was Israels victory and he in this was a type of our David our Christ who hath slain and triumpht openly over our enemies upon the crosse And therefore saith Christ to his Disciples be of good cheare I have overcome as in John the 16 the last Secondly We do overcome likewise when we doe by the strength of Christ oppose and overcome the pollutions of the world In this sence saith John Greater is he that is in you then he that is in this world and yet not but that a poor soule may be foyld and seemingly wholly overcome as David but yet David by renewing grace he gets up and fights and like David in conclusion wholly overcomes Saul and his house Again he may be said to overcome two waies First Comparing himselfe with himselfe I was such a sinner and such a sinner but now I thanke God I am no more the same man Secondly Hee may be said to overcome comparing himselfe with the world who lies lives and wallows in all kinde of polutions and defilements Revel 16. there is a blessing promised to such a one Behold saith Christ I come as a Thief in the night blessed is he that keepes his garments undefiled Thirdly What is meant by Christs Throne and by the Fathers Throne surely here is meant both one thing namely the Glory of God I say the Glory of God is the thing meant the eteruall Glory of God is the Throne on which Christ sits on and in which you must fit also Doth Christ sit in this glory of God Christ your Husband Christ your Head Christ your Vine then must you O Christians too for ye are inseperable Where should the Bride sit but by the Bridegroome Where should the Members be but with the Head Where should the Branches be but with the Vine O poore gentile sinner what glory is design'd for thee But fourthly What is meant by sitting down in Christs Throne or Gods Glory First It denotes a cessation or rest so you know Christ is said to enter into his rest as he is set down with his Father in glory And Paul saith there remains a rest for the people of God aluding to that so that to sit down with Christ in his Throne is to sit with Christ in the Glory of God Moses was but a while in the Mount with God and yet his face shined so that Israel could not behold him O how will thy face shine when thou shalt sit down with Christ in the true glory of God Moses saw him in fire smoake and thunder but thou shalt see him in Christ a loving kinde and tender father a father rejoycing over thee even as a bridegroome rejoycing over his bride to do them good saith the Lord in Isai O how well pleased was Jacob when he had his Joseph O friends God will sweetly please himself as I may so say when Christ shall say he are am I and all the Children thou hast given me make them welcome Father they are my sons and daughters whom I dearly loved dearly bought O seeing now I have them I am at rest while they were in the world tossed with afflictions and troubled with temptations my heart was not at rest but seeing now I have them and from those things have freed them I will set them in my Glory where they shall sweetly sing thus Farewell all sin and sorrow which now shall be no more my work and labour is over and nothing now remains but rest and joy and glory O this is a sweet sitting down indeed for a soul tost and tumbl'd with sinne and sorrow to be brought from all to rest for ever Secondly This setting in Christs Throne or Gods glory denotes a welcome unto Christ we bid them sit down that are welcome unto us take them by the hand and set them down by us O friends Christ will one day take you by the hand lead you to the Father present you as his Spouse the Father will take both Christ and yee and set you both down in his own Glory and in that day saith Christ Yee shall know the Father is in me and I in you then shall yee know the Fathers love too as Christ speakes Iohn 17. last v. O Christians yee will never know this love nor your union the strength glory sweetnesse of it till that day commeth but in that day yee shall know the relation your souls stand in to God to Christ You will know him then to be a Father indeed and not in name onely you will finde so much fatherly love and tenderness towards you that your souls shall lye steeping in it like Sugar in wine If a little taste of Gods love now be so sweet O what will it be when you shall lye night and day soaking in it and wholly melted by it into holy praises Here a gracious heart mourns for want of love to God to Christ but this want shall be supplyed when the Father and you personally meet which day is a comming and I tell you this till this day commeth yee will never know what the love of God and Christ is Now a drop is sweet but how sweet will it be when it shall be like a flowing Fountain in you O friends in that day yee shall be like as a Vessell that 's set under a Fountain Cock alwayes full and alwayes running over Now saith David thy loving kindnesse is better then life O but then he will say nothing but stand stand pore and admire I admire to al eternity when great and undeserved love is shewn unto us by some one unexpected how do we admire and as it were study and wonder why such kindnesse should be shewn unto us O precious christian thou wilt one day admire indeed to think that such love should be shown to such a dead dog as that good man said before the King so wilt thou say O my God and King what am I that thou shouldest love a poor Gentile sinner to keep me in thy presence to have me in thine eye to set me in thy throne that thou maist talk with me and tell me there thy thoughts of old O great and glorious God why art thou so kind to worme Jacob. Thirdly by sitting down in the throne of Christ or Gods glory it denotes respect and estimation we usually bid them sit down whom we best respect and esteem O happy christian how art thou esteemed of the Son and Father that thou shouldest sit down with them the world hates thee so farre as Christ appears in thee yea it cannot but hate thee so farre I say it hates thee though it love thee other wayes as a friend and kinsman or harmlesse man but I say so farre as thou refusest to comply with their wayes and wink at their faults to speak of their folly to sigh at their joy and mourn at their laughter so farre I say they cannot but hate thee but so farre as thou workest by their example and walkest by
ye shall time out of minde suck for thirst and thirst by sucking because of sweetnesse divine time and age outlasting sweetnesse Tenthly it may be called new Ierusalem in respect of her safety thy safety O Ierusalem was but men and walles and creatures strength but thine O new Ierusalem is God in thee and his salvation round about thee is the safety of thee Salvation will God appoint for walles and bulwarks Isaiah 46.5 In the midst of her the Lord doth dwell she shall no whit be moved Psal 48.8 As we haue heard so have we seen in the city of our God our God will establish it for ever and ever Isaiah 65 21. They shall build houses and inhabit them plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them Paul speaks of a city sure and stable which cannot be shaken or moved but for old Ierusalem it was shaken and ransact too and so shall all the cities in the world first or last but thou O new Ierusalem city of safety city of rest blessed city everlasting joy and safety is in thee Againe in respect of her inhabitants in thee O Ierusalem was clean and unclean circumcised and uncircumcised many were called Iewes which were not Iewes but were the very Synagogue of Satan Revel 3.9 But for thee O new Ierusalem no unclean thing shall come into thee God and Christ will keep out of thee every uncircumcised sinner I say Christ will see who comes into thee O new Jerusalem Friend where is thy wedding garment bind him hand and foot cast him out I will not have any unclean thing here saith Christ in any wise Revel 21.27 He is unclean that was never washed in the fountaine of Iudah and Jerusalem which stands open for sinners