upon reason and was never before heard of as that a part should signifie the whole when that part which should express the whole is not included but shut out from it doubtless in all Synechdochichal speeches the part set down for the whole must be always a part of it as when Saint Paul said Yee shall see my face no more Act. 20. His face is a part of him And thus must all other Synechdoches whatsoever be understood the part signifying the whole must of necessity be included and contained in it If therefore all the Nation of Israel here be put for all the Nations of Believers in the World as a part of the whole then it must certainly follow that the Nation of Israel according to the flesh was included apart and not excluded from the whole Let us go on omitting for brevities sake what might be more added out of the Prophet Esay to this purpose wherein he hath abounded Consider how Jeremiah keepeth also in the same track For thus saith he in the Name of the Lord. Jer. 3 18. In those dayes the house of Judah shall walk with or to the house of Israel and they shall come together c. And again I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all Countryes wither I have driven them and will bring them again to their folds Jer. 23.3 4. and they shall be fruitful and encrease and I will set up Shepheards over them which shall feed them and they shall fear no more nor be dismayed neither shall they be lacking saith the Lord. Add hereunto Loe the dayes come saith the Lord Jer. 30 3.9 that I will bring again the Captivity of my people Israel and Judah saith the Lord And they shall serve the Lord their God and David their King whom I will raise up unto them The like also is prophecyed by Ezekiel Thus saith the Lord Ezek. 37.21 22 23. c. behold I will take the Children of Israel from among the Heathen whether they be gone and will gather them on every side and I will make them one Nation in the Land upon the Mountains of Israel and one King shall be King over them and they shall be no more two Nations neither shall they be divided into two Kingdoms any more at all and my servant David shall be their Prince for ever Moreover I will make a Covenant of peace with them it shall be an everlasting Covenant with them and I will place them and multiply them and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore My Tabernacle also shall be with them Yea I will be their God and they shall be my people and the Heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctifie Israel when my Sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore Again Jer. 31.1 4. At the same time saith the Lord that is Jer. 31.1 4. in the later dayes as appears Jer. 30.24 I will be the God of all the families of Israel and they shall be my people Again I will build them and thou shalt be built O Virgin of Israel thou shalt be again adorned with thy Tabrets and thou shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry I willingly pass by many other places that might be alledged for it would be too much to insert all that is written thereof But I demand Hath any of these things as yet come to pass When was it that the house of Judah did walk with the house of Israel together since the time they were divided one from the other in the days of Rehoboam Hath the Lord as yet gathered the remnant of his flock out of all Countryes whither he hath driven them or set up shepheards over them to seed or to defend them so as they should fear no more nor be dismayed Do Israel and Judah this day unanimously serve the Lord their God and David their King that is the Messiah David's Son as Interpretersiboth Jewish and Christian expound it of whose government and peace there shall be no end Hath God set his Sanctuary in the midst of them or pitched his Tabernacle among them so as the Heathen do take notice of it that it is the Lord that doth sanctifie Israel If his Sanctuary hath been among some of them it hath been again removed but here it is said his Sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore In fine Hath God as yet in these latter dayes declared himself to be the God of all the families of Israel since their defection from him and own'd them again for his people Is this Virgin as yet repayred since she was stript of her ornaments or hath she yet furbisht over and trimmed up her Tabrets that she might rejoyce at her restauration If none of all these things I say be yet come to pass and the word of God cannot be retracted they are yet to be fulfilled and shall in time most certainly have their due accomplishment Yea more that neither their divisions amongst themselves Israel against Judah and Judah against Israel nor their inveterate stubbornnes against the Lord might be any hinderance unto them the Lord promiseth by the Prophet Jeremy in these words Jer. 32.39 I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me for ever for the good of them and of their Children after them And by the Prophet Ezekiel in these words A new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes and ye shall keep my judgments and do them Oh blessed and thrice happy shall this people be when these things are fulfilled I deny not but these promises have a measure reaching to us Gentiles even all among us that are interessed in the new Covenant But I say again the people that are mentioned cannot without violence done to the sense of the Holy Ghost be excluded from them in the dayes of the Gospel I omit what might be further added out of these Prophets to this purpose As the vision of dry bones in the Prophecy of Ezekiel restored to life again And that of two sticks made both one in the hand of the Prophet with sundry other discoveries of the minde of God concerning this truth which upon an unprejudicate perusal even by those that are contrary-minded would appear unto them to carry in them this sense viz. That this first-born of the Almighty this people so entirely beloved of the Lord shall not at this day be quite forgotten as dead men out of minde nor be ever divided one from another as they have been but shall restored again notwithstanding the seeming impossibilitie of it to their pristine glory and shall be happily re-united together into one as becometh brethren In the next place let us try whether the Prophecy of Daniel
