is put upon that it is ever pitty to interrupt him But sith he has now desisted of himself if he please at length to enter upon the Subject I first of all propounded it will very much gratifie my desires Hyl. It is therefore now Philopolis very seasonable to propound your Quere's to him Philop. My First Quere V Philopolis his Quere's touching the Kingdome of God O Philotheus was What the Kingdome of God is the Second When it began and where it has been or is now to be found the Third What progress it has hitherto made in the world the Fourth and last What success it is likely to have to the end of all things These are the Quere's Philotheus which I at first propounded concerning which if you please to instruct us plainly and intelligibly though not so accurately and scholastically we shall think our selves eternally obliged to you for your pains Philoth. I shall doe my best I can to serve you herein Philopolis and that as briefly and perspicuously as I can with all plainness of speech and without any affectation of Scholastick Scrupulosities being desirous onely to be understood and to convince And the God of Heaven assist us in this our discourse of his heavenly Kingdome that we may so understand the Mysteries of it as that we may faithfully endeavour the promoting the Interest thereof both in our selves and in all men to the Glory of God and Salvation of the World Amen Philop. Amen I pray God Philoth. VI What the Kingdome of God is in the general Nation thereof with a defence of the truth of the Nation Your first Quere O Philopolis though it be very short yet is exceeding comprehensive and by reason of the multisarious signification of the terms involves much matter in it at once which yet I shall endeavour to comprise and take in as well as I can by this brief Definition of the Kingdome of God in general The Kingdome of God is the Power of God enjoyning exciting commissioning or permitting his creatures to act according to certain Laws which considering all circumstances or upon the compute of the whole are for the best Philop. I partly understand you Philotheus and conceive you intend such a Definition of the Kingdome of God as takes in the Kingdome of Nature also and respects those Laws whereby both the brute Animals are guided and the senseless Plants and dead Meteors and Elements according to the extent of your defence hitherto of Divine Providence running from the highest and most Intellectual Order of things even to those Material Beings which are framed and actuated by the Spirit of Nature or Seminal Soul of the World Sophr. Why that is no more then the Scripture it self will warrant him to doe Philopolis The Psalmist is very frequent in such expressions The Lord has prepared his throne in Heaven Psalm 103.19 21 22 and his Kingdome ruleth over all Bless ye the Lord all his Hosts ye Ministers of his that doe his pleasure Bless the Lord all his works in all places of his dominion Bless the Lord O my Soul This in the 103. Psalm And in the 148. Psalm he makes all the several degrees of the Creation from Heaven to Earth from Angels to Brutes Plants and Meteors the Hosts of God and exhorts them all to praise the name of the Lord For he spake the word and they were made he commanded and they were created he hath made them fast for ever and ever he hath given them a Law which shall not be broken And again in the 119. Psalm O Lord thy word endureth for ever in Heaven thy Truth also remaineth from one generation to another Thou hast laid the foundation of the Earth and it abideth they continue this day according to thy ordinance for all things serve thee Whence it is plain that the Dominion of God and his Kingdome reaches as far as the whole comprehension of the Creation Cuph. Why then in some places O Sophron the Kingdome of God will be coincident with the Kingdome of the Devil Bath Why Cuphophron what greater inconvenience is there in that then that the Kingdome of Nature and the Kingdome of God should be coincident which you seem not to gainsay Cuph. Methinks it sounds very odly and besides we may conceive a subordination betwixt the Kingdome of God and the Kingdome of Nature but the
