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
the Text speaking of the glorious state of the Church that should be saith The Sun shall be no more thy light by day neither for brightness shall the Moon give Light unto thee but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting Light and thy God thy Glory Thy Sun shall no more go down neither shall thy Moon withdraw it self for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light and the dayes of thy mourning shall be ended Certainly this hath not yet been fulfilled And in the 21. Rev. towards the latter end you have almost the same words And the City saith the Text had no need of the Sun neither of the Moon to shine in it for the Glory of God did lighten it and the Lamb is the Light thereof I shall afterwards come further to open somewhat of the meaning of that what it is no to have no need of Sun and Moon when we come to open wherein the glory of the Church doth consist that God intends to make the praise of the whole Earth I might name divers other Scriptures but I hasten rather to the other thing which is the main to open wherein the Church shall be the praise of the whole earth or what shall make it to be the Praise of the whole earth First more generally Certainly when the condition Jerusalem shall be in when Gods time shall come there will be a time of Resurrection from the dead there will be a kind of Resurrection from the dead before the general Resurrection at the great day of Judgment we have divers Scriptures that do seem to point at this and indeed clearly to manifest it The first Scripture is in the 12 Chapter of the book of Daniel that speaks of a Resurrection another Resurrection than that that shall be at the great day of Judgment saith the Text And at that time thy people shall be delivered every one that shall be found written in the Book And many of them that sleep in the dust of the Earth shall awake some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt and they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament and they that turn many to righteousness as the Stars for ever and ever Now that this must be an Estate of the Church before the great and general Resurrection is clear First It 's said here Some shall rise he speaks not of all shall rise Now at that day good and bad all shall rise But then Secondly The uttermost glory of the most eminent godly men that shall rise it shall be but to shine as the brightness of the Firmament and the height of all is that they that turn many to Righteousness as the Stars they shall but shine as the Stars Surely those who are not only righteous themselves but are means to turn others to Righteousness they are like to have the greatest degree of Glory in Heaven which is a mighty encouraging place not only to Ministers but to all to seek to convert all they can For this Scripture seems to hold forth this Truth that the Lord will look upon them as Instruments of his Glory and give them a higher degree of Glory than others But now at the great day of Judgment we know that the Saints of God shall shine brighter than the Stars they shall be as the Sun These Bodies of Clay that we carry now about with us in the great day when Christ shall come to judge all the World they shall shine as the Sun in the Firmament The poorest Man or Woman or Child that is godly though their Bodies are cloathed with Rags now yet at the day of Christ their Bodies shall be made to shine as the Glory of the Firmament nay more than so as the Glory of the Sun Yea they shall be like to the Body of Jesus Christ himself c. and the Body of Christ shall be beyond the Glory of the Sun therefore this is not meant of that time for the height of all the Glory here is but as the Stars But then a third Reason why it is not meant at that time is because the Lord bids Daniel to close up this Prophecy and tells him it shall be a thing kept hid Now that there shall be a Resurrection that God shall come to judge the World this was never any such secret the light of Nature will tell us this that there is a time that it must be well with the righteous and ill with the wicked The Heathens could tell us of a time that God should judge the World But now the Prophet here speaks of this as a Mystery that it was not to be revealed till the latter dayes Yea and then Fourthly The Lord promiseth to Daniel as a peculiar and special favour unto him that he should arise and stand in the Lot at the end of the dayes Now for Daniel to arise at the day of Judgment that 's a thing that is common to all good and bad but here it is promised to him as a special Mercy that he shall stand up in the latter dayes in his Lot And therefore according to the Reverend Brightman and others this place is interpreted of the time of the calling in of the Jews when they and the Gentiles shall joyn together and Jerusalem shall then be set up as the Praise of the whole Earth And the rather it makes me think so because the Apostle in the 11 of the Rom. vers 15. speaking of the time of the calling of the Jews he doth make use of such a kind of Phrase that it shall be even a time of Resurrection it shall be no other but even a raising from the dead In the 15 verse For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the