so to agree Yea that we be not sodered together by our own blood Secondly God hath a time to gather Judah and Israel both together that is to bring peace to his Church God hath a time to gather all his Churches together in a way of peace that there shall be an universall peace amongst his Churches For thought it is true it be meant here of Judah and Israel literally yet Israel and Judah is to set out to us all the Churches of God that shall bee afterwards among the Gentiles and as God will fulfill this Scripture literally so he will fulfill it in the spirituall sense to bring Judah and Israel that is all the Churches of God to be under one head Isa 11. 13. Ephraim shall not envy Iudah and Iudah shall not envy Ephraim Ephraim envyed Judah because Judah challenged to himselfe the true worship of God and Judah on the other side envyed Ephraim because hee was the greatest there was vexing spirits one against another this shall not alvvays be saith God but the envy of Ephraim shall depart I will take away this envious this vexatious spirit Those two staves the holy Ghost speaks of in Zach. 11. 10 11. 14. the staffe of beauty and the staffe of bands they were both broken but God hath a time to unite together again and for that mark that excellent prophecie in Ezek. 37. 16 17. 22. 24. There you shall find fully set out Gods bringing Judah and Israel together and joyning those sticks together again Son of man saith the Text there take thee one sticke and write upon it for Iudah and for the children of Israel his companions then take another sticke write upon it for Ioseph the sticke of Ephraim for all the house of Israel his companions and joyne them one to another into one sticke they shall become one in thy hand And then ver 19. this is interpreted of the union of them Behold I will take the stick of Ioseph which is in the hand of Ephraim will put them with the stick of Iudah make them one sticke they shal be one in mine hand And vers 22. I will make them one Nation in the land upon he mountains of Israel one King shall be King to them all And in the 24. ver that King is said to be David which we shall afterward shew more fully when we shall come to shew this head that they shall be under Now this God hath never yet fulfilled that the ten Tribes and Judah and Benjamine should come together and be set in one stick he hath never set together the staffe of bonds that was broken and yet this must be done and it is the great blessing of God upon his Churches the bringing about of this union one with another Mark that Text for this purpose Ier. 33. God having promised having promised there in the 10. ver that in the latter dayes he would bring Judah Israel together and build them up at first then in the 14. vers Behold the dayes come saith the Lord that I will perform the good thing which I have promised unto the children of Israel to the house of Judah What is that good thing that God had promised to the houses of Israel and Iudah That good thing my brethren is the building them up together as they were at first that is the good thing Behold how good pleasant a thing it is for brethren to live together in unity It is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran downe upon the beard even Aarons beard that went down to the skirts of his garments as the dew of Hermon as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion for there the Lord commanded the blessing even 〈…〉 the Churches of God where there is this 〈…〉 here is God commanding blessing that 〈…〉 powerfully commeth efficaciously and blessing of life and life for evermore O who would not then love union and peace in the Churches Zach. 14. 9. The Lord shal be King over all the earth in that day shall there be one Lord his name one The Churches now they have one Lord they all acknowledg God Christ to be their Lord yea but this Lord hath not one name though they all pretend to Christ that they will honour Christ and set up Christ yet this one Lord hath many names But here it is prophefied that there shall be but one Lord and his name shall be but one neither And Zeph. 3. 9. Then will I turne to a people of a pure languag that they may all cal upon the name of the Lord serve him with one consent The word in the Originall is one shoulder all the people of God shall have but one shoulder that they shall set to the service of God O blessed time when they shall come so to be united as to have but one shoulder And the greater will this blessing be of Iudahs and Israels gathering together if you consider these two things I beseech you observe them and I goe no further then this very Scripture I am now opening to you First that they shall have this perfect union together even then when Israel shall be as the sand of the sea when there shall be such multitudes comming in and flocking to the Church yet then they shall be united into one and then there shall be peace in the Churches It is not a hard matter when there are but very few of a Church perhaps halfe a dozen or halfe a score for them then to be of one mind and to agree in one lovingly together and to have no divisions nor dissentions among themselves but when a Church grows to be a multitude and a great many then there lies the difficulty When did ever any Church though never so well constituted at first but increase in divisions and dissentions as they increased in number and multitude You see you find it very hard when you have any meeting in any society when any business concerns a great many you finde it I say a very hard thing so to agree together as to be of one and the same mind An instrument as a watch or any thing that hath many wheels is sooner out of frame then that which hath but a wheele or two So when a great many come together about any businesse it is mighty hard to bring them to be united in one There are few families that have many persons in it but quickly dissentions and brablings grow among them perhaps where there are two or three in a family they keep well enough together but where there are many where there are but seven in a family they cannot so well agree nor so long a time together as the seven Devills did in Mary Magdalen they agreed better and longer then many a seven in a family But God hath made this promise to the Church that though it shall increase as
