Selected quad for the lemma: nation_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A39064
|
An Expedient for peace amongst Christians. The second part grounded on the impossibility of their agreement in matters of religion : and further enlarged in a discourse of church and state : wherein a new ecclesiastical administration is exhibited.
|
|
1689
(1689)
|
Wing E3872A_VARIANT; ESTC R31481
|
31,841
|
51
|
Christendom an Occasion of Plots a Fomenter of Sedition Faction and Rebellion and of most of the 〈…〉 â—mongst us which being taken away innumâ—â—able Advantages of Peace would ensue But of those in the Conclusion What for the present I shall further add is with their leave the Templers Motto with some Variation leaving out the Sword as a strange Instrument and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let the Truth Live. And the Law give 〈…〉 〈…〉 As also what the Prophet speaks Isa 56. and 16. The time being now come saith the Lord That he who blesseth himself 〈…〉 himself in the God of Truth 〈…〉 by the God of 〈…〉 are forgotten and because they are hid from mine Eâ—es Which brings me to the third Thing 〈…〉 discourse of in order to 〈…〉 Government 〈…〉 be 〈…〉 be 〈…〉 although 〈…〉 ensue thereby 〈…〉 saith he by his Prophet Haggai It is a little while and I will shake the Heavens and the Earth and the Sea and the dry Land and I will shake all Nations and the Desire of all Nations shall come and I will fill this House meaning the Temple with Glory saith the Lord of Hosts The Silver is mine and the Gold is mine saith the Lord of Hosts The Glory of this latter House shall be greater than of the former saith the Lord of Hosts And in this Place will I give Peace saith the Lord of Hosts Here let me make my Paraphrase By shaking the Heavens and the Earth c. is not meant a literal Sence as some would have nor are the Material Heavens to be so shaken but hereby is meant all the Kingdoms Constitutions and Governments of the World and that the Prophet means so is plain by verse 21 and 22. where he saith Speak to Zerubbabel Governour of Judah saying I will shake the Heavens and the Earth and I will overthrow the Throne of the Kingdoms and destroy the Strength of the Kingdoms of the Heathen and I will overthrow the Chariots c. And what is meant by the Desire of all Nations 'T is Halcyon days a peaceable Time the flourishing of the Gospel the calling of the Jews and what our Saviour Prayed for Thy Kingdome come thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven The Silver is mine and the Gold is mine that is I can Adorn and make this Temple as Rich and as Beautiful as I please I want nothing which may Embellish it for the Silver and the Gold is mine and so are the Cattle of a thousand Hills as he told David but 't is not my Desire that should be Adorned with Silver or Gold and yet the Glory of it shall be greater than the former for in this Place will I give Peace Here by this Temple cannot be meant a Material Temple either formerly built or to be built neither of the two Former because it must Exceed them in Glory and the Glory must not consist in a glittering shew of Silver or Gold but of Peace Where let me note that God doth plainly intimate little Peace has hitherto been in the World and therefore as a special Blessing doth promise that Peace shall be the peculiar Ornament of this Latter Temple and that we may depend upon his Word and Promise four Times saith the Lord of Hoâ—ts is mentioned in these four Verses sufficient Asseverations to Engage the Faith of a mortal Man. But I cannot leave off my Comment here but for the Sake and Consolation of the scattered Tribes shall bring the Prophet's Words again to the File Yet once c. by which the Living God plainly intimates That he had often shaken the Heavens and the Earth before that is the Governments and Kingdoms of the World for the Material Heavens and Earth were so far from being shaken often that since the Creation they were never shaken once for that of the Deluge was not a shaking the Earth or the Heavens but only a Permission of one Element some time to be Predominant and to return again to its Duty But not to Expound it by Parts The Eternal God the Lord of Hosts doth seem plainly to say thus Ye Sons of Jacob mine Heritage my Chosen Weep not but be Comforted though your latter House falls short of the Glory of the former though you cannot Adorn it with so much Silver and Gold weep not I have Silver and Gold enough I accept your Will and good Endeavours and know ye That Heaven is my Throne and Earth is my Footstool What Temple can you make for me I value not Houses or Temples for the Substance of these things have mine Hand made but him I value who is Poor and of a Contrite Spirit and Trembleth at my Word but cease your Lamentations and Weeping though the Glory of the former Temple does far Exceed the Glory of this your