justice acted in the things which you Have been intrusted and employ'd to do Ev'n you who have the Lord before your eyes Still set and ever have in all your ways His work and will endeavoured to do His Sions welfare being dear to you For doubtless in that Court there are and have Been always some both holy wise and grave Some that were chosen faithful and called Unto the King of Saints Jesus their Head And these the happie instruments chiefly Have been to do the will of God I say It 's Saints that have the little Horn destroy'd And those he left behinde have so annoy'd For others of themselves this could not do Who lov'd the horn and his oppressions too And so the Oracle divine doth say That it is Saints that must the Horn kill slay It 's Saints that must the honour have alone The written vengeance for to bring upon The Heathen folk and punishments also On Kings Princes and Nobles on a row In Saints the Spirit chiefly mov'd that did This work effect though others that were led By self-ends did therein their aid afford But Saints their eyes were in it on the Lord. Therefore to you O Saints that in that Court Of Parliament did sit here 's your comfort Your labours by the Lord have blessed bin And counsels prospered by him your King And is that all Nay Blessed you shall still Be of the Lord who blessings on you will Abundantly pour out as he hath done If in his ways you still walk and go on And now what doth remain but that you do Go on to carry on his work and to Give up your selves to him in holiness And wait on him in truth and faithfulness Approving of your selves still in his sight And so to shine in holiness full bright And though men shall you slander and condemn Yet fear you not God will not judge as men Do you rejoyce in him and be assur'd You shall be ever saved by the Lord And honour also you shall have of him For those that honour him he honours them Great love also he will shew unto you Who loves all those that purely love him do And you to sing new songs of thanks and praise Henceforth shall have great cause even all your days Vnto the Armies faithful Leaders and Vnto the Faithful under their Command In the three Nations that called are To wait upon the Lamb in this his War O Happie Blessed ones consider you What Honour 't is that you are call'd unto In that not onely of the Common good You have been Instruments but that you stood Upon Mount Sion with the Lamb and did At his command go forth and eke were led By him against his enemies and foes Their power rage and fury to oppose And not in vain for why he made them all Before his presence among you to fall For when in Sixteen hundred fourty five The time was come his Saints for to revive Who were before overcome by the Beast And lay as dead then being unreleast He then you called forth and in you made His Witnesses to live who as dead laid But then were rais'd and on their feet did stand And opposed the Beast by a strong hand And is this all you have been call'd to do Not so but to destroy the Horn also Yea and all those that do remain the Whore For to support as the Horn did before And now as happie instruments you have Been for to do the work of Christ to save His People from the rage of enemies Even so henceforth it doth remain likewise That you follow the Lamb in ev'ry place And still expect his presence and his grace And if to other Kingdoms he you call Fear not for all that oppose him shall fall Before his presence among you and then His glory shall among the sons of men Most gloriously appear and shine before The World and many then shall hate the Whore Therefore ye sons of Zion who rais'd are Against the sons of Greece both neer and far And are as Bowes and Arrows in Gods hand Fear not to do what he doth you command Fear not to go where e'er he doth you call For in your hand his work still prosper shall And now look unto him in all you do To fill you with his holy Spirit that so You may not onely use in his service The double-edged sword of his Justice His soes for to destroy but that you may Use the sword of the Spirit that is to say The Word of God which mighty is alone The Holds of sin and Satan to cast down That by the publishing of the Gospel You may also honour your Lord as well As By inflicting Justice on them who Despise the offers of his grace and do Implacably remain and desperate And ways of truth and purity do hate And Oh that as the Lamb you follow do Your garments may be white and clean and you May shine in spotless glory having on The garments of Christs righteousness alone And Oh that in the sight of God and men Your walkings might be pure and spotless then Much honour praise and glory would you bring To him who is your Saviour and your King Who doth on his white horse before you go When you in white garments do him follow Say I O that you did so do Nay I Do also bless the Lord for that this day So much of him appearing in you is Unto the joy and comfort of all his I mean in you that faithful are to whom My speech I did direct whom God doth own And whom he doth guide counsel and direct Love honour save and bless and still protect In you his holy Spirit appear doth In ways of holiness you leading forth So that the solace of your hearts it is To walk with God in truth and righteousness But though you have attained much herein Yet O that your might higher rise and bring More praise to God and joy to Saints and so Yet greater joy of heart would be in you Vnto those people of the Lord that do In BABYLON abide unto their wo And do not yet return But at the Truth do spurn COnsider Sirs what you have done and do And think how sad how sad it is that you Should any help unto the Beast afford And should oppose the servants of the Lord. Hear now the call of God and Come you out Of Babylon O come O come about Lest that abiding there of her sins you Partake and of her punishments also The word is giv'n you must Come out and you Must reward her as she hath done and do Double to her what she hath done that she Be'ng drunk with blood with blood may filled be Is this the word and yet are you so sad Because the Beast his helpers lowe are laid Would you not have the little Horn destroy'd Who hath the Sain's of God so much annoy'd Remember how you did long since complain To God against his cruelties and fain
