THE WAY of GOD WITH HIS PEOPLE IN THESE NATIONS Opened in A Thanksgiving Sermon preached on the 5th of November 1656. before the Right Honorable the High Court of Parliament By PETER STERRY LONDON Printed by Peter Cole Book-seller and Printer and are to be sold at his Shop at the sign of the Printing-Press in Cornhil neer the Royal Exchange 1657. FOR THE RIGHT HONORABLE The High Court of Parliament The Epistle Dedicatory Right Honorable I Have obeyed your Commands in Printing this Sermon as I did in Preaching it O that in both the Sermon may prove an Alablaster Box and the Name of Jesus Christ as an Oyntment powred forth from it We are in a Wilderness Clouds of Darkness and Doubt Fires of Danger Dissention and Wrath are in the midst of us round about us That the Presence of Christ may be the Pillar of a Cloud and of Fire to go before you as a Light in Difficulties to stand behind you as a Defence in Dangers is the continual Prayer of Your Honors most humble Servant in Christ PETER STERRY Fryday the 7th of Novemb. 1656. ORdered by the Parliament That Mr. Sterry have the Thanks of this House for his great Pains taken in his Sermon preached before this House at Margarets Westminster on the 5th of Novemb. Being a day set apart for Publick Thanksgiving and that he be desired to Print his Sermon and that he have the like Priviledg in Printing as hath been formerly allowed to others in like Cases And that Col. John Jones do give him the Thanks of this House accordingly Henry Scobell Clerk of the Parliament A SERMON preached before the Right Honorable House of Parliament on the 5. of November 1656. Being a Thanksgiving Day for the Victory over the Spaniards West-Indie Fleet Isaiah 9. 5. For every battel of the warriour is with confused noise and Garments rolled in Blood but this shal be with burning and Fuel of fire THis verse is a Prophecy of the deliverance of Jerusalem from the siege by Sennacherib of which you have the compleat Hystory afterwards in this Book Chap. 36. Chap. 37. In the first verse of this Chapter mention is made of Two dark seasons which affected the Kingdom of Israel One was when Tiglath Pilezer invaded part of the Land and carryed part of the people into Captivity of which you may read 2. Kings 15. 29. The other was when Salmanaser over-run the whol Land carryed captive the generality of the people and set an end to that Kingdom The Lord comforteth his people of the Kingdom of Judah that the trouble which was to come upon them by Sennacherib should not be so grievous as either of these For saith he Nevertheles the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the Land of Naphtali and afterwards did more grievously affict her by the way of the Sea Jordan in Galile of the Nations The second verse is a great Promise of Deliverance The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light they that dwel in the Land of the shadow of death upon them hath the light shined The Prophet speaks of al the Jews in both Kingdoms as one Body When the Kingdome of Israel was laid wast it is probable that many of those ten Tribes fled into the land of Judah When Sennacherib invaded Judah ruining the Countreys as he passed with his army the multitude of the people retyred before him into Jerusalem The King of Assyria besiegeth that great City and with his mighty Army over shadows it as with Darkness and the shadow of Death Now in the thickness of this darkness a light ariseth and shines forth upon the people by the prayer of Hezekiah the prophecy of Esaiah the descent of the Lord from Heaven by a mighty Angel Behold the difference which God makes between the Kingdom of Israel and of Judah those who set up Calves to themselves who worship the maker of Heaven and Earth after the Imaginations of their own heart in the Images and works of their own hands and those who worship him in his own Temple at Jerusalem which is a figure of Jesus Christ the only Image of the Invisible God as he makes himself known to us by his own Spirit You have three sences of the first part of the 3. verse Thou hast meltiplyed the Nation and hast not increased the joy Some apply this to Sennacheribs Army which was so numerous and a Collection of so many Nations The Heathen were gathered together agaiust Jerusalem in vast numbers but they had no joy in it proportionable to their Combinations and their Confidence Others interpret it of the Jews shut up in Jerusalem during the siege You may read the words as the Margin points it out to you in stead of Thou hast not increased the joy thou hast increased the joy to hiâ— that is to Hezekiah who was then King of Judah as if he should say Thou hast by occasion of this siege multiplied the people round about Hezekiah in Jerusalem and now in the Eyes of them al thou settest him up on high and increasâ—st his joy by that Miracle which thou workest to deliver