therefore saith Isaiah henceforth shall come no more into thee the uncircumcised and unclean Again in respect of her temple in thee O Ierusalem was Solomons temple but it was but a typicall temple but in thee O new Jerusalem is the true temple indeed Rev. 21.2 I saw no temple there saith John for the Lord God and the Lambe was the temple of it Ah! blessed temple God and Christ who would not worship here One thing saith David have I desired of the Lord that I might dwell in his house all the dayes of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord. O David here is thy wish and more for thou shalt not onely dwell in his house but dwell in himsef for God will now dwell with his Ierusalem and be her temple O thou needest no other temple now to offer thy sacrifices for here shall all thy sacrifices of thanksgiving be continually offered unto the Lord and unto the Lambe for he is thy temple now where thou and all thy fellow Saints must offer their sacrifices and sing their thankfulnesse for evermore But I shall now hint at the last of these words I saw her comming down from God out of heaven prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband First I conceive she may be said to come from God as being borne of God Christ speaks of some in the first of Iohn which were not borne of man nor the will of man but of God a thing is said to be borne of that of which it had its first being O Ierusalem in this sence thou mayst be said truly to be borne of God and to come downe from God for where hadst thou thy first being surely in God yea there thou hadst a being long before all beings there wast thou begotten indeed begotten in his purpose and in his love yea borne from everlasting and therefore art thou Melchisedek-like without Father or Mother and hadst thy being only in the purpose of God O how admirable it is to thinke how long as I may so say God did travaile with his Ierusalem a woman travailing but a few months is in paine and longs for deliverance But O God thou didst with thy Ierusalem not for a few months or yeares but a time longer yea farre more longer then a thousand yeares to a single moment from everlasting was thy travaile But O God was there not a longing in thee or was it else a pleasure to thee it was both it was both O my deare Ierusalem For first It was a pleasure to mee in all the time I bare thee my pleasure was I had thee my pleasure was I bare thee yea a satisfying pleasure or if thou wilt delight for I tooke solace in compassing the earth and my delight was in the sonnes of men O God seeing thou hadest many Angels why couldst thou not be satisfied I wanted sonnes and daughters that they might be my heires we are now the sons of God and if sons then heires yea joynt heirs as the Apostle speaks But ah Lord thou hadest a sonne and heire before but I had not sonnes and daughters to make me a Ierusalem where I might shew my glory O Lord hadst thou not ten thousand times ten thousand Angels Cherubims and Seraphims Yea but all they were not halfe enough for me to shew my glory too therefore I appointed as many more Ephes the 1.14 That they should be to the praise and glory of my grace And so likewise in the 5. vers He hath predestinated us saith Paul through Iesus Christ according to the good pleasure of his will that we might be to the praise and glory of his grace as well as Angels But were not all man kinde appointed to set forth his glory Yea they were so But shall they see his glory No no But why not Because God will have mercy on whom he will Rom. the 8. But doe not question no further about this but returne backe to the question which was Whether there was not a longing in him to see his sonnes and daughters with whom he travailed though that too were a pleasure Alas he could not but long to see them whom he had so long borne in his purpose and nature it selfe will answer this Doth not the Mother long to see the Childe shee bare Surely yes the Parent longs to see his Childe so doth God his People too Yea how can he but long to see them seeing they are his own from everlasting begotten in his purpose and brought forth by his providence into this world where he a while nurseth them amongst the vulgar people of this world though they be Princes in respect of his eternall thoughts towards them yet I say they are nurst as it were and hardly kept for a few yeares til he send for them home by death and angels who indeed did alwayes tend those Princes from the womb for they have a charge with his sonnes and daughters to keep them in all their wayes whilst they live tend their soules whilst they die and surely no Ladies are readier to receive a Princesse into this world to present it to the King its Father then Angels are the soules of his Children when they dye the Angels mind the very bodies of these Children
friends death hath no Commission but from him the Lord that gives and takes and blessed be his name yea blessed I say be his holy name for what he hath now taken from me he first did give unto me Why should I not then praise his name Oh that I could and you my friends for all he gives and all he takes And that we may know first it is your duty yea I say is your duty and all theirs that truly feare God to submit with patience to his will and blesse his name for all his dispensations the which I will prove by some examples I could give you many instances as first that of old Eli concerning his Sonnes which you may read in Samuel the first Book Chap. 3. vers 18. O with what a sweet spirit doth he receive that sad message concerning his sons It is the Lord let him doe with me what he please O sweet and soure A sad message is told good old Eli concerning his sons yea a very sad one at which the eares of men should tingle But yet saith Eli unto Samuel It is the Lord and let him doe what seemes him good A second instance is that of David 2 Sam. Chap. 15. vers 26. Who was faine to fly with the Ark of God and his servants for his life from his habitation by reason of Absolom's unnaturall and deceitfull Rebellion Well many weep for this good mans danger and affliction and so doth he for he goes from Ierusalem with his head covered and his eyes weeping but yet sweetly thus saying If he have any pleasure in me he will bring me back againe otherwise loe here I am let him doe with me what he please O what a sweet and Saint-like Spirit was here in David Let him doe what he please loe here am I to submit A third instance is that of Paul who makes this his desire To glorifie Christ in his body But whether it be by life or death Paul cares not so Christ be glorified I could instance above all in Christ the patterne of all who sweetly sayes thus in the Garden Not my will but thine be done But I shall only mention in Iob whose sweet submission to God in his great afflictions I little minded till within these few dayes I don't remember scarse when I read one of Iobs Chapters O how many sad messages was brought to him not in one week after another like mine but in one day did his sad messengers come tumbling in with heavy messages concerning his sheep oxen servants sons and daughters well saith Iob The Lord gives and takes and blessed be his name What fuller submission could there be in a gracious heart then here is in these words But let me give you three or foure reasons why a gracious heart should sweetly submit to Gods will and the first reason shall be this the Holinesse of his will a Saint sees in the will of God a holinesse and therefore let things goe how they will yet thou remainest holy O thou that inhabitest Eternity Paul sayes he workes all things according to the counsell of his owne will surely that must needs be holy that is wrought according to the will and counsell of a holy God A second reason why a gracious heart should sweetly submit to the will of God is the Soveraignity of Gods will above the creature he doth what ever he will and all what ever he