the Meetings on Zion and shortly douse on the backs of the Assyrians so he did three ways as 1. On the Army that was slain 2. The young Captains they fled 3. The King he by his Successors was kill'd and all as Hezekiah pray'd 2 Kings 19. 15. O God that dwellest among the Cherubims c. that was God's Nest and thence God emitted fire from 's Altar that made 'em afraid as vers 9. and at last that being the best City of all civil and sacred Treasure God that was present among them would be their Defence a Jehova Nisci and as once in Egypt make a new Passover in both their rescue from the Assyrian Tallons that vivitur ex rapto and in a Revenge on him for both these are in the sense Now hence may all the Monsters on Earth the rampant Lions at Arms the voracious Eagles of Prey take warning that the Prayer stolen off God's Altar hath a live Coal cleaving to 't Isa 10. 16. that under all their Glory shall kindle a burning as a Fire not blown Job 20. 26. which shortly will consume the Forrest of their Carmel the Nests of their Covents and all the places to which they have brought their Rapine 2. This Defence is like that of a Shadow as of a Curtain a Grove Bough or a Tent and a Rock These two last are apt to our purpose and promiss'd in Isa 4. ult the other in Chap. 32. 2. for in the former Chapter vers 5. it 's call'd a Cloud a sweet Shelter in ther heat and of use to quench the inner heat of Thirst as well as cool or cure the scorchings of the Sun-Beams and here v. 6. a Shadow made by a Tabernacle Booth or Tent like to Israel's in the Desert 40 Years or that spread over the Ark where God communed with Moses nay he oft fill'd the Tent with a Cloud as Numb 12. 5. a token of Favour to him but Wrath to Miriam that quarrell'd at his Office and the use of this is against stormy Persecution and the ruine of Afflictions publick or personal Trials Chap. 18. 4. it 's called a Cloud of Dew in the heat of Harvest and this was wont to be a time Gen. 18. 1. and place of rest at noon Cant. 1. 7. all which notes that when the hot scorching Sun of Persecution is over us and yet the heat of Zeal and Love flame within now God draws the Cloud of Presence and Defence over his in his Pavilion are we both warm and safe 3. God's Defence is like that of a Shepherd that that wards by day and watches by night for the safety of his Flock it 's true if God do fall on the Prey a multitude of them will never stop his pursuit by their fear or noise to prevent his Prey nor rescue it seiz'd as Isa 31. 4. Yet if God will defend his own Oh all ye Pastors and save his Lambs in their Folds from your Paws and Jaws he 'll not abase himself for your noise so will the Lord fight for mount Zion and the Hill thereof so is the sense Annotat. in loc and consonant to other Scriptures as Mic. 5. 7 8. and so observe that of Ezek. 34. 7 8 12 c. where the Lord complains of the false Pastors of both sorts that rul'd with Force and Cruelty to the scattering of God's Flock and of the hard Measures and Pastures given them how they ate but fed not the Flock whence Dr. Mayor In loc p. 451. A Lapid cites an old Canon Beneficium datur propter Officium i. e. Prosit requires Duty and so finds just fault with our Church-men that took of the Fall and did not the Duty Lords Bishops Deans Deacons Prebends c. Pluralists but all their gain proves but as that Aurum Tholosanum to wast their Wealth against such Harpies two things are promised 1. God would judg the pushing Rams c. and discern 'twixt Cattel and Cattel and feed the strong with Judgment i. e. spiritual or typical Rulers that thrust and push'd with the Horn by Extortions on the best by their Ruine to get Riches and thus will God defend his Flock 2. By raising a Plant of Renown for them partly in the return from Babylon fulfill'd in Zerubbabel Joshua Ezra c. Vers 23 24. and after in Christ's time when prohibited imprisoned and proscrib'd by the Councel yet they still came off in peace and safety Acts 4. and 5. 4. Like a Wall when the Church bewails her Misery 't is exprest by destroying the Wall of the Daughter of Zion Lam. 8. 2. which being broke or trod down lays the Vineyard open to Boars and little Foxes When that Church Isa 5. 2 5. is built up it s call'd a Wall Cant. 8. 9 10. and the faithful Prophets are stil'd Brazen Walls Jer. 15. 20. Nor can this fenced Wall be skaill'd but by Sin or hindred long in rearing tho in troublesome times Dan. 2. 25. No trouble in the times may stay God's Workmen nor ought nor indeed can for when our Walls are to be built it 's promiss'd the Decree Mic. 7. 11. shall be remov'd far i. e. the Decree of God's Displeasure as Zep. 2. 2. or the Decree of Man's prohibition Ezra 4. 