with God in Knowledge and Wisdom Thus the Devil abused the very name of the Tree of Knowledge to her making it far better than indeed it was as if it would make them as Omniscient as God Thus he mused as he used and would have made God as envious as himself who envyed that either God should be honoured or obeyed by Man or that Man should be Gifted and Graced by God Hereupon he tells her Your Eyes shall be Opened pretending to Divine Contemplation but intending to Horrible Confusion as it proved afterwards when ashamed of their Nakedness So that in v. 5. this Lyar from the beginning was not so much Mendax a Lyar as Fallax a Deceiver according to that Antient saying Et si semel videatur Verax Millies Mendax semper Fallax Though he sometimes seem to speak truly yet will he lye a thousand times for it and be always Fallacious and Deceitful 8thly He promises to her Ye shall be as Gods which was more likely to make them Devils like himself or at least Beasts that Perisheth Psal 49. 12 â—0 What God said Ironically and by a sad Sarcasm Gen 3. 22. The Man is become as one of us The Beasts might say most truly and without any figure The Man is become as one of us Thus while Satan makes her Free from Fear it was only designed by him to make her Free to Sin hereupon She took of the Fruit and gave it also to her Husband v. 6. to whom she Related all Satans Promises concerning the force of the Fruit c. whereby she seduced him v. 17. in hearkening to her Voice hoping that according to her suggestion from Satan he might become a God and his Wife a Goddess Thus the plurality of Gods was first taught by the Devil whose Grammer Deum pluraliter declinare Docuit first learnt to Decline God in the Plural Number and thus he transforms his own sin upon them Ero sicut Altissimus I shall be like the most High Isai 14. 12. saith he of himself and Eritis sicut Dij Ye shall be as Gods saith he of them The 9th and last part of his Plot is the Timeing of his Temptation herein this subtile Serpent hath a singular sagacity no sooner was he cast out of Heaven but he Resolves to be Reveng'd of his Maker for this expulsion and because he could not come at his Creator God with his Revenge he Falls immediately upon his Creature Man the Master-piece of the Creation upon the same Day wherein he was Created he loses no time but about high-Noon the same Day which was Dinner or Eating-time he Attempts his Ruine by tempting him to Eat Forbidden-Fruit and so flatters them out of the True Paradise into a Fools Paradise of their own Dreams and Dotage Thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the cogging of a Dye Eph. 4. 14. like a cheating Gamester he gives them an Apple for Happiness and Sin Misery for a state of Innocency not suffering them to Rest so much as one Night upon the Bed of Honour and Happiness This the Psalmist according to some Interpreters doth Insinuate Psal 49. 12. Adam being in Honour Bal Jalin non pernoctavit abode not or lodged not one Night in Paradise 'T is the saying of a Greek-Father That Adam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was made and marr'd all in one Day Thus he who thought to become a God became a Beast that perisheth Yea Carrion saith Junius Here the prime Plot of the principal Plotter the Prince of Darkness hath a shrewd seeming success yet the Lord laughs at it and Ridendo irritum Reddidit he Defeats the Devils Design and that with Disgrace for there was a Covenant transacted betwixt God the Father and God the Son ab Aeterno from all Eternity 1 Pet. 1. 20. Joh. 17. 6. Tit. 1. 2. and 2 Tim 1. 9. This Covenant the Devil knew nothing of and it was this that spoiled all his Plot Indeed our first Parents were under this dedolent and disconsolate Condition from Noon to Night or at least to the cool of the Day having now most woful Experimental Knowledge both of the Good which they had lost and of the Evil wherein they lay Then commeth Jehovah to Judge them V. 8. Satan assuredly expected that the Greatly Offended Creator God would have met his Greatly Offending Creature Man in as much Fury as he did afterwards Moses in the Inn when he had much ado as it were to forbear Killing him Exod. 4. 24. Or that he would have come to Adam as the Angel came to Balaam with a drawn Sword in his hand wherewith to destroy him Numb 22. 32. or that he would have rushed upon this Rebel as David ran upon Goliah and cut off his head 1 Sam. 17. 51. No such Fury is in God against faln Man Isai 27. 4. The Devil is disappointed for God comes to Man indeed but not so much a Judge as a Father and as a Physitian 1st As a Father saying as it were Though Man be faln by the Devils malevolence yet he shall be raised up again by my Benevolence by my Good will to Man Luk. 2. 14. 2dly As a Physitian God hath prepared a Soveraign Plaister to Apply to the wound that Man had receiv'd from the Devil God promiseth Christ to be a Redeemer to Man and withal to be a Destroyer of the Devil Hebr. 2. 14. and of all his Works 1 Joh. 3. 8. This Plaister was prepared by the good pleasuro of God the Father Covenanting with God the Son long before Man was in being much more before he was wounded No such Plaister was provided to Cure the Fall of Angels for they sinned upon their own accord and without a Tempter Therefore Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 did out-shine his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 His love to Men was greater than his love to Angels for in coming to Judge Man such was his Graciousness towards him that in Wrath he Remembred Mercy Habb 3. 2. And giving the Promise of Christ in the Seed of the Woman Adam takes hold of the Promise and in Faith therein he calls his Wife Eve which signifies Life He instead of Dying the same Day of his Eating Forbidden-Fruit Lives 930 Y. after and she became the Mother of all Living and though they brought in Death by their Disobedience yet God Taught them the Ordinance of Sacrificing so the first thing that Dyed in the World was a Sacrifice or Christ in a Figure the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World Rev. 13. 8. And who opens a passage into a better Paradise than that which they had Forfeited Luk. â—3 43. 2 Cor. 12. 4. Rev. 2. 7. And if that Rabbinical Notion no way dissentaneous to Truth be Received to wit That the Tree of Knowledge stood upon Mount Calvary Paradise being placed in Canaan the Glory of all Lands Ezek. 20. 6. where Christ was after Crucified on a Tree then it follows that in the same place and by
