the superstructure Adam fell under the strength of the Serpents wit but he could by no promise lay claim to stability as the Church can by an immutable Covenant for her support IV. The Vse 1. Information 1. If the Church hath a duration and stability then Ordinances and Ministry are perpetual Ministers may be thrust into corners clapt up in prison hurried to their graves but the Sepulchres of Ministers are not the graves of the Ministry A Ministry and a Church Ordinances and a Church cannot be separated they run parallel together to the end of the world for Sion cannot be supposed without Divine Officers and Divine Institutions the one cannot be established without the other Christ walks in the midst of the seven golden Candlesticks Rev. 2.1 in the seven States of the Church to the end of the world * I do not question but that the whole is prophetical it would not else be called Mystery as it is Rev. 1.20 were it meant of those particular Churches As there are seven States of the Church so there are seven Stars in the hand of Christ for all those States the Ministry have the same support the same Guardian as the Church her self What was in the Ephesian and Primitive State is also in the Sardian State the State of the Church rising from corruption of Doctrine and Ordinances * Rev 3.1 These things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God and the seven Stars Christ hath still Stars to shine and seven Spirits to gift them hath at present not had hath in the State we are which seems to be the end of that Sardian State 'T is true the Church is in a wilderness condition and hath been so for above 1200 years but hath she yet seen her Funeral No she hath a place for her residence and food for her nourishment and both provided for her by that God that fram'd her by that God that stood by her in the pangs of her travel and shelter'd her Man-child from the fury of her enemies * Rev. 12.6 And the woman fled into the wilderness where she hath a place prepared of God that they should feed her there 1260 days They should feed her she is not starved in the desert she hath Manna to comfort her her Caterer to provide her food and some to administer the Banquet of the Word and Sacraments to her For any Member of Sion to deny a Ministry and deny Ordinances and therefore to neglect them is to conclude her dead in a grave and not living in a desert utterly famisht and not fed Though there be a smoke in the Temple a cloud and obscurity the Truths and Ordinances of God not so clear so efficacious as they have been as some understand Rev. 15.8 or as they shall be yet there is a Temple still A smoke in the Temple supposeth a Temple standing and Ordinances in it The obscurity of a thing nulls not the being of it nor a cloud upon the Sun the stability and motion of it He that denies a Church a Ministry and Divine Ordinances in it must first charge Christ with falshood when he promised to be with them to the end of the world Mat. 28.19 20. Alway even to the end of the world Not to sustain their particular persons to the end of the world but their Doctrine in a succession of some to teach and baptize by virtue of Authority from him for to that doth the promise and command refer and not unto the continuance of the Apostolical dignity or of their extraordinary gifts of miracles but the duration of their standing work till the top-stone were laid with the loud acclamations of grace grace The Church shall no more want a Ministry in the desert than she wanted a Prophet in Babylon 2. The Doctrine of the establishment of every member of Sion is clearly confirmed He that establisheth Sion counts up every man that was born in her every Child of Sion is in the same state and under the same promise as Sion her self The promise of stability to Sion is not to be understood of the firmness of her palaces but the duration of her inhabitants as when God is said to build a house 't is not to be understood of the rearing the walls but increasing the family * Exod. 2.21 God made them houses i. e. gave them children Every renew'd man every one truly born in Sion stands upon the same Foundation of the Covenant hath the same Charter with Sion her self and therefore upon a surer ground than any particular society of men in the world Psal 125.1 They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Sion which cannot be remov'd but abides for ever He is upon a better Foundation of security than the Church of Ephesus or Smyrna Pergamus or Sardis which have lost their footing and their places know them no more A believer injoys other priviledges with Sion but the patent runs here for his stability in the favour of God and runs high by removing all fears in the negative Cannot be removed and confirming all confidence in the affirmative Abides for ever No name writ upon Gods hand no name presented on Christs breast shall be razed out no fruit of his death shall be lost no Devil shall steal from him any part of his purchase As he hath blood enough to redeem them so he hath power enough to preserve them the same blood that is the cement of Sion the same hand that built her the same head that influenceth her secures every one of her true born Children They are all in the same posture and upon the same Foundation with Sion her self 3. How great is the folly of Sions enemies They Judg of her by the weakness of her worldly interest and not by the Almightiness of her Guardian They stand against a God that in decreeing the stability of Sion decreed the ruine of her opposers and can with as much ease effect it as resolve it The Stone which is the Foundation of this Kingdom shall break in pieces the Image of all worldly glory the policy of all worldly wisdom and the force of all worldly power Dan. 2.35 44 45. It shall make the Mountains of the world as a level and dust underneath it Chaff may as well stop the wind and force it to another quarter Stubble may as well quench the fury of the flames as the Enemies of Sion be victorious over the God of Sion As he hath a Fire in Sion to warm her so he hath a Furnace in Jerusalem to consume her Enemies Isa 31.9 a Fire to burn his Peoples dross but a Furnace to dissolve his Enemies force Pharaoh is an Example to all Generations to warn men not to struggle with those whom God resolves to patronize how did he further his own destruction by his hardness and the deliverance of the oppressed by his fury How often is the violence of her Enemies the occasion of the manifestation of
standing Thesis follow it and let your thoughts run whither it will lead you A Theme of the Spirit 's setting is better than one of our own chusing 4. Record the choicer of them We may have occasion to look back upon them another time either as grounds of comfort in some hour of temptation or directions in some sudden emergency but constantly as persuasive engagements to our necessary duty Thus they may lye by us for further use as money in our purse Since Mary kept and ponder'd the short sayings of our Saviour in her heart †Luk. 2.14 51. committing and fitting them as it were in her common-place book why should not we also preserve the whispers of that Spirit who receives from the same mouth and hand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hâ—â—ych what he both speaks and shews to us It is pity the dust and filings of choicer metals which may one time be melted down into a mass should be lost in a heap of drossy thoughts If we do not remember them but like children are taken with their novelty more than their substance and like John Baptist's hearers rejoyce in their light only for a season †Joh. 5.35 it will discourage the Spirit from sending any more and then our hearts will be empty and we know who stands ready to clap in his hellish swarms and legions But howsoever we do God will record our good thoughts as our excusers if we improve them as our accusers if we reject them and as He took notice how often He had appear'd to Solomon †1 Kin. 11.9 so He will take notice how often His Spirit hath appeared to us and write down every motion whereby we have been solicited that they may be witnesses of his endeavours for our good and our own wilfulness 5. Back them with Ejaculations Let our hearts be ready to attend every injection from Heaven with a motion to it since 't is ingratitude to receive a present without returning an acknowledgment to the Benefactor As God turns His thoughts of us into promises so let us turn our thoughts of Him into prayers and since his regards of us are darted in beams upon us let them be reflected back upon Him in thankfulness for the gift and earnestness both for the continuance and encrease of such impressions as David prayed that God would not take his holy Spirit from him †Psa 51.11 which had inspired him with his penitential resolutions To what purpose doth the Holy Ghost descend upon us but to declare to us the things which are freely given us of God 1 Cor. 2.12 And is it fit for us to hear such a declaration without a quick suitable reflection Since the Comforter is to bring to our remembrance †Joh. 14.26 what Christ both spake and did it must be for the same end for which they were both spoken and acted by him which was to bring us to a near converse with God Therefore when the Spirit renews in our minds a Gospel-truth let us turn it into a present plea and be God's remembrancers of His own promises as the Spirit is our remembrancer of Divine Truths We need not doubt some rich fruit of the application at such a season since without question the impressions the Spirit stamps upon us are as much according to God's will †Rom. 8.27 as the intercessions he makes for us Therefore when any holy thought doth advance it self in our Souls the most grateful reception we can bestow upon it will be to suffer our hearts to be immediately fired by it and imitate with a glowing devotion the Royal Prophet in that form he hath drawn up to our hands O Lord God of Abraham Isaac and of Israel our fathers keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy servant and prepare my heart unto thee †1 Chron. 