persuaded the Lord was able to Heal them became healed Two of an extraordinary lameness one of eighteen years continuance using Crutches the other having her thigh and ancle-bone out of joint from her childhood And another of a Leprosie and one of a withered hand from her childhood These things being publickly known and attested in the City of London And the Lord having wrought these miraculous Cures upon these women it ought to be considered of by us For as the Lord came by a Woman so after he arose he appeared first to the Women And now at the time of his second coming he hath miraculously appeared in working of miracles on Women And also another great and evident Sign the Lord hath given us of his coming and that the great Jubile is at hand by the miraculous springing up of a Field of Corn without plowing or sowing and of that goodness and quantity the like was never before heard of since the first Creation when all things sprang up of themselves and this wonderful Crop springing up out of sixteen Acres of fallow Land which formerly had been sown with Turneps This Miracle was near Maidstone in Kent being generally known and accordingly published This Land belonged to a Man that was very charitable to the Poor Thereby the Lord also shewing that in time to come such will be abundantly rewarded For he saith The merciful shall obtain mercy Matth. 5.7 And he that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord Pro. 19.17 And it is said Cast thy bread upon the waters for thou shalt find it after many days Eccles 11.1 Chap. VIII Where the Armies are to be gathered together after the Lord comes THE Lord saith in Revelations ch 16.15,16 Behold I come as a Thief blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew Tongue Armageddon Now here in these verseâ— the Lord tells us how he will come and they are those that will be blessed that are found watching for his coming and that when he does come it is then he will gather together these great armies or people to the place called Armageddon And in Joel there the Lord calls it the Valley oâ— Jehoshaphat Let the Heathen be wakened and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat for there will 〈◊〉 sit to judge all the Heathen round about Joel 3.12 These words shew 't is after they are awakened by the coming of the Lord that then they will be gathered together to the Valley of Jehoshâ—…hat for it is there the Lord will sit to judgâ— the Heathen round about that have Israels Land in their possession as in the 3 Ch. 2 ver And where this Valley of Jehoshaphat is is made mention of in 2 Chr. 20.26 And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the Valley of Barachah for there they blessed the Lord therefore the name of the same place was called the Valley of Berachah unto this day And in this Valley Jehoshaphat blessed God for the great deliverance he had given them from their Enemies which Enemies were those that were related to Israel as Ammon Moab and Mount Seir. So those that are again to be there gathered are those that pretend Relation to the Christian Israelite as Pope and Turk and the negligent Christian all acknowledging the true God but in works deny him For all the Christians that bear the name of Christ of the Gentile race whether good or bad are alike term'd Heathen in the Old Testament 2 Esd 2.34 For then there being no other than Jews and Heathen they could be no otherwise expressed as I have already by the word proved Therefore the Lord here saith Now consider this ye that forget God lest I tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver Psal 50.22 And also accordingly the Lord saith to Esdras that when he comes it is then they will be gathered together the which will be to the forementioned place For at or about the time of his coming there will be fighting together in their own Land As in 2 Esd 13.30,31,32,33,34 And he shall come to the astonishment of them that dwell on the Earth And one shall undertake to fight against another one City against another one place against another one people against another one Realm against another And the time shall be when these things shall come to pass and the signs shall happen which I shewed thee before and then shall my Son be declared And when all the people hear his voice every man shall in their own Land leave the Battle they have one against another And an innumerable multitude shall be gathered as thou sawest them willing to come and to overcome him by fighting Which fighting here without doubt will be like that of Jacobs wrestling with the Angel which was by prayer for a blessing But they having by their wicked practices as in the 37 and 38 verses lost their day and season of Grace it will with them then be too late as it was with Esau to have the blessing All these places agree in one and the same thing that there will be fighting one against another at or about the time of the coming the Lord and that it will be after the Lord comes that they shall be gathered together to Armegeddon or otherwise called the Valley of Jeâ—hoshaphat there to be judged Chap. IX The Everlasting Covenant and Crown of Life THE Everlasting Covenant and the Crown of Life is one and the same thing And when the Lord again comes he will make that new everlasting Covenant with both the Houses of Jocob in which Covenant the true practical believer will be then included as coming in by the Lion of the Tribe of Judah who are now but Heirs with Israel of the same promise Gal. 3.29 And then it is they shall no more teach every man his Neighbour and every man his Brother saying Know ye the Lord For they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them faith the Lord Jer. 31.34,35,36 Then it is His People shall be willing in the day of his power in the beauties of holiness Psal 110.3 And then it is Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting Salvation They shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end Isa 45.17 And then it is the Lord will rest in his love Zeph. 3.17 Ezek. 37.26,27,28 when Israel is put into a capacity never more to offend him And then is life crowned to the Soul when they are thus secured by him And then it is that sighing and sorrowing will fly away And then it is The days of his People shall be as the days of a Tree and that his Elect shall long injoy the work of their hands Isa 65.22 And then it is The meek shall inherit the Earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace Ps 37.11 But the