an honorable Interrment and now opens its Mouth again in not yielding him its strength in a clamorous petition for Vengeance against him As the cursed Fig-Tree lost its Vigour and Withered Mark 11. 21. So a Fruitful Land is made barren for the Wickedness of its owners and Occupiers Psal 107. 34. The 3d. Means God uses to Defeat the Devils Design is He Excommunicates Cain Satans prime Patriark out of the Church who would have Excommunicated the Church out of the World in God's proto Martyr Abel and that with the greater Excommunication v. 12. A Vagrant and a Vagabond shalt thou be Thus his Doom Rises higher and falls heavier upon him Psa 59. 12. and 109. 10. Cain the first Apostate went out from the Presence of the Lord and dwelt in the Land of Nod which signifies Wandring v. 14. 16. So that he was a Vagrant from the Church from his Fathers Family and Fellowship as well as a Vagabond upon Earth God would come and Talk with him no more nor Vouchsafe one Gracious Glance towards him nor Accept any one Oblation from him at any time 4thly God sets a Brand upon him v. 15. and thereby as it were Burns him in the Hand and Stigmatizes him for a Rogue This mark was not an Horn in his Forehead as the Jews feign but 't was an Hornet in his Conscience as Exod. 23. 28. stinging him with horrible Conviction and Compunction for his Murder The words of the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Sighing and Trembling as if God's Mark upon him had been probably a Trembling not onely of his Hands and Head but also of his Heart and whole Body which made all People pitty him Some Rabbins say Cain was continually Dogged with Abel's Dog but Assuredly he was Haunted with his own Evil Ghost which made him look with a most ghastly Countenance having Horror in his Heart and a very Hell in his Conscience This might make him Tremble every where and fear every Bush he saw was a Bayliff to Arrest him and every Man he met a Devil to Torment him So that a longer Lease of his Life was no better than a lingring Death nay such a Life under the Guilt of such a sin and under the sense of such a Curse was far worse then a Temporal Death Therefore God Dooms him to Live and not immediately to Dye that he might be a Land-Mark of Shame and a Living-Monument against Murder and Murderers 5thly His Death after a Woful Life was Woful also as humane Testimony Reports for though he us'd some Carnal Anodynes to Allay the unbearable pangs of his wounded Spirit and to drown the horrible noise of his self-condemning Conscience he falls upon Building a City and call'd it Enoch that his Son might be call'd Lord Enoch of Enoch v. 17. Yet Vengeance would not suffer him to live Act. 28. 4. Nor to Live out half his Days Psal 55. 23. Nor to go down to the Grave in peace 2 Kin. 2. 5. That he Dyed an Untimely death all Historians concurr about the Year 131. the manner how is Variously Reported some say It was by the Fall of an House which he was Building in his New City Others say He was slain by his Grand-child Lamech who being a Blind Archer was led to shoot him by a wicked Boy Take it either way and his Sin is Writ upon his Punishment for either as he that Designed to pull down Gods House the Church so his own House which he was rearing up falls down upon him and knocks him down dead on the place as he had done his Brother Abel or As he Disdain'd to be his Brothers Keeper but not to be his Executioner Lives to beget a Son whose Son became his Grand-Fathers Executioner Thus when God makes Inquisition for Blood Psal 9. 12. shall not he Search it out Psal 44. 21. Yea he will and wound the Hairy Scalp of such as go on in their Iniquity Psal 68. 21. 6thly Neither doth Divine Vengeance upon him End here in his Untimely and Violent Death but his last Doom is the most Woful of all Dooms Cain must not onely be doom'd out of the Church and out of the World but also he must be Doom'd to Hell whither all wicked Men are turned and all the People though there be whole Nations of them that forget God as Cain did Psa 9. 17. Especially Murderers who are abhorred of the Lord Psal 5. 6. He that sat upon the Throne hath himself said it Rev. 21. 8. Murderers shall have their Lot in the Lake that Burneth with Fire and Brimstone more especially such as Murder Gods Image in his Servants who have his Image upon them in a double manner both by Generation Gen. 9. 6. And also by Regeneration Eph. 4. 24. God will of all others avenge their Blood Rev 6. 10. and that speedily Luk 18. 7. Thus Cain was a wicked One was of the wicked One and went to the wicked One in Hell at last But the last Means whereby God Defeated the Devil's 2d Plot was In raising up a Seth to Stand up in Abel's Stead according to the Signification of his Name Seth Hebr. Posuit placed in his Brothers place for Upholding the Church Sic Vno avulso non Deficit Alter Aureus Though one Branch Abel was lop'd off from the Tree of Mankind Adam yet another Springs up and that a Golden One in his Stead And out of the Ashes of the Dying Phoenix another Phoenix Ariseth to Continue its Kind in the World Thus Seth or Sheth signifies not onely Posuit but Reposuit layd up as his Godly Mother believingly Acknowledged That the Church was layd up in him and that he was the Foundation of it a Type of Christ Isa 28. 16. 1 Cor. 3. 11. out of whom Christ Sprung Luk. 3. last Gen. 4. 25. and though Adam had many other Sons Gen. 5. 4. yet none are Named savely onely Seth as being the only Professor of the True Religion and Foundation of the Church Now when the Devil and his Agents had got Abel out of the Way and World and saw Adam for an 130 Y. without an other in his stead Gen. 5. 3. Oh what Rejoycing was there and sending of Gifts amongst them as Rev. 11. 10. But God Cut their Coxcombs and Confuted their Confidences in Raising up Seth by whose Means with God's Blessing the Devil lost and the Church won Ground for then 't is said Men began to call upon the Name of the Lord Gen. 4. 26. That is Publickly and in Solemn Assemblies making an Open Profession which hitherto had been but Privately done The Third Plot against the Church in SETH Defeated by GOD. CHAP. III. WHen Satan saw his 2d Plot Defeated and Laugh'd to Nothing by the Lord that Seth must Live and have many Children though Abel was Dead and that Childless Gen. 5. 7. Numb 24. 17. And the Church not onely Maintained but Advanced by them This Restless Adversary Projects a 3d. Plot
