then againe Vse 6 If it be a new Covenant mercy it will be a spirituall thing though some may call it a carnall and a low thing yet it will be a spirituall thing the Lord teach us to waite upon him to looke up to him to trust in him to relye on him for there shall be a day of his kingdome our worke is to waite seeke pray and waite in these day's the Lord teach his people to goe along with him as the little Children at his entrance into Jerusalem cryed Hosanna Hesanna he rides upon a poore meane creature the foale of an Asse and the Children follow him crying Hosanna Hosanna so we should eye the Lord Jesus now in the meanest appearances and follow him crying Hosanna in the Highest this we should doe The Lord make us waite on him for his owne Time and that time is not farre off I cannot thinke its farre off because many thinke it a great way off it s an argument to me its neare for God comes upon his people when he finds not faith on Earth when Gods people say its farre off then its neare as when God sent Moses to tell the Children of Israel the Lord would deliver them but before deliverance thesentence of death comes and O say they to Moses Aaron what have you brought us to where is their faith now expecting deliverance at the hand of God Now it was worse with them than before and their bondage is encreased and their deliverance was thought further off O but then was the Lords time he Immediatly brought it to passe then was the Lords time come when their faith was gone So when David stood up first upon the account of his kingdome saith he to Abiathar Come with me and thou shalt be safe I am sure God will give me the kingdome though Saul be a Potent Enemy and mine Enemies many yet I am sure God will give me the kingdome but yet after that when Saul pursued him that he was forc't to fly out of one Hole into another Now saith he shall I perish one day by the hand of Saul then when he thought it thus farre off then the kingdome comes forth the hand of the Lord cutts off Saul and the kingdome Immediately comes to David As when the Children of Israel came out of Babylon they thought they should have all things then Jerusalem built and the Temple and all things but when they were about it building the Temple now a stop is put upon the worke and they cry The time is not for the Lords worke yet till that Haggai and Zachary tells them Now is the Time for building the Lords Temple As it is with private Christians in a doubting houre Saints usually conclude we are too forward for that time observe Then is Gods time they had faith at first and after their faith fayles from the worke and they said it was not time mark then was the time the Lord sends Haggai to tell them they liv'd in their Ceiled Houses and neglected Gods house O now was the time when they thought not of it And just so when Christ suffered on the Crosse We thought say the Disciples this was he that should have delivered us their hope was gone of any deliverance by him yet then was their Redemption at hand their Redemption comes forth Immediatly he finishes the worke of Redemption at that time so that to have faith struck dead is not an Evidence that the worke stands a great way off but that its neare and approaching surely the Lord will come forth in his Time and he is not farre from doing some great and glorious thing in the world Gods peoples faith is not grounded upon fancyes but they see and know that God is doing some glorious thing in the world he is overturning kingdomes and setting up the kingdome of his Son O that we could quietly looke up unto the Lord and waite upon the Lord Serve the Lord with feare and rejoyce with Trembling kisse the Son lest he be angry yee great ones of the Earth lest his wrath be kindled and you that follow the Lord O doe you rejoyce with feare and serve him with Trembling they that stand may fall O when was there such a falling as now shall be when the Lord saith I will arise to shake terribly the earth no History can paralel such shakings as have been in these last dayes therefore we had need take heed lest we fall and looke up to the Lord that we may stand Indeed it s a blessed truth what ever men may thinke of it so sure as my hand is upon this Bible so sure shall such a thing come forth in due time for as this is the true word of God of a true God that cannot lye so certainly it shall come to passe I have onely insisted on one particular the kingdome as a Branch of the new Covenant but to speake of the kingdome as it s held forth in the Word would take up a large time for there 's not any one truth hath more to be said from the Scripture for it than this of Christs kingdome for as the end of all is Gods glory so this is that concerns Christs glory there 's a vane of it running through the Scripture from the first promise made to Abraham to the last spoken of in the Revelation The Lord give us hearts to looke up to him for the accomplishing of it in his Time FINIS Signes of the Times MATHEVV 16.3 O yee Hypocrites yee can discerne the face of the skie but can yee not discerne the signes of the Times THese words are spoken by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ unto a generation of men which came to him tempting him desiring him to shew them a signe from heaven in the first verse The Pharisees also with the Sadduces came and tempting desired him that he would shew them a signe from heaven The Pharisees and Sadduces they were in their Principles contrary and opposite one unto another and yet they can either of them very well agree and comply against Christ and both joyne hands and heads in tempting our Lord and their Temptation it ly's in desiring a signe from heaven our Lord Jesus he takes occasion from this to mind them of the signes of the times Can yee not discerne the signes of the times and lest that they should reply that these signes were so darke that they could not be knowne therefore our Lord labours to convince them and that from things that were of a more outward nature you say in the evening it will be faire weather for the skie is red and in the morning it will be foule weather to day for the skie is red and lowring O yee hypocrites yee can discerne the face of the skie but can yee not discerne the signes of the times As if he should have said what are yee not as wise in spirituall things as you are in Temporall are you not as wise concerning the
a rocky foundation it s founded upon the Covenant of God that is an Impregnable rocke it s such a foundation that all the world cannot hurt if any come and strike at it it will grind them to powder this is a sweet consideration and should provoke us to looke up to God for the accomplishing of this great mercy and to looke unto him for new mercy's Gods people stand for nothing concerning this kingdome but God will make the world one day know it was a peice of the new Covenant The unworthynes of the Saints shall not hinder them of this mercy for new Covenant Grace will ride Tryumphing over the head of all the Infirmities of the people of God Thirdly Vse 3 Another thing if it be a mercy lodged up in the new Covenant we may learne hence is That it is not strange or it ought not to be strange to us if we should see a death upon this worke if we should see this worke struck dead when it may be it seemes to be coming forth for indeed its Gods way in bringing forth mercy's of the new Covenant to strike the mercy dead Abraham had two sons the son of Hagar the old Covenant and the son of Sarah the new Covenant there 's no death comes upon Ishmael the old Covenant but there comes a death Abraham's body is dead and Sarah's wombe is dead upon Isaac the new Covenant the new Covenant mercy is struck dead so when the Lord will set up his Son as King he will doe it upon the account of the new Covenant therefore we must expect this new covenant mercy to passe through death so that God strikes the new Covenant mercy dead before he brings it forth When the Children of Israel came out of Egypt they come out upon the account of the new Covenant God remembers his Covenant and sends Moses to them thereupon they are full of expectation of deliverance but presently their burdens were encreased and their oppression encreased and thereupon all is struck dead and they are further from deliverance than ever they were and yet notwithstanding when God had tryed but a while their faith and patience for that is the end of all his bringing deaths upon a worke to try our faith and patience but so soone as ever that was tryed then the Lord brings them forth by his glorious hand So it was with David God had promised him the kingdome yet there was a wonderfull death came upon Davids kingdome David is made a king and some few come to him and David had some faith when Abiathar the Priest came to him when he fled from Saul saith David Abide with me and thou shalt be safe for with me there 's safety but when his kingdome is just ready to come to him there comes a great sentence of death upon the worke because its a new Covenant worke all is struck dead I shall certainly perish one day by the hand of Saul and I must leave the Country saith David so it s with all new Covenant mercy's that the Lord might try the faith of his Children which he will have tryed and that he might make the mercy the sweeter when it comes and that we might be more in crying to him God strikes the worke dead that we might exercise the more faith and prayer therefore let us not be discouraged when we see a sentence of death upon it it would be a great discouragement to me if there were not a Sentence of death upon it I should beleive then it were a greater way off than it is for if it be a new Covenant merâ—y there must be a Sentence of Death put upon it As in mercy's to a particular soule God will have the soule strucke dead before the Lord reveale the new Covenant mercy to him that the soule shall say I can see nothing I have nothing at all it can see no wisdome no righteousnesse nothing in it selfe and when all is strucke dead then the Lord comes with new Covenant mercy's to the soule so when the Lord intends to set up his Sonnes kingdome in the earth it must first be wholly struck dead Fourthly Vse 4 If this kingdome of Christ be a mercy lodged up in the new Covenant then wee should waite upon God