they have been in a mourning and a sad condition wearing sackcloath for a time times and halfe a time Now the high praises of God shall be in their mouths and whereas the heathen viz. profane men have trampled upon them and made them as the filth of the world and as the off-scouring of all things Now they shall have together with the high praises of God in their mouth a two-edged sword in their hands to execute vengeance upon the heathen and punishments upon the people to bind their Kings in Chaines and their Nobles with Fetters of Iron to execute upon them the judgement written This honour have all his Saints Thus Kings and Nobles and mighty men are to be subjected to his Saints This honour have all his Saints The fourth Scripture which I shall produce for the illustrating of this truth shall be that in Isa 51. 21. c. which is a promise to this purpose also in these words Heare now this thou afflicted and drunken but not with wine Thus saith the Lord the Lord and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people Behold I have taken out of thy hand the cup of trembling even the dregs of the cup of my fury and thou shalt no more drink it again But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee which have said to thy soule bow down that we may go ever and thou hast laid thy body as the ground and as the street to them that went over Here it is expressy said that the cup of trembling and fury should be so taken out of the hand of the Church as they should never any more drink it againe and not only so but that it should be put into the hands of them that afflicted her So that those great and wicked ones that most ragefully and most bitterly have afflicted and destroyed the Saints of God must now drinke off the dregs of that cup both that scarlet Beast the Pope and all those Kings Princes Prelates and inferiour persons that continue implacable enemies of his Saints Another cleare passage to this purpose is in Isa 51. 8 c. in these words Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice with the voice together shall they sing for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring againe Sion break forth into joy sing together ye wast places of Jerusalem for the Lord hath comforted his people he hath redeemed Jerusalem The Lord hath made bare his holy arme in the eyes of all the Nations and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God Here then its cleare that not only some but all the Nations shall see the glory and all the ends of the earth the Salvation of our God He will make bare his holy arme in the eyes of every Nation and People under heaven and they must all stoope to the Scepter of his Son Another clear confirmation of this truth we have Isa 60. 1 2 3 c. in these words Arise shine for thy light is come for the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee for behold the darknesse shall cover the earth and grosse darkness the people but the Lord shall rise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee and the Gentiles shall come to thy light and Kings to the brightnesle of thy rising Then thou shalt see and flow together and thine heart shall feare and be inlarged because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee They shall bring Gold and Incense and they shall shew forth the praises of the Lord. Surely the Isles shall wait for me and the ships of Tarshish first to bring thy Sons from far their silver and their gold with them unto the name of the Lord thy God and to the holy one of Israel because he hath glorified thee and the Sons of strangers shall build up thy walls and their Kings shall minister unto thee and the Nation and Kingdome that will not serve thee shall perish yea those Nations shall bee utterly wasted The sonnes also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet and they shall call thee the City of the Lord the Sion of the holy one of Israel whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated I will make thee an externall excellency the joy of many generations Thy people also shall be all righteous they shall inherit the Land for ever the branch of my planting that I may bee glorified a little one shall become a thousand and a small one a strong Nation I the Lord will hasten it in his time These words are a Prophesie of the glorious estate which the Church must in these latter daies after all her sufferings be advanced unto And first it is said of the Church that is the saints of the most high that the Light of the Lord shall rise upon them and his glory shall bee seen upon them and that so evidently and cleerly as that the Gentiles i. e. the prophane men of the world shall come to that light And not onely the poore and the mean among the Gentiles but some of their Kings and great ones shall be converted and imbrace the light and come to the brightnesse of the saints rising