19 21. Now a Wall if strong as this is being God's receives all the Balls and Bullets all Blasts and Batterys that are beat upon 't and causes them all to recoyl sometimes to the hurt of him that sent 'em ever to the fafety of those imur'd What hurt gets Israel if hous'd when Egypt is all in a Tempest What does the Rain to the Wall it dashes a Dew on 't and that drops off so 's gone What suffers the Rock by the dash of a Wave alas stand a little as the Eagers in Ouse Trent or Humber spurt and flash o're the Wall by and by all 's past For this see yet where your strength lies Isa 25. 4. and Chap. 32. 2. Thou hast been a Stoength to the poor in Distress a Strength a Shaddow a Refuge from Storm and Heat when the Blast of the terrible one is as a Storm against the Wall So is Christ's Kingdom a Shaddow of a great Rock in a weary Land and surely a Wall of Mud or Wood of Stone or Brass may be strong but of Fire far stronger and more formidable and such is promiss'd to Zion nay one of Pearl Isa 54. 11 16. with Apoc. 21. 14 18. and who can or dare to dig at it surely then we 'll call them Walls Salvation and Gates Praise Isa 60. 11. For the Gates of Hell shall not and how can the Gates of Earth prevail against it Mat. 16. 18. Were the Canons of Rome and Curses of our Doctors Commons as big as the Duke of Ferrara's call'd the one the Earthquake the other Grandiabolo this Wall shall not only repel but retort all the Ordâ—nance of these Hellish Gammadims of Tyre 5. God's defence is as broad Rivers as in Isa 33. 21. or
and Water too One illustrates it by that in Zach. 2. 5. called a Wall of Fire and I add ch 9. 8. wher 's it is stiled a Camp about God's House of which in the Use In Deut. 33. 12. note of Benjamin this was his Blessing The Beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him i. e. Judah and Benjamin shall divide the Glory and Temple by a Righ-line betwixt them as some note Weemes H. Ainsworth and others the Line divided the Temple Sanctum Sanctorum and the very two Cherubs where the Shechina or Divine Majesty and Oracle sate and spake and he shall dwell betwixt his Shoulders col hajom all the day Now all I urge hence is to prove that God is the Safety of Assemblies in worship of his Name and though Objections may be made and answered in the Sequel yet if God be as good as his word as oft he is better and if yet any remain of Zions Daughters he is the same defence yesterday to day and for ever as Heb. 13. 8. Modern Instances will yet further occur from History to prove ex abundanti the truth of it And so far is the 2d head in the Act of Duty how Gods defends his Worship 3dly Now let 's explain how God defends his Worshippers afterwards Tho it may be the Lot of the best to be exposed and God in his Wisdom for good and holy ends suffers the worst of Men to prevail over the best and to trample on the most sacred things and Persons most for his own times and ways he must take to perform his Word not ours yet after men have prospered a long time and Saints suffered with and for the Sanctuary a little while he comes a tergo unawares after the one with Vengeance and unto the Godly rides fast for their help and deliverance There is none like the God of Jeshurun said Moses Deut. 33. 26. that is of Upright Ones that rides on the Heavens for thy help and in his Excellency on the Skies Note 1. God is titled by the stile of a General his Excellency for he excells in Might in Wisdom in Command ore all in chief 2. Though he delays and is long and far behind our hasty desires yet 't is but as a Captain that steps to the Rere to bring them safe off and he is not dismounted he rides still and on swift Steeds the Skies the Heavens which Spheres do naturally move wondrous quick so that he can soon overtake the foot of his Host and also the Horse of his Enenemies 'T is a Note of * Burr Lord of Hosts one that the old Wars of Israel were on their part still on foot though Pharaoh pursued with Chariots and Horses yet I am sure God rides with celerity has a running Army and all for onr help To be a little more particular in this third head How God defends his Worshipers after tho in the act of duty he may delay a little space of time to try both their courage and patience and perseverance in well doing and herein he helps them also not a little and that is also a token of their Salvation But now as the after-clap Thunder is loudest and that which brings the Bolt of Execution on the highest things So Does Gods fulminating Stroaks On Basbans highest sturdy Oaks And lofty Hills as Psal 81. 7. feriunt summos fulmina montes That Psalm says of Israels Deliverance out of Pharaoh's Slavery He answered in the secret place of Thunder i. e. by sore and heavy Judgments on Aegypt Exod. 9. 