will and therefore saith Paul who hath resisted his will Shall the potsheard strive with the Potter or the creature with the Creator No nor the servant with his Master neither much lesse a gratious heart with his God and Maker Teach me to doe thy will O God saith David and every gracious heart too It is our prayer to say Thy will be done and it would be our perfection to submit A third reason why a gracious heart should submit to Gods will is the goodnesse of Gods will the will of God is good in all his working to his people So saith Paul all things worke together for the best to them that feare God Yea those vvorkings of Gods vvill vvhich most crosse nature doth he see a goodnes in O that I had more ability to see this to but however a gracious heart sees a goodnes in conclusion vvhich he doth acknovvledge in the will of God It was good for me saith David that I was afflicted for before I went astray And truly affliction doth often cause a Saint to looke to his wayes which he is too apt in prosperity to be mindlesse of Let us search and try our wayes saith the Church in afflictions and so saith a gracious heart in every smart affliction O how good is that will of God that wils thy affliction for so good an end And thus you see three reasons why a gracious heart should sweetly submit to Gods Will because of its Holinesse its Soveraignity and Goodnesse One word or two more and then I hvae done First then labour with your owne hearts to submit to Gods Will for in every submission yee serve some glorious designe of God and for this reasons sake labour quietly to submit O that my soule did know well his designe and reason why hee hath dealt so with me as hee hath in a way of affliction my afflictions are yet like the black side of a cloud O that I could see the bright side the glory of God which every strong Christian sees and by seeing quietly submit 2ly Let us labour to submit our wils to Gods for conformities sake and here let vveake Christians take the example of strong and they the example of Christ Who for the Glory that was set before him endured the Crosse and despised the shame Thirdly let us submit our vvills to God for it is the surest vvay and the safest First it is the surest if you vvould not offend God for if ye storme yee sinne and offend God vvhich a gracious heart should be carefull of Secondly it is the safest vvay the sturdy oakes resist the vvinde and are split but the gentle reed by yeelding stands Doth God take a child yeeld Doth he take another yeeld Doth he take all yeeld Doth he take a Wife a Husband yeeld If thou dost not he can take thy soule and throvv it into apprehensions of his vvrath vvhich vvill make thee roare as if thy bones vvere broken yea all thy bones but especially yeeld to God for he cannot onely take all thy comforts from thee but thy very soul and throw it into hell too O my friends let us yeeld to God for there is safety in it I have heard some ministers say of Augustine Lord saith he cut me hack me kill me so thou save my soul he hath delt so by my wife she hath had cutting afflictions two or three days travelling by a child as with Samuel which some of you my friends well know and as many by his losse his losse and the rest must needs be cutting well thus
A Little STREAM OF DIVINE Sweetness FROM The Living Fountaine for the Paradice of God LONDON Printed by G.D. sould by Tho Brewster and Greg Moule at the three Bibles in Pauls Church-yard neer the West end 1650. THE subject and occasion of this little Treatise fainting in the wildernesse of affliction I went to these Scriptures for recovery and on them spent some few meditations which I recommend unto the dead and livings view as vsefull unto both Rev. 3.21 To him that over comes will I give to sit with me in my Throns even as I overcame and am set with my Father in his Throne Rev. 21.2 And I John saw the holy City new Jerusalem come down from God out of Heaven prepared as a bride trimmed for her husband Rev. 3.2 Behold I stand at the doore and knock if any man heare my voyce and open I will come in and sup with him Rev. 22.1 And he shewed me a pure River of water of life cleare as Christall proceeding out of the Throne of God and the Lambe Rev. 22.4 And they shall see my face and his name shall be on their foreheads Doe not look but read and for what you profit let God have all the glory for to your sinfull friend there is none at all due To the right honourable his Excellency THO. Lord FAIRFAX Captain generall of all the forces in England and Wales c. NOble captain Generall will your Excellency once give leave to I dare scarce say what yet I beg as on my bended knee for the Spirits sake leave to shelter these few lines under your greatnesse hoping you will peruse them in a leasure houre not but that your breast hath sweeter things in it in which ye delight your selfe more then in all your victories pomps glory greatnesse which you are crowned with and admired for by all men good bad but the reason why I take this boldnesse is to present my thankfulnesse for your unwearied marches round about this kingdome in all houres and seasons I say for this and your many brave bold gallant charges where Cannons playd like thunder and bullets flew like Haile-stones driven by the winde such was that at Maid-stone and divers more besides but in these Christ did ever keep you with his life-guard of Angels and now hath brought you home from the fields of deadly slaughter to refresh your greatnesse now good men will bring presents or at least their thankfulnes as well as bad men court you for their owne advantage both the former I would doe as well as I can will your Excellency so take it my thankfulnesse it is and a present too like a glasse of Nectar from the Spirits breathings drinke it up my Lord for sure it will refresh you I know you may refuse it expecting the sonnes of Levi should all bring in their flagons full of rich and choycer liquor but they are many of them angry I cannot tell the reason why good men should be so unlesse they are weak and froward and know not what they would have but yet I think you value not the ingratitude of men knowing your reward is with your Lord and Master Christ the King of kings who will one day set you in his throne and glory for you have overcome you my Lord Tho. Fairfax have foyld and spoyld all yea all the mighty ones that have risen against us yea you I say with your gallant Champions have bravely done the thing once over and once again to that and with such expedition that the world round doth wonder for which wee hope though many stars or commets like to stars be fallen yet your honour glory shall endure like to the sun and moon for ever your merits with your Champions be remembred whilst one good man breaths in the nation And now wee who are private christians adde this short title to your Excellency the Saints Captain Generall next under Christ and when my Lord you need us wee are all in readines to pray to fight to live die at your command for Christ and this nation which now sits at rest but for taxes some poor and widdows wants who are all in hopes you will speake a word in their behalfe to those who soon can help them and surely will ere long though murmuring men say no. Well my Lord I say no more but the great Iehovah God Almighty blesse you make his face to shine in and from you al those who have followd you high and low in faithfulnes and unweariednes doing Christs and the nations work this is my wish to you and those who are sent over to the other nation by yours others commands to do Christs work and make him room for his Gospell and to this I wish O all ye Saints that love Christ your king his cause or these nations say Amen Amen as with one voice Your Lordships servant in Christ WILL. BLAKE To the Christian Reader TO the strong and to the weak to the merry and melancholy Christian I recommend these following lines which was pend in a wildernesse