World what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead Therefore it seems that he had some Reference to this very Scripture here at this time And in the 37 of Ezek. the beginning the receiving of the Jews there is set out by the dry Bones that were breathed upon by the breath of God and so they stood up as an Army and had life Yea and this shall be as a new Creation There will be as great works done as God did when he made the World at first and he will put forth as great a power So you have it set forth unto you in the 65. of Isa There the Prophet prophesying of a Glorious Condition of the Church what it should be mark how he doth express it 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 I create saith he new Heavens and a new Earth When will God do this Why saith he Be glad in it for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoycing and her People a Joy When this Jerusalem
in respect of the Excellency of the Church to a deal of Lumber of Cloaths and such things indeed as have some worth in them But when you come to the Church there be the Jewels of God the Pearls of God and the heart of God is upon them there God communicates the Riches of his goodness Oh! it 's a blessed thing to be one of Gods people then thou art one of his Jewels of his treasure of his peculiar treasure Now doth it appear to the World that the Church is the peculiar treasure of God why it 's trampled under foot by men but God tells us that there is a time that it shall not be so as now it is In the third of Malachi There is a time that he will make up his Jewels Now the Jewels of God lie trampled under feet they seem to lie in the dirt but vers 17. They shall be mine saith the Lord of Hosts in that day when I make up my Jewels and I will spare them as a man spareth his own Servant that serveth him There is a time a coming for God to make up his Jewels there are many precious Jewels lie in the dirt and no body regards them But a time shall come when it shall be known that there is a difference between him that feareth God and him that fears him not why do not we know it now those that are Spiritual know it But this Scripture seems to hold forth this thing that there shall be a time that all the world shall know it Now the time is that we cannot discern by any outward things a difference between Love and Hatred But there will be a time that we shall discern between the Love and Hatred of God apparently before the world There will be a time when it shall be said Verily there is a reward for the Righteous verily there is a God that Judgeth in the Earth That 's the fourth Expression The fifth is The Church is called the Glory of God In the fourth of Isa Vpon all the glory shall be a defence and so in another place I will place Salvation in Zion for Israel my Glory The house of Gods glory So it 's called in the 60. of Isa v. 7. It 's called the Crown of glory In the 62. of Isa v. 3. And it 's called the Throne of Gods glory Jer. 14.21 The glory of God The House of his glory The Crown of his glory The Throne of his glory All these Expressions hath the Church of God in the Old Testament Certainly God intended that these being Typical should Typifie some glorious condition that the Church should be in in time to come We find that the Church is called by way of Type Gods Ornament Ezek. 7.20 As for the beauty of his Ornament he set it in Majesty It 's the Ornament of God The Beauty of his Ornament The beauty of his Ornament set in Majesty All these three are in one Verse spoken concerning the Church of God As for the beauty of his Ornament he set it in Majesty but they made the Images of their Abominations and of their detestable things therein The force of the Argument is thus Saith God Why was not my Church and Ordinances there more glorious than their false Worship was not my Temple more glorious than their Images As for the beauty of his Ornament That is the Temple that was a Tipe of the Church he set it in Majesty Yet saith he they went and made Images O wretched People that when they had such a glorious Temple where my presence was so much and yet that they should turn to Worship stocks and stones As if God should say to any wretched Man or Woman Hast not thou come to the Word and heard the Excellency of my Son set forth unto thee and hast not thou had the glory of God in the Gospel shining before thine Eyes hast not thou heard of those blessed things that are revealed in the Doctrine of Grace and yet wilt thou turn after base things to satisfie thy flesh and mind nothing else but that O unworthy wretch that ever thou shouldest be partaker of any of those Excellent and glorious things that are revealed in my Gospel Just in such a manner doth the Lord speak to this People What go and forsake my Temple and Ordinances and go and turn to Images when it was so glorious O unworthy that ever they should receive mercy from the Lord Now was the Temple of God at such a time as that Gods Ornament so beautiful and set in Majesty surely Gods Church that is Tipified by it is one day or other to be an Ornament to God and a Beauty and set in Majesty and glory And then it 's called the Royal Diadem in the Book of Isa There is a time therefore when this must appear