are the glorious Perfections of this Branch of the Lord should we measure and guess at him according to the excellency found in any created being alas it would be infinitely short there is in Christ that Excellency that doth exceed and much out-do whatever glory is found upon any thing our eyes behold Shall I say As Solomon in his glory did out-shine the glory of all the Princes that were on earth in his time so and infinitely more doth the glory of Christ out-do whatever our eyes behold or whatever our hearts can conceive of and in our searching into his perfections we may come to do as the Queen of Sheba did when she beheld the glory of Solomon she gave this testimony What she had heard was true So may we give this testimony of Christ That what we have heard of his Perfections there is all in him nay the one half was not told us and if the Queen of Sheba was amazed at standing before Solomons glory how much more may we at Christs although we cannot see him in all his Perfections Thou canst not know him at present in this life according to all that Glory with which he is cloathed 2. If thou that art escaped art jealous that Christ is not become beautiful enough unto thee Remember that the highest pitch unto which the Soul can come in this life is to desire to see more of that beauty that is in him The highest pitch in any thing that is good in this life is to desire to be better The Desires of the Soul do out-go in this life any Acts that it is able to put forth David in the case of Holiness the highest pitch of his Holiness is expressed in his desire Psalm 119.5 O that my Ways were directed to keep thy Statutes he did keep them in some measure but the highest pitch unto which he got was to desire to keep them better so also Psal 68.11 Teach me thy ways O Lord I will walk in thy truth unite my heart to fear thy Name he was sensible that his heart did in some things wander from God he did not fear him as he should but the highest of his attainment lay in his desires Paul was a man very excellent in his day and doubtless did know and enjoy much of Christ yet the highest pitch he attained was largeness of heart and workings of desire exprest in Phil. 3.13 This one thing I do forgetting the things that are behind and reaching forth unto those things that are before I press towards the mark for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus the desires of his heart were large And so the Spouse hath an high esteem of Christ she expresses the value she hath of him at a great rate Cant. 2.3 4. As the Apple-Tree among the Trees of the Wood so is my Beloved among the Sons I sat down under his shaddow with great delight and his fruit was sweet unto my taste stay me with Flaggons comfort me with Apples for I am sick of love her heart was much taken with Christ seeing a great deal of Beauty in him but you shall see her desires did out-do any act she could put forth and therefore Cant. 4.16 she says Awake O North Wind and come thou South blow upon my Garden that the Spices thereof may flow out she would have her heart enlarged her Graces acted more strongly Now Soul take in this for thy comfort it is a good frame that thou desirest to prize Christ more and have this Branch of the Lord more glorious in thy account though thou canst not put forth such acts as thou wouldest Remember thou art in that frame that the best of Saints have been in 3. Consider this thou that art escaped and fearest that the Branch of the Lord is not become so glorious as it should be Remember that jealousie over thy heart is a good sign and gives some hope that Christ hath gotten some ground upon thee The wise man Prov. 14.15 saith The simple believeth every word but the prudent man looks well to his going Some are so simple to believe every good word their hearts speak if they find any thing that looks like good they are apt to conclude that all is right therefore the wise man Prov. 28.14 saith Happy is the man that feareth always I apply it unto this It is a good thing sometimes to bear a jealousie a constant jealousie over the heart lest it should not be wrought up to that pitch it ought The Author to the Hebrews gives us a warrant for holy jealousies and fears lest we should fall short They that have been most confident of the goodness of the frame of their spirits have sometimes been in none of the best Jehu cries Come see my Zeal for the Lord of Hosts when he had not one grain of true Zeal for the Lord of Hosts in him 4. Thou that wouldest have this Branch of the Lord glorious if thy heart work really this way Know this thou art accepted in this thy desire It will pass for a good improvement of this mercy of thy Escape I confess some things there are which I find the Lord is angry at He loves not to see souls sit down satisfied and pleased in ways of sin therefore he doth reflect upon them Psal 1.1 that sit in the seat of the scornful he is much angry with them that can contentedly take up in ways of sin and therefore you find him falling foul upon them that harden their hearts in ways of sin and also with those that content themselves with little measures of Grace when they have means to rise up unto greater He rebukes the Disciples Mat. 8.26 for the littleness of their Faith O ye of little Faith he upbraids them with the littleness of their Faith because he had long been with them himself as he doth hint unto them afterwards Have I been so long with thee and yet thou hast not known me But this observe also That where there is but a lesser measure of Grace if the heart be really working after more it is accepted and Christ receives it with good will The best instance I know in the whole Bible is that in Mark 9.23 24. where the Father of a Child possessed with a dumb Spirit comes unto Christ for cure Christ tells him All things are possible unto him that believeth and straightway he cried out and said with tears Lord I believe help my unbelief he had a little Faith and desired more therefore you find Christ doth not reject his little but hears him and calls unto the dumb Devil to come forth of his Child So if thou complainest that Christ is not exalted in thy heart to any great degree but thou longest he should be more believe it it shall be accepted as it is said in another case 2 Cor. 8.12 If there be first a willing mind it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that he