Consciences and of Stealing away privily least this All-knowing One whom They would have Ensnared should Detect their Abominable Crimes before the People so Blast their Reputation among them ver 8. 9. and the Eldest who had the most Sins leads out the Youngest none of them being Able to stand it out before this One Word of Christ This Disappointment of their Design made them mad yet Christ meeting them after in the Treasury v. 20. and telling them they should Dye in their Sins ver 21. and they were Children of the Devil ver 44. This madded them more Insomuch that they took up Stones to Stone him who would not let them Stone the Woman ver 29. But Jesus Hid himself either strikeing them Blind or makeing Himself Invisible as before He Departs without Harm and the Devil Loses his Design thereby The Twenty-Fourth Plot in the New-Testament against the Church in Christ Defeated by God CHAP. XXIV BUt that which made them mad most of all was His Raising up Lazarus from the Dead Joh. 11. 47. Those Reprobate Wretches would not Believe no though one Rose from the Dead to them Luk. 16. 31. as Lazarus and yet they listen'd as little to Him as they did to Christ They Call a Council not out of the unlearned Rabble but most learned Clerks which should have known better things the Chief Priests and Pharisees Convene and Consult yea and Unanimously Conclude that not onely Christ but also Lazarus must be put to Death Joh. 12. 10. and why must Lazarus Dye 't was onely because God had made him Alive but they seem to have better Reason even that of Necessity for Killing Christ If this be not done say they the Romans will come c. Joh. 11. 48. and because it was done the Romans came indeed and Plagu'd them in taking away their Place and Nation principally for this Inexpiable Sin of Killing the Lord of Glory as Christ had told them Matth. 21. 38 39 40. and as they themselves had unwittingly Read even their own Destiny v. 41 43. Luk. 20. 15. Thus they pretending and pleading a Necessity to Sin whereas they lay under no Necessity save onely one to wit Not to Sin and because they did so Sin which they thought their Duty therefore the thing that they feared came upon them King Jesus for Killing him sent forth his Armies the Roman-Spoilers who Dispossessed them of their Country Burnt their Temple as the Caldeans had formerly done in the time of their Fore-fathers Matth. 22. 7. and 24. 2 16 20 21 34. the Destruction of Ierusalem for Murdering of Christ was a Matchless Destruction as Josephus Relates a Million of Iews perished miserably by the Siege the whole Body of the Land being then gather'd together at the Passeover and 97000 carry'd Captive Mark Ch. 13. 19. calls those Days Affliction as if that time were nothing else but Affliction it self Well therefore might the Chief-Priests and Pharisees when 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Self-Condemned Tit. 3. 11. say God forbid Luk. 20. 16. when Christ had extorted from them an Evident foretelling of their own final Fate Mat. 21.41 while they thought others were concern'd in the Parable but perceiving that themselves were the Wicked Men which the Parable did personate they would have Retracted the Sentence they had Denounced against themselves out of their own Mouths and crys 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God forbid Mark 12. 9. and Luk. 20. 16. which the Syriack Reads This shall not be we will not Kill the Son of God the Lord of the Vineyard c. notwithstanding this their absit be it far from us so to do yet they did it the Devil Helping them with a Jesuitical Aequivocation That it was not their Right Messiah but onely a Mock-Messiah whom they sought to Murder Hereupon they fall to Work by the Devils Direction and with his best Assistance the Grand Remora was They Feared the People Matth. 21. 46. ☞ They are Worse than Christ-Killers that fear them not and while the Body of a People bear Favour to Christ and his Cause neither of these Two can be Killed by the worst of Persecutors This Rubb and Remora is still Unremoved Matth. 26. 3 4 5. The General Council not unlike to that of Trent Convene again hold the Conclusion Christ shall be Kill'd but cannot Hit upon a Convenient time crying Not at the Feast for Fear of a Rescue * Behold here the contrary Motions of Heaven and Hell The Devil in this Council just contrary to that Act. 15. 28. where the Holy Ghost sat Praesident crys here Not on the Feast Day another time is more seasonable No saith God It shall not be when you will Christ whom you Kill is my Paschal-Lamb the Lamb that is to take away the Sins of the World Joh. 1. 29. you and the Devil to Help you do nothing but according to My Determinate Counsel Act. 4. 28. and 2. 22. Though you be a Company of Bloody Dogs that are mussled up with the fear of an Uproar from the Friends and Favourers of Christ so that you say Not on the Feast but I say It shall be on the Paschal Feast-Day and on no other Here is a Marvellous Over-Ruling Providence of God those Wicked Priests had oft sought a time before this wherein to Kill Christ but never could find any Vntil his Hour was now come and not now must they Determine the time the Passeover-Lamb must Dye on the passeover-Passeover-Day to put an End to the Iewish-Passeover signifying their Deliverance from Aegypt and her King but this Praefigur'd our Redemption from the Spiritual-Pharaoh and from his Two Heavy-Handed Task-Masters to wit Sin Mortal and Death Eternal Yea and in all this those Miscreants in fulfilling their own Wicked Will do but fulfill the Holy Will of God and his Divine Decree and no more Thanks to them than was to Haman in Mordecai's Advancement whereunto Haman held the Stirrop onely However this Cursed Council Consults to take Jesus by Subtilty Mat. 26. 4. by Fraud and not by Force for fear of an Vproar they feared the fury of Man more than the frowns of God v. 5. The Devil who set them on Work steps in to Hand them over this Stumbling-Block He Entred into Judas after the Sop was given him at Supper in the House of Simon the Leper Two Days before the Passeover Joh 13. 27 30. from Bethany though it were Night and though Unsolicited by those Conspirators Satan makes Iudas trudge to Ierusalem he freely offers his Service not doubting of its Kind Acceptance makes his Market with them at their own Rate Referring the Price of that Peerless Pearl his Holy Master to those Barbarous Buyers Pleasure they Bargain to give him Thirty pieces of Silver the price of a Slave Exod. 21. 3◠a goodly Price for this Pearl of great Price Zech. 11. 12. Mat. 13. 45 46. The Devil of Discontent was Entred into those Prodigiously prosligate Priests long before because Christs Gracious Words he
