doe all things through Christ who strengthens him for we dare not deny him to be set in heavenly places in Christ yea at the right hand of power and therefore sits at the stearn of the world layes hold on the helm and governs the ship to guide it unto its appointed haven A Christian is stil saying let there be light and it is so he shall ever divide the light from the darknes the waters that are above the firmament from the waters that are below the out-spread firmament In a word he is forever to form all things out of that antient Chaos of God and Man being made one which is a formless confusion unto the highest topped-up pinacles of the wisdome of this world but onely as they beat out a tract unto themselves through the Schools of mens policies and traditions But a Christian knows how to adorn that world whereof Christs Kingdome doth consist with all those glorious ornaments of that new heaven and earth wherein righteousness and peace dwels for ever where sin and sorrow fly away and that out of the antient Chaos that abides for ever and it is his glory and perpetuated work in God as also his rest from all the works of darkness and death to give every thing a right and due form and an effectual nature and name or authority according thereunto placing them in their proper relations and giving them their operations in the propagating and promoting of the glory of God And this is a labour which for ever beseems the honour and dignity of a Son of God who will never be disrobed of his creating virtue as to admit a cessation thereof no more than he can lay aside the glory of his power to preserve order and govern his kingdom And this work or labour hath the rest of God intayled and is never out of conjunction therewith which is a day of rest or cessation from all operations of that evill one yea it is a Sabbath or as the word signifies an Host or Army not bounded by evening and morning for it admits not of any period in the one nor in the other for neither beginning nor end thereof can be found out And this rest and labour are of the same duration and continuance else were a Christian utterly undone but God hath made him Lord in or of this Sabbath for ever whilst the carnal Jew even those amongst whom you are are in bondage under their Sabbath for it Lords it over them which they have set up as a God of time as they have their Gods of creatures and bodily exercises and this they fall down and kneel unto as a God of four and twenty hours continuance Wee know the Word of the Lord hath been amongst them and they have rejected it which makes them so carefull to guard themselves against you having felt the fury thereof as a savour of death unto them If you expect a feed of God among them take heed it prove not of the God of this world that seed of the serpent Some of them may seem to commiserate people in prison or in some want or outward necessity which is the top of their Religion to bee of that compassion which Peter seems to express when he said Master pittie thy self let not this come upon thee not judging rightly but fatanically of the Cross of Christ than the which there is nothing else that a Christian gloryes in and desires as it is that Baptism wherewith he is baptized which in desiring he still desires in the accomplishing of it as really as hee that sits upon the white horse goeth forth conquering and to conquer for if the Fountain of every thing in Christ were not inexhaustible heaven should have an end salvation ceased for there is nothing in Christ wherein salvation doth not consist and that for ever And to preach or profess Christ otherwise falsifies the Gospel and makes the faith of the Son of God of no effect We conclude then that labour and rest harmonize and kiss each other in the Kingdom of God consisting so in one that they shall never be parted without demolishing of that work wherein God himself is one not onely as a maker but is made Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption in that mystical body of Christ which workmanship and Masterpeece of Gods Wisdom and Skil is onely abolished in the men of the world and ever was from the beginning for the wicked are estranged from the womb but in the Saints it never was nor shall be impaired for they are a congregation of the firstlings of God which abide for ever Whereas you please to say Wee are vvandring from mountain to hill in our imaginations seeking rest but knovv not the place thereof Indeed it is true we know not that rest which the world ever seeks after in that way of the unclean spirit which goes out of the man of sin seeking it in barren and dry places which are altogether destitute of the dews of heaven that are the waterings of Zion and of that Riveret which refrâ—sheth the City of God But that rest which the Son of God attains and betakes himself unto in his labour of love in the ending of all carnal operations of soul that rest which yet remains for the people of God as to enter into being daily as really renewed as our Apostle protests he dies daily although it be that which we have entred into from the beginning being of an eternall rise as all things proper to the Son of God are who however it be true that he is a man yet that which makes him to be such a man is of God and not of the creature and that in all things yea death it self in Christ is not the death of a meer creature or a momentany death but it is the eternal death of the Son of God for what Christ is or doth once it abides such for ever and otherwise no truth of the Gospel appears This rest therefore we seek as diligently as the woman sought her lost groat and by sweeping that vast house of God of all uncleannes and superfluous things which cannot be done but by carrying them into their proper place in which place of uncleanness we see what the loss of all the things of God as wealth and glory is which wealth and honour of God we find through our own emptiness of all superfluous things of man which continued and eternal act of loss of the Sonne of God in the world is a perpetual renewed joy in the finding of him in our selves which joy and rest wee wait for to come in our selves everlastingly as really as wee have the present possession thereof and see our selves in it also from everlasting with respect to time past for wee judge not no not of our selves according to mans judgement but according to the account and judgement of God And for our imaginations they are such as we can give a like good and certain account of
are the ornaments of your offices unless the Church in your estimation prefer you and where are those treasures of gifts you have if the Church have not distributed them unto you Again ye fools and blind is not the Son of God he that makes holy as well as he that is made holy and are ye bound more strictly to the one then the other when as they are both one individual subsistance Hebr. 1. 2 3. Ephes 2. 14 15. neither is there any place of glory worship or holiness but in that mystical body in Gods account Ephes 2 16. nor is there any gift person place or office in that Temple and dwelling place of the most high that is preferred in dignity one above another save only as Gods oportunity calls for present use and exercise of any of them and that prefers every one or every thing in Christ our true and only Temple to be chief and have preheminency in its proper time and place Eccles 3. 1 11. Again whosoever swears by the altar it is nothing but he that swears by the gift that is thereon he is a debter that is say these false interpreters he that is ingaged to the altar may dispence with his being present thereat and his attendance thereupon even as there is a liberty in the alter it self to be erected not alwayes of the same materials for sometimes it is an altar of earth Exod. 20. 24. and it is also an alter of wood Exod 27. 1. Sometimes it is an altar of stone Exod. 20. 