them for his sake Or else there is a sweet Antithesis or Opposition in the words On Sennacheribs part thou multipliest the Nation his Army and outward strengths but thou increasest the joy to Hezekiah They joy before thee according to the joy of harvest and as men rejoyce when they divide the Spoile This was the joy of the people of God when they came forth from the City and found the dead bodys of their enemies lying in the fields like Corn newly cut down and their treasures like ful Ears of Corn We may observe two things from this verse First The end of affliction frequently is to gather up beleevers close to Jesus Christ in his own person or in the Anoyntings of his spirit upon some chosen ones that he may increase the honor and joy of these in the sight of al the people by that Salvation which he works thorow them and for their sakes Secondly The joy of the Saints in their deliverances is a Double joy a Harvest of spiritual glories and consolations in the appearances of God to them the spoil of the enemy whose Power and wealth becomes theirs while they are cut off by the appearances of God for his beloved Thus Jesus Christ at the same time ascended into Heaven to the Father and spoyled the powers and Principalities of this world carrying Captivity Captive Thus our Savior tels the Saints that what ever they lose that is dear to them in this world they shal have it again an hundred-fold and everlasting Life There is the harvest of Spiritual joyes everlasting Life There is the spoil of the enemy and Captivity Captivated when they recover al the Beautys joyes sweetnesses of this world out of the hand of the enemy and have them an
to shew That the Mystery of these Riches in which al Saints and Holy Spirits have an immortal Fellowship one with another as in a retired Paradice is that secret Wheel hidden in God on which the whol Creation is turned from the beginning to the End And to make al men see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of the world is hidden in God who created al things by Jesus Christ Verse 10 We are taught that the intent of God in the Riches of Christ is that the Angels themselvs who rule the whol world as the Heads of al Created Beings Power and Operations even the highest of them and that in the midst of their Heavenly Glories should have new Discoveries of the Wisdom of God in the variety of its Wayes and Contrivances by the workings of God according to Christ in the Church and from the Church upon the World To the intent That now unto the Principalities and Powers in Heavenly places may be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God Verse 11. According to the Eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord The only Rule and Line by which God walks and works is the eternal Draught or Platform in the Person of Christ Let us now lay to this Scripture that of Matt. 28. 18. All Power is given unto me in Heaven and Earth They are the words of our Savior being risen from the dead The word Power as it is in the Greek signifieth Eminency Authority Magistracy Rule Heaven and Earth have Four Senses which are all intended here First These Heavens and Earth which we see with our Eyes Secondly Things Visible and Invisible Thirdly Grace and Nature or the things of God and of the Creature Fourthly The Church and Common-wealth Civil and Religious Affairs if this be a distinct Sense from that before it You see by this Scripture what use Jesus Christ hath for those Vnsearchable Riches mentioned in the former Scripture and to what imployment he puts them even to rule All in Heaven and in Earth among Spirits Angels and Men in Grace and Nature in Church and Common-wealth I intreat you now to make a stand for a little while and to look back upon the joynt sense of these two Scriptures the Riches and the Rule of Christ that we may see how they make for our present purpose for the opening and proving of our Point that God â—â—lights to go new waies with his Church and with the World as also that we may be affected with them in our own hearts The Lord saith in the Gospel That a good man out of the good Treasury of his heart bringeth forth good things We know that if a man speak who is full and hath much to say he speaks quick passeth with a freshness from one thing to another and is still saying new things What Rarities then what great what new things may we expect every day in the Affairs of the world for the Interest of the Church when as the Person who hath the Government of All is Hee who hath in himself Vnsearchable Riches What Comforts is this to afflicted ones what allurement to sinners what ground of Hope and rejoycing to Beleevers what Light and Direction to States-men what Humiliation in themselves what Exaltation in Christ unto all It is Jesus Christ who hath all Power in Heaven and Earth in Spiritual Civil and Natural things who rules