29.18 This will be an encouragement to God to send more such guests into our hearts And by an affectionate entertainment of them we shall gain both a habit of thinking well and a stock too A DISCOURSE OF THE CHURCHES STABILITY Psalm 87.5 And of Sion it shall be said This and that man was born in her and the Highest himself shall establish her THE Author of this Psalm and the time when it was penn'd are uncertain Some think it was compos'd after the return of the Jews from Babylon upon the Erection of the second Temple and designed to be sung in their constant Publick Assemblies Others think it was compos'd by David when he brought the Ark to Sion as the Repository for it till the Building of the Temple wherein it might honourably rest It seems whoever was the Author to be Ecstatical The Penman breaks out into a holy rapture and admiration of the firmness and stability of the Church 'T is also Prophetical of the Christian Church of the glory of it the largeness of its bounds and perpetual duration The Jews ridiculously interpret it of literal Jerusalem in regard of the excellency of its Climate the goodness of the air being seated in the middle or navel of the earth and the seat and spring of all the wise men accounting all fools that were to be found in other parts 't is true others were not wise with a wisdom to Salvation they were not instructed in the high Mysteries of Religion by God as those People were But was there not Learning among the Greeks Wisdom among the Chaldeans and a ripeness in Mechanick Arts among the Tyrians which lived in the same Climate with the Jews It can by no means be understood of the material Jerusalem and Sion that was ruin'd by the Babylonians and tho re-edified yet afterwards subverted by the Romans and the remainders of it at this day become a Stable for Mahomet and the bringing in those Nations mention'd v. 4. overthrows any such interpretation which never were inrol'd in the registers of Sion nor became Votaries to the true Religion while the walls of that place were standing in their glory Sion was the place whence the Law was to come Mich. 4.2 a Law of another nature than that which was uttered with Thunders from Mount Sinai Sion was the place where the Throne of Christ was to be settled where he was to be crowned King Psal 2.6 and where he was to manage the Scepter and rule in the midst of his enemies Psal 110.2 and therefore 't is here celebrated as the figure of the Christian Church of that City which Abraham expected whose builder and maker is God Heb. 11.10 And the Christian Church is particularly called by this name of Mount Sion Heb. 12.21 And Believers are called the Sons of Sion Joel 2.23 The Psalmist speaks 1. Of the great love the Lord bears to Sion v. 2. 2. Of the glory of the Promises made to her v. 3. 3. Of the confluence of new Inhabitants to her v. 4. 4. Of the Duration and Establishment of
her v. 5. v. 1. His Foundation The Foundation of God i. e. That which God hath founded that Jerusalem which is of God's building is seated in the holy Mountain the City was built before Joshuah conquered Canaan But God is said to be the Founder of it in regard of that peculiar glory to which it was designed to be the rest of his Ark the place of his Worship the Throne of the Types of the Messiah the Seat whence the Evangelick Law was to be publisht to all Nations and the Messiah revealed as the Redeemer and Ruler of the World In the holy Mountains Jerusalem was seated upon high Mountains The Palace of the Kings was built upon Sion and the Temple the House of the Most High was built upon Moriah and encompast with Mountains round about Psal 125.2 an emblem of the strength and stability of the Church * Daillé Melange part 2. page 354. Holy Mountains not that there was any inherent holiness in them more than in the other Mountains of the Earth or that they were naturally more beautiful and stately than other Mountains but because they were separated for the Worship and Service of God and had been ennobled by the performance of a Worship there before the building of the Temple It was upon Moriah that Isaac was designed for a Sacrifice and the most signal act of obedience performed to God by the Father of the Faithful It was there also that David appeased the wrath of God by Sacrifice after it had issued out upon the People in a Plague for the numbring of them And the very name Moriah hath something sacred in it it signifying either God teaching or God manifested which name might be given it by God with respect to the manifestation of Christ who was to come during the standing of the second Temple v. 2. The Lord loves the Gates of Sion By Gates in Scripture is meant the strength or wisdom or justice of a place Gates were the Magazines of Arms and the places of Judicature He had manifested his love to her in chusing that City before all the Cities of Israel and Judah wherein to place his Name and have his Worship celebrated and that place in Jerusalem particularly where his Law should be given by the Spirit to the Apostles upon the day of Pentecost and to apply it to the Gospel-Church it signifies the special respect God bears to her above all the Rites Observancies and Ceremonies of the Judaick Institution It was in this Gospel-Church the true Sion that he desired to dwell and will remain for ever Psal 68.17 Which is a Prophetick Psalm of the Gospel-times and the Ascension of Christ 1. The Stability of the Church is here asserted * Geierus in loc The Church is not built upon the Sand which may fall with a Storm nor upon the Waters that may float with the waves nor spread out as a Tent in the Desert that may be taken up and carried away to another place but upon a Mountain not to be removed * Psal 125.1 Mount Sion cannot be removed 't is built upon a Rock the Rock of Ages upon a Mountain which is not shatter'd by waves or shaken by storms upon Christ who hath the strength of many Mountains in himself 2. The necessity of holiness in a Church What though the Church be a Mountain for strength and eminency have the honour and priviledg of Sacraments and be the Ark of the Oracles of God 't is not established unless it be a holy Mountain Holiness is the only becoming thing in the House of God as it is consecrated to the glory of God so it must be exercis'd in things pertaining to the glory of God As the Foundation is holy so ought the Superstructure to be There was no filth in the framing it there must be no filth in the continuance of it v. 3. He speaks with some kind of astonishment of the glorious things spoken of her or promised to her and concludes it with a note of attention or a mark of eminency Selah * v. 3. Glorious things are spoken of thee O City of God No place enjoy'd an equal happiness with Jerusalem while it remained faithful to its Founder It maintain'd its standing in the midst of its enemies no weapon formed against it was able to prosper Heaven planted it and the dews of Heaven watered it it had a continual succession of Prophets the best Kings that ever were in the world swayed the Scepter in it it was blessed with more miraculous deliverances than any part of the Universe the Nations that loved it not yet feared its power and feared the displeasure of its Guardian It was here the Son of God delivered the Messages of Heaven by the order of his father It was here the spirit first filled the heads and hearts of the Apostles in order to the conversion of a world from Idolatry to the Scepter of God but more glorious things are spoken of the Spiritual Sion than of the material Jerusalem that had Christ in the flesh and the Gospel-Church hath Christ in the spirit he went from thence to heaven but he comes from heaven to visit them with his comforts he hath left the walls of Jerusalem in its ruins but he hath not he will not leave his Spiritual Sion fatherless