seed of God a great day 1. They are the seed of God The seed of the blessed and there is a blessing in them They are the precious seed that God preserves in the world hath done ever since the beginning of the world They are that seed that preserveth the glory of God in the world Were it not for a few gracious holy people in the world where would the glory of God be What would become of it Those that are godly however contemptible in the world they are the precious seed that God reserves in the world for great and glorious ends They are the seed to preserve the continuation of the Doctrine of the Gospell and the blessed truths of God as Isa 6. 13. The holy seed shall be the substance thereof Though they shall be under great afflictions yet there shall be a holy seed that shall be the substance thereof and there shall be his blessing Psal 72. 17. His name shall endure from generation to generation the words are read by Montanus His name shall be childed that is so continued as families are continued one generation after another one begetteth another and so shall the name of Christ continue in the world and so it hath done And though seed be but a handfull in comparison of the harvest so the Saints of God then were and yet are but as a handfull in comparison of the glorious harvest that shall be yet they are very precious before God and God will make the world hereafter know that they are the precious ones of God Isa 61. 9. All that see them shall acknowledge them that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed Seed you know a man will be carefull of that what ever becomes of his other corne In the time of dearth the husbandman wil rather pinch his own belly then have his seed-corne to be spent So in times of common calamity of common dearth yet Gods care is over his seed the Saints are as I may say Gods seed-corne to preserve his name in the world to other generations that are to come he will not therefore have them destroyed Seed is the most precious of the corne which is most winnowed and made cleane and so are the Saints the cleane ones and the most precious ones God perhaps doth winnow them and fanne them more than he doth others by the fannes and winnows of afflictions why because they are his seed Perhaps other corne that hath drosse in it the husband-man will give the fowles and the cattell that he bestoweth not much winnowing upon it but the corne that is for seed he winnows that he would not willingly have a dernell amongst it It may be thou complainest thou art more winnowed more fanned then other men perhaps thou art more precious in Gods eyes thou art to be reserved as seed as the seed of the blessed The wicked indeed they are seed too but a corrupt seed a seede of evill deers Esay 1. the grand-father was an enemy unto God yea the great grand-father and the father and the children after him continue enemies to God And God in mercy unto his Church doth many times cut downe the wicked before they do seed too much As you that have gardens if they have weeds in them and you see the weeds come up and grow to seed you think then that it is time to pull them up you will not suffer them to seed God lookes upon many families and sees wretched and sinfull men as a seed of evil doers and sees they are ready to seed and if they be not cut down suddenly there will be a wretched brood of wicked ones in such a family This is the reason of Gods suddain cutting down of many wicked families But to come to the point that is chiefly intended that is That this seed of the Lord shall have a great day Great shall be the day of Jezreel The men of the world they have their day in which they ruffle it out and they have all the doings Saint Paul seemes to speake of this in 1 Cor. 4. 3. he saith there that he did not passe for mans judgement the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for mans day Now men have the day they have all the bravery in the world well saith Saint Paul I doe not passe formans day I expect another day besides mans day I know not how it commeth to passe to be otherwise translated you translate it judgement in your books but in the Originall it is day Man hath a day As men have a day so shall Gods Saints have a day too Wee use to say many times when we see the Malignant party jocund and merry surely they hope to have a day My brethren be joyfull in the Lord God hath a day for you and a great day too Great shall be the day of Jezreel The beginning of Gods mercy to his people is called a day of small things Zach. 4. 10. and that must not be despised Let no man despise the day of small things It was the beginning of the reformation and deliverance of the people of Judah from their captivity But God hath a day of great things and certainly that day shall be honorable A day first in which the glory of God shall exceedingly appear wherein God shal be as I may so speak with holy reverence as it were in his robes As we know Princes upon great dayes put on their robes so the King of glory shall have a day for his people wherein even he himself will put on his robes Ps 102. 16. When the Lord shall build up Zion he shall appear in his glory It seemeth while the Church is in affliction while the witnesses prophesie in sack-cloath God is as it were cloathed in sack-cloath In all their afflictions he is afflicted but because God hath a day a great day to his Churches he will reserve his robes till then and when that day commeth he will put on his robes for when he shall build up Zion saith the Text then the Lord shall appeare in his glory A great day it shall be for Jezreel for the seed of the Lord. Secondly It shall be a great day for this day shall be the riches of the world Marke that place in Rom. 11. 12 speaking of the Jews If their fall saith he be the riches of the world and their diminishing the riches of the Gentiles how much more their fulness It was a rich mercy to the Gentiles when they were brought out of darknesse and called into the knowledge of Jesus Christ here was riches to the world of the Gentiles But God hath a greater day then that for it is spoken here of a day that is to come that is their fall was the riches of the Gentiles much more their calling in again So then there is such a day of calling home the people of God as shall be the riches of the Gentiles the riches of all the world