and thus to do will be a proof of your love to and esteem of this Branch of the Lord as more excellent to you then he was wont to be Saith David Psal 116. I love the Lord because he hath heard my voice and my supplications that is I will love him better then ever I did if he had but a little he shall now have more and what proof doth he give of it vers 14. I will pay my Vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his People here was a proof it The Lord help us that have the Vows of God upon us to evidence that Christ is become glorious unto us by performing our Covenant God is known to be a Covenant-keeping-God and his People should be like their heavenly Father But again 3. A third thing required from them that escape a day of Calamity is this That Christ be owned in the Escape that he have the glory of it put it not upon your natural Fortitude and Courage your natural hardiness and boldness as some vaunting spirits are apt to do and to conclude thence was their preservation God doth not fear to strike the most fearless and sometimes the most fearless are in the greatest danger Put not thy escape upon the score of thy own Wisdom that thou hast acted thus and thus prudently for thy preservation if the Lord would he could easily have out-witted thee and if he had not been with thee in the acting the best of thy Wisdom would not have been useful take heed of boasting in Means if Means have been successful look up to that God that hath been pleased to bless them unto that end Psal 116.8 David puts the matter upon its proper Basis Thou hast delivered my Soul from death mine eyes from tears and my feet from falling Gracious hearts desire to cry as Moses and the Children of Israel did when they saw Pharoah and his Host sunk as Lead in the Sea and themselves preserved to their great amazement Exod. 15.2 The Lord is my Strength and my Song and He is become my Salvation He is my God and I will prepare him a Habitation my Fathers God and I will exalt him According to this time it shall be said said Balaam in his Prophecy What hath the Lord wrought This must you and I say What hath the Lord wrought The truth is Christ suffers much in the World and suffers much from his own People they rob him of his glory we are apt to give that honour that is due to him unto some one else but it should be our care to be found in the frame with them Jer. 50.28 The voice of them that flee and escape out of Babylon to declare in Sion the vengeance of the Lord our God the vengeance of his temple it is the work of escaping Ones to praise the Lord and declare his works Would you all have some token for good that the interest of Christ is promoted in you see whether it be your care to give Christ the glory of this Salvation of which you have been partakers 4. This is the requirement of Christ from them that are escaped That the sence of this Mercy should long rest upon our Spirits our goodness in every respect is apt to be like the morning-cloud and the early dew that soon passeth away and in this respect more then in many other things the sence of our deliverance is very apt to wear off the Soul but it is a frame that Christ much mislikes where he findes it an instance or two may serve to convince us of it Psal 78.10 11. They kept not the Covenant of God possibly by this may be intended the Covenants they made with God in distress they did not keep them why not it was because they forgot his Works and Wonders that he had shewed them and one sin draws many more after it oft times they forgot the Works of God and so their Covenant with God both are taken ill and the latter as ill as any that God should shew abundance of kindness to a People whilst they slight and dis-esteem and let the sence of that kindness slip out of their minds and therefore he complains of the same thing Psal 106.13 They soon forgat his Works they waited not for his Counsel They were the delivering-Works of God and all the wonders he had shewed them they soon forgot the sence thereof was crept out of their hearts in a little time All of us alive may say we have seen much of the goodness of God to us but if we should be of the number of them that soon forget his goodness we do very evilly requite the Lord. 5. This is the requirement of Christ from them that are escaped in the day of Calamity That we should be dedicated consecrated and given up to his Use and Service in our whole Course This is the obligation that Christ hath laid on our Souls by carrying us through the distresses of this day That the rest of the time we spend in the flesh should not be spent according to the will of the flesh but according to the will of God that the rest of the time of our sojourning here might be spent in fear It is a kind of a new life that every one of us have received and this new Life should have Newness of Life going along with it saith the Apostle I beseech you by the mercies of God that you give up your selves Body and Soul as a Sacrifice to God which is but your reasonable service and such a mercy as this doth call for it that your Souls should be for God and your Bodies for God the Body hath received a great deal of mercy at this time that is preserved and kept the Clay-Cottage kept from tumbling to dust and ashes now all the members of the Body as well as the powers of the Soul ought to be for the Lord this the Lord expects and it is but your reasonable service which in common Justice should be given unto Christ Psal 116.8 9. For thou hast delivered my Soul from death mine Eyes from tears and my Feet from falling I will walk before the Lord in the land of the Living that is I will walk as in his sight and presence I will look to maintain a good frame of Life and Conversation in the rest of the time I have to spend in the World And thus may you testifie unto your selves and others that Christ gains on you by your Escape this day if you be found in the discharge of those Duties which are expected from you And thus I have dispatched the Doctrinal part VSE I. If this be a proper effect of your Escaping in a day of slaughter to have the Branch of the Lord become lovely know this kindness hath been shewed us therefore it concerns us narrowly to see how this effect is wrought out Every Soul should turn his Eyes inward I would hope your Souls have been a little thus
engaged I have not long since met with a People that would eagerly make it their business to compare themselves and a Word together and see where their guilt was and get what light they could into their hearts this be confident of the God of Heaven is considering diligently Jesus Christ this Branch of which we are speaking is observing what is the Fruit of every Mercy as Deut. 32.15 But Jesurun waxed fat and kicked thou art grown thick thou art covered with fatness then he forsook God which made him and lightly esteemed the Rock of his Salvation when God had done much for him he considers how he had carried it but he found sad effects of all Jesurun waxed fat and kicked I would the goodness of God to us should have some more kindly reception and entertainment Now that which I shall do for the present shall not be to clear it up to you that Christ hath gotten ground upon you for as to that I shall refer you to what is spoken already but to lay some few things before you that may convince you if really you are short and wanting in this blessed issue af your Escape If really this effect be not wrought upon your hearts it will appear by these four or five things and I beg you to consider them seriously 1. If in the day when the Rod of God hung more eminently over your heads you were not considering and pondering what effect it should work and if the Spirit of God were not teaching and instructing your Souls that it was to produce a greater esteem of Christ in your hearts then I fear it is not done I fear Christ hath no more of you then he was wont to have You know this that God with his Correction is wont to give Instruction therefore