23. And this not the least for as the Thunder terrified them and the Hail and Fire mikt smote Grass Herbs and Trees so that v. 28. the King melts and thaws a while and at Moses's Prayer it was removed again but the Heart freezes as hard as before to inslave God's Children till the Red-Sea soakt it once for all Nor are extraordinary Examples of this wanting here when no ordinary obtain sometimes God's Cannons go off and the Report and Execution is done at some distance and heard of afterwards sometimes it is immediately and so here on that day v. 10. he discomfited them possibly sentence is not speedily as Eccl. 8. 11. It may be at Night as in the Siege of Jerusalem prophesied Isai 17. 14. performed ch 37. 36. and that Night too as to the Host and v. 38. as to the King verified and even in the act of his own Worship it seems in the House of his false God his Sons perhaps in a Jealousie of being prevented in the Succession slew him and so he that did invade and besiege Gods City and Sanctuary is cut off in his own to read us his Crime in his own condemnation Polibius said of Antiochus he came to that ill end for attempting to spoil Apollo's Temple it was indeed for this assaulting of Gods For v. 34. is a Promise to defend that City as a Shield so the Word notes Herodotus says of this defeat * Tho misapplied to Setho Priest of Vulcan and death soon after that on his Tomb was found that Epitaph Look on me and beware By this it is plain God is in some Cases severe in expediting vengeance tho he is slow to anger yet if once angry he rides swiftly and though he forbears some other Sinners long as that Question implies 1 Kings 14. 14. I will rise against the House of Jeroboam but what even now That notes either not yet or in a very few years and it was now in hand to be done by Baasha and partly begun in the death of Abijah his Son and fulfilled thereafter in two years or little more as Mayer observes But revenges for wrongs and ruines of the Lords Altar and Service may be observed to overtake some times Persons in particular and sometimes Cities and People in bulk For the former the Judgments of God have oft surprised none of the meanest men and that for the cause of Zion that is Liberty and Purity of Worship and its lovers see what followed Cain for guilt of Abel's blood that bloody Cut-throat as that word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 denotes 1 John 3. 12. not brooking a preciser Devotion Crit. Sacr. proprie est ferro fratrem jugulo adacto occidere than his butchers a poor Brother for Conscience but God setts a mark of visible terrour and secret horrour on him that followed him as a Blood-hound to the end the first quarrel was as one says circa media sacrificii A Curse followed it Gen. 4. 11. and still does all that go in Cain's way of Persecution Judg. v. 11. and Balaam's the way of cursing 2 Peter 2. 15. Like John Diazius that having killed his own Brother fled to Rome as Cain to Nod and there is cannonized but so dogged in his Soul that for want of a Gibbet he hanged himself at the neck of his Mule As Tacitus Sin it self is turned to a Plague flagitia tandem
in the days of Hezekiah 1 Chron. 4. 42 43. and so in Esther So that what is to do yet takes place in Christ's Kingdom when he sits on that Throne the Father's Hand was laid on to defend Nor were the Jews excused after the rejection of Christ and the Gospel the Romans came and laid waste the Nation And what 's become of the seven Asian Churches and now the Greeks all under the Curse intailed on this Crime Nor fared the Britains better as Gildas that mournful Prophet said and felt but his Injuries were paid dear for soon after As our Speed pag. 190. and others observe who says those times lasted 40 years So he cites Gildas words too long to insert here After pag. 192. Vortigern sent for the Saxons that instead of hoped Friends proved try'd Enemies for 300 years through the Tyranny of that Vortigern They did all contrary to themselves that Medicine of the truest Physician to them was needless that 's the Salvation of the Gospel Nor was the Lord's Flock or their Sheepherds better They swell'd with Pride and griping Envy yea Contempt was poured on their Princes nay as mad Horses they ran with the Bit and their Riders and left the way of Salvation And pag. 193. out of Gildas says All the Councellors with the proud Tyrant blinded in Judgment devised a way of Protection that prov'd the Countries Destruction i. e. to let in the Saxons A People hated of God and Man so he These break the Covenant waste the Land East and West like the Assyrian fire the Holy Places the dwellings of God's Name laid their Turrets Priests Altars all on the Ground gored with bloody quarters as in a Wine-Press that had no Sepulchres save Ruins of Buildings wild Beasts and Birds Maws Pag. 194. Others going over Sea sang mournfully that sad Psalm 44. 