And secondly as abundance of the heathen shall bee converted so those of them that have formerly afflicted the saints of the most High shall come bending unto them and those that despised them shall bow themselves downe at the soles of their feet and that out of pure love to them because they shall see that they are the people of the Lord and the Sion of the holy one of Israel And thirdly those converted Gentiles shall further manifest their love to the saints of the most High by bringing in their wealth their riches their treasures their silver and their gold to them and by building their wals for them in this also their Kings ministring unto them And fourthly the Church the saints of God seeing these things and being thus favoured and blessed of the Lord shall be in in a sweet frame of spirit being filled with joy and therewith inlarged and heightned and this joy mixed with a holy feare and trembling walking altogether in the paths of righteousnesse And fifthly the Church or saints at this their rising shall grow so potent as that a little or despised one shall become a thousand and a small one a strong nation And sixthly The Nation and Kingdome that will not serve Sion i. e. the saints shall perish yea those nations shall bee utterly wasted And seventhly whereas the saints have been during the time of the prevalency of the Beast a despised and a contemned people they shall now be an eternall excellency and the joy of many generations Thus in this Scripture is this truth most evidently demonstrated That there must be such
much more is the Saints meaning in these words when they say Wee give thee thankes because thou hast taken to thee c. Wherein they expresse how they are affected with and doe rejoyce in these things Wee know how David expresses himselfe upon such an occasion Psal 98. 7 8 9. Let the Sea roar and the fulnesse thereof the world and they that dwell therein Let the floods clap their hands and let the hils be joyful together before the Lord for he commeth to judge the earth with righteousnesse and to judge the people with equity David is so affected with this great and glorious dispensation when God comes to reigne and even for to judge the earth with righteousnesse and to decide with justice and equity the controversies of the people as that he cannot be content to onely rejoyce and be exceeding glad thereof himselfe but he also excites the whole Creation to rejoyce in this most glorious dispensation And if these that are still of the world so they be not the desperate and implacable enemies of his Saints shall have such cause to rejoyce when the Lord reigneth because they shall not be at all oppressed nor unjustly dealt with as they had bin before but shall have justice done them I say if these and the whole Creation shall rejoyce when the Lord reigneth much more shall Saints when hee shall come to Judge their cause with righteousnesse and destroy the man of sinne and shall lay all his supporters though Kings and Princes notwithstanding whosoever labours to prop or beare them up in the dust And the Nations were angry When God comes to take his great power and to reigne himselfe the Nations are angry because their vaine customes which they have doated upon must bee laid aside and this great man must be brought downe and that King and 'tother darling and favourite of the Nations for opposing of the Lord Jesus Christ and his Saints must bee destroyed even the * Psal 110. heads over many Countries And thy wrath is come When Jesus Christ comes to reigne hee will breake forth in wrath against his and his Saints implacable enemies and this is that which he speakes of when hee speakes of the yeere of recompences for the controversies of Sion And when he saies the day of vengeance is in his heart * Isa 63. 3 4. and the yeere of his redeemed is come having suffered his adversaries a long time to go on unpunished in afflicting and martyring and oppressing his Saints hee will at last have a time to reckon with them and hee will avenge his Saints quarrell for vengeance is his recompencing all the blood and cruelty of their enemies on their owne heads And he will shew that hee hath not been regardlesse of all the sufferings and sad pressures which his people have undergone from the hands of wicked and cruel men but when the yeere of his redeemed is come then will he recompence his enemies for all their controversies with Sion and as it is Jer. 30. 23. His fierce anger shall goe forth as a whirlewinde and shall fall with pain upon the heads of the wicked For thy wrath is come and the time of the dead that they should be judged When Christ thus comes to avenge his people on their enemies he doth therein give judgement for them for in that those enemies have slain and martyred his Saints long before he herein judges his people that they have slaine with righteous judgement when he passes the sentence of condemnation and executes it upon those that have thus destroyed and had a hand in the destroying of so many innocent and so many righteous soules for all the bloud of all the innocent soules from righteous Abel to the bloud of the many innocents lately shed in Ireland and elsewhere must be charged upon the Pope and that Generation * And thus God judgeth the dead Saints cause for so saies the Text Rev. 18. 