saith the Psalmist Psal 94.12 Blessed is the man whom thou Chastenest and Teachest out of thy Law God is wont to tell the Soul where it is wanting what he calls for and what he would have wrought in the heart So Job 36 9 10. Then he sheweth them their Work and their Transgressions that they have exceeded he openeth also their Ears unto Discipline and commandeth that they return from iniquity He speaks here about a Day of Affliction and truly if the Lord hath not been teaching you and shewing you that you were wanting in your esteem of Christ it is much to be questioned he is not become glorious David Psal 119.67 said Before I was afflicted I went astray but now have I kept thy Word how came he to be brought in unto God to walk with him and keep his Word and his Way better then he was wont to do God had been shewing him that he was out of the way and where he should be and so brought him in again Commune with your own hearts my Friends faithfully have you sat like Stocks and Stones under the Visitations of God when his Rod was upon others and threatned you Had you any of the Visits of God Were your Souls exercising themselves at a spiritual rate Did God make any approaches unto you Or did you live in that time without God If you did I fear you are without him still 2. If your souls have not been pressing after Christ and longing for a better frame towards him longing for an higher esteem of him it is doubtful the esteem of him is not raised in your souls such an esteem of Christ is not a frame that useth to steal upon the heart it knows not how It is for the most part the issue of much care and pains and great diligence and if thy soul hath been wanting herein it is to be feared that the interest of Christ is not to any great degree promoted in thee Some souls find sin very apt to creep in do they what they can and that it is a work a hard work to keep it down nor is it less difficult to encrease in our esteem of Christ Phil. 3. Paul would know more of Christ and the power of his Resurrection what course did he take in order to it saith he I go forward and I press on to the mark for the price of the high Calling of God in Christ Jesus He set himself unto the work with great diligence How have you been exercising your selves have you been crying unto the Lord in secret wrestling and pleading with him that he would carry on the Love of his Son in you What was it you asked of the Lord was it meerly to be kept from the evil of the day or that the work of Christ might be promoted in you by your escape If your hearts have not been exercised this way I fear the Branch of the Lord is not become glorious unto you though you are escaped 3. If in your Escape your great care is how to repair and piece up those outward dammages that you have sustained by this Visitation the Interest of Christ I fear hath not much gained in you possibly many of you may be sensible you have sustained outward dammages by this day if your hearts are only contriving how you may make up those breaches made upon your outward concerns you are not where you should be I fear many this day will be like to the Seamen and Mariners who after a storm when a calm comes they are busie in patching up their tackling and repairing the dammages the Vessel hath sustained by the storm but not so carefull to consider who hath preserved them in the storm and brought them to a calm but this is a bad frame if thou beest gained upon by Christ thou wilt say What shall I render unto the Lord for all his kindness To which add 4. If thy heart in this time of thy Escape be not affected w th that unkind usage which Christ meets with from many escaping-ones I shall fear that thou thy self also dost not use him kindly nor prize him much the more though thou hast an Escape from his goodness doubtless Christ meets with much unkindness from some that have escaped How many in an Atheistical spirit this day live as if there were no after-state nor eternal judgment as they 1 Cor. 15. cry Let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall dye they have learned to know that Death hangs over their heads therefore what will they do why serve their lusts as much as they can make use of their time as they call it though it be to abuse time and turn the grace of God into wantonness Now when thou hast heard things how is it with thee If Christ hath gotten ground within thee these things will pierce thine heart The evil of wicked men is a great grief unto the Saints therefore it is said 2 Pet. 2. Righteous Lot was vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked his righteous soul was vexed in hearing and seeing the dishonour that was done unto the Lord it was a burthen to him And so David saith Wo is me that I
in the midst of the years in the midst of the years make known in wrath remember mercy God came from Teman and the Holy One from Mount Paran his glory covered the Heavens that is God came forth to work the Exaltation of his Son and what course doth he take in order to it vers 5. Before him went the Pestilence and burning Coals went forth at his feet The Pestilence is here called a fore-runner of Christs Exaltation he sends it before him to make room and way for himself though we possibly and our capacities are too shallow to conceive how it should be brought about It is possible if God let us stand upon the Earth some few years we may be much more enlightened in this matter and may see that God was this day eminently working to that end And that is what I would say to that Head That Slaughter and slaughtering-Judgements work for and shall end in the making Christ glorious Thirdly What is that glory that shall be put on Christ in the issue and end of these things I answer in a few particulars 1. The Essential Glory of Christ in the day of his Glory shall be more abundantly seen and discovered then now it is and shall take more upon the hearts of all Persons Christ is as glorious in his Essential Glory as can be for he is infinitely glorious and more then infinite cannot be imagined but this Glory may be discover'd and manifested beyond what it is The Sun is always a glorious Body but you know the light of it is hid many times Clouds stand between and we cannot see it at some times as we can at others Christ is exceedingly glorious but little of his Glory hath been hitherto manifested to the Children of Men more Eyes shall see it and more Hearts be taken with it then at this day Something of Christs Glory is seen already by the Saints who have a spiritual Eye they see that that takes their Hearts and makes them cry out as the Spouse sometimes doth He is altogether lovely Some of the Saints see that in Christ which is more to them then all that is in this World they take more comfort and content in it more of joy and satisfaction to their Spirits When Christ came in the Flesh it is said John 1.14 The Word was made Flesh and dwelt amongst us and we saw his Glory the Glory as of the onely begotten of the Father full of Grace and Truth That Glory that we do for the present behold in Christ and with which our hearts are taken it is rather for the most part that fulness of Grace that is in Christ for the good