them all according to the Vnsearchable Riches which he hath in himself of Mercy Righteousness Holiness Life Joy Glory Wisdom and Power Let every one now that is weary and heavy laden with any burden of sin guilt wrath sickness or sorrow cry out O the Preciousness of the Love and Vertue of Christ how unvaluable are they O the Plentifulness of those Precious Loves and Vertues how are they more for number than the Sand on the Sea-shore or the Stars in Heaven I will no more look down upon the Darkness of mine own condition nor round about for Help or Happiness from the Creature I will wait upon him for visits every morning for influences every moment upon my Soul Body Relations Affairs and those Great above my Understanding or Expectation New without Number or End There is a third Scripture which concurrs so fully with these Two mentioned before which so comprehends the sence of them both which gives so much light and strength to our present buisness that I may not omit it Ephes. 1. verse 20 21 22. Which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places Farr above al principality and power and every name that is named not only in this world but in that which is to come And hath put al things under his feet and gave him to be the head over al things to the Church Pray observe some few short Particulars which lye faire in the very outside of the words First The Lord Jesus stands not now in any Root of Nature but upon a supernatural Root in the Resurrection from the dead by the Almighty power of the Father Secondly He is not in the Capacity of his Humane but of his divine Nature He is at the Right Hand of God that is in the Love strength Joy Glory of the God-head As the Left Hand of God is his wrath his strange work his Disguise so his Right Hand is Love his naked Face his proper form where he is seen as he is as the Saints shal behold him Thirdly He is not rank't in any order of the Creatures He is set above al ranks and orders of Created things both men and Angels with their several dignitys and degrees Farr above principalitys and powers Fourthly He is cloath'd with an Image a form which hath no Proportion Similitude or Agreement with any thing of the Creature He hath a Name above every Name that is Named in this world and that which is to come The Name of Christ which is the Image of his Nature is not only above Sun Moon and Starres with al the powers of these Visible Heavens and Living men upon the Earth but also above the Angelical world in its freshest glory as it is that world which is next to be unvailed and come forth upon the stage before the Eyes of men when the Saints shal be as the Angels of God Fifthly Jesus Christ as his Person is thus stated and in this Capacity is made the Head over al things to contrive command work al every where as the Head doth in the body which is the seat of the understanding the fountaine of sence and Motion Sixthly Al this is in order to the Church for the Churches sake He is given to be head over all to the Church that the Propriety the pleasure the Profite in his Person Power and Rule might be the Churches A Miracle is defined to be that which is Supra ordinem totius naturae creatae Above the order of
to the world for the Churches sake I come now to the Uses Use 1. The first Vse is of Thankfulness God makes it his delight and praise to go new and extraordinary waies with his Church and with the world in order to his Church Let us then raise our delights and his praises from the sense of those new and extraordinary paths in which the Lord hath walked forth before our Eyes in the midst of al the nations round about us for our sake That the Newness of the divine footsteps in our dais and in our Land may leave the deeper print upon our spirits let us consider it in these Six Particulars 1. Our Changes 2. The Quickness of our changes 3. The Freshness upon our Changes 4. The inward Life whence our Changes spring 5. The Seal upon our Changes from their Living Principle 6. The Spirit of Grace evidencing it self as the Principle and the Seal First The Changes Which have been upon us shew the Newness of the Lords way with us Jerem 48. 11. The Lord complains Moab hath been at ease from his youth and he hath setled on his Lees and he hath not been emptyed from Vessel to Vessel therefore his tast remained in him and his sent is not changed How often hath England been changed from Peace to Warr from one Warr to another from one form of Government to another from Extremities to Enlargements from Enlargements to Extremities again These Changes have been as so many Vessels out of which and into which we have been emptyed Are we stil upon the Lees of Carnality and Corruption If we discern not God in a new Glory if we discern not Jesus Christ with his new name if we discern not the Newness of the Operations of the Spirit in al these things then doth our Earthly tast hitherto remain and our fleshly sent is not changed O for a refinedness of Soul now from the Lees of Earth to a pure wine of spirituality O for a heavenly tast a heavenly sent How should we rellish this feast of new delicacys which the Lord sets forth for us How should we love Jesus Christ for the Savor of his new and good Oyntments in which he powrs forth himself into the midst of us Revel. 