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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A89567	Gods master-piece. A sermon tending to manifest Gods glorious appearing in the building up of Zion: preached to the Right Honourable the House of Peers, in the Abbey Church of Westminster, March 26. 1645. Being the day of the monthly publike fast, / by Stephen Marshall, B.D. minister of Gods Word, at Finching-field in Essex. Published by order of the House of Peeres.	Marshall, Stephen, 1594?-1655.	1645 (1645)	Wing M756; Thomason E279_2; ESTC R200025	37,316	57

like a ball in strange countries It is no thinking to continue greatnesse in despight of God who at his pleasure puls down and raiseth up But in this work you have him ingaged build you Gods house and hee will build yours give his blessing to your posterity or in case they faile give you a name that is better then of Sons and Daughters But I 'l tell you that which is better for you better to your soules when you have served him herein this glorious work when the day of account and reward comes they who faithfully work most in this building shall have the best wages they shall sit upon thrones there and shine even as the Sun in the firmament for ever Secondly The benefit of this work for the publique State The publique State my Lords is that that you have sweat and toyl'd for hitherto and you would rejoyce to see it well setled to see poore England buoide out of these quick-sands into which it is falne What a blessed man would he be that could but put us into the way how to pacify Gods wrath kindled against the Nation and secure it for the time to come Now my Lords this will doe both this will pacify the wrath of God No such way under Heaven to remove it as to goe on faithfully in Reforming the House of God in setling Religion according to the Word That Heathen King Artaxerxes sent a letter by Ezra to all the Governours and bids them that they should let Ezra have all that he would desire for the House of God so much Gold and Silver and Wheat and Oyle and Salt as much as he would and bids him goe on and set all in order and what was the great Motive For saith he Why should there be wrath upon the Realme of the King and his Sons marke it if all was not done that was requisite for the House of God there would be wrath and let it be done and there would be no wrath so I say to you that God who hath cast us into these combustions can easily quiet them how often when we have been ready to strike saile in the harbour hath some Euroclydon cast us out into the sea againe and on the other side when ready to sinke how unexpectedly hath he raised our hopes Our work lies with him and with him only pacify God and all is done this black storm will bee blown over if hee but speak all will bee quiet you may see this clearly in the prophecy of Haggai God was very much displeased with them and blasted and cursed every thing they took in hand but as soon as they cordially set upon this work his spirit was pacifyed towards them And then for time to come with which I end The doing of this work wil be the readiest way to secure England against the like danger I am perswaded you all think that the seeds of deadly and continuall feuds are now rooted between Family and Family Neighbour and Neighbour such are the plunders and havocks made out of cruell spight and God knowes whether the childe but new born will ever live to see an end of them these I think are your feares but carry you on this work and this will secure the peace of the State for the time to come I say againe the doing of this shall secure all so that no Enemy shall bee able to hurt you It 's said of the Trojans Palladium and the Romans Ancile that they were the protection of those Cities that while they were safe no Enemy could hurt them when they were stolne and gone the City was lost Certainely the establishing of this will bee the Palladium and Ancile of England you have a promise in the fourth of Isaiah the latter end of it The Lord would create upon every dwelling of Mount Zion a pillar of a cloud and a pillar of fire for Upon all the glory there shall bee a defence mark a defence upon all the glory Keligion is the glory the ordering of Gods House is his glory and that is a defence even a wall of fire And you have had good experience of the fruit of Religion in this huge conflict wee have had these three or foure yeeres together for our Religion and Liberty mark who are they that have left you and who adheard unto you whether the Counties that have forsaken you have not generally been the dark places the Cities and corners of the Land where nothing but superstition Prelacy Ignorance and profanenesse have dwelt and whether the City of London and the Counties which have had the Gospel where Christ hath been soundly preached have not been the men who to the exhausting of all have adheared to you in your righteous defence and it 's hard to name one Town that hath been against you where the people are subdued to the Gospel of Christ and you find the generality of godly men thorow-out the Kingdom resolved to sink or swim with you because Jesus Christ hath put it into your hearts to reform and build up Zion I will conclude with that