24. that in them will be found all the bloud of all the Prophets and Saints and of all that were slaine upon earth And that thou shou dst give reward unto thy servants the Prophets and to thy Saints and to them that feare thy name small and great The time of Christs reigning will be the time of Saints rewarding for all their love and all the labour and sufferings of it There is none that ever did any thing for God or that suffered any thing for God but shall be abundantly rewarded for all their doings and sufferings and for all their shame and sufferings shal have a reward of double joy according to that passage Isa 61. 7. For your shame you shal have double and for confusion they shal rejoyce in their portion therefore in their land they shall possesse the double everlasting joy shall be unto them And the reward which Christ will give when he hath thus brought down his enemies shall be universall to all his Saints not only as some have conceived unto those Saints that have been Martyr'd for Christ but to all his Saints which are here exprest under various denominations that so all Saints may see themselves here included and therefore first it is thus exprest That thou shouldst give reward unto thy servants the Prophets by which in generall is meant all Saints for all Saints have in a measure a spirit of Prophesie For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of Prophesie saies the Angell Rev. 19. 10. but more peculiarly by Prophets is ordinarily understood the great preachers and publishers of Gospell-truths those that are gifted and inabled to hold forth publikely to edification exhortation and comfort Gospell truths for this is prophesying as 1 Cor. 14. 3. and now if there had in this place been no other description given of the Saints which should have been rewarded by Christ but only this his servants the Prophets there might have been some question made whether this did include all Saints and it might be taken only for publike officers but it therefore follows and to thy Saints this is a more generall word and herein all saints might be satisfied though they be not so eminently gifted as others are since this word is added and to thy Saints but if any should yet conceive that they are not here included seeing some that are Saints are sometimes under some doubtings of their Saintship therefore it follows And to them that feare thy name so that if they have but a true filiall sonlike feare of God they may hereby be encouraged but yet further that there may not be any discouraged for their weakeness because they are lookt upon as little ones as babes or because they are low in the world it therefore followes and to them that feare thy name small and great all Saints from the most eminent Prophet and Teacher to the meanest and tenderest babe that waites upon and loves and feares the Lord Jesus shall all be rewarded at his comming not that any thing they
is their General said to come ver 11. But it is no wonder for he always walks in the midst of his golden Candlesticks his Witnesses his Saints his Churches Rev. 1. 13. But again these Armies in Heaven are said to follow their General upon white horses As he is upon a white horse which shews his purity so also are they upon white horses which shews their purity For he hath put his own Frame and Spirit upon them which further appears in that they are also said to be clothed in fine linen white and clean which also imports purity and undefiledness And thus we have the Description of the Lord General and his Army on the one side On the other side The chief among them is called the Beast which shews his unworthy filthy beastly nature and with him are the Kings of the earth they are not of heaven but of the earth and of the earth they may be said to be in opposition to the heavenly nature of those whom they oppose And for the Armies that are under them they are said to be Their Armies implying that they were earthly corrupt Armies because they did belong to those that were of the earth And this is all the description that we have in this place of the other General and his Army Now these being thus described It is said that the Beast and the Kings of the earth and their Armies were gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse and against his Army It seems they have hopes to overcome him and his Army because they gather together against them The event of the Battel But what is the event of the battel The Beast and his Army are overcome and the Beast and the false Prophet is that with him are taken What this false Prophet is is doutful for there is no mention made of him before this at least not under this Title * The false Prophet not in all the book of the Revelation but it may be it is some new sort of deceiver which he will make use of to deceive the Nations by false miracles when he draws them to ingage in this battel But whether so or no whatever he be when this battel is sought the Beast and the false Prophet that wrought miracles before him are both taken and of them is it said That they particularly were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimston and the remnant are slain with the sword and their flesh is given to the fowls of the aire even the flesh of Kings and Captains and mighty men c. And this is the success of this battel or the event of it as far forth as it is in this place spoken of But because the day of the battel is to be such a great and terrible day to wicked men being that great and terrible day of the Lord so much spoken of by all the holy Prophets and Apostles and Saints of God which day is represented unto us in such a dreadful terrible and glorious manner as if it were the General day of judgement but that it is cleered not to be that day by the declarations of the things that must follow it which are laid down in the several Scriptures which speak of this day I say seeing it is represented unto us in a dreadful and wonderful manner and since so many wonders shall be shewn at that that time and so much of the glory and majesty of God shall then be seen and such strange changes shall then be made in the world I say these things being so wonderful and so glorious I shall be the larger in giving the description of this day from several other Scriptures Thus Of the great day of the Lord. This day is that great day which is called the day of the Lords vengeance and the year of recompences for the controversies of Sion Mentioned Isa 34. 