Kingdome of God and the Kingdome of the Devil seem to be in utter opposition one to another and therefore in no capacity of being parts of the same Kingdome Bath That is wittily urged O Cuphophron as to the exteriour sound of the words but look into the intrinsecall nature of things and set the Beasts of the field and the Devils of Hell one by another and tell me the difference that uncapacitates the one from being the members of the Kingdome of God more then the other Is it because the Devils have more subtiltie then the Beasts of the field This were reprochfully to intimate the Kingdome of God to be a City of Fools Is it because the one is Spiritual the other Corporeal This reason would also exclude the good Angels the choicest part of God's Kingdome Is it because the Devils are lapsed Yet their Lapse is but into the Animal life whose deepest root and fountain is Self-love or Selfishness which stands in opposition to that other fountain or root of the Divine Life which is the pure Love of God or of that which is simply and absolutely Good But Self-love or Selfishness is equally the Root of Life in Brutes as in Devils Whence it seems manifest that in reality the Devils are as capable of being part of the Kingdome of God as the Brutes Cuph. The difference O Bathynous seems to be this That the Brutes retain the integrity of their nature but the Devils have degenerated from their first condition and forsook their station God had placed them in Bath I confess O Cuphophron that the Lapse of the fallen Angels is great but yet they never sunk beneath the utmost Circuit of the Dominion of Providence or that Divine Nemesis that is continuedly interwoven into all the degrees of the Creation So that nothing that is not exterminated out of all Being but necessarily is subject to the Laws of some order or other of the Creation it has cast it self into As if some noble Familie should by taking ill courses lose all that Honour and Riches that were left them by their Ancestours and in process of time become mere Gally-slaves they do not cease to be still Subjects of the Prince of that Countrey in which they experience these varieties of Fortune so the Angels degenerating into Devils do not cease to be under the Dominion of God but find their Nemesis in his Dominion Prov. 21.30 For there is neither strength nor counsell against the Almighty nor can any one out-wit the reaches of his Providence Gaolers and Prisoners and Hangmen and all manner of Executioners are as well Subjects of the Prince as those men of noble rank and quality Sophr. All instruments of the Wrath of God are part of his Dominion as well as those of his Love For as the Son of Sirach tells us Ecclesiastic 39.28 c. There be spirits that are created for vengeance which in their fury lay on sore strokes in the time of Destruction they pour out their force and appease the wrath of him that made them Fire and Hail and Famine and Death all these were created for vengeance Teeth of wild Beasts and Scorpions Serpents and the Sword punishing the wicked to destruction All these rejoyce in his commands and are ready upon earth to execute his will when need requires To this purpose he speaks and methinks plainly insinuates that the Infernal Powers themselves of which these are many times but the externall weapons are part of the Army of the Lord of Hosts Bath It is impossible to be otherwise O Sophron for it is repugnant to the Wisedome and Omnipotency of God to suffer any thing to be that is in no wise subject to his Power and Dominion Hyl. Gentlemen methinks you are too-too solicitous in searching and setting out the Extent or Boundaries of the Kingdome of God whenas it were a more curious Point and no less pertinent to the present Quere What the Kingdome of God is to define what species of Dominion or Power it is that he thus universally exercises over the Creation Cuph. It is not absolute and unlimited Sovereignty VII Of the absolute Sovereignty of God and wherein it is grounded Hylobares which we from the Greeks call Tyranny Sophr. No by no means Cuphophron If you understood what Tyranny is you would find your Assertion as contradictious as blasphemous Euist. Sophron saies very true Hylobares for * Lib. 3. cap. 7. Aristotle defines Tyranny 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and elsewhere in his Politicks describing it more copiously Politic. lib. 4. c. 10. he saies it is such a Government in one person as being unaccountable to any rules over his equals or those that are better then himself doing all things for his own Interest and not for the Interest of them that he rules Which things are utterly incompetible to God who is infinitely better then all the Creation and is onely capable of doing them good but not of receiving any good from them Cuph. I minded not how Tyranny is defined in your learned Authours Euistor but look'd upon the word as significative of such a Sovereignty as is absolute and unlimited and that in one person who is tied to no Law but acts merely according to the suggestions and sentiments of his own heart Euist. And to tell you the truth the Criticks O Cuphophron teach us that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 anciently signified no worse then so that is to say an absolute Monarch a person invested with absolute Sovereignty or Power Philoth. If Cuphophron meant no otherwise then so Euistor his meaning was sound and good though his expression not so warrantable For it is very unsafe