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
yet fulfill'd since the time of this Prophecy and therefore is yet to come And so in the 66 of Isa For this Prophet Isaiah is the most Evangelical Prophet that speaks more of the Glory of the times of the Gospel than any Prophet vers 7 8. Before she travelled she brought forth before her pain came she was delivered of a Man-Child Who hath heard such a thing who hath seen such things shall the Earth be made to bring forth in one day or shall a Nation be born at once for as soon as Zion travelled she brought forth her Children Here 's the Number and the Suddenness of it together It shall be done even in a sudden way That Promise shall be then fulfilled to Christ wherein the Lord hath said to him That he would give unto him the Heathen for his Inheritance and the uttermost parts of the Earth for his Possession Now though that Promise be made to Jesus Christ yet the Lord is a great while afore he doth make it good to the uttermost that he did intend Well then may we be content to wait for the fulfilling of Promises when as the Promise that God hath made to his own Son he is fain to wait for the fulfilling of it And that 's the fourth thing A great confluence of People shall come into Jerusalem it shall be a great City And then in the fifth place Where there are multitudes coming in will there not be a great deal of dross and filthiness It is usual that a Church while it hath but a few it may continue in some purity but let a Church have many to joyn with it have but any considerable Number it usually doth quickly corrupt There grows a great deal of soyl and filthiness where there are a Number joyned together But now this shall be the Glory of this Jerusalem that though it shall be very great there shall be a mighty Confluence of People yet it shall abide in its purity there shall be a great deal of Purity in the Ordinances that they shall have and in the Professors that shall joyn together And for that we have that Prophecy in the 44. of Ezek. verse 9. which is a place by all Divines understood of the state of the Gospel Thus saith the Lord God No Stranger uncircumcised in Heart nor uncircumcised in flesh shall enter into my Sanctuary Not so much as uncircumcised in Heart ☞ Mark here it seems in the times of the Gospel a meer outward Profession is not enough for one to profess himself to worship God and the like but if he be uncircumcised in Heart he must not enter You will say How can we know the Heart It 's true we cannot know the Heart unless it be some way discovered but if there be any thing to discover wickedness in the Heart such a one in the times of the Gospel must not be received into the Church of God ☞ And there will be a time of greater discerning than now there is and therefore you find it in the 21. of Revel where St. John doth Prophesie of the New Jerusalem at the last verse And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth neither whatsoever worketh abominations or maketh a lie But they which are written in the Lambs Book of Life In no wise no no there 's two negatives there though we in our English Tongue make two Negatives to be an Affirmative yet the Holy Ghost doth not there shall not not no in no wise shall there enter any unclean thing into it Now it is apparent by divers things in this Chapter that this must be meant not of the Glory that there shall be in the highest Heavens but of some Glory of the Church here For it is said in the 24. verse That 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 Now the Kings of the Earth do not bring their Glory and Honour to the highest Heavens there 's no difference between a King and the poorest and meanest they must there be stript of all their Robes and the Kings of the Earth shall bring no more Glory to that than meaner men Therefore it must be understood of an Estate here where the Kings of the Earth do bring their Glory to it 'T is very hard to conceive that it is impossible for any Hypocrite to get in yet the Scripture speaks so as it shall not be ordinary for an Hypocrite to get in Indeed in the state of the Church as hitherto it hath been or as yet it is there are abundance of Hypocrites and therefore that 's no Argument against labouring to cleanse the Church from prophane ones to say Why the best of all have those that are Hypocrites Though it 's true yet when men do some way or other discover themselves to be Hypocrites they must not be received into the Church But now here 's the Question Whether there should be any but those that should give such Testimony of Godliness as may appear to the judgments of men to be so And if once they appear to be otherwise they should be cast out of the Church This must be a certain Rule those that ought to be cast out if they were in they must not be received in if now they were to be received If no Prophane one but must be cast out if they were got into the Church when they appear to be so why then certainly they are not to be taken in appearing to be prophane We are now to labour what we can to come as near to that glorious Jerusalem as we are able We are now to labour to promote the condition that the Church shall be in then but we cannot expect for to have it yet till the Lord doth put another Spirit upon men than hitherto Therefore when God intends to make Jerusalem as the Praise of the whole Earth there will be certainly another Spirit upon men than yet there is for the present Therefore in the sixth place the Gifts and Graces of the Saints shall be exceedingly raised and enlarged Those that are now poor and low and mean shall be then very much enlarged and raised For that take these Scriptures Isa 65.20 There shall be no more thence an Infant of dayes nor an Old Man that hath not filled his dayes For the Child shall die an hundred years old but the Sinner being an hundred Years old shall be accursed This apparently speaks of an Estate in this World But now the meaning is this That there shall thence be no more an Infant of Dayes that is those that are weak shall be raised to a very high pitch of Ability and Understanding even Young ones shall be raised very high to have the understanding of men in them and so proportionably the gifts of the Saints shall be raised in that time And in the 12. Zech. 8 verse there it 's