8. That day of which he speaks when he says The day of vengeance is in my heart and the yeer of my redeemed is come Isa 63. 4. For though it be true that he hath already begun to take vengeance upon his and his peoples enemies and to plead the cause of his people and though he hath begun to recompence his wrath upon these enemies for the controversies his Sion hath against them yet the compleatment hereof is reserved unto that day which of all days shall be the most terrible to wicked men because it shall utterly overthrow them and they shall not escape nor avoid it for then he will tread them in his anger and trample them in his fury yea they shall be troden in the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God And their blood shall be sprinkled upon his Garments and he will stain all his rayment As Isa 63. 3. But who shall live when God doth this was Balaams expression when he spake of the ruine of several Nations Numb 24. 23. for let all wicked men look to it when this day comes for to them it will be very terrible For this is the day which is spoken of Isa 66. 15. For behold the Lord will come with fire and with Chariots like a whirl-wind to render his anger with fury and his rebukes with flames of fire for by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh and the slain of the Lord shall be many How terrible will this day be when the Lord shall thus plead with all flesh by fire and sword and render his anger with fury and his rebukes with flames of fire Who shall live when God doth this It is answered by the Prophet in the same Chapter that at the same time The hand of the Lord shall be known toward his servants and his indignation toward his enemies and their hearts shall rejoyce and their bones shall flourish like an herb They shall be so far from being quailed or discouraged or amated or terrified when this terrible day comes as they shall then flourish most and be most joyful at heart Again this day is spoken of Joel 3. 9 10. where the Lord summons all the Gentiles to gather together and make themselves as strong as they can for war and says that when they are gathered together round about in ver 11. that thither he will cause his mighty ones to come down at v. 12. That there he will sit to judge all the heathen round about then declares that the Sickle shal be put in to cut down this harvest of wicked men for the wickedness is great and that multitudes shall be cut down when the Lord shall thus judge these men and decide the controversies of his people for which cause it shall be called The valley of decision And then vers 16. The Lord shall roar out of Sion and utter his voice from Jerusalem and the heavens and the earth shall shake This is that once more wherein he will shake not the earth onely but the heavens
shall be seen upon thee And the Gentiles shall come to thy light and kings to the brightness of thy rising And v. 19 20. The sun shall be no more thy light by day neither for brightness shall the moon give light to 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 days of thy mourning shall be ended How glorious shall the Church be when thus the glory of the Lord shall be seen upon them in such fulness It is true there is in every true Saint and hath been in the darkest times of Popery in the times of their greatest weakness and darkness some true glory But how hath it been besmeared and eclipsed with their weaknesses and corruptions that have appeared in them But now the Spirit shall be poured so abundantly upon them as they shall arise and shine Now the Sun and Moon shall be no more their light those means and appointments wherein formerly they received light and saw some brightness they shall now be no lights comparatively for being compared with those full pourings out of the Spirit that they shall then have and those immediate inlightnings they shall then receive from God they shall be no lights and be of no use unto them because the Lord will be their everlasting light and their God their glory And it being so their Sun shall no more go down nor their Moon withdraw its self and the days of their mourning shall be ended They shall no more have a midnight of Popery overspreading them nor no more be burthened and bowed down by corruptions nor no more be afflicted by their enemies Their mourning dark days are past away and they shall live in joy light and glory for ever But thus having spoken in the general of the happy condition in which the Saints shall be in regard of the fulness of the Spirit which shall be poured out upon them I shall now proceed to the particular effects which the Spirit shall then work in them as the Scripture declares that the Saints in these days shall be filled with the Spirit 1 By which they shall be filled with knowledge 2 By which they shall be in an humble frame 3 By which they shall be filled with love 4 By which they shall be filled with a holy filial fear 5 By which they shall be enabled to worship the Lord