the Pillar of Providence hath secured the Church withal in all her passages through the World as the Pillar of Glory did the Church in the Wilderness The 1st Instance of the wicked Plotting against the Church and the Lords laughing it to Nothing is that first Plot of the Grand Plotter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that wicked One 1 Joh. 5. 18. the Devil against our first Parents As of Jacob's Ladder which consisted of so many rounds or steps as would reach from Earth to Heaven 't is said The Lord was upon the top of it Gen. 28. 12 13. So of this Scale of Conspiracies against the Church which contains so many Distinct Designs as do Reach from Adam to our present time it may as truly be affirmed That the Devil must be at the top of it We Read of a Book of the Wars of the Lord a Book not extant but if not lost latent Numb 21. 14. However this is extant in the Book of God that here began the War of the Devil or Dragon against the Church No sooner was Lucifer faln from Heaven Isa 14. 12. and of a Glorious Angel was become a damned Devil Jude v. 6. 2 Pet. 2. 4. partly for his pride against God in aspiring to be like the most High and partly for his Envy at Man when he first beheld the Honour and Happiness wherein Man was Created and first heard the charge which God gave the Angels to keep Man in all his ways Psal 91. 11. This Command proud Lucifer disdaining that a superior should wait like a servant upon an inferior Creature Psal 8. 5. He kept not his first Estate but left his first Habitation Jude v. 6. Thus he sinned from the beginning 1 Joh. 3. 8. and abode not in the Truth Joh. 8. 44. And now being come down by his Sin or rather cast down for his sin from Heaven and having great Wrath Rev. 12. 12. for being hurl'd out of Heaven into Hell he had no comfort left him save onely this miserable and mischievous one to make Man as miserable as himself and to bring him into the same Condemnation 1 Tim. 3. 6. For this purpose he lays a dangerous and Diabolical Plot consisting of many parts As 1st He assumes a fit Engine that Creature which was more subtile than all the Beasts of the Field Gen. 3. 1. The sharper a Weapon is it makes a deeper wound and gives a more deadly blow the sharpest and subtilest Wits are of all others the most mischievous Instruments in the Devils hands against Gods truth This grand evil Angel made use of this Serpent which as some say was very specious and delightful to the Eye by his comely mixture of lovely Colours to deceive the first Woman as the good Angel made use of the Ass to rebuke the mad Prophet 2 Pet. 2. 16. Numb 22. 28. 2dly The 2d part of his proposed and pursued Plot is in Assaulting not the Man but the Woman the weaker Vessel which is soonest and easiest overcome where the Hedg is lowest there the Beast leaps over with the least difficulty A besieging Enemy raises his Batteries against the weakest part of a besieged City the weaker Sex is most likely to truckle to his temptations hence he Essays to break the Mans head with his own Rib and to make use of this Rib as of the Round of a Ladder whereon to climb up so high as to Reach a blow to her Head and Husband 3dly He sets upon the Woman when alone 'T is supposed As Adam and Eve walk'd together in Paradise Eve stood still gazing with her fancy upon some Delectable Object which Adam passed by with less looking on he got so far before her as to leave her behind whereby she was overtaken by the Tempter the absence of her Head with its counsel and comfort gives Satan a fair opportunity which he improves to the utmost Solomon saith Where Two are there is Help Eccle. 4. 10. 4thly While Eve is alone the Tempter falls a disputing with her in asking her a Concise and an Abrupt Question Yea hath God said c. That he might Enervate the Authority of the Divine Menace or Commination Hereupon the weaker Vessel Eve gives but a weak Answer for she might in her state of Innocency have that Ignorance which the Schools call a pure Negation not a depraved Disposition which is found in Children c. She might not know whether Serpents could naturally speak or whether there was now any Devil existing not hearing of the fall of Angels she did know her protection of Angels as before so might mistake the Devil in the Serpent for a good Angel and therefore disputes with him and was deceived by him as she confesses Gen. 3. 13. So dangerous it is to dispute with the Devil who is better believ'd away than argu'd away They do but shoot with Satan in his own Bow that think by parlying with this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or subtile Sophister to put him off by this means he draws Eve out of her Trenches of the Divine Praecept and wrings the Sword of the Spirit the Word of God out of her hand then doth he what he will with her yea wins the Day when he had disarm'd her 5thly No sooner had the Woman put in her weak Answer in this Disputation to the Devils Question mincing the matter of the Divine Menace in her Least ye Dye instead of Gods Word Ye shall surely Dye Whereby she made that Danger doubtful only which God had made Certain peremptory and without a peradventure Hereupon this subtile Serpent watching for her halting and when to have her upon the hip doth as confidently deny that sentence of Death v. 4. as God had seriously and severely Threatned it before Gen. 2. 7. Hereby her belief of Gods Word is batter'd down and not opposing the certainty of Gods Threatning which she but seem'd to doubt of in the Disputation against Satans Insinuation in his plain and positive Denyal of it she yieldeth If the Word of God had abode in her she had overcome the Devil 1 Joh. 2. 14. 6thly The Tempter tempts her with an Apple from the Forbidden-Fruit-Tree telling her as some say that there was no death in the Apple according to the Divine Threatning from a proof of his own Experience For saith the subtile Serpent I do climb the Tree and eat of the Fruit thereof and yet am not Dead for so doing This was probably done while Eve looked on and therefore she said at least in her mind That she saw it was good for Food v. 6. Hereupon she concluded that Death was not in the Fruit of the forbidden-Tree and hereupon inclines to take and Eat 7thly The Devil to promote his Plot the more accuses God of Envy to Eve which is truly call'd Morbus Satanicus the Devils own Disease as if God had forbid them the Fruit of this Tree of Knowledge onely out of Envy least their Eating thereof should make them Equal