of affliction by the Spirits strength and power which hath emboldned me to present them to thy view and the worlds and that on serious consideration and some able Christians importunity But first I will tell thee what I was and now am that thou mayst see Gods goodnesse calling poore creatures out of darknesse to himselfe I was brought up by my parents in my youth to learne hall mary Pater noster the Beliefe and learne to read and where I served my apprenticeship little more was to be found but in that time I speake without any boasting to the praise of Gods grace he shind in some measure into me minding me of eternity and my soules condition which I saw and I still doe to be very sinfull Well I fell to reading the Practise of Piety Mr. Perkins and by these or rather the Spirit I got a little perswading of Gods love to my soule Well my time being out I set up for my selfe and seeking out for a wife which with long waiting and difficulty much expence and charge at last I got Four children God gave me by her but he hath taken them and her all againe too who was a woman of a thousand for good nature In six weeks time which must needs goe neer My eldest Sonne and daughter in a fortnight and my Wife a month after Well thought I if comfort be any where it is in God and so fell to meditating of these Scriptures but no more of this nor another tedious line onely mark Gods dealing with his people in afflictions which is most seen in that furnesse instance Peter Paul Daniel and the three Children Well friends what ever your afflictions or conditions be I know not but in these following lines lyes much comfort which I found in penning and I hope you will in reading for the glory all is yours and the sweetnesse too what is yours you may
this pardon is it not sweet yes saith the sinner sweeter then the honey or the hony-combe O saith a poore soule I blesse God more for this then if he had made me the greatest prince in the world Fourthly it is called a city for her privilidges no city but hath its charter and privilidges at least some distinct from towns and villages O Ierusalem city of our God thy privilidges excell all the worlds who may be compared to thee for privilidges yea peculiar privilidges which no nation but thee can lay hold on nor people in the world neither all the people in the world are Gods by creation but Ierusalem by purchase all the world he feeds and cloaths O Israel who is a people like unto thee shielded by the great God fed by the Manna and watered by the rocks and sheltred by a cloud by day and a pillar of sire by night God in a way of providence keeps all creatures but man especially but Israel and Jerusalem above all who are his choice pieces of silver yea his treasure and jewels now treasure you know men will keep choicer then that which is but ordinary parents will let farthings and counters lie about for their children to play with but who will leave jewels carelesly here and there in common places no men are wise and will lay up their precious stones in choice cabbenets and so doth God he layes his up in his cabbenet of providence and charges his Angels with these jewels or sons of Sion more precious then jewels or choice silver either and in this particular he is said to keep them as a man keepeth the apple of his eye and is as tender over them as a father so saith David as a father pittieth his children so pittieth the Lord them that fear him O happy and blessed people pittied saved and kept by God I will keep thee every moment yea every moment in the den yea every moment in the furnace and every moment in all houres and seasons night and day death and judgement in times of troubles warres and judgement yea closset them in raines I house them like Noah in the Arke and in famine feed them like Elisha by the raven yea what shall I say I will be a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day yea a sun and shield as David speaks and sure defence too And now who art thou that forgettest the Lord thy maker and fearest the man or the son of man who is as the grasse of the field and shall die But in the fifth and last place the Church is compared to a city because the Spirit is as a river feeding of it O saith David He feeds me in green pastures and leads me by the still waters this he speaks of concerning the Spirit if the foundation be removed what can the righteous do There is a river the streames thereof shall make glad the city of God Psalm 46.4 O this Spirit streaming in and by thee presents Christ over and over to thy soul in all his lovelinesse and this must needs make glad the city a people of God Nothing is the Spirit oftner compared to then the waters when the poor and needy seeks waters I the Lord will heare and open rivers in the tops of the mountains this is a prophesie of the Spirits powring out to poore and thirsty who do apprehend themselves farre from the water of consolation I will powre out my Spirit saith God by the prophet Ioel and your sons and your daughters shall prophesie that is they shall be enabled to open the Scriptures mysteries But now why is it called a holy city The Scripture speaks of a two fold holinesse First a holinesse of things Secondly a holinesse of persons First a holinesse of things in foure or five respects First things are said to be holy by way of dedication or consecration so the bowls of the temple are said to be holy and all the vessels of the temple too Secondly things are said to holy by way of simulation or figure so was the Arke the brasen serpent Aarous rod and the Manna which did figure and similie out Christ Thirdly things may be said to be holy by way of calling so was the Priests office it was a holy calling be holy ye that beare the vessels of the Lord. Fourthly things may be said to be holy by way of rule or precept so the word of God the law of God is holy as Paul saith though I be sinfull yet the law is holy and just and good though I be carnall Fifthly things may be said to be holy by way of comparation so Ierusalem is called the holy city because the holy God was worshipped in it though it were in it selfe a sinfull city But secondly persons may be said to be holy likewise And first by way of creation so the fallen Angels were made holy and Adam too in his first creation God created man upright but he found out many inventions Secondly persons may be said to be holy by way of calling so the Priests Prophets Apostles and Patriarchs O saith Paul the holy men of God spake as they were inspired by the holy Ghost in them Thirdly men may be said to be holy by the inherent holinesse of God in them having the holy Spirit of God in them purifying of them and now they may be well said to be holy in these respects first comparing themselves with themselves formerly they walked in darknesse and lived in sin and nature but now in light by the Spirit who tels them they are none of their own but redeemed of Christ to whom they live as Paul saith if I live I live to Christ and if I die I die to Christ O happy change from sin and Satan to God and Christ Secondly men may be said to be holy comparing themselves with others whose lives lies and wallows in all pollution Paul speaks of some who were drunkards covetous filthy unclean sinners and such were some of you but now you are washed and cleansed Lastly and chiefly men may be said to be holy by way of imputation having the holines or righteousnes of God imputed to them he was made sin for us who knew no sin that we might be the righteousnesse of God in him 2. Cor. 5.21 And in this sence the whole church of God is holy having the holinesse or righteousnesse of Christ imputed to her and in this sence she is said to be holy even as Christ is holy But thirdly why is this Ierusalem called new Ierusalem for three or four reasons First in respect of creation Secondly in respect of declaration Thirdly in respect of reparation First in respect of creation so you call a thing new that is newly made what is so a building is called new because it is newly set up in this respect Ierusalem is called new Ierusalem because God hath set it up for a building for himselfe or habitation for his owne glory where he will
