JERVSALEMS GLORY Breaking forth into the WORLD BEING A SCRIPTURE-DISCOVERY OF THE New-Testament-Church In the Latter Dayes immediately before the SECOND COMING OF CHRIST LONDON Printed by J. A. and are to be 〈…〉 most Booksellers 168◠TO THE CHRISTIAN READER THIS Precious Treatise of the New Testament Church in the latter Dayes Preached many Years a-go by that Evangelical Prophet Mr. Jeremiah Burroughes was committed to us by a Citizen of Zion to whose ready Pen the World is much engaged for Preserving the Mantles of divers of our late Elijah's which they let fall from their Pulpits before they went to Heaven If thou hast seen and tasted that Gracious and Warm Spirit which runs through His many other VVorkes Published by Himself and His Brethren it will certainly encrease in thee a Spiritful Thirst and Longing after what else he hath received from his LORD and MASTER and hath freely Communicated as His Embassadour to His People which are yet to be printed The Principal Scope of this Small though weighty Book is to give us Scriptural notice that Jesus Christ will usher in His second Coming by making Jerusalem His Church a Praise in the Earth a Glory throughout the World This is plainly demonstrated according to the WORD by this Apollos mighty in the Scriptures and an Interpreter one of a Thousand Therefore seriously peruse every Text without a prejudicate Opinion Judge not rashly lest thou be judged For this Master-Builder hath set before thee nothing but that which is grounded upon the Pillar of Truth and which is according to the Golden Reed of the Sanctuary Here is a singular Collection of several Scriptures of the Old and New Testament looking one the other in the face as the Cherubims of Gold did which Moses made at each end of the Mercy Seat and shaking Hands together for the more evident and firm Demonstration of this Great Gospel-Truth following the Apostles Rule Comparing spiritual things with spiritual things so that you will find this Soul-ravishing Point that Christ's Church shall be the Praise and Glory of all the World as the Light of the Sun breaking forth more and more to a perfect mid-day of Glory Oh! how welcome will that day of Christ's Espousals and Coronation be to His Love-sick Spouse as the Dove with the Olive Leaf was to Noah or the re-appearing of the Star to the Wise Men Let us resolve in the strength of Christ who is the only Supream Head of His Church constantly to make it our solemn business to plead at the Throne of Grace those glorious Prophesies and Promises in his Name in whom they are Yea and Amen even till He Establish and till He make Jerusalem a Praise till He have not only laid the foundations with Saphirs but finished this City of Pearl not only brought forth the Corner stone but the Top Stone of Jerusalem and all the Earth with shouting cry Grace Grace to it 26 th of this 3 d. Month 1675. Less than the Least of Jerusalems Remembrancers William Adderley THE EPISTLE THE Publisher of these Sermons is desirous they might pass with Testimonial into the World that they might pass with the greater Freedom But indeed the Name of the Author so well known may be sufficient Argument for their Reception in every place These Sermons are but some Fragments of the VVorthy Authors Judicious and Pious Labours But Christ gave order to his Disciples that the Fragments should not be lost Faith may here find some food as it takes a prospect of the Glory that is hereafter to be revealed For here you have the Author's Sentiments about the last times and of the Catastrophe of all things at last After the Dragon and the Beast have acted their parts in their opposition to the Lamb and his followers wherein he hath presented to our View the many ancient Prophesies recorded in Scripture that bear witness to these things So far as you see Prophetick Light shine before you take heed to it which is all that is desired of the Reader and by the Publisher Who having this Commodity I mean this Copy lying by him was willing to bring it forth as men bring Corn and other necessaries to Market for publick Use and benefit only remember that it was not in the Author's Intention for to have it so Had his own hand been upon the Frame you should have seen the Lines drawn with more Accuracy and the Truth more fully searched into And if any hath thoughts different from the Author 's in these ensuing Sermons let him shew however that Respect to so Reverend a Man as to reject nothing Rashly that is Asserted by him and if he doth not Receive let him Consider And let us all be waiting and preparing for the Bride-groom's coming Amen Even so come Lord Jesus ISA. 62. v. 7. And give him no rest till he establish and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the Earth SERMON I. IN the former Chapter there are many Promises of an excellent and Glorious state that God would bring his Church into in his time with those Promises the heart of this Prophet Isaiah was much taken and therefore in the beginning of this Chapter saith he For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest until the Righteousness thereof go forth as brightness and the Salvation thereof as a Lamp that burneth And as he himself would not rest nor hold his peace so he would that all the Watchmen that were set upon the Walls of Jerusalem and so after all the Ministers of the Church that they should not rest yea he would that they should give God no rest until he establish and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the Earth Give God no rest he speaks here after the manner of Men to note what importunity there should be among the people of God in seeking of God to make good all those glorious Promises that he hath made to his Church for the raising of it up to a glorious state as a man that is importunate of any business he is not satisfied if he doth Petition and nothing comes of it he falls to it again and again and seeks to get by importunity and resolves that he will be at no rest And so God speaks after this manner not that his rest or not rest doth depend upon us But that we should be as importunate with him for so great a mercy as this is as with any man in the world that we were resolved that till he had given us an answer we would give him no rest and give him no rest until he hath established and made Jerusalem a praise in the Earth Till he establish Till he makes good his word till the Church be brought to a settled way of mercy and into a safe and sure condition For sometimes as if the Prophet should say we find the Promises beginning to work and God is doing good for us but at other times things seem