overturn both the Many and the Mighty of them and Rescue his Little Ones out of all their Hands Zech. 13. 7. Isa 25. 11. none shall Pluck them out of Christs and His Fathers Hands Joh. 10. 28. 29. The Thirteenth Plot against the CHURCH in Canaan Defeated by GOD. CHAP. XIII THe Church's Restless Wretched Adversary Satan seeing he cannot still Hinder the Being of God's Church Trys again his 13th Experiment against the Well-Being of it and that once more before Israels Aristocracy was chang'd into Monarchy to wit in the time of Eli and Samuel the Two last Judges of Israel yet such was the Over-ruling Providence of God above the Devil that whatever Ground he Won upon the Church in Old Eli's Male-Administration he Lost it All again in Young Samuel's Godly Reformation So that here again Divine Dispensations towards the Church concerning Sorrows and Joys were most beautifully Chequered with Interchangeable Colours Magistracy is what the Pole is to the Hop or the Tree to the Ivy or the Wall to the Vine the former gives Support to the latter which cannot stand alone without something to Sustain them The Church's Word to the State is Te Stante Virebo While thou Stands I Flourish This Blessed Nail as Eliakim that Godly Magistrate Keeps all the Vessels of the Lord stedfastly and Holds them from falling to the Ground Isa 22. 24. This the Devil knew well and therefore play'd his Pranks against the Church in that Interval of Magistracy betwixt Joshuah and the Judges in which Interspace Satan wrought and brought down Israel to that gross Idolatry Impiety and Apostacy mentioned in the Five last Chapters of the Book of Judges The Stories whereof there Related that the History of the following Judges might be continued without any Interruption as before did all Befall Israel soon after Joshuah and some 100's of Y. before Sampson whom this Eli immediately succeeded unless we make Phinehas mentioned in Iudg. 20. 28. to live far beyond Moses term Psal 90. 10. even above 300 Y. who was at Mans estate at his Killing Zimri and Cozbi in the Wilderness and therefore could not out-live Samson 'T is said expresly in those Five last Chapters no less than Three times to wit Iudg. 17. 6. and 18. 1. and 21. 25. In those Days there was no King in Israel that is not a King in its proper Sense for so Israel never had a King in any of those Days until Saul's time but no Judge or supream Magistrate to keep Israel in Awe and Order This time of Israels Anarchy before their Aristocracy the Devil Improv'd as his Golden Opportunity wherein to propose and promote his Hellish Projects and to bring All to an Horrible Confusion when there was no publick Power to controul or restrain their Extravagancies Yea this Daring Devil though over-Witted and over-Powered by the onely Wise and Almighty God even upon that Advantage-Ground Durst Attempt the Church when under the Protection of Her Godly Governours as under Sampson of whom 't is said He shall onely Begin to Deliver Israel Iudg. 13. 5. He made some essays to save them from the Oppressing Philistines yet that Oppression lasted 40 Y. v. 1. to wit During the Days of Samson and of Eli his next Successor though Samson was Destroying them all his life and Destroyed more at his Death Iudg. 16. 20. wherein he was a Type of Christ who by his Death overcame Death and him who had the power of Death the Devil Hebr. 2. 14. yet did he onely Begin and kept Doing at the Church's Deliverance both all his Life and at his Death the Perfecting whereof was Reserved for David the Father and Figure of Christ who is both the Founder and Finisher of Faith and Salvation Hebr. 2. 10. and 12. 2. So under Eli who undoubtedly was a Godly Man as is Apparent 1 by his Godly Prayers whereby he made her Amends for his Uncharitable Censure for Disconsolate Hannah The God of Israel Grant thee thy Petition 1 Sam. 1. 17. He having a particular Faith that God would grant her Request if she compos'd her self and cast her Burden or Petition upon the Lord Psal 55. 22. promises his own Prayers for that purpose and hids her Go in Peace which she did taking the High-Priest's Answer for an Oracle being Comforted with this Comfort and having Pray'd down her Discomfort as David oft did 2 by his Humble and Hearty Submission to the Will of God when Declared to him 1. by the Mouth of the Man of God 1 Sam. 2. 27. and 2ly by the Mouth of his Young Minister Samuel Chap. 3. 11. 17. Eli said upon the Hearing thereof v. 18. It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good id est His Holy Will be done I and my House have Deserved All God hath Just cause to punish but not I to murmur I must patiently bear what God pleases to Inflict He is too kind to do me harm too just to do me wrong he will turn Temporal evil to my Everlasting good 3 by his Trembling for the Ark of God Chap. 4. 13. out of his Zeal for God's Glory and the Church's Good lest Israel should lose and Philistines get the Sign of God's Presence He loved his Spirituals better then his Temporals he could hear with patience of the loss of some Thousands and of the loss of his Two Sons but when he heard of the loss of the Ark this goes like a Dagger to his Heart and 't is a Question whether his Neck or his Heart were first Broken v. 18. Like a godly Man he cannot live without the Ark of God no Sword of the Uncircumcised could have given him a more Mortal Blow than the Report of this Loss that struck him down into a deadly swound Yet was he not Driven away in his Wickedness as is a Wicked Man but he had Hope in his Death as a Righteous One Prov. 14. 32. He that could not Live without the Ark of God how could he Dye without the God of the Ark The Sins of his Sons Displeas'd his godly Soul and he Reproov'd them for it yet more Mildly than was meet hence God Writ his Sin upon his Punishment He that minded not in time to Break the stiff Neck of his stubborn Sons while Young Prov. 19. 18. had now his own Neck broken And though he was not a good Father to his Sons yet was he Himself a good Son to God and his Memory is Blessed among all the other Godly Judges saith Wisdom or Eedus Chap. 46. 11. in the Apocrypha Although Eli was a Godly Man and both Judge over Civil and High-Priest over Ecclesiastick Affairs and so had a most Precious Price put into his Hands for promoting the Church's Weal yet the Devil made a Fool of him so that he hath no Heart to it Prov. 17. 10. and this Satan did Accomplish 1. by Prompting him to too much Indulgency towards his Dissolute Sons 2ly by Tempting him to a too much Neglect of