and comfortless Joh. 14.18 his spirit abides for ever with his Church Glorious things are spoken of it when he pronounced it impregnable and that the gates of Hell the power and policy of all the Apostate Angels and their instruments should not prevail against her when he assured her he would be present with her not to the end of an age or two but till the period of time the consummation of the world priviledges that material Jerusalem could never boast of whatsoever countries have been applauded for secular excellencies or been famous for wisdom none can claym such elogies as Gospel Sion where God hath declared his will publisht himself a God of salvation placed the laws of heaven and poured out that wisdom which comes from above These are glorious things above humane expectations above humane desires The Glorious things mentioned of the Gospel-Church are in v. 4. where he speaks of the enlargement of her bounds the increase of her inhabitants and the numerous muster-rolls of those that shall list themselves in her service * I will make mention of Rahaâ— and Babylon to them that know me Behold Philistia and Tyre with Aethiopâ—â— this man was born there The time shall come when those nations that are most alienated from the profession of truth shall come under her wing and pay allegiance to her empire Strangers shall be brought into her bosom not only Philistia and Tyre nations upon her confines but Aegypt and Aethiopia nations more remote nations born and bred at a distance shall be registred as born from her womb and nurst in her lap distance of place shall not hinder the relation
Sion fall out of his hands into the power of her old Oppressor Men are more desirous to preserve the Estate they have gotten by sweat than that which is left them by Inheritance and are most careful in settling that which hath cost them more Treasure and more Labour Jacob sets a value upon the Portion he got with his Sword and Bow Gen. 48.22 No less will God upon that Sion he hath wrested out of the world by the Might of his Arm. 5. In regard of Faithfulness His Veracity is ingaged 1. In regard of Faithfulness to Christ the Head The Spirit was promised to Christ Act. 2.33 Having received the promise of the Holy Ghost i. e. the Holy Ghost promised to him by the Father He received that which was promised his receiving it from God implyed the Spirit 's being promised to him by God To what end was this Spirit given him and sent by him To convince the world of righteousness John 16.10 an effect necessary to the building Sion For this end he received it for this end therefore it was promised to him The promise would be vain the performance of the promise in the mission of the Holy Ghost would be to no purpos◠if the end for which he was promised and for which he was sent were not perform'd if there should not be a perpetual number convinced of and imbracing that righteousness of Christ which hath been manifested by his going to the Father God also promised him a great posterity after his making his soul an offering for sin Isa 53.10.11 A seed that he should see therefore stable and perpetual ‖ A posterity was to follow his Sacrifice his Cross was to give them being and his Blood was to give them life because always visible to him God pawn'd his word upon the condition of his death the condition was performed to the full satisfaction of God his Truth therefore hath no evasion no plea to deny the performance of the promise in raising up a multitude of believers in the world and such a multitude as shall always be seen with pleasure by him as good and sound children and the travel of the mothers womb are by the parents The truth of God is oblig'd by Christ's exact performance of the condition as well as by the particular respect he hath to the glory of it it was for the Church Christ gave himself Eph. 5.25 'T is necessary therefore that God should preserve and establish a Church for him to the end of the world that Christ might not by any default of his Father lose the end and design of his death there shall be a generation of believers a little seed lying in the midst of all the chaff so God promised * Psal 72.17 His name shall be continued as long as the world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 His name shall be propagated in a perpetual birth of Children it shall be sound while the Sun in the Heaven keeps its station 2. In regard of faithfulness to the Church it self How doth the word sparkle with promises to Sion in all her concerns He hath promised an indissolvable marriage the fixing a knot that shall never be untied * Hos 2.19 I will betroth thee unto me for ever and that in judgment righteousness loving kindness mercy faithfulness A marriage that shall never end in widdow-hood so that Judgment righteousness loving kindness mercy faithfulness must first fail before the Church meet with an entire dissolution i. e. God and the glorious perfections of his nature shall fail before the Church be forsaken and left to her enemies She is no less assur'd of continual supplies and nourishment and that by no meaner a hand than that of God himself Isa 27.3 I the Lord do keep it I will water it every moment I will keep it night and day Nor a meaner dew than himself Hos 14.5 Also without the failing her a minute he would water her with doctrine to preserve her verdure and increase her growth He would be her Guardian night and day in the darkness of adversity in the sunshine of prosperity so that Satan should not outwit nor the craft and subtilty of hereticks waste her for it refers to v. 1. wherein God promiseth her to punish the piercing Serpent the crooked Serpent that by various windings and turnings insinuates himself to the destruction of men And he adds v. 4. Fury is not in me he lays by his anger against her as considered in apostate nature the fury of Hell shall not prevail where the anger of God is pacified but her enemies shall be as bryars and thorns before him He hath a consuming fury for her enemies though he hath none for his vineyard Protection is in no less measure promised and that not a temporary one nor a bare defence but with the ruin of her enemies and treading them down as straw is trodden down for the Dunghil Isa 25.10 In this mountain shall the hand of the Lord rest By hand is meant his power and by rest is meant the perpetual motion of it for her and that against the most furious malicious powerful of her Enemies Mat. 16.18 against the gates of hell against the wisdom of Hell gates being the seat of councel against the censures and sentences of Hell gates being the place of judicature against the arms of Hell gates being the place of strength guards When Christ secures against Hell he secures against all that receive their commission from Hell neither Hell it self nor the instruments edg'd and envenomed by Hell shall prevail against her she is secur'd for her assemblies in one part or other when they gather together to hear the Law and to sacrifice And I that am the Lord thy God from the Land of Aegypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles as in the days of Solemn feasts Hos 12.9 't is a promise to the Church it was never yet nor appears like to be performed to the ten tribes as a Nation but to their Posterity as swallowed up in embodied with the Gentiles The conquest of her enemies is secur'd to her Ps 110.1 The promise is made to Christ of making his enemies his footstool But made to him as Davids Lord and consequently as the Lord of his people as King in Sion and therefore made to the whole body of his loyal subjects And all those things are of little comfort without duration and stability which is also secur'd to her Hos 6.3 His going forth i. e. the going forth of God in the Church is prepared as the morning 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Stable His appearance for her and in her is as certain as the dawning of the morning light at the appointed hour All the clouds which threaten a perpetual night cannot hinder it all the workers of darkness cannot prevent it the morning will dawn whether they will or no. Her duration is compared to the most durable things to that of the Cedar the