to be so which is when the Lord shall set up Jerusalem as the praise of the whole Earth Now if the state of the Church in the time of the Law that was Typical was so mark what the Apostle saith concerning the tipes and shadows of the Law Heb. 10.1 The Law having a shadow of good things to come and not the very Image of the things can never with those Sacrifices which they offered Year by Year continually make the comersâ— thereunto perfect The Law had but a shadow of the Image of things as is observeable It had not so much as the Image it was but a shadow then surely they could but barely resemble the good things to come here this Scripture may be understood by the way that Limners or Picture-Drawers use when they would make a Curious Picture of a Man First they draw a shadow with a piece of Chalk or Cole by which you may see a little proportion of the man but what 's this to the Image of the man now that 's more excellent and much beauty there is in that But in the man himself there doth appear more glory still than in his Image why the time of the Church under the Law that was like the drawing of a man upon a piece of Board with a Cole But now the state of the Church under the Gospel that 's like the Image it self and the state of the Church in Heaven that 's as the Man himself So then I make use of this Scripture thus If the Lord speak so of his Church in the time of the Law when the state was but Typical That it was his Portion his Peculiar Treasure his Inheritance and his Diadem and Ornament and the like what shall it be in the time of the Gospel when we come to have the Image of the thing not the shadow but the Image and then what must it be in Heaven when it comes to be the thing it self in glory And this is the second thing that shall be when the Church comes to be the praise of the whole Earth Oh now give God no rest Lord let it appear thus this point
Christianity is of the side that will prevail one day and therefore come in and joyn with them Though it's true there are many things now that seem to darken Religion but certainly Religion is getting up in the World though the Devil doth bestir him as much as ever he did since he was a Devil to darken Religion and the Glory of it in the World yet certainly Religion is getting up and it will prevail Take heed you be not like the five foolish Virgins which I find divers do apply to this very time when the Bridegroom shall come when Christ shall come in his glory to set up Jerusalem as the praise of the whole Earth that then the wise Virgins shall enter in with him and be partaker of the glory of the times but the foolish Virgins shall knock at the door saying Lord Lord open to us but he shall say I know you not depart ye workers of Iniquity You that make but a meer out-side of Religion and have but a formal profession of Religion you have Lamps but you have no Oyl in your Lamps burning when Christ shall come you shall be shut out and not be Partakers of the glorious Jerusalem that shall be made the Praise of the whole Earth And likewise this is a great Argument to move you to bring up your Children in Godliness and to instruct them in the wayes of Godliness because if you should not live to it yet your Children may Therefore labour to infuse what you can the knowledge of Christ into them now betimes that so they may partake of those glorious things that are spoken of in the Word But Secondly Is there a time that Jerusalem shall be made as the Praise of the whole Earth let us be willing to mourn with Jerusalem while it is in a mourning condition and be willing to suffer for Jesus Christ a while seeing there is a time that all sorrows shall be turned into Joy and all Sufferings shall be done away and wherein the Saints shall be all honoured and recompensed abundantly In the eleventh of the Revelations you find that the Witnesses were to prophesie in Sackcloath in a mourning condition for a long time It can't be meant of two men because they were to prophesie 1260 Years but what made them go on in that mournful condition they did believe this time Therefore in the 12. verse you shall find how they that had prophesied in Sackcloath for so long a time they were slain a little before this time came and for three years and an half together there was a slaughter made of them and the Text saith After three dayes and an half that is three years and an half the Spirit of life from God entred into them and they stood upon their feet and great fear fell upon them which saw them and they heard a great voice from Heaven saying unto them Come up hither And they ascended up to Heaven in a Cloud and their Enemies beheld them They were mightily honoured before their Enemies Those that had been prophesying in Sackcloath and were willing to suffer for Christ for a long time now they were called up and honoured before their very Enemies Let us be willing to suffer and that will be an evidence that we shall rejoyce with this new Jerusalem when it shall come to be made the Praise of the whole Earth So in the 66 of Isa v. 10. Rejoyce ye with Jerusalem and be glad with her all ye that love her rejoyce for joy with her all ye that mourn for her All that mourn'd for Jerusalem when the glory of it was darkened shall come and