unto him in heaven and in Earth The exercise of which power he would first have to be manifested in discipling whole Nations of the Gentiles Matt. 28.18 19. receiving them into Covenant by the Sacrament of Baptisme as the Jews were by the Sacrament of Circumcision Where the word Nation in order to the Gentiles must without controversie be taken in the same sense as it was with a reference unto the Jews for as the Nation of the Jews was made up of all sorts and sexes old and young so in like manner are the Nations of the Gentiles And because his commission which he then gave unto his Apostles was not formed according to the erroneous fancy of these deluded people who in effect render it thus Go and Disciple all men But thus Go and Disciple all Nations baptising them in the name c. And Children being a part of the Nations we may conclude without any hesitancy that the intent and purpose of the Lord in this commission to his Apostles was that they should wheresoever they came baptise the Children as well as the Parents And seeing he came to break down the wall of partition that was between Jews and Gentiles which was actually done in the execution of this Commission It is not to be imagined that he would by it set up a partition-wall between Parents and their Children so as that they should be at as great a distance the one from the other in point of eternal Salvation as Heaven is from Hell A thing he never did in all the Ages before and undoubtedly whatsoever these Dreamers may blasphemously prate against him He hath not done it now because he is still the Same I will not dwell any longer upon the Conviction of these obstinate people least the more reason be shewed unto them out of the Scripture to lead them into the way of truth they be thereby according to their usual wont the more hardened in their errour The Lord open their eyes that they may see betimes what dishonour they bring unto Jesus Christ in the diminution of his power by their frantick Opinions What disturbance they create unto his Church and consequently what hazard they run notwithstanding their conceited assurance of their own everlasting Salvation We have now done with this second particular viz. Jesus Christ is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Same to day which he was yesterday that is The Same to his Church in the time of the gospel which he was in the time both before and under the Law CHAP. III. Sheweth how JESUS CHRIST shall continue to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Same for ever Vnto his Church WE should now according to our prescribed method come to speak of the third course or computation of time here mentioned in the Text and of that which is predicated of it viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jesus Christ the Same or the onely He for ever But to avoid Prolixity which hath already spun out the former parts into a greater length then was intended we shall not distinguish this into several propositions as hath been done with those before Neither indeed can we be able to speak of what shall come upon the Church in the continuation of this day of the Gospel to the end of the world Onely this we can say because the Holy Ghost witnesseth it That persecutions and Afflictions do abide it but withall that Jesus Christ will be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto it which he ever hath been Hereupon therefore shall we fix the short remainder of our discourse deriving some inferences from it for the further edification of those that take pleasure in beholding the immutability of the Lord Jesus Observe then In the midst of all the various changes and chances that may come upon the Church to the end of the world Jesus Christ will be unto it still The Same No variableness nor shadow of turning shall ever be found in him either in his Mediation with the Father or in the dispensation of his power among his people But he will be Semper idem Alwayes the Same Now herein we can but speak of the exercise of Christs Mediatory office as we have already done and therefore it will be needless to spend many words about it As he began so he will continue to be the Prophet Priest and King of his Church The same word of truth which he hath revealed he will still continue no addition unto it or diminution from it will he ever suffer his Gospel is an everlasting Gospel Rev. 14.6 1 Pet. 1.25 His word abideth for ever And if an Angel from Heaven should come and preach any other we must therefore much more will he ho'd him accursed Gal. 1.8 He is a Priest for ever according to the oath of God not to be retracted saith the Prophet Hath an unchangeable Priest-hood saith the Apostle Ps 110.4 Heb. 7.24 A Priest established in his Dignity as master and Lord by virtue of his Son-ship not like unto the servants the Priests of Aaron's order Who when they entred into the most Holy place were not there to sit but otherwise to execute their office according to the order prescribed unto them by Moses Heb. 10 11 They stood as became servants saith the Apostle ministring before the Lord. But Jesus Christ when he had offered one Sacrifice for sins for ever and according to the Law entred into the holy place to finish the Atonement Sat down on the right hand of God noting the perpetuity of his office according to the dignity of his person and that he ever liveth which was not possible for any other to do to make intercession Dan. 7.14 Mach. 4.7 His Throne in like manner is for ever and ever His Kingdom an everlasting Kingdom and his Dominion endureth throughout all Generations No Salvation then to be expected for ever Act 4.12 but onely by him No other Name under Heaven given among men from the beginning of the world to the end of it whereby we must be saved For before him as he saith of himself there was no God formed Es 43 10 or rather as it may be rendred nothing formed of God for any such purpose as to be a Saviour Ec. 2.12 Ps 145.11 12. neither shall there be after him What alas can the man do that cometh after the King What He may speak of the glory of his Kingdom and talk of his power to make known to the Sons of men his mighty acts and the glorious Majesty of his Kingdom But to imitate him in his power and his mighty Acts or to compare with him in the Majesty of his Kingdom would not onely be a contempt cast upon his Crown and Dignity but an utter impossibility and a meere vanity for men or angels to attempt it They poor Creatures being infinitely unfit and unworthy must let that alone for ever and they that will expect it of them will finde it to be folly
for the sake of Christ and his Churches And now give me leave to premise an Apology for some things in this Treatise against which especially there may seem to lie some exceptions First I may possibly be adjudged too inconsiderate in fixing the Epistle to the Hebrews upon St. Pauls account because it doth not clearly appear as it is commonly conceived that he was the Authour thereof Secondly It may be said that here are sundry things inserted which have no natural co-incidency with the principal subject that is pretended As to the first of these Exceptions I know well there hath been some doubt made concerning the Authour of this Epistle for it hath been much controverted a long time whether it was Barnabas or Clemens Romanus or Saint Luke c. But for Saint Paul few were inclinable to entitle him unto it their reason was The style and idiom hereof seems to vary much from that which the Apostle ordinarily used in his writing neither doth he own it himself by setting his mark upon the front of it as he doth in all the rest of his Epistles but chiefly because the Writer of this Epistle acknowledgeth Heb. 2.3 that he had learned the Doctrine of Salvation from others which saith he was confirmed unto us by them that heard it Whereas the Apostle with very great confidence professeth that he never received if of men nor was taught it but by the Revelation of Jesus Christ which last exception is indeed the most material Gal. 1.12 but answered sufficiently by a late Writer as may appear in the margine Doctor Hammond The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 us is not to be restrained to the writer onely but so as to comprehend those to whom he writes uti patet Tit. 3.3 Eph. 2.5 Neither is it any new or strange thing for St. Paul to confirme the truth of the Gospel by the testimony of others and tradition from them which saw and heard See 1 Cor. 15.3 Hereupon it seems that doubts have risen concerning this matter And it is further conceived by some that it would savour of too much curiosity to resolve such doubts For so long as we believe the Holy Ghost to be the Enditer what need we perplex our selves about the Writer As When a Prince will vouchsafe to send a Letter to any of his Subjects it would ill become them to be inquisitive with what pen it was written rather we should say of this Epistle as once it was said of the Book of Job Ipse scripsit qui haec feribenda dictavit Ipse