prepared to meet Christ their Bride-groom when he cometh Marke that place Ezek. 40. 4. It is spoken of the glorious times of the Gospel especially of these times I am speaking of where God saith to the Prophet Behold with thine eyes and heare with thine eares and set thine heart upon all that I shal shew thee And what did God shew him hee shewed him the measure of the Temple and all the glorious things that there should be in the Church in future times So I say to you my brethren concerning that I have spoken of the great day of Jezreel behold with your eyes look into Gods book and see what is said there for I have named but little and heare with your eares and set your hearts upon what hath been set before you So in Isa 41. 20. You have a place somewhat like this speaking of the mercies of God to his Church in latter times saith the Text That they may see know and consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord hath done this and the Holy One of Israel hath created it Mark how one word is heaped upon another that they may see know and consider understand what God would do for his people And when God came to reveale the glorious things he intended for his Churches in future times in the book of the Revelation which is the special book that declareth this unto us Mark how the Lord beginneth It is said that God gave this first to Christ secondly Christ to the Angel thirdly the Angel to Iohn and then there is pronounced a blessing to him that reads and hears the words of this prophesie and understands it What a solemne way of blessing is here There is not such an expression in all the book of God where have you a blessing so solemnly proclaimed to the reading and hearing of any of the bookes of God as to that book Therefore though they are things that seeme to be above us yet certainly God would have us to inquire into these things It is the fruit of the purchase of the blood of Christ to open these seales Rev. 5. 9. we reade that there was no man in heaven nor in earth that was able to open the book and to loose the seales thereof only the Lambe that was slaine and that hath redeemed us unto God by his blood he was onely worthy to open the seales It is a fruit I say of the slaughter of Christ of his blood and therefore cry to him for the opening these things to thee And though thou beest very weake in regard of parts and thinkest with thy self How can I understand such things as these know that it is Christ that through his blood comes to open these seales and seeing it is a fruite of his blood it is no matter whether thou art weake or strong if he come to open them to thee as Ier. 13. 2. saith God to the Prophet Call unto me and I will shew thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not so I say to you be a praying people call upon God and he will cause you to understand great and excellent things that you have not known And my brethren seeing these things shall be thus O what manner of persons ought wee to be how heavenly our hearts should rise up from the earth seeing God intendeth to do such great things for his people As it is Isa 60. Arise arise shake off thy dust for the light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee So I may say to the Churches now Arise arise shake of the dust of your earthly affections for the light of God is now ready to arise upon you Now sur sum corda now lift up your hearts above the things of the world VVee reade in Rev. 4. of the foure living creatures that appeared unto John the first was like a Lyon and the second like an Oxe and the third had a face as a Man and the fourth was like a flying Eagle They are according to the interpretaâ—ion that reverend Brightman gives to set out unto us the foure states conditions of the Church The Primitive times were Lyon-like for their valour the second age like an Oxe to beare the burthens of Antichrist the third had a face as a man that stood for their liberties and would not be under such slavery and they are but times and then the fourth as an Eagle that sored aloft In the state of the Church hereafter they shall be like an Eagle have heavenly hearts no such drossy base earthly hearts as we have now Labour we even now to be so that we may be fit for that day And let us all prepare for the Bride groome against his comming How shall we prepare The cloathing that then shall be shall be white linnen which is the righteousnesse of the Saints That great Doctrine of our justification by the righteousnesse of Christ shall be the great businesse of that day in which the glory of the Saints shall much consist and they shall be clothed with that it shall be clearly understood of all men they shall be ashamed to rest upon duties and ordinances as now they do Let us study the Doctrine of the righteousnesse of Christ afore-hand for that is like to be our clothing at that day that is the white linnen of the Saints which shall be their glory Let us prepare our Lamps and keepe them all burning and shining the oyle not onely of juâ—â—â—cation but sanctification active stirring in our hearts that so we may 〈◊〉 to entertaine the Bride-groom whensoever 〈◊〉 〈…〉 And all of you labour now to instruct your children in the knowledge of God and of Christ bring them up in the feare of the Lord that they may be seed for that day Acquaint them with these things for though perhaps you may be dead and gone before this great day yet they may live to see it therefore catechize them and instruct them and drop into them those Principles that may fit them for the meeting of JESUS CHRIST their Bridegroome To conclude all Let us be all praying Christians It is that which is charged upon us in Isa 62. 6. All you that make mention of the Lord keep not silence and give him no rest till he establish till he make Jerusalem apraise in the earth God hath a day to set up Jerusalem as the praise of the whole earth Oh be praying praying Christians every one of you and give God no rest till he effect this And remember God of all his promises search the Prophets search the book of God and urge God with his promises to the Church in this way And you that are the weakest be not discouraged in your prayers and you may be a meanes to further and hasten this great day of Jezreel Psal 102. 17. The Psalmist had spoken before of Gods building up Zion and certainly that Psalme is a Prophesie of the glorious times