25. and sometimes an altar of brass Exod. 39 39. Yea and sometimes it is a golden alter Exod. 39 38. and yet the truth is the difference of the materials whereof the altar is appointed to consist gives not the least liberty to dispence with the bond or oath so as to be freed of or absent from the altar in any respect For the difference of the matter whereof the altar consists is only to declare unto us that when Christ Gods true and only memorial is erected and proclaimed unto the sons of men in the world when they through a misconceiving spirit and miscarrying womb Hosea 9. 14. do cast that memorial of God into a form carnal and set up a statue destitute of the life of God then are the Saints of God by his authority and appointment to erect the worship of God to consist in things as far differing from their carved form as wood differs from earth and stone from wood brass from stone and pure gold from brass and yet no declining nor departure from the altar in any respect Hence it is that the Spirit of God in its metaphorical expressions by the prophets in the appointments of the worship of God in holy Writ by its elegant allusions to things within the sphere of humane capacity concerning the ceremonies and services of the law which carnal Israel understanding according to humane reason framing and erecting forms unto themselves accordingly The same Spirit of God in the prophets thereupon inveighs against them cries them down and disanuls them as being mans meer inventions and no part of the scope of the Prophet nor any thing of the mind and intent of the Spirit of God Isaia 1. 11 15. Psalme 40. 67. Hebr. 10. 1 9 Again these false interpreters will confess that Christ is the true altar because the Apostle affirms so much Hebr. 13. 10 11 12. but their confession is meerly verbals for they say Christ is the altar only as he is God and the sacrifice as he is man when as the truth is there is no office or act appertaining unto the Son of God that can be ascribed unto a nature which is not of twain made one Ephes 2. 15. for if God at any time or in any thing had reckoned himself one of or absent from the son of man no possibility had been left to have cast up or found out another form for he is the Lord that changeth not Mallac 3. 6. But these men say however men may be ingaged to the altar yet they are not bound alwayes to attend uoon and be present with the Lord Christ who is the true altar for he now only resides in heaven a place remote from the Saints on earth as though Shâ—cinah according to the Chaldee phrase the divine presence or grace were so bound up in one Son of God as not extending it self to another as a first born of God also of whom our Apostle affitms that there is an assembly and Church of them Hebr. 12. 23. or as though humane nature in one of Gods holy ones were nearer to divine grace and fatherly compassion then in any of the rest of that stock whereas the Apostle affirms that through the great and precious promises we are made partakers of the divine nature 2. Pet. 1. 4. plainly shewing that the proper subject of the promise which Christ in us the hope of glory and the divine nature are never seperated which is the subject matter and mysterie of the Gospel Coll. 1. 27. 2 Cor. 1. 20. Wherefore to hold our selves not bonnd to the reality of the presence of the alter is to deny and falsifie the mysterie of the Gospel for the whole form and frame of the worship of God consists therein Therefore it is called in Hebrew Mizbeach and in Greek Thusiasterion that is the Sacrificatory or place of slaying the sacrifice as being that whereby the world is crucified unto us we unto the world Gal. 6. 14 15. therefore when the prophet foretels the calling of the Gentiles under the term of Egyptians he saith In that day the alter of the Lord shall be set up in the midst of Egypt and a piller by the border thereof unto the Lord and it shall be for a signe and witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt Isa 19 20. that is it shall testifie the deliverance of the people from all wayes of Idolatry and their investment into the whole frame of the pure worship of the true God Somet â—es the altar is called Ariel that is the Lion of God Isa 29. 1. as that which devours all adverse power which opposeth any part of the purity of Gods worship as it is erected in Christ who is that true pattern shewed only in the mount Acts 7. 44. Exod. 25. 40. Hebr. 8. 5. therefore the altar is sometimes called Haâ—el that is the mountain of God Ezekiel 43. 15. as that which is lifted up and established above the heights and tops of the principallities and powers of this world the platform whereof cannot be seen by any but only him who is taken up into the mount to converse with God therein But the false interpretours affirm that whosoever swears by the gift on the altar he is a debter or bound and ingaged thereby that is such as are ingaged in the gifts laid on the altar or exercised in the form of worship as the gift of tongues the knowledge of arts the gift
Satan is said to be a murtherer from the beginning and so he is in all who wander in that way of Cain unto this day how comes it to passe then that Satan is said to tempt the Saints when no wicked man is found near nor seems to know thereof for the heart of man is deceitfull above measure who can know it save only the Lord who searcheth the same Ier. 17. 9 10. And every man is said to be tempted when he is drawn aside of his own lust Iam. 1. 14. and Christ was tempted of the Devil where we read of none to be in that place but wild Beasts at that time saving himselfe and Satan Mar. 1. 12. for at Satans departure the Angels are said to minister unto him Mat. 4. 11 if then Satan tempt not but in the wick ed men of the world how could Christ be tempted and no wicked man there Answ For answer therefore unto the question propounded to clear the point to our understandings we first addresse our selves to lay down certain conclusions whereupon to build the answer in the confirmation thereof 1 First that it is the word of God whereby God and man become one for by the word of God alone all things are accomplished and brought to passe He spake and it was done he com manded and it stood fast Psalm 33. 9. it is the word that made aâ—l things and it is the word that conserves all things unto this day Psalm 119. 89. 90. 91. Now the word of God is the will of God and the will of God is the law of God as the word signifies where it is said Thy will be don may as fitly be read thy law be don Mat. 6. 10. and there is no law without a relation therefore the word or will of God which is God himselfe never was considerable nor did acknowledge or own it selfe but in that relation of God and man in Iesus Christ for that which is not all things is not God and he cannot be a Creature as well as a Creator but in Christ he cannot be death as well as life but in Christ he cannot be in time as well as eternall but in Christ he cannot be a saved as well as a Saviour but in Christ he cannot be a son as well as a father but in Christ no he cannot be that mutuall espousall so set forth in their ornaments in that song of songs which is Solomons to bring forth his own proper offspring in the fruits of righteousnesse but in Christ so that the Almighty and illimited one not subject to time stretcheth out it selfe unto all times taking into unity mans nature or manner of being who is truly said to be in time and in that unity the word of God doth consist and out of it the creating vertue and saving power of the word of God never uttered it self nor was the will or law of God or God himselfe ever known or found out ofâ— that consistence of God and man in one undivided act or being he was never God without an act nor was he ever act without being God his operation gives form to Christ and the form of Christ is the word of God by whom and through whom and for whom are all things Rom. 11. 