love of delight since he hath refined and beautified her by imparting to her of his own comliness Ezek. 16.14 Is it likely this affection should sink into carelesness And the fruit of so much love be dasht in peices Can such tenderness be so unconcerned as to let the apple of his eye be pluckt out To be a lazy spectator of the pillage of his Jewels by the powers of Hell to have the Center of his delight tost about at the pleasure of men and Devils Shall a Mother be careless of her sucking Child How then can that God whose tenderness to the Church cannot be equalled by the bowels of the most compassionate mother to her infants Surely God is concerned in honour to maintain against a feeble Devil and a decrepit world that which is the object of his almighty affection 8. In regard of the natural weakness of the Church No generous Prince but will think himself bound in honour to support the weaker subject no tender parent but will acknowledg himself obliged in affection to take a greater care of the weaker than the stronger Child The Gardiner adds props to the feeblest plants that are most exposed to the fury of the storms and have least strength to withstand them The powers of the world have always been the Churches enemies the wise have set their reason and the mighty their arms against her the Devil the God of this world is so far from being her friend that Sion hath been the only object of his spite He contrives only floods to drown her or mines to demolish her Her own friends are often so darkened or divided that they cannot some times for Ignorance and will not other times for peevishness hit upon and use the right means for her preservation 'T is an honourable thing then for that God who entitles himself the Father of the fatherless to shew his own power and grace in her establishment The fatherless condition of the Church is an argument she hath sometimes used to procure the assistance she wanted * Hos 14.3 With thee the fatherless finds mercy And the weakness of Jacob urged by the Prophet excited repentance in God and averted two Judgments which were threatned against that people Amos. 7.2 3 5 6. 'T is no mean motive to him to help the helpless this opportunity he delights to take when there was no man to help no intercessor to plead then his own arm brought Salvation When he saw no defenders but all ravagers no Physicians but all wounders then should the Spirit of the Lord lift up a standard Isa 59.16.19 To conclude if Sion the Gospel Church were not of as long a duration as the standing of the world God would lose the honour of his creation after the Devil by sin had made the creatures unuseful for those ends to which God had appointed them by his first institution The wisdom of God had been blurred the serpent would have Triumphed the Kingdom of God had been dissolved the enemy would have enjoy'd a remediless tyranny had not God put his hand to the work and erected a new Kingdom to himself out of the ruins of the fall And since God was pleased to take this course rather than create a new world and hath laid the foundation of a new Kingdom by drawing some out of that common rebellion the humane nature was fallen into and that he might do it with honour to himself hath sent his Son upon that errand by his blood to bring back man to God and his spirit to make men fit for a Communion with him and hath backt his affection to the Church with so much cost and pains for her welfare If after all this God should-desert his Church the dishonour of Gods wisdom the loss of the fruit of all his cost and pains the weakness of his affection or of his power to perform his promise and the ruin of his glory intended by those methods would be the issue which would be attended with the triumph of his revolted creature and greatest enemy This would be if God should cease picking out some men for his praise and keeping up his name and royalty in the earth 2. 'T is for the exercise of the Offices of Christ that Sion should be establisht He is Prophet Priest and King which are all titles of relation Prophet implies some to be instructed a Priest some to offer for and a King some to be ruled put one relation and you must necessarily put the other If there were no Church preserv'd in the world he would be a nominal Prophet without any disciples a King without subjects and a Priest without suppliants to be atoned by him upon earth Now Christ is the wonderfull Counsellour the everlasting Father and the Government is laid upon his Shoulders to what end to order and establish the Kingdom of God Isa 9.6 7. All the strength and vigor he had as it was from God so it was intended for God * Thou madest the Son of man strong for thy self Psa 80.17 And the reason is because though God hath given up the administration of things to Christ yet he hath not devested himself of his right nor can For God is the chief Lord and the relation of creatures not ceasing the relation of Lord and Creator cannot cease And therefore since the right of God continues the grant of the uttermost ends of the earth to be the inheritance possession of Christ includes not only a gift but an Office to preserve protect establish and improve his possession for those ends for which he had the grant and to prevent all that may impair it As he had a right and strength by the order of God to rear it so he hath an Office and Power to establish it as well as to erect it and Christ is the same in all his offices yesterday to day and for ever Heb. 13.8 The same in credit with God in faithfulness to his Office the vertue of his blood the force of his arm and compassions to bleeding Sion 1. 'T is his part as a Prophet to establish it in Doctrine 'T is his part externally to raise his truth when it lyes gasping in the rubbish of errour and refine his worship when it is daub'd with Superstition and Idolatry Internally to clear the understanding to know his truth quicken the will to imbrace it rivet the word in the conscience and enflame the affections to love and delight in it Certainly the promise of the abiding of his Spirit implies the efficacy of his operation while he abides He is to provide against the subtilty and rapine of fox like Hereticks that they spoil not the tender vine Cant. 2.15 And to furnish the Church with gifts for the preserving and increasing her The perpetual exercise of this prophetical office he promised them when he gave the Apostles a Charter for his presence to the end of the world Mat. 28.20 Which was in relation to their ministry and
Deck and her visible Pilots flung over-board into the Sea and shall she sink when she is not far from an entrance into the Harbour She hath been a Brand pluckt out of the fire Zach. 3.2 She was pluckt out of the Furnace of Babylon and shall be pluckt out of the Furnace of Mystical Babylon Though she should be mown down as Grass by the Sythe of her Enemies yet the presence of Christ shall be as Rain upon her to make her sprout and spread after all her Afflictions Psal 72.6 Though she hath been in the midst of the Fire she never yet was nor ever will be consumed She hath had joy in her disgraces and greatness by her flames She hath alwaies had a God to inspire her with vigor to sustain her weakness and prop her by his Arm and hath often swam to a safe Harbour in a Tyde of her own Blood Is not that God still a sufficient Defence and the Promise a sufficient Charter against the Violence of the world The Highest himself shall establish her Himself by his own Arm and Himself by his own Methods 3. Here is Comfort in the deepest designs of her Enemies The Highest himself shall establish her If he be the Highest and imploys himself as the Highest there is none so high as to over-top him none so high as to out-wit him Though their Union be never so close and their Projects never so deep yet God's being with the Church is curb enough for them and comfort enough for Sion Isa 8.9 Associate your selves together O ye people c. Take counsel together and it shall come to naught speak the word and it shall not stand for God is with us God's presence with Sion blows away all God was with the Ark in its captivity and made it victorious in its Chains It cripled Dagon the Philistins Idol 1 Sam. 5.4 and made them return it to their disgrace which they thought they had seiz'd upon to their honour While God is a strength to the poor the branch of the terrible shall be brought low and their blast be but as a storm against a wall Isa 25.4 5. He can hasten their ruine by their own subtilty and catch them in their own Net Psal 35.8 Or he can turn them to glorifie the Church as much as they hindred her Isa 25.3 They are sometimes compared to Bees Psal 118.12 Isa 7.18 and the can make them afford honey as well as a sting They are Bees for their wrath and Bees for their weakness and many times Bees for her profit Sometimes he makes the House of Jacob as fire the House of Esau as stubble before him Obad. 18. 