acceptably 6 By which they shall be all united 7 By which they shall be enabled to act justly and righteously 8 By which they shall be put into a meek and sweet frame 9 By which the weak shall be made strong 10 By which they shall be enabled to speak a pure language 11 By which their minds and affections shall be raised and made heavenly 12 By which their wills shall be swallowed up in the will of God 13 By which they shall walk in the integrity and singleness of their hearts 14 By which they shall be enabled to mortifie all corruptions 15 By which they shall appear very glorious in the eyes of all 16 By which they shall be enabled to make a holy use of all the creatures And 17 By which they shall abundantly be filled with divine joy I shall begin with the first That the Saints having an abundant measure of the Spirit shall then be filled with knowledg * How Saints shall be fil'd with knowledge And this appears cleerly in that known place Isa 11. 9 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea This whole chapter is a cleer Prophecie of this time when there shall be new Heavens and a new earth and an universal rectitude shall appear in all the world as appears in that chapter Then shall knowledge abound in the world the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord. It is not said With humane knowledge but that knowledge which is infinitely transcendent unto all humane knowledge the knowledge of the Lord yea so full of divine light and knowledge shall they then be as they shall have no cause to complain that they have but little and they want more for if the Sea may be said to want waters then may they complain but they shall have no cause for they shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the Sea in this day when Jesus Christ and his Saints shall gloriously reign on earth And then in a most eminent manner shall that part of the new Covenant be made good which saith they shall no more teach every man his neighbour saying Know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them saith the Lord Jer. 31. 34. Though it is true that in a sence this is now made good to the Saints for the least of Saints hath a true knowledge of God though but in a weak degree but then most eminently shall this promise be made good Again Isai 54. 13. in which Chapter the Lord makes many glorious promises of what he will do for his people in this time wherein he will put more glory upon them then ever he hath yet done At the thirteenth verse it's said And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord and great shall be the peace of thy children Thus with an abundant measure of divine knowledge shall Saints be filled in that time But secondly being thus filled with the Spirit they shall be thereby made fully sensible of their own unworthiness and so walk humbly * That Saints shall be in an humble frame in those times before the Lord. For when they shall consider in that time what great and glorious things God hath done for them how he hath magnified his grace to them in giving of them full deliverance and times of peace and joy for all their times of sorrow and doubling their joys for their sorrow as Isai 61. 7. so as they never underwent so many sorrows but they shall partake of double joys and that everlastingly and when they shall consider that all this is from free love and tender mercy to an unworthy people it will put them into a very humble posture And this is clear Ezek. 16. 60 61 c. where the Lord having promised that notwithstanding all the unworthinesses of his people which are there enumerated yet he will do glorious things for them but he tells them that when he doth so for them that then they shall be ashamed of their ways and remember them and be confounded and never open their mouth any more because of their shame when he is pacified toward them The consideration of the grace of God to such as were unworthy shall so melt and humble their hearts before him the Spirit being abundantly in them as they shall never be lifted up in the pride of their hearts
any more The like we have Ezek. 36. which is a Prophecie of this time where at vers 27. God promises to pour out his Spirit upon them and when he hath so done at the 31 verse he says That then they shall remember their evil ways and doings that were not good and loath themselves in their own sight for their iniquities and their abominations Though these be times in which Saints shall be advanced * The higher the Saints are the more humble higher then ever they were yet being filled with the Spirit they shall walk more humbly then ever and be more little in their own eyes then ever The truth is none but such as are humble shall be the Citizens of this New Jerusalem and therefore Mal. 4. 1. it is said that when that day cometh it shall burn as an oven and all the proud shall be burnt up no proud men must be left it shall be onely such as walk humbly before the Lord that shall live in this Kingdom But thirdly The Spirit being thus abundantly poured out upon the Saints they will be thereby filled * How Saints shall then be filled with Love with love and that in a most eminent manner so that as David being filled with the Spirit says I will love thee O Lord my strength so shall they also most truely and cordially say it with wonderfullyraised and inflamed affections For where much of the Spirit is there must needs be much Love for the Spirit of God is the spirit of Love it self And because of the great love that Saints shall have to God it 's said Psal 149. 