latter Temple yet once it is a little while and I will shake the Heavens and the Earth and will build you a Temple not a Material One whose Glory shall far Exceed the Glory of the former and in this Place will I give Peace saith the Lord of Hosts The Lord of Hosts is now about to build this Glorious Temple of Peace he is Faithful who hath Promised he is beginning to shake the Nations and to perform his Covenant to his People Yet a little while and the Gentiles shall bring his Heritage and his Chosen for an Offering to the Lord out of all Nations upon Horses and in Chariots and in Litters and upon Mules and upon swift Beasts to his Holy Mountain at Jerusalem as he has spoken by the Mouth of his Prophet Rejoyce ye therefore with Jerusalem and be glad with her all ye that Love her Rejoyce for Joy with her all ye that Mourn for her But here I must note that this Promise is made to all Nations but particularly to the Jews and to the Christians when to the Jews it is called a Temple when to Christians a Church The first long since have had their Temple their High-Priest and Hierarchie abolished The latter have theirs still in being which Symbolizes much with the Former and must Symbolize with their Fate for they must now be pulled down Of CHURCH and STATE HERE is a very great Error and we form to out selves very hurtful and foolish Notions of things we suppose the Church and State to be Two Things and in all our Discourses name them at Twice whereas they really are but One for the Church is in the State or rather is the State for when the Nations of the World at first became Christian and receiv'd the Faith of Jesus they became better Nations and the Inhabitants better People having receiv'd better Maxims and Principles but still the same People and they stood in Statu quo as to all Power or Administration of their Affairs The Religion which came amongst them made no alteration of Things but for the better gently infusing it self with as little noise as Rain on a Fleece of Wool its Ministry was of
differing Opinions and differing Interests the multitude of Ceremonies and Traditions the various Forms of Worship and Scenes of Government and how fond every Nation and Party nay every individual Man is of his own Way It will seem a very difficult Thing to Extricate and free it from so great a Bondage but the greater the Work the more worthy the Author and more Glory to God. Pharoah kept the Israelites long in Bondage and was loth to let them go reaping great Advantages by them as some do by the Gospel But when the God of Heaven called for and demanded them he was forced to restore him his Heritage and his Chosen Christ is now calling for his Gospel and his Saints and God for his Jews his antient People and Inheritance and They will shake the Heavens and Earth but they will have them For by Fire and by Sword will they plead with all Flesh and the Slain of the Lord shall be many The God of Pleaven has already begun to shake the Nations and is about to fulfil all his Promises made to the Jews and Gentiles by the Mouth of all his Prophets Behold saith he Isa 66 and the 12. I will extend Peace to her like a River and the Glory of the Gentiles like a flowing Stream Now what can be liker to a flowing Stream than these Angeli Evangelizantes These Gospel Angels which by a constant Flux and Reflux from the Heart of each Nation will fill the Earth full of the Knowledge of the Lord as the Waters cover the Sea No dry or barren Corners shall escape watering from these Fountains and no dark Recesses the Rays of their Light. But Poor Homuncio I fall under the Weight being not able to describe the Advantages of this Oeconomie I must again call the Prophet to my Assistance in that Pathetick Description of this Temple of Peace this new Jerusalem cap. 65. ver 17. For behold I create a New Heavens and a New Earth and the former shall not be remembred or come into mind But be you glad and rejoyce for ever in that which I Create For behold I create Jerusalem a Rejoycing and her People a Joy And I will rejoyce in Jerusalem and Joy in my People and the Voice of Weeping shall be no more heard in her nor the Voice of crying There shall be no more thence an Infant of Days nor an old Man that hath not filled his Days For the Child shall die an hundred Years old but the Sinner being an hundred Years old shall be Accursed And they shall build Houses and inhabit them and they shall plant Vineyards and eat the Fruit of them They shall not Build and another Inhabit they shall not Plant and another Eat For as the days of a Tree are the days of my People and mine Elect shall long enjoy the Work of their Hands They shall not labour in Vain nor bring forth for Trouble For they are the Seed of the Blessed of the Lord and their Off-spring with them And it shall come to pass that before they call I will answer and whilst they are