6. 12. We reade of the Sun turning black as Sack Cloath of Hair the Moon as blood vers. 13. Stars of Heaven fel unto the Earth even as a Fig-tree casteth her untimely Figs being shaken by a mighty winde Verse 14. Heaven departed as a Scroule rolled together Verse 16. The reason of al this i. e. The Face of him that sits on the Throne and the wrath of the Lamb Many times over in this our little world of these divided Islands we have seen the Sun of our Religious Formes our Church-state becomming black as a Sack-Cloath of Hair which is a mourning weed the Moon of our Civil affayres as Blood Nay al Blood we have seen the Heaven of the Supream power pass away as a scrol of Parchment roled up and laid by our Eminent Persons which were as Stars in the Heaven of that Power shining with a Lustre and ruling with an Influence of universal Authority yet on a soden falling from this Heaven to the Earth of a common rank and obscure condition Do we not thorow al this perceive the Face of God sitting upon his Throne among us a Throne of most exalted Grace and loving kindness to his people but of the most exalted vengeance and wrath to his enemy observe those two things the Face and the Face of God sitting upon the Throne What unvailings of new and extraordinary glorys do these Expressions speak forth Are not these the Seal to which these Nations as Wax are turned and changed Blessed are they that stand within these Wheels to be carryed a long by them and move together with them Over others who see them not these Wheels pass and break them to pieces Joel 2. 30. The Lord saith I wil shew wonders in the Heavens and in the Earth Blood and Fire and pillars of smoake Verse 31. The Sun shal be turned into darkness and the Moon into blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord come There are three daies of the Lords comming First To a Particular Nation Secondly At his Incarnation Thirdly To the last Judgment Al these are Capable of having this Scripture applyed to them especially where the first of these daies the Comming of Christ to a Nation follows after the Second day of his Incarnation and borders upon the Third day of his last comming This Scripture hath been litterally fulfilled in our times in our land What frequent Eclypses of Sun and Moon have we seen What Comets Concussions and Prodigyes in al the Elements Earth-quakes Tydes changing their Courses Meteors of al sorts in the Ayre Devouring Fires Behold the Earth the Air the Waters the Fire the Heavens see the Lord and are troubled shal his Saints be insensible of him shal not they shout and say This is the day which no Created or usual light but the Lord hath made by his shinings forth It is wonderful in our Eyes beyond the whol Course of Nature we wil rejoyce and he glad in it Secondly The Quickness of our Changes This is the Second thing that argues the Newness of Gods way with us I intreate you here to compare 2 Scriptures Hagg. 2. 6. For thus saith the Lord of hosts Yet once it is a little while and I wil shake the Heavens and the Earth and the Sea and the dry land verse 7. And I wil shake al Nations and the desire of al the Nations shâ—l come and I wil fil this House with glory saith the Lord of hosts Hebr. 12. 26. Whose voyce then shook the Earth but he hath promised saying Yet once more I shake not the Earth only but also the Heaven Verse 27. And this word yet once more signifieth the removing of those things that are made that those things which cannot be shaken may remaine The comparing of these two Texts affords us these Particular Observations First This word Once signifies one continued act of shaking unto an universal and Total Change Secondly That which maks this shaking is the Newness of Christs comming forth in the unchangable Glory of his Father and of the Spirit For the Prophet Haggi seeming to speak of the first comming of Christ in the flesh to fil that present Temple which was then building with the Glory of his Doctrine and Miracles is by the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews interpreted of the comming of Christ in Glory as being the truth and the end to which the other comming was only a Type and a Preparation So also that which the Prophet calls The Desire of the Nations is in the Hebrews called Those things which cannot be shaken in opposition to things that are made and to be taken away Both together cleerly describe Jesus Christ in the Newness of a Heavenly Glory which can never