patiently for the bringing of it forth New Covenant mercy's they are to be waited for Abraham lost himselfe greatly in murmuring while he was waiting for the fulfilling of the new Covenant promise he cryes out I goe Childlesse he had a promise and because he sees it not fulfilled he cry's I goe childlesse and this Eleazar of Damascus who is Steward of my house must be my heire and what doth this his repining bring forth why presently the very next thing we read is Abraham and Sahah distrusting God lay their heads together and upon advice he goe's in Hagar he turnes into the old Covenant and had fruit by her and there Abraham rests and settles himselfe some yeares he goes and turnes into the old Covenant by an Impatient waiting for the new Covenant we are not to waite as Idlers doe for helpe in a ditch and cry God helpe us but we are to wait as if we would have it in by our very striving strugling yet notwithstanding there must be a quiet waiting on God for his time so it should be with us for this new Covenant mercy waite for it patiently be content with it in Gods own time when he will bring it forth and the more our heart is brought to lye downe submissively before God it s a great argument that the mercy is so much the nearer the Lord doth ordinarily in giving forth the mercy's of the new Covenant though there may be striving and strugling for a time yet he brings the hearts of his Children to this Lord when thou wilt in thine owne time O that God would bring all the hearts of his Children to this that our hearts might not be engaged by our own thoughts but that we may be so free that God may have his own time that there may not be an Impatient spirit in waiting And is it a new Covenant mercy Vse 5 this will be a sweet mercy when it comes all the new Covenant mercy's are sweete things what ever the world thinke of Christs kingdome when it comes it will be a sweet thing that the Saints shall have glory hereafter doth that hinder the spirituall enjoyment of God here so the outward kingdome of Christ what will that hinder the spirituall enjoyment of Christ But the Devill play 's his game thus in the new Testament Times he made men to looke for an outward kingdome onely when Christ was about to set up a spirituall kingdome and now that Christ would set up an outward kingdome saith the Devill looke onely to the spirituall kingdome as if the ourward and spirituall kingdome could not stand together as if the glory of the body's and soules of the Saints could not stand together And
to favour the dust thereof then the set time of building Syon is come Quest What are we to understand by Stones and Dust Ans Stones and dust are the beginnings of a Building the first thing a man doth that will build a house is to gather dust and stones and morter the meaning is this as if the Lord should say when you shall see some such thing visible in the world as that there seemes to be a prepation and provision for the beginning of this glorious worke of my kingdome and when you see the hearts of my people wonderfully taken with these preparations and beginnings and raised up to a very high expectation then know that the set time to favour Syon is come and truly when was there ever in the world if not at this day something that did looke as a preparation and provision for this glorious worke of the kingdome of Jesus Christ gathering stones and dust together cutting off the heads of Princes and pulling downe Thrones now the Children of Syon take pleasure in the stones and they favour the dust of it Thirdly A third signe of the time Signe 3 that this worke is approaching upon us is The great reproach that is upon the Remnant that expect this worke When Israel of old came out of Babylon they had a double worke they had a spirituall worke a Civill worke the worke of the Temple and the worke of the Citty Jerusalem and those who expected the carrying on the Civill worke of building the Citty Jerusalem and the walls thereof they were made a wonderfull reproach Nehem 1.3 And they said unto me The Remnant that are left of the Captivity there in the Province are in great affliction reproach the wall of Jerusalem also is broken downe and the gates thereof are burnt with fire Mark the Remnant are in great affliction what Remnant why the Remnant that are left of the Captivity the Remnant that did expect the Citty Jerusalem should be built they are become a reproach the worke of building of the wall of Jerusalem is delayed till the Remnant doe become a reproach the people of God had their Temple done they were set upon building their Citty for they were told by their Prophets that they should build their Temple and their Citty too and now the people cry unto them and laugh at them where is your Citty where is your Common-wealth that you talke of you would have the Citty built and you would have a Common-wealth set up and a kingdome but where is it never such reproach comes upon waiters as when the worke is ready to peepe forth then at that time when they were so reproached was the worke ready to come forth then Nehemiah is brought on his knees and spreads the thing before the Lord in