rejoyce with Jerusalem when Jerusalem shall be made as the praise of the whole Earth And the very Book of the Revelations is written on purpose for to encourage the Saints to be willing to suffer all the time of Anti-Christ's Reign And hence it hath been that in the time that Antichrist hath Reign'd there hath been so little known of the Book of the Revelations because it hath been applyed only in a metaphorical way and all the glory hath been interpreted of the glory of Heaven Because I say there hath been a darkness on the face of the Earth in the time of Antichrist's prevailing And it hath been the care of Antichrist to darken this and to keep under the Saints and to make them suffer very hard and grievous things But as I remember I have read of Caius the Emperour that when Agrippa had spoken for him before he was Emperour and suffered for his sake after Caius came to be Emperour he put a Chain of Gold about his Neck and gave it him just as heavy as his Iron Chain had been before So look what any one suffers for Jesus Christ now before he comes to take this Kingdom to himself before the time comes when the voice shall be heard from Heaven saying The Kingdoms of the Earth are become the Lords and his Christs and he shall reign for ever I say look what measure of sufferings any have for Christ now Christ will put a Chain of Gold upon them as heavy as ever their Sufferings were And especially now we had need prepare for Sufferings if it should prove that this time be at hand for we find that a little before this glorious time there 's like to be as great Sufferings to the People of God as at any time as in the 11 of the Revelations where it 's spoken of the Witnesses prophesying in Sackcloath they prophesied for 1260 Years But they were not slain until three Years and a half before this glorious time was risen and then they were slain So that immediately before the time that Christ shall come and appear in his Glory there will be greater Sufferings unto his Churches than there were in former times for you find that just upon their slaying that they were call'd up to Heaven And the seventh Trumpet sounded presently after and there were great voices in Heaven saying The Kingdoms of this World are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign for ever and ever As if the Holy Ghost should say Now all sufferings are done with all and now the Kingdoms of the World are become the Kingdoms of the Lord and his Christ and he shall reign for ever and ever And the four and twenty Elders which sate before God on their Seats fell upon their faces and worshipped God saying We give thee thanks O Lord God Almighty which art and wast and art to come because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned Whereas before men had power now God hath taken his great power to himself ☞ This follows presently upon it which is a very great Argument why those Witnesses are not yet slain because immediately upon their being slain there should follow such strange things as these are And then the Kingdoms of the Earth should be the Lords and his Christs You will
say Are they not now No certainly not so as then in that we do not see such an eminency of Christs taking the Kingdoms of the Earth now more than formerly and I say this is an evident Argument that the Witnesses are not slain In the 12 of Daniel there you have a Prophecy of the same times that we have here But mark how he begins this Prophecy there saith he in the 1 vers And at that time shall Michael stand up the great Prince which standeth for the Children of thy People and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a Nation even to that same time and at that time thy people shall be delivered every one that shall be found written in the Book Though the time of trouble without be great such as never was the like yet these that are written in the Book shall be delivered And so he goes on describing the glorious condition of the Church of God as it shall be I spake something to that in the opening of the Glory of this new Jerusalem and shewed you that it could not be meant there of the Glory of Heaven but of the glory of the Church here that should be upon the Earth And then in the 3 d. of Revel vers 10. we Read of an hour of Temptation that should be throughout the face of the Earth there is a time of Temptation that shall go quite through the whole world and whether yet this is come upon us doth not certainly appear and therefore let the consideration of this prepare us for suffering before hand For God will cause sufferings to try men who are true and will cleave to him and who are not but will desert him And so I remember Lactantius the former Author quoted he speaks as clearly of this as if so be that he did live and had seen it saith he A little before these times times wil grow so evil in comparison of the times that we live in now in which wickedness one would think were grown to the greatest height that possibly could be yet in comparison of these there shall come such evil times just before this glorious time of the Church as our times may be accounted Golden and Happy times in respect of those sad times for saith he good men they shall be a prey to wicked men and they shall be in contempt