comming down as a Bride and now what shall I say of this Jerusalem comming down in her bravery First she is richly cloathed for it is in the righteousnesse of God which is sometimes called a decking or trimming with ear-rings or jewels Isaac trimmed Rebecka so and how lovely was she then in his eyes surely very lovely O when Christ shall look on his Rebecka trimmed with his righteousnesse as with ear-rings and jewels how lovely will she then be will he not then say Thou art all faire my love thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes as Solomons songs 4.9 Yea she will ravish as I may so say the very heart of God to behold her in his Sons righteousnesse or bravery in the day of her espousals to him when she is thus cloathed as a Bride for Christ the King of kings O now who can behold any deformity in her she is invisibly cloathed and covered with his righteousnes from head to foot as I may so say FINIS Revel chap. 3.20 Behold I standat the doore and knocke and if any man hear my voyce c. I Shall very briefly hint at these words without any preface at all Behold that is a word seriously to consider 2. The Person I what I is it I the Lord of life light and glory 3. His Posture Behold I stand I the King of Kings and Lord of Lords O high and low great and humble Christ 4. the Place Where is that At the doore Behold I stand at the doore 5. Behold I stand at the doore not gazing up and down but I stand knocking for this end to see if any man will heare and open and then I will come in and sup with him or refresh him with my presence But first Behold this is a word never used in Scripture but upon some very serious great and weighty matter this word Behold in Scripture is like a fiery Beakon on a mighty Hill which is to give warning to all Inhabitants round about or like the silver Trumpet in the Law which was blowne to call the People of God together to the worship and service of God or like a Larum in the night to the Souldier which cries arme arme arme all or like an Ensigne or Banner which being displaid gathers all to heare and see For these reasons the Spirit useth it in Scripture Bhold a Virgin shall conceive and beare a Sonne and his name shall be called Jesus Behold the Lambe of God which taketh away the sinnes of the world John 1.29 Behold I come quickly Revel 3. And so in the last of the Revelations to which the Spouse saith Amen come Lord Jesus come quickly Secondly Take notice of his patience Behold I stand I the Lord of life and glory I the Saviour of the world I the Sonne of God the Lambe of God that was dead but am alive and live for evermore I that have this title on my thigh the King of Kings and Lord of Lords with the keyes of death hell in my hand binding loosing and remitting whom I please Thirdly His Posture he stands he sits not Behold I stand and knocke What is that wait for admittance which doth denote his humility and patience O humble Christ Lord of life light and glory King of Nations Saints and Angels how dost thou abase thy selfe to wait the sinners leisure If a great man should wait at a beggers doore how would men wonder Loe Christ waits at thy doore O beggerlesse sinner here is humility indeed Christ the King of Kings who hath ten thousand times ten thousand Angels at his heels waits at thy doore O gentle sinner did you ever see a Prince with his Nobles waiting at a beggers doore no I dare say no but heare is Christ the Prince of Princes waiting at the sinners doore whilst Angels and arch-Angels waits for a beck with all readinesse to doe his will and this they count their heaven too Princes uses to send their pardons to malefactors but Christ brings them and waits the sinners leisure too Christ seeing thou hast abased thy selfe God shall highly exalt thee above all the Princes of the Earth and Angels too in Heaven for to which of them hath he said Sit thee on my right hand till I make thy enemies thy footstoole O all must submit to Christ and therefore it is said At his name shall every kneee bow both in heaven earth and under the earth that is to say Angels men and Devils must submit or be disposed by his appointment to light life and glory or wrath hell or darknesse even which he please but it denotes his patience too as well as humility if men be not ready to receive courtesie we usally withhold them But Christ waits with patience the sinners leisure who is ever busie when Christ comes to him in his house or calling the pleasures profits of the world buying selling eating drinking marrying like the old world who could not all heare Noahs preaching no more then they at Christs knocks O Christ Why shouldest thou wait seeing the sinner is so carelesse to neglect his own welfare Because I am God and not man and my patience must be like my selfe farre above yours as the Heavens are above the earth so is my patience above all Men and Angels and if it were not so I should have no admittance no where for I come to no sinners doore but they make me stand and wait sometimes they doe not know me and sometimes they will not know me and seldome it is too they minde me unlesse it be in some great trouble sicknesse death or danger and then they cry help help with their bitter teares helpe O Christ helpe which many times I doe and after comes and sees them Doctor like when they are well and free but then they think I am paid by their old prayers and so will scarse admit me or desire me to sit down my company now is burthensome though once they thought it otherwise in their distresse and misery But O Christ thou art the desire of all Nations who would not desire and minde thee for thou givest Jewels Crownes and Kingdomes yea Life Light and Pardons to all that do admit thee but even the sinner mindes not nor knowes not thy gifts nor the richnesse of it or at least way see no want of pardon light or knowledge no if he did he would not stay so long waiting at his doore how long O Christ ten yeares at some and twenty yeares at others yea forty yeares have I waited till I was greived with them and swore they should never enter in unto my rest Well sinner happy is it Christ hath so much patience to waight thy leasure do not abuse this patience lest he leave thee and forsake thee and swear against thee by damning of thee for neglecting and abusing his goodnesse many poor souls are in hell now for this very sinne neglecting Christs patience standing at their hearts knocking for admittance
of the world saith Christ he that walks in mee shall not abide in darknesse but shall have the light of lights John 6. So saith Paul God that caused light to shine out of darknesse hath given us the knowledge of himselfe in the face of Iesus Christ marke that and indeed Iohn had all his visions by Iesus Christ the golden candlesticks new Ierusalem the Glory of God the Throne of God the Garment the wedding Supper and all those heavenly things and therefore get thee gone foolish man that stands dreaming to see this river in thy own light Get me gone O but whither shall I goe whither why where thou shouldst goe and all others that have any minde to see this pure pleasant living river Question O but what shall I say to Christ when I come to him What shalt thou say First Tell him thou art a poore blind soule and wert born so and that thou canst not see thy right hand from thy left and withall as to tell him how blind thou art so be sure to bewaile thy selfe and say O Christ I would see the river of life the well of life why dost not thou O man why doe not I O Christ I am blinde thou knowest I am blind and cannot see why how came it or what ailest thou O Christ I was borne blind of my parents yea ring your hands weep waile and cry