head never so many stars appear nor with such lustre as in a frosty night grind the spices and their fragrancy flows out Saints are never more Saints than in the house of bondage or the Land of their pilgrimage our Winter-weather makes us warm at heart As our outward man perishes our inward man is renewed day by day 2 Cor. 4.16 Persecution is the time of life We are delivered to death for Jesus sake that the life also of Jesus might be manifest in our mortal flesh 2 Cor. 4.11 Decayed soul comfort thine heart the cross comes now thou shalt live now thou shalt recover This weakness will strengthen the things that remain and are ready to die Now faith and love and patience and courage that have so long hung the wing now lift up the head the day of your redemption draweth nigh this night is your day of hope 2. A more clear revelation of special Love Lovest thou me Lord there 's enough Let me hear thy voice let me see thy face Kiss me with the kisses of thy mouth Thy loving kindness is better than life send forth thy light and thy truth let these tell me thou lovest me Thy love-sick Spouse is sick for love O when wilt thou say Thou knowest that I love thee Why come up with me on the cross that withered tree bears more blossomes of love than all the green trees of the field The whole Gospel is hung upon the cross Where our Lord hung there 's sin nail'd the curse vacated death vanquished pardon peace joy glory shewed forth in open sight There 's love with all its tokens go up and take Fear not to be baptized with thy Lords Baptism nor to drink of his cup this cup also is the communion of the blood of Christ Come with me into the wilderness there will I speak comfortably to thee When thou most wantest it where thou wilt most value it there will I shew thee my loves Our Lord loves not to have love slighted the full soul loathes the honey-comb thou hast yet too many Lovers to bid thy Lord welcome he keeps his best Wine till all thine own be sowred then it will relish and then thou shalt have it His oyl is for thy wounds The Childe never knows so much of the Parents heart and bowels as when 't is sick or in distress then every look is love every word is pity and compassion O the soundings of Christs bowels towards his swooning children when thou knowest hatred then look to know love When thou art persecuted when thou art cast out and trodden under foot of men then will he take thee in and cherish thee 3. A more full manifestation of glory There 's not a prison into which the Saints are cast but hath a window into the palace Calvary becomes a Tabor where they have a sight of their Lord in his glory Golgotha becomes a Pisgah where they may look over Jordan into the land of promise Hast thou known little of heaven thou hast not yet been in the deep Of Stephen the first Gospel-Martyr its said Acts 7.55 He looked up stedfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God And Chap. 6.15 All that sate in the Council saw his face as the face of an Angel Such an admirable splendor and serenity in his countenance as spake him rather an Angel then a man O what an heaven was there within that cast out such a divine lustre on his face His joy was too big for his heart his face must have its share yea his very adversaries at second hand beheld the glory of God He looked up and saw heaven opened Looking down he might see hell opened all his tormentors about him the jaws of death ready to devour and swallow him up but looking up he saw heaven opened and Jesus standing at the right hand of God O there he is for whose sake is all this My beloved my beloved is yonder Behold the region of light whither this dark tempest is wasting me his hell and his heaven meets but the light swallows up the dark Hell ceases to be hell where heaven appears to bee heaven This is the portion of suffering Saints When you read what 's written of those armies of Martyrs that have gone before of their unspeakable joys their undaunted courage their admirable boldness of their chearing their friends confounding their foes their rejoycing in their stripes singing in their stocks leaping in their chains boasting of their bonds kissing their stakes embracing the flames riding up in triumph in their chariots of fire not repenting of their Faith nor accepting of deliverance what doth this speak but that their eyes as well as their anchor are within the vail whither Christ their fore-runner is gone before them Oh who would not be with them who would fear sufferings Soul what art afraid of whither art thou running from what art thou hiding thy self what is thine ease or thy liberty or thy quiet why so loth to loose from this shore lanch forth into the deep Fear not transportation into thine house of bondage when thou art once there 't is but look up and thou art in Paradise Such are the sufferings of Christ This is the cross of the Covenant 4. In summe as that which comprehends all the rest a more manifest exhibition of Christs special presence Jer. 30.11 I am with thee to save thee Isa 43.2 