and benefit of Believers with that we are usually more taken then with his Essential Personal Perfections But the whole of Jesus Christs Glory shall yet shine forth so as it hath not done at any time therefore Psal 102.16 When the Lord shall build up Sion he shall appear in his Glory He is glorious now but he shall appear in his Glory hereafter beyond what he hath done at any time to this day suitable unto which is that Word Isa 33.17 Thine Eyes shall see the King in his Beauty they shall behold the Land that is very far off The best of Saints upon Earth if they see something in Christ that makes them in love with him in the day of his Glory there shall be abundantly more discovered that shall make them in love with him possibly more then ever they thought they should be for ever That is one part of that Glory shall come to this Branch of the Lord. 2. Christ shall in the end of this slaughter be made glorious in his Priestly Office as he is a Saviour he shall be made more glorious then ever It is the honour of Christ that he is a Saviour Act. 5.31 Him hath God exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour But it hath been greatly to the disparagement of Christ and his dishonour in this his Office that he hath been so lightly esteemed of among the Children of Men that so few have taken hold of him for Life and Salvation Those that have believed on Christ have been a small number compared with the rest of the world and of these few they have been chiefly the poor low and little ones of the World persons of little esteem and account therefore Christ saith Mat. 11.5 The Poor have the Gospel preached unto them he saith it is preached to them because it is received by them the poor inconsiderable ones of the World have generally hitherto been the persons that have received Christ It is true some of the Great Ones of the World have courted Christ and professed to own him but not one of many have given up themselves unto Christ as a Saviour But now this shall be the Glory upon the head of Christ that Souls shall abundantly flock in unto him Before Christ makes an end of his work in the World he will so break the Hearts of Men that they shall flow in unto him in great abundance Hag. 2.7 And I will shake all Nations and the Desire of all Nations shall come and I will fill this House with Glory saith the Lord of Hosts Christ by his Sword Pestilence and Famine is shaking the Nations that is his way and when he hath done shaking the Nations the Desire of all Nations shall come It is Christ is here intended and he is called the Desire of all Nations because the Nations of the World shall generally come unto him and imbrace him such shall be the confluence and flowing in to Christ This is intimated in that known place Isa 60.8 Who are these that fly as a Cloud and as the Doves unto their Windows It is spoken about the access of Souls unto Christ and mark the Saints that shall be alive at that day they cry with wonder and amazement Who are these that like Doves come to their Windows Doves you know fly in great flocks where they are plentiful and the meaning of this is multitudes shall subject themselves to Christ in truth and give up themselves to be saved by him Christ now doth sprinkle many Nations according to that Isa 52. here and there a few Souls in divers parts and places of the world but at length things shall be so ordered that even a Nation shall be born in a day and abundance of poor Hearts shall give up themselves unto the Lord Jesus This you have Numb 24.7 He shall pour the water out of his Buckets and his seed shall be in many waters and his King shall be higher then Agag And this is another part of the Glory that is to come unto Jesus Christ 3. Slaughter shall terminate in the Glory of Christ in this respect He shall be glorious in his Kingly Power he shall be owned as the Head and Lord and Law-giver the one onely Law-giver so shall he be owned Isa 33.22 For the Lord is our Judge the Lord
is our Law-giver the Lord is our King he will save us It relates unto a time when Christ shall be glorious The glorious Lord shall be as a place of Broad Rivers and Streams so you have it in the foregoing verse and then there shall be a cry The Lord is our King and he shall be our Law-giver For the present there is great debate between Christ and the Men of the World who should give Laws whose Prerogative it is to rule the Conscience and men say unto Saints Bow down that we may go over they say unto the SOULS of Saints Bow down But when Christ shall be made glorious these controversies shall soon end then a Nation shall come and acknowledge it is Christ is to rule them in every thing Isa 2. decides the Controversie where more then once it is said The Lord ALONE shall be exalted and what then vers 3. Many People shall go and say Come ye and let us go up unto the Mountain of the Lord to the House of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths for out of Sion shall go forth the Law and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem and he shall judge among the Nations and shall rebuke many People This is the Spirit that shall be put upon many People and they shall say It is not this and that and the other that pretends Dominion over the Conscience must teach us how to walk but HE will teach us and we will walk in his ways and it is out of Sion the Law shall go forth and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem therefore Numb 24.7 it is said Israel's King shall be higher then Agag and shall carry the day and all the men of the Earth shall be constrained to submit to him 4. Christ shall be glorious in this respect That all the Great Ones of the World shall come and fall at his Foot and acknowledge they are in his hands that Christ can and may dispose of them as he pleaseth It is a business there is much tugging about in the World the Great Ones of the World are loth Christ should take his place they would fain stand upon their own legs and it is from hence all their contrariety and hatred against his People and Ways doth arise intimated in Psal 2.3 The Kings of the Earth set themselves and the Rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his Anointed saying Let us break their Bands asunder and cast away their Cords from us They cannot think of stooping unto Christ but it is in vain for to this the greatest on Earth shall be brought therefore Christ hath his Name Rev. 19.16 He hath on his Vesture and on his Thigh a Name written KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS It is written upon his Vesture and Garments which is in the sight and full view of all Men He shall be in the sight of the World owned as KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS and the greatest upon Earth shall be constrained to stoop unto him as is excellently set forth in that typical Psalm Psal 72. where Christs Dominion is much held out The Kings of Tarshish and of the Isles shall bring Presents the Kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts yea all Kings shall fall down before him all Nations shall serve him 5. Again The Glory of Christ shall lie in the maintaining and excellent managing of his