36. The subtle Philosophers of this age who cunningly work in that art of the Magicians or Wise men of Egypt in going about to describe God by the delineation of several names and attributes in a simple divine essence or being without respect unto or any union had with mankind these are pure and absolute Atheists and denyers of God in that they prescribe a sta e of divine being wherein the son of God as Iesus Christ is neither reckonable nor of any use this is as absolute and abominable Atheisme as to conclude that the Creature that is the whole visible Creation did produce it selfe and give it self form and motion without the Almighty power of an infinite and eternal God for to describe or bring to light the Creator in any thing without respect unto the Creature is all one as to describe and bring forth the Creature without respect unto a Creator and how abominable that is let all men judge the one is the doctrine of the Priesthood of the world in their catechizing orthodox evangelized divinity and the other is the doctrine of the Sooth-sayers and Star-gazers in their Astrological and prophetical fictions both of them alike deceiving the world in all ages thereof Isaiah 47 13. 14. 15. Dan. 1. 20. Dan. 2. 27. 28. 2 A second conclusion for the answer of the question propounded is that the word of God never uttered it selfe but as it layes it selfe in a twofold fountain for it could never utter it self in that simple and single bosom of eternity for so there were not any thing to utter it selfe unto and then there can be no publication thereof and therefore must be founded in a creature to spring up from thence therefore the Psalmist affirms that out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast founded strength Psalm 8. 2. that is thou hast not only established and grounded all thy praises there but thou hast fitted and made them most perfect in that way as the greeke word Katertiâ—o signifies which the Apostle useth Mat. 21. 16. A like phrase is used concerning the enemies of Christ they set themselves and take counsell together that is as the words there import they have laid their plot and foundation as persons united to accomplish their designs Psalm 2. 2. so God hath laid the platform and foundation of the manifestation of himselfe in all his wayes and works whatsoever in Christ the weaklings of the world who have no helpe of man at all that they can any way depend upon Psalm 146. 3. 4. Psalm 60. 11. So that the word of God is laid and founded in the Creature as truly as in the Creator to spring up and utter it self from the unity of them both or else how came the Creature to exist if the word of God did not spring up in it and utter it selfe thereby only observe this that as man was the last in the Creation as the end and scope of all who only was made in the image of God even so the proper drift and scope of the word of God in a l the rest of Gods works runs properly unto mankind as being that Masterpeece of all Gods works wherin the word of God only terminates it self and not elsewhere as in any other Creature whatsoever in Heaven or Earth for all the rest of the Creatures are but as the hand in the Dyal or sound of the Clock which proclame and point at time which they themselves are not but may give true or false intelligence according to the skill of him who hath the ordering of them even so all the rest of the Creatures they point at and poclame Christ as another thing than any or all of themselves are and may
and victory Heb. 2. 10. Heb. 3. 1. and is here personated in Zachariah as our high Priest and Reconciler unto God by his office and ministry as he is personated in Abel as the only acceptable gift and off-spring which twain are never out of relation but ever in conjunction as here brought in together for no man can prove his office to minister before the Lord further than he can prove himself the acceptable Sacrifice offered up unto the Lord therefore Christ brings in himself here under the name of Zachariah to note the nature and fulnesse of his office which these false Interpreters reject describing himself by this name as well as by the name Abel it signifying the mind of the Lord or the full mind of the Lord or a man of the Lord to declare that as he is emptied of all humane excellencies proper to the mind of man so he is furn shed with the fulnesse of the mind of God for none knows the father but the Son and he to whom the Son reveals him Mat. 11. 27 who minds only the glory and cause of the Lord and so according to this name he is described to be mindfull of the Lord or the full and compleat mind of the Lord signifying from whom he came as he is the fulnesse of Gods mind and what his errand is namely to be mindfull of Gods cause only Again it signifies a man of the Lord to declare that a Christian is of no humane investment into office nor acts by any humane authority but hath his instalment and authority to exercise from the Lord of all the Earth and thus Christ is declared by this name Zachariah as one who is of the mind and counsell of God in the exercise of the Priests office whom these hypocrites reject to the letting out and spilling the very soul and life thereof by their traditions Mat. 15. 3. 6. Again he is here set forth by an ancestour as being the son of Barachiah in which the mystery of this Scripture is declared and signified unto us for this Zachariah was the son of Jehoida the high Priest of God in the dayes of wicked Ioash though it is said that he did uprightly in the sight of the Lord in the dayes of Jehoida the high Priest 2 Chron. 24. namely that wicked Ioash being that what he did in the time of Iehoida all his Actions as the History declares â—ise from the counsell and operations of the high Priest which are reckoned upon Joash in like sort as the choise of Christ is reckoned upon Iudas together with the rest of the Disciples and as Iudas is said to have part in that ministry which was the proper portion of the rest of the Disciples out of which he is excluded in point of any fruit or benefit thereby but departed therefrom by going to his own place Iohn 6. 70. Acts 1. 17. 25. so that his actions are said to be upright namely the ordering of the Kingdome as it had respect to Iehoiada in his dayes who was the proper Agent in the affais of the Kingdom as well as of the Priesthood in his dayes therefore Zachariah hath not the name of his Father Iehoiada by that name the son of Iehoiada but by the name of Barachiah being related here unto his Ancester by vertue of that Kingly Priesthood which his Father sustained signified closely unto us under the name Barachiah which signifies the blessing of the Lord which is the Priests office to blesse in the name of the Lord Numb 6. 23. 24. 25. 26. Deut. 10. 8. 1 Chron. 23. 13. for ever So that he is related to his Father as the proper off-spring of that Princely office which comprehends the vertue and power both of Kingdom and Priesthood whom these false Interpreters are said to slay for Iehoiada the Priest was the proper Ruler of the Kingdom in his dayes in the time of wicked Ioaâ— and therefore Joash is said to do that which was upright in the days of Iehoiada because Iehoiada was the originall and fountain of the work as was noted above for he submitted unto the high Priest in all things and therefore Iehoiada is buried in the Sepulchre of the Kings which was denyed to Ioash at his death 2 Chron. 