shall inherit the Earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace 12. The wicked plotteth against the just and gnasheth upon him with his Teeth 13. The Lord shall laugh at him for he seeth that his day is coming 22. For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the Earth and they that are cursed of him shall be cut off Therefore it is said He that giveth to the Poor lendeth to the Lord. And the Lord calleth the Poor his Brethren And the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 1.27 God hath chosen the foolish things of the World to confound the Wise and God hath chosen the weak things af the world to confound the things that are mighty 28. And the base things of the World and the things that are despised hath God chosen yea and things which are not to bring to nought things that are You see in these last words of the verse that St. Paul had a reference for the time to come And as the Lord at his first coming did chuse the mean and low things of the Earth So at the Lord's second coming it does appear that he will then chuse them also as part of his Elect when he again comes 29. That no flesh should glory in his presence That is It is not their Wisdom Grandeur or Greatness that made them acceptable with God Of which Hanath Prophesieth in 1 Sam. 2.8 He raised up the Poor out of the dust and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghil to set them among Princes and to make them inherit the Throne of Glory for the Pillars of the Earth are the Lords and he hath set the World upon them 9. He will keep the feet of his Saints and the wicked shall be silent in darkness for by strength shall nâ— man prevail 10. The Adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces out of Heaven shall he thunder upon them the Lord shall judg the ends of the Earth and he shall give strength unto his King and exalt the Horn of his Anointed And therefore he saith in 1 Cor. 1.30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus who of God is made unto us Wisdom and Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption 31. That according as it is written he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. And Jeremiah saith Jer. 9.23,24 Thus saith the Lord let not the wise man glory in his wisdom neither let the mighty man glory in his might let not the rich man glory in his riches But let him that glorieth glory in this that he understandeth and knoweth me that I am the Lord which exercise loving Kindness Judgment and Righteousness in the Earth for in these things I delight saith the Lord. This Chapter as well as the forementioned to the Corinthians has a reference to the second Coming of Christ at which time he will exercise Loving Kindness Judgment and Righteousness in the Earth Now it does fully appear by Scripture who are the Elect that will be received into mercy when the Lord again comes That it is the Antient People of God the Jews with part of those people or nations which Isaiah makes mention of in the 60. c. 6. 7. v. And the poor which have not uncapacitated themselves for Mercy There is also then a Blessing promised to the Meek Psal 37.11 They shall inherit the Earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of Peace which cannot be till the Lord again comes That is those meek that have not had the Opportunity of more knowledg And the Merciful that have shewed mercy to Gods Elect if they have not been guilty of the evils against which the Lord hath pronounc'd that dreadful sentence Rev. 21.8 That they shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second Death But I hope God of his infinite mercy hath here caused the true meaning of his Word to break forth to be the means of saving of thousands of poor Papists and Turks And I hope it will awaken thousands of our Nations that are asleep in security before they sleep that sleep of Eternal Death But as for them that are willfully ignorant there remains for them no hopes of Mercy For God saith Prov. 1.24,25,26,27,28 Because I have called and ye refused I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded 25. v. But ye have set at nought all my Counsel and would none of my Reproof 26. v. I will also laugh at your Calamity I will mock when your Fear cometh 27. v. When your Fear cometh as Desolation and your destruction cometh as a Whirlwind when distress and anguish cometh upon you 28. v. Then shall they call upon me but I will not answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me According to the saying of the Lord in St. Luke That they shall then strive to enter in but shall not be able That is as soon as the Lord appeareth they will be seeking to him for Mercy for this Scripture doth particularly relate to the latter Day but then it will be too late Prov. 1.29 For that they hated Knowledge and did not chuse the Fear of the Lord. Whilst the door of Mercy is open to us whereby to make our Calling and Election sure For when the Lord comes to Judgment we must then give an account of our Stewardship and as we are found so will our Sentence be whether for Blessedness or Misery Now the Lord Christ with the Apostles speaks in the same method as God aforetime spake by his Prophets in that they do mention those things which are to come as though they were already done And also in that they mention or joyn those things together which are done or shortly to be done with those things which are of a long continuance before they will be accomplisht And having proved it in several places before I shall here make mention but of Two The first is the foregoing words of the Apostle wherein he makes mention of those call'd in at Christs first coming with the promised Elect which shall be received into mercy at his second coming And also Christ himself mentioneth the destruction of Jerusalem with that of the destruction of the world as tho they were to have been at one and the same time That thereby we might the better understand the writings of the Prophets and Moses as to their joyning things together which admits of great distance of time between For as to the Covenant that God made with Israel the Christians were included therein also As being Ahrahams seed by Christ And therefore when Moses speaks of Israels Land he there speaks of what will become of the Christians Land That is the Land where the pretended head of the Church is who walk with Israel according to the imagination of their own hearts Which woe is pronounced to that Land that it shall become brimstone and salt and burning Also those Prophesies of Christs first coming are joyn'd with his second coming and
