what our Saviour did when he stood up in the Temple to preach and having read his Text out of this very Prophet he closed his Book and sat down having said no more Then This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears So may I. I will restore thy Judges as at the first and thy Counsellours as at the beginning c. This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears in your Eyes in all your Senses in the midst of our Towns and County After all our Distractions just Fears Apprehensions and Threats of Arbitrary Power Subversion of our Religion Laws Liberties and even Justice it self Behold our Judges as at the first in our respective Counties throughout the Kingdom at a General Assize gone forth to judge the People Behold our Counsellors as at the beginning in the Court to advise our Prince In our Grand Senate both House of Parliament sitting advising and enacting according to our ancient Rights Freedoms and Priviledges Behold our Religion our Church which is our Sion redeemed from Romish Superstitions Behold her Converts Protestant Proselytes and Professors of this Pure Holy Reformed Religion redeemed from all Fears of Rome's bloody Inquisition or France's Dragooning for Conscience sake Behold our Universities and Colledges our Cities and Corporations with their Free-holds Charters and Immunities restored as at the first To Crown all behold a King reigning in Righteousness the Support of our present and Pledge of our future happiness even England's Jotham Warring with the great King of Assyria his Neighbour the grand Enemy of our Religion and Country God grant him also a Jotham's Success to overcome them in Battel and to make them Tributary and that he may ever wax mighty because he prepares his way before the Lord. What remains now but that our Cities shall in a short time become Cities of Righteousness faithful Cities And our Sion which is our Church be redeemed with Judgment and her Converts with Righteousness In Summ then this Vision discovers these four things Of a Church and Nation 's Restauration and Deliverance from the Smart of such Calamities as they felt for the present or feared for the future 1. The Author 2. The Instruments 3. The Order 4. The Nature 1. The Author and Principal Efficient Cause of the Prosperity and Restauration of a sinking Church and Nation is God alone I will restore 2. The Instruments and Essential parts of a People's Restauration are 1 Judges as at the first 2 Counsellours as at the beginning 3. The Order and Method of a People's Prosperity after that For before that Judges and Counsellours are restored a Nation cannot flourish but they first then after that the other follows 4. The Nature and Comprehensiveness of a compleat Restauration it must be in Sacred as well as Civil Rights 1 Civil and Political Prosperity Cities shall flourish and become Cities of Righteousness 2 Sacred and Religious Prosperity The Church and her Proselytes must be saved Sion shall be redeemed with Judgment and her Converts with Righteousness As the result of the whole I infer 5. That whenever a People are thus restored they are highly obliged without murmuring to rejoyce in and to bless that God who is the Author of all for it These five Generals shall bound my present Discourse 1. That God alone is the Principal Efficient Cause of all Mutations of Government whether they tend to the Destruction or Restauration of a Church or Nation He sets up and he pulls down at his pleasure He deliver'd Israel out of Egypt and destroyed the Egyptians in the Red Sea. He rooted out the Canaanites and planted his own People in their Cities He took Saul from the Herd and David from the Flock and seated them on the Throne And he pulled down the High and Mighty Nebuchadnezzar in the midst of all his Glory and turned him to graze with the Beasts of the Field Alexander's and Caesar's may build Alexandria's and Caesarea's like great Babylon for their Honour and Glory when as all the while except the Lord build and keep the City too the Builder and the Watchman take care in vain These may arrogantly think that by their Power Policy and numerous Armies they have founded Empires and Dominions when as he that sits in the Heavens derides the vanity of their thoughts and frequently brings to nought their mighty Designs and many Devices For 't is the Counsel of the Lord that at last shall stand and his Purposes shall come to pass All the Powers on Earth are but as Tools in his hand to work out his good pleasure The mighty Cyrus was but his Shepherd and shall fulfil all his good pleasure saying to Jerusalem Thou shalt be built and to Sion Thy Foundation shall be laid And when his Ends are accomplished their Dominions are determin'd as the great Belshazzar's was by his Hand-writing MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN Thy Kingdom is weighed numbred and finished and being found wanting is divided and distributed Thus he made Zerzes with his 2500000 Zenacharib and Siserah with Hosts as numerous as the Sands by the Sea to return with shame and dishonour and sent the great