When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee Through fire and water thou must go we went through fire and water into a wealthy place but whither ever thou goest he will go with thee When the bush was on fire the Lord was in the bush when the three children were in the furnace the Son of God was there with them Isa 63.9 In all their afflictions he was afflicted he saved them by the Angel of his presence in his love and his pity he redeemed them and he bare them and carried them all the dayes of old Though all men forsook me the Lord stood with me and strengthened me 2 Tim. 4.16,17 The Saints shall never have this to charge upon the Lord I was in prison and thou visitedst me not He is ever with them to bear their burthens and ease their shoulders to plead their cause and maintain their innocence to wash their stripes to wipe off their tears to heal their wounds to bind up their broken bones to revive their weary spirits to perfume their prisons to lighten their dungeons to lead them in their wandrings to converse with them in their solitudes to give down from above in divine smiles in illapses of spiritual joys assurances of dearest love tenderest care melting sympathie gracious acceptance to give down from above what-ever is wanting beneath In fine to preserve them
what I am to my self I will be to you h h Psal 34.9,10 And you shall be my People a chosen generation a Kingdom of Priest an holy Nation a peculiar Treasure unto me above all people i i Exod. 19.5.6 1 Pet. 2.9 I call Heaven and Earth to witness this day that I take you for mine for ever My Name shall be upon you and you shall be Pillars in the Temple of your God and shall go no more out k k Rev. 3.12 My Livery shall you wear and the stamp of my own Face shall you carry l l Ezek. 36.25,26 with Eph. 4.24 and I will make you my Witnesses and the Epistles of Christ unto the world m m Esay 24 8. 2 Cor. 3.3 and you shall be chosen Vessels to bear my Name before the sons of men And that you may see I am in earnest with you lo I make with you an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure n n 2 Sam. 23 5. and do here solemnly deliver it to you as my act and deed sealed with sacred blood o o 1 Cor. 11.25 and ratified with the Oath of a God p p Heb. 6.17 a God that cannot lie that knows no place for repentance q q Tit. 1,2 1 Lam. 15.29 Come ye blessed receive the Instrument of your salvation take the writings behold the sâ—als here are the conveyances of the Kingdom Fear not the doâ—ation is free and full See it is written in blood founded on the All-sufficient merits of your Surety r r Heb. 9.16,17,18 in whom I am well pleased Å¿ Å¿ Matth. 3.17 whose death makes this Testament unchangeable for ever so that your names can never be put out not your Inheritance alienated nor your Legacies diminished nothing may be altered nothing added nothing substracted no not for ever t t Gal. 3.15,16,17 Happy art thou O Israel Who is like unto thee O People The blessings of the Covenant are either its glorious Liberties and Immunities or its Royal Priviledges and Prerogatives u u Deut. 33.29 Onely believe and know your own blessedness Attend O my Children unto the blessings of your Father and hear and know the glorious immunities and the Royal Prerogatives that I here confirm upon you The Immunities and Liberties of the Covenant consisting in 1. Our general discharge from all our debts Here I seal you your Pardons Though your sins be as many as the sands and as mighty as the Mountains I will drown them in the deeps of my bottomless mercies w w Micah 7.19 I will be merciful to your unrighteousness I will multiply to pardon x x Heb. 8.12 where your sins have abounded my grace shall super-abound though they be as scarlet they shall be white as snow though red like crimson they shall be as wooll y y Esay 1.18 Behold I declare my self satisfied and pronounce you absolved z z Job 33.24 The price is paid your debts are cleared your Bonds are cancelled a a Esay 43.25 Coll. 2.13,14 Whatever the Law or Conscience or the Accuser hath to charge upon you here I exonerate you I discharge you I even I am he that blotteth out your transgressions for my Names sake Who shall lay any thing to your charge when I acquit you Who shall impeach or implead you when I proclaim you guiltless b b Rom. 8.33,34 Sons Daughters be of good chear your sins are forgiven you c c 1 Ioh. 2.12 Mat. 9.2 I will sprinkle your consciences and put the voice of peace into their mouths d d Ezek. 36.25 Heb. 9.14 Esay 57.19 and they shall be your Registers in which I will record your Pardon and the voyce of Guilt and Wrath and Terrour shall cease e e Heb. 10.22 Esay 27.4,5 2. Our release from the house of bondage particularly Here I sign your release from the house of Bondage f f Rom. 6.17,18 1 Cor. 7.22 Come forth ye captives come forth ye prisoners of hope for I have found a ransom g g Job 33.24 I proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound h h Esay 61.1 42.7 Behold I have broken your bonds and shook the foundations of your prisons and