the pulpits in times past sound with such words as these Lord remember bleeding and dying Ireland Lord this is Ireland that is a cast-out peoplâ— hat none cares for but when thou makest inquisition for blood remember them c. and those prayers which were put up from many a gracious heart which are now answered though now many of them haply are displeased and discontented with the return of their own prayers Secondly it is a mercy given in when all things were desperate and even all hope of a deliverance was gone Now is God a help found in the needful time of trouble when the enemies power and confidence was high and they said Ireland is our own we will pursue them even take them and satisfie our lusts upon them we will surely root out the English name from amongst us and we will try if they can swim into England it may be their faith will bear them up as that partie hath alwayes scoffed at godliness in all their successes but be no more mockers least your bonds increase Now when you had not an Armie in the field the whole Kingdom was their own and not a Garrison left in the whole Kingdom but one and that brought to the very brink of destruction also and must have been surrendred speedily after they made their approaches to it Now God gives in the mercy now doth the Lord judge his people and repent him concerning his servants when he sees that their power is gone and that there is none shut up or left Deut 32.36 when there is no Army in the field no souldiers in garrison now is the time that the Lord doth appear and take to himself his great power and raign Thirdly when the Lord doth therein exceed the expectations of his servants a deliverance they hoped for but not so great not so sudden so that when it came they seemed as men that dream and they can scarce believe that God would do so great things for them when the Lord is come to do them when the son of man comes shall he find faith upon earth its a faith in reference to the coming of Christ for to take vengeance on the Churches adversaries Isa 64.3 thou didst great things for us which we looked not for for God doth not answer prayers according unto our hopes but according to his own mercies as he doth not reward our services according to the measure of our duty but in the mouth of mercy Hos 10.12 a man doth sow in duty but he doth reap in ore misericordiae Fourthly when it is by the hand of those whom they have oppressed when the witnesses that were slain shall rise again and they shall destroy their persecutors by the sword that comes out of their mouthes then it is the greater mercy and far the greater confusion unto the enemy Isa 41.15 When the worm Jacob shall thresh the mountains and when the arm of the Lord should be made bare in it and his hand more immediately seen beyond the purpose courage and intention of men they are engaged before they are aware and victorie is won before they know they are engaged in a Battle when the Lord shall bend Judah for him and fill his bow with Ephraim and they shall have the honour of the conquest that have had their great share in their Torments and were by the enemies designed for destruction and they shall fall by their hand it makes the mercy far the greater Fifthly when it is such a mercy as lets us see still that God owns the same cause and however men warp and turn too and fro yet the good old cause in which the people of God were engaged against the Antichristian party the Lord owns that cause still and gives unto his people hereby hopes of a settlement For the Lord Christ when he rides forth in the conquest of the Gospel he doth ride forth conquering and to conquer not all at once but by degrees and doth give to his people yet a ground of their faith to see if they be of the seed of the Jews before whom they have begun to fall they shall surely fall God hath given us therein Hos 2.15 the vally of Achor for a door of hope it is true that Achor was a pleasant vally and it was sweet in it self therefore it was joyned with Carmel and Bashan but yet it was much more sweet in reference to the hope for it was at the first entrance into the Land of Canaan and as the first fruits gives them possession of the whole Sixthly it is still a carrying on of the grand design that the Lord Christ hath to do in the world in the latter daies for Christ in glory hath not only Saints to gather home to himself and to bind them all up in a bundle of life and he doth raign for their sakes for he is the head over all things for the Churches sake but the Lord hath also enemies to be subdued he must raign till he hath put all his enemies under his feet and he will be faithful as the Fathers servant in the one as well as in the other therefore Rev. 14. there is a harvest of all the Saints to be reaped and there is a wine press of wicked men at the same time to be trodden c. Now the great enemy unto Christ in the latter daies of the world is that wicked one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Baylon the great the Mother of Harlots Now so far as this tends to the promoting of that great design as it doth exceedingly so far should the Saints of God rejoyce therein for they must by degrees go into pâ—rdition and though all the former subjects would be fit matter for our meditation throughout this day and might have given us several Considerations of very publike concernment in reference to the mercy of the day yet at present I have chosen this rather to draw out your praises thereby concerning which I shall present you but with these three