scripsit qui illius operis inspirator extitit He writ these things that dictated them unto the Writer c. Nevertheless though it be granted that it may not be of absolute necessity to make too curious inquiry after all those Pen-men and actuaries whom the Holy Ghost employed in that excellent service of being the perpetual Registers of the great Council of Heaven yet neither are they to be quite neglected We rejoyce in the message of good tidings that is brought unto us yet that hinders not but that we may make the messenger welcome and if he be missing though his presence should not add to the Authority of the message yet we would seek him out that we might gladly know him Here in an Epistle sent unto us from God and the messenger is supposed to be missing Let now the name of God be magnified and his will herein revealed be embraced by us as it is meet with all acceptation But if the knowledge of the instrument by whom it is handed to us may any whit conduce to Gods glory in the removal of prejudices against the truth herein revealed or in the conviction of the enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ such as were the Arrians of old and the Socinians of late it is not fit that we should balke it especially when it is hinted unto us by the spirit it self in the holy Scriptures To say nothing of the Title prefixed to the Epistle it being no part of the Canon neither having been generally used by the Churches of Christ therefore not argumentative though it must be confessed it hath Antiquity to plead for it To let pass also the Salutation in the close which as the Apostle Saint Paul saith 2 Thes 3.17 is his token in every Epistle so he writes which might be more material but that it may be said Others in imitation of him do use the same Valediction too we have a more sure word of testimony whereunto we should do well to take heed and that is this Saint Peter the Apostle of the circumcision in his second Epistle which he writes unto the scattered Hebrews who were of his peculiar charge though dispersed into sundry remote Regions calling them therefore Strangers in regard of the places of their abode far distant from their own Country hath by a singular providence of God positively testified that his beloved Brother Paul and no other was the Writer hereof And to this purpose he gives us a plain demonstration 2 Pet. 3.15 Where he speaks of an Epistle of Paul written unto these scattered Hebrews which Epistle was it seems at that time extant and in high estimation among the faithful and which with other of Saint Pauls Epistles he commendeth as of equal Authority being as he saith written by him according to the Wisdom given unto him Now this Epistle there mentioned is very probably the same which in the Scripture goeth under the Name of the Epistle to the Hebrews otherwise how is the Church the pillar and ground of truth in holding out all the Oracles and whole Counsel of God if she hath been negligent in so eminent a part of her Depositum commended unto her by the Authority of two chief Apostles or as one saith lose Pauls Epistle and keep Peters that makes mention of it which is not with any colour of reason to be imagined We may therefore hereupon conclude that it evidently appears Saint Paul was the writer hereof But for that he here altereth his style and doth not put his Name unto this as he doth unto the rest of his Epistles there are sundry probable conjectures commonly for it given First the Jews had conceived against him a very great prejudice and least they should thereupon have rejected his writing with indignation he changeth his wonted style and omitteth his usual Introduction of Paul an Apostle c. Not regarding himself so that the word of God might run and be glorified Moreover he was design'd to be Apostolus Gentium the Apostle of the Gentiles as appears Gal. 2.7 8. Therefore thought it best here to conceale his Name and to waive his ordinary title least he should 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 assume to himself also the Title of Apostolus Hebraeorum the Apostle of the Hebrews which properly belonged to another And therefore though he might in an extraordinary way be employed by the Holy Ghost in writing this Epistle
finite Righteousness of his be efficacious towards others if he had not been God as well as Man It was his Godhead that did put an infinite worth upon all that he did and upon all that he suffered and made his Righteousness to be of so diffusive a nature that it was enough to justifie all the World for the obedience of God to the rule of the Law and the blood of God given up to the sentence of the Law are infinitely comprehensive far beyond what either men or Angels are able to conceive Had it not been for this might not Divine Justice have justly rejected him as an Offender yea as the greatest of all other For his undertaking to justifie others would have been the greatest sin that ever was committed in the World as being the absurdest mockery and most insolent affront that ever was offered to the grand Majesty of God And would not Death and Hell likewise have still kept them in their clutches with triumphant Insultations trampling upon him making him to know that his Arm was too weak to subdue their Kingdom and that it would cost more to redeem those Souls they gaped for then such a poor man as he was ever able to compass But blessed for ever and ever be his Name as he happily began this noble Enterprize for his poor people so to his eternal honour and their everlasting salvation he did victoriously as became the Almighty God prevail therein Now therefore away with that cursed Anthropolatry of Socinians let it for ever be trodden under foot as unsavoury Salt having no relish in it acceptable either to God or man And let the consideration of what hath been here said provoke all that bear a sincere affection to the Lord Jesus to cry out and say It is time for the Lord to arise for they have made void thy Glory thy Crown and Dignity is despised thine Honour is laid in the dust and what can thy Servants do Awake awake therefore put on strength O Arm of the Lord awake as in the ancient daies in the Generations of old smite all thine Enemies in the hinder parts and put them to a perpetual shame make them to know themselves to be but men But make them also to know that thou art the Eternal and the immutable God yesterday to day and the same for ever Thus much for the second Branch of this Result of the Doctrine of Christs eternal Generation Thirdly Let all the people of God give unto Christ that honour which is meet by a ready hearkning to the Voice of his Word submitting cheerfully to his commands silencing all corrupt Reasonings that are apt to exalt themselves in the heart against the knowledge of his Will and captivating every thought to the obedience of his Gospel A service this is which is due unto him because even because he is the eternal begotten Son of God And this way of glorifying Christ must be joyn'd to the former otherwise in vain will it be to spend our zeal in vindicating the Name of the Lord Jesus against his Enemies if in the mean time we should dishonour him by our disobedience unto him and resuse to give him the hearing An honour which we find sometimes given unto men Vnto me saith Job Men gave car and waited and kept silence at my counsel Job 29.21 22. after my words they spake not again and my speech dropped upon them Now what alas are the words of poor Job put Noah and Daniel Moses and Samuel together with him but saltless and absurd words of folly and vanity unless they receive and Acumen and savour from Jesus Christ Eccles 12.10 to make them Verba desiderii acceptable words words according to his own form sound and wholesom For he saith Solomon giveth wisdom Pâ—o. 2.6 and out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding He is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the ancient standing and everlasting Oracle of Heaven who alone is to be consulted upon all occasions and whosoever speaks not according to his word it is because there is no light in them Es 8.20 his life alone being the light of men John 1.4 He John 1.4 as hath been said is that Ratio Primogenita the first begotten Reason from whence springeth all the Reason in the world of what nature soever it be whether in things Spiritual or in things temporal and therefore even in Reason there should be a cheerful Acquiessency in him as in our Center without any the least Contradiction Tergiversation or Deviation whatsoever Shortly then seeing it is he that giveth such a Mouth and Wisdom unto some of his peculiar Servants that the Wisdom and Spirit by which they speak is become irresistible Mat. 13.19 shall not his own Word which is the Word of the Kingdom not a forreign Exotick word as the words of men are but the pure proper native genuine Language of Heaven be worthy of all acceptation and of all veneration too since by the confession of his Enemies even when he was upon Earth cloathed with