24. Jehoiada was privy to his being hid and maintained in the house of the Lord for the space of six years as a perfect escape from the hands of wicked Athalia and cessation from her Idolatry in the time of the high Priest 2 Kings 11. And in the seventh year Iehoida brings a most Princely guard into the house of the Lord for his defence the high Priest lets the Crown upon his head and causeth Athalia to be slain he makes a Covenant between the Lord and Ioash and also between him and the People he gives the King his Wives as being the proper Author of all relations in the Kingdom and is the prime provoker and stirrer up of the Levites and all the people unto the repair of the house of the Lord who otherwise moved not at the voice of the King therefore Zachariah is related unto his Ancester as being the Off-spring Son and Heir to such a noble office by the name of Barachiah blessing and speaking well of the Lord or bowing the knee unto the Lord as being subject to none but he no not to Ioash further than he follows his counsell and advise and therefore when Ioash fals away to Idolatry Zachariah stands up above the People that is as a man of God in the name and authority of God as one above that idolatrous Nation higher than the Princes or People thereof now falne unto Idolatry and feares not to tell them how they have transgressed the Commandements of the Lord and therefore cannot prosper nor passe through their design but as they have forsaken the Lord and departed from the wayes of Iehoiada that is from the knowledge of the Lord as his name signifies so the Lord had forsaken them declaring thereby that as then Iehoiada the high Priest was dead in that time of their Idol worship so wherever there are carnall Ordinances and Institutions set up that men must submit unto there is the Lord Iesus dead the high Priest of our profession in point of all spirituall and holy administrations both in Kingly and Priestly office which includes all other offices whatsoever as they were then dead in Iehoiada in order to Ioash and his Nobles who as his name signifies disagreeing or fiery so he now manifests himself against the godly and propheticall off-spring of the high Priest in Zachariah for he clothing himself with obeisance counsell and honour of his wicked Princes fals to Idolatry in which act of his Iehoiada is dead our high Priest in all spirituall respects Iehoiada is dead also in his son Zachariah in point of all carnall administrations both in Kingdom and Priesthood who is clothed as the Text saith with the Spirit of God and therefore declares
that all true and reall office and administration springs out of Iesus Christ as becoming vain and empty in Abel for being emptied of all humane abilities and constitutions as holding no weight nor being of any account in the Kingdom of God thereby the spirit of the Lord breaks forth as the light at noon day that shined upon Saul as he went to Damascus Acts 22 6. and so upon Zachariah the spirit of the Lord comes upon him and officiates him as a Prophet of God as one who is above all the idolatrous Princes and Priests of Iudah cleaving to Ioash We see then that Ioash being made vain and empty of all the righteousnesse of Kingdom and Priesthood in that holy way of administration upheld and maintained in the dayes and time proper to our spirituall Jehoiada and high Priest of God who is that wisdom and knowledge of the Lord clothing himself as the Text declares 2 Chron. 24. with the praises of men counsell of his wicked Senators and submission of the people becoming thereby officiated in all the corrupt wayes of Idolatry both in Kingdome and Priesthood contrary to the wayes wherein Iehoiada the high Priest walked in his dayes and ever doth where he liveth and therefore in his son Zachariah inveighs against such abominations declaring in order to Abel that all holy and acceptable office and administration ariseth and springeth out of becoming vain and empty of the pursute aprising and love of the glory of this world and that all diabolicall office and idolatrous worship ariseth out of this that men are become Abel vain and empty of all the holy things of God in apostatizing and falling away from God as Ioash did this doctrine taught by Zachariah as it is by all such as are mindfull of the Lord and have the mind of Christ 1 Cor. 2. 16. stirs up apostatizing Ioash together with his wicked Servants against the true Prophet of God For the world cannot indure to hear that Christ is so dead in Abel unto all carnall and temporary Sacrifices exercised by Cain that it sets him in all spirituall holy and acceptable offerings in the bringing forth of the Saviour in all things in Seth or the fulnesse of salvation in that which is set or ariseth in the stead of those carnall offerings Nor can it indure to hear that Christ is so dead in Iehoiada unto all carnall and humane institutions and administrations set up in Joash that it is an investing and installing of him into all spirituall office and administration as in Zachariah his son upon whom the spirit of God comes in such sort that he stands up above the people or as the word stood signifies to minister Ier. 52. 12 compared with 2 King 25. 8. Numb â—6 9. Deut. 10. 8. he ministred by a spirit supereminent in order to all the carnall and idolatrous Princes of Judah and Ierusalem whereupon they find no other means to promote their honour but only to put to death him that is the true Successour of his Father in office only acceptable unto God which springeth only from the power of the Spirit of God coming upon him from no humane education or carnall way of administration whatsoever which vexeth the spirit of the world that it should fall short in all its policy and power to create and institute a godly officer the World therefore in the rage of Cain rejects and slayes the Sacrifice of God which Abel is Rev. 13. 8. and also the Officer and Minister imployd and exercised about the offering which Zachariah the son of Barachiah is therefore the murther of false Interpreters extends from the blood of Abel that is all true Sacrifices and offerings unto the blood of Zachariah the son of Barachiah that is all true Office and Officers or all true Ministry and Ministers for they may not indure that all true Sacrifice and Offering should be the firstling of the Flock or else it is rejected which firstling of the Flock is the Son of God himself and they are ignorant how Christ is all in all in his Saints Ephes 1. 23. and therefore are in a rage against him 1 Cor. 2. 8. or against it that is the true Sacrifice of Christ Neither can they indure that all true Office and Officers should arise from and be created made only by the Spirit of God without which they are of no force verâ—ue nor reckonable in the Kingdome and house of God for then mans common industry in humane Schools publick Votes bodily conquests with Baptisms laying on of hands and common exercise of humane Elderships would be in no estimation nor honour in the sight of God nor any thing whatsoever further than the Spirit of God testifies of it selfe in the use of it No the world cannot indure that all false worship both in point of offering and office matter and manner of performance springing from earthly and vanishing things in the glory or humbling of the Creature in the exaltation or mortification thereof should be that evill one that is the Devill therefore in Abel they slay all true Sacrifice and offering that those which are earthly and carnall within their own Sphear may take place and in Zachariah they slay all true Office and Ministry that so that which is diabolicall may be set up and advanced a work of wicked Scribes and Pharisees false Expounders and Interpreters of the Law of God who in the death of Iehoiada that is in the silencing of the Lord in point of all Kingly and Priestly authority they will only have Ioash to reign in the maintainance of all humane institutions in the way of idolatry advancing the Creature into the place of God in the doing of which they despise and destroy the true succession of the Kingdome and Priesthood of Christ and therein all the proper offerings officers and enterprises of the Spirit which is free in all its administrations not bound to any where it s own image and superscription appears not nor requiring ought from any where it comes not from the same fountain in the suppressing and quenching whereof they set up that spirit and advance it whose office is to accuse and condemn deceive and beguile destroy and torment which ever was is and will be the only exercise and office of Satan Rev. 12. 9. 10. which evidently appears in that wicked Ioash with his retinue who cruelly murther Zachariah the true Successour of that Priesthood royall which only is of God Exod. 19. 6. 1 Pet. 2. 9. set forth in the Kings command and the names of his servants who did it that afterward conspire together to take away the life of the King for so God makes the wicked Executioners and tormenters one of another 2 Chron. 24. 2â— 26. The third point is the place where this Fact is committed and that is between the Altar and the Temple which includes the place both of the murther of Abel and of Zachariah for they are never separated one from