opened the iron gates i i Luke 4.18 By the blood of the Covenant have I sent forth the prisoners out of the pit wherein there is no water k k Zech. 19.11 Arise O redeemed of the Lord put off the raiment of your captivities arise and come away From the dark and noisome prison of sin The dark and noisome prison of sin shall no longer detain you l l John 8.34,35,36 I will loose your fetters and knock off your bolts Sin shall not have dominion over you m m Rom. 6.14 I will heal your back-slidings I will subdue your iniquities n n Mic. 7.19 Jer. 3.12 I will sanctifie you wholly o o 1 Thess 5.23,24 and will put my fear in your hearts that you shall not depart from me p p Jet 32.40 Though your corruptions be strong and many yet the aids of my Spirit and cleansing vertue of my word and physick of my corrections shall so work together with your prayers and endeavours as that they shall not finally prevail against you but shall surely fall before you q q Ezek. 36.27 Eph 5.26 Esan 27.9 From the strong and stinking goal of the grave From the strong and stinking goal of the grave do I deliver you O death I will be thy plagues O grave I will be thy destruction r r Hos 13.14 my Beloved shall not ever see corruption Å¿ Å¿ Psal 16.10 I will change your rottenness into glory and make your dust arise and praise me t t Dan. 12.2,3 Esay 26.19 What is sown in weakness I will raise in power what is sown in corruption I will raise in incorruption what is sown a natural body I will raise a spiritual body u u 1 Cor. 15.42,43,44 This very flesh of yours this corruptible flesh shall put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on immortality w w 1 Cor. 15.53 Death shall be swallowed up in victory and mortality of life x x 2 Cor. 5.4 1 Cor. 15.54 Fear not O my children Come and I will shew you the enemy that you dreaded See here lies the King of terrours like Sisera in the tent fastened to the ground with the nail struck through his temples Behold the grateful present the head of your enemy in a Charger I bequeath you your conquered adversary and make over death as your Legacy y y 1 Cor. 3.22 O death where is thy sting where now is thine armour wherein thou trustedst z z 1 Cor. 15.55 Come my people enter into your chambers a a
upon his heart and upon his shoulders This is that Jesus who is THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS 3. As our Lord and King A King shall reigne in righteousness in him shall the Gentiles trust Zach. 9.9 Shout O daughter of Zion behold thy King cometh Isa 9.6 The Government shall be on his shoulder God hath more care of his Saints than to leave the government of them on their own shoulder Is not her King in her He is a King to gather them a King to govern them a King to defend and save them to save them from their temporal enemies the sons of violence the men of this evil world from their spiritual enemies to save them from their sins Thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins Matth. 1.21 'T is a mercy to be under government under government and under protection What would become of us were there no King in Israel Where there 's no King all are kings more kings than men Sathan will be king every lust will be a lord as many kings as there are devils and sins Whither would our unruly hearts carry us How easily would our wily and potent enemies ruine us What tyrannie would sin exercise within What cruelty should we suffer from without Whither should we wander where should we fix What peace what order what stability Whence should counsel and protection and salvation come were there no Lord over us 'T is a mercy to be under government but to be under such a government under a king and such a King such a wise and potent King such a meek and merciful King such an holy and a righteous King O what a wonder of mercy Rejoyce greatly O daughter of Zion shout O daughter of Jerusalem behold thy King cometh unto thee he is just and having salvation lowly and riding upon an asses colt c. Zach. 9.9 He is just having salvation as a Priest he hath purchased as a King he bestows his salvation He comes not to get but to give not to give Lawes only but to give Gifts unto men and he gives like a King Palmes Crowns and Thrones salvation to his people by the remission of their sins Oh how unthankful oh how foolish is this rebellious world Impatient of subjection shake off the yoke groan under duty under discipline We will not have this man to rule over us Who then shall save you hard to be a Christian strict laws severe discipline no liberty Is this thy complaint that is wo is me I am so limited and hedg'd in on all hands that there 's no liberty left me to be miserable if I will be his I must be happy Let fools inherit their own folly but let Israel rejoyce in him that made him let the children of Zion be joyful in their King for the Lord taketh pleasure in his people he will beautifie the meek with salvation Lift up your heads O ye Gates and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors and the King of glory shall come in Who is