shall be made the praise of the whole Earth then there shall be new Heavens and a new Earth created That is there shall be as great a change of things as if there were new Heavens and new Earth created There shall be a mighty glorious power of God manifested towards his Churches as if God were Creating new Heavens and new Earth again Oh! we do not know but that either you or some of your Children may yet live to see such times as these are And it 's another World indeed It 's not the World that we live in now there shall be a kind of new World And therefore some Scriptures that many times we think are meant concerning the Life in Heaven after the day of Judgment because they are spoken of another World they are rather to be understood of the state of the Church here in this World And to the end that I may shew this for otherwise all that 's said is but in vain It may be you will say that the Prophet mean't that State of the Church Triumphant in Heaven And so the Apostle St. John in his reference to what the Prophet saith he seems to mean it of the glorious state of the Church in Heaven And I verily believe the most of you that have read with Observation the latter end of the Book of the Revelations you have thought it hath been meant of the State of the Church in Heaven but that it cannot be be meant I 'le give you a Reason or two why the 21 of the Revelations cannot be meant of the Church in Heaven First Because the Text saith That Jerusalem shall come down from Heaven after he had described it in the 10 Vers He carryed me away in the Spirit to a great and high Mountain and shewed me that great City the holy Jerusalem descending out of Heaven from God That is the Glory of Jerusalem shall not come from the Earth nor from any Earthly means Though men ought to do what they can yet it shall be too great a Glory for any earthly means to be able to bring but it shall come down from Heaven there shall be some admirable glorious work of God from Heaven to bring Jerusalem into such Glory as it shall be brought into And that 's one thing That it is not the State of Heaven for it comes down from Heaven And then besides that that is an undeniable Reason is that which you have in the 24 and 26 Verses And the Nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it and the Kings of the Earth do bring their Glory and Honour into it They do not bring their Honour to the State of the Church Triumphant in Heaven The Saints in Heaven shall have no need of any of the Glory of the Kings of the Earth the meanest poorest Servant or Boy that is Godly shall be more glorious than all the Kings of the Earth ever were in this World but this is such a State that the Kings of the Earth shall bring their Glory to it And in the 26 verse They shall bring the Glory and Honour of the Nations into it The meaning is that when this time comes the Lord will make all the Kings of the Earth and all the Nations of the Earth to be some way serviceable to the Glory of his Churches that 's the plain meaning of it that whereas now the Kings of the Earth and the Nations do persecute the Church generally and as in the second Psalm you have it the Kings of the Earth they combine themselves together against Jesus Christ and will none of his Government but yet for all this the Lord saith that he will set his King upon his holy Hill And then here is the Prophecy that there shall be such a work of God upon the Kings and Nations of the Earth as they shall all come in and bring their Glory to Jerusalem to the Church to do the uttermost they can to make the Church to be Glorious This is in General the state of Jerusalem when it shall be made the Praise of the Earth But now that I might come to move Particulars about this The first thing is this When that time shall come all Tears shall be wiped from the Eyes of Saints the People of God shall be delivered from all Enemies they shall never be any further pestered with wicked and ungodly men to be enemies to them but be fully freed from them all We groan under the burden of the Enmity of wicked Men and their Opposition I but let us be content to bear it and to endure Oppositions from wicked and ungodly Men for there is a time a coming that thou shalt be delivered even in this World You will say when we come to Heaven we shall be above the Malice of all the wicked Men in the World Nay there is a time when the Saints shall be above the Malice of wicked men upon this Earth In the 28 of Ezek. A Chapter that speaks so much of the Glorious Condition of the People of God verse 24. There shall be no more a pricking Briar nor any grieving Thorn of all that are round about them that despised them They shall be so far from having any power to do any mischief to the People of God as they shall not be so much as able to prick them no grieving Thorn nor no bryer pricking of the Saints of God as heretofore they have done It will be a blessed time when the Saints shall be delivered from the Curse of the Earth the Bryers and Thorns it brings forth Where are wicked men certainly those are the worst Bryers and Thorns in the World and do the most mischief here in the World Now the Lord hath promised that they shall be delivered wholly from them Rev. 21.4 There is a Scripture leading to that way And God shall wipe away all Tears from their Eyes and there shall be no more Death neither Sorrow nor Crying neither shall there be any more Pain For the former things are passed away This is prophesied of for such times as these are for those that then liv'd the Saints are like to live when Christ shall come in that Glorious state of Judgment and have no pain nor sickness and therefore be delivered from all Enemies and from all evils both from without and within in regard of any pain or misesery and in the 19 of the Revelations we have it there prophesied of Christ that he shall come and have his Vesture dipt in blood in the overcoming all the wicked and ungodly Verse 13. And he was cloathed with a Vesture dipt in blood and his Name is called the Word of God And the Armies which were in Heaven followed him upon white Horses cloathed in fine Linnen white and clean and out of his Mouth goeth a sharp Sword that with it he should smite the Nations and he shall rule them with a Rod of Iron and he treadeth the Wine-press