and scandalous to apply ill-sounding words to the Divine Majesty though lined underneath with a tacit well-meaning But to say that that species of Dominion which God exercises over his Creatures is absolute Sovereignty or a power of doing all things according to the suggestions or sentiments of his own mind this is a sober and true declaration touching the Dominion of God Hyl. But I beseech you Philotheus wherein is this vast and unlimited Sovereignty of God founded in his Omnipotency or in what is it For some say absolute and irresistible Power can doe no wrong Philoth. That 's a thing Hylobares I could yet never understand that the most omnipotent Power that is imaginable can ever have a right to doe what is wrong that is to say to create any evil that is truly so upon the full compute of all circumstances or in the entire comprehension of the whole Oeconomy of the Universe No Power though never so omnipotent can claim a right to such an act no more then any Intellect never so omniscient can claim a right of authentickly thinking that true which is really false But in answer to your main question wherein the Right of this absolute Sovereignty in God is founded I must tell you both distinctly and compendiously at once
meaning therefore of those Philoth. These are parallel to the Description of that Heros on the white Horse Apoc. 19.12 15 13. whose eyes are said to be as a flame of fire and a sharp sword to come out of his mouth and whose Name is also The word of God These Voices therefore and Thunderings and Lightnings are the Divulgations of the Law of Christ with an allusion to that terrible way of the Promulgation of the Law of Moses on Mount Sinai that is of the Gospel of Christ in the power of the Spirit which is resembled to fire By these I say is set out an extraordinary efficacious preaching of the Word in the power and demonstration of the Spirit under this last Vial. Analogous to which is that Vision in Esdras 2 Esdr. 13.10 of the Man who sent out of his mouth as it were a blast of fire and out of his lips a flaming breath and out of his tongue he cast out sparks and tempests which is there expresly interpreted of the Law of the Son of God 2 Esdr. 13.38 which is like unto fire Now this Thundering and Lightning is accompanied with a mighty Earthquake as it is said of mount Sinai at the thundring out of the Law that the whole Mount quaked greatly Exod. 19.18 and again in the Psalms Psalm 77.17 18. The air thundred and thine arrows went abroad the voice of thy Thunder was heard round about the Lightnings shone upon the ground the Earth was moved and shook withall Philop. Well but what in the mean time Philotheus becomes of that pitch'd Battel that those impure spirits the Frogs called the whole World to in the field of Armageddon For there is neither Fight nor Victory mentioned as if the Vision were left imperfect Philoth. Their Success is intimated in the signification of the word Armageddon as I told you before And the Vision is completely continued though under a new representation For you are to take special notice how this large pitch'd Camp the Symbols naturally leading to it is by a Commutation of Iconisms on a sudden turned into a mighty great City which signifies still but the same thing that is to say the Comprehension of those three Parties I numbered up to you before But this Tripartition is more plainly and elegantly declared in the Cortex of the Prophecy upon the mention of the Earthquake as if it were an Effect of it Apoc. 16.19 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philop. The Elegancy indeed is very admirable Philotheus very pleasing and harmonious Philoth. Nor is there any harshness in resembling that great Conflux of people in Armageddon to one great City because the Kings of the Earth and of the whole World are said to be gathered together there in that Symbol of a Camp which being turned into the Iconism of a City that City must needs be said to be a great one for it is in a manner the City of the whole World Matt. 4.8 in such a sense as all the Kingdoms of the world were said to be shewn to our Saviour which therefore must needs be the Comprehension of a world of Cities though the whole World be but as one great City Philo Jud. lib. de Ioseph as Philo speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And though every Kingdome of it self be a Sea yet the Comprehension of abundance of Kingdoms together is in the Prophetick style termed one great Sea as it is in Daniel 7. where the four winds of Heaven are said to strive on the great Sea Wherefore as the great Sea consists of a great many Seas so in like Analogie may one conceive this great City in the inward sense to consist of a great many Cities and these great many Cities which is the thing I drive at to be divided into three parts or