Power and Government he shall maintain his Government and Glory It is that that eclipses the glory of the Princes of this Earth that they are not able to keep their stations oft times but Christ shall keep and maintain and make good his ground Psal 132.18 His Enemies will I cloath with shame but upon himself shall the Crown flourish Those that would oppose him shall fall before him but he shall maintain his own station at a glorious rate And likewise his Glory shall be in the management of his Government he will put an end to Oppression and judge with Equity he will manage his Government so as that none shall find fault with him It is the misery of the Potentates of this World that their ill management of their Power loseth them their Glory but Christ and all that shall have any power under him shall not do so Isa 32.1 A King shall reign in Righteousness and Princes shall rule in Judgement all matters shall then be managed with much equity and uprightness Isa 11.1 c. is a notable Scripture for this There shall come forth a Rod out of the Stem of Jesse that is Christ the Spirit of the Lord and of Wisdom shall be upon him there is his Glory when he comes to govern he shall do things with wisdom that is Wisdom really for the Wisdom of this World comes to nothing and the ends of the Men of the World are not accomplished but Christ shall rule with Wisdom and also with Equity vers 4. With Righteousness shall he judge the Poor and reprove with Equity for the Meek of the Earth Now Christs thus managing of his Government will render him very glorious Which leads me to the fourth thing propounded Fourthly That Christ in his being glorious shall be glorious for the good of his People those of Israel that shall be carried thorow the distresses and straights they shall meet withal in the World they shall share in and partake of all the Glory of Christ with much comfort Psal 72.7 it is there said In his days shall the righteous flourish when it is well with him it shall not be ill with them So Isa 24. where it is said ver 23. Christ shall reign in Mount Zion and before his Antients gloriously and you shall see vers 16. how it will be with his People From the uttermost parts of the Earth have I heard Songs even Glory to the Righteous When Christ shall be glorified his People shall be glorified with him If the Saints say unto Christ as Joseph did unto Pharaoh's Butler Remeber me when it is well with thee their Desires shall be answered at a better rate then Joseph's were When Christ shall be made glorious in the World as he shall be one day he will not be one day without his Peoples reaping the good and benefit thereof and it must needs be thus for consider First the Union between Christ and his People Christ is the Head and Husband of his Saints And Civilians say Uxor lucet Mariti radiis the Wife partakes of the honour of her Husband so it shall be here the Saints shall partake of and reap the good of that honour that shall be upon the Head of Christ Christ is so full of love to his People that the very love he bears them were there no other tie would engage him to interest them in the good of his Glory Christ is the Head and his People are the Members and if the Head be dignified all the Members must
also it cannot be otherwise Secondly Christs Glory must needs be for the good of his People in that all the Glory he is intrusted with as Mediator it is in their names for their sakes and for their uses he is Head over all things to his Church Eph. 1.22 I may therefore say unto Saints as they in Cant. 3.11 Go forth O ye Daughters of Jerusalem and behold King Solomon with the Crown wherewith his Mother crowned him in the day of his Espousals in the day of the gladness of his Heart Go forth and look upon by the Eye of Faith that Glory that shall be upon the Head of Christ and look upon it with comfort you may account it a joyous spectacle for it is that that shall work out your Mercy if your hearts be upright with God A little further to shew you what benefit shall come unto Saints by Christs being glorious 1. When Christ is glorious glorious Liberty shall come unto the Saints We are now a company of inthralled Creatures not only unto our own lusts but the lusts of men you have a notable expression Rom. 8.21 The Creature it self also shall be delivered into the glorious liberty of the Sons of God The Creatures of the Earth are now in bondage unto the lusts of Men our Rayment is in bondage to our Pride our Meat to Gluttony our Drink to Drunkenness and other things the like the Creatures are held in slavery unto the lusts of Men but there is a time when they shall have glorious Liberty when men shall not be able at their pleasure to inthrall and oppress them Psal 72.12 14. the Psalmist speaking of Christ in his glory saith of him That he shall deliver the Needy when he crieth the Poor also and him that hath no helper he shall redeem their Souls from death and violenee and precious shall their Blood be in his sight It is worth your observing that the whole design of Christ is but to do his People good to save them and therefore at the 4th verse of that Psalm it is said He shall save the Children of the needy and particularly this service he shall do them he shall give them glorious Liberty 2. This shall be their Glory their Reproach shall be wiped away the People of God have been a reproached People greatly reproached but their reproach shall be rolled away When Israel came to Canaan they were circumcised and the place where they were circumcised was called Gilgal and the reason given Josh 5.9 For there he rolled away the reproach of Egypt the lot of the Saints is to be reproached in Egypt but there shall be a time and day and a Place also which he will name Gilgal a time and place when and where he will roll away the reproach of his People For the present sometimes God gives his People unto reproach as you have it Isa 43.28 Therefore I have profaned the Princes of the Sanctuary and have given Jacob to the curse and Israel to reproaches but there is also a time when reproaches shall be taken away Then will the Lord be jealous for his Land and pity his People yea the Lord will answer and say unto his People Behold I will send you Corn and Wine and Oyl and ye shall be satisfied therewith and I will no more make you a reproach among the Heathen 3. The Glory of the Saints shall be this They shall be raised up to much height and dignity that the greatest of all the ungodly ones of the Earth shall bow before them for which take one place insted of many Isa 60.14 The Sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soals of thy feet and they shall call thee The City of the Lord the Zion of the Holy One of Israel It were great arrogancy for any of the Saints to hope for such a thing as this had not God spoken it and it is as great infidelity not to believe it since the mouth of the Lord hath uttered it 4. They shall have this Glory More eminent and uninterupted Communion with God and Christ then ever yet they had and this is the thing that every good Soul longs for long for it they do that is certain and when they are hinder'd in that enjoyment it is their great burthen