considerations First the least return that you can make of a mercy is praise to God for it and it is all that the Lord doth expect of you Hos 14. and we will give thee the calves of our lips it is all the promise that the Lord would have his people make to him in the time of their straits Afflictions they are stupefactive and of a confounding nature and they close the mouth Jâ—r 8.14 let us enter into our fenced Cities and let us be silent there for the Lord our God hath put us to silence but mercies they are of an expansive and dilating nature and they open the mouth as Hannah not only her heart 1 Sam. 2.1 was filled but her mouth was enlarged also Secondly if you do not return praises for mercies God will surely add Judgements unto mercies and will turn his hand against you do you evil after he hath done you good Hezekiah received a mercy but he did not render according to
Jacobs trouble Lam. 1.17 The Lord hath commanded concerning Jacob that the Adversaries shall be round about c. therefore by Jacob here is meant only Judah that is the two Tribes that did not depart from God in the Revolt and Apostacy of the ten Tribes and that those of Israel that for conscience sake did leave their Habitations and went and dwelt in Judah and Jerusalem yet there 's a time of trouble for them also 2. What 's meant by the time of trouble It 's in the Original Hab. 3.16 tempus augustiae a time of straits which is called a day of straits when the Lord did come up upon them and invade them with his Troops for so the Army of the Babylonians is called when they should be led into Captivity by the will and command of others for their Persons and Estates to be made use of as a prey to serve the wills and ends of strangers and servants For strangers Jer. 30.8 Strangers shall no more serve themselves of them And for servants Lam. 5.8 Servants rule over us and there 's none to deliver us out of their hands Now when the walls of the City were broken down the Temple destroyed the Worship of God prophaned and all the Ordinances of God trampled under foot all Order Authority deposed and all things subjected unto the wil and lusts of a conquering Army now it was a time of straits great straits in point of conscience for they would now be working them about to their way and perswading them to worship their Gods Jer. 10.11 Now to be under the power of men and not to be subjected to their lusts and serve the lusts of men it 's a great strait and straits also in respect of the affliction having their lives alway hanging in doubt having their bread by weight and their water by measure and in respect of succour in a great strait also for there was no deliverer Lam. 1.3 All her Persecutors overtook her between the streights that there was no escaping no way to avoyd them and therefore 2 Tim. 3.5 These shall be difficult times in which men should meet with great and variety of straits that they should not know which way to turn themselves c. Thirdly it 's called a great day magnum pro formidabile Cal. Terribilis aut mire calamitosa à magnitudine supplicii magnus nominatur Theodor. And we doe read of five Great Dayes in the Scripture First the day of the Lord spoken of in Malach. 4.6 I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the great and terrible day â—f the Lord that is interpreted Luk. 1.17 of John Baptist who was to be the forerunner of Christs coming And this is called a great day for the great manifestations of God wherein life and immortality should be brought to light by the Gospel the great changes of Ordinances and the great destruction of the Enemies the terrible Judgements that should then be poured out for Mal. 4.1 The day cometh that shall burn as an Oven and all that do wickedly shall be stubble that is when the Sun of Righteousness doth arise with healing in his wings c. And for the terrible Judgements that under the Gospel the Lord would pour out upon the world and that is meant Acts 2.28 Joel 2.3 The Sun shall be turned into darkness the Moon into blood before that great day of the Lord come It 's spoken of the great Judgements that the Lord Christ would pour out upon the world and thereby make way for the receiving the Gospel publickly for he doth shake Heaven and Earth and thereby makes way for the coming of the desire of all Nations for out of the Throne when Christ is exalted comes thunderings and lightnings and voices Rev. 4.5 Secondly there 's the great day of Jezreel Hos 1. last That is when the Lord shall call home his antient people and gather together the outcasts of Israel Which shall be a day in which the Lord shall appear in his glory for when he doth build Zion he doth appear in his glory a day of the restitution of all things a day of enriching of the world a day when new Jerusalem shall come down from God out of heaven and a day in which the kingdoms of the earth shall be given to the Lord and his Christ and there shall not be any more any pricking bryer or any grieving thorn in all the land there shall be no more a Canaanite in the land forever all persecuting Powers shall be subdued Thirdly there 's a great day when the battel Armageddon shall be fought Rev. 16.14 When all the Powers of the earth shall rally and gather together their broken Troops against the Church of God they shall be the greatest combination that ever hath been and in which all the opposite Powers shall be utterly and finally broken and thereby way shall be made for the vial poured upon the air which brings in the binding of Satan chap. 20. Now