11. Thou hast given us as Sheep to be slain and scattered us among the Heathen some liv'd in Woods Thickets and Rocks at Sea all about the Year of Christ 473. Fuller of these days observes of Vortigern that in him all the Dreggs of his wicked Ancestors were setled that then one Germane and Lupus preach'd in the Fields and twice subdued the Pelagians 1. By Battle and that Hallelujah-Victory got blowless 2. By a Disputation yet they by the Example of their vicious King forsaken of God and Man and so left to himself ran to all manner of Sin Fuller's Ecclesiastical History of Gildas pag. 32. Cent. 5. S. 14. That Gildas duely styles him aetatis atramentum the very Ink blot of that Age and tho God beat 'em they as restiff Horses went worse for 't had they as carefully bemoanâ—d their Sins to God as their Sorrow to Romans their Requests in Heaven had been as graciously received as their Petitions on Earth were carelesly rejected By all which Examples we see how God by Punishments on Persons and People even to our own plagues contempt of his Worship And for Cities and Towns corporate or not no less Jealousy does he conceive and in time vent against the Abusers of Holy Things a little will sufficiently Instance it For as Cities are great Bodies and numerous in concourse so have they advantages for Good or Evil and move as they 're reigned by them that precide especially towards Evil by the dead weight tho not so strongly to Good thence 't is Lot was so furiously treated in Sodom for preaching so gravely Sobriety and Shechem rid by Abimelech posted on through the Blood of nigh 70 Men besides the War till God mingled a perverse Spirit 'twixt him and them and so they came even with one the other for the Blood and Usurpation they usher'd him in with Judg. 9. 2 5 23. ult But without Digression If Meroz sustain'd the Curse of an Angel for not helping the Lord against the Mighty Judg. 5. 23. what Curse is incurr'd for helping the Mighty against the Angels of Christ the Messengers and Assemblies of God If Jericho's Repair whose Fall was by the Arm of Faith intail'd a Curse on him and his that should rebuild it what deserves it to build up not Zion but Babel on her Ruins If Niniveh was spared that heard Jonah and repented for that Preacher in the Streets the King obeying the word of a Pilgrim what does that City demerit that banishes silences and starves more than hundreds of such what shall I say of Chorazin Bethsaida of Jerusalem the Nest of Devotion that not a Prophet must perish out on 't Luk. 13. 33. a sad Character for such a City of God! where 's the old Cities Adam Meroz Laish or No Nay Shiloe Bethlem Antioch Laodicea and many more some sack'd by War some burnt to Ashes some sunk by Inundations or subdu'd by Forreigners some betray'd to Fury by intestine Broils some shiver'd to pieces by Earthquakes and all lost by base Security So that where the Gospel and pure Devotion has ever obtain'd as earst at Rome and of late in London many Years If after all Calls it be rejected may it not prove the Motto of such Cities and Towns as of that ruin'd Town where this was found Here lies the City that perish'd with Silence So for that Head But Scripture yet adduces more matter to amplify this by some apt Metaphors that do open this how God defends us i. e. As a Bird a Shadow a Shepherd a Wall of Fire or a Camp c of which a little to each 1. As Birds Isa 31. 5. flying so will the Lord of Hosts defend Jerusalem defending he will deliver and passing over preserve it The scope is to hearten the Faithful ' gainst all Fear by various Arguments two especially 1. The promise of Defence vers 5. 2. The Presence of God and the Fire of his Altar burning in Zion as Dr. Mayer observes the former among others is illustrate by a Simile of Birds flying that denotes either 1. That Birds on the Wing were not so much in danger as on the Earth where Snares lye So they by a flight to God on the Wing of Faith might get above all Adversaries without the Snare that trust in Egypt or human help brings So the Net was in vain spread for ' em 2. Birds in flying defend their Nests and Young by giering and veering in the Air as the Plover or Lapwing that keeps a flutter at a distance to elude the danger So God would lead the Assyrian into a gross mistake by putting him in hope of his now finding the Nest of that People Chap. 10. 14. and none moved the Wing at him yet it was vain hope Or 3. As Birds of Prey the Eagle and such do soar to a high Mount in the Air yet have an Eye to their Nest and Young and finding them in danger douse down for their safety on the backs of all that rob the Nest or seize on the Young So the Lord as an Eagle would flutter o're Zion Deut. 32. 11. and save his Children secure and watch