another no more than the Mediator between God and man is separated either from God or from man but includes them both 1 Tim. 2. 5. for whoever he be that cannot indure Abels Sacrifice that man can never indure Zachariah his office and ministry for a Sacrifice of the first born without blemish that is without any thing superfluous or defective and an office springing up only from the Spirit of God which is secret and invisible with respect to mans sight without the helpe or industry of the wisdome of man nay against the very form and way of the operations thereof 1 Cor. 3. 18. 1 Cor. 1. 21. Such Sacrifice and ministry the world could never indure to be in present existence and being but only are constrained to acknowledge that such have been or such may be hereafter which all wicked men will easily yeeld unto so be it they may be tolerated for present to stand upon and practice according to their own humane and carnall principles as it was in the dayes of Cain so it is now and will be the same with all wicked men as also it was with wicked Ioash The slaughter then was in the Court of the house of the Lord as is expressed by the Prophet 2 Chron. 24. 21. And Christ opening the mystery of that Historicall Narration saith it is done between the Temple and the Altar to declare that wicked and idolatrous Kings Priests Princes and Elderships of the world false Expounders Interpreters and Prevaricators of the Law of God will never permit that such an offering or sacrifice shall be laid upon the Altar of God nor such an Officer as is only authorized and furnished with and by the Spirit of God to enter into the Temple or house of the Lord to exercise in point of worship so far as their power and authority can put forth it self to prevaile against them therefore they permit them not to come neither into the Temple nor upon the Altar but slay them betwixt them both for their act of murder in that place is referred as well unto Abel as unto Zachariah And upon that Altar which the world hath erected where no perfect thing must come but al imperfect or else not acceptable to their God which is the wisdome of the world imperfect word imperfect Sacraments imperfect Prayer imperfect Prophecy imperfect Fasts imperfect Thanksgiving imperfect Faith imperfect Hope imperfect Love imperfect Hatred imperfect Ioy imperfect sorrow imperfect Life imperfect death imperfect Priesthood imperfect Kingdome upon this Altar doth Christ never come but in the losse of his life for where he is alive he is perfect in all things Mat. 5. 48. Col. 2. 10. Col. 4. 12. Mat. 21. 16. Iohn 2. 5. 1 Iohn 4. 12. Heb. 10. 14. So also into that Temple made with hands or mans ability and not of Gods building 2 Cor. 5. 1. Heb. 8. 2. Heb. 9. 1. which the world in the wisdome of man composeth no Minister must be admitted therein whom the ordination of God only designs unto office unlesse the ordination of man be joyned thereunto nor any whom the Spirit of God only furnisheth for the exercise of his office unlesse humane learning and education be joyned therewithall nor is the operation of his ministry counted honourable or of any esteem in hardning mens hearts that they cannot convert and in blinding their eyes that they cannot see as well as in opening mens hearts and eyes to come unto the Lord Isaiah 6. 9. 10. For if a ministry according to Gods wisdome should be admitted by the world then would the wisdome of the world be in subordination to the wisdome of God and the calling of a Christian would prove more immediate from God than any other office or calling in the world and then would a Christian prove the only and supream person or state in the world which is an honour which the spirit of the world could never allow unto the King of Saints which may seem strange that they should conclude that a Christian shall have chiefty of and supremacy over all wicked men hereafter and yet cannot yeeld it unto them for the present but rather must Lord it over them according to the doctrine of the Scribes Luke 23. 2. Mat. 22. 16. 17. 18. whereas the Scripture speaks so expresly that a thousand years in Gods sight are as yesterday when it is past Psalm 90. 4. Nay the holy Ghost concludes that our time here is as nothing Psalm 39. 5. and if so then how shall we reckon a man in another condition than he shall be hereafter in Gods account according to whose reckoning and Records we ought to judge To conclude this point an Officer of Gods ordination and appointment clothed with the Spirit of God cannot be admitted into that carnall Temple where Ioash bears sway and hath rule and command but in the losse of his life for where Christ is in office he is exalted above all the ordinations of men therefore is Zachariah slain between the Temple and the Altar not being permitted to enter with life into the same the world therefore in the letter of the Scriptures only retains a dead carkasse of the Prophets being void of the life and spirit in all the vertues thereof kept in that condition only through false and counterfeit interpretation The fourth point is the Application of the Fact unto the parties present in these words whom ye slew as Matthew hath it particularly applying the fact unto them of that present age Luke saith who perished or which was slain as giving being unto the fact in times past or who perished or perisheth for of such scope and comprehension the words are noting a continued act which comprehends time past present and to come for it is but one only Sacrifice which they thus strangle Heb. 9. 26. Heb. 10. 10. and slay contrary to Gods ordinance and appointment Act. 15. 20 29 not taking the blood or the life away according to the law Lev. 17. 12. Deut. 1â— 23. so that it is but one bloodshed and it is but one Officer which is excluded their Temple who hath all offices upon him whom they thus slay denying all rule and authority that is of the nature of that installing contemning all exercise of the party so installed in all times and ages of the world Psalm 2. 1. 2. 3. Acts 4. 25 -29 Again it is but one spirit and life of the word of God which they spightfully spill and let out in an earthly manner as Cain did the blood of Abel Psalm 79. 1. 2. 3. and it is but one spirit of enmity and falsifying of the word of God which is extant in all the seed and off-spring of the Serpent Gen. 3. 15. and therefore the fact in the full comprehension and operation thereof is really applicable to parties of that race and spirit of the Serpent in all times and ages of the world as really as the whole salvation of God and not a part or
by Iebusie who when David was made King in Hebron he and all Israel went unto Iebusie which is Ierusalem which resisted David saying Thou shale not come in hither 1 Chron. 11. 4. 2 Sam. 5. 6. So also Ierusalem is called Iebusie when the land is divided unto the sons of Israel Ioshuah 15. 8. and by that name falls in the inheritance of Benjamin in whose lot the Temple was built Ioshua 18. 28. which is a Temple destroyed into which Christ never carne and a Temple reedified wherein Christ stands and preacheth Luke 4. 16 -22 of which Moses the man of God prophecies when he saith The Lord shall cover him all the day speaking of Benjamin and between his shoulders that is in the midst of the Coasts of his Land the Lord shall abide and dwell in his Temple Deut. 33. 12. So also when that Levite who sojourned on the side of Mount Ephraim fetched home his Concubine it is said they came over against Iebus which is Ierusalem which is then said to be a City of Strangers and not of the children of Israel Iedg 19. 10. 11. 12. We conclude therefore that Ierusalem is to be understood in a diverse respect according to the mind of the Scripture and that according to a reall state and condition in both for it is to be taken in that order and constitution of blessedness and peace according to that order and place of aboad of our Melchizedeck who hath his Kingdom and Priesthood there Gen 14. 18. for Salem is Ierusalem and so the Chaldees paraphrase reads that place of the Psalmist Psalm 76. 