promise in the 58 of Isaiah the latter end where the Lord exhorts his people to build the old waste places and repaire the Cities for the generations c. The great incouragement which the Lord there gives them is The glory of the Lord shall bee their Rereward not their reward onely but their rereward their reserve that that shall back them the glory of the Lord is Religion the Ark and Ordinances Set up Religion beautifie the place of his Sanctuary make the place of his feet glorious that will keep God among you and keep the people faithfull to God and your selves and establish you so that the Enemy shall not bee able to rise up or if he do and come one way he shall fly seven waies And this is the first Circumstance from which the Prophet so magnifies this work of building up Zion because when the Lord doth build up Zion hee appears in his glory Consider what I have said and the Lord give you understanding in al things FINIS Esa. 60. 13. The Introduction shewing the tenor and occasion and scope of this Psalme Esa. 40. 1 2. Jer. 29. 12 13. Esa. 40. 31. And of these words Doct. 1. Doct. 2. Doct. 1. The building up o●Zion is a work peculiar to God alone 2 Sam. 5. 7. What is meant by Zion and the building of it 2 Sam. 6. 12. compared with 1 King 8. 1. Ephes 4. 11 12. 13. Proved by Scriptures 1. Mat. 16. 28. Psal. 32. 13 14 c. 48. 12. 51. 18. 69. 35. 126. 1 Esa. 14. 32. 28. 16. Zach. 8. 3 4. Psal. 121. 1 2. And by reason 1. because no other builders have any skill to doe it 2. 1 Psal. 49. 1. 8. Though God use them as his instruments Psal. 121. 12. Esa. 63. 5. Yet they contribute nothing to this work 1 Cor. 3. 6

GODS MASTER-PIECE A SERMON Tending to manifest Gods glorious appearing in the building up of Zion PREACHED To the Right Honourable the House of Peers in the Abbey Church of Westminster March 26. 1645. Being the day of the Monthly publike Fast BY Stephen Marshall B. D. Minister of Gods Word at Finching-field in Essex Published by Order of the House of Peeres Esa. 60. 14. They shall call thee the City of the Lord the Zion of the Holy One of Israel Psal. 68. 24. They have seen thy goings O God the goings of my God my King in the Sanctuary LONDON Printed by Richard Cotes for Stephen Bowtell and are to be sold at the signe of the Bible in Popes-head Alley 1645. To the Right HONOVRABLE THE House of Peeres Assembled in PARLIAMENT Right Honourable THis plain Sermon when preached was entertained by Your Lordships with singular attention and now comes to publike view by Your command I shall not presume now to make another tryall of Your patience by a long Epistle as I did then in a long Sermon I onely present it unto You and since You please to have it so to the eye of the World humbly beseeching the Lord to accompany it with his blessing that all who read it especially Your Lordships may in it behold as in a Glasse the Glorie of the Lord and be changed into the same Image by the Spirit of the Lord thatso they may account it their greatest Honour to promote this Worke to beautifie the place of Gods Sanctuary and to make the place of his feet glorious So prayeth Your unworthy Servant Stephen Marshall A SERMON PREACHED To the Right Honourable the House of LORDS at the Monethly Fast March 26. 1645. PSALM 102. 16 17. When the Lord shall build up Zion hee shall appeare in his glory hee will regard the Prayer of the destitute and not despise their prayer I Have chosen a Text Right Honourable and Beloved which is neither difficult in it self nor which is the lot of many plain Texts made to seem obscure by the variety of glosses and interpretations put upon it There is a generall agreement concerning the scope and meaning of the Spirit of God in this Psalm some little difference is found amongst Interpreters concerning the time and the Pen-man of it Some conceiving it was about the time when the Jews were stopt and interrupted in the works of building the Temple by their ill neighbours but most doe agree that the time was about the end of the seventy years captivity when God had raised up the spirits of the Prophets to encourage the people to expect this mercy according to that of Esay 40. Comfort yee comfort ye my people saith the Lord speak ye comfortably to Hierusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished and also stirred up the spirits of the people to pray to the Lord to accomplish his good word for their returne according to that of Jer. 29. Then shall yee call upon mee and I will hearken unto you And as for the Penman of it who ever it was for that is altogether unknown most certain it is that hee neither penn'd nor spake these things in his own name or of his own condition but in the name of the whole Church of God like another Jeremy writing a book of Lamentations for the desolations of Zion bemoaning them before the Lord and most earnestly begging mercy and deliverance In the 11 first Verses you may behold the afflicted Church of God sitting alone like a desolate widow with her tears on her cheeks her belly cleaving to the dust her heart smitten and withered like grasse eating ashes for bread mingling her drink with weeping as a Pelican in the wildernesse as an Owl in the desart her enemies many and raging against her shee looking