Day But suppose they had been of that Moyety of Mankind that lye dead in the Grave as Psal 88. 5. and that Death had not onely seiz'd but also fed upon them and had Gnawed them to the very bones leaving nothing but bare bones yea suppose those bones had been dryed yea so very much dryed ex Vetustate Carie both so old and so rotten as ready to moulder into Dust at the least Touch yet the great God who comes to stand over these Opened Graves as Christ did over Lazarus's Joh. 11. 38 41. and who by his Almighty Power can quicken the Dead and call things that are not as if they were Rom. 5. 17. Joh. 5. 28. Isa 26. 19. Hos 13. 14. he cryeth with some Groanings over the Grave Lazarus Judah Oh my People Oh my Church come forth Joh. 11. 43. Ezek. 37. 12. Yea he Roareth mightily from on high Ier. 25. 30. like the lusty Lyon finding his Whelps dead in his Den at their birth he falls a Roaring so fiercely that as Pliny Reports they presently revive and rise up So the Lyon of the Tribe of Iudah Roareth here to the like purpose and much more at the last Day 1 Thess 4. 16. 1 Cor. 15. 52. together with Gods Word there goeth out a Power Luk. 5. 17. as when he said Lazarus come forth So it is in the first Resurrection and so it shall be in the last Joh. 5. 25 28 29. If God do but Speak to the dry bones saying Ye shall Live c. accordingly it is done as in the Creation of the World Gen. 1. 3 6 9 14 c. The Admirable Work of this great World was all made by a bare Word out of the Mouth of the Almighty God and He who could give a being out of nothing at the first can more easily restore a Being out of something again as out of dry Bones here This great Truth Ezekiel Gods Interpreter excellently Evidenceth in his Parabolical and Typical Vision of the dry Bones most aptly Applyed and Accomodated to the Jewish-Church in the Graves of Babylon which yet was Reviv'd Ezek. 37. v. 7. 1. By a Noise or Rattle to wit some Roaring Thunderclap 2. By a Shakeing as that of the Earthquake at Christs Resurrection Matth. 28. 2. the Earth did shake then to let Christ out of his Grave and now to let the Church out and when God delivers his Church from mystical Babylon he will shake Heaven as well as Earth Hebr. 12. 26 27. he will shake the old Heaven and the old Earth to settle the New Heaven and the New Earth 2 Pet. 3. 12 13. Gods Shakeing concludes with Settling 't is not to Ruine but to Refine his Church Oh what a Noise and what a Shakeing was made here by Ordinary Means as well as by Extraordinary in the Thunderelap above and in the Earthquake below to wit 1. by the Power of Prayer 2. by a prevalent Proclamation 1. Prayer hath a shakeing Power Act. 4. 31. Yea and a ratling Noise or Sound with it Act. 2. 2. as Ezekiels Vision of the dry bones had both those Two extraordinary and sensible Signs of Gods powerful presence so the Spirit of God came upon those Praying Ones as a Spirit of Power 2 ' Tim. 1. 7. and shakes the place of Prayr with a mighty rushing Wind and shakes the Persons too at that first planting of the Gospel as Planters do to young Plants that they may settle the better Now this Powerful Prayr for the Jewish-Churches Restoration out of Babylon was Threefold 1. That of Solomon 1 Kin. 8. from 46 to 54. this very Prayr though made about 468 Y. before shakes the Heart of the Persian Prince Cyrus so as to shew Compassion to Gods poor people in Babylon and at length gives them leave to Return thus Jacobs Prayr God Almighty give you Mercy or Hebr. Bowels Gen. 43. 14. was particularly Answer'd when Josephs Bowels yerned over Benjamin v. 30. 2. That of Daniel when he Vnderstood by Books how the 70 Y. were expired then he puts Gods Promise in Suit and speaks nothing in his Prayers but what God had spoke in his Promises and so was Answer'd by God in his Providences Dan. 9. 2 4 20. This Prayr shakes Heaven brings from thence Gabriel who tells him for the 70 Y. Captivity they shall enjoy their own Countrey Seven Seventies or 490 Y. v. 24. 3. That of the People who Prayed Fasted and Wept by the Waters of Babylon Psal 137. 1 2 3. 1 Kin. 8. 47 48. Zech. 7. 5. Those Three Actions in those 70 Y. shows the Church was no more Dead in Babylon than Daniel was in his Den for they are all Actions of the Living not of the Dead They Sow in Tears the precious Seed of Prayr Wing'd with Fasting so Reaps at last in joy Their Desolate Countrey made them Disconsolate Souls yet their Sighs unutterable brought Joy Vnspeakable Psal 126. 1 2 5 6. Then comes the 2d Shake Cyrus prevalent Proclamation the Lord stirring up his Spirit to it Ezra 1. 1 c. This turn'd the Churches Tears into Triumphs her Sighing into Singing her Sadness into Gladness And the Devil for all his Plots hath the Contrary to all these is Sad at his Defeat and goes learing away Now when God in whose Hand are the Hearts of all Kings Prov. 21.1 had most Happily stirr'd up the Spirit of Cyrus to Issue out his most Gracious Proclamation of a Jubilee to the Distressed Church wherein he was a Type of Christ Proclaiming Liberty to the Captives and the Opening of the Prison to them that are bound Isa 61. 1. and to give her so fair and full a Patent this Mighty Marvellous and Immediate Work of Divine Mercy in her so deplorable misery did so surprize her that she could hardly believe her own Eyes but was for a while as those that Dream Psal 126. 1. This was the Lords own Doing and most Marvellous in the Churches Eyes Psal 118. 23. especially upon those Respects 1. That their Graves should be opened 2. That their dry Bones should live again stand upon their Feet walk home into their own Countrey build a Temple c. 3. That Cyrus an Heathen King who did not know the Lord Sc. savingly Isa 45. 4 5. should not onely be called by Name above 170 Y. before he was Born to become the Lords Shepherd to Feed his distressed Church Isa 44. 28. but also 4. in the very Entrance into his Monarchy before his Affairs were fully settled to Dismiss so great and so United a People in their Religion and Custom and so given to Insurrection as their Character was Ezra 4. 12 19. and to Return them into their own Land with all manner of Accomodations both for State and Strength 5. 'T was most marvellous That this Decree or Proclamation should be Signed not onely 1. Precisely at the End of Daniels Prayer Dan. 9. 21 23. and 10. 12 14. No sooner was Daniels Prayer out of his