Judah shall be cut off Ephraim shall not envy Judah and Judah shall not vex Ephraim Now ordinarily in Scripture Ephraim and Judah is made Typical of the Churches there was a great deal of contention between Ephraim and Judah one envying another Now this Prophecy is not yet fulfill'd for we never Read of Ephraim that is the ten Tribes and Judah were joyned in that near League and Union one with another as yet For the ten Tribes were carried Captive and never returned Judah indeed was carried Captive and they did return but not the ten Tribes Therefore it is spoken of an Estate of the Church afterwards Though my Church shall be in after times the times of the Gospel like Ephraim and Judah one envying another I 'le take away their envy they shall not envy but they shall love one another and joyn one with another Ephraim shall not envy Judah and Judah shall not vex Ephraim And then another Prophecy is in the 14. Zech. vers 9. And the Lord shall be King over all the Earth in that day shall there be one Lord and his Name one It 's true all of us that are Christians we acknowledge but one Lord but we call him by divers Names and one saith This is his mind and another faith the other is his mind but saith he In that day as there shall be but one Lord so his Name shall be but one There shall not be those different apprehensions of Christ as now there are but Christians shall generally joyn together in one There shall not be such opinions to divide Christians one from another as now there are there shall be but one Lord and his Name shall be but one And a further Prophecy which is very remarkable is in the third of Zeph. v. 9. For then will I turn to the People a pure Language that they may all call upon the Name of the Lord to serve him with one consent In the Original it is with one Shoulder now how do Christians shoulder one another and push one another by the shoulder as it were opposing one another what they can but then they shall joyn their shoulders together and all shall be but as one shoulder they shall serve the Lord with one shoulder with one consent their hearts shall joyn in one and then their strength shall joyn together Now this is that that shall be done when the Lord shall make Jerusalem as the praise of the whole Earth you that mind the Lord and the things of his glory give him no rest untill he do establish this that he hath promised and make Jerusalem the praise of the whole Earth In the tenth place there shall be a great change of things in the world at that time a great change in the whole frame of the creation of Heaven and Earth And I think verily that place in the eighth of the Romans and there is ground for it why we should think so is meant of this time Vers 20 21. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the Sons of God For the creature was made subject to vanity not willingly but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope because the creature it self also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the Children of God For we know that the whole Creation groaneth and travelleth in pain together until now And not only they but our selves also which have the first fruits of the Spirit Even we our selves groan within our selves waiting for the Adoption to wit the redemption of our Bodies Now that this should be then in such an Estate of the Church in this World this is the Reason Either you must grant it to be so or otherwise you must grant that after the day of Judgment in the state of glory that the Saints shall have which Divines generally say shall be in Heaven you must grant that then there shall be the continuance of all the Creatures as now they are and that the Saints must live here Now that is hardly granted by any Divines But this speaks of the whole Creation to be delivered from their bondage and to come to partake of the benefit of the Adoption of the Sons of God That is at that time when the Adoption of the Sons of God shall appear gloriously that there shall be such a change in all the Creatures that they shall be restored to the first perfection that they had in the state of Innocency They groan to be delivered from the bondage surely they do not groan to be Annihilated and turned into nothing Therefore there is a time for the Heavens and Earth and Sea and Plants and Beasts to be in another condition than now they are And to say that this shall be at the day of Judgment or after few Divines have thought But this is spoken of a time when all the Creatures in this world shall have a mighty change put upon them And to that end the Scripture likewise in the 2 of Peter the 3 d. Chap. though one would think in the Reading of it if you did not mark it throughly that it should be meant at the day of Judgment but if you observe it throughly it seems to be spoken of a great change that there shall be when the creatures shall be delivered from bondage In the 10. vers But the day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the night in the which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up and now observe the 13. vers Nevertheless we according to his promise look for new Heavens and new Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness There shall be a mighty change in the world by Fire or some other way and so as all things shall seem as if they were brought into nothing but saith the Apostle by the Holy-Ghost We according to his promise look for new Heavens and a new Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness Now suppose all the world were dissolved how new Heavens and a new Earth then shall the Saints after the day of Judgment have a new Earth and live upon the Earth here This I suppose you would think to be but a very strange Doctrine But now this is such a change of things as shall have New Earth as well as New Heavens and this is according to the promise now what promise have we in all the Book of God that this hath reference to I find all Divines referr it to the 65. of Isa For you have no other Scripture that you can refer this promise to in the 17. vers For behold I create new Heavens and a new Earth and the former shall not be remembred nor come into mind But be ye glad and rejoyce for ever in that which I create for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoycing and her People a Joy So