this battel with the issue of it we have chap. 19.19,20,21 Now from the great preparations that the enemies do make and the great destruction which then they shall be sure to find and the great things which shall follow upon this and that in this day the Lord will make way for therefore it 's called the great day of God Almighty when the Lord shall fulfil all his promises and prophecies and Christ shall be cloathed with a garment dipt in blood and his name shall be called the Word of God Fourthly the day of Judgement is a great day also the Angels are said to be reserved in chains of darkness unto the Judgement of the great day for then shall the son of man sit upon the throne of his glory and all Nations shall be gathered together before him and he shall separate them one from another as a Shepheard divides his Sheep from the Goats c. and he shall then passe a finall sentence an eternall judgement upon the eternal estates of men and set a gulph between them for ever which they shall never pass when he hath so done he shall resign or give up his kingdom unto God the Father and then all the present wayes of administration shall cease Fifthly when the Lord brings any speciall judgement or affliction upon his people that also is called a great day Zeph. 1.14 the great day of the Lord is near it 's a day of darkness and gloominess a day of clouds and thick darkness that Trumpet and Alarum against the fenced Cities and against the high Towers it 's a threatning of the same Judgement there which here the Prophet speaks of the captivity of Babylon and it s called the great day of the Lord and so it 's here called also Fourthly it 's said that it 's such a day that there is none like to it that is First it is the greatest evil that ever befell that people they had been smitten with Pestilence with scarcity
these did labour to their utmost to retard the settlement of this people newly returned into their own Land again laboured to keep the City and Temple in their ruines and to that end by their interest and power in forraign Nations they had engaged against them even the whole authority of the Persian Monarchie Now when the hopes of the enemy grew high and when the hearts of the Saints fell low what is the way God takes to remove them now why now a Prophet must go to them he sendeth Zachariah the Prophet and bids them Return to your strong holds ye prisoners of hope your strong holds why their City was laid wast their Temple burnt with fire strong holds they had none satis praesidii in un Deo Calvin Calvin There is enough strength in one God even then when walls and fortifications fall Why now that the Lord might bear up their Spirits in this condition he reveals his mind as the manner of the Lord was in those times unto his Prophet by several Visions in an especial manner in this Chap. and the latter end of the former Chap. he doth it in a double vision In one the Lord tels him that be the powers of the enemy what they would be though they saw no help none to oppose them yet the Lord would raise up an adverse power that should break them though they knew not whence it should come And he tels them in the 21. ver of the former Chap. there were four horns that did push Ierusalem and the Lord saith I will raise up four Carpenters and they shall beat them in pieces equal to the horns so shall the Carpenters be In the next place in this Chapter the Lord shews him another vision a man with a line in his hand taking me asure of the City Ierusalem and of the Temple as the manner of Builders and Artificers is to do Jesus Christ doth usually appear to his people according to those great things that he is about to effect for them when the people were to be carried into Captivity Jesus Christ then appears cloathed in linnon with a writers Inkhorn by his side Ezek. 9.1,2 and when the instruments of vengeance come Iesus Christ comes in the midst of them the man with a writers Inkhorn was in the midst of them what to do to mark those that were written to life in Ierusalem First before the instruments of vengeance can stretch out their hands against any the man with a writers Inkhorn will set his mark upon those that are written for life But when the people returned out of captivity now Jesus Christ appears with a line in his hand for he it is that must build the Church so you have it in the 6. Chap. 12. ver Behold the man whose name is the Branch he shall build thee he shall build the Temple of the Lord no wonder then that when the Temple and City is to be built Jesus Christ appears with a line in his hand This is the Vision Now observe in this Chapter three things that I may bring you home to the words read to you First you have the Vision it self the man with a line in his hand Secondly you have the interpretation of the Vision Ierusalem shall be built and the City shall be inhabited Thirdly you have a threefold Apostrophe that the Lord infers from this First directed unto the Jews that yet continued in Babylon the Lord calls them deliver thy self Oh Sion that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon It is barrenness and lowness of spirit not to accept deliverance it is pitty but those men that say they love their Task-masters they should have their ears bored as a token of perpetual service The Lord calls upon them Oh Sion that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon deliver thy self Secondly the next is to the enemies that were their neighbours the truth is my Brethren it was a good observation that of Tertullian unto