they may serve me V. 14. For I will at this time send all my Plagues upon thine Heart and upon thy Servants and upon thy People that thou mayest know there is none like me in all the Earth By which words it does appear that God had not fully determined all the Plagues that he sent on him not till that time For in the 15th verse God says Now will I stretch out my hand that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence and thou shalt be cut off from the earth Verse 16. And in very deed for that cause have I raised thee up for to shew in thee my power and that my Name may be declared throughout all the Earth Which word raised thee up in the Hebrew is no other than made thee stand The which you may see in the Margin of your Bibles And as to the meaning of the words making thee stand is that thou shalt stand in that place of Power till my appointed time is come for the delivery of my people Israel For God foreknowing the evil heart that was in him and that Satan had made him an Instrument of cruelty therefore God hardned him in Unbelief that he might shew forth his Power in him that thereby the Name of the Lord might be declared throughout all the Earth Now as touching the Root of Gall and Wormwood the which St. Paul terms the Root of Bitterness and the man of sin And by St. John he is term'd the Beast in Rev. 13.1 And I stood upon the Sand of the Sea and I saw a Beast rise up out of the Sea having seven Heads and ten Horns and upon his Horns ten Crowns and upon his Heads the Name of Blasphemy Verse 2. And the Beast which I saw was like unto a Leopard and his feet were as the feet of a Bear and his mouth as the mouth of a Lyon and the Dragon gave him his Power and his Seat and great Authority In the first place St. John saith that he saw a Beast rise out of the Sea and the Sea in Scripture doth signifie the common people from whence this Beast did arise The Horns the Scripture tells us they are Ten Kings and here the Crowns on them signifie as much by which Horns the Beast is defended and maintained in his Power And in that he is like unto a Leopard which seems to signifie to us the several Badges of his Idolatrous Worship that he hath set up and therefore appeareth like a spotted Leopard And it is said he hath Feet like a Bear that seems to set forth to us how he doth trample down the Saints of the most High and tear them in peices It is said he hath a mouth like a Lyon the which as the Lyon's mouth is the Destruction of all that cometh near it so the Mouth of this Beast destroyeth them that do adhere to it And whereas it is said that the Dragon gave him his Power and Seat and great Authority the which is to let us understand that this Power of his was never given him of God but that he received it from the Dragon which is the Devil who making him a fit instrument for himself to carry on his Hellish designs by therefore he gave him his Power and Seat great Authority and put him on a Throne And the Lord will there keep him standing that is make him stand that he shall not be taken off by any of the Judgments which the Lord doth send before his coming But as God did make that Pharaoh stand in his place till his appointed time was come for the delivery of his People as chusing him to harden in unbelief that had hardned himself in all iniquity and cruelty And therefore the Lord reserved him till himself was in the Clouds before that Pharaoh was destroyed in the Sea So the Lord again chuses this Beast to harden in unbelief as to the Miraculous signs that he has and will send on the Earth because this Beast has hardned himself in all manner of Cruelty and Mischief and Blasphemy Therefore the Lord chuseth him to shew the fierceness of his wrath upon when he comes to judg the World and deliver Israel And then it is that this Beast is taken alive Rev. 19.20 And cast into a lake of Fire burning with Brimstone which is the Second Death Now whereas it is said the Lord will have Mercy on whom he will have Mercy The which Mercy will again be Distributed to the Believers and Promised Elect when the Lord comes as it was when God said those words to Moses at the time when he brought them out of the Land of Egypt Exodus 33.18 Moses said I beseech thee shew me thy glory V. 19. And he said I will make all my goodness pass before thee and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will shew mercy to whom I will shew mercy Which mercy was then shew'd to the Seed of Abraham according to his promise to their forefathers And whereas St. Paul saith in Rom. 9.19 Thou wilt say unto me why doth he yet find fault for who hath resiste his will V. 20. Nay but O Man who art thou that repliest against God shall the thing formed say to him that formed it why hast thou made me thus V. 21. Hath not the Potter power over the Clay of the same Lump to make one Vessel unto Honour and another to Dishonour That is the Potter hath Power according to his pleasure of the same Clay to make a Vessel unto Honour and another to dishonour but when he maketh a Vessel to honour out of one and the same lump as he maketh the other there is more of his labour bestowed upon it and more of his proper cost and charge or else it would be unfit for a Vessel of Honour Therefore God sometimes to shew forth his Power plucks some as a brand out of the burning and also God of the worser Clay can make a Vessel unto Honour for God chose Nebuchadnezzar to be a Vessel of Mercy who was of the seed of Ham which was more Estranged from God than the Seed of Shem or Japhet was And by that Miraculous Judgment mentioned in Daniel 4.31,32,33 God brought him home by Repentance And also by other great Miracles God would have brought home the Babilonians by Repentance but they neglecting the opportunity of Mercy therefore God said in Jer. 31.9 I would have healed Babylon but she was not healed We see here was an absolute Election or Choice that God made of Nebuchadnezzar and when he was in his Unregenelate Stare God generally termed him his Servant which God never did the great King of Assiria But as for Cyrus before he had a Being he was Prophesied of that he should be a chosen Servant of God and also that he should build him a Temple as in Isa 45.1 2 Chro. 36.23 But he is no where said to