when their Tabernacles are taken down their communion's broken this is that that makes them go mourning but the Lord will give his People more eminent and glorious communion with himself and his Son then they have yet partaken of It is said Isa 60.7 with respect to a time yet to come The Flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee the Rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee they shall come up with acceptance on mine Altar and I will glorifie the House of my Glory Observe it the Glory of the Temple of old was the presence of God in the Temple he was said to fill the House with his Glory the communion that the Saints had with God was the Temple-Glory God meeting with them in his Appointments and Administrations and now he promiseth here I will glorifie the House of my Glory I will fill my Churches and Saints with more Glory then yet they have seen the meaning is they shall have more of my presence with them and more abundant communion and fellowship with me then heretofore Isa 66.11 it is said They shall be delighted with the abundance of her Glory that ye may suck and be satisfied with the Brests of her Consolation that ye may milk out and be delighted with the abundance of her Glory 5. And in the last place this shall be the Glory of Saints Even their glorious Union one with another and this shall be their mercy in the day of Christ in Zeph. 3.8 9. the Lord saith Therefore wait ye upon me until the day that I rise up unto the prey for my determination is to gather the Nations that I may assemble the Kingdoms to pour upon them mine indignation even all my fierce anger for all the Earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousie for then will I turn to the People a pure language that they may all call upon the Name of the Lord to serve him with one consent It is the great cry among the People of God O that we could come to Unity to love as Brethren all cry for want of it though few endeavour after it as they ought to do but when we have done our utmost endeavours which is our Duty yet it will not rise up to any great height till Christ come in his Glory Wait upon ME until I arise to the prey to do gloriously in the World and then I will work thus and thus that you may come to serve me with One Consent They mistake greatly that think to force People to a Union to make them all of one mind it is the work of
a little against them And unhappy you if in your Youth and Strength you have few thoughts or few serious thoughts of God if he be little in your thoughts and hearts I tell you it is to be feared you are not of the Israel of God unto this day Though you escape and are preserved yet it is to be feared your preservation will not be attended with mercy to you nor shall you bear a part in that Glory that shall be upon the heads of Israel when the Branch of the Lord shall be glorious 4. If you are the Israel of God then are you Holiness to the Lord you not onely live upon him but to him in some measure Jer. 2.9 the Prophet saith Israel was Holiness to the Lord that is when Israel was in his right spirit then he was Holiness to the Lord. For the expression you have it in Scripture elsewhere Zech. 14.20 21. In that day there shall be upon the Bells of the Horses HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD and the Pots in the Lords House shall be like the Bowls before the Altar yea every Pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be Holiness unto the Lord of Hosts that is every Person and every Thing shall be for God for his Work and Service to be to his Praise and Glory Certain it is Saints are not their own as the Apostle speaks 1 Cor. 6.19 Ye are not your own ye are bought with a price and so Tit. 2.13 14. where speaking concerning the purchase of Christ Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and might purifie to himself a peculiar People zealous of good Works The Vessels of the Temple before they were made use of in the Temple they had a legal consecrating and being cleansed they were given up to the work of the Temple to be for that use for ever And so the Saints of the Lord who were typified by the Vessels of the Temple they are first purified cleansed and sanctified by Christ by the work of the Spirit on their Souls and then given up to the Lord and his service It may be said of them as Hannah said of her Son Samuel 1 Sam. 1.28 Therefore I have lent him unto the Lord to be his so long as he lives Every Israelite indeed is one lent to the Lord given up to be for the work and service of the Lord in his whole course and in every thing to exalt his praise to mind his glory Certainly thus it ought to be and this was one end of the Death of Christ that he might have his People be for him 2 Cor. 5.15 He died and rose that they which live should not henceforth live to themselves but to him that died for them and rose again and unto this Spirit Saints are wrought up in some good measure as is expressed Rom. 14.7 And none of us saith the Apostle live to our selves Souls what say your Hearts to this matter You profess for the Lord but are you for him as consecrated things in the House of God Which way do your Hearts work day by day This know where there hath not been a solemn resignation and giving up a mans self unto the Lord where there is not a diligent observing of a mans whole course to see to what ends they are directed and whether the glory of Christ be therein sought it is doubtful that Soul is not of the Israel of God to this day The truth is the sins of many witness to their Faces and I make no doubt but that inscription may be written over the doors of many Professors upon too great ground All men seek their own and not the things of Jesus Christ If this be the spirit of any to whom these things may come you may fear though you are spared and are not cut down this day you stand but to cumber the ground such as God takes little delight in and such as from whom he hath little fruit such as he doth not reckon among the number of his Israel and such as shall not be blessed with Israels mercies when the Branch of the Lord shall be exalted 5. Are you Israel then are you a praying People Israel had thence his Name from his wrestling and prevailing with God God asked him what was his Name Gen. 32.27 28. he said Jacob and God said Thy Name shall no more be called Jacob but Israel for as a Prince hast thou power with God and with men and hast prevailed In his praying there is observable his importunity and that is expressed partly when it is said he wrestled and also in that expression wherein much freedom and familiarity with God is set forth God said Let me go says Jacob I will not let thee go except thou bless me v. 26. which importunity of his is again noted by the Spirit of God Hos 12.4 He had power over the Angel he wept and he made supplication There is also observable that this Prayer it was in secret Gen. 32.24 And Jacob was left ALONE it was between the Lord and himself in secret which I would beseech you to consider heartily That as soon yea at the very first moment when a Soul is enrolled among the number of Israel at that instant he becomes a praying Person as in