had been some Months shut up by Haman in the Dark Dungeon of Deep perplexity Esth 3. 15. from that time walking in the very Vale of the shaddow the Darkest side of Death Psal 23. 4. yet there God takes his Church by the Hand and leads her through that Dark Entry into Light and Gladness The Churches Light had been Sown for her upon a safe Soil Psal 97. 11. All the time of Haman's Heart-grieving Grandeur it lay under the Clods as Seed under-ground for a while Unseen but now 't is Risen up for the Righteous and their Seed-time brought in a Blessed Harvest Psal 126. 2 5 6. when Haman was faln from the Pallace to the Gallows and from the highest Stage of Honour to the lowest Stair and Step of Ignominy thus Sings the Poet Ludit in Humanis Divina potentia Rebus Gods Providence often tosseth Great Favourites like a Tennis-Ball now up and now down from the highest Honour to extream Infamy when Hamans Greatness was Hang'd up and himself wrap'd up in a Sheet of perpetual Shame then Shushan the Lilly Hebr. and the Church the Lilly Cant. 2. 3. now look'd most Lightsome and Lovely and that Lucky Day as Haman had Deem'd it but was Deluded by the Devil had Deceived the Hamanists and by a swâ—â—â— and Gracious Providence was turn'd to 〈◊〉 contrary to wit an unlucky and Bloody Day to themselves who had design'd it a Destructive-Day to the Church Esth 9. 1 4 6 10 16. Now the jollity of the Iews began being deliver'd from their perplexity by Standing for their Lives upon the Thirteenth day Hamans Lucky Unluckyday on the very next the 14th day they made a Day of Feasting and Gladness v. 17. not deferring one day longer while the mercy was fresh and yet of Recent Remembrance they Proclaim the Praises of their Delivering-God and speak good of his Name covering Gods Altar with the Calves of their Lips and paying their Vows to the Lord Yea and on the 15th too they do the same as if one day the 14th had been too little wherein to Magnifie Gods Mercy in Psalms and Sacrifices of Praise and to Testifie their own Thankfulness to him for their Lives Liberties and Estates so lately and so Liberally Restored to them v. 18. and the Observation of those Three Days the former as a Fasting the latter as Feasting Days as say some became a Standing Law for both City and Countrey v. 20 21. not as any Addition to the Word of God but onely as a Sacred Memorial of this so Remarkable and Memorable Mercy in turning them from Mourning to Mirth c. v. 22. from the Jaws of most dreadful Death into the Joys of a most Glorious Deliverance Thus God can turn and hath often turned the Churches Sadness into Gladness her Sighing into Singing and her Tears into Triumph all Hamans and Hamanists notwithstanding all their Fraud and Force Craft and Cruelty shall find to their Cost that there is no Inchantment against Jacob nor any Divination against Israel Yea it shall be said of the Church Oh what hath God wrought Numb 23. 23. Such Savoury Discourse the Godly Iews were Appointed to have upon those Days of Purim so called for a Brand on Hamans casting Pur or Lots for a Lucky Day as we should have for our Deliverance from the Devils Water-Works in Eighty-Eight and from his Fire-Works on that famous Fifth of November This Annual Festivity Esth 9. 23 26 28. was so Solemnly enjoyned that Yearly the Jews kept it until the Comming of Christ and do indeed though Abusively Keep it to this Day counting and calling all that Cross them so many Humans and Fondly please themselves with Hopes of being Revenged of them as their Fathers were of this Haman The Memorial of the Matter of their Fasting v. 31. most probably on the 13th Day and of their Feasting on the Two following Days was not to Perish from their Seed but to be perpetuated from one Generation to another and therefore was Registred for Posterity that the People which should be Created might Praise the Lord Psal 102. 18. Popish Persons keep not the 14th of February so well in their Vain Valentines and least they should sleight and slack this Sacred Service Queen Esther and Prince Mordecai did Confirm the Letter Writ in the Y. foregoing in the Y. following v. 20 29. And Mordecai all his Life kept his Dignity Seeking the Weal of his People and Speaking Peace to all His Seed v. 30 31. and Ch. 10. 3. God Rais'd him up for the Comfort of his Church not onely in Speaking Good of and for His Countrey-Men then Living in the 127 Provinces to the King Promoting their Prosperity to the Utmost all his Days but also in Speaking Prosperity to all their Posterity providing for Future that after his Death the Weal of the Church might be Continued How long this lasted the Scripture-History which extendeth no further doth not Express To know therefore how it Fared with the Church after we must have Recourse to Scripture-Prophesie for Scripture-History gives onely some short Intimations thereof as Gen. 49. 10. tells us How the Scepter should not Depart from Judah until Shiloh or Christ come and Luk. 3. in the Genealogy of Christ Sheweth how Gods Providence made Good that Precious Promise in giving David a Lamp or Light in Jerusalem until Christ the Son of David was Born into the World Even all the Prophets the Greater and the Lesser do Prophecy of the future Estate of the Church from their own present Time and of the Comming of Christ which should make the Glory of the latter House to Exceed the Glory of the former But more especially the Prophet Daniel Writes a Prophetical History of the Church during that Interspace of Time in Chap. the 7th he Declareth his Vision of the Four Monarchies which troubled the World especially the Church from the First Rising of Nebuchadnezzar till the Comming of the Everlasting Kingdome of Christ in the Gospel In Chap. 8 9 10 11 and 12. Christ Himself comes to him and gives him a Revelation as he did to John in Patmos how it should Fare with the Jewish-Church under their Powerful Enemies until the Fury of Antiochus Epiphanes Polybius calls him Epimanes the Mad-Man their worst Adversary was over Daniel Declares How this Mad Antiochus would Violate the Sanctuary and Cast down Religion into the Dirt for Three Y. and an Half or 1290 Days yet Comforteth the Church with this Cordial That He who Waiteth and Liveth Forty Five Days more should see an End of Antiochus and of all his Crafty and Cruel Plots against the Church and that in Fullness of Time the Messiah would come to Finish Transgression and to bring in Everlasting Righteousness c. Dan. 9. 24. and Change the National Church of the Jews therefore much Wasted then because Shortly to be Changed into Congregational-Churches by the Gospel Gal. 1. 22. 1 Thess 2. 14. To know more particularly how God