O unhappy man O unhappy wretch O unhappy soule O that I should be born blind and have no eyes to see the Glory of God the Throne of God the River of God and say as I bid thee O Christ I came blind into the world shall I die so too farre be it from thee O thou God of mercy and be sure to as I said to bewaile thy selfe and then I will pawn my life for it Christ will come by and say what ailest thou man and now Christ is of a good nature very pitifull especially to poor soules bemoaning and lamenting themselves for want of life legs or limbes or light or sight or eyes or any such like things for Christ knowes how usefull such things are for poore creatures and how they are like to dead men in graves without them or just walking like ghosts in the shapes of men which is as meere a delusion as can be in the world but as I was about to tell thee be sure when Christ comes by and asketh thee why thou mournest weepst and wringst thy hands then say O Lord Jesus I am blind I am blind O that I might receive my sight sweet Jesus looke upon me O thou Sonne of David have mercy upon me and if any should reprove thee for troubling Christ be sure you be not daunted or beaten off for crying after him but cry louder yea as loud as you are able and say Lord Jesus if thou passest by and will not helpe I will tell thy Father of thee who sent thee purposely to helpe such poor wretches as I am and then Christ will say to them that bid him let thee alone I must goe doe my Fathers work least he chide me And then they will say doe it to morrow O but saith Christ I must do my worke while it is day the night comes when no man can worke John 9. v. 4. And then Christ will come and say why did you cry so after me O thou Son of David that I may receive my sight and this will please Christ very well And thus you see what you get by my counsell in bemoaning your blind soule and crying after Christ you are now made whole and see as well as any I dare say thou wouldest not be in such a condition for a thousand pound no truely not for a thousand worlds neither for what would all the world have done me good if I had lived blind and darkly all my dayes I must needs have been ignorant of God and Christ and the river of life when as now I thank God I see all these things and I tell you thousands of wise men do not but are just of my condition as can be but sure they are bewitched I think for they do not know their own condition if they did they would cry as I did O but from my soul I thanke and I thanke you Sir my good friend for directing mee to Christ O sir if you had not I had been undone for ever and ever for I must needs have beene damnd for I must have died in my sins which I did not think of alasse I was a man that minded nothing the Lord knowes till you fell a talking of the river of life and speaking many things about this river I came to aske you how I might doe to see it for I remember you were speaking how clear how pure how beautifull it was and like wise how sweet and usefull advantagious and desireable it was and a long discourse you know to that purpose so then I think I askt you how I might do to see this pure living cleare and chrystall river and you told mee to my thinking a strange thing at the first For you told me I must not see it in mine own light which made me stare and wonder at you good Lord thought I what does the man mean would he lend mee his eyes thought I nay you told me further I must not goe in the light of another man God blesse me thought I the man is mad as sure as can be I must not see in mine own light nor anothers but then he told me as I remember how pure how pleasant this river was O said he it is a pure living river and an ever living river an everlasting river and a great deale of discourse about this river so that I thought indeed he would never have done with this river But to be short in my relation about this river I think I said show me this river but saith he you cannot see it in your own light O thought I in my selfe he counts me one of the blind men of the world because I did never much away with the new lights of our world which was never halfe so many I think as now since the world stood But to come to my story he told mee as I could not see that Chrystall river by my own eyes so no more could I see it by another mans so I plainly saw he did not at all weigh the ministers I mean the old Orthodox Divines I think these new fellows he did well approve of and seeme to own saying they were clear Gospell-preachers and did hold forth Christ very well distingnishing the difference between the two Covenants But then in relation to the river he told me if I would see it I must said he see it in Gods own light and so quoted David saying in thy light we shall see light and then he told me I must see this river in Christs light too saying thus as God was Christs light so Christ was Gods light said he to
in one a Saint in Christ a Christ in God and thus a Saint a Christ and God is one as Christ saith Iohn 17.21.23 Father I will that they in me and I in thee may be one O glorious union A Saint in Christ a Christ in God here is Unitie in Trinity and Trinitie in Unitie O earth earth how art thou joynd to heaven and by hearing the word of God I mean his Christ And now Adam Adam made of dust where art thou now man in the garden of God or in God himself O happy change O happy man O happy fall from God to Eden and then to earth and thence raised up to God againe O mortality how art thou swallowed up by immortality no changes now no more can be me thinks I see thee O yesterday-creature sitting with the Aneient of dayes like youg Samuel with old Eli. Me thinks I heare thee now as once the Angel swearing time shall be no more as in the Revelations nor sin nor sorrow nor pain nor labour and now thou maist truely say what Babylon the great did Revel I sit as a queen and shall see no sorrow yea I am a Queen and a Queen of queenes for my husband is Christ the King of kings and now come and worship me fall down at the soles of my feet call me Sion the holy One of Israel my husband saith ye shall Isaiah 60 14. For I must now be an eternall glory and a joy from generation to generation Isaiah 60.15 19.20 A joy to my Father a joy to my husband a joy to the heavens a joy to the Angels and all that therein is First a joy to my Father as a Bridegroom rejoyceth over his Bride so will I rejoyce over my people as in Isaiah Secondly a joy to my husband Father I will that they may be with me that my joy may be in them This Christ prays and he being answered in all his prayers saith Father I thank thee for that thou alwayes hearest mee And now come away my love my dove winter is past stormes are over singing of birds and the spring is come Cant. Let mee see thee let me see thy face for thou hast been absent but now I have thee I will never leave thee nor forsake thee come along with me my love from Lebon Cant. 48 Come along with me my deare wee 'l to my fathers wine-seller and I will banner thee over with love O my Spouse thou art fair thou art faire Cant. 6.3 O I will kisse thee I will embrace thee and carry thee to my fathers house I will marrie thee there And now ye Angels and all the host of heaven O ye innumerable companie come and sing come and sing Hallelujah Hallelujah for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth lot us be glad and rejoyce and give glory to him for the marriage of the Lambe Revel 19 v. 6 7. is come and his wife hath made her selfe ready she shall be ara yed like a Princesse in pure white linnen which is the rignteousnesse of Saints blessed are all they that come to the Supper of the Lambe Break forth in singing O heavens doe ye begin ye holy Apostles and Prophets doe ye follow next Rev. 18.20 and also Rev. 19.1 and come ye innumer able comprny of heavenly hosts Sing yee sing ye what shall ye sing Glory honour unto the Lord and unto the Lambe And come ye foure and