2. Jerusalem is also to be taken as it is constituted ordered or inhabited after the manner and according to the state of the curse as it is built and inhabited by the Iebusites who are of Iebus who is of Canaan who is of Cham the cursed Gen. 10. 15. 16. Gen. â— 25. Ierusalem then in this place together with her children according to Christs true intent is to be taken in the accursed state of the Iebusites Enemies to Israel as it is constituted ordered and inhabited by her proper off-spring of false and counterfeit interpreters even as the sons of men do erect constitute order and possesse the Cities and affairs of this world namely for their glory benefit safety and peace by advancing all honourable thing according to mans account in the disparadgement debasing and abandoning all things of shame discommodity and danger so far as mans wisdome in their constitution can find out with the exercising and executing their laws and edicts accordingly Even so this City and Temple of these accursed Iebusites it erects and possesseth it it self by the advancing and promoting of all things acceptable in the eyes of mans wisdom with contempt and despising of all things which might impair or any way abate the glory and lustre thereof which cannot be maintained but by debasing and despising the Spirit of God whose propertie is to blast and to wither as grasse and as the flower of the field all things set up and consisting in whatsoever that perisheth in the use thereof as all humane institutions do if ever the spirit of the Lord breath upon them they wither and come to nought where such things then are the things chiefly maintained we may safely say that the Spirit of the Lord never breathed there Isaiah 40. 6. which are the only things that false Interpreters promote and erect amongst men in the world It is not without cause therefore that Christ ingeminates upon this word Jerusalem Oh Jerusalem Jerusalem most emphatically declaring thereby that false Interpretation is cruell and accursed both in the Mother and in the Children in the Root and in all the Branches these are accursed in their Fathers who murthered the spirit of the Prophets and their Fathers are accursed in them that do the same things that spirit which is the originall and ground of their interpretation is accursed and cruell and all the fruits that flow therefrom are cruelty and accursed Oh Ierusalem yee carnally constituted and moment any Churches Oh Jerusalem yee carnally instructed Members made great of flesh Ezek. 16. 26. Ezek. 23. 19. 20. Oh Jerusalem the Mother of false Interpreters as she is in bondage with her children by the works of the Law and in all things ingendreth thereunto Now the erecting of the curse in this City is the same with the setting of it up in Canaan the son of Cham and father of Jebus Noah having planted a Vineyard after the Flood which had swept away all Cains posterity from the face of the Earth as such as have not a being in order to the new Heavens and the new Earth wherein dwels righteousnesse 2 Pet. 3. 13. yet is the curse conserved in the Ark in that spirit of the unclean Raven as well as the blessing is in that spirit of the Dove for the work of God as well as the word of God hath its operation in way of death as well as in the way of life 2 Cor. 2. 15. 16. for death springs up and revives through the resurrection of Christ in the wicked as really as life springs up and revives through his death in the godly and yet there is no savour of life in the wicked nor any savour of death in the just and this conservation of Cham in the Ark who is of Noah and so of Enoch in the destruction of all Cains posterity in the Flood is to declare that neither the blessing nor the curse is tyed or entailed to any naturall and carnall generation according to mans judgement but God hath mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he hardneth Rom. 9. 10-18 But it is said that Noah drinks of the fruit of the Vine unto drunkennesse Gen. 9. 20. 21. we know that the spirit of God alludes there unto naturall drunkennesse in the stupifying of the senses through excesse of strong drink and deny not but that holy man might take liberally of the very fruit of a naturall Vine to the obstruction of the use of naturall reason as it is in the time of sleep but we affirm that God teacheth a higher thing hereby which is Gods proper intent as the Apostle affirms concerning the care of God in not mussing the mouth of the Oxe that treadeth out the Corn 1 Cor. 9. 9. 10. God therein takes care for men and not for beasts according to the true scope and intent So God in Noah teacheth what the death of Christ is personated in Noah and not what taking away of mans naturall sense is by strong drink which is common to a beast as well as man so that as out of a deep sleep in Adam a woman is brought forth that is not only the way of mans propagation and preservation on the Earth but also one who through deceit brings in the fall and death so out of this drunkennesse and sleep of Noah there is not only the blessing of Shem and
3. 7. though the Letter or ministry of condemnation be done away in the Saints yet it abides in the wicked for unto this day when Moses is Read the Veil of separation is upon their heart 2 Cor. 3. 15. only in such as turn in unto the Lord in the holy place with Moses in them the Veil is taken away Exod. 34 34. We conclude then that the true Character of the word of God is the whole work of God in the visible Creation in their severalâ— natures relations motions and operations wherein stands firm and stable the reall Character of the word of God which becomes unto man the true end and scope thereof either a Minister of condemnation or a Minister of salvation as the spirit of Cain or Abel makes use thereof in bringing unto God a heavenly and earthly Sacrifice Gen. 4. 4. 5. Let these men therefore prove all things in Heaven and in Earth to be worn out of date of no use nor benefit one unto another otherwise the letter of the Scripture shall stand firm unto this day and the vertue and power of the spirit of the Scriptures which is the proper spirit of God in Christ Iesus in that way of his salvation shall only be out of date and not in present use and exercise in these men who deny the use of the letter of the Scriptures There is another generation of interpreters who are of the same spirit of these Antiscripturians though they cry out against such grosse opinions for Satans Kingdome is divided in it self and therefore cannot stand but is in a continued act of apostatizing and falling away from God and these are such as hold and teach that some part of the word of God is out of date and not in p esent use as the Leviticall and Iudiciall laws as they call them likewise that some part of the word of God is not yet ripened and so not come into present being and use as the perfecting of the sound of the seventh Trumpet and the fulfilling of divers Prophecâ—es which foretell of peaceable and glorious times and states which say they were never yet accomplished as the new Ierusalem coming down from God with her glorious foundations wals gates form and furniture which these men never yet saw to appear Rev. 21. These Interpreters are reall Antiscripturians for he that denyes any part of the word of God to be in present use as a thing too old or yet not grown into present use and vertue that man denies the fulnesse and perfection of the word of God and he that denies the fulnesse of the word of God he also denies the fulnesse of Christ and it is all one to say something in the Son of God is out of date and too old to be in present use and also that something in Christ is not yet come into ripenesse and present use concerning that salvation that is by him alone these men look upon the word of God with the same eye that the carnall Iews beheld Christ who sought to kill him because he said he was the Son of God Mat. 26. 63 -66 no doubt but these men would say in like manner if they heard the word of God rightly and faithfully opened this man blasphemes because he saith this is the word of God Ioh. 10. 