Loss my Grief v. 10. And the effect was sad on his Spirit for how dejected must he needs be and what disquiet must it bring to one wont to and chear'd by a Presence to hear men that prize not a Presence rejoyce ore him that did tauntingly to say Where is thy God A Sword a drawing or at the Breast or cutting the Flesh is painful but this is a Sword in the Bones digs in the Marrow or within the Ribs at the Vitals so i◠struck at heart and life to hear the Question Where and not be able to answer to it as they did Lo this or here is our God Isai 25. 9. So in Psal 43. 3 4. What his Plant was and how great may be seen in the Cure pray'd for That by Gods Light and Truth he might be led back to the Holy Hill to God's Tabernacles and go to the Altar of God his exceeding Joy now all his Plaints would cease in a Song In another he bemoans himself as in a dry Desert Psal 63. 1 2. where no water was seeking longing thirsting following hard to see that Beauty and Glory as once in the Sanctuary The want of Sanctuary and Altar-approaches is heavy and no quieting a Child of God without those Teats and Breasts of Consolation Many the like see in Psal 74. 1 2 per totum the Congregation in Zion Oh that was lost and the fore-view of its desolations called perpetual to see what the Enemy had done in the Sanctuary c. what roaring fire reproaches and tumults in God's Assemblies they had perpetrated In another Psalm Psal 79. 1 2 3 5 7 10. complains of Heathen in the Sanctuary and the City laid on heaps our City stands not if the Sanctuary falls and next as one said to London Mr. Reeve on Jonah p. 221. c. it goes to Flesh-works from Stone and Timber-Ruines to Saints Bodies Flesh and Bones are too cheap in Romes Shambles their Blood as Water These are cited once so I leave them now One Psalm more Psal 137. 1. I cite a Prophesy of that Litteral and our Mistical Babilon Edom joyning in too See the Marginal Note to v. 1. Tho the Place was pleasant it could not stop tears or wain from the Pareus Adv. p. 396. calls it Risus Sardinius Impius i. e. of an Herb that bit on kills one laughing Or as Aurum Tholossanum true Service of God and tho in Exile mocks at their Songs were hard to bear that mirth was at Religion that is but Sardonian Laughter as one calls it and tho it be part of our Cross it will not lie on long The Sardi used to smile on him in quem malum intendebant that they envied so God's smiles serve the Wicked that make Jokes of Saints Losses To rob God's House as the Gold of Tholous one will not long be rich or merry by it One Complaint more to wave the Lamentation see in the Prophet Isaiah Isa 63. 18. and 64. 10. 11. that almost 200 years afore laments by a Spirit of Prophesy the Miseries of that People when the Sanctuary lies desolate they have trodden down the Lords Sanctuary laid Zion and the Temple waste where the Fathers praised him Now tho these Complains were verified on the Temple by the Chaldeans and once more by the Romans and Pompey trod in the Holy Place not without sore terrour to him yet it extends to any times of After-violences on the Gospel-Worshippers and in the next Chapter v. 1. it had an Answer But on the whole to summe up this Argument what signifies Complaint if wholly fruitless or why made to God if he forget them or never means to afford Relief to them Why is he stiled Elshaddai El-elohim Jehovah Nissi Jehovah Jireh and the like but to signifie his Power to help and Will to hear are any empty Titles attributed to him as airy ones are oft unto men Job says Job 21. 4. Is my Complaint to man If it was it had been lawfull but fruitless No q. d. 't is directed to God of good use and brings relief at present and after release as no greater yoak than that on the Conscience so no surer defence than is by him that is Lord thereof and over Worship I conclude with that of Daniel one that sensed the Ruines of Gods Matters deeply Dan. 9. 17. and who doth more speaking of the Roman Force on that House He shall plant the Tabernacle of his Pallace between the Seas in the Mountain of Delights Oh sad where his Peoples delights were and God did delight once to dwell One concludes thus on 't And it reaches to all Ch. 11. 45. Huit in Loc. applies it to Turks p. 343. Mahometans the Turk now the terrour of the World tho many run to him for a Refuge shall with all his Janisaries and Troops be but broken Reeds while he bears Arms against the People of God for he shall find one to encounter him to his smart for all his Rage who will make Jerusalem a Cup of trembling Zac. 12. 3. and a burthensome Stone to all that come against her And this I add what he says of him is alike proper to all the Mounsiers hunting for the like Rapine The Crys and Tears of the Oppressed Jam. 5. 