hundred-fold by possessing al even that which was the enemies too by having al after a loss a fight by a victory having al natural joyes heighthned by their Vnion with spiritual enjoyments The deliverance of Jerusalem from Sennacherib is set out in verse 4. by a comparison with the destruction of Midian Thou hast broken the yoke of his burthen and the staff of his Shoulder and the rod of his oppressour as in the day of Midian You may see the story of Midian in the seventh Chapter of Judges It was wholly miraculous and had these Eztraordinary things in it First God divided Gideon's Army from him by one Division upon another until he had lessened it from thirty thousand to three hundred vers. 3. 6 7. Secondly The terror upon the spirit of the Midianites and courage infused into Gideon by a dream verse 13 14 15. Thirdly The manner of the victory on Gideon's part who with his men stood stil breaking their pitchers holding forth their Lamps blowing with their Trumpets crying The Sword of the Lord and of Gideon which were al signs of faith and Prayer of the vertue of the Death Resurrection Glory and Spirit of the Lord Jesus in the Gospel verse 20 21. Fourthly the destruction of the Midianites one by another before that Gideon or his men strik one strok The overthrow of Sennacherib and his Army holds a resemblance with that of Midian in general in the miraculousness of it in particulars First Al the land of Judah was over-run and only Jerusalem left where also was as commentatours tel us from the Scripture a powerful numerous party divided from Hezekiah in a conspiracy to deliver up the City to Sennacherib Secondly Hezehiah's mourning and Humiliation was the breaking of the Pitcher Esaiah's prophecy and message to him upon it which was ful of spirituality of Evangelicalness of tryumph which was the Lamps shining forth upon the breaking of the pitcher the Comming down of the Angel by which the Army perished was the sounding of the Trumpet and the cry of the Sword of the Lord Thirdly The Army was overthrown without a fight Fourthly Sennacherib was slaine by his own Sons as the Midianites set every man his Sword against his fellow In the 9. verse the Reason of this wonderful Salvation is given For to us a Child is born to us a Son is given c. This in the letter is expounded of Hezekiah as he was a figure of Christ But the Jews themselves acknowledg this whol Scripture to have a more sublime sense and to relate to the Messiah which is Jesus Christ We may learn this from it First That al the eminent works and wonders of God in the world by which he saves his people or executes vengeance on his enemies are figures and forerunners of the Day of Christ Secondly Some new birth and bringing forth of Christ into the world in his own Person or in his spirit or in some eminent Type or Saint or Dispensation is the ground on which God builds his works of wonder in the world for the good of his Church or the Ruin of wicked men and powers Having thus levelled the ground round about my Text I come to my Text it self which compares the destruction of Sennacherib before Jerusalem with al warres by way of transcendency For every battel of the warrior is with confused noyse and garments rolled in Blood but this shal be with fire and burning of Fuel The difference between every battail and this slaughter of the Assyrians is three fold First There are warriors on both sides here Fire and Fuel meet Secondly There is a confused cry here al is in silence Thirdly There is a plentiful effusion of blood Here no blood is shed An Angel went forth and smote of the Assyrians in one night one hundred fourscore and five thousand Esa. 37. 36. It is frequent in Scripture to set forth the Miraculous Appearances and Works of invisible Powers either of God or of the Angels or of the Holy Ghost by Fire both to the Ear and to the Eye A Pillar of Fire led the Children of Israel through the Wilderness Horses of fire and Chariots of fire carried up Elijah into Heaven and encompassed the Servant of Elishah when he was afraid of an Army of Enemies the Holy Ghost descended in the form of fiery Tongues upon the Apostles The Lord promiseth by the Prophet Esaiah to be a wall of Fire round about his People And John the Baptist tells us in the Gospel of St. Mathew that Jesus Christ shall Baptize his People with the Holy Ghost and with Fire Fire is the most potent and glorious of all the Elements Some say that the Sun the chief and the Golden Head of this visible World is the Element of Fire and that Fire shal at last convert al the other Elements into it self and so give them their Perfection Fire is Burning and consuming only on Earth where it is straitened and meets with resistance But in Heaven it is only vital transparent shining cheering incorruptible In al these respects how proper is it to represent the Miraculous descents of God from above upon the Earth as he shines forth upon his Church or flames forth upon the world by Fire The Doctrine which I shal observe to you from these words and insist upon is this DOCT. God makes it his Delight and Praise to go New and Extraordinary waies with his Church and with the World for his Churches sake I wil give you Two Arguments for the cleering and proving of the Point One from Christ The other from the Spirit Arg. 1. The First Argument is taken from Christ The way of God with his Church and with the World in order to the Church is in Christ I intreat you for the fuller understanding of this and how it makes to the Point in hand to lay three Scriptures together Ephes. 