the fourth verse and the Commission for building the wall of Jerusalem was given forth thereupon even that very yeare Babylon litterall was a type of the kingdome of Babylon mysticall their Babylon was a type of our Babylon and as it was then so it is now upon the coming out of Babylon we have a double worke a worke of the Temple and a worke of the Citty the Temple-worke is finished and that is suffered to stand but now the Saints looke for their Civill work for their Common-wealth and that is become a reproach for is not this the reproach at this day these are the fift Monarchy-men and where is now your fift kingdome your fift Monarchy never was that growne to such a reproach this ten yeares how have they been reproached even by some who are now compelled to acknowledge a truth in the principle Now observe when the worke was reproached then the worke went on and as that was the time then for the carrying on of the worke why so now the worke being reproached with us also it s a signe that this is the time for the carrying on of the worke now And truly its worthy our observation How after this worke was come to be a reproach it went on in a wonderfull way the worke of Jerusalem Nehem 6.16 So the wall was finished in the 25 day of the moneth Elul in 52 dayes In 52 dayes what a wonderfull thing is it that the wall of such a Citty as Jerusalem was should be built in 52 dayes and that by so few hands And this little handfull were many of them forc't to take their swords in their hands The Temple was abuilding a great while they needed no swords to that worke but now they come to their Citty-worke they have their swords in their hands to defend themselves because there were many Enemies of that worke and yet notwithstanding all their Enemies and all the opposition it was done as it were by a miracle in 52 dayes So the worke of the kingdome it shall come on apace suddenly in one houre shall this worke come on in 52 dayes was Jerusalem walled notwithstanding all the reproach which Immediatly before was cast upon them Fourthly A fourth signe is Signe 4 The present doubting that is in many godly spirits about this worke as being neere it s a cleare signe that the worke is at hand Two or three yeares since some express't a great deale of faith about this worke they preach't it up we shall goe on wonderfully we shall goe on to Rome we shall pull downe Tythes c. But now their spirits are sunke and they say it s not yet time this is so far from a discouragement as that its a great signe that the worke is neere for this is a cleare Rule that when ever Christ brings forth a worke in the world he will bring it forth so as that he shall not find faith on Earth hence you have it Luk 18.8 Neverthelesse when the Son of man cometh shall he find faith on Earth It hath been the usuall way of God even to strike dead the faith of his Children when the worke is at the birth so Exod. 5.20 21. after the death upon the worke there and their burdens are doubled they meete Moses and Aaron who stood in the way as they came forth from Pharaoh and they said unto them the Lord looke upon you and Judge because you have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants to put a sword in their hands to slay us Observe the People that just before beleived and said O the work is come and the day of our deliverance is at hand in the end of the former Chapter the text saith The people beleived when they heard that the Lord had visited the Children of Israel and that he had looked upon their affliction and they bowed their heads and worshipped Though they beleived in the former Chapter that their deliverance was now at hand yet they doubt in this Chapter as soone as ever the death comes upon the worke they murmur and doubt of it and blame Moses and Aaron telling them they
second coming in glory under that Administration shall have its fulfilling But now the promise of the coming of the Spirit that is the promise that we are to expect the fulfilling of under the present Administration that Administration which is betwixt Christs first and second coming not but that there shall be much more as I shall shew anon of the Spirit of God given forth when Jesus Christ shall be personally present with his Children yet notwithstanding the great promise of the Spirit which is spoken so much of in the old Testament and in the new is that which we are to looke up to God for betwixt the time of Christs first and second coming When Jesus Christ was to goe up to heaven and leave his Children and they were to undergoe a very blacke and tempestuous day and Christ saw what the rage of the world was what the Roman power and the Antichristian power and the Kings of the earth would doe therefore that he might not in such a darke day leave them comfortlesse he makes this great promise of the Spirit as if he should have said In all that time O Saints when ever you suffer looke for my Spirit when ever you want comfort looke for my Spirit when you feare that this Antichrist will deceive you looke for my Spirit and so this promise of the Spirit is a promise that runs through all that time in a more especiall manner