4. ascends in the Ears of the Lord of Tsaboath and will in a while obtain a Michael Dan. 12. 1. to defend them A fifth ground of Gods Defence rises out of the respect he shows to true Worshippers 'T is a singular favour when we seek God often to find him once but in him a far greater Condiscention to seek for us Joh. 4. 24. And the Father seeks such to worship him saith Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. summo studio querere mirifice cupere He asks for desires cares to keep and highly esteems such nay challanges them Who will bring me such see if I keep them not What respect had God to Abel and his Gift too How tender was he of Enoch a Prophet So of Noah putting him in and filling the Ark with all Necessaries not for Food only but Sacrifice of which he offered when he came out a sweet Savour to God and God preserved him above a year to that end Thus Abraham is called out of Vrr where they worshipt Fire as God and after that first Call re-invites him to Moria to offer his Isaac and found his heart what he sought and made him faithfull calling him after his Friend Thus Jacob is called in a voluntary Exile to Bethel the Place of his first Affliction and Bethel was then Gen. 28. without doors I doubt is so still too much to it more than once was he a Seeker and Oh when will his now Race be called sought out God enquires after such in all Ages all Nations and finds them nay makes them Mal. 3. 17. his Segulah Jewels or the peculiar Treasure communes Gen. 18. ult with them as with Intimates seeks out for Moses in
again Heb. 12. 22. And we come to it and on it Christ will ere long stand in head of a Palm-bearing number Rev. 14. 1. ch 7. 9. He and they both invincible i. e. Victorious for crescit sub pondere palma For as his Fort is there so his Pallaces are too and in them he dwells and will for ever Now all the devout Worshippers and Visiters of this Court may know their strength lies in her Defence and that others may see the Folly of all Assaults and so forbear let it be a little surveyed in her Impregnable Fortifications As now it is said The Name of the Lord i. e. The Lord himself is a strong Tower the Righteouâ— fly or run to it and are safe or set on high Prov. 18. 10. His Wisdom Goodness Power Providence are all for our defence in all our perils for God as one notes on that place His Wisdom contrives ways Jer. Dyke in Locum p. 2. 3. defensive or offensive Goodness moves him to take on Relation and be concerned in our Hazard his Power steps betwixt us and the Danger to oppose the Injury designed against us and Providence is a quick Executor of the whole and oft a retorter of the Mischiefs on our Foes 1. Wisdom contrives ways and apt means applyes them in the fittest time lyes ambush against his Enemies foresees the design as Haman's Plot let 's all run to a day and then surprizes them with some Frustration 2. Power is all sufficient to corroborate the Mind to arm Faith with Courage and takes hold of Shield Spear and Buckler Psal 35. 2 3. and stops in the full Cariere or causes the Ass to dash the Masters foot to the Wall as Balaam that madds the Rider more Now in rushing times when the Waves are swelling yet the Lord is more mighty than many Waters or Waves of the Sea Psal 93. 4. 3. Goodness is the strong inner Spring of all thy Congregation dwelt therein thou of thy goodness preparedst for the Poor Psal 68. 10. 'T is Christ's triumphant Psalm Goodness then is active to provide for the Poor Assemblies Nahum witnesses to this after his report of God's terrour Nahum 1. 4. He concludes The Lord is good and it follows a strong Hold in the day of trouble and knows them that trust in him v. 7. i. e. Vejodeang chosei bo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 acknowleging them that hope in him as the Chicken under the Wing that word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speravit recipere se ut in loco tuto ibi secure conquiescere And oft joyned with a Wing as two or three Texts show Psal 18. 31. and 57. 1 2. So 91. 4. Vnder the Shadow of thy Wings I trust till these Calamitice be past This was in the Cave and some read as if a Webb was woven ore the Caves hole that hid David and so once was a Martyr If God own any of his Servants those that run to his Protection are most likely they This is joyned with a Threat to Nineveh some 40 years after destroyed about the 15th year of Hezekiah's Lease given him of the Lord. vide Dr. Mayer Which I note to shew that he survived to see that Prince and City destroyed that besieged Zion the City of God and so it became a quiet Habitation as was promis't Isai 33. 