'T is not more natural to the Serpents Seed to spite the Church than it is natural to God to protect her their malice cannot engage them so much in Attempts against her as God's Promise engageth him in the defence of her What can weakness do against strength folly against wisdom Hell against Heaven and a fallen Lucifer against the highest God 4. Here is comfort to expect the glory of the Church The Highest himself shall establish her The Mountain of the Lords House shall be lifted up on the top of the Mountains Isa 2.2 In the last days it shall be more glorious than any Mountain dignified by God Above Mount Sinai where the Law was given the terrestial Mount Sion where the Temple was built Mount Moriah where Abraham had a type of the Death and Resurrection of Christ Mount Horeb where Moses by prayer discomfited Amalek and Mount Pisgah where Moses had a prospect of Canaan Abraham's Conquest of the four Kings Gen. 14. seems to be a figure of the Churches Victories when the captive Lots should be rescued and Sodom it self be something better for Sion Then shall Christ meet her as King of Salem King of Peace with the blessings of the most High God Then shall he as he did at the Feast in Cana turn the Churches Water into Wine Idols shall be utterly abolisht Isa 2.18 Dross and mixtures in Doctrine and Worship purged out Rev. 22.1 The River of the water of life shall be as clear as Crystal proceeding from the Throne of God and of the Lamb. The everlasting Gospel preached Rev. 14.6 called everlasting because it shall never more be clouded and obscured by the foolish Inventions of men there shall be no more Sea Rev. 21.1 The troubles of Sion signified by a stormy Sea shall cease and a new Heaven and a new Earth be created there shall be multitude of conversions Rev. 11.15 The Kingdoms of the world shall become the Kingdoms of Christ The breath of the Lord shall come into many and make them stand upon their feet Ezek. 37.9 10. There shall be a greater presence of God in Ordinances for the Earth shall shine with his glory Ezek. 43.2 Holiness shall sparkle in her for the glory of the Lord shall be upon her Rev. 21.11 His holiness to purifie her and his power to protect her Persecutions without and divisions within shall cease Satan shall be bound his force restrained he shall not wander about with his cloven-foot Rev. 20.3 The Sea of Glass which was mingled with fire with the fire of worldly Persecutions with the fire of intestine Animosities shall be as clear as Crystal Rev. 15.2 Rev. 22.1 He will then have Magistrates no longer carrying on the Interest of the God of this world but the Interest of the Church whom he calls his Princes Ezek. 45.8 His because set up by a more immediate Providence His because acting designedly and intentionally for his glory no more pinching his People and making a prey of his Sion but laying down their Crowns at the foot of his Throne And to compleat all there shall be a perpetuity in this spiritual prosperity only between the beginning and compleating it Satan shall be let loose But for a little season Rev. 20.3 and after this it shall not have one blow more from Hell but the Devil must for ever give over nibbling at her heel Now the Church never yet found such a state suitable to those promises and predictions some great thing remains to be accomplisht which the world hath not yet seen nor the Church experienced But that Truth that will not lye that Truth which cannot lye has assured it The Mystery of God shall be finished Rev. 10.7 The Church hath hitherto been gasping in the fire and in the water she has liv'd but as wrapt in a winding-sheet the Saints under the Altar have cryed a long time for the vengeance of the Temple to recompence their blood There is a time when this Lazarus that hath lain begging at the door of the rich and mighty shall be mounted up to a better state Sion shall enjoy a Resurrection and fling off all badges of a Funeral For the Highest himself shall establish her Third Vse of Exhortation 1. Take heed of Apostatizing from Sion from the Doctrine and Worship of Sion If
God shall establish her stability is not to be found out of her To depart from her is to leave a firm Rock to find security in a quick-sand To leap out of a stout Ship in a storm to expect a preservation in the waves To turn our backs upon Heaven to seek ease in the bowels of Hell The Altar at Damascus is cast down and Jeroboam's Altar is demolisht when that at Jerusalem stood To stay in Sion is to be exposed to the gun-shot of men and Devils to run from her is to seek to the Devil for protection and run into the mouth of all the Artillery of God that is set for the establishment of Sion If we are Christians no force nor violence should separate us from her 2. Let us love Sion There is nothing the Scripture uses more as an argument to separate our affections from the world than the uncertainty and fading nature of it The perpetuity then of the Church should be a motive to place our affections there where they shall never want an object and which we cannot love without loving her head and her establisher The Jews in Babylon would rather forget themselves than their City and Temple Psal 137.5 6. Our affections to Gospel Sion should be more tender since God hath poured out more of his Spirit upon her and she is more amiable in his eye That which the Jews so much affected is perished But the true Sion is eternal and shall flourish for ever The highest himself hath an establishing affection to her Let our affections to her equal the malice of the Enemies against her since we have greater incentives to love her than they can have to hate her While others cry Raze Raze it even to the ground let us at least testify our affections and if we have not her standing walls to love let us not estrange our tenderness from her very dust Psal 102.14 There is a pleasure to be taken in her stones because they shall be again set in their place a favour to be shewn to her dust because it shall be again compacted and enjoy a resurrection For the highest that hath promised to establish her will not desert her in her ruins v. 16. When the Lord shall build up Sion he shall appear in glory we have therefore more ground to favour her dust than to admire the proudest palaces 3. Let us desire the Establishment of Sion more than our own private Establishment 'T is the Sign of a gracious Spirit to look not only on his own things but the things of others Phil. 2.4 And what things of others should be regarded if the things of Christ and his Spouse be over-looked No private person hath any promise of establishment but as he is a Denison of Sion as one born in her In desiring therefore the welfare of Sion we wish and make way for the establishing of our selves our interests are common with hers Her prosperity therefore should be the first and last of our wishes When we wish the stability of Sion we wish the honour of God the continuance of his worship the glorifying his name which is deposited in that cabinet The glory of God cannot flourish if the Church perish How base then are those that if they can swim in a worldly prosperity care not if the Church be drowned in tears and bloud that cloth themselves and regard not her nakedness that provide an earthly Canaan for themselves and care not what desolate desert Sion sits weeping in 4. Let us endeavour the establishment of Sion 'T is a grateful thing to a Prince to favour his favorite Let us be as forward to enlarge her Territories as the Devil and his instruments are to increase the Suburbs of hell The Highest himself will establish her by himself we must therefore take those methods which are agreeable to the chief preserver A complyance with the Enemies of God was never the way to secure the interest of Sion A divine work in a divine way will meet with divine assistance To contribute to the establishment of Sion is a work honourable in it self since it is the work of God himself 'T is an imitation of the highest pattern In this we are associates and coworkers with God For the Highest himself shall establish Sion A DISCOURSE UPON THE Fifth of November Exod. 15.9 10. The Enemy said I will pursue I will overtake I will divide the spoil my lust shall be satisfied upon them I will draw my sword my hand shall destroy them Thou didst blow with thy wind the Sea covered them they sank as Lead in the mighty waters AN Anniversary Commemoration of a memorable Deliverance falling upon this Day hath caused a diversion of my thoughts to look back not only upon a mercy never to be forgotten but to look forward to that Deliverance which is to come parallel to this in the Text. Israel was a Type of the Church Pharaoh a type of the Churches Enemies in all Ages of the world both of the spiritual Enemy Satan and of the temporal his Instruments The Deliverance was a type of the Deliverance that Christ wrought upon the Cross by his Blood Also of that Christ works by his power upon his Throne the one from the Reign of Sin the other from the Empire of Antichrist This was the Exemplar of all the deliverances the Church was to have As the Assyrian should lift up a staff against Jerusalem after the manner of Aegypt so the Lord should lift his rod up for them upon the Sea after the manner of Aegypt when the Yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing Isa 10.26 27. when the power of the Enemies shall be destroyed by the strength of Christ The Lord himself makes it his pattern in those victories he is to gain for his people when he calls upon his arm to awake as in the ancient days when he cut Rahab and wounded the Dragon and made the depths of the Sea a way for the ransom'd to pass over Isa 51.9 10 11. then the redeemed of the Lord shall come with singing unto Sion the Song of Moses while they stand upon a Sea of Glass a brittle frail and stormy world Rev. 15.3 And our Redeemer makes this his pattern rule when he comes to tread the Wine-press in wrath and make them drunk with his fury that then he would remember the days of old Moses and his people when he divided the water before them to make himself an everlasting name Isa 63.1.2.11 that his power may be as glorious in the latter as it was in the former and all deliverances of the Church from the beginning to the end be knit together to be an everlasting matter of praise to his name This Historical narration is to have a more universal accomplishment the deliverance from Aegypt is promised to be fulfilled a second time and God would act the same part over again as also their deliverance from Ogg King of Bashan after the ascension