skin and flesh John 7.46 he spake as never man spake and by the testimony of the people that heard him when he taught them it was with authority But of this more may be said hereafter when we come to the third Interpretation of the Text considering the Lord Jesus in his relation to his Church to which this Subject will be also very suitable For the present let this word of Exhortation be received upon the account of Christ Eternity as he hath relation to the Father for in that respect he is as hath been made to appear the same yesterday to day and for ever Hearken therefore to his word because he is eternal And here give me leave to strengthen this Argument with some few Corroboratives that it may effectually bring the consciences of men under the power thereof First then let it be remembred the Father will have him to be thus honoured even upon this consideration of his eternal Relation unto himself as appears by that Voice which came from the excellent Glory saying This is my beloved Son Mat. 17.5 hear him Secondly Christ himself upon the same terms expects of us the same Service for when he had Pro. 8. declared his co-eternity with the Father what is the inference that he makes thereupon but this V. 32 33 34. Now therefore hearken unto me O ye children of men hear instruction and be wise and refuse it not Blessed is the man that heareth me watching daily at my Gates waiting at the posts of my door for who so findeth me findeth life c. 3. Add hereunto this Eternity of Christ is a clear evidence of his wisdom and gravity for if it be true which Job saith With the Ancient is wisdom and in length of daies understanding Job 12.12 It must be also most true that with him whose years have been before all Generations is surpassing wisdom and of his understanding
hath of late been sufficiently cleared by others Mr. Prinn c. Is not the Lord Jesus Christ called the Prince of the Kings of the Earth as being his honour to have those that are of the highest estimation to be Subjects unto him Which being so it should be the desire and ambition of all the people in the world to be ruled by those persons who are entituled to this subjective Regality And when Divine Providence shall with a strong hand and a stretched-out Arm lead them unto it as it hath done us here in this Kingdom and the Nations of our Vicinity for many Generations it will certainly be their sin if they should not submit cheerfully unto it as it was the sin of the people of Israel when they out of a diffidence of Gods care and protection of them and out of an Apish imitation of other Nations would in an unseasonable preposterous and tumultuous manner be catching at it And now all this considered how can a people with any serenity of Conscience profess Godliness and yet speak reproachfully of the Kingly Office yea account it Antichristian as some have done proclaiming open Hostility against it Were it indeed Heterogeneous to the Divine Ordinance of Civil Government or incongruous to the times of the Gospel or prejudicial to the interest of the Saints as it is said to be or an impeachment in the least degree to the Dignity and Prerogative Royal of the Lord Jesus Christ himself either in respect of his Natural or of his Donative Kingdom such persons might proceed upon warrantable grounds to proclaim their dislike in that kind But it may now appear to all the World that the clamour which is raised against Regal Power upon any of these before-named accounts is altogether causeless and of no moment It will not be expedient here to examine them severally for in so doing we should make too large a digression haply we shall meet with them obiter in our way wherein the inadvertency or to say truly the Seditious frowardness rather then the godly zeal of the Authors and Abettors of these Complaints will be made manifest unto all men In the mean time I cannot but protest against that pernicious Paradox which hath been vented by a leading Divine as he was accounted in these late times of Errour and Rebellion amongst us J. O. who in a Sermon preached at S. Margarets Westminster and afterwards Printed saith thus The Lord had of old erected a Kingly Government in the House of David not for any eminency in the Government it self or for the Civil Advantage of that people but that it might be a Type of the Spiritual Dominion of the Messiah and so was a part of their Paedagogy and Bondage as was the residue of their Types every one of them and consequently this form of Government not to be of any use in the time of the Gospel Were this true we then who are now of the Church of God as that people were before us acknowledging this Messiah to be come according to the Promise may indeed have just cause to say of that kind of Government as the Apostle doth of Circumcision If we should allow of it Christ shall profit us nothing the substance being come what should the shadow of a King do unto us But I hope that those who have through the subtlety of Satan been misled into this Opinion will hereafter find cause to retract it when they shall remember that the rule of the Gospel to which they pretend an exact Conformity requires them to pray and to give thanks for Kings which as the Apostle saith is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour 1 Tim. 2.1 2 3. 1 Tim 2.1 2 3. However seeing that Wisdom puts forth her Voice crying at the Gates at the entry of the City at the coming in at the Doors saying By me Kings Reign and Princes decree Justice by me Princes rule and Nobles even all the Judges of the eâ—rth Seeing I say this sound is heard from Heaven every day in the Consciences of men Wisdom will herein be justified of all her children And let this serve to terminate the first part of my Proposition viz. Government is an Ordinance of Divine Authorization Secondly It is ordained to be subservient unto Christ in the dispensation of his power and providence towards the preservation of Mankind 2. Branch For though Christ be All in all Col. 3.11 as the Apostle speaks Col. 3. yet to shew himself to be the Lord of all he hath ordained means to be subservient unto him in all the works of his Providence and hath accordingly made use of them To this purpose saith the Son of Sirach very pertinently Ec. 38.2 3 4 5. Of the most High cometh healing yet the Physician must be honoured with that honour that belongeth unto him The Lord also hath created Medicines out of the Earth and he that is wise will not abhor them He hath given skill unto men that he might be honoured in his marvellous works with such doth he heal men and taketh away their pains of such doth the Apothecary make a Confection c. Hence it is as the Prophet Jeremy speaketh Jer. 23.25 That his Covenant with Day and Night and the Ordinances of Heaven and Earth concerning their disposition motion order influences virtues and operations are inviolable They continue this day saith the Psalmist according to thine ordinance Ps 119.91 for all are thy servants not as if his Paramount Authority and power were thereby any whit diminished rather it is advanced nor as if he were necessitated thereunto for want of power in himself for we may see the course of Heaven c. hath sometimes been inverted by him Indulgentiae est non indigentiae non efficaciam quaerit sed congruentiam Ex. 14.16 John 3.16 2 Reg. 10.1 Dan. 3.25 But of his own free will in the abundance of his goodness it is that he governeth and preserveth Creatures by Creatures using the ministery of second Causes for in their present poor estate wherein they are in this world his own immediate hand and power would soon prove intolerable unto them Who alas among us here can dwell with devouring fire Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings Goodness then and mercy it is that is the ground of this Dispensation from Heaven towards poor creatures of all sorts but there is no creature under the Sun unto whom the Lord hath so much respect as he hath to Mankind all other indeed have their being and their well-being whatsoever it is from him as hath been said before But Man is his Favourite the Masterpiece of his wisdom power and goodness the work of his Faciamus not barely of his Fiat as other Creatures were in him he challengeth a special propriety accounting him his own in a peculiar manner for in that sense I conceive that place of the Evangelist John 1.11 He