parties the Cities of the Infidels conceited Deists and mere Moralists the Cities of the true Christians and the Antichristian Cities viz. Babylon with her daughters Philop. Well I confess Philotheus this is not unnatural But what execution in the mean time is there done in that Battel of the great day of God Almighty Philoth. The Cities of the Nations fell that is to say the Cities of the Gentiles Infidels or Unbelievers Philop. I suppose by the edge of the sword Philotheus Philoth. By the edge of that sword that comes out of the mouth of the Rider of the white Horse I mean by the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God Or rather to keep to the present Vision they fell being Thunder-struck by the powerfull Boanergesses of the Gospel under the last Vial they were convinced and subdued and brought under the Sceptre of Christ and were adjoyned to his Kingdome Philop. Very good news I pray God it may so come to pass But Babylon it seems stands it out Philoth. Did not our Saviour of old tell the chief Priests and Elders that the Publicans and Harlots would goe into the Kingdome of God before them Matt. 21.31 But Babylon stands it out to her utter ruine and destruction She is forced to drink of the wine of the fierceness of God's wrath Apoc. 16.19 20. and every Island flies away she shall not be possess'd of any of her Churches or consecrated places and the Mountains are not found all her Ecclesiasticall Honours and Dignities shall vanish For great showrs of Hail out of Heaven shall fall upon her Ver. 21. every stone about the weight of a Talent that all her goodly Trees will be spoiled and stripp'd of their both leaves and fruit their boughs broken down and their stocks beaten bare even to the inmost bark Apoc. 18.6 7 8. Then shall it be doubled unto her double according to her works and how much she hath glorified herself and lived deliciously so much torment and sorrow will be given her For strong is the Lord God that judgeth her Philop. But will not all this misery reclaim her Philotheus Philoth. Ask Solomon that question Philopolis and he will tell you roundly Though thou shouldst bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestill Prov. 27.22 yet will not his foolishness depart from him A considerable part of her may be thus obstinate for ever These are the fools that will be found to walk naked and all will see their shame which if themselves could see as well as others they would be converted But being struck with superstitious Blindness in stead of acknowledging the Truth and giving glory to God it is said Apoc. 16.21 they blaspheme God because of the plague of the Hail for the plague thereof was exceeding great Philop. So far then as I see Philotheus neither the Vision of the Rider of the white Horse where the Beast and the false Prophet are said to be cast alive into the Lake of fire nor this last Vial nor the Vision of the Wine-press signifie the destruction of the Persons of the Antichristian Kingdome but
thereabout For in that the Church was then measured by a man Apoc. 11.1 but this new state of things by an Angel that simply with a Reed Apoc. 21.25 17. this with a golden Reed it implies that this new state of things will as much surpass that state though the best the Church has yet been in as Angels do Men and a golden Reed an ordinary combustible one Assuredly there was something in thosedays though much better then then when the Church did grossly apostatize that will not abide the fire but consume into smoak and vanish But all in this new Creation is like the Measure it is measured with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Aristotle somewhere speaks such as will abide the fire without wasting Thy word is very pure saith the Psalmist Psalm 119. And again Psal. 12. The words of the Lord are pure words even as the silver that is tried from the earth and purified seven times in the fire It is therefore the precious Word of God or pure Law of God which David esteems above thousands of gold and silver which is this golden Reed to which the new Ierusalem is commensurate Psalm 119.72 Nothing is retain'd as having an authentick stamp upon it in this new Dispensation but what is plainly agreeable to the Word of God 1 Cor. 3.12 All the hay and stubble of humane Traditions and Institutions will be burnt up and the pure and Apostolick Doctrine and Discipline will be the sole Measure of all So that the measuring of the City with a golden Reed and the hundred forty four Cubits and the twelve thousand Furlongs end all in this sense That the Constitution of things then will be purely Apostolicall squared all by that Doctrine by that Spirit which is the eternall Spirit of God the Fountain of all holy Truth and Divine Reason Philop. Indeed Philotheus these Interpretations of yours seem to me very natural