Selected quad for the lemma: nation_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nation_n	lord_n	mountain_n	top_n	1,666	5	9.5413	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A90263	The branch of the Lord, the beauty of Sion: or, The glory of the Church, in it's relation unto Christ· Opened in two sermons; one preached at Berwick, the other at Edinburgh. By John Owen, minister of the Gospel.	Owen, John, 1616-1683.	1650 (1650)	Wing O715; Thomason E618_2; ESTC R203084	26,947	47

THE BRANCH OF THE LORD The Beauty of SION OR The Glory of the CHURCH in It's Relation unto CHRIST Opened in Two SERMONS one preached at Berwick the other at Edinburgh By John Owen Minister of the Gospel PSAL. 48. 12 13 14. Walk about sion and go round about her tell the Towres thereof Mark ye wel her Bulwarks consider her Palaces that you may tell it to the Generation following For this God is our God for ever and ever he will be our Guide unto death EDINBURGH Printed by Evan Tyler in the year 1650. To His EXCELLENCY the Lord General CROMWELL c. MY LORD IT was with Thoughts of Peace that I embraced my Call to this Place and Time of Warre As all Peace that is from God is precious to my spirit so incomparably that between the Father his Elect which is established and carried on in the Blood and Grace of Jesus Christ The Ministeriall dispensation of this Peace being through free Grace committed even unto me also I desire that in every place my whole may be to declare it to the men of Gods good pleasure That this was my chief design in answer to the Call of God upon me even to poure out a savour of the Gospel upon the Sons of Peace in this place I hope is manifest to the Consciences of all with whom since my coming hither in the Work of the Ministery I have had to do The Enmity between God and us began on our Part The Peace which he hath made begins and ends with himself This is the way of God with sinners when he might justly continue their Enemy and fight against them to their Eternal ruine he drawes forth Love and beseeches them to be reconciled who have done the wrong and them to accept of Peace who cannot abide the Battell Certainly the bearing forth of this Message which is so worthy of all Acceptation and ought to be so welcome cannot but have sweetnes enough to season all the Pressures and temptations wherewith it is somtimes attended This hath bin my desire to pursue and that with the weapons which are not carnal And though some may be so seasoned with the leaven of contention about carnal things or at best the tithing of Mint and Cummin as to disrelish the weightier things of the Gospel yet the great Owner of the Vineyard hath not left me without a comfortable assurance that even this labour in the Lord hath not been in vain The following Sermons which I desire to present unto your Excellency were preached one at Berwick upon your first advance into Scotland the other at Edinburgh My willingnes to serve the Inheritance of Christ here even in my Ablence caused me to close with the desires that wercheld out to this purpose And I do present them to your Excellency not only because the Rise of my Call to this service under God was from you but also because in the carrying of it on I have received from you in the weaknesses and temptations wherewith I am encompassed that dayly spirituall Refreshment and support by inquiry into and discovery of the deep and hidden dispensations of God towards his secret ones which my spirit is taught to value The carrying on of the Interest of the Lord Jesus amongst his Saints in all his wayes which are Truth and Righteousnesse the matter pointed at in this Discourse being the Ayme of your spirit in your great under-takings it bears another Respect unto you I am not unacquainted with it's meannesse yea it 's coming short in respect of use and fruit of what the Lord hath since and by others drawn forth but such as it is having by Providence stepped first into the world I wholly commend it to him for an Incense who graciously supplyed the seed to the sower beseeching him that we may have joy unspeakable and glorious in the Acceptance of that Peace which he gives us in the Son of his Love whilest the Peace whose desire in the midst of warre you continually bear forth to him and to others is by them rejected to their hurt Edinb. Nov. 26. 1650. Your Excellencies most humble servant in our dearest Lord John Owen ISAIAH 56. Chap. 7. verse For mine House shall be called an House of Prayer for all People FRom the 3d verse of this Chapter to the 8th you have Promises and Predictions of calling in Gentiles and Strangers to the Church of God notwithstanding any Objections or hinderances laid in their way By Ceremoniall and Typicall constitutions they being all to be removed in the Crosse of Christ Ephes. 2. 13 14 15 16 Colos. 2. 14. making way for the accomplishment of that signall Promise which is given in the 2 Chapt of this Prophesie 2 3. And it shall come to passe in the last dayes that the Mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountaines and shall be exalted above the hills and ALL NATIONS shall flow unto it And MANY PEOPLE shall go and say Come ye let us go up c. The words of the 7th verse are a RecapiTulation of the whole holding out summarily the calling of the Gentiles to the Holy Mount or spirituall Church of Christ Where also you have a description of the services performed by them upon their coming Their burnt offerings and sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine Altar Answerable to that eminent prediction of the solemne worship of the called Gentiles Mal. 1. 