36. for if the sum of the whole word and law of God be not so brought in in every Scripture as to give Christ a perfect and present form and being therein it is not truly and faithfully interpreted whether it be in Moses or any of the Prophets it speaks the things that concern Christ himself Luke 24. 27. who is the perfect Son of God that Immanuel in what respect or relation so ever he appears Mat. 1. 23. for there is a fulnesse in every law as well as the law of love and he that breaks one command all are included in that breach Iames 2. 10. We see here that the Son of God charges Ierusalem to be the ground and mother of false Interpreters as one that by law falsely expounding Moses kils the Prophets he finds their legislative Assembly to be the Author thereof and therefore bends his speech for the repeal and abrogation thereof which he attains in all them who are of Ierusalem that is above and in none else of what rank soever in the eyes of the world which abolishing of the Law is this namely that all humane and temporary institutions and commands lose their force and authority in the Kingdom of God for all humane laws in their proper intent is to set one man in authority over another which are all countermanded in every true Beleever by that law of the spirit of life which is in Christ Iesus for whether it be right in the fight of God to obey men rather than God judge ye Act. 4. 19. yet doth not this hinder a Christians obedience to humane authority only makes it voluntary according to that free and royall law under which he is Iames 2. 8. 1 Pet. 2. 9. otherwise if he were in bondage to one he were in bondage to all of the same kind and then must obey the order established wherever he comes yea if it were to fall down to Nebuchadnezzars Idol Dan. 3. 1 -18 and every law that concerns mankind must be either humane or divine and all temporary institutions are humane because they spring from humane reason and are under that bond for performance for humane reason can require no more but what it can devise and invent but divine laws or that law of Faith hath the spirit of Christ in it which is the proper moulder and constituter thereof which spirit s eternall and the only bond for the performance thereof which no other law whatsoever can supercede countermand or intrench upon the authority thereof Observe that in the ground of all Law there are two Tables considerable that is not only the Letter and the Spirit but also Kingdome and Priesthood and thence it is said The Lord said to my Lord sit on my right hand Psalm 110. 1. for there is a Lordship on the right hand in both and they are never separated in Christ but ever subsist and exist in the power and royalty of faith 1 Pet. 2. 9. Exod. 19. 6. even as they were both found in that one Melchizedek King of Salem Priest of the most high God Gen. 14. 18. Heb. 7. 1. And whatsoever is in a capacity to be presented as an acceptable thing to one of these is fit for the other therefore when the Priests offered the lame the blind the sick and imperfect Sacrifices the Prophet bids them go to the Ruler or Governour and see whether he will be well pleased with it or accept the person of such as so offer Mal. 1. 8. implying that what is brought unto the Priest and what is brought unto the King ought to be of like value perfection and consideration so that these Tables of Kingly and Priestly
Christ utter himself against that spirit of the High Priest and orders of carnal Iew and Ierusalem saying Saul Saul why persecutest thou me For the hearing ear and the seeing eye are both alike of the Lord Prov. 20. 12. Paul also felt Christ for the force of the revelation struck him to the ground so as he was astonished at the sight of all the Iewish glory to become earthly and corruptible Paul also tasted how good Christ was therefore he reasoned not or communicated not with flesh and blood for his sustentation and support thinking to have it from other Apostles or any man therefore he went immediatly from Christ to preach having tasted how good he was being that the Son of God was revealed in him Galat. 1. 16. and not out of him as the world imagines And this Tast is to see therefore the Psalmist saith Tast and see how gracious the Lord is Psal 34. 8. Paul also smelt the savour of the good Ointments of Christ or else he had not born his name before Gentiles and before Kings and the children of Israel Act 9. 15. For his name is an ointment poured out therefore the Virgins love him Cant. 1. 〈◊〉 The want of seeing Christ in such respects as these is the cause of desolation in the house or nestling place of all false Interpreters â—uâ— of which they will not be gathered by the voice and tender compassions of Iesus Christ though he visit them with such solliciâ—ations as a hen doth her chickens to gather them under her wing yet they will not come into any such unity and safety Again whereas he saith Ye shall not see me henceforth the word henceforth in this place comprehends the time past as well as the time to come So it is taken by the Prophet Isaiah where he prophesies of the Kingdom of Christ with an allusion unto or under the name of David by which name the Son of God iâ— called Hos 3. 5. Jer. 30. 9. Ezek. 34. 23 24. saying that his government shall have no end but that he shall sit upon the throne and establish it with Iudgement and Iustice from henceforth for ever where he explains the word henceforth to be for ever Is 9. 7. which must comprehend the time past as well as that to come or else it is not ever or for everlasting for there can be no time brought in in which he reigns not who overcomes and triumphs both in life and death Heb 2. 14 15. Rev. 12. 6-10 therefore the word is often doubled for ever and ever Psal 9. 5. Isaiah 3. 8. noting thereby the time past as well as time to come And thus the Prophet Micha understands this phrase where he saith that God will make her that halteth a Remnant and her that was cast far off a mighty Nation and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth even for ever where he expounds henceforth to be for ever which comprehends all time past and to come for the wisdom of God was set up and advanced from the beginning no time can be found when that hath not the rule and supremacie Mich. 4. 7. Prov. 8. 22-30 Therefore there is no end of the Kingdom of Christ if we look back we cannot set our thoughts before it and if we look forward we cannot span it out for of his Kingdom and Government there is no end Isa 9. 7. it is for ever and ever As it is said concerning eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil In the day thou eatest thereof dying thou shalt dye as the words are that is if thou look back thou shall appear dead in thine Ancestors and if thou look forward thou art dead in thy Ofspring So in this place ye shall not see me henceforth That is this spirit of false interpretation never saw me to communicate with me in the acknowledging of me as the Son of God in any of the Fathers in timer paâ—t who have truly propagated me on the earth and brought me forth Neither doth it now acknowledge me nor approve of me in this my appearance and converse with you nor shall it hereafter and for ever at any time or in any age acknowledge or communicate with me in any of my true offspring when or in whomsoever I appear concerning any of those offices and excellencies peculiar to the blessed Son of God And hence it is that he addes untill ye say the word untill is here of like signification as when it is used concerning Mical Sauls daughter when she mockd David for Dauncing before the Ark when it was brought out of all private and obscure places subject to transmutation and change to be placed in Zion not to remove thence any more when hee put upon himself the Linnen Ephod exercising the Priests office at the sight whereof Michal despiseth David in her heart and for that canse had no childe after untill the day of her death 2 Sam. 6. 11 -23 That is shee never had child after that act Nay she never conceived nor brought forth fruit according to that act and office of David in his rejoycing and glorying onely in the Ark and strength of the Lord but only in that way of the house of her father Saul who trusted in man and sought onely to be honoured among the people 1 Sam. 15. 