dead light Joh. 8.12 as the light of yesterday was which consisted in carnal Ordinances and dead Sacrifices but a living light that is Jesus Christ himself who though he was dead to extinguish the former Light yet being quickned by the Spirit he liveth to establish this new Light that shall therefore undoubtedly continue to the end of the World For behold saith hee I am alive for evermore affixing his Seale with an Amen to note the unalterableness of his present estate Hee I say again is this light of life not like unto other lights that have no Life in them whoso followeth the Sun in the firmament 't is true hath light but it is a Light wanting life when death cometh it cannot give him life because it hath it not to give There is indeed hope of a tree Joh. 14.7.10 when it is cut down that it may live again saith Job and that the tender Branch thereof will not cease but when Man giveth up the Ghost where is Hee Not the sent of water nor the light nor heat of the Sun can be able to revive him But saith Christ Hee that followeth mee hath the light of Life that is my self Who am the Sun of Righteousness having healing in my Wings Mal. 4.2 Joh. 5.26 Joh 5.2 it being given unto me to have Life in my self Joh. 5.25 So that I quicken whom I will Joh. 5.21 And thus saith the Evangelist of him Joh. 1.4 Joh. 1.4 In him was Life and that Life was the Light of Men. So then here you see what is the light of this day that you are exhorted to receive It is Christ Jesus let him come therefore into your souls He will bring both light and life with him light into your understandings whereby you shall get more intimate Acquaintance in the great Mystery of Godliness and life into your Affections raising them above the World and from groveling in flesh and bloud to a spiritual elevation light to direct you in the way and life to quicken you in it light to comfort you in your troubles and life to deliver you out of them the light of the life of grace here and the light of the life of glory hereafter Awake therefore thou that sleepest rise up from the dead and Christ shall give thee Light Secondly The light of this day is the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ 2 Cor. 4.4 shewing to the world such glorious Mysteries which before this day could not be so clearly known such as the Incarnation of God the expiation of sin by his death the freeness of Salvation through faith in a Mediatour remedy against the Curse and mitigation of the rigour of the Law reconciliation with God spiritual Administrations of the New Covenant all which and many more had never been manifested to the Children of Men had not the day sprung from on high even from the Zenith of the Heaven of Heavens visited the Church with this glorious light and therefore is it well worthy to be entertained by us Thirdly It is called the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God then which nothing can to the Saints be more desireable and unto which when the Soul hath in the utmost extent of her Capacity fully attained she is fully satisfied setting up her rest with a Ne plus ultra as the Prophet confessed saying I shall be satisfied when thy Glory shall appear When as therefore this glory now appeareth in some glimpses to the Soule whiles she is shut up in this Corps of Clay such Apparitions being the Praeludium of that perfect happiness that is to come must needs be very welcome Now the Light of this Day sheweth unto the Soule of a Believer so far as it is capable the Glory of God viz. The Glory of his Wisdome the Glory of his Power the Glory of his Grace and Goodness with other his glorious Attributes in the Protection of his people in the fulfilling of his Promises in the propagating of his Gospel yea it filleth the Soule with Joy and Gladness raising it up to a Life Heavenly and Angelical And therefore well worthy of Acceptation Consider I beseech you shall the Glory of the Lord shine round about us and shall not we open our Hearts to let it in Have we a Price put into our Hands to get Wisdome and shall we have no heart unto it God forbid Yea let us not content our selves with that which we have already attain'd 1 Cor. 12.31 but labour to see more and more of this Glory covet earnestâ—y the best things saith the Apostle be still craving Lord shew me thy Glory Let me see thy goings how thou my God and King goest in the Sanctuary in the Dispensations of thy Grace in the manifestations of thy Presence O come into my Soule and let me be Metamorphosed into thine Image from Glory to Glory 2 Cr. 3.18 from one degree of Grace to another till I come in the Light of Glory to see the King in his Beauty beholding him as he is and knowing him even as I am known Thirdly As we must rejoyce in the Light of this Day 3. Duty and receive it into our Hearts so are we to walke in it and by it ordering our whole Conversation according unto it otherwise we are very unworthy of it And here give me leave a while to lead you into that Walke wherein Zachary and Elizabeth a holy couple whose Praise is in the Gospel were wont to walke They Walked saith the Evangelist Lak 1.6 in all the Commandments and Ordinances of the Lord Luk. 1.6 Let us then joyn Hearts and Hands together and go and do likewise First let us walke in the Commandments of the Lord Quid enim est Lex Dei nisi Lux Diei Ps 104.23 doing the work of the Lord in this Day of the Lord. The Day we know is ordained for man to work in Man saith the Psalmist goeth forth unto his work and to his Labour untill the Evening Psal 104. So also is this Day set apart and appointed by God for his people to walk in that is to worke for so is a holy walking before God interpreted in Scripture e. g. I must saith Christ Walke to day and to morrow and the day following Luk. 13.33 Eph. 2.10 speaking of his workes which he wrought at that time And good workes saith the Apostle Eph. 2.10 God hath ordained that we should walke in them This Light therefore must not be consumed in vain not whelm'd under the Bushel of filthy lucre nor hid under the Bed of slothfull Negligence but we must make use of it to shew us our way and to guide us in our worke Let us then arise and walke up and be doing not spend the day in hearing and talking onely as the manner of some is For as the light of the Sun is no help to the Eares and Tongues of men but to their hands and feet to walke