erected his stately head to seise upon the prey then God wounded him put an end to Aegypts pride and the Israelites fear He loves to beat down the pride of the one and raise up the lowliness of the other When Herod will assume the title of a God given him by the acclamations of the People an Angel shall immediately make him a Banquet for Worms Acts 11.22 23. When Sennacherib had prospered in his Conquest of Judea had taken many strong Towns closely be leaguered Jerusalem thundred out blasphemies against God and threatnings against his People then comes an Angel makes an horrible slaughter in a night sends him back to his own Country where after the loss of his Army he lost his life by the hands of his own children A greater pride cannot be exprest than what the Apostle predicts of the Man of Sin and that hath been extant for some time in the world * 2 Thes 2.4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God in additions to the word clipping the Institutions of God and adding new and canonizing new Mediators of Intercession who sits in the Temple of God in a profession of Christianity shewing himself that he is God assuming the name of God and the title of God in being called most holy And perhaps it will yet amount to a higher step than it hath yet done before he be consumed by the brightness of the Lord 's coming since all that yet lets and hinders is not taken out of the way The higher the pride the nearer the fall When Goliah shall defie the God of Israel a stone from a sling thrown by the hand of David our great David the Antitype shall lay him vomiting out his soul and blasphemies on the Earth We are many times more beholding to the Enemies insolence than our own innocence Deut. 32.17 Were it not that God feared the wrath of the Enemy i. e in their pride lest their Adversaries should behave themselves strangely and say Our hand is high a sinful Israel should not have so many preservations * Trap on Exod. p. 9. When they will ascend into Heaven and exalt their Throne above the Stars of God when they will ascend above the heights of the Clouds and be like the most High then shall they be brought down to Hell to the sides of the Pit Isa 7.13 14 15. The highest Towers are the fairest marks for Thunder and the readiest Tinder for the lightning of Heaven When Tyrus had set her heart as the heart of God then would God defile her brightness and make her die the death of them that are slain in the midst of the Sea Ezek. 28.6 7 8. 3. Eager malice Nothing would Satisfie the Aegyptians here but the bloud of the Israelites My hand shall destroy them they were under a cruel bondage attended with anguish of Spirit before God began their rescue The serpents seed have the same principles of craft and malice sown in their nature that are resident in his ever since the beginning he endeavoured to shape men into the same form and temper with himself Their rage would raze out the very foundation of Israel and not suffer the name to be had any more in remembrance Psa 83.4 They love to be drunk with the blood of the saints and are no more satisfied with blood than the grave with carcases they repair their arrows and watch for an opportunity to discharge them and never want poison but opportunity this is Gods time to deliver When Pharaoh would pollute the land with the blood of the Hebrew males and ordain them to be drag'd from the womb to the slaughter then God raises up himself to attempt the rescue of Israel yet he bears with his insolence punisheth him but not destroys him But when he would be still stiff against a sense of the multitude of plagues and a greater mercy of patience in them when he would arm for the field against that God the smart of whose force he had felt and resolves to destroy or bring back the Israelites upon the point of his Sword God would then bear no longer but make the water his sepulchre When Haman designs the ruine of the Jews procures the Kings commission sends dispatches to all the governours of the Provinces sets up a gibbet for Mordecai and wants nothing but an opportunity to request the Execution he tumbles down to exchange his princes favours for an exaltation on the Gallows Est 6.4 Est 7.10 When the Serpent encreased his malitious cruelty and cast out a flood against the Church God makes the earth the carnal world to give her assistance and repel the force that Satan used against her * Rev. 12.15 16. The earâ—h helped the woman When multitudes shall gather together in the valley of decision then shall the Lord roar out of Sion and be the hope of his People and the strength of the Children of Israel Joel 3.14.16 And when Spiritual Aegypt shall make a war against Christ who sits upon the white horse and combine all their force for the destruction of his people then shall the Beast and the false Prophet be taken and brought to their final ruine and their force be broken in a lake of fire as that of Aegypt was in a Sea of water Rev. 19.19 20. The time of their greatest fierceness shall be the time of Christs fury he will strike them sorest when he finds them cruellest their rage shall rouze up his revenge when the men of Sodom to which the Antichristian state is likened shall be resolutely bent to wickedness they shall be struck with blindness and that blindness suceeded by destruction then will God set bounds to the outragious waves and snatch the prey out of the teeth of the Lyons 4. Confident security I will divide the Spoil my lust shall be satisfied upon them God lets the enemy come in like a floud and torrent with a confidence to carry all before him before he lifts up a standard against him Isa 59.19 Then shall the Spirit of the Lord stir up himself gloriously in the principles and actions of his people and the redeemer shall come to Sion God will set his force against their confidence break their impetuousness by his own power When the Enemies of the Church think they have intangled it in such a snare reduc'd it to so low a condition as to be secure of her ruine with a blast and puff then God will arise and set her in safety from them that puff at her Psa 12.5 This will be the case of Babylon when she shall say I sit as a Queen and am no Widdow and shall see no sorrow then shall her plagues come in one day death and mourning and famine for then God will stir up his strength to Judge her Rev. 18.7 'T is in the time of the Antichristian Polity and mutual congratulations with the highest security for their happy success triumphing over the dead bodies of the
witnesses that they shall stand again upon their feet the same persons if politically dead others witnessing the same doctrine if they were corporeally dead and damp all their mirth and triumph and turn their security into fears then shall glory be given to the God of heaven and the Ark of his Testament be seen in his Temple and the power of the Lord be magnified Rev. 11.10 11. When they shall all be gathered together to the battle of the great day of the Lord the place is called Armageddon Rev. 16.14 16 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A cursed troop an army under Gods Anathema when they have the greatest confidence When Jerusalem shall be penn'd up by a seige it shall be a cup of trembling in the hands of her Enemies Zac. 12.2 Fear shall seize upon them in the midst of their confidence The Sun was risen upon Sodom just before the devouring shower of Fire and brimstone With what derision would they have entertained any messenger that should have assured them of such a shower in so clear a day No doubt but the Aegyptian horses went prancing into the Sea and their riders confident of catching their prey when they saw the waters congealed they had not the least suspicion but that the division of the Sea was made in their favour till the Chariot wheels were taken off and the waters ready to roul upon them Exod. 14.23 25. 