have attained to that Eternal Glory even as good Fathers are wont for the honour of their Children to put some Ornaments upon their Servants Piscator also upon the same place writeth thus Rom. 8. Coelum Terra inn vabuntur quum Patâ—fiet Gloria filiorum Dei Heaven and Earth shall then be renewed when the Glory of Gods Children shall appear Ravanellus likewise a late Writer in his Bibliothecâ Sacrâ saith Etiam Terra quoad substantiam erit Eterna Yea the Earth in respect of its substance shall be Eternal Lastly To name no more Brentius Hom. 53. in Luc. thus argueth Num Coelum Terra transibunt ita ut nihil eorum omnino maneat Minime omnium non transibunt omnino sed mutabuntur abjicient vestimentum corruptionis induent novam vestem incorruptionis Futura quidem Coeli ac Terrae mutatio non autem in totum abolitio Shall Heaven and Earth so pass away that nothing of them shall remain No verily they shall not altogether pass away but they shall be changed they shall cast of the Garment of Corruption and put on a new Robe of Incorruption There shall indeed be a change of Heaven and Earth but not a total Abolition I have not here mentioned any of our own Writers who notwithstanding many of them Grave Learned and Reverend Divines whose Works praise them in the Gates do unanimously Assert the same Doctrine And thus we see the concurrent Judgment of Writers both old and new inclining this way viz. That it is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 only as the Apostle's word is in another place 1 Cor. 7.31 and which some construe to this very purpose The Figure the Habit the Form and Fashion of the World that shall hereafter pass away not the Substance Nature and Essence of it for that shall be purified and perpetuated in Glory to all Eternity And though the Scripture speaks of a Conflagration Dissolution and Preterition which they who are of a contrary judgment in this Point do much insist upon yet since they speak no where of an utter Abolition or Annihilation we may with safety abide by what we have declared But here take this Caution it behoves us in these matters to be wise according to so briety and in all humble mod esty to content our selves with this general discovery of the renovation and restauration of the World for we see the Apostle speaks of it in the general term of the Creature meaning the frame and sabrick of the World as hath been said consisting of Celestial and Elementary Regions Now if we should enter too curiously to search what Creatures else of the World shall be restored what place shall contain them what actions they shall have what properties they shall be endued with wherein they shall be serviceable and useful to the Glorified Saints c. If we should I say launch out to venturously into this Deep we shall not have the Cynosure of the word to guide us and so shall certainly fall upon the flats of our own foolish Imaginations or run desperately upon the Rocks of most dangerous errours such as Cerinthus and the Chiliasts have done It is enough for us that we have this general discovery made of the Minde of God herein viz. That the Creature shall be restored and delivered from the bondage of corruption into or for the glorious liberty of the Children of God and that a reparation shall be made by Jesus Christ of that which sin hath so much defaced and disordered And now to conclude Doth not all this evidently speak out that Christ will not fail in the exercise of his power over the World But as he began to manifest it in the Creation and to continue it in the preservation so he will perfect it in the restauration of all things declaring himself thereby mightily to be the Son of God Yesterday to Day and the same for ever But before we dismiss this Point Let us as we have done with the former bring in some few Corolaries to wait upon it for it is not fit that a doctrine of so noble a sublimity should be without Attendants that may some way be useful for the Church of God The first then that appears comes with a rule or a rod to rectify an old errour newly revived For if this truth be admitted as it must unless wee will shut out the Lord Jesus Christ from a most eminent part of his Glory that is then an Errour to be exploded and repented of which is very confidently maintained by many in these times concerning that outward Glory made up of a temporal peace safety and happiness with an affluence of all good things which they have imagined the Saints shall here in this life be Partakers of before the end of the World grounding their opinion upon such Places of Scripture which make mention of this restauration that we have insisted upon But if this Restauration shall not be till after the general Judgment as hath been made to appear I hope such Persons who have been of that erroneous perswasion will finde cause hereafter to be of another Minde I will not deny but that upon the downfal of that Man of Sin the Church may shine forth in a more beauteous lustre in respect of spiritual Glory before the end commeth then now at this present can be discerned in her but whatsoever that may prove it shall certainly be attended with much trouble from the World and from the Divel for the promises that are made to the Church while she is Militant Mor. 10 30 2 Tim 3.12 are accompanied with this Proviso viz. That she must look for Persecution And therefore to look for a Kingdom of Saints here which shall continue a thousand years free from troubles is so Vain a thing that methinks without a strong delusion of Satan it should not enter into the hearts of any that pretend to be acquainted with the Counsels of God in his Word It is not meet that the Spouse should finde her way through Ease and Pleasure when her Lord is gone before through much Labour and Sorrow The Disciple is not to be above his Master nor the Servant to be above his Lord It is enough for the Disciple that he be as his Master and for the Servant that he hee as his Lord If the Master of the House was rejected and despised by men yea made a Man of Sorrows while he was here upon earth Es 53.3 how much more should the same Lot befal those of his household It will assuredly be the Glory of the Church while she is in her warfare to be still in the feild fighting the Lords battels and to resemble the Captain of her Salvation who went through Water and Bloud and was made perfect by sufferings For him Luk. 24.26 2 Tim. 2.12 Mat. 30.23 He ought as he said of himself to suffer and so to enter into his Glory And surely the Church must follow
the Posterity of Abraham the friend of God and of Isaac and Jacob Heires with him of the same Promise and Grace And in fine as the Complement of all the rest From among you was the Messiah to come And in the fulness of time did come the Incarnate Son of God taking his flesh of you that he might though he be God blessed for ever be the Mediatour between God and Man yea suffer Death for you and us likewise that believe in him All this we willingly yeild unto you nay more we will be confident of your Restauration because the Lord hath said it and he will not Repent concerning which we shall God willing speak more largely hereafter in the following parts of this Treatise because our Text which is the ground of the whole Matter hath a special respect unto you above all others Come then in the name of God let us joyn together and go up to the Mountain of the Lord Es 2.3 4 5. to the House of the God of Jacob He will teach us his ways and we will walk as Brethren in his Paths for out of Sion shall go forth the Law and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem He shall judg among the Nations and shall rebuke many People They shall beat their Swords into Plow-sheares and their Spears into Pruning-hookes Nation shall not lift up Sword against Nation neither shall they learn War any more O House of Jacob come yee and let us walk in the light of the Lord. But as for those wretched Apostata's who were once inlightned but now turn their Backs upon this Light denying the Lord that bought them and so Crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open Shame pretending to joyn themselves to you in walking in the Light of Yesterday Wo unto them it had been good for them they had never been born and I doubt not but when you shall come to look upon him whom you have Peirced and to Mourn for him according to the Prophecy of Zechariah as one mourneth for his onely Son Zech. 12.10 that you your selves will abhor them as a People most accursed and so I leave them Another sort that grope after the Light of Yesterday are those that seek to be justified by the Works of the Law who do but lose themselves in the Dark and shall never be able thereby to see the Light of Life True it is the Law was once such a Light which if it had been exactly followed would have been a sure Conduct into the Presence of God but being not observed as it ought to have been it seemed good to the Father of Lights to remove it so as that it is now totally and finally Eclipsed in respect of any Influence in that Point of Justification which was the glory of it in the Beginning And whosoever they be that will now pretend to walk in the Light of it so as to be justified thereby in the Sight of God they shall most assuredly finde it to be a dreadful Blazing Comet that portends nothing but inevitable Ruine and Destruction unto them And yet alas how inconsiderate are many People in fixing their Confidence hereupon Though they cannot but know that Do this and live was the Voice of God Yesterday But Live and do this is the Command of the Lord to Day so expressely contrary is the Light that now is in the manifestations of it to that which