3. 8 9 10. Matth. 28. 8. Ephes. 1. 20. Ephes. 3. 8. You read in the latter end of the verse of the unsearchable Riches of Christ Two things go to make up Riches Preciousness and Plenty The things of Christ are Rarities Precious things such as are no where to be found in the Creature They are the Things of God the Righteousness of God the Wisdom of God the Power the Peace the Grace the Glory of God Now Jesus Christ hath Plenty of these Precious things and this makes him Rich. But the Holy Ghost thinks not that word of Riches enough to express the Excellency and Fulness of Christ Therefore he adds to Riches Vnsearchableness and calls them the Vnsearchable Riches of Christ Vnsearchableness respects the Nature or Number of things The Excellencies of Christ are both waies Vnsearchable Every thing of Christ is Vnvaluable and those Vnvaluable things in Him are Innumerable They are past our Understanding We cannot comprehend the Excellency nor count the Number of them They swallow us up and lose us in Admiration At Verse 9. St. Paul goes on
fade It is before this Newness of Christ at it secretly beames forth into the Creation that Old things shake and fal away Thirdly Jesus Christ comes first in his Desirablenesses to beleevers to those among the Nations who desire him This seemes to be signified by that expression The desire of al Nations shal come He shal come under that formality as the Desire of the Nations The Saints in every Nation stand for the whol Nation in the esteem of God they being the Corn in the heap the rest of the nation as the Chaffe Esa. 43. 4. The Lord saith to his people Since thou wast precious in my sight thou hast been honorable and I have Loved thee therefore wil I give men for thee and people for thy life or as it is in the Margin for thy person Those whom the Lord loves in a Nation are the only Figures there the rest are Cyphers which signifie nothing of themselves James 1. 14. The Children of God are said to be a Kind of first fruites of his Creatures So are they the first fruits of every Nation As the first fruits were presented to God every year at the Tabernacle or Temple by the hands of the Preist in the stead of the whol Lump so the beleevers are presented to God in the spirit by Jesus Christ as filling up the place of the whol Nation Upon this account when the prophet hath said The desire of al Nations shal come he adds He shal fil this House with his Glory Under the Gospel and in the spiritual truth which answers the Judaical Tipe the Saints are the House of God 1 Corin. 3. 16. Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God When the Lord comes to work his wonders in the world he first comes into his Church into the spirits of his Saints fills them with that spiritual Glory shining from his own person which is the sign of his outward commings forth before he comes and the inside of them when he is come From hence as from his Temple he shines forth by degrees upon the world from these as the first fruites he sends forth a blessing to the whol Lump of the Creatures Fourthly When these shakings begin to break forth from the Spirits of the Saints into the World they are swift and spreading Yet a little while And I wil once more shake Heaven and Earth As when a stone fals into the Water the Circles in the Water made round about it do in a moment Multiply and as they Multiply grow wider each than other So when Jesus Christ comes with the Newness of a spiritual Glory into his House which is the heart of a Saint from thence he spreads himself in the newness of his Power and mighty works over the Nation round about from thence enlargeth himself in a wider Circle to the Neyghbouring Nations so he goes on til he ouerspreade with his Changes not the Earth only but also the Heavens and al this in a very little space as fire catcheth or the lightning flyeth Now let us look home Our Changes since the beginning of these times have truely been so quick and thick that they may wel appear one continued shaking You then in this Nation whose Souls love the Lord Jesus is your Desire come while others as Cyphers do bear the empty shadow of the outward work in these new and Extraordinary Motions is his presence his person his operation precious and of great value to you Doth he fil you who are his house with the freshness of his light and Glory while others stand without at a distance seeing a throng of changes and wonders but know not what is the matter Where then are your cryes of Joy The voyce of our beloved Behold he comes leaping over the Hils passing with swift changes over the powers of this world he comes consuming al old things the old Heaven and Earth with the heat of his presence but changing his own and al things unto them into the newness and Immortality of the Spirit making them new together with a New Heaven and a New Earth round about them Thirdly The freshness of our Changes Prov. 25. 