round about and all her Lovers and friends departed from her enquiring after succour and comfort and it is farre removed Behold to what a sad condition the sinnes of Gods own people doe oft times bring them and that is the first part of the Psalme But in this dark and tempestuous night of calamity and desolation this afflicted soul with Jonah in the whales belly with weeds-wrapped about his head looks up to God begins to remember those everlasting mercies that may bee found in the Lord Jehovah and presently there darts in a beam as from a new created Statre of light and comfort in the 12 and 13 Verse which shines into the soule and inables this poore desolate creature to conclude very comfortably that that God who had broken her would yet again heal her that his wrath should not alwayes continue but he would return and revive and quicken them after all the days wherin he had afflicted them and so suddenly begins to renew its strength and mount up with wings of comfort as an Eagle And from the 12 Verse to the end of the Psalme after all this sad lamentation there is a comfortable propheticall story of all the good that God did mean to doe fot this afflicted Church which now lay in the dust and rubble wherein there are three remarkable things The first is A strong confident propheticall conclusion that the deliverance of Gods Church was nigh at hand in these words Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion for the time to deliver her yea the set time is come that 's her conclusion that it must of necessity be the Lord was resolved speedily to raise them out of their low condition Secondly you have the Argument which satisfied this afflicted desolate soul that the time of Zions deliverance was at hand because all Gods servants took pleasure in the dust of it and pityed the very stones and the rubbish of it their hearts were deeply humbled for Zions miseries they had set themselves earnestly to pray to the Lord to give him no rest night nor day till hee had set it up and this spirit of prayer powred out upon the Church was to her as sure a token of approaching deliverance as the day star is a token of an approaching morning That is the second The third part of this prophecy is the use or fruit which he doth foretell should be made of this great work of Gods raising and building up of Zion which is very excellent partly the use that the rest of the Nations of the world should make of it all the heathen should stand and wonder at it and praise Gods name for it yea their Kings even all the Kings should behold the glory of the Lord and come in and worship and honour him who had wrought such a great work as the raising Zion out of the dust and then for the Church the people that are created on purpose to bee for Gods glory it should bee written for them from generation to generation that they and all their posterities should perpetually love and serve the Lord who did thus remember his people in their low condition Now

lest some body might wonder why the Prophet should make such a stupendious businesse of it and demand a reason why all the world must thus take such notice of the building of Zion what is Zion and what is the work as he said of Abana and Parphar were they not better rivers then all the rivers of Samaria Are there not other Empires and States more pompous and powerfull and glorious and excellent then Zion what is Zion to Nineveh or Babylon that all must so stand amazed at the reparation of it To satisfie all the world about it that the work of building up of Zion is indeed admirable and wonderfull and deserves all the praises that the hearts and tongues of men can utter the Prophet in the 2 Verses which I have read doth setdown two remarkable Circumstances which perpetually accompany this work which if they but interpreted and rightly understood will satisfie all the World that this alone is the work deserving admiration and these they are The first is It is such a work that when ever the Lord goes about it Hee doth appeare in his glory when the Lord shall build up Zion he shall appear in his glory The second is when the Lord doth build up Zion He doth then return an answer to all the prayers of his afflicted people Whatsoever they had been begging from year to year from generation to generation now was the Jubilee now comes the return of all into their bosomes full measure thrust together shaken and running over When the Lord doth build up Zion he doth then regard the prayer of the afflicted and however before hee might seem to despise ehem now he doth no longer despise their cry The first of these is that which by the Lords assistance I shall this day clear unto you this remarkable circumstance which accompanies the building and reparation of Zion When the Lord shall build up Zion hee shall appear in his glory and in it observe handle these two lessons That the building of Zion is the Lords work and the Lords onely When the Lord shall build up Zion the second and main the which I shall insist upon is That when ever the Lord goes about this work hee doth appear in his glory The first I shall onely touch and that but to make way for the second That the building of Zion is the Lords own work There is nothing difficult