you deeper into Hell Your continued rejecting of that rich and abundant grace that is freely and frequently tendred unto you sets you every day at a further distance from God gives the devil more hold-fast of you adds more fewel unto your Tophet making your torment hereafter the more insupportable O what a day then is this wherein men treasure up wrath against the day of wrath A most deplorable estate yet this is the Lot of all impenitent Sinners If any should yet enquire how it comes to pass that this inevitable misery falls upon these wretched kind of people that we have been speaking of I must answer There are two things which the Holy Ghost in Scripture doth plainly present unto us as the grounds and causes thereof First the sin of such persons is found out by the light of this day Secondly Their sin doth find out them When sin is found out Gods anger is enkindled when sin findes out the sinner his anger is then put in Execution The first of these will justifie God in his severest judgements against sin wheresoever it appears The second will convince the sinner of the deceitfulness of sin and of his folly in entangling himself with that which will be his utter undoing But let us consider these severally First I say their sin is made manifest by the light of this day and their Iniquity found to be hateful yea more hateful then the sin of yesterday All things saith the Apostle that are reproved are made manifest by the light and the clearer the light is the more Ugly doth a Deformity seeme in the eyes of all that look upon it Now it is that sin is become exceeding sinful that is hath gotten more strength to do mischief then formerly it was wont to do putting more malignity and perversness into the hearts of men then ever and affronting the Almighty with the greatest impudence despising those means which Divine Wisdom hath found out for the suppressing of it Now it appears in its proper colours insomuch that as our Saviour said It is inexcuseable Joh. 15.22 there being no Cloak of a carnal Apology large enough to cover it When sin then shews it self in this manner who can lay any thing to the charge of God or censure his righteous proceedings against it True it is Profane and Godless wretches do what they can to keep their sin close Pro. 28.13 that it may not be seen But they shall not prosper saith Solomon that is their projects will fail them For why The day opens all the secrets of mens hearts the light of it comes with such a mighty penetration that no corner of the Soul can escape it whatsoever lust and corruption lurketh therein it findes it out All the palliations and tergiversations of sinful men All their tricks and evasions their winding and turning things upside down their crafty contrivances to hide their wickedness are now laid Naked Heb. 4.13 and openly dissected before the eyes of God with whom they have to do Yea now is preparation made for the discoveries of the great day Rom. 2.16 for according to the light of this day shall that judgement also be And herein will that of the Psalmist be verified Ps 19 2. Day unto day uttereth speech This day will make known unto that day whatsoever sin hath been acted in it unrepented of And this now this I say is that which fretts the hearts of secure sinners that their sins which they would have lie hid and be forgotten should be thus found out and brought to light to their shame and confusion Hence comes their rage and madness against the light that they could even wish many times the Sun out of his Orb and the bright beames of Divine Truthes swallowed up in perpetual darkness rather then their sins which they love better then their Souls should be thus disturbed and discovered All which considered how righteous is God in his Anger against sin when it is found out and made manifest by the Light Secondly when sin is found out by the light of this day unless the sinner then followes the light to find out a Saviour to save him from his sins to whom it would certainly lead him if he would diligently observe it his sins will surely find out him and fall upon him with all the curses that are written in the Law wherein as the Apostle saith The strength of sin lieth and without which it could be of no force at all to produce no nor to pronounce the least Condemnation 1 Cor. 15.56 That execrable League which hath been made with sin will betray the sinner and bring him under the power of it whether he will or no. Thine own wickedness saith the Prophet shall correct thee Jer. 2.19 and thy back-slidings shall reprove thee The pride of Israel doth testifie to his face saith the Prophet Hosea Hos 5.5 Behold here how sin which for a while seemes pleasant to the sinner and promiseth to bring him much delight and contentment how it will in time slare him in the face and prove both a witness against him and his Executioner You have sinned against the Lord and be sure your sin will find you out Num 32.23 said Moses once to the two Tribes and the half Num. 32.23 which may very well be applyed to all profane persons this day In which words the Holy Ghost seems to allude unto dogs hunting greedily after their prey untill they have found it For so it is with sin somtimes it is like a Bandog that lyeth at the door of the Soul not suffering any thing that good is to enter there as some interpret that place Gen. 4 7. Sometimes it is like a Bloud-hound that pursues the sinner and wil not leave till it hath caught him by the Throat and rent the Caule of the Heart with desperation and this pursuite is the more like to speed because it is in the day wherin the light is a furtherance unto it So that the sinner shall at last in effect say to his sin as Ahab did to Elias Hast thou found me O mine Enemy And cry out in the Devils Language Art thou come to torment me before the time Undoubtedly whensoever God letteth sin loose upon the soul either to stupifie and harden the heart or to sting the conscience with that venome which this day accidentally and by the just judgement of God for the despite cast upon the light of it puâ—s into it it is the bitterest Enemy of all other wherein nevertheless the sinner doth but reap the fruit of his own folly and is filled with his own devices in nourishing such a Viper in his bosome that will bring all this mischief upon him Thus may ignorant and profane people see what a wofull day is come upon them since they will not walk in the light of it they lose themselves in most deplorable darkness Let us conclude this use with some Application