was formerly yet such is the Cross-grain'd perversness indeed of us all by nature whereby we are wont ruere in vetitum that we are apt still to thwart God in his Dispensations towards us And because we mist of the Tree of Life by not doing that at first which God commanded therefore being led on by that Appetite which is still in us by Nature after that first Estate wherein we were Created we do contrary to Gods express Inhibition foolishly Endeavour by our own Righteousness to recover it again wherein as hath been said we loose our selves utterly God having now propounded another way to Life But it may be Objected was not the Law given since upon Mount Sinai and if we must not be justified by the works of the Law wherefore was it revived I Answer with the Apostle Gal. 3.19 the Law was added because of Transgressions that is Gal. 3.19 not onely for the restraining of them as it is commonly conceived though that be a chief end of giving the Law but because Transgressions so much abounded in the World when the grace of God had so much appeared In which regard God seeing Men so Unworthy of his Grace he revived the Old Covenant again in giving the Law which was saith the Apostle to continue till the Seed came to whom the Promise was made that so men might thereby as by a Schole-Master be whipped out of their old Forme which being come if any will yet hanker after that old Covenant the Law shall no more be revived for that end as formerly but the Condemnation thereof shall be added for the Contempt of the Gospel Away therefore with all this Homespun Inherent Righteousness let it be accounted in the matter of Justification before God even as in truth it is but a filthy Rag and when we have done all that we can given all our Goods to the Poor and our Bodies to be burned let us say we are unprofitable Servants c. And for the Law let it be a Guide unto us as it ought to be in the way of Holiness and Righteousness all the Dayes of our Lives but we must not make it our Guard to preserve us at any time from Incensed Justice of the Almighty mighty for therein it will certainly fail a good Tutour it is to instruct and admonish us but an idle Advocate to plead for us before God's Tribunal its onely Exercise there being to Accuse and Condemn A Third sort that Unseasonably busy themselves with Yesterday are the Papists who have a long time set up the Ceremonial Law of Moses in the Worship and Service of God who are it seems and still will be Children led on by weak and beggarly Elements which notwithstanding at this time are not any Help unto them at all but rather a Hinderance in respect of any Spiritual Edification and whereas they pretend to promote the Gospel and to advance the Honour of Christ they do in effect by their Conformity to the Mosaical Paedagogy deny and forsake them both To what purpose are their Altars their Priests their Sacrifices their Washings Unctions Shaving Sprinkling Purifying c. To what End I say are these many other the like beggarly Ceremonies but to bring a Vail over the Gospel and to call back Yesterday to which the Lord Jesus Christ hath pronounced a consummatum est And if they be not finished Christ himself hath not yet finished his Work for which he was sent into the World and then where are we There need not much be said
Jehovah that is God the Father who is essentially one with the Son passed by in his Glory proclaiming his Name To say nothing of the Lord's stay and abode with Moses and his converse with him as it is at large declared in the following part of the Chapter Ex. 34 28. and that for fourty days and fourty nights as appears V. 28. after the end of this glorious Vision which did also put a glorious lustre upon the face of Moses which never any of God's former appearances unto him did It is I suppose manifest unto all men that this preparation that was here made doth demonstrate clearly that Jesus Christ was a mediatour to Moses for good and that without him he could never have been able with safety to his Life to have endured that excellent glory Secondly The form or method of that divine Proclamation doth also intimate the same unto us Let us consider it so far as I conceive for the present it hath a pertinency to the point in hand and that is in the order and method of the Names wherewith the God proclaimeth himself viz. The Lord the Lord God Observe first Ex. 34.6 The Lord then The Lord God The first implying one that hath his Being of himself and who is the Authour of all subordinate Beings the second signifying the Lord Strong and Mighty The first sheweth Goodness the second Greatness The first puts the Creature into a relation unto God and gives it a dependance upon him Ex. 6.3 Note Moses his former admissions into Gods presence were grantted unto him by an extraordinary condescension possibly because he was then to be Mediatour of the renewed Covenant of Works wherein Jesus Christ was not to be concerned the second advanceth the Divine excellency above the Creature and beyond the descent of a Correlation unto it in a Word The first conferres a Right upon Believers to and in the Mediatour for it is Jehovah that gives a being to all the Promises Exod 6.3 the second makes the Mediatour himself-subordinate unto God Now therefore behold the Goodness of God presented unto Moses in that The Lord is named before The Lord God had this Proclamation of the name of God been without this preceeding Title I doubt it had not been safe for Moses to have seen any glimpse of all that transient Glory such as never was the like manifested unto him or any other mortal man before and if so what can this argue but the necessity of a Mediatour between God and man without whom never could any of the posterity of Adam since the humane nature was defiled by his Disobedience have the least Acquaintance with the Almighty to their Comfort but must for ever have been kept at a distance from him But it is the Lord that is between Moses and the Lord God which makes all that God saith of himself to be very good And now I do here humbly commend this Interpretation which I have given of this place of Scripture to the whole Church of God being partly led thereunto by the consideration of the different manner which also is observable of the Scriptures speaking of God before the expulsion of our first Parents out of Paradise where the promise of Grace was given unto them immediately upon their Fall from that which is spoken of him afterwards before viz. In the second and third Chapters of Genesis Moses speaks of God with the Appellative Title of The Lord God but after in the fourth Chapter and so forwards he maketh mention of the Lord onely not The Lord God which to my apprehension doth plainly imply that God did not appear unto Man after the Fall as he did before but what intercourse soever passed between God and Man was in and through the Mediation of Jehovah that is Jesus Christ the Lord Not but the Father and the Holy Ghost are called in Scripture Jehovah too even as the Son see Ps 2.2 Ps 110.1 1 Cor. 12.4 5. But wheresoever these two Titles Jehovah Jehovah El. The Lord and The Lord God are set together and distinguisht each from other as in that to Moses before mentioned and in this latter mentioned by Moses there is the Son onely Quatenus Mediatour to be understood by it Clearly then Jesus Christ was the Mediatour Yesterday between God and his people as well as to Day And upon the whole it is manifest that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Same or the onely He to his Church in point of Salvation under the Old Testament even as now under the New And let this suffice for the Confirmation of this Doctrine But as we have proved the Truth of it so it is very fit that we should now improve it in making some Use thereof for the furtherance of the Gospel In the first place I shall again take this opportunity to make an Address to the dispersed of the Jews whom I do beseech by all that antient Love that hath been between God and them that they would yet look upon him whom they have pierced And herein I do but exhort you O yee that were once a People Zech. 12.10 yea the onely people of God to that which your selves know well enough is prophecyed of you 1 Pet. 1.19 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and which shall surely be accomplished shortly by you And I beseech you will it not be far better for you that the Prophet's words should be made good in this Generation then in those that come after you Look upon your present estate wherein you stand and see whether that honourable Bloud of the Lord Jesus Christ which your Fathers shed do not lie upon you as a stupendious guilt unto this very Day Look upon all that is written by Moses and the Prophets concerning him and see whether it be not all exactly fulfilled to a Tittle in that our blessed Lord who on Mount Calvary by Jerusalem was with wicked hands crucified and slain Nay have not your selves been instrumental in executing that upon Jesus of Nazareth which was prophecyed should be done unto the Messiah Alas alas will you be still wilfully blinde look up and behold your King Pilate once spake it in scorn or out of a Design of Rebellion against Caesar Joh. 19.14 but I speak it unto you as I said before out of a hearty desire of your Restauration to your former Glory Behold I say your King and behold your Priest and behold your Prophet Your King who watched over you in all your Generations of old to defend and protect you and to deliver you from all your Enemies and whom now also to serve you will undoubtedly finde to be your perfect freedom Your Priest whose Sacrifice did virtually accompany all the Sacrifices of the Aaronical Priest-hood making them effectual for your Good and will fully expiate your great sin in sacrificing that is Crucifying even this your High-Priest who is now in the Holy place at the right hand of his