2. As something on the part of the Churches Enemies forwards the deliverance so there is some regard God hath to the Churches straits Cum duplicantur lateres venit Moses 'T is Gods usual method to let the Church be in great distress before he commands deliverance The distress of the Church was great in the concern of this day though it was not sensible the deliverance being known near as soon as the danger The Church is to be in the depths of the Sea before she be fully delivered Psa 68.22 The Jews were to pass through the Sea with affliction before the pride of Assyria should be brought down and the Scepter of Aegypt depart away after that he would strengthen them in the Lord and they should walk up and down in his name Zach. 10.11 12. The sharpest pangs precede deliverance it was so when Christ came in the flesh it will be so at every new rising of Christ in his spirit when things were at a low ebb when the Sun sat in the greatest darkness of Errour Idolatry and prophaness when the Jews the only spot of ground God had was as a wilderness almost barren of any grace when the great predictions of the Prophets were unminded and less understood when Vrim and Thummim had ceased and the Spirit of Prophesy was shut up then Christ comes in the fulness of time to work an universal relief for mankind When the day of vengeance is in the heart of the Redeemer he shall look and find none to help he shall wonder to find none to uphold therefore his own arm shall bring Salvation Isa 53.5 This has alwaies been God's Method With his Son the powers of darkness had their hour and triumph'd when they had laid him in the grave before he was raised by the glory of his Father The Witnesses must be killed by the hand of their Enemies before they stand upon their feet and ascend up into Heaven in the sight of their Adversaries Rev. 11.7 when the Church shall walk in darkness grope for the wall like the blind mourn like Doves look for salvation and it shall seem far off then will the Lord put on a helmet of salvation on his head and the garments of vengeance for clothing and be clad with zeal as a cloak Isa 59.9 10 11 17. The break of day is ushered in by a thicker darkness than that which clouded the night before The sharpest persecution that ever the Church had was in the time of Dioclesian a little before Christianity was to rule his Empire in the exaltation of Constantine Abraham was in hardship out of his Country when he received the promises of the Messiah and Israel in the wilderness when the Oracles of God were delivered to them Confusion of the Church precedes alwaies the Communication of Light 1. The Reasons of the Doctrine are these 1. This makes for God's glory The creature cannot in this condition challenge any share in the honour of the deliverance or pare off so much as a splinter of his glory Had the Israelites been armed and drawn into a strong Battalion and so defeated the Aegyptian Army the Victory would rather have been challeng'd by them than ascrib'd to God but neither the strength of their multitude nor the wisdom of their Guides were able to protect them counsel failed and heads were feeble then did God get himself a name when they were upon the point of a remediless ruine It was manifest the name of the Lord got David the Victory since he encountred unarmed with Goliah who could have crusht him like a Fly had he been in his fingers The time of the Churches depression is the time of God's Exaltation he waits for the extremity to lift up himself When paleness is upon the face of his People when the Cedars of Lebanon hang their heads when the Churches beauty seems a lamentable deformity and Sharon is like a wilderness then will God arise Isa 33.9 10. God never builds up Sion but he ordains all things in a method for his appearance in the greatest glory Psal 102.16 When the Lord shall build up Sion he shall appear in his glory that is when the Church is destitute v. 17. 1. God exalts his power his right hand then becomes glorious in power Exod. 15.6 He loves to appear in his dress as a Creator when there is no fitness in the subject to answer his end but what he bestows upon it When Jerusalem becomes a rejoycing and her People a joy 't is an act of creating power Isa 65.18 For behold I create Jerusalem a rejoycing When the creature can give them not the least assistance then will they be sensible of God's unbounded sufficiency and their own necessary dependance God never had too little help from his creature in a deliverance he hath sometimes complain'd of too much and disbanded some of the Churches Forces as in the case of Gideon Judg. 7. As Christ rules in the midst of his Enemies so doth God's Power most visibly in the midst of distresses A Physician 's skill is most conspicuous when the disease is most dangerous and most complicated and Nature at the lowest ebb 'T is more glory to God to quench the fire in its fullest rage than to extinguish it in its first smoke and sparkles God loves the fairest mark to shoot at and will rather down with Goliah than with the ordinary Philistines grapple with the great rather than with a light danger that the Lord may appear to be a man of war Exod. 15.3
he was their Saviour It seems to refer to the deliverance from Aegypt Shall I have so little regard to the League I have entred into with their Fathers as to be unconcern'd in their misery There is hope in Israel till God forgets his Covenant and Christ strip himself of the name of a Saviour Christ hath his Priestly habit in Heaven for his People but Eyes as flames of fire quick and piercing to consume the very hearts of his Enemies and Feet like fine Brass to trample upon them Rev. 1.13 14 15. He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah to tear his Enemies as well as a Lamb slain to expiate the sins of his People He hath meekness for his Friends and terrible Majesty for his Enemies Psal 45.4 In thy Majesty ride prosperously because of meekness His kindness to his People makes him ride in Majesty against the others God will not be at rest till he hath revenged the Cause of his People Aegypt will be drowned Babylon will fall Rev. 18.2 Christ can have no satisfaction without it The Executioners of his Judgments in the North Country which was Babylon lying Northward from Jerusalem do quiet his Spirit both as tending to the glory of his Justice and the manifestation of his Mercy to his People Zach. 6.3 Christ will stain his garments in the blood of Edom and Bozra Isa 63.2 3. Edom the Posterity of Esau Bozra a City of Moab Types of the Churches Enemies The Jewish Doctors by Edom in the Prophets understand Rome Christ sits in Heaven till his Enemies be made his footstool All the time of his sitting God is acting and preparing things for a final Issue There is a strong cry of Blood and a file of Prayers the one will be revenged and the other will be answer'd Their own pride and cruelty witness against them God hath a noise of Petitions every day for a full end a combin'd importunity will prevail But clouds now hang over us a gloomy storm seems to threaten us God may indeed blow over the cloud Our Saviour hath the command of the storms and winds in Heaven as well as he had upon the Earth the Pillar of the cloud which hath hitherto conducted us may be our Guardian in the Rear to defend us But yet if he doth suffer them to prevail they shall be but as Whisks to brush off the dust wisps of Straw to cleanse the filthy Pot. You know what is to be done with them when their work is done Their Language indeed is Let Sion be defiled but they understand not the counsel of the Lord who in time will make the Horn of Sion Iron and her Hoofs Brass Micah 4.11 Though the Beasts that ascend out of the bottomless Pit do kill God's People Rev. 11.7 yet even in this Victory of theirs Satan himself shall be overcome As when Christ was taken out from among the living by Satans means it was but for a time but himself was cast out for ever so after this Victory the Church shall overcome Rev. 11. and God shall break the head of the Leviathan in the waters and when he doth by his wisdom contrive waies of salvation he will by his power execute them and save in such a way as may most glorifie himself and witness that the salvation was the immediate work of his arm Hos 2.7 I will save them by the Lord their God 2. Remember former deliverances in time of straits In our plenty of mercies we should not be unmindful how near we were to the Pit nor let the impression of God's power wisdom and mercy wear off from our hearts The Israelites were apt to forget the most signal mercies though they had seen them and had more sensibly tasted the sweetness of them than their Posterity God therefore often puts them in mind of them The Lord that brought them out of the Land of Aegypt out of the Iron Furnace Deut. 4.20 Hos 12.9 I the Lord your God from the Land of Aegypt Ezek. 23.3 It was the more fit to be remembred by them because many of them were fitter subjects for God's wrath with the Aegyptians than for his delivering-kindness since she committed whoredoms in Aegypt in her youth i. e. had been guilty of the Aegyptian Idolatry Unmindfulness of former experiences may make you hopeless of future deliverances The remembrance of former mercies is a ground of confidence in God for the like mercies for the future God recalls to his Peoples minds in their afflictions the memorable defeat of the Moabites by his sole power in the time of Jehoshaphat's Reign they should from that deliverance hope for as great from the hands of God in their straits And Zech. 10.11 God would have them consider their deliverance at the Red Sea as a ground of hope in the time of their distress 3. Thankfully remember former deliverances If we have not some praise for God we may suspect our selves * Lightfoot Temple cap. 3. p. 9. 