the case of Saul who was afterward called Paul And let me ask you that attend on the Lord in publick Duties what are you in secret Does God usually there hear from you Cannot you live without seeing the face of God in secret Let me tell you publick Duties have many temptations a man may desire to be engaged in them from many base and bad ends yea it is possible natural Conscience and your Education may carry you into corners sometimes but therefore in secret how do you carry it Doth it satisfie you that you have been in your Closets and have spent it may be a quarter of an hour there and it may be with a slight and formal Spirit This is not the Spirit of Israel But if thou art an Israelite indeed when thou art in secret thou wilt be fervent and earnest with God In publick Duties a man may seem to be zealous that he may get a Name or keep up a Name that he hath gotten or to some such-like end but when in secret the Soul cries mightily to the Lord it is a good sign that there is a sense of want and that it does arise from a Spirit of Grace in the Soul when thou canst in secret sign and mourn before the Lord. Now these things I have gone over with this design to see if I could let you into a little Hope and good Ground that as you have escaped so you are escaping Israelites who shall partake of Glory when Christ the Branch of the Lord shall be made glorious And the Lord help you to be faithful to your Souls
expects thy great work should be to give him the glory of that mercy to improve it to his praise Satan would possibly divert thee and cause thee to make it thy work to perplex thy self about thy state by raising infinite questions in thee whether thou art yet of the Israel of God or no. Be not easily thus deluded but if thou hast ought that may be really a solid ground of hope to thee do not easily cast away thy confidence but having got a little hold keep it that thou art spared in mercy and shalt find mercy when Christ shall appear glorious VSE V. THe Fifth Use will be to them that are the Israel of God to comfort their hearts and this Doctrine that is under consideration is exceeding comfortable unto such I may truly say to them I do bring them glad tidings of great Joy What! shall all the sad and dismal Slaughters made in the World work to such a blessed issue as the Exaltation of Christ And shall all his glory be for your good What can you wish for more When David had been speaking of the Kingdom of Christ and his Glory under the Person of Solomon in Psal 72. it is said The Prayers of David the Son of Jesse are ended The sum of all that a gracious heart can desire is That Christ may be glorified when that is done he knows not what more to pray for If you are Israel and your hearts are as they should be the great thing about which your Spirits are working is that Christ may be set upon his Throne and that his Name may be exalted If this work go forward and be in hand the work that is in hand and goes on is that which lies most upon your hearts and in which your Souls have greatest occasion to rejoyce Let the consideration of this comfort you 1. Against whatever Breaches may have been made upon you by this day of slaughter it will be strange if some of you have not lost Friends and Relations Remember all these Breaches made upon you onely serve to repair the interest of Christ and work for his glory and if your hearts be right what would you not part with so the work of God may be furthered If your hearts be right you will say Let all go and come what will if Christ may but be a Gainer I will be willing all things should be lost 2. Let it comfort you under those perplexities and troubles and dread that it may be hath been upon your Spirits in such a day Doubtless Times of slaughter are Times of great sorrow and grief of heart but who would not sustain a little grief for the working out of greater comfort The first sight that you shall have of Christ in his glory will wipe away these Tears and will suppress all those Fears it will make them be as if they had never been 3. Let it comfort you if you should see worse things then ever yet you have seen I do believe many Souls do this day think that nothing can be more terrible then what they have already seen and heard but if they should be mistaken and you should see things more dreadful be comforted Christs work is going forward his glory and Israel's mercy is upon the wheel It is not unusual in Scripture and experience that one Judgement goes not alone but it is followed by others closely at the heels Jer. 14.12 When they fast I will not hear their cry and when they offer Burnt-Offering an Oblation I will not accept them but I will consume them by the Sword and by the Famine and by the Pestilence Not one single Judgement onely but others were to go in hand along with it Christ says Luk. 21.25 26. That a little before the day of his glory there shall be distress of Nations and mens hearts shall fail them for fear for looking after those things that are coming on the Earth It is a very probable conjecture that as we have seen the distress of a City we may see the distress of Nations and troubles may over-spread the face of the whole Earth Yet if these things should be remember Christs Counsel to his own Disciples vers 28. Look up and lift up your heads for your Redemption draweth nigh Remember the words of the wise man Prov. 3.25 26. Be not afraid with sudden fear neither with the desolation of the Wicked when it comes for the Lord shall be thy confidence and shall keep thy foot from being taken 4. Be comforted though you cannot understand the method of God and are not able to conceive how these Dispensations of God should work for Christs glory and the good of his People We are apt to be perplexed because we cann't see into the depths of the proceedings of God and understand the reason of them all But remember he that hath the management of these things knows his own ends and can tell how to accomplish his own designs and he will be sure to do his own work when all men have done what they can Things may and shall work for the good of the Saints though we cannot understand them Remember the case of Jacob Gen. 42.36 Says Jacob Me ye have bereaved of my Children Joseph is not and Simeon is not and will you take away Benjamin also All these things are against me To his apprehension all this made against him when in truth and when the issue was seen it made so for him as nothing could do more And thus it is in the great amazing Dispensations of God with which we are startled though we understand not the mystery and reason of Gods proceedings yet they make for the good of his People and will work out his glory though we cry these things are against us often-times 5. And lastly It will comfort you if you are Israel though you should not see all accomplished immediately though the Branch of the Lord should not forthwith become glorious Remember Faith and Patience they serve to help us to wait and stay Gods time and leisure God always keeps his Ends upon his Heart and in his Eye and never acts in any inconsistency with them This is abundantly certain that he will accomplish every good thing for his People Wait therefore on the Lord and keep his Way and he will exalt you in due time Though he answers your desires and expectations for the present by terrible things yet it is in Righteousness and it is for the bringing about whatever mercy he promised to his People VSE VI. THe last Use would be for a Word of Counsel You that are escaped this day and are the Israel of God what mercy is this that you share in how amazing and distinguishing are the dispensations of God to you-ward How should the sence of it over-come your Souls To be preserved and preserved in mercy to great and glorious ends what can you desire more had you been put to make your own terms with God Believe it