the Church Tertul. there are tot hostes quot extranei all that be strangers be enemies now the Lord speaks unto these and tells them I will shake my hand against you and they that spoyl you they shall be a spoyl to their servants their own servants shall spoil them The third and last branch of this Apostrophe is in the words that I have read unto you the words of the Text and it referrs partly to the enemies and partly to the people of God that were returned out of captivity be silent Oh all flesh for the Lord is raised up out of his holy habitation Let the enemies silence their murmurings silence their slanders Be silent Oh all people Let the Saints silence their frettings silence their doubtings for the Lord is raised up out of his boly habitation You have then in the words two things First a Proposition The Lord is raised up out of his holy habitation Secondly an inference by way of Exhortation or Command thereupon Be silent before the Lord Oh all flesh The Proposition is first in nature though it be last in place and therefore I must first speak of that and then afterwards of the Application First then the Proposition is this the Lord is raised up out of the habitation of his holiness Here are two things to be explained before I can come unto those points that I purposed to commend to you First I must shew you what is meant by the habitation of his holiness And Secondly I must shew you how the Lord is said to be raised up The habitation of his holiness is used two waies in the Scripture It is sometimes put for heaven in 2 Chron. 30. ult it is said their prayer came up to his holy habitation even unto heaven So in Isa 63 15. look down from the habitation of thy holiness and thy glory why then the habitation of the holiness of God is Heaven Secondly it is many times put for the Temple the place of Gods presence amongst his people manifested in Ordinances so the Tabernacle is called Gods habitation in 1 Sam. 2.29 And the Lord is said to be at Ierusalem Brusius Brusius interpreteth it of the former Calvin Mr. Calvin of the latter we may very well by way of subordination take in both for I conceive the sense will be made up with both all the Churches deliverances as well as all the enemies destructions they come out of heaven the sword is bathed in heaven before it comes down upon the people of Gods curse in Iudgement in Isa 34.3 and yet all these whether deliverances or destructions are obtained by the prayers of the Saints in the Temple so that you may well ascribe it to both Observe I beseech you and it is a mighty truth the Saints have as glorious a hand in the Government of the world as they shall have an eminent hand in the Judgement of the world There is a threefold Authority that was erected by Christ when the government was taken into
But what is there in their destruction that is such matter of joy to hear of the shedding of blood and the destruction of many thousands and those many of them poor souls very unfit to dye to see them in garments rouled in blood is this matter of joy a man would rather think you should rather sit down and sigh to the breaking of your loins There are many things in it matter of joy and triumph unto the Saints as first they rejoyce in the Judgements of God Rev. 19 2. True and righteous are thy judgements for thou hast judged the great whore they do taste a sweetness even in the judgements of God as Ezek. 3.1 it was in my belly as honey even that roll which contained nothing but bitter lamentations yet it was very sweet to him the Saints love to see Christ with his sword girt upon his thigh and cloathed with a vesture dipt in blood and treading the wine-press alone travelling in the greatness of his strength Isa 63.1,2 Secondly because God hath appeared for the Churches cause and hath owned their quarrel and hath avenged the blood of his servants at their hands Rev. 19.2 when God doth appear for them and doth not leave them unto the will of their enemies but doth awake as a Giant in the behalf of his people this hath alwaies occasioned songs and rejoycing in his people the Lord hath triumphed gloriously over the horse his rider Exo. 15. not that they do triumph meerly upon the account of their own safety but they triumph because God hath triumphed over his enemies else to see so many drowned in the mercyless grave who would not have pittyed them Thirdly of all the Churches enemies that ever were this is the cruelest enemy the fourth beast is worse then any of the former and in the fourth beast the little horn was more fierce then his fellows they have been alwaies drunk with blood and their endeavour was to weare out the Saints of the most High Fourthly it shall be the last enemy for as soon as they shall be destroyed the seventh Trumpet sounds and then shall the mystery of God be finished it hath been an enemy to the Church of longest continuance of any their oppressions have lain longest upon the Church of God and the longer a burthen doth lie and hath been complained of the greater mercy you would count it to have it taken off if to be 430. years in Egypt and 70. years in Babylon be a long time for the people of God to indure yet this is a bondage that lasts 1260. daies in the greatest tyranny and rage that can be they Tread down the Temple Rev. 11.1,2 Fifthly when this enemy shall be destroyed the cup of her fornication shall be removed by which the men of the earth but specially the Kings of the earth have been made drunken Rev. 18.11 Now there is no man shall be their merchants more