'T is observed that the City Shushan the Royal seat of the Persian Monarchy was pourtrayed upon the east gate of the temple not because of the Persian command or because of their fear of that King as some think but to have a thankful remembrance of the wonderful deliverance of Purim which was wrought in Shushan Esth 9.26 If it had been only by the Persians command it would have been defaced after the fall of that Monarchy which held but thirty four years after the building of the second Temple The 136. Psalm is a good Copy where is a threefold exhortation to thankfulness in the beginning and one at the end and in the record of every mercy the burden of every verse is his mercy endureth for ever How should we imitate the Psalmist He broke the teeth of the invincible Leviathan in 88 and sent a strong wind to disperse the Fleet for his mercy endureth for ever God prevented the dreadful blast of Gun-powder for his mercy endureth for ever God sent the light of the Gospel into England and freed it from the yoke of Antichrists tyranny for his mercy endures for ever God hath been a wall of fire about Ireland in the protection of it for his mercy endureth for ever Let mercy receive the praise of what our own wisdom and power could not effect The way to overcome the same Enemies we fear is to praise God for what he hath before acted against them The strength of a people consists in praises as well as praying Psa 8.2 Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength In the Evangelist thou hast perfected praise Mat. 21.16 The more Hallelujahs we put up the more occasion God may give us for them If we have any fears of the overflowing deluge God formerly delivered us from our non-improvement of those deliverances the fruits whereof we enjoy this day may strengthen our fears When Israel was Idolatrous in Jeroboams reign yet God delivered them from the Syrians because he
because they are enemies to his holiness but he hath a common affection to their persons as they are the effects of his goodness and creative Power Our exclamations against common sins ought not to exceed lamentations for them There ought to be more grief in our hearts than fire in our tongues They break the whole Law that lament not the crime out of love to the Law-maker and grieve not for the Sinner out of love to their neighbour 3. Those who are imitators of common sins instead of being mourners for them As though others did not pilfer God's right fast enough and were too slow in pulling him from his Throne as if they grieved that others had got the start of them in wickedness 'T is a pious sadness and a blessed grief to be affected with common sins without being fetter'd by them to mourn for them without cleaving to them to be transported with sorrow for them without being drawn by a love to them 4. Those that fret against God instead of fretting against their own foolishness Prov. 19.3 The sins of good men are many times provocations to God to draw up the sluce from the hearts of wicked men and give liberty to their lusts for the chastening of others and therefore in grieving for the sins of others they implicitly grieve for their own 5. Those who are more transported against others sins as they are or may be occasions of hurt to them than as they are injuries to God How warm are we often in our own Cause and how cold in God's We partly satisfie our own discontent by such a carriage but not our duty 6. Those who are so far from mourning for common Sins that they never truly mournd for their own Who have yet the Treasures of wickedness after the rod of God hath been upon them Mich. 6.9 10. Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked reflecting upon the Rod they had felt Common sins are but a Glass wherein we may see our common Nature The best men have the worst Sins in their Nature though by Grace they have them not in their Practice He that grieves not for other Mens Sins more or less never grieved truly for his own He that is not concerned for the dishonours of God by others is little concerned for the dishonour of God by himself Let us use our Eyes for those ends for which God hath given them they are instruments of sight and instruments of sorrow It is necessary for us to mourn for our own sins We can never mourn for others Sins unless we mourn for our own If we sorrow not for our own the sorrow we may pretend to have for others proceeds not from a right cause We have that one Sin of Adam in our Nature which subjected the whole world to an Anathema Let us not stay in generals every Man will lay the fault upon Sin in the bulk without reflecting on the sin in his own Bowels We can complain particularly of those sins that are common and why should we rest in generals when we come to our own Dolus versatur in universalibus 't is a deceitful sorrow that is for Sin in a heap Is there not perfidiousness to God coldness in his ways too much slighting the Gospel want of bowels and compassion incorrigibleness under judgments houses fir'd and pride not consumed falseness in resolutions like Oxen moving with the touch of the Goad and presently standing still deceitful bows letting the string slip after they have stood fully bent Hos 10.4 There may be Sins among us that may cause a storm that we little think of The Mariners little suspected Jonah to be the cause of the tempest till he discovered it himself He that never mourned for his own Sins cannot perform this duty so necessary for his preservation and therefore cannot expect the mark of God in a time of publick judgment He that would rightly mourn for the Corruptions of others must enquire whether he hath not the same in his own Bowels and fling the hardest stone at them Judah calls for Tamar to the flames for that crime which himself had been a partner and actor in so apt are we to be severe against others Sins and indulgent to our own The best have need to mourn for their own sins in relation to the publick The only good man in the Ship was Jonah and for his sin was the Storm sent and the rest like to be wrackt 2 Use Of Comfort to such as mourn for Common Sins All the carnal world hath not such a writ of protection to shew in the whole strength of Nature as the meanest mourner in Sion hath in his sighs and tears Christs mark is above all the Shields of the earth and those that are stampt with it have his wisdom to guard them against folly his power against weakness the everlasting Father against man whose breat his in his Nostrils We see that God doth not strike at random but reserves a sweetness for his Servants in the midst of his fury against his Enemies he hath his Messengers to mark as well as his Executioners to strike the issuing the resolute orders of his Fury hinders not those of his Grace and Compassion to his own He will have a care of his Balsom-trees that distil this precious Liquor no less than he commanded the Israelites in their sharpest wars to have a care of the fruitful trees of a Land Deut 20.19 God in the 6. v. following the Text gives the like charge to the executioners of his judgments as David did to the Army concerning Absolom 2 Sam. 18.5 Deal gently with the young man Ezek. 9.6 Come not near any Man upon whom is the mark He makes provision first for the security of those before he unsheaths his Sword against his Enemies The Deluge flows not from heaven till Noah be cased in the Ark nor is Sodom on Fire till Lot be lodged in the Mountain God will always have a Church in the world and suffer a generation of his own to inhabit the Earth Gods attributes shall not interfere one with another his truth remains firm notwithstanding the provocations of Men. When those people were ripe for judgments God had his mourners among the Idolaters which he marks for preservation when he had threatened great judgments Joel 2.30 31. the turning the Sun into Darkness and the Moon into Blood he promises a remnant in Jerusalem and Sion v. 32. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered for in mount Sion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance as the Lord hath said and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call Neither the fury of Men shall nor the judgments of God will extinguish the Church not the malice of Men because of Gods power nor God himself because of his truth The Lord hath said God will either preserve under judgments or take away in them to a