twenty Elders down with your crowns and come worship God and sing Allelujah Allelujah Rev 19.4 Moses where art thou come away come away and sing thy song to Holy holy holy Lord God Almighty O thou King of Saints who would not feare thee O thou Just and true Just and true are thy wayes thou hast avenged the blood of thy Saints who would not feare thee and glorifie thy Name for thou art onely holy and all nations shall worship thee Rev. 15.3 4. O ye that brought the newes at first come ye that brought the newes of this match sing ye your song again glory to God on high peace and good will to men as in Luke 2.13 14. but let the burden of your song be the burden of all your songs Free grace free grace Thirdly whereas God saith ye shall see my face it doth imply God will one day discover himselfe in a familiar way vnto his Saints It was nothing but sinne that made a strangenesse between God and man for before man had sinned there was no strangenesse between God and man but since sinne came there hath been a strangenesse all along but before there was none for when God made man first he was not at all afraid of God for God before sinne came took our father Adam and led him by the hand as it were and put him into the garden of Eden as a father would his son into a vineyard Gen. 2.15 So God led or put Adam into the garden of Eden and bids him eat of all the fruit of the garden onely the tree of good and evill excepted and then Adam goes to naming of the creatures of God Gen. 2.20 O here was no feare at all in Adam yet for he goes and sets names on all the creatures which God had made just like a child naming his fathers works but assoon as Adam had sinned he is filled with fear and timerousnesse and hearing then the voice of God in the gatden he runnes and hides himselfe from God and is afraid of God witnesse his running from God to hide himself from God Just so have all the sons of Adam done all along to this day so that though God would be familiar with them yet they cannot be so with him there is sinne got into the flesh and to that God is a consuming fire of holinesse so that now God must speak in a secondary way by an Angel or by a messenger and that too they are afraid of as the shepherds were of the Angel that bids them feare not saying I am come to bring glad tidings of great joy to all nations for unto you a Saviour is this day born and ye shall call his name Jesus for hee shall save his people from their sinnes Luke 2.9 10. And now God being clothed in flesh man he drawes neer to God which before cryed out in every discovery like Isaiah 6.5 I am undone I have seen the Lord but God being not willing that man should be strange to him or he to man sends his owne Sonne unto us to tell us he is not at all angry with us nor will at once harme us but rather faine would have us to be as at first his familial creatures yea more to be his sons and daughters and to come live againe in his paradice nay more to live in himselfe and with himselfe and this is clear by his comming down to live with us nay in us by his Son And this is the way by which God will again discover himselfe and show his face his pleasant face in a
he hath not nor never will whilst the world stands Satan shall have his tongue loose to tempt some of his Saints and to accuse others for divers good reasons This is one When he cals on thee to commit this or that great sinne thou mayst call on Christ to keep thee from sinne A second reason is this When he accuseth thee for thy sinne Christ would have thee pray and crave his pardon for thy sinne yea beleeve it is pardoned notwithstanding his accusing thee which when thy soule doth by his power and strength in thee it brings much honour to Christ yea very much but I will not stand now to give thee any more reasons why Christ will not tie the Devils tongue But remember these two but the thing I said was Christ hath bound Satan hand and foot and so he hath from doing thee any mischeife fast enough and yet it may be he lyes thus bound in the middle of the floor as I said before and raves and curseth thee and stares at thee in thy house about thy calling and this causes a great deale of trouble in thy soule but when thy husband Christ comes home which will be at noon in his discoveries thy feare will be gone and thou with joy wilt tell thy neighbours I meane thy christian friends Againe Satan is bound from forcing thee if a maid should be tempted day and night to part with her virginity yet if she consent not and the other have no power but by consent what is she the worse or her chastity the lesser no it is rather greater if you will So I say to thee who talkst of Satans temptations what if Satan tempt thee day and night to part with thy virginity or resolution against such and such a sin Well Satan tempts to yeild yea tempts thee day and night doe not yeild by no means if he should goe to force thee Christ will come and helpe thee or at least excuse thee saying thou art yet his chaste and beloved Spouse and will not hide his face from thee for all that But in the fifth and last place whereas God saith They shall see my face It doth imply that great and sweet delight that God takes in his peoples presence God delights in all his workes but especially in his own people O Israel whom I have created God created all things for his praise but Israel especially more then all his whole creation God said of all his works that they were good serving some designe or other but Israel his glory O Jacob my servant and Israel whom I have chosen Isa 44.1 2 3. Feare not O Jacob my servant and Jeshurum whom I have chosen yea thou art chosen before all times and worlds Iacob have I loved saith God before Iacob had a being but he is now brought forth by creation for the glory of his grace that he might shew the greatnesse of his love to them in discovering of himselfe to be their God and Father which he doth in Jesus Christ who is the expresse Image of his Fathers person and so the very face of God as I may so say For in Christ he shewes himselfe to the Saints a Father of love and sweetnesse yea and a God and fountain too of all delights God discovers nothing in his Sonne but love delight and sweetnesse to the sonnes of men So that whereas God saith he will shew his face he meanes he will shew you Christ and in him his love delight and pleasure which when it is once discovered to the soule it so takes the soule that it cryes out O God who is a God like unto thee as Moses once said How great O God is this goodnesse which thou hast laid up for them that serve love and feare thee As David once said O God in thy presence is life and thy loving kindnesse is better then life it selfe Psalme And therefore my lips shall praise thee nothing is better then life but his favour is better and sweeter too ten thousand times Doth the favour and smiles of a Prince so take the flattering Courtier that he blesses himself as it were in the obtaining of it and saith he is now a happy man he hath now the Princes eye and eare he more delights in me then all his noble favourites O happy christian favourite of God and Christ the Prince of princes and nations too as well as King of Saints how wilt thou be delighted in these delights of God set on thee and shewn unto thee in his Sonne It is said of him I will make my first born higher then the princes of the earth this is spoken of Christ but it is as true of the Saints in their creation being the cheife of it well God sets up these higher then the Princes of the earth as they are set up in his favour by his Son for his own glory to make himself a name by them Children saith Solomon are the glory of their parents and so are the Saints too of God namely the glorie of his grace by which he gets himselfe a Name and praise in the earth O Israel praise the Lord that made thee of nothing O house of Jacob praise ye the Lord O all ye servants of his praise him day and night for he