Bajazet about the World in a Cage for a show And again gave glorious Victories to a single Sampson with a Jaw-bone of an Ass To David with a Sling and a Stone To Gideon with the noise of Pitchers Rams-horns and but 300 Men. It is He that makes a fruitful Land to become a barren Wilderness and depopulates Cities by the Sword Famine and Pestilence And 't is the same hand that made the Wound that applies the Remedy cures all our Diseases and makes the noise of the Drum and Trumpet to cease and restores Peace in all our borders For as Clay in the hands of the Potter so are all Nations in his And 't is no more but for him to speak the word and they are made or utterly undone He can destroy or save as he pleases either by or without means but his usual methods are by Instruments and second Causes as here in my Text by restoring Judges and Counsellors who are both Instruments and Essential parts of a Nations Restoration 2. Which is the 2d thing in order to be discoursed of viz. That the Restoration of Primitive Judges and Counsellors are both the necessary and essential parts as well as instrumental Causes of a Peoples Restoration And here my first enquiry ought to be Who and what those Judges and Counsellors were at first 1. Neg. It is not Judges in general no matter who or what they are provided they are but Judges for of these we never wanted such as they were but they must be such as were at first For there are a sort who are so far from being a blessing that they are the greatest Scourge and Plague as can befall a Nation There are a sort of High Commission Judges there are Arbitrary Dispensing Judges there are Judges who 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
former dissembling his Religion and fearing he had designs and would in time attempt to introduce Innovations into the Temple of God they plotted and conspired against him and so at last made him away too Thus these two Princes grasping at an absolute and arbitrary power or to make themselves like to the great King of Assyria their Neighbour as the most proper Expedient endeavoured first to introduce his Idolatrous Worship It being the Nature of all False and Idolatrous Religions which come from the Devil to make all Monarchs like himself their Author Arbitrary Tyrants And all their Subjects like those in his Kingdom of Darkness Miserable Slaves But the Nature of the true Religion which comes from God is to render all her Kings being his anointed like himself Indulgent Fathers And all her Subjects like those in his Kingdom of Glory Children and Free-born By these Methods I say they made a miserable Exit losing both their Lives and Kingdoms too For that like the Romans who being abused by Tarquinius Superbus their last King would never after endure the Name of another So here the States of Iudah their King being destroyed seized the Government and turned themselves into a Commonwealth for about 11 or 12 years But after that time they unanimously restore Vzziah their last King's Son to the Throne in hopes that his Predecessor's Misfortunes in attempting to alter or corrupt the Established True Worship might prove a fair warning to him And this King in the beginning of his Reign God always prospered in Battel and delivered his Enemies that rebelled against him into his hands The Philistines the men of Ashdod and Gath. And his Name spread amongst the Neighbour-Princes he built Forts and raised a mighty Army he invented and proivded all manner of warlike Magazins and Engines Shields Spears Helmets Habergions Bows and Slings and God marvellously helped him till he was strong 2 Chron. 26. 13 14. But now in the midst of all this Grandeur warlike provision and mighty Army he seems to forget his Kingly Office and nothing will satisfie him but he must turn Priest and offer up Sacrifice And instead of employing all these warlike preparations against the common Enemy in defence of his Subjects their Laws Liberties Countrey and Religion it now appears he only designed to secure himself in such a Power as his Predecessors wanted that might enable him to go through in the Corrupting that Worship of God about which they had failed And in order to it at last he picks a quarrel with Azariah the High Priest who with other Priests assisting opposed the King in his attempts But presently hereupon in the heighth of all this greatness and glory it follows that his mighty Army answers none of his ends but turned to his shame and roproach His Spirit and Courage sinks in the midst of his Forces and himself between being thrust or affrighted out of his Kingdom run away and left it as we read 2 Chron. 26. 