this King of glory the Lord of hosts yea the Lord our righteousness he is the King of glory The Lord is our Judge the Lord is our Law-giver the Lord is our King he will save us Praise ye the Lord. Come all ye Nimrods ye mighty hunters on the earth come all ye sons of Anak ye seed of the Giants come all ye sons of Belial ye seed of the Adulterer and of the whore come all ye Ishmaelites and Ammonites ye Moabites and Hagarenes associate confederate take counsel together smite with the tongue bite with the teeth push with the horn kick with the heel come all ye gates of hell and powers of darkness thou dragon with all thy armies with all thy fiery darts and instruments of death come thou king of terrors with thy fatal dart the Virgin the Daughter of Zion hath despised you all she hath laughed you to scorn the Daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at you her King is in the midst of her the Lord is her King he will save her 4. As our head and husband He that is given to be head over all things to the Church is given to be the head of the Church Eph. 1.22,23 and of every member in particular 1 Cor. 11.3 Believers are all joyned to the Lord 1 Cor. 6.17 United in Christ as fellow members united unto Christ as their common head From which all the body by joynts and bands having nourishment ministred and knit together increaseth with the increase of God Coloss 2.19 they are married to Christ 2 Cor. 11.2 I have espoused you to one husband From this Union follows 1. A Communication of Influences 2. A Complication of Interests 1. A Communication of Influences Having nourishment ministred Christ our head is our fountain of life Our head is our heart also out of it are the Issues of life from him we live and are nourished and maintained in life He is our Joseph all the treasures of the holy Land are with him In him are hid all the treasures of Wisdome and Knowledge Coloss 2.3 It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell Coloss 1.19 He is the onely begotten Son of God full of grace and truth Here note 1. What grace there is in Christ The Schools tell us that in him there is a three-fold grace 1. Gratia Unionis The Grace of Union The humane Nature of Christ hath received the high grace or favour to be personally united to the second person in the God-head by vertue of which Union the fulness of the Godhead is said to dwell in him bodily Bodily that is personally or substantially in opposition to the types and shaddows of the Old Testament in which God in a figure is said to dwell God is said to dwell in the Tabernacle in the Ark of the Covenant in the Temple but in these he dwelt onely as figures and shaddows of the humane nature of Christ In Christ he dwells not in a figure but personally and substantially As Christ Coloss 2.17 is called the Body in opposition to the types of old which were but the shaddow so bodily here notes not a figurative but a personal inhabitation Christ is the body not a shaddow and God dwells in him bodily that is substantially and not in a shaddow 2. Gratia Habitualis Habitual Grace All those moral perfections wherein stands the holiness of his nature The love and fear of God his humility meekness patience in summe his perfect conformity to the Image and whole Will of God Such an high Priest became us who is holy harmless undefiled separate from sinners Heb. 7.26 3. Gratia Capitis or that honour which is given to him to be head of the Church 2. How Christ is said to be full of grace there is a twofold fulness of grace 1. Ex parte ipsius gratiae In respect of grace it self thus he is said to be full of grace that hath all grace and
mine and shew it unto you As much as you have in the world to afflict and amaze you as little as you have of your own to comfort you either in your hearts or in your houses or among your friends hee shall shew what I have for you to refresh you O Christians a sight of Christ in our sorrows in our fears in our thickest darkness what day-light would it bring in When thou lookest into thine heart and art astonished and confounded at what thou findest there at the blindness and the hardness the poverty and the emptiness the guilt and the guile the pride and the peevishness the evil thoughts the vile affections the filthy lusts that are swarming and working in thee when thou lookest into the world and tremblest at what thou beholdest there the malice the craft the power that is engaged against thee the furious spirits the fiery tongues the fierce looks the violent hands that are flying upon thee and the little relief the earth will afford thee when thy heart faints and dies within thee at the sense of this thy woeful and forlorn state A sight of what thou hast in thy Lord presented to thee by his Spirit look thee here soul what thy Jesus hath sent thee down a glance from his eye a drop from his heart a messe from his table and all to tell thee yet I do not forget thee behold the care I take of thee the treasures I have for thee to encourage thy love and reward thy faithfulness Oh! how will