will help you to pray much and you should put this into your Petitions Lord make thy Church appear to be thy Portion Thy Treasure Thy Glory Now come Lord Jesus come quickly O that that day might come The third thing is this That when God sets up Jerusalem as the praise of the whole Earth then God will make good the Promises that he hath made unto his Church in the Old Testament And the Prophecies of the glory of his Church which are very many that the truth is we do not know what to make of them we are fain to make Allegories of them when it 's very probable that they are to be in a literal way to be understood and all for the want of the knowledge of this one thing that there is a time for God to set up Jerusalem as the praise of the whole Earth Commonly we find that Divines have opened the promises of the Old Testament either by way of an Allegory or of the state of the Church in glory so that there hath been a great mistake in this thing We find in the 54 of Isa v. 17. when the Lord makes a promise to his Church that no weapon that was formed against that should prosper he concludes it and saith This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. All the promises in the Old Testament are the Inheritance of the Saints of God It 's a very sweet place it 's an Excellent place to poor People that have no Riches nor Inheritance left them by their Parents but they have the Promises for their Inheritance Thou may'st look over the Book of God and watsoever promise thou findest made to the Church thou mayst look upon it as thine Inheritance Many carnal men that have great Inheritances other ways they have nothing to do with the Promises of the Saints But the poorest Saint hath all the glory that there is in the Promises of the Word of God they are their Inheritance But in the mean time I have little Why thou art under age yet and God he is thy Guardian and God will be accountable to thee for all and the longer thou stayest before thou comest to thine Inheritance the more shalt thou have when thou comest to it and therefore remember that all the Promises in the Word are to be made good to thee one way or other and all that concern his People will be made good in this world when God shall come and set up Jerusalem as the praise of the whole Earth We shall understand that hereafter and therefore we find in the 5 th of the Revelations that there the Lamb he only is able to open the Seals of the Book There was brought a Book Seal'd and a Proclamation was made to know who was worthy to open the Book and to loose the Seals thereof Now the Text saith that John saw none found worthy At length there appeared a Lamb as it had been slain and he was found worthy and the Book was given to him and he opened the Seals of the Book this Book is the Book of the Prophecies of the state of the Church in the new Testament and the promises of God for the glory of the Church of the new Testament Now these things have been kept Sealed for a long time and especially before Christs time But Jesus Christ the Lamb that hath been slain it is he only that is able to open this Book and the Seals of it and there is a time that he will open it he opens it by degrees to his Church And therefore I find it 's very observable in the 22. of Revel vers 6. There comes an Angel to John and said unto him These things are faithful and true And the Lord God of the holy Prophets sent his Angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done Why now John was before speaking of the glorious condition of Jerusalem the Jerusalem that came down from Heaven Now saith he The Lord God of the holy Prophets sent his Angel Why is it said here The Lord God of the holy Prophets The meaning is this that the Lord now sends his Angel to make his Servants to understand what was in the Prophets and therefore the Lord hath this title The Lord God of the holy Prophets It 's not said here The great God or the holy God only or the Father of Christ or any such title But the Lord God of the holy Prophets That is I here will manifest to my Servants what I did Inspire the holy Prophets with in former times and will open their Prophecies unto them O it will be a blessed time when we shall come to understand the Prophecies of the Old Testament and how they do aim at the New Testament you Read their Book and how often do you shut the Book and say O Lord I cannot understand I do not know the meaning of these things and so likewise the book of the Revelations and sometimes you are ready to think why doth God write so in his word But be satisfied in this thing in your Reading the Scriptures there are some things very dark But now the main things that concern thine everlasting Salvation are clear enough and bless God for that But now if you would know why other things are dark they are dark because the Lord intends in them to manifest some glorious thing that he will do towards the latter end of the world for his People that the truth is God would not have generally known till then You will say why then have we the Scriptures Yes we have them now that God may appear so much the more glorious when they are fulfill'd that they may be manifested to his Saints that these are no other things than the Prophets did Prophesie of divers thousand Years ago Now this will mightily add to the Joy of the Saints when they shall come to see O this is partly fulfilling of such a Prophecy in Isa and in Ezek. and in the Revelations now it adds to the Joy of the Church to know that these things that now they have are no other than God did foretel by his holy Prophets as no question now when Christ was Prophesied of For he was Prophesied of for four thousand Years before he came into the world and in a Mighty dark way as now this first Prophecy of Christ The seed of the Woman shall break the Serpents Head what could they understand of this and yet under this Prophecy was the whole Gospel Prophesied of and he shall bruise thy heel there all the sufferings of Jesus Christ were Prophesied of under that Prophesie Now I am confident that for the general part of the Jews they understood no more of that Prophecy to be meant of Christ and his sufferings than we when we Read in Ezekiel and in the Revelations do understand what God will do for his Church in time to come But now when this Prophesie is fulfill'd that we find