to the people of God which they doe wait for the fulfilling of Object If the promise of the Spirit be the great new Testament promise how then comes it to passe that the Saints and people of God under the new Testament Administration have so little of the Spirit Ans Why truly there may be something in this as one reason of it namely The way of Gods dispensation which hath been and it is to put death 's upon his promises not onely before the fulfilling time of a promise comes but even when the fulfilling time is come and in the fulfilling time God will put a death upon his promise Though Abraham had a blessed promise made to him by God that he should have seede and God told him that it should be in Bondage foure hundred and thirty yeares and at the end of that time he would wonderfully shew his power bringing them forth with a high hand and give them the land of Canaan but before the fulfilling time came there 's first one death and another upon the promise first Abraham was a hundred yeares old his body dead and yet without any that should be the heire of the promise and Sarah is old and her wombe dead before the fulfilling of the promise and after the heire of the promise was come forth Abraham must goe and offer up his Son why what might Abraham thinke would become of Gods promise Isaac was the Son of the promise and must I goe and offer him up where will Gods promise be Here was a death upon a death upon it and after this Isaac the Son of the promise in whose loines as I may say the promise ran the promised seede was to come forth from him yet Isaac after Abraham had no seede a great while so that before the fulfilling time of the promise came there was deaths upon deaths upon it yet notwithstanding when the Time was come for the fulfilling it when the Lord was now giving forth that that he had promised to Abraham and when he had sent Moses into Egypt to bring Israel out yet then the Lord in the very fulfilling time brings deaths upon it when the Lord had raised up some measure of faith in the people of God expecting deliverance yet the bondage grow's so great that their hearts grow dead as to hope and they thinke they are further off than ever before and afterward when they thought they had nothing to doe but to run to the land of Caâ—aan no but there are great deaths in the way they must goe through a Sea and through a wildernesse and this not all but they must wander forty yeares in the wildernesse and there the whole generation that came out of Egypt dyes what deaths were there upon the promise in the fulfilling time So God made a promise to his people in Jeremiah's time that after 70 yeares Captivitie in Babylon they should come to Jerusalem againe and that should be built but when the fulfilling time was come what deaths were put upon the promise so that for many yeares together the building of Jerusalem and the Temple was hindred I doe urge this notion to this purpose that though the new Testament Administration be the Administration in which the Saints are to waite for the fulfilling of this great promise yet in the fulfilling time there may be very great deaths upon the promise and such as we may see very little of the Spirit given forth and it may be for ages and generations together as in some generations it hath been but little of the Spirit may appeare Secondly Because although the promise of the Spirit is the great new Testament promise that is made to those times yet the fulfilling of this premise may not be alike to all but may be especially made good to some periods of that time The promise of Christ was the great old Testament promise that which Saints all along in the old Testament waited for but that was not fulfilled till the last period of that time so it may be with this Thirdly Another Reason why Saints under the new Testament Administration have so little of the Spirit though this is the great new Testament promise It may be from Saints darknes in the way of the new Testament Saints going out of the way of the new Testament and that Legality that is in and upon the spirits of the Saints As the promise of the Spirit is the great promise of the new Testament that God gives foâ—th in new Testament times so God will give forth his promise in the way of the new Testament if so be therefore the saints be darke as to the way of the new Testament in which God will give forth new Testament mercy's why truly they may be under the new Testament Administration and yet have but very little of the Spirit for even in new Testament times there is as I may say an old Testament spirit upon the Saints they looke upon themselves through their darkness and Ignorance as standing under the old Administration they have thereby the Spirit of the old Covenant and of the old Testament wrought in them and so far as they have an old Testament spirit so far there will not be a giving forth of the Spirit to them in that full measure for God will give forth the Spirit in the way of the new Testament Quest What is the way of the new Testament in which God will give out new Testament Mercy 's Ans To that I answer The way of the new Testament it s this To