4 5. Take away the dross from the Silver there shall come forth a Vessel for the finer Take away the wicked from the King and his Throne shal be established in Righteousness The former of these verses is an Allegory explained in the latter Both have a Mystical sense pertayning to every Saint and Typical concerning Jesus Christ Take away the Dross of Corruption out of the Heart from the Silver of Grace and the Saint wil be a King in the Spirit upon a Throne of Glory founded on the Righteousness of God and his Spirit in Jesus Christ this King wil be a pure Silver Vessel for God the finer to set on his table and fil with the Treasure of his Divinity Take away the dross of Corruption from the Silver of the Divine Image in the Creature then wil the whol Creation be a Vessel of honor for the Father to fil with his Wine then wil it be a Throne founded on the Eternal Rock on which Jesus Christ shal sit down as a King This extends it self to Nations and Priuciples also Let us take a view of our selves in the Glass of this Truth If we look to the great Parliament from the beginning of it was there not a Silver there a precious Mettal of excellent principles and Eminent persons But this Silver was mingled with the Dross of much Carnality and Corruption Hath not every change since that time been as a fire to take away the Dross from the Silver Hath not every succeeding form of things when it hath come first out of the fire of the fore-going Change bin as a Vessel for the finer with a greater Preciousness Purity Beauty Lustre Life and usefulness unto God How then is that day of the Lord risen upon us which is to try al things How should our mouths be filled with laughter and praises for this New thing which God doth this New day which God bringeth forth from Heaven Say now to Hypocrites Woe to you But say to the Righteouss It shal be wel with you For the Beams of this day are a Manifesting light a Refining fire to al but they are withal to the Saints a covering gloy and a Cherishing Love Our King is come forth into our Land not only to march through it with his troupes but to establish his throne here in righteousness and to sit down upon it O Dross Dross melt away before the presence of the Lord For his Eyes are a flame of fire They are stil Kindling fresh Furnaces of Change Fourthly The Life in these Changes from which they flow Rom. 12. 11. you have the knot of a three-fold Precept held forth Not slothful in business fervent in spirit serving the Lord This is likewise a Divine Character upon the Newness of extraordinary Times Works and Persons When the Lord hath any fresh
Savior in the Heavenly Beauty and Glory of his Person if we have been carryed on to this Work by his Spiritual Appearances and Power in us then wil not our work be at an end til we see him shining forth in the ful Glory of his Person and Spirit not upon us only but upon the whol Earth The Vow of Christ is upon us not to give sleep to our Eyes til we have found a setled Habitation for our Lord Jesus as he is cloathed with al his Spiritual Glories in our own hearts and with men I have done now with the last Evidence of the Presence of our God with us in the New way of his Son and Spirit which Evidence is this That the Spirit of Grace hath been the Principle and Seal of these great Works and Changes in the midst of us The Vse that I would make of it is to enlarge us in our Praises that we may now see and say with joy The Lord Jesus goes up on high in our Land he carries Captivity captive he gives Gifts to men even to the rebellious that himself may dwel among them I have done with the First Vse Vse 2. A Caution to beware of four things Caut. 1. Limit not God This was the sin of the Jews in the Wilderness They limited the Holy One of Israel Psal. 7. 41. Princes love not to be prescribed much less doth God To what will ye liken God and to what likeness wil ye compare him Es. 40. 18. If the Lord be doing Great things among us according to the Exaltation of Christ if he doing New things according to his own Spirit what measure will ye take what President wil ye make what likeness wil ye frame of his Way by things past or present Take heed of Two Wayes of Limiting God First Shut not the Lord up into any Form or way of Working The Holy Ghost complains of the Jews Psal. 78. 