20. He made haste to be gone living after about four years and at last died with grief and discontent and was buried in his Garden Hereupon the States of Judah convened and their King having thus left them for the present juncture they set Jotham the King's Son over the king's house to administer the government and finding him an Excellent Prince in a short time after they advance him to the Throne during the Life of his Father Thus by the Male-administration of Three succeeding Princes and their several attempts to introduce an Arbitrary Power and an Idolatrous Worship The Foundations of the Jewish Church and State had been miserably shaken and almost dissolved so that it was hard for the most discerning amongst them to determine whether the Worship of the true God or that of Baal was like to prevail Which so much perplex'd the anxious thoughts of such Ely's whose hearts trembled for fear of the Ark of God. And so highly dissatisfied those who were well affected to the peace and prosperity of their Countrey that what between the Concernment and Zeal of some for their Religion the Discontents of others for their distressed tottering State and Government a general Neutrality and Supiness possessed most as careless of the issue the support of the Government or who govern'd concluding it could not be worse Their Country and Religion lay bleeding as Isaiah 1. 5 to 23. Their head is sick their heart faint their country was desolate their cities burnt with fire their land strangers devoured in their presence Sion was left as a cottage as a besieged city the faithful city Ierusalem is become a harlot she that was full of judgment and righteousness lodged in her is filled with malefactors their king and princes make wicked counsellors their companions their judges are made for oppression they judge not the fatherless nor house of the widow but they love gifts and follow after rewards And in the midst of these Distractions and Convulsions both of Church and State unless the Lord of Hosts had compassion on them they must have been as Sodom and Gomorrah but in the mount of the Lord is God seen He arises and resolves to rescue his people out of the jaws of so imminent destruction and tho all looks desperate yet to prevent their despondency he sends Isaiah in this comfortable Message and commands him to prophesie and tell them that notwithstanding all their present fears and confusions yet the time was just come That I will restore thy Judges as at the first and thy Counsellors as at the beginning after thou shalt be called The city of righteousness The faithful city Sion shall be redeemed with judgment and her converts with righteousness Which Prophecy seems to be made good in the very next Prince's Reign who was Jotham of whom Josephus writes Huic Regi nulla virtus defuit erga Deum pro justo erga homines reipublicae studioso quicquid enim instauratione opus habebat diligenter sarciendum curavit in tantúmque Regnum auxit ut tam domi felix esset quà m foris formidabilis That he was a most Excellent Prince deficient in no Virtue but devout towards God just towards Man and willingly employ'd himself to redress all that was amiss both in Church and State. He fortified his Kingdom and made War upon the great King of Ammon his Neighbour and all the Enemies of their Religion and Nation round about and overcame them in Battel and made them Tributary to him being happy amongst his Subjects at home and formidable to his Enemies abroad ever waxing mighty because he prepared his way before the Lord. Now since the Apostle tells us No Scripture is of private interpretation this Prophecy may concern us of England as well as Judah and Jerusalem Their Case seems to be our President we have copied after And our Circumstances their Parallel Both are so obvious that there needs no Application or more to be said than
Judicium redimetur Sion When Judgment shall be administer'd in her Sion shall be redeemed Or as the Arabick Version Post Judicium salvabitur Sion After Judgmen texecuted Sion shall be saved So that 't is plain there must be Judges restored before Judgment and that Judgment must be executed before Sion can be redeemed And 't is repugnant to Sense and Reason as well as Religion that since not a Nation much less a Church can be restor'd and flourish but by executing Judgment in Righteousness because sin and injustice are the dishonour and shame of a People Every unjust Act is a blow at the Root and high affront to the true Religion which was planted in Righteousness and must be built up in Judgment Rapines Perjuries Violence and Injustice are proper Materials for the building up of Babel the Synagogue of Satan not of Sion the Temple of God. Truth and Falshood Good and Evil Light and Darkness Righteousness and Injustice will never Cement but like contrary Qualities they 'l dissolve or blow up the whole Fabrick We may as easily bring together in a Building the North-Pole and the South and raise it up by heaping on Banrels of Gunpowder intermix'd with flaming Fire-brands instead of Bricks and cement it with Pitch and Sulphur for Mortan False Religions I know are founded and propagated on Maxims and Practices of Injustice and barbarous Cruelties Thus the Worshippers of Baal are bound to launce themselves with knives The Worshippers of Moloch must make their Sons pass through the Fire for Burnt-Offerings to him The Americans sacrifice Men to their Viracoca And most of the Islanders in the Bay of Mexico did both eat and sacrifice Men to their Idols And at this