yet speaking I will hear The Wolf and the Lamb shall feed together and the Lion shall eat Straw like the Bullock and Dust shall be the Serpent 's Meat They shall not hurt or destroy in all my Holy Mountain saith the Lord. It shall come to pass so and so say the Prophets but as yet such things have not come to pass But this Administration of the Religion of the holy Jesus not my own but founded on Holy Writ will bring such things to pass it will by its sweet and gentle Influences soften and mollifie the Ruggedness of the World appease the Heavens and transform the Earth and render it a Paradise it will set Justice Truth and Peace on an unmoveable Foundation and turn the World in a manner into a Theocracy For 't is more than probable that by degrees it will vacate and supersede all humane Sanctions and make them of little Effect by its prevailing Energy and pacifick Nature making Love and Charity and Christian Condescension the Principal Rulers of the Vniverse Then will the God of Love or Truth and Peace visit us and make his abode with us and rain down his Blessing and Graces upon us as at the Beginning and we shall become a Royal Priecthood a Peculiar People zealous not of destroying one another as at this Day but zealous of good Works Ephraim shall no more vex Judah nor Judah Ephraim Every Prince and Nation shall be content with their own Territory and Borders The noise of War shall no more be heard of amongst us our Swords shall be turned into Plow Shares and our Spears into Pruning Hooks Zech. 2 vers 10. Sing and Rejoyce O Daughter or Sion for lo I come and will dwell in the midst of thee saith the Lord And many Nations shall be joyned to the Lord in that day and shall be my People and I will dwell in the midst of thee and thou shalt know that the Lord of Hosts hath sent me unto thee and the Lord shall inherit Judah his Portion in the Holy Land and choose Jerusalem again Be silent O all Flesh before the Lord for he is raised up out of his Holy Habitation And it shall be in that day that Living Waters shall go out from Jerusalem half of them viz. Preachers towards the former Sea and half of them towards the hinder Sea in Summer and in Winter shall it be And the Lord shall be King over all the Earth In that day shall there be One Lord and his Name One The Jews and the Gentiles shall use the same Method and Way of Administration and send out their Preachers from the midst of their Habitations But the Question will be asked how all the present Difficulties will be surmounted In answer to which let the same Prophet speak Who art thou O great Mountain Before Zerubbabel Christ Thou shalt become a Plain and he shall bring forth the Head Stone thereof with shouting crying Grace Grace The Hands of Zerubbabel have laid the Foundation of this House his Hands shall also finish it And thou shalt know that the Lord of Hosts hath sent me unto you Christ is Alpha and Omega the first and the last the Consideration of which brings me to my Conclusion in which I shall vindicate my self from the Charge of Innovation and say The way which I propose is not a new Way but the Renovation of an old One For 't is the way by which Christianity Entred the World and therefore the most likely to preserve it 't is the way which the Apostles used which our Saviour practised he went up and down doing Good he sent out the Twelve and the seventy Disciples who Preached his Gospel through the Towns and Villages and then returned to him again When he was leaving the Earth by a plain Indigitation he Recommended this way 'T is a way pregnant with all the Felicities can be imagined 't is advantageous to all Governments and friendly to all Societies 't will bring Glory to God on High restore Peace on Earth and good Will amongst Men. How Beautiful upon the Mountains are the Feet of him that bringeth good Tidings that publisheth Peace that bringeth good Tidings of good that publisheth Salvation that saith unto Zion Thy God Reigneth Isa 52. Verse 7. Haec cùm fiunt Statu hoc Harmonium Pacem adferente inter Gentiles in Terris Christianis posito mirabuntur Judaei Christoque Authori Auspicatissimo tum demùm credent Nec non pacato Deo vocante Christiano adjuvante magno cum gaudio Triumpho post tam longum ob malitiam incredulitatem exulatum ad suas Terras Hierosolymitanas ex omnibus plagis Terrarum Regionibus redibunt Nec futilia aut inania Antiquorum Prophetarum Vaticinia de faelici Judaeorum aut Gentilium Statut diutiùs habebuntur Nam omnia ista Grandiloquia de Pace Justitiâ Veritate plenam Solutionem hoc Ministerio Theocratico habebunt exiguo Temporis Spatio Diversas Mundi Regiones quasi diversas unius gentis Civitates mutuo foedere irrefragabilis amiciticae conjunctas Spectabimus Et Preces illa tum frequent in ore Sacerdotum viz. Revoca ad Sedes antiquam Gentem Judaeorum gloriam Gentilium redde completam habebit responsum FINIS