and wearing Arms against God and so Exposing themselves to his Wrath Matth. 28. 4. and 't was the Trembling of the Earth that now had Possession of Christ who proved too Hot a Mouthful for it to swallow Act. 2. 24. together with the Apparition of a Glorious Angel Rouling away the great Stone from the Mouth of the Sepulchre and sitting down upon it in Despight of the Guard as a Conquerour which made the Watch Tremble the stoutest of the Devils Champions shrink and shrivel away when Christ begins to Display his Glory Neither the Weight of the great Stone nor the Watch of the Stout Souldiers nor yet the Bands of Death stronger than all so strong as to hold fast many Millions of Men from Adam to this Day under the power of Death could Hold the Dead Body of Christ from Rising beyond his own time To all those Three Impeding Maladies God found out and Applyed as many even Three most Effectual Remedies for 1. The great Stone that was laid upon the Tomb by Man was Roul'd away by an Angel 2. The Earth-quake makes an Heart-quake in the Watch insomuch that they though Sixty of them according to Theophylact are all Affrighted away And 3 the Deity of Christ Losed or Broke the Bands of Death Act 2. 24. for Chist being Life Essential it was not possible he should be Holden of them therefore he Swallowed up Death in Victory 1 Cor. 15. 54. His Resurrection was to be the Demonstration of His Divine Nature Rom. 1. 4. and the Foundation of our Faith and Perseverance 1 Cor. 15. 14. notwithstanding their malicious Wresting of Christs words Destroy this Temple of my Body yet I will Raise it again the Third Day Joh 2. 19. the meaning of which they Invert and made it a matter of Accusation against him at his Arraignment Matth. 26. 61. but after his Interrment they take up his Right meaning and made Advantage of it for Secureing him fast in his Sepulchre calling the Faithful and True Witness Revel 1. 5. and 3. 7. this Cheat or Deceiver Matth. 27. 63. yet the Lord turns all their Wicked Counsel into Folly 2 Sam. 15. 31. 1 Cor. 1. 19 25. c. and in the sight and Despight of Sixty Weaponed Witnesses After the Sun of Righteousness had been sett in the Grave Six and Thirty Hours just so long as the Sun in the Firmament had his Course stop'd on Joshuahs long Day Josh 10. 13. Then did Christ Break the Bonds of Death as easily as Samson did his Green Wit hs Judg. 16.7 and Rose up on the first Day to bring Life and Immortality to light by the Gospel 2 Tim. 1. 10. upon the same Day that God had drawn out of that Abhorred Estate of Nothing and brought the first Light out of Original Darkness by his Almighty Word Gen. 1. 2 5. The Twenty-Fifth Plot in the New-Testament against the Church in Apostles Defeated by God CHAP. XXV AFter a few Days that Christ was Risen out of his Grave he Rode up to Heaven as a Conquerour in his Triumphant Chariot over Sin Death Hell and Devil leading Captivity Captive that is Captivating all those Four who had held us in Captivity 2 Tim. 2. 26. Just as in the Roman-Triumphs the Great Conquerour Rode up to the Capitol in a Chariot of State and all their Prisoners following behind with their Hands bound behind them He Throwing certain pieces of Coin abroad all along as he Ascended to be pick'd up by the People Even so our Lord Christ that Mighty Conquerour in the Day of his Solemn Coronation or Inauguration into his Heavenly Kingdom Triumphed over all those Spiritual Adversaries of his Church making a shew of them openly Col. 2. 15. as Tamberlain did the Great Turk Bajazet whom he carried about all Asia shut up in an Iron-Cage to be seen of all Spectators on every side for Scorn and Derision And Christ likewise that the Grandeur of his Glorious Conquest might be more magnificently Celebrated gave great Gifts to Men 'T is said he Received those Gifts before in the Old Testament Psal 68. 18. and he Gave them now in the New Ephes 4. 8. He Received them that he might Give them he therefore Receives them with one Hand and Gives them with the other Accounting it more Honourable to give than to receive Act. 20. 35. Now the Gifts Christ gave to his Church were both Ordinary and Extraordinary to wit Apostles Prophets Evangelists Pastours Teachers All Gifted by God for the Perfecting of the Saints for the Work of the Ministry and for the Edifying of the Body of Christ Ephes 4. 8 11 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is for the right Joynting of what ever the Devil may Disjoynt even to the End of the World v. 13. before which a compleat comming up into an Vnity of the Faith and unto that full Measure of the Stature of Christ even a Perfection of Grace cannot be expected Hence Christ Insists upon this point that his going from his Disciples was as Expedient as his comming to them Joh. 16. 7. He came to them that he might Converse with them in the Flesh but he must Depart from them that he might Conferr upon them his Spirit Christ had often promis'd to send the Spirit or Comforter to them in his Life time John 14. 16 26. and 15. 26. and 16. 7. that they might once observe it as an unparallel Priviledge to have the Spirit which is the best of all things powred down upon all Flesh the worst of all things Hos 8. 13. Joel 2. 28. Christ tells them that this Spirit whom he calls Another Comforter whereof they would stand in need during his Departure in an Evil World should be as his Vicar-General with whom he would leave them in a dark forlorn World and by whom he would be with them and with their Successors even to the End of the World Mat. 28. 20. Now after his Resurrection He Breath'd on them saying Receive ye the Holy Ghost Joh. 20. 22. as Adam received Life by Gods Breathing upon him so the Disciples received a power of Life and Death of Remission of Sin and Execution of Judgment as Act. 5. 5. 10. by Christs Breathing upon them or at least this Breathing was a prefiguring-preparation for their further and fuller Reception of the Spirit upon the Day of Pentecost which Christ had Promised Luk. 24. 49. and did perform over and over again Act. 2. 2 3 4. and 4. 31 33. whereby they were Enabled as Christ had told them to do greater Works than he did Joh. 14. 12. not for the Manner they doing all in Christs Name not in their own nor as Equal with God but for matter greater as 1 Converting Three Thousand Souls at one Sermon alas now not one Soul scarce is Converted by Three Thousand Sermons Act. 2. 41. 2 Curcing the Diseased not onely by a Word speaking or an Hand touching but also by the shaddow of Peter passing by Act. 5.