day Mahomet's Alcoran instructs his Votaries by Fire and Sword Devastation of Cities and Kingdoms with all manner of inhumane Barbarities to force Men to embrace his impious execrable Religion But above all the Romish in these things seem to exceed Their Purgatory Penances Whippings Fastings Pilgrimages Watchings with multitudes of other childish senseless unwarrantable Fopperies of the Devil's invention to plague or imploy their Votaries about tho intolerable in themselves yet are as nothing when compared with their bloody Inquisition their Heretick-burning Doctrines and bloody Massacres As of Scores of Thousands at Rochel and in Ireland in the Vallies of Piedmont and England too as well as other places in the Ages just past Their yesterdays brutish Cruelties in Savoy and in Franoe by Sword by Fire by Tortures by Imprisonment by Banishment by Dragooning Men out of their Houses Lands Estates Country and Lives too And he knows little of Rome that doth not know that Death and She are like in this that one spares no Man Living and the other no Heretick breathing as she calls the best of Christians A Religion so diametrically opposite to the true that 't is the very reverse of all that the holy Jesus instituted taught or practised of whom it was prophesied that he should judge the People with Righteousness and the Poor with equity and break in pieces the Rod of the Oppressors so that the Mountains should bring Peace and the little Hills Righteousness Which was fulfilled when he came For the Angels celebrating his Birth proclaimed Perce on Earth and good Will towards Men. And after he himself declar'd his Burthen to be light his Yoke easie That he came not to destroy but to save Mens lives by destroying the works of Darkness and bringing in a holy spiritual Worship of the one only living and true God to the utter extirpation of all Idolatry and final destruction of all their Apollo's and Jupiter's Temples and silencing their Oracles and from thenceforth to establish a more entire union between Man and Man founded in Innocence Charity Mercy and Justice So that it plainly appears from the Nature Principles Doctrine and Practices of true Religion and false being so contradictory to each other that the proper Methods and Instruments for the building up of the one are and must be destructive to the oother and that the true being founded on principles of Truth Righteousness and Judgment the Restoration of such Judges as duly execute these must influence and conduce to the prosperity of the true Church for Sion must be redeemed with Judgment and her Converts with Righteousness As the Result of the whole I descend to my Fourth and last Inference 4. Since both Church and State reap so great Advantages by the Restoration of primitive Judges and Counsellors a People are highly obliged when thus restor'd without Murmuring to bless God for both And our Nation being thus restor'd from such forlorn Circumstances as we were lately in a Man would think there was no room left for Murmur or Scruple about this our blessed Restoration urged by Necessity carried on by Miracle and perfected by the Universal Consent of all that love God their Religion and Country Wherefore Justice Equity and Gratitude calls upon us to give the Glory Honour and Praise to that God who is the primary Author of all and next under him to acknowledg that glorious Instrument in his Hand by which he hath wrought for us so great Salvation and teach us a ready submission to one who under God hath snatched us out of the Jaws of so great Destruction and put us into the actual possession of our Laws Liberties Religion and Properties and all that was dear to us in this World and we hope may make us happy in the next and still weilds the Sword to support and defend us in the enjoyment of all that he has thus acquir'd for us Is it now possible that from Dan to Beersheba from Berwick to the Mount there should be found amongst us one Tobias or Sanballat who when they heard that the Walls of Jerusalem were to be made up and the House of the Lord to be repair'd should conspire to hinder and repine at it O my God saith Nehemiah think thou upon Tobias and Sanballat Had the greatest Deliverance which ever God vouchsafed to Mortals wanted such it would have been too strange to have been believ'd now O horrendum infandum Nefas But as there are a sort of Men that no Man nor themselves know what they would have or what to make of so not Heaven what to do with how to satisfy or humour If they are distress'd they groan complain and cry for Deliverance But when deliver'd they clamour at the Method Manner or Means That God deliver'd them in his own way not in theirs Thus Naaman is angry at the Means of his Cure why God would not make the Waters of Damascus as effectual as those of Jordan Dathan Abiram and Corah quarrel with the Instruments of their Deliverance Moses and Aaron why they must be the Men rather than others When Israel was in Egypt they groan'd under their slavish Burthens When deliver'd ungratefully said Would to God we had not come up thence When they