20. And Nahum's Prophesie in ch 1. ult was about 4 or 5 years after verified in their solemn Feasts after this Son of Belial was cut off Now this is the Buckler and these are the Bullwarks that did do and will defend all the Sons of Zion that run to them Having spoke to God's Attributes before I add no more to this A word to Promises Now 2dly for Promises they are Springs that empty themselves by golden Pipes in our dry Cisterns dayly to quench our Thirst and cool our Heat in Persecution and these allay our Fears before Troubles come which oft are worse than the Troubles and this do they in two Rivolets the one is the nature the second is their various matter a little to both especially the first the latter less being toucht before that I may avoid all prolixity and not bis cocta apponere 1. The nature and proper adjuncts of Gods Promises are food and fence to the pious Two Ingredients make them very cordial the Properties of God are the In-works of our Fort. The Promises as one says are the Out-works if we get Jer. Dyke Righteous Man 's Tower P. 34. into them that is our Safety and the Tower is the Safety of the Out-works and all that flee to them These are the Clefts of the Rock So he Oh my Dove thou art in the Clefts of the Rock let me see and hear thee there says Christ to his Spouse Cant. 2. 14 15. And now take the Foxes to note our Safety in the Clefts of Promises from all Foxes and wild Beasts of Prey that should no more hinder them as Mayer observes in Duties of Piety and holy Feasts God's Doves being as Coneys feeble and fearful the Hawks pursue the one and ferrets the other are glad to nest and burrow in the Rock Now it is not the lot of the Spouse ever to be visible sometimes in Deserts and Dens as one says Hylary Non tect is exteriori pompâ but in plain Russet as when her Lord first espoused her Now the good of a Promise lyes in twâ— things 1st It is suitable to our Case 2dly Sure and durable and in both great like the Author and pretious in their use to us For the first no Case can befall but some Promise or somewhat in the Promise obviates it Doth Zion mourn He will restore again Comfort both to Her and her Mourners Isai 57. 18. Are her Assemblies sâ—attered A Promise is of gathering Zâ—ph 3. 18. Are Teachers in Corners Thy Eyes shall see thy Teachers c. Isai 30. 20. Are they exiled to the Ends of the Earth Yet he will hiss for them and they shall come Zech. 10. 1. And bring their Offering Zeph. 3. 10. As one abroad at Queen Mary's death said in a Sermon and soon after the News of her death came and they were recalled home Promises are adapted to all the sad Cases of Zion's Sons 2. They are sure firm and perpetual Promises fail not far less for evermore 2 Cor. 1. 20. A delay or suspense may be for the Sin of declining that may look as a Breach of Promise or turn to a Threat Numb 14. 34. But 't is fulfilled with use to the next Age. As Justice stands bound for the Threat and Goodness for the Promises So is Gods Truth and Veracity for both Oh Zion beloved of God fear not look up thy King lives that was dead and he dyed not Intestate but now he lives to make good that Legacy of Peace here to his Followers Joh. 14. 27. Besides the Inheritance at last Who will approve his Fidelity to his Word Promise and Oath
of Christ the Fall of Antichrist and return of Prayers come all streaming at once in a full tyde of Mercy to the devout and Wrath upon all Atheists and Antichristians and the Times with their Wrath hastens it One Author more I cite T. P. his sober Guess pag. 187. at the end of that little Book where he hints the ruine of that Idolatrous Age that wasted the Church afore and the appearance of our Ark that is of Jesus and so he ends with three Notes 1. That Sorrows steal not on us without the foresight counsel and Predetermination of God 2. That the end and measure of them is set of God though Force and Violence may lett true Religion 't is but for a Time Antiochus Swines Flesh the two Witnesses lying dead Our Lords abode as Jonah's and the Church's two or three days in the Sepulcre Hos 6. 2. are all limited to about the same length as Elijah's three Years and six months and then our dead revive again pag. 188. 3. In all Oppressions of the Saints they never are void of his Presence and a promise of a Deliverance with Faith in its accomplishment and hope that the time is nigh expiration p. 189. So he concludes with one Drs. Saying Viz. Dr. More 's Mystery of Godliness lib. 5. c. 17. of the use of Apolyptical Visions Who affirms A. D. 1660. The scene of things will soon alter for the better in Christendom the time of the Churches appearing purely Apostolical in Life and Doctrine is near by computation of Prophesies when the Witnesses shall arise and the Woman come out of the Wilderness and all the Kingdoms become our Lords to rule for ever Nor is Stability in Kingdoms to be had till the new City is raised whose Walls Foundation Gates and whole Content is but the Replication of twelve i. e. all Apostolick in Doctrine Worship c. Which hope should shake off that Lethargy on us as if it would never be better and it comes not by Rapine and Violence but by Increase of Righteousness And though the time is deferred and many Concussions precede the Conclusion yet are we to wait for it nay to solace our Souls in the frightful signs Preceding it as our Lord bids us to look up in the hope of this Redemption approaching for the Lords roaring out of Zion Joel 3. 