3. that the children of Sion shall be joyful in their King he alone indeed shall be the joy of their hearts in him and in nothing else will they be satisfied It is not their corn and wine and oyl it is not all the outward enjoyments which they shall then abundantly have but it is the Lord alone that will be their greatest joy and pleasure and therefore Mal. 3. 1. it 's said The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple even the Messenger of the covenant in whom ye delight There Jesus Christ is set forth as the object of the Saints love and delight It 's true he is so now but in that day will most eminently be so And it 's evident it will be so for if we compare Rev. 19. 7 8. with Rev. 21. 2 3. we shall finde that then the Saints are solemnly taken to become the Bride the Lamb's wife which argues that ardent and entire affection shall then be in the Saints to Christ But then O what mutual exchanges of love will there be between Christ and his Saints And therefore the Lord thus highly and wonderfully expresses himself Zeph. 3. 16 17. which I can never read but with great admiration In that day shall it be said Fear thou not Sion for the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty he will save thee he will rejoyce over thee with joy he will rest in his love he will joy over thee with singing What high and marvellous expressions are these that the most high and holy One should thus express his love to poor empty unworthy nothing creatures What that he will rejoyce over them Shall they be a joy to him Nay more that he will not onely love them but rest in his love as being that wherein he can acquiesce rest be satisfied And what be so well satisfied therein as to joy over his Sion with singing O wonderful what can be more said Who can sufficiently admire at the height and depth and breadth and length of this love of God which passeth knowledge And how great must the love of Saints be when they come more fully to apprehend this For this love begets their love His love to them is the spring of their love to him But fourthly Being filled with the Spirit they shall be thereby * What holy sweet filial fear shall be in the Saints then filled with a holy fear of the Lord Not that any distracting disquieting fear shall be upon them or any slavish fear but a holy filial fear shall abide upon them such a fear as will well become the sons and daughters of the Almighty whereby they shall be the better fitted to serve and honour their God and Father And of this the holy Ghost speaks Isa 60. 5. where speaking of these times wherein God will do such glorious things for his people he saith Their heart shall fear and be enlarged It shall not be a fear that shall disturb the Saints or make them walk heavily or straiten them in their services but an enlarging fear Their heart shall fear and be enlarged Such a holy fear the Spirit always puts into the hearts of the Saints to make them fit for the service of God And therefore the Psalmist hath this expression Psal 2. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoyce with trembling implying that such service and such joy is most acceptable is sweetest is best And so again the Prophet Hosea speaking of this glorious time Hos 3. 5. says he They shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the later days It is not that they shall fear the Lord and his wrath that they shall fear the indignation of the Lord no they shall have no cause so to fear his love shall be so visibly and gloriously manifested to them but they shall fear the Lord and his goodness a holy reverential fear under the sence of goodness shall be in their hearts And that such services as have most of this holy fear in them are most spiritual and most sweet is well known to the experience of Saints And that such a fear shall be in the hearts of Saints in that time we are speaking of is also exprest Jer. 33. 9. And they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto them The manifestation of goodness and love shall beget in them in whose heart the Spirit is a holy fear and trembling before the Lord. But fifthly Being thus filled with the Spirit they shall be enabled to worship the Lord acceptably * How Saints shall then purely worship God and purely The worship of God shall then be totally freed from mens inventions and they shall then worship God according to his own will For what his will about his Worship and service shall then be shall be clearly known among his people and be visible to all that truely desire to worship him as appears Isa 2. 2 3. and Mic. 4. 1 2. It shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lords house shall be established in the top of the mountains and all nations shall flow unto it And many people shall go and say Come ye and let us go up unto the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of