and poverty all right among men shall be confounded all Law shall perish and no man shall know what 's his own things shall be in such a cumbustion and confusion that no Law shall prevail and no man shall know what 's his own this shall be a little before saith he the glorious state of the Church wherein Christ shall appear Now if he could say so so long before certainly none then having Scripture so suitable to it have cause to fear that yet we may live to meet with very hard things ☞ Although it will be but short that 's the comfort if there should be great sufferings just before the day break and it should be darker than it was yet it will continue but a while three Years and an half will be the most But the times of the great sufferings of the Church before Jerusalem is to be made the praise of the whole Earth these three Years and a half will put men so to it that if they have not true grace they will fall off The Administration of Gods Providences are very strange we have had thoughts that all had been blowing over that we should have liv'd in safety and peace but clouds gather still And though the former clouds seem'd in some measure to be gone yet new clouds are gathering and therefore it 's wisdom for the People of God that fear God and look into his Word to see what God hath made known in his Word I say it 's their wisdom to prepare for the hardest that possibly can come That they may be bright and made white with all the troubles that they meet with and be not among them that shall not be found written in the Book and so to be cast out of all the good of this Jerusalem that shall be made the praise of the Earth Thirdly Though we should prepare for sufferings yet let us strengthen our faith and rejoyce in the hope of such times as these are in the midst of sufferings rejoyce it 's an Excellent thing when a Christian is able in the midst of sufferings to rejoyce in the assurance of a promise when things go never so contrary yet to keep in Gods ways upon the expectation of a promise to be fulfill'd You have an Excellent Scripture in the 64. of Isa vers 5. Thou meetest him that rejoyceth and worketh Righteousness those that Remember thee in thy ways behold thou art wroth for we have sinned In those is continuance and we shall be saved If you read this Chapter you shall find that the Church was in a sad condition but mark Thou meetest him that rejoyceth and worketh Righteousness In the saddest times there were some that did not only work Righteousness but did Rejoyce and work Righteousness Though God was wroth and all things did seem to be very dismal yet there were some that went on in the ways of Righteousness and rejoyced in the ways of Righteousness It 's a most Excellent Scripture and of marvellous use to us if God should bring us into sad times for us not only to keep in the ways of Righteousness but to rejoyce in the ways of Righteousness to rejoyce that ever we were brought into it and that 's upon an expectation that the Lord will save us Whatsoever sufferings you meet withall yet strengthen your faith and rejoyce in the Expectation of this Glory of Jerusalem The believing of such times as these are really makes Life desirable especially because God is so stirring in this Age not for any great matters that we shall have outwardly in the World for a while but that we may come to see the Issue of all these stirs and at length out of all the Confusion to see Jerusalem to be the praise of the whole world And therefore in the 102. Psalm which I think verily hath reference to these times you shall find the Title of it to be A Prayer of the afflicted when he is overwhelmed and poureth out his complaint before the Lord. But mark in his pouring out his complaint before God how he comforts himself in the 13. vers Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion for the time to favour her yea the set time is come For thy servants take pleasure in her stones and favour the dust thereof so the Heathen shall fear the Name of the Lord and all the Kings of the Earth thy glory When the Lord shall build up Zion he shall appear in his glory The Lord shall appear in his glory in building up Zion that is now cast down I say it 's a Prophetical Psalm
a Curse all that time For First all Creatures are subject to vanity and that vanity shall not be taken off nor the bondage till this time Secondly There will be trouble and Wars continually till this time there will be no certainty nor settledness of things till Jerusalem come to be made as the praise of the Earth There will attend affliction to the people of God yea and to others too Yea and there is a Curse upon mens Spirits which will not be taken off till this time comes The truth is when we look upon what is in the Earth we can see little that should make us desire to live in respect of the earthly comforts that are here and for my own part thinking in my thoughts about this point this Meditation came into my mind I wonder why men that live here and are not useful and serviceable to do service for God I wonder why they should desire to live for what pleasure is there in the Earth The Earth is under a curse Now were it not for this one thing that we might live to make our peace with God and to do God service