this make all thy darkness to depart and turn the shadow of death into the morning Thus is the Holy Spirit given to the Saints to bee the light of their eyes the death of their sins the guide of their waies the stay of their hearts to up-hold their grace and to maintain their peace to subdue their enemies or their fears to secure them from temptations or succour them when tempted to wipe off their reproach or make it their crown to heal their diseases or make them their cure to help their infirmities to work their works to make their yoke easie and their burthens light to turn their sighs into songs to form their groans into prayers to send them up to their Lord and bring down their returns to comfort their hearts to establish strengthen settle them that they be neither offended at the chain nor moved from the hope of the Gospel CHAP. IV. The Earth in the Covenant 4. GOd hath put the earth into the Covenant Though the Saints have not their reward in this life their portion in this world yet this world also is theirs Mat. 5.5 The meek shall inherit the earth 1 Cor 3.22 Things present and things to come all are yours 1. The good things present 2. The evil things present 1. The good things present Mark 10.30 Houses and Brethren and Sisters and Mothers and Children and Lands now in this time Prov. 3.16 Length of daies are in her right hand and in her left hand riches and honour Houses and Lands and Riches and Honours where are they who are the poor of this World the houseless harbourless and friendless who have wo and want and shame and sorrow who are Strangers and Pilgrims dwelling in tents driven into corners into dens and caves hunted up and down upon the mountains of the earth to whom is hunger and thirst cold and nakedness but to the meek of the earth Is this to inherit the earth All theirs when nothing theirs yet they do inherit the earth For 1. They shall ever have as much as will suffice them and that 's as much as all They shall not want any thing but what they may want Your Father knoweth that you have need of these things and he knows how much they need More than needs is more then enough and more then enough is a prejudice Many men have too much too much money too much esteem too many friends more than they can bear so much as to sink them and drown them in perdition and destruction Christians shall have enough they shall never be in such a needy state but whatever is necessary for them in all the earth they shall have it The earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof and he hath said That those that seek him shall not want any thing that is good Psal 34.10 if the whole world can supply them out of all its store they shall be supply'd 2. What they have they have a better and farther title to then any others in the world Though the dominion be not founded in grace yet by grace it is established What they have descends upon them not barely by providence but by promise Heb. 1.2 Christ is heir of all things and they are fellow-heirs with Christ A little coming from the promise hath more in it than the greatest abundance that 's only handed down by common providence that which comes in from the promise comes in with a blessing if thou hast but an handful thou hast a blessing in thy hand if thou hast but a corner thou hast a blessing in thy corner A little from love is a great blessing Thou hast God in every morsel thou eatest and in every drop that thou drinkest a drop from heaven will turn thy bran into the finest flower and thy Water into Wine O what serene and quiet lives how void of care distracting care might the Saints live in the world what are the burthens that do gall our backs what are the briars that tear our flesh what are the thorns that pierce through our hearts ordinarily but the cares of this life what shall I eat what shall I drink wherewith shall I be clothed where shall I dwell how little have I for to day what for to morrow what for hereafter how shall I secure what I have when this is gone whence shall I be supplyed thus do we go on piercing our selves through with many sorrows Our cares for supply eat up what we have our thoughts cut deeper than our wants we cannot at so cheap a rate fear as we often bear the want of all things And why take ye thought the earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof and he hath said All this is yours you shall want nothing You have not only your Deus providebit providence to live upon you have also your Deus promisit the promise before you and this hath all things in it all is yours What for to morrow what for hereafter why what saith the promise Thou shalt want nothing neither thou nor thine Never saw I the righteous forsaken nor their seed begging their bread Hast thou two worlds made sure to thee and canst thou want thou mayst as well whine and make a pittiful cry at a full table Oh where shall I have my next morsel as under such a full promise Oh where shall I have my next meal O how much beneath the spirit of Christianity are the carking anxious lives of too many