they had Chap-men abundantly before but now there shall be a dealing in that trade no more the same God that did cast out Satan in the Pagan way of Idolatry will also cast out Satan in the Antichristian way of Idolatry but they shall not deceive the earth by such sorceries any more for there is by this means a cloud that hath filled the house and no man could enter into the Temple Rev. 15.8 there was no considerable number of menconverted there was such a darkness and a smoake upon the ordinances of God and all his dispensations but all shall be removed Sixthly Lastly from the glorious fruit and consequences that shall follow upon the destruction of Antichrist the people of God will have great cause to rejoyce and praise God I le name only these four First then the Kingdoms of the world shall become the Kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ Rev. 11.15 there shall be multitudes converted unto the Lord. Secondly it shall be the inlet of all the promises now Christ shall be called the word of God he was so before but now he is called so for the accomplishment of it as Exod. 3.6 by the name Jehovah God was not known unto them Thirdly then all persecutions shall cease Rev. 20. Satan shall be bound so that he shall not stir up the world to the persecution of the Saints as he had done in times past Fourthly New Jerusalm shall come down from God out of Heaven there shall be that glory of the Church that the Kingdom and dominion under the whole Heavens shall be given up to it and they shall possess it for ever and ever Dan. 7. the mountain of the Lords house shall be exalted on the top of the mountains there is a triumphant state of the Church that is yet to come in this life when all the glory of the world shall be brought unto the Church and people of God Vse Seeing God hath in a degree accomplished this in this late mercy do you rejoyce with Triumph and say great Babylon is fallen for they are some of the most blind and Jesuited Papists in the world and those that profess oâ—herwise yet they do enter upon the Popish interest and engage in the same quarrel with them and take heed you be not deceived with vain words we see how not only this but the neighbor Nations do declare against them that seek to promote that cause of tyrannie and oppression which you have hitherto fought against let not your discontents carry you to the quite contrary point of the compass and your zeal against sects and heresies make you to succor their prophaness and to enter upon their interest and thereby to destroy that which you have endeavoured to build and to pluck down with your own hands that which you have so much with your purses and prayers laboured to set up I le only speak briefly to these five particulars to quicken you in this duty of praising God First it is a command that God doth give to all his Saints to rejoyce at Babylons downfal Rev. 18.20 rejoyce over her thou heaven universa sanctorum multitudo all the Saints but specially the Prophets and the Apostles the saithful Preachers of the word of God let not them be last in their joy and praises that had the great hand and were first in praying for it it is your duty and it lies as a command upon you and if you make conscience of other commands do not for fancies dispence with this Secondly they be Romes merchants only that be sad at it let them say Rev. 18.10 Alas alas that great City Babylon that mighty City this doth not befit the Sons of Zion but the merchants of Babylon and truly let me tell you a man may receive the mark of the beast in his right hand and may strongly promote the Popish interest that doth never wearâ—t by profession in his forehead Thirdly if Babylon shall fall then come out of her my people saith your God when Rome doth fall now is the time
of bread cleaness of teeth invasions of Enemies but never any like unto this and therefore does the Prophet call it an onely evil Ezek. 7.5,6,7 it 's come and it is not a high sound the eccho of the mountains but it shall be so in truth and in reality in which the fury of the Lord shall be poured out upon them he would give the dearly beloved of his soul into the hand of his enemies Secondly there 's none like it if we also compare Gods dealing with them and with other people The Lord hath not dealt so with any Nation as he hath done with Jerusalem and therefore they are afflicted and in captivity with the heathen Nations who are at ease and sit stil Zach. 1.13.14 For judgement must begin at the House of God and there is at the last a worse end remaining for them that obey not the Gospel c. Secondly here 's a consolation also Jacob shall have his time of trouble but it is yet but a time the people of God never enter into affliction without a promise and therefore they are prisoners of hope when they are in a pit in which there 's no water Zach. 9.11,12 There are three great promises that the Saints have under all their afflictions First they are promised support in the affliction I will be with you and there 's a River the streames whereof do make glad the City of God Gen. 15. there 's a light that goes between the peeces in the middle of the darkness the bush in the fire is not burnt a peculiar providence watches over them to keep them from fainting under the affliction Secondly they are promised Sanctification This is the fruit of the affliction to take away their sins by this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged they shall be made partakers of his holynesse and of his glory for these light