therefore hath God made choice not of the Object but the Act of faith to be imputed to us for our Justification There is indeed a lenitive cast in to qualifie the sharpness of this corroding and poisonous errour graunting faith not to be the meritorious cause of Justification But why then is the Lord Jesus Christ the Object of our faith so plainly shut out from having any part at all in this matter and why are we told that where it is said we are justified by faith it is not to be taken Tropically and Metonymically for the Object as many Orthodox Writers do interpret it whom I could set in opposition to those that are mustered up for the defense of this Errour if they have at least given that suffrage unto it as is pretended yea and why is such an inference derived from the Apostles frequent magnifying of faith Rom. 4. as to say the Holy Ghost had not bound himself so precisely to those words and syllables viz. of justification by faith if he had not meant to give this Honour unto faith it self but rather to some other thing as it is most uncomely called which faith laieth hold upon Alass alass that any who pretend to have a share in the merits of Christ should in this manner detract from his Glory did the Lord Jesus Christ himself Bear our sins in his own body on the Tree yea become sin for us that his righteousness might be imputed unto us and according to the appointment of his Father be made glorious in our justification and shall not the travel of his Soul be his peculiar satisfaction what is faith it self become false to the justling of Christ out of his Throne whose office it is and ever hath been to advance and promote his Crown and Dignity or rather is not the hand of Joab I meane the malice of the Devil as I said before evidently to be seen going along in this matter In vain it is for any man living to make a flourish and to boast of a constant adherency to the Protestant Profession notwithstanding the fury of late persecutions when there is such a manifest agreement avouched with Rome in this particular viz. of justification by works It seems by common report that the Authour of the Book called Theologia Veterum is of late deceased nevertheless what is here written may stand as an antidote to preserve others from the infection of these postilent errours which if there were nothing else to work in the hearts of those that are faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ a loathing of that Anti-christian Synagogue this alone were enough to cause an everlasting separation But I have done and do be think my self what I have done how I have raised up some spirits that may possibly be thought not to be easily laid again whereas my hope is they are rouzed to give Glory to God in consenting to what is written Nevertheless so long as I have Truth on our side I shall not be afraid though an Hoste of adversaries how Potent soever they may prove to be did rise up against mee It is not God knoweth out of any unbeseeming contempt or disrespect of any Person that I have medled in this controversy Learning I do reverence wheresoever it is as much as any shall onely I do wish that it may not be used as a Weapon to fight against Jesus Christ But floreat Veritas Ruat Coelum Let the World go which way it will with me I cannot I dare not betray the Truth by a sinful silence when so fair an opportunity of vindicating it is presented unto me I must confess there hath been in this particular some small digression for having an Errour in chase it hath made me go beyond my bounds But we shall return and take into consideration the second Period of Time here mentioned in the Text with a reference unto this third interpretation of it Consider what hath been said and let us pray that the Lord may give unto us a right understanding in all things CHAP. II. Sheweth the meaning of the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to day as it is rendred in the Text according to our Third Interpretation and treateth also of Christ's Oeconomy therein Proposition JESUS CHRIST is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Same or the onely Hee to Day Now herein also two things are to be considered by us First The Denomination of Time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Secondly What is predicated of that Time viz. Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Same to Day First the Denomination of the Time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. mansuetus ad differentiam noctis quae immitis â—orrida est to Day from whence we may collect The Time of the Gospel is a time of light The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 implying it which the former word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth not The text we see calleth it a day and it is light we know that formeth the Day without which it vanisheth and cometh to nothing A Day then it is and a light-some day A day which the Lord hath made even the Lord our Light and our Righteousness the Path of that just one having from the beginning been as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day A glorious day wherein is concluded the light of Yesterday For as the light which for the three first dayes of the Creation was dispersed through the Heavens it pleased God to gather and unite into one body of the Sun so that Light of Yesterday which was diffused through so many shadowes and Legal Ceremonies was at last complicated and folded up in Christ the Son of Righteousness who is now in this day of his Power like a strong man running his Race displaying his Beames distilling his Influences filling the Earth with knowledge even as the Waters covers the Seas But let us more particularly behold and see the Glory of this Light First the Light of this Day is the true Light 1 Joh. 2.8 as the Evangelist Saint John calleth it 1 Joh. 2.8 Not like unto that of old which was darkned with the shadowes of the Mosaicall Oeconomy but clear and manifest Lumen illuminans Joh 1.9 A Light that inlightneth every man that cometh into the World non illuminatum not inlightned by Moses or any man in the World Secondly It is a great Light overspreading the whole World shining out into all Nations making a day of Salvation unto all People There were two great Lights which God Created in the beginning the greater Light to rule the Day Gen. 1.16 and the lesser Light to rule the Night Answerably hereunto hath God ordained two great Lights for his Church the lesser Light to rule the time of the Law and the greater to rule the time of the Gospel and as the Evening did precede the Morning in the ordering of the natural
the earth Then with glory to God on high and peace upon earth but hereafter with Vae Vae Vae habitatoribus terrae Thrice wo to them that dwell upon the earth Then to gather the lost sheep of the house of Israel into the sheep-fold now to sever the Sheep from the Goats Then to embrace both Jew and Gentile now to divide between servant and Servant at the same Mill between man and wife in the same bed between Jacob and Esau in the same womb and to pronounce the one of them blessed and the other accursed Repent therefore we say unto you for this kingdome of God is at hand to deface all kingdomes to root up the nations to consume the earth with her works and the people with their sins This is the kingdome and no other that is now to be looked for and our Lord is gone to receive it for himself But whosoever they be that will not have him to reign over them whiles he swayeth the scepter of his Grace which is so despicable in the eye of the world Luk 19.12 when he returneth he will have such Rebels and Traytours dragg'd into his presence and see them executed before him Oh then let not the Serpent beguile you any longer with the expectation of a sools paradise Rather come I beseech without any further delay O ye children of Israel and children of Judah together and seek the Lord your God Jer. 5.4 5 who hath promised to be found of you Ask the way to Zion with your faces thitherward and we for our parts will give you the best directions we can Say as it is written of you you shall say Come let us joyn