30. and so shee had never Childe as of the seed of David whom the Lord chose before the house of her Father And so it is said of the Virgin Mary that Ioseph knew her not till shee had brought forth her first born Mat. 1. 26. That is Ioseph never knew her for the conception and bringing forth of that First Borne of God So Christ saith unto his disciples I will be with you till the end of the world Mat. 28. 20. That is look how I have ever heretofore been with that spirit which teacheth the observation of the fulnesse and perfection of my Word in all things so am I with that spirit in whomsoever it appeares for ever And so is this word till to be taken in this place for all tyme you shall not see me henceforth till you say blessed is hee that cometh in the Name of the Lord that is ye shall never see mee or communicate with me to the investing of you into the office of the true Priesthood which is to blesse in the Name of the Lord Deut. 21. 5. 1 Chron. 23. 13. Numb 6. 22 -27. And to blesse out of the House and Habitation of the Lord in opposition to this house of desolation Psalm 118. 25 26. False interpretation of the word of God therefore upon the affirmation and verity of the Son of God never did nor shall invest into the Office and Priesthood of Iesus Christ It never attained unto the skill to Sacrifice and flay the Beast upon the Altar to Crucifie the World unto it self and it self unto the World accounting that the onely Ioy and Glory to be
to any of their principles our faith depends not upon any of their principles our love embraceth not upon any of their principles our hope expects not upon any of their principles nor doth our power and sufficiencie stand upon any of their principles And therefore as brute beasts are unto them so are they to us in the things of God and we are unto them as men bereaved of their wits for they cannot but discern a certain power of argument in us beyond all brutish cogitations whatsoever yea such as transcends and over-tops what is in themselves for the Wisdom of God though a meek and descended Wisdom yea foolishness in the worlds estimation yet it over-powers and over-tops the highest Cedars standing in the worlds Lebanon and is bottomed and founded upon grounds and undeniable reason and true argument in Gods Wisdom yea argumentation for conviction and confirmation infinitely surpassing and transcending all Logical and artificial argument coming within the compass of human device and learning therefore we conclude that the Wisdom of God though become foolishness unto the world yet doth it contain sufficiencie of power in argument to over-top any Council Synod Synedrion or Assembly composed by humane art and learning And that makes them so fearfull and of such care to guard themselves from the apparition therof For as it is in that way of the devil to propose his temptations from the Letter of the Scriptures thinking to win or subdue Christ thereby So is there sufficiencie of spirit and wisdom in the true interpretation thereof to confound and bring them in the party proposing them to nought And whereas you say There is a thing underneath which cannot be satisfied vvith the divings into the mystery of the Scriptures of truth which phrase as it seems to import cannot be a â—ruth for the mystery of the Gospel is described to be Christ in you the hope of Glory Now this Christ the Son of the Eternal comprehends all things really and eternally good so that there is nothing so low but it is raised up in him nor any thing so high but it is descended in him and so becomes a plain path wheron our God passeth in the wilderness so that dive into him as to lay open this Mystery of the Word of Truth and there is nothing so low underneath nor any thing so high and above that can possibly faile or come short of satisfaction which appertains unto the Saints and Sonnes of God now that hee ascended what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth he that descended is also the same that ascended up far above all heavens that he might fill all things therefore discover the mysterie of the Word and it fills all things to satisfaction for no man hath ascended up to heaven but hee that came down from heaven even the Son of Man which is in heaven So that as you cannot goe above him who is height it self nor below that which is depth it selfe so you cannot hide any thing above or beneath but the mysterie of the Word is the light which finds it out and brings satisfaction therewith for the life the light are one ever in conjunction with Christ from whom nothing is hid Therefore we honour that phrase in the true intent thereof that when you are clouded you vvait and vvhen moved you journey for we know the cloud to be the glory of Israel in the Wilderness that wayless place in point of any of the Nations who cannot take a step therein but onely to the fall of their carkasses yea even of carnal Israel For this cloud is a cloud of witness presenting unto us a record and testimony of the acts and deeds of all the Saints of God Therefore as a pillar remains and abides with us day and night and is a cover in the day not to darken that light and leading of the Angel of his face but to over-shadow us as we are the Virgin of Israel than none of those scorching beams or rayes of that Sun-shine or light of the Nations takes place upon us nor contributes no more to our being than Ioseph that just man according to the law or letter did unto the conception of Mary And in its stay and abode upon our Tabernacle we so wait on God as in exercise in uncovering the Ark of his presence ordering the instruments and glories thereof according to appointment and with Moses turn in unto the Lord without either vale or covering which abides on the heart of carnal Israel when Moses is read unto this day when we with open face behold the glory of the Lord as in a mirrour and are changed into the same image from all that glory of the Ministry of condemnation consisting in the letter unto that exceeding glory of the Spirit wherein we stand with Moses conversing with God face to face as a man talks with his friend And this state and manner of waiting upon God he hath perpetuated in our host wherein according to the prayer of Moses the Lord returns unto the many thousands of Israel for we have the record of them all in this cloud and their order and exercise about the Ark. The Lord hath not left us without the testimony of the motion of the cloud also which he hath in like sort perpetuated unto us and that in the dissipation and scattering of the Nations who are Enemies unto God And we daily find that praier of Moses in use and fulfilling it selfe in us and about us viz. Arise O Lord and let thine enemies be scattered let them also that hate thee fly before thee For we daily have to doe with that people of that spirit amongst whom you now are yea and from the floud unto the worlds end by a spirit of Praier and Prophecie which all the world can never bound nor Herods Stone Seal nor Watch keep in the grave But as it goes before the Disciples into Galilee so it rebukes the Nations and brings the mad people to nought else had you not seen those lye dead before you on the shore in your approach so evidently as now you doe in point of any life or light of Iesus Christ And in this dismal and darksom night which is now upon the world this Cloud is a most firm and stately pillar of fire to give light unto us and according to its motion either by night or by day we advance unto the vanquishing and vexation of the world For the spirit of a Christian knows how to grasp and gripe in the Nations so as to cut off the spirit of Princes and to be a terrour to the Kings of the earth so as Herod and all Israel after the flesh in all their Iewish institutions shall be in trouble A Christian becomes a fool in point of Serpents wisdom in Herods Wisemen and Pharoahs Magicians is a comprehensive thing no less than the proper continent of an omnipotent power who is able to