afflictions that are but for a moment shall work for us a more exceeding and eternal weight of glory Thirdly there 's a promise of deliverance out of affliction Israel shall not dye in Aâ—gypt though it be four hundred years before they come forth though the Temple be trodden down of the Gentiles and the woman be in the wilderness 1260. dayes yet she shall not alwaies be in a wilderness estate and though they be in Babylon yet the Lord by the blood of the Covenant will send them forth out of the pit and he will break the yoke from off the neck of the anointing c. And some think as Calvin that to be the meaning of Is 9.1 Her dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation when he first lightly afflicted the land of Zabulon c. that was in the inroads formerly made upon them by Tiglah Pileser and was that greater then the captivity when the City should be destroyed and the Temple burnt with fire and there was no comparison in the affliction but yet the darkness should not be such and the reason is this huic certa permissionem esse additam cum in prioribus nulla esset better be as low as Hel with a promise then in Paradise without it the darkness of the bottomless pit would not be utter darkness if there were but the light of a promise for the soul to look upon for there is a time of the pro nise Acts 7.17 when it will truly speak and not lye But what are the grounds why God will not spare his own people Hence the grounds are these two First God will not spare his own people there 's a time of Jacoh's trouble when even Gods own people shall be reduced to extremity and there shall come upon them a time of straits Secondly Jacobs trouble is but for a time there 's a day of deliverance for them they shall be saved out of it The Doctrine is this Doctrin There is a time of Jacobs trouble Gods own dearest people are many times brought into a time of straits It 's true that through a mans whole life Christianus must be crucianus he must take up his cross that will follow the Lord There 's no son that he receives but he chvstises Affliction is a Childs portion in the ways of holyness their correction is as truly from the hand of their father as their provision is But my purpose at present is to speak of some special times of Jacobs trouble a great day a day of straits And God doth many times bring his own people unto this It will appear to be true from all the dealings of God with the Saints the children of Israel were in bondage in Aegypt long and their affliction was great but there was a time when the bricks were doubled and the opposition heightned so that they were as dead carrion cast out to the Ravens Gen. 15. And though Israel were hated of all the Nations which God called their evil neighbours yet there were some special straits that befell them as in the dayes of Asa 2 Chron. 14.9,10 When there came an Army of the Ethiopians an host of a thousand thousand men and in the dayes of Hezckiah when Senacherib besieged Jerusalem it s a day of trouble of rebuke and of blasphemy Isa 37.3 But yet there was a time of greater straits when they must be carried into captivity and the glory of the Lord removed from his own habitation And the Gospel was no sooner placed in the world but the great Red Dragon raised a persecution the Heathen Emperours and all the Powers of their Empire Rev. 12.1,3 And that Power was no sooner broken and the Church obtained of God a Man-child but immediately there was a flood cast out after the woman the Arrian Heresie and they persecuted the Church more then the Pagans had done before and then the Earth helped the Woman c. Then doth Anti-christ arise and the people of God do prophecie in sackcloth and ashes Witnesses they are and two Witnesses for their paucity and for their sufficiencyâ— and yet there is a time of greater straights that remains for them there is the time of their fulfilling and of their killing so that God doth reserve a time of straits for his own people there 's a time of Jacobs trouble c. First because the Lord will give unto them some eminent experiences of his providence under which they walk it 's true that he is the Saviour of all men but especially of them that beleeve and upon all the glory there is a covering at all times Isa 4.5 but the greater the straits are the more eminent shall the protection be if Daniel be in the Lyons den and the three children in the fiery furnace the wonder had not been so great if the bnsh had not been in the fire but to see it in the fire and yet not to consume that was the greatest sight that ever Moses saw before When the Earth is removed and the Mountains cast into the midst of the sea then there is need of a Song upon
advancement of that people above all other Nations under Heaven but where the Ordinances were corrupted the place is polluted Ier 32.34 and when they were removed the Land was defiled Ezek. 7.22 And if it were so amongst the Jews who had onely Typical Prefigurations of Evangelical Ordinances we may safely conclude it with the Apostle with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 How much more must these needs exceed in glory 2 Cor. 3 9. Rom. 1.8 Their faith was spoken of throughout the world there seems to be as one hath observed tacita antithesis fidei imperii and the Apostle seems to intimate that they were never so honoured by their Nation as they were by their faith throughout the world as this is the wisdom so this also is the glory and honour of a people in the sight of the Nations Deut. 4.7,8 If you ask me