Zion you know is in the Scripture taken sometimes in a literall but ordinarily in a mysticall and a spirituall sense Zion in a literall sense was that strong part of the City of Jerusalem which David did take from the Jebusites fortified it and beautified it with excellent buildings and called it the City of David the most beautifull part of Jerusalem this is Zion literall And this Zion may besaid to be built when it is furnished with stately houses with strong walls and replenished with people accomplished with Magistrates and good Civil laws But this Zion I have nothing at the present to doe with the Zion which my text means is spirituall Zion mysticall Zion the Zion whereof this City of David was a type as David himself was a type of Christ and that is the Church of God which in a hundred places at least in the Old and New Testament is called by the name of Zion he reason why Zion this part of Ierusalem was such a celebrated type is because all Davids time and untill Solomons Temple was built upon mount Moriah the Ark of God was placed in Zion where hee is therefore said to dwell this is the Zion that we are to speak of and this Zion this Church of God is then built when the doctrine of Jesus Christ is made known the new and living way to life by him is opened when Ministers and Ordinances are given the elect called in Churches gathered and established the worship and government of Christ set up for the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the Ministery for the edifying of the body of Christ till all the Saints come in the unity of the Faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulnesse of Christ when the Curtains of the Church are thus enlarged and the Tents of it made firm when God doth thus prosper and blesse the Church of Christ then doth hee build up Zion This I say is first Gods own work and secondly a work which when ever hee goes about hee doth appear in his glory That the building up of the Church is a work peculiar to God onely I might easily prove out of many Scriptures aedificabo Ecclesiam I will build my Church is a speech to be uttered by none but by Jehovah himself and I know you will grant the truth of it by that time I have cleared unto you these two things First that the building of Zion is such a peace of work as no other workmen have any skill to do And secondly as they have no skill so they have no will to doe it and if no other have either power nor heart neither skill nor will it must needs bee done by God if ever it be done at all First I say no other workmen have any skill to build Zion but God alone there is not one piece of Timber belongs unto it not one Cord not one pin not one nail not any one thing from the foundation to the Cap-stone but it is beyond the understanding the value skill or artifice of any created Nature that what God said in the 49. Psalme concerning the keeping of a man from death is most true of this work great men can build houses and purchase Lands but there is not one of them can redeem his brothers soul from death no he must let that alone for ever that is too hard a task for him to keep a man that hee should not goe down to the grave Men may build Houses make Kingdoms erect Common-wealths Corporations c. But as for the building of the Church of God all mortall men must let that alone for ever In this work our help is onely from the Lord which made Heaven and Earth I looked said Christ but there was no help there was none to uphold therefore my own arm brought salvation neither could they were all their perfections joynd into one when man is dead in sins and trespasses sticks fast in the miry clay of ignorance and iniquity not able to think a good thought or speak a good word a voluntary bondslave of Satan under the power of Hell and the curse of God what men what Angels have any gifts or strength to help him out of this condition It is true indeed that in the building of it God doth make use of mortall men and other creatures visible and invisible hee calls Ministers Apostles Prophets Pastors and Teachers to bee the

Lord toward thy poore unworthy flock in the kingdome of England Now could we get our hearts raised thus to give God the glory due to his name it would please him better then a bullock that hath hornes and hoofes never could we live to better purpose it were an excellent work to have these wayes and goings of our God and King written for the generations to come that the people who shall be created may praise the Lord I have often begged of him to put it into the heart of some wise observer of his dealings to collect and digest them and I hope it will be done in the meane time let us that live forget none of his doings but keep them all in thankfull mind and memory and praise the Lord on the Harp and sing praise to him every day for the wonders that he hath wrought since he arose to build up our Zion This is the first Exhortation to praise God for his glorious worke another followes with which I will end and that is To you right Honourable for whose sakes this meeting is in this place that seeing it is the Lords glory to build up the Church you would make it your glory that you would be like unto God that you would esteem your selves never so truely