it and the Lamb is the light thereof They shall then have no need of those men that shine as the Sun and Moon to the Church to inlighten others no but then as I have said They shall be all immediately taught of God and they shall not need to teach one another saying Know the Lord but the glory of the Lord and the Lamb shall lighten them And thus as far as I have been enabled and the Scripture giving clear testimony have I answered that Question What Ordinances shall be used at that time and how shall Saints then worship God I proceed Sixthly The Saints being filled with the Spirit they shall then be enabled to worship the Lord with one * The Saints shall then all worship the Lord in one way minde and one heart and in one way It shall not be then as now in these dark times it is wherein one is of this minde and another of that minde and a third of a third minde about several parts of the Ordinances of God and these divisions in Opinion rest not there onely but make divisions in Affection also But then it shall not be so and therefore we finde mention made but of one street in the New Jerusalem Rev. 22. 2. implying that they shall all walk in one way And Zeph. 3. 9. the Lord says that he will turn unto the people a pure language that they may all call upon the Name of the Lord and serve him with one shoulder And this appears also in that fore-mentioned place Zech. 8. 20 21. where it is said that the inhabitants of one city shall go to another saying Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts I will go also Yea many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts Where it is clear that all people in all Cities and Nations shall be of one minde in the Worship of God And Jer. 32. 39. the Lord there says that in that time he will give his people one heart and one way And seventhly The Saints being thus in that time abundantly filled with the Spirit all * Justice and righteousness shall flourish in those days just and righteous things shall be done by them And this is clear Isai 60. 18. Violence shall no more be heard within thy land nor wasting nor destruction within thy borders Though there hath been violence in the Land formerly yet then there shall be no more but vers 21. Thy people shall be all righteous they shall inherit the land for ever the branch of my planting that I may be glorified And so full of the spirit of judgement and righteousness shall the Saints then be as it is said Isai 32. 16. that judgement shall dwell in the wilderness and righteousness remain in the fruitful field In the verse before it is said that the Spirit shall be so poured out as that those that had been as a barren wilderness should now become as a fruitful field and in this verse it is said that in all whether they were such as had been a wilderness or such as had been a fruitful field judgement and righteousness should dwell And to this same purpose is that Isai 1. 26 27. Afterward thou shalt be called the citie of righteousness the faithful citie The like is said of it Jer. 31. 23. They shall use this speech of thee The Lord bless thee O habitation of justice and mountain of holiness How full are these expressions shewing how glorious for holiness this new world shall be And for this cause it is that when these new heavens and new earth are promised they are distinguished from the old or former heavens and earth by this character WHEREIN DWELLETH RIGHTEOVSNESS Thus the Saints in these times shall be so full of righteousness and judgement as they shall receive their very denomination from it And as it is said of the Lord God Almighty that his Name is holy so is it said of them They shall be called The city of righteousness the faithful city the habitation of justice the mountain of holiness so gloriously shall they then shine in righteousness and justice Eighthly By this abundant pouring out of the Spirit upon the Saints in that time they shall be put into a very * The meekness of the Saints in those days meek and sweet frame of spirit In Psal 149. which is a place I have already cited shewing that it is a Prophesie of these times at vers 4. it is said that the Lord will beautifie the meek with salvation whereby it is clear that they shall be meek spirits that shall then be beautified with salvation that shall be members of that kingdom And indeed it must needs be so for their Saviour is so they do learn and shall learn of him to be meek and sweet and lowly in in their hearts and carriages but not so but as that this meekness shall be consistent with courage stoutness and valour also when God calls them to exercise it And therefore as our Saviour is a Lamb and a Lion so they shall be as meek as * How a Lamb-like and a Lion-like nature may be consistent Lambs and yet as bold as Lions and not fear to do the work about which they are set as appears vers 6. 7. where it is said They shall have the high praises of God in their mouthes and a two-edged sword in their hands to execute vengeance upon the heathen and punishments upon the people to binde their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron Thus meek and sweet in spirit shall the Saints be and withal full of life and courage Again that the Saints shall be full of meekness at that time appears by that speech of our blessed Saviour Matth. 5. 5. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth Now the Saints could never be said so fully to have this promise made good to them as they shall in that time for many of the Saints in a sence never inherited the earth And as their Saviour spake of himself in the days of his humiliation so may it be said of them in these days of their humiliation That they have not many of them where to lay their heads And for the most part wicked men have possest the earth but many of them never had any inheritance in it And I am perswaded that our Saviour had this time in his eye when he said Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth So that though yet this promise was never fully made good yet there is a time coming wherein it shall be clearly and fully made good And of this time also speaks David when he says Psal 37. 11. But the meek shall inherit the earth shal delight themselvs in the abundance of peace He had said in the two former verses that evil doers should be cut off and that though the wicked did flourish for a