But are there no farther Characters of this excellent state of the Church in other Visions or Prophecies Philoth. X Several passages of the Mercavah expounded or the Vision of Cherubims seen by Ezekiel There are Philopolis but it were an endless thing to pursue all And yet I cannot abstain from giving you some Intimations from Ezekiel's Vision of the four Cherubims or Chariot of God with which the Throne of God in Heaven amongst the four Beasts seen by S. Iohn has no small correspondency For this you are to understand Philopolis that the great purpose of that early-begun and long-continued Negotiation of the Son of God with us terrestriall Creatures has been the enlarging the Kingdome of God even to these earthly Regions that the Kingdome of Heaven may be also upon Earth perfectly corresponding to the Heavenly pattern thereof And this is that which we are taught to pray for by our Saviour Thy Kingdome come that is to say Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven namely by his holy Angels And therefore the ultimate end of the Dispensations of Divine Providence is as I noted from the Angel's measuring the new Ierusalem to reduce the Church to an Angelicall state or condition that it may answer that Heavenly Pattern in the Visions of God Philop. I do not yet well understand you Philotheus Philoth. But you will do Philopolis if you do but attend to the orderly process of my discourse I say therefore in the first place that the Vision of the Cherubim or Chariot of God seen by Ezekiel but not first by him Ezek. 1.4 for I doubt not but the same appeared also to Moses and Aaron on the Mount Exod. 24.10 is the Pattern of the Angelicall Polity over which God immediately rules Psalm 68.17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand even thousands of Angels and the Lord is among them as in Sinai in the holy place Now the great design of all is that in the fulness of time the Church upon Earth may be his Chariot as fully and commandingly as the Angelicall Orders in Heaven Philop. Why how fully is that Philotheus Philoth. That methinks the Vision of Ezekiel does lively describe though I will not omit other observables in my brief passage through the Vision and yet think it needless to touch upon all Ezek. 1.4 I looked saies he and behold a Whirlwinde came out of the North a great cloud and a fire enfolding it self and a brightness about it and out of the midst thereof as the colour of Amber out of the midst of the fire This colour of Amber out of the midst of the fire I cannot but parallel to that description of the new Ierusalem Apoc. 21 18. And the City was pure Gold like unto transparent glass Think with your self how near in resemblance Philopolis transparent Gold and Amber are one to another Philop. Very like one another surely But what is the meaning thereof Philotheus Philoth. The fire and the light is the Spirit throughly penetrating and possessing this pure amber-like or transparent Gold as Iron it self looks in a manner transparent when it is ferrum candens which they ordinarily call red-hot Isa. 33.14 Who shall dwell with devouring fire who shall dwell with everlasting burnings Philop. Pure Gold certainly though as transparent as Amber and such as has lost all its Dross They must be of a pure Angelicall nature indeed For God is a consuming fire to whatever is contrary to his own Holiness Deut. 4.24 Philoth. Wherefore there being nothing to resist in this Cherubick Chariot of God they are perfectly obedient to his Will and he has an absolute empire over them they are wholly guided by his Spirit as is also intimated in the Vision more then once Ezek. 1.12 And they went every one straight forward whither the Spirit was to goe they went And in that it is said they went straight forward and that they returned not when they went this signifies the peremptory and irresistible progress of Divine Providence administred by his Angelicall forces Ver. 18. For in that the wheels of his Cherubick Chariot are said to be full of eyes I conceive this is meant thereby That the Circuits and Periods of times and Ages are carried by a special Providence of God who oversees all things And whereas it is said Ver. 19. And when the living Creatures went the Wheels went by them and when the living Creatures were lift up from the earth the Wheels were lift up this signifies the Adnexion of the Dispensations and Periods of times to the Ministry of the Angelicall Hosts and that they spirit actuate and animate all such Circuits and Periods The matter is by the decree of the Watchers Dan. 4.17 and the demand by the word of the holy ones Euist. I had thought Philotheus that these Wheels with eyes might have been the starry Heavens turned about by the Intelligences Philoth. That 's a phancie as far dissonant from the ancient wisedome of the Iews