in your glory as when you come out with all that you have or are to help forward this work I humbly pray you look upon our desolations look upon the enemies of the Church how infinitely industrious they are to ruine it how few of them drive any private designe but joyne in this common work and designe to ruine the work of Reformation how they lay out all their wit power and interest which they have in Court in Countrey in City by Letters by Travels by Bloud by any thing that they might with Sanballat and Tobiah cause this work of God to cease you know this Consider also how poore desolate Zion doth even stretch out her hands unto you and pray you that in this sad time of her calamity if there be any love in your hearts and bosomes toward her you would come out and give her some help to reare her out of the dust and the rubble I beseech your Lordships set this work to heart and up and be doing do your best to carry this work on To this end there are two things I shall humbly offer unto you First to tell you what you may doe and what God expects you should doe Secondly to give you some quickening Motives to warme and enflame your hearts with a purpose and resolution to doe what God would have you doe First you may possibly demand what may or can we doe or what can any creature doe seeing you were taught that the building of Zion is Gods work alone I answer it is very true the work is Gods and Gods alone and you may truely say of Zion when ever it is built it is not by might nor by an Army but by Christ and his Spirit yet were not great men Princes and Nobles to be very great instruments in this work God would never have promised it as one of the great priviledges of the Church that Kings and Princes should be her nursing Fathers and that she should suck the breasts of Kings And truly it is much you may doe by your examples and by causing your great families to serve the Lord I and my Family said Joshua will serve the Lord and all the great men we read of in the Scripture to have been converted presently their families were converted with them The Ruler of the Synagogue and his family the Centurion and his family Onesiphorus and his family Crispus and his family Lydia and her family and many others Thus in a spirituall and morall way you may help to build the Church but that 's not all your authority and power may doe very much in this work It is very true that your power who are Nobles Magistrates Rulers of States in the Common-wealth in the building of a Civill State and the building of the Church doe extremely differ one from another In building the Civill State you doe it ad modum imperii by way of rule and command therein you have authority Meum and Tuum the things of this life are by the Lord committed into the hands of a State and the light of Nature and humane Prudence are sufficient to direct you in them and in these things you have power and authority according to your owne reason and will to make Lawes about them you may erect new Lawes and new Offices and new Officers and you may impose new burdens and people may lawfully submit to your discretion without seeking any further for a particular warrant out of the Word in the things that concerne this present life but my Lords it is not so in the building of Zion matters of Religion are spirituall and heavenly things which pertaine onely to God the soules and consciences of men and the communion of Saints their end is Gods glory mens conversion edification and eternall salvation these are things which cannot be carried along by naturall reason or civill prudence but onely by the light of that spirituall and heavenly Rule the Word of God and therefore in these things you have no Lordly rule Unum Dominum habemus qui animas nostras gubernat all your power in these things must be ad modum ministerii not imperii you must carry your selves not as the Churches Masters but as Christs servants yea and as servants to the Church for Christs sake not as Lords to dispose of the affaires of it at your owne pleasure but at the direction of his Word onely This then must you set down for a Rule That you are limited to the Word and men under your authority must before they obey your Orders examine them by the Word and find them to be both lawfull in their nature and expedient in their use for edification peace order c. But my Lords though you have not such an imperium here as in humane things yet the power and authority that Gods Word hath given you for the carrying on of this work is exceeding great and it may be reduced to these two heads First the Lord would have you his instruments for the purgation and reformation secondly for the preservation of the Church when you have brought it into a state of reformation First for the purgation and reformation of it all the rubbish all the drosse the Antichristian pelfe and garbidge that the house of God is defiled with you are to throw it all out with Josiah into the brook Kidron to sweep it all out and to bring back the people who have been misled into Arminianisme to Popery to Superstition to any of these abominable wayes you are to remove all these stumbling-blocks and to bring them back againe unto the knowledge of the Lord their God this God requires at