our selves to the Lord in an everlasting Covenant that shall never be forgotten Too long alas have you been unmindful of the Rock that begat you and forgotten your God that formed you And will you still continue to be a froward Generation children in whom is no faith Is the Lord Christ a stumbling-block unto you because of the reproach that is cast upon his kingdome by a sinful world A world that accounteth the things of the Spirit of God but foolishness which things it cannot know nor receive because they are spiritually discern'd And will you conform your selves to the guise of the world You that have heretofore with so much zeal declared your abhorrency of it Will you now joyn in a confederacy with it to your shame in that which is so contrary to the concurrent predictions of all your Prophets concerning the kingdome of the Messiah Some of whom I confess do speak of his glory and great atchievements but that must be understood in a spiritual sense as that he will bring the world under the power of his grace And those that do resist it he will by his Word and Spirit most righteously condemn Else how will you free those other Prophets from falshood and errour who speak as much of his poor base and contemptible estate under many miseries and afflictions yea of his death and passion As for that dream of two Messiasses to come the one Ben Joseph of the Tribe of Ephraim who is to suffer and undergo those indignities the other Ben David of the Tribe of Judah who must redeem deliver and restore Israel to their former inheritance and gather them together out of all the earth who must vanquish subdue and make tributary all Princes and Potentates of the world who never must dye but live and reign everlastingly in temporal Glory who shall raise again the dead Israelites unto life and amongst them Messiah Ben Joseph It is so sottish an absurdity that I believe you your selves are ashamed of it The Messiah whom you have expected is the Rock of Ages the Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending Would you have him then to vary the form of his Government which he hath alwayes exercised over his Church in a spiritual way to a worldly compliancy with the Princes of the earth What a shameful inconstancy would this be unsutable to his Honour and no whit conducible to the work the great work of Messiah in destroying the kingdome of Satan Yea what fruit would thereby redound unto you in carrying you safely through your pilgrimage here that you might sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the kingdome of God For us We profess this to be our earnest desire in our own behalf and if you be indeed the children of Abraham it would be your ambition to obtain it rather then any earthly glory Did the Lord ever in all the time of yesterday exercise a temporal Power over the Kings and Princes of the earth Where was his Throne erected What mettal was his Crown made of When Pharaoh kept his people in Egypt What armies of men did he muster up for their deliverance When Amalâ—k came out against them Moses his Deputy betakes himself to prayer whilst Joshua fights the Lords battels But what need the one pray and the other fight if the Lord himself who is the Lord of Hosts not onely of his subjects but of his enemies too was to have exercised such a Power And how ill did the Lord take it of your forefathers when they thus mutinied against him saying Nay but we will have a King over us 1 Sam. 8.7 that we also may be like unto other nations They have saith he rejected me that I should not reign over them meaning in his spiritual mediatory Power as I have before observed which though he still in great mercy continued as formerly during that regal Government which they then chose and which should in time have been mercifully establisht among them had they not been so precipitant in requiring it yet was his Spirit grieved at that their rebellion against him Oh know for certain It is a far greater rebellion against the Lord your God that you are this day guilty of In that you do so causelesly out of a vain affectation of conformity to other nations unwarranted by Moses and the Prophets reject the Anoynted of the most high God that he should not be your King according to that form of Government which is devolv'd upon him by the Father But Non obstante your obstinacy against him hitherto he hath reigned and reign he will still as he hath done Malgrè all the gates of hell He is the breath of our nosthrils and the life of our souls under his shadow we do live and rejoyce yea and we will rejoyce more and more And as for you because of your unkinde refusal of him hath not this our Lord according to his oath hitherto with a mighty hand Ezek. 20.33 and stretched-out arm and fury poured out ruled over you Whence otherwise hath it come to pass that so deep a stain hath been brought upon all your excellency and that your glory is thus eclipsed That you are scattered over the world and whereas you were the head you are now become the tail of
the Jews to expect and good warrant for us to believe their restauration First Hear what Moses saith of this people Deut. 4.30.31 When thou art intribulation as they are this day and all these things are come upon thee Deut 4.30 31. even in the latter dayes remember that if thou turn to the Lord thy God and shalt be obedient unto his voice For the Lord thy Ged is a merciful God he will not forsake thee neither destroy thee nor forget the Covenant of thy Fathers which he sware unto them But if God hath now cast away his people in these latter dayes so as that they shall be no more a people hath he not forgotten the Covenant of their Fathers which he sware unto them Possibly it will be replyed That promise was attended with this Proviso If they turn unto the Lord their God and be obedient unto his voice But that will never be because of the hardness of their hearts to which they are given up by the just judgement of God for their contempt of the Gospel when it was sent unto them In answer hereunto hear Moses once again Deut. 30.3 c. If thou return unto the Lord thy God Deut. 30.3 c. then will the Lord thy God turn thy Captivity and haâ—e compassion â—pon thâ—e and wâ—ll return and gather thee from all Nations whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee If any of thine be driâ—en out unto the utmost parts of heaven from then â—e will the Lord thy God gather thee and from thence will he fetch thee And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul that thou mayest live You 'll say How doth this take away the premised Objection Hear and consider First These promises doubtless are grounded upon the new Covenant for the old admits of no mercy to be shewed unto any upon the violation of it The condition therefore must be understood in an answerable sense If you return and if you obey that is when thou shalt Return and when thou shalt obey being induced thereunto by that Grace which I will give unto thee Secondly Of whom speaketh Moses this Of some few a Tribe or two of the Children of Israel or of the whole Nation Surely of the whole Nation but hitherto is not the Captivity of the whole nation turned neither hath the Lord gathered them from all those nations and the utmost parts of heaven whither he had in his sore displeasure scattered them Thirdly Circumcision being the Sacrament of initiation whereby this people were separated from the World and solemnly admitted to be a peculiar portion to the Lord the promise here of circumcising their hearts doth not so much imply their confirmation in their obedience during their restored estate as the turning of their hearts even at the time of their re-admission to be the Lords Fourthly This promise hath never yet been fulfilled in any of their former deliverances For Saint Steven speaketh to them in this manner after all that God had done for them Act. 7.51 Yee stiff-necked and uncircumeised in heart and ears ye do alwayes resist the Holy Ghost as your fathers did so do yee It remaineth therefore that the accomplishment thereof is yet to come viz. In these latter dayes Thus Moses The Prophets likewise with one Consent do testifie the same First Isaiah is very free and copious in this matter It shall come to pass saith he Es 11.11 12. in that day Es 11.11 12. that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people that shall be left from Assyria and from Egypt and from Pathros and from Cush and from Elam and from Shinar and from Hamath and from the Islands of the Sea that is from all quarters of the World And he shall set up an ensign for the Nations and shall asseble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four Corners of the Earth Let us here also take notice of some considerations very pertinent as I conceive to our present purpose First The Prophet we see speaks of the second time of Gods stretching out his hand for the deliverance of all the posterity of Jacob which second time must be in the dayes of the Messiah as appeareth by the tenth verse Secondly