wherein doth this advancement consist that a people have by Ordinances I answer it doth consist in these six particulars all of them matters of great honour to a people First it is a great honour to any people for the Lord to avouch them publikely to be his people this is the honour of the S t s at the last day when the Lord breaks up the House keeping of this great world he will leave the lumber of it take it who will but the Lord will himself own his Iewels and he will take them and avouch them for his own before the world Mal. 3.17 and this is the advancement of a people by the Ordinances I entred into Covenant with thee and thou becamest mine Ezek. 16.8 upon this ground the Lord is pleased to speak of them as a people that he did specially own and of them as a people that had special interest in him therefore he is pleased to stile himself the God of Israel the Rock of Israel the hope of Israel and all by reason of the Covenant that he had made with them and the Ordinances that he had stablished amongst them But when once by sin the Ordinances are either corrupted or removed the Lord owns that people no longer Call them Loammi for they are not my people I will not be their God Hos 1.9 In a common calamity it is said Isa 4 1. that seven women shall lay hold upon one man and say we will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes only let us be called by thy name to take away our reproach if it were a reproach amongst men not to be called by the name of a Husband what is it when the Lord shall as it were give a people a bill of divorce and say call them Loammi they are not my people I will be stiled their God no more Secondly it is a great honour and advancement unto a people to have God present with them and as it were to reside amongst them this was the advancement of the Jews What Nation is there so great who have God so nigh them as the Lord our God is in all that we call upon him for Deut. 4.7 there the Lord doth promise his presence and his divine blessing In the place where I record my name I will come unto you and there I will bless you Exod. 20.34 And the Lord did never manifest his presence so gloriously as he hath done in the Ordinances of the Gospel 2 Cor. 6.16 Therein we behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord. 2 Cor. 3.18 What is this glass but the spiritual administration of the Gospel and the Ordinances thereof the vail of carnal stupidity being taken from the heart and we know Quod videtur in speculo imago non est they are the reverberated species of the thing it self and therefore seeing in a glass is the clearest way of vision next to face to face yet thus God vouchsafes his presence to a people in Gospel Ordinances And in these we have the presence of Christ also he walks in the middle of the Golden Candlesticks Rev. 2. whensoever you seek him be sure he is gone down to the Gardens of the beds of spices to feed in the Gardens and to gather Lillies Cant. 6.2 insomuch that the Gospel and the Gospel Ordinances thereof are called the face of Christ 2 Cor 4 6. that is that which doth as lively represent his presence unto us as if he were present with us in the flesh so that when a man shall come to behold him in glory and to see him as he is he shall be able truly to say this is the face that long since hath in the Gospel been exhibited unto my faith What shall be the advancement of all the Christians in glory it shall be only the beatifical Vision when they awake to be satisfied with his likeness to see him as he is now if this be begun here in the Ordinances that may be well counted the advancement of a people that is unto them as it were the beginning of eternal glory Thirdly fruitfulness also is unto a people great advancement and on the contrary barrenness is a reproach Gen. 30.23 The Lord hath taken away my reproach but they were never so much honoured by the fruit of their bodies though in that God made good his promise to encrease them as the stars of heaven and as the sand upon the Sea shore yet I say they were never so much honoured by the fruit of their bodies as they were by the fruitfulness of their Ordinances They are therefore called the Bed wherein Christ doth embrace his Church and wherein souls are begotten to the Lord Cant. 2.16 Our bed is green glorious things are spoken of Zion the City of God what be they I will make mention of Rahab Babylon Philistin Tyre with Ethiopia it shall be said this and that man was born in her c. that is though they were strangers unto Zion in their first birth and so children of other Contries but yet for their second birth their new birth they shall know it to be in Zion by means of the Ordinances and she shall be called the mother of them all and this is made the glory of a Church under the Gospel the dew of thy birth is of the womb of the morning Psal 110.3 that is multitudes shall be born unto it as the drops of the dew that are begotten in the womb of the morning But when the Ordinances are either corrupted or removed Christ meets his Spouse in this bed no more when the son of righteousnes with-holds his beams this dew is not exhaled and a man shall not find a drop falling from the womb of the morning this is a great reproach unto a people Cant. 4.2 Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing they bear twins and not one is barren amongst them by the teeth of the Church some understand the Ministers quos aliis erudiendis Christus praefecit for the office of the teeth is to chew and to prepare the meat that it may be