16. is but as a Preface to the Hope and Strength that he gives to his and his shaking of all things Hag. 2. 7. is but to establish that Kingdom that shall remain Heb. 12. 28. Never was a glorious reviving of hopes without a grievous Sentence of death Ezek. 37. 10. 2 Cor. 1. 2. The very wild Irish may teach us that on the most stormy day we may lift up our heads as they on the Hills and joy in hope the next is fair Weather by turn Polanus observes that Sesostris King of Aegypt observing one of his Kings drawing of his On Ezek. 1. Chariot ey'd the Wheel ask't the cause he answered that he saw that part that earst was up now was low vice versà on which he made the Moral and applyed it so loosed them from that Slavery For Promotion comes not from East or West but God pulls down one and exalts another Psal 75. 6. Or as in Job setteth on high them that be low Joh. 5. 11. Or as Mary sung exalts them of low degree Luk. 1. 52. Fear not then ye Sons of Zion your King comes meek yet mighty riding on the Ass Zach. 9. 9. that subjects to any burthen Though now you are banisht from the Ark submit and say Here I am 2 Sam. 15. 26. in hope he will yet bring you again For in the days of these Kings 't is by Dan. 2. 44. predicted the God of Heaven shall set up a Kingdom that shall not be shaken or given to others And if any ask How that Text v. 34. 45. and it was the Dream of a King shows you Eben di al Bijdian ascissus lapis qui in manibus non est sine manibus Which notes not only that 't is out of the reach of humane hands to prevent that Kingdom the time being come for its commencement but above the help of secular means or hands to advance it I conclude this as one does a Book with warning to Princes to submit to the Redeemer and prevent the shower of Vengeance impending for six Changes are past in the World already and says he a seventh will be Sabbatical giving rest from all your Pride and Ambition And this takes the last place and turn but proves of the greatest extent And I add as the Course and Conjunctions of the caelestial Bodies and also of terrestial do all configure and concenter in this kingdom so the Councels of men and Contests about publick Affairs concur and contribute to it and all contrary Wheels that seem to have a counter motion in the way shal at last center in the same blessed Ends Viz. The sound of the last Trump an Alarm to Babel-Romes Fall whose Waters are now a drying up the pouring out of the last Vial that leaves not Air for her Tyranny to breath in And as that late Dr. says Dr. T. G. in Apoc. pag. 190. The nearer this Kingdom is as a Gulf to swallow all Time the greater Changes will Christ make and to see no Preparations to it may not discourage our Faith since of things extraordinary there needs none being the Efforts of divine hands 3dly And last of all there springs up a Well of Support to devout and constant Souls from the Providence of God that like the eye scouts out to and fro and prevides Perils provides Preservatives and stands armed on Sentinel to secure the main Guard and rescue his Men and Matters assaulted Now this is the Wheel full of Eyes that Christ's Chariot of Love runs upon and is often swift seldom stands never runs idly by Rote or blind Chance and Casualty far less retrogade or to overturn them that are in it for Christ doth guide it Sirs could we take right Measures of Gods Providences in former or latter days instead of a Quarrel we should take up that admiring word Ezek. 10. 13. and say Oh Wheel But 't is hard to see both sides of things at once for often Providences have a dark side at first view presenting to our terrour and after a bright side is seen as that Cloud betwixt Israel and Aegypt had of old but the Lord turned the dark side to the Aegyptian Host and the bright to Israel by Night Exod. 14. 20 24 25. So they were preserved the other bemisted their Wheels took off and they troubled No Fate or Fortune rules in the smallest or most contingent accident a Sparrow or a Hair's Fall to the Ground is under the Eye and Care of the All-seeing Providence And if he inspects so small Trifles will he slight far greater and suffer his Servants to fall in his Work unregarded Now in two