Observe this place is not to be understood of the elect both Jew and Gentile as some will have it For the Prophet had in the tenth verse spoken particularly of the Gentiles Therefore the people here intended are without controversie onely the seed of Abraham according to the flesh Thirdly Consider how the Prophet speaks not of Judah alone or the two Tribes that came out of Babylon after the seventy years Captivity but which is very remarkable not onely here but in sundry other places of Israel and Judah together who never yet were united since their first separation Fourthly This assembling and gathering of Israel and Judah together shall be in those dayes when the Lord sets up an ensign for the Nations that is when the Messiah shall be lifted up in the Ministery of the word For he is the rock of Jesse which should stand for an ensign of the peoples See another Prophecy from the same hand Es 43.5 6. Fear not saith the Lord to Israel for I am with thee I will bring thy seed from the East and gather thee from the West I will say to the North give up and to the South keep not back bring my Sons from far and my Daughters from the ends of the earth And again Es 45.22 2a Look unto mee Es 45.22.25 and be yee saved all the ends of the earth In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified and shall glory Let it be now hereupon considered Hath there been as yet an universal gathering of Israel to the Lord such as is here mentioned Hath the Lord as yet justified all the seed of Israel that is the Nation of them against their enemies Or doth the Nation yet glory in that salvation which hath been wrought in the world now in the time of the Gospel If not then surely these things are yet to be fulfilled If it be objected as some will not stick to do it that these and the like places are to bee understood Synechdochically as putting a part for the whole viz. Israel for the whole Church of God throughout the World that it should be gathered and justified and that all the people of God should glory and make their boast of the Lord. I answer Though it should be so yet the literal meaning here as it referreth to the posterity of Jacob is not to be wholly sleighted for admit that it be an usual form of speech by a Synechdoche to put a part for the whole Yet such a Synechdoche must needs be accounted a violent assault
should remain as a blot upon them to cause any more separation between their God and them and to bring in everlasting righteousness which will consummate the Vision and Prophecy that they may be a righteous Nation and holy People to the Lord above all others so long as the World endureth Hereupon I demand Have these things as yet been fulfilled upon this People Is their iniquity transgression and sin to speak of it first in a general sense finished or purged away Yea is it at all restrained Rather doth it not abound more and more If then these seventy sevens must be limited to so narrow a compass as they have usually been Where is the truth of this Prophecy Where It is in the Messiah say some who by his death hath done all this for them Most true But nevertheless it shall not be effectual unto them till they do believe and receive him for their Messiah For Christ is the end of the Law for Righteousness to every one that believeth saith Saint Paul Rom. 10.4 But withall the Apostle there addeth that which we finde in this people to this very day Rom. 10.16 They have not all obeyed the Gospel For as Esaias saith so may we Who among them hath believed our report concerning this Messiah which hath been carried to the end of the world Yea the same Prophet feareth not in plain terms to say I was found of them that sought me not I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me meaning the Gentiles but to Israel he saith All day long have I stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gain saying people This time therefore is not yet expired because their iniquity transgression and sin as yet remaineth Or if that single transgression in Jacob or his sonnes before-mentioned was finished having received a just recompense of reward at their deliverance out of Egypt and the multiplied rebellions since of the Jewish nation wherewith they in their several generations afterwards did provoke the Lord against them were sealed up at their return out of Babylon so as they should appear no more to their shame yet their iniquity in crucifying the Lord of glory is still marked before the Lord and therefore is their present captivity still continued But when these seventy sevens are ended God will surely be reconciled to them for that also It will be objected How doth this Interpretation agree with the words following where these seventy sevens are branched out into a tripartite division and made to expire at the furthest with the destruction of Jerusalem I answer Though mention be there also made of seventy sevens yet I conceive it will not necessarily follow that they must be the same with those before spoken of ver 24. but because the Prophet had in his prayer besought the Lord for the City Jerusalem as well as for the people therefore after that the Angel had made known the minde of the Lord in order to the whole Vision and Prophecie concerning the people he then goeth on to reveal unto him in the following part of the Chapter more particularly what shall befall the City within the compass of another seventy distinct from the former yet included in it wherein also should happen the greatest manifestation of Gods love unto his Israel For in that time the whole Prophecy relating to the Messiah who was to confirm the Covenant made with Abraham and who as the Angel saith did confirm it in one week of that seventy should be fulfilled In regard therefore that this latter is so expressly referred to the City both for the re-edifying and the destruction of it and the former as punctually referred to the people for those ends and purposes there specified as hath been proved it may well be presumed that they are not the same Yea the Angel himself seems to put the difference For when he speaks of the first seventy he calls upon the Prophet to understand the matter and to consider the vision that is the vision which was by the said term of years to be sealed And when he speaks of the latter seventy he again adviseth the Prophet to know and understand implying that he was about to reveal another secret unto him touching his City which would likewise require his best understanding as the other before did And now to conclude Let it be considered whether this sense that I have through the guidance I hope of Gods grace given of this Scripture doth not carry with it a sound of truth according to the minde of the Spirit of God in it which if it do Is it not clear that the posterity of Jacob called here by the Angel Daniel's people because God would not own them during the time of his desertion of them shall shortly be restored to the honour of their Primogeniture and become Gods people again according to the Covenant made with their fathers Abraham Isaac and Jacob which Covenant he will not break because he is ' O 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Same yesterday to day and for ever Much more might be added in the vindication of this sense that I have here given but it is time now Manum de tabula to put an end to this matter in the handling whereof I have already been larger then at first I intended when I entred upon it yet meet it was that I should not onely give the meaning thereof according to my apprehension but to clear up the difficulties of it yea and to answer those objections that might be raised against it I confess there is a singularity that I may possibly be charged with yet I hope I may be excused therein For first in such dark and dubious offertures of the minde of God as this is no man is or ought to be bound up by the sense of another but a latitude may be taken in rendring the construction of them provided that the common Boundaries which the spirit of Truth hath set unto us in this case be not transgressed Secondly I have here with all due modesty declared my opinion after the form of an Hypothesis and by way of Conjecture with submission also to the Church of Christ wherein I do but as becometh a dutiful sonne of the Church Onely let not my humble manner of proposing my judgement create a prejudice in the hearts of any persons to make them to think the more sleightly of what I have here written If it be but a bare conjecture that I have here offered it is but as all other Interpretations have been that hitherto are given of this Scripture Neither indeed was it possible as I have before said that any Expositor could go beyond a conjecture in their Interpretation of it For the variety of their Epoche's do plainly argue much uncertainty in their computations And whereas they generally agree upon one root of time in order to their accounts viz. The going forth of the Commandment though when that should be they cannot precisely