hath magnified you by his grace in his Son and set you above men and Angels in respect of union and now where would the riches of this grace appear to the world but for the Saints The world is blind and sees no glory love nor sweetnesse in him but they in Christ see all namely a glory beyond all glories a love surpassing all a sweetnesse like a sea and they in the midst which fils the soules with admiration and makes them like David cry out and say how great is thy goodnesse which thou hast laid up in store for them that feare and serve thee God hath laid up in store Jewels Crowns kingdoms nay more his own favour in Jesus Christ which they shall one day see and seeing say as once the queen of Sheba did to Solomon I have heard of thee but not of halfe thy glory So shall the Saints say we have heard much of thee O God and Father and of thy glory but never the halfe that we now see One said thou art a God of love and sweetnesse and another of all delights and pleasures but we never heard halfe we now see and find thee to be to our soules O had the world known thee they would have ownd thee and counted thy favour better then life it self or heaven either for it is thy presence love and favour makes the heavens heavens indeed to our soules O God we met with springs of it in the valley of tears but they were fountaines to us and filled our souls with delights Psal 84. v. 6. But now our joyes are double and fountaines too like seas which breaks up every moment with new and fresh discoveries and makes our soules admire and
for her husband but what is their grief or loss to thine unhappie sinner thou hast lost a father indeed or at least one that would have beene a Father to thee when time was in Iesus Christ yea a sweet and loving Father for them that have found him have found him so to be yea a Father as farr excelling all relations and Fathers too for sweetness as the universall sweetness does the single Pink. Men may talk of losses by wife and children husbands friends and Parents but all is nothing unto thine O unhappie sinner they have lost pebbles but thou hast lost a Iewell yea a God as farre excelling Iewels Crowns and Kingdomes as they for lustre beautie worth and sweetness love and lovelinesse excell straw and stubble chaffe and vanity Yea and lost it too for nothing which must needs cut the soul and split thy Spirit too when it thinks on it O saith a poore Soul I have lost the heaven of heavens for dust and ashes a few dying creatures saith the worlding and I too saith the wanton for my Dalilah this or that sinne which at the last betrayed me Iudas-like in-into mine enemies hands death hell and Devils where I must lie yea weep and wail and see no God no hope no help nor pity for millions of yeares as that young man the Apothecarie once said to his servant in his despair and horrour And if then too there were but any hopes to see God at last it would be some comfort but this everlasting departure and never seeing more is a hell to hell and a hell in hell to think upon which every carelesse sinner will one day find though he now makes a ship of God and thinks there is no danger of finding him or at least finding him when he needs he is so mercifull that if he crie but Lord Lord in a dying houre God is so near and mercifull that he will be straight found I will not lessen his mercie and say absolutely thou shalt not but friend let me tell thee thousands and ten thousands have found it otherwise witnesse Francis Spira and those despairing Sinners which thou seest daily dying so which would give a thousand worlds might they live a little longer O saith one in his burning feaver would I could live to see God a reconciled God in the face of Iesus Christ I would be contented to lie a thousand yeares in this Feaver and I too saith another in this Gout and I too saith a third with his bowells twisted in his belly which pains are all intollerable yet all would fain live in them to find a God before they die O foolish man O foolish sinner what shall I like thee unto but unto that simple man that built his house upon the sands of peradventure I hope and thinke to finde God when I die for all these Puritans be so stritkt though I take my pleasure and live in my sinnes and doe as my neighbours Mr. Custome and the rest well friend I will take thee at thy word peradventure thou mayst But wilt thou venture thy soule thy deare and pretious soul upon a peradventure O foolish sinner hast thou ever another soule to save if this miscarry dost not thou lose all and for a peradventure which may take and yet it is a thousand to one if it doth But with this parable before mētioned I shal conclude now for thy souls sake hearken to me whoever thou art that readest these lines this little book mind me for it is a truth and shall be so when thou and I am rotten that Christ is the rock yea the rock of ages and whoever builds on him shall stand yea stand and stand firme when the windes blow and whistle and raines fall like hailstones driven by the winde and the stormes beat yet thou shalt stand and stand firme in all these stormes and troubles and afflictions and temptations yea in death and judgement too shalt thou stand where millions yea and millious too shall fall whilst thou stands firme on thy rock Christ thy sure foundation and see the face of God too for thy comfort after all these stormes like the Sunne after an April shower or a haven after many weary leagues by day and night like Paul upon the Seas of Creet Acts 28.38 But how thou must build upon this rock know and let all the world know it is by the mighty power of faith wrought in the heart by the eternall Spirit of the mighty God and not by the workes which we doe or can doe by all created power Here followeth a briefe Exhortation which I gave in my owne house at my wifes Funerall to our friends then present FRiends and Neighbours I am beholding to you all for your love and loving presence at this time I have one request to you yea all of you which I hope no one will be offended at It is to joyn with me to speake a word to God after a word to you and to my owne heart which if I know It is not through pride nor any self-seeking end and could this Corps have beene conveniently longer kept I would have had Mr. Sedgwick whom she loved heard and profited by to have preached her Funerall Sermon But seeing it is as it is and my self am more concernd in this then all the world I take leave from you without any more request to you hoping you will take my meaning to be good where my expressions are short and broken for I had neither time nor a quiet mind but a few houres meditation last night when want of sleep had much besotted me But what improvement shall we now make by this my wife your sister friend and harmlesse neighbour Anne Blakes death And to improve it First see what is your end a grave a coffin wil house you all O call in then your thoughts your wide and wandring thoughts and mind your change with seriousness before it comes which will not be long you may be confident Secondly see what you yea all of you must part with at first or last your friends your nearest dearest sweetest friends your sons and daughters your wives and husbands O this grave and death will have them all which once I little minded but now I must and cannot but mind this death this cruell death which hath so haunted me and will doe you ere it be long but I hope he will not be so quick with none of you a sonne a daughter a loving wife in six weeks space O nimble quick cruell death how hast thou stolen my nearest sweet and dearest comforts Odeath where hadst thou this full and large Commission Was it given thee by chance O no I know it was not thou canst not take by that Commission a bird a sparrow much less a daughter sonne and wife O death this Commission it was from the Lord for he gives and takes Iob the first The Lord gives and the Lord takes and blessed be his name O