if you are the Lords People in truth you are much in the heart of God and your Good in the very next place to his own and his Sons Glory is designed however he deals with you If he lets loose men upon you it is not with a design to hurt you Psal 66.12 Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads we went through fire and water but thou hast brought us out into a wealthy place If he comes to thunder down Judgements upon the World it is with a design to do you good it is for your safety Isa 43.14 Thus saith the Lord your Redeemer the holy One of Israel For your sakes I have sent to Babylon and have brought down all their Nobles and the Caldeans whose cry is in the Ships Christ in all his Administrations and in all the Dispensations of his Kingly Power from first to last aims at the good of his People and it is for their benefit that he acts however we are apt through blindness and ignorance to interpret it If he cuts down his People it is to do them good if he spares them it is because he delights in them and will make them partake of sparing-mercy How admirable is the kindness of the Lord and what effect should it have But 1. To teach you to see the hand of Christ in all and to sing forth the praises of the Lord your preservation is through Christ When the Passeover was instituted of old God bid the Israelites to sprinkle the Blood of the Lamb upon the door posts and when the Angel passed by to slay the first-born of Egypt he would pass by their doors that were sprinkled If the destroying Angel hath passed by your Doors and hath not come in it is because your post was sprinkled with the Blood of Jesus the Blood of the Lamb It is to Christ that you own it and O that the praises of the Lord might be sounded forth by you in Psal 22.3 God is said to inhabit the Praises of Israel it is a remarkable expression O Thou that inhabitest the Praises of Israel our Fathers trusted in thee and were delivered Israel should be a praising People and God delights in their Praises He loves to be where his Praises are spoken forth O that your habitations might be the habitations where the Praises of God might dwell and where the goodness of God may be sounded forth 2. Sure your escaping should make 〈◊〉 to be Holiness unto the Lord Hath the Lord written you unto Life as the expression is in this 4th of Isaiah Are you by his appointment and counsel in the Land of the living O then see that you be a People walking with him He says in this 4th of Isaiah to them that do escape that they shall be a holy People vers 3. It shall come to pass that he that is left in Sion and he that remaineth in Jerusalem shall be called Holy even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem O that every one written among the living this day might also be called Holy that is might be so for God calls things as they are There be great engagements lie upon our Souls that we live up to this expectation of God 3. Surely your work is to help forward the glory of Christ and your own good by all ways you can Faith and Prayer are the great means by which you may be serviceable to this great end We are apt to be faithless and unbelieving when things succeed not according to our desire and expectation but the work of the Soul is to wait for the salvation of God and to believe for the accomplishment of all that the Lord hath spoken to beg earnestly that God would remember his Promise that he would do according to the Faith of his People Whatsoever God has engaged himself to his People that he will do for them he expects that they should enquire of him for it 4. How much ought it to be your care to be found in a spirit fit to meet Christ in his glory There is great talk in the World of what expectations are upon the hearts of the Saints O that we could see suitable preparations in every Soul putting off the works of darkness and pressing after a Spirit of Humility and Holiness that we might be crucified to the World and raised up to a spiritual frame the day of Christs glory will be exceedingly filled up with spiritual things and a carnal earthly spirit will be loathed and abominable O then shake off the filth of sin and the filth of this World and put on your beautiful Garments that so you may be prepared to meet the Lord in his glory 5. Do you much pity Sinners When Christ shall come in his glory with what shame and confusion will poor sinners stand every heart will tremble and the proudest spirit will then stoop O pity them now for then you will have no pity for them the Righteous shall rejoyce when he sees the vengeance they will then onely triumph in the righteous Dispensations of God O pity them now and mourn over them and pray for them and pray them into Christ if possible and walk so before them that thou maist make them in love with the ways of God This is your work the Salvation of Sinners should be much upon your hearts if you know the worth of your own Souls And the more there are brought into Christ the greater will the solemnity be and the glory of this glorious appearance To close all therefore It is a sad day for the present even with the Saints of God and though we are preserved yet we and all our mercies lie open to we know not how much misery we and our best Priviledges how they may be dealt with we cannot tell however of this be confident That all this time the Lord is at work graciously for his People As he says in this fourth of Isaiah when he had said in the Text The Branch of the Lord should be glorious for them that are escaped he addes vers 4. When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the Daughter of Zion In the â—ean time before this glory the Lord is waâ—â—ing away the filth of his People and purging out their dross that yet is among them that when his glorious appearing shall be you and all your Mercies will at once be delivered and as he says in the fifth verse The Lord will create upon every dwelling place in Mount Zion and upon her Assemblies a Cloud and Smoak by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night for upon all the Glory shall be a defence Now we have our Opportunities with hazard and little Communion with God in them but at that day there shall be upon the Assemblies of Mount Zion a Cloud The Cloud in the Temple was the token of Gods presence God will be among his People And upon their Glory shall be a defence They shall be safe from the fear of evil and God will bless his People with peace He will bless them out of Zion Laus Deo Opt. Max. FINIS