19. They spake against God they said Can God furnish a Table in the Wilderness Let us take heed that the Language of our hearts and actions be not like to this that we say not If we have no set Form no Establisht way of Religion or Civil Government Can God in the Wilderness and Confusion of such a Condition continue or encrease Truth Holiness Prosperity and Peace Thus to limit God is to speak against him Secondly Shut not God out of any Form or Way of working I speak here of the Lords Working in Love not Wrath and accordingly of those Forms and Waies out of which he hath not excluded his Love by the contrariety between them and his Divine Holy Nature Nathaniel himself had like to have stumbled at Christ by his narrow-sightedness in this kind Can said he any good come out of Nazareth John 1. 46. Yet as Chrysostom tels us Nazareth signifies a flower Christ out of Nazareth was Flos è Flore a Flower out of a Flower That form or way which seems to thee most uncapable of having any good in it may be made by God a Sweet and flourishing flower out of which another more glorious flower may spring even Jesus Christ in the spiritual Civil and natural Image of things This is the first Caution Caut. 2. Murmure not against the Lord When Jesus Christ had sent this marke of his being come to John Baptist That To the poor the Gospel was preached or as some read it and the Greek ful as wel bears it The poor preach the Gospel he ads and blessed is he that is not offended at me Matt. 11. 5 6. How apt are men to murmure against to stumble at to reject Jesus Christ himself even then when he comes with glad tydings with peace and glory from the Father in the Gospel if the way by which he conveighes these things to them answer not their imagination and expectation but be in any kind poor obscure and dis-esteemed There are two Cases in which we are apt to be ensnared in this kind First The Jews had setled their expectation of the Messiah upon the Pompe and Power of an outward Kingdom He comes with his cross instead of a Throne They therefore are offended at him reject and persecute him So men generally fix the accomplishment of promises the answer of prayers the works of God the administration of Christ the operations of the Spirit in Religion and Civil things upon some way that is fairest in their fancyes or understandings If God come not to bless them and to save them in this way but by some other Person or Thing which is without comliness in their Eye they murmur and refuse him Secondly When the Soldiers had our faviour in their hands they put a Crown of Thornes upon his head a Reed for a Scepter into his hand a purple robe upon his back then they mock him and spit in his Face I humbly pray that this spirit be not powerful in us who profess our selves Saints and peace-makers that we do not after the same manner when the Lord makes any person or way which we have a low esteem of to be the instrument of his power Majesty and love cloath it with the most contemtuous disguises of Hypocrisie delusion Ambition Licentiousness falshood Atheisme and then spit in the Face of it persecute it with al bitterness and scorne under this Disguise Cant. 3. Judg not things by the outward apperance but by the inward principle Solomon saith Al the waies of a man are clean in his own eyes but the Lord weigheth the spirit Prov. 16. 2. I have heard of a blind man who could distinguish and judg of al mettals or precious stones by weighing them in his hand Thus judg alwaies not by the beauty of the outward forme but by the weight of the inward pinciple It was a Starr in the Region of the Ayre above the Earth that led the wise men to the House where Christ was borne So should it be the light of a principle in the spirit above the outward form by which we should be gvided in our esteem affections and pursuits Cant. 4. Judg every principle in the Light of the Holy Spirit Psal. 73. 16 17. Asaph professeth that it was too painful for him to understand things in this world by their outward Appearances until he went into the Sanctuary of God then he understood the end by discovring the principle or beginning Before this he was Foolish and Ignorant as a beast vers. 22. The Sanctuary was a Figure of our Savior in his Holy Spirit Agur Complaines Prov. 30. 2 3. That He was more brutish than any man and had not the understanding of a man He gives the reason of this because He had not learned Wisdom which is the Knowledge and judgment of things in their inward principles and he was without this wisdom for want of the Knowledge of the Holy This expression of the Holy in Scripture signifies Glorified Natures in Heaven somtimes whether Angels or Saints somtimes Saints on Earth Whatever