I say it 's a wonder that any should desire to live for the truth is Afflictions and Fears and Troubles will countervail the Comforts of any that do live But indeed that will countervail our affliction if we may live to do service for God but let us give God no rest till this be because till then the Earth is under a curse It is this that brings a glory to the Earth O! it will be worth living in the World when God shall be set up in the World when Jesus Christ shall rule in the World it will be worth the living and not till then And then further give God no rest because that the time is near now howsoever it is near in respect of what it was when this Prophet thus spoke for â—t was above two thousand Years ago â—hat the Prophet spake these words Now the end of the world it 's even up on us and Christ seems to be even at the door Now as it is in nature a heavy thing the nearer it comes to the center the faster it moves so the nearer we are come to this time the more should our hearts be stirred for the time is even at hand and therfore let us pray now mightily as we find in the 9 th of Daniel Daniel did understand by Books that the time of their deliverance was near Mark at the third Vers the Text tells us that Daniel set his face to seek the Lord O then he fasted and prayed indeed My Brethren when you have such things as thâ—se presented to you and some hâ—â—â—â—â—l Arguments presented likewi 〈…〉 are near learn to set your 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord and resolve never to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 king till he make this Jerusalem to be the praise of the whole Earth O my Brethren now a praying heart is worth something it is a miserable thing for any Man or Woman not to have a Spirit of Prayer in these times a dangerous sign that such a one shall never be partaker of the glory of this new Jerusalem that hath not a praying Spirit in these times Yea now we find there are mighty stirrings abroad in the world the hearts of men are more raised to expect it than ever they were before I remember it 's observed of the woman of Samaria you may see by her that there was a general expectation raised of the Messias at the time that he came saith she when the Messias comes he will tell us all things and truly there is the greatest expectation of the Saints of God and those that are the most strict and holy the greatest expectation of these times as ever yet was and we find the Lord is so stirring in the world as makes us think that he is bringing about some glorious things and therefore pray pray pray and you that want matter to pray among other things put this into your prayer both in your Closets and Families pray the Lord and cry to him so as to give him no rest every day O Lord make Jerusalem the praise of the Earth O Lord we see abundance of darkness in thy Churches and Godliness is little Honoured in the world but O Lord make thy Churches glorious set up the glory of Godliness in the world pray thus privately and so publickly And a further motive to give God no rest is this That in this your heart doth joyn with the work of God that is most acceptable to God and that his Soul doth take delight in and that 's a comfortable thing And besides give him no rest for God hath appointed Prayer to be a special Engine and a great means to further this In the 102. Psalm saith the Text The Lord will regard the Prayer of the destitute Alas may some say I am a poor weak Christian a poor Body I am able to do but little I may Sigh to God but what are my prayers worth Mark the Text speaking of the glory of these times and of the way to further it The Lord will regard the Prayer of the destitute Though thou beest but as a poor shrub the Lord will regard thy Prayer and mark what the Text saith This shall be written for the Generation to come vers 18. This is written for thee Prayer hath done great things hath made a mighty change of things and if ever People were encouraged to pray now they may be encouraged because they have seen so much that Prayer hath done already We have many Scriptures which I had thought to have spoken of for the encouragement of you in Prayer for these things that you might go on and not faint Though you see things seem to go very Cross yet be not troubled at it but still go on give him no rest it may be God will do nothing now yet still give him no rest but be constant till the thing be done for certainly it will be done at length and if it should not come to pass in your life yet this I will conclude withall When you die die in the Faith of it Any of you that have been earnest in prayer for this thing and yet you see little come of it yet die in the Faith of it when you die as it is said of Joseph in the 50. of Gen. 24. Behold I die and God will surely visit you and bring you out of this Land unto the Land which he sware to Abraham c. So you may speak to your Children I die now I must not see this new Jerusalem but there is hope that God will bring you into it though I perhaps shall not see it and close your Eyes with this belief when you are to die I die yet in the Faith that there is a time a coming that the Lord will make Jerusalem as the praise of the whole Earth FINIS The Witnesses not yet slain