11. For from the rising of the Sun even to the going down of the same my Name shall be great among the Gentiles and in every place Incense shall be offered unto my Name and a peace offering for my Name shall be great among the Heathen saith the Lord of Hosts The Spirituall services of the Saints of the Gentiles are in each place set forth by those Ceremoniall Ordinances of Incense Altar and Sacrifice as were then most acceptable from the Lords own appointment Now this whole promise is once again straightned without losse of life or beauty and comprized in the words of the Text That which before he termed sacrifice and burnt-offerings here he calleth Prayer and those who before were the sons of the stranger are here all People some many of all sorts the whole world all men without distinction the Partition Wall being broken down My House shall be called c. The Thing here spoken of is Gods House described 1. By its Appropriation unto him it is his peculiar My House 2. By its extent of receipt in respect of others it is for all People 3. By the employment of its Inhabitants that is Prayer it shall be called an House of Prayer House here may be taken two wayes 1. Properly as it was in the Type for the Materiall Temple at Hierusalem whereunto these words are applyed by our Saviour Math. 21. but that is no farther concerned herein but as the spirituall Holinesse of the Antitype could not be represented without a Ceremoniall Holinesse

shoulders under the burden due to it and his back to the stripes prepared for it A hard Task But Jesus Christ being the Heir the Right of Redemption belonged unto him It was not for his Honour that it should lye unredeemed Full well he knew that if he did it not the whole Creation was too beggarly to make this Purchase 'T is true that Nature of ours which He assumed to pay that by which He never took was startled for a while and would have deprecated this grievous price crying out If it be possible let this cup passe from me but he recollects himself and sayes I am content to do thy will O God and so through the eternall spirit offered himself up into God for a Ransome He likes the House and will have it to dwel in what ever it cost him Here saith he shall be my Habitation and my dwelling for ever Psal. 133. Know you not saith the Apostle that you are the Temple of the Spirit of Christ Well and how come we so to be you are bought with a price 2. Cor 6. 19. They who affirm that he also thus purchased the unclean styes of the Divel wot not what they say 3. Unto Purchase He must also adde Conquest An unjust Usurper had taken possession of this House and kept it in bondage Sathan had seized on it and brought it through the wrath of God under his power He then must be conquered that the Lord Christ may have compleat possession of his own House For this purpose then was the Son of God made manifest that he might destr●y the works of the Devil 1. Joh. 38. And how doth he do it 1. He overpowers him and destroves him in that Through death he destroyed him that had the power of death that is the divel Heb. 2. 14. 2. He spoyled him having overcome him He bund the strong man and then spoyled his goods Math 12. 27. All that darknesse unbelief sin and hardnesse that he had stuffed this House withall Christ spoyles them and scatters them all away 3. To make his Conquest compleat He triumphs over his Enemy and like a mighty Conquerour makes an open shew of him to his everlasting shame Col. 2. 15. Having spoyled Principalities and Powers he made a shew of them openly triumphing over them in his Crosse And by this means strengthens his Title to his Inheritance I m●ght also farther insist on the Donation of his Father and the actual possession he takes of it by his Spirit but these are sufficient to prove this House to be Christs I shall take some Observations hence 1. Is this the House of Christ is he the Owner of it let men take heed how they spoyl it for themselves The Psalmist makes this a great Argument in his pleading against opposers that they came into the Lords inheritance Psal. 79. 1. The Title of Christs purchase was not then so clearely known as that of his Inheritance and therefore they of old pleaded chiefly by that Title Now he hath proclaimed to all his other Titles also the whole Right he has to this House to his Saints Who then shall meddle with it and go free Amongst men every one with all his might will defend his own possession And shall we think that the Lord Christ will suffer his to be spoiled at an easie rate shall not men pay dear for their encroachment How hath he in our dayes frustrated all attempts for the persecution of his Touch not saith he mine Anointed Men may upon various pretences claim this priviledge to such a Land Nation or Faction it will in the end appeare to be theirs and only theirs who are living stones of this House doggs may scramble for their bread but shall not injoy it It is Christ in this House that will make every stone of it a burdensome stone He hath done it that men may learn {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} do not think it will excuse thee to say thou wast mistaken 2. Is Christ the Owner of this House let the Order and disposall of it be left to himself Men are apt to be tampering with his House and Houshold They will be so kind and carefull as to say out their wisedome and prudence about it Thus and thus shall it be these are parts and members of it Christ is exceeding jealous of his Honour in this particular He cannot bear it that men pretending to his Glory should think him so wanting in Love or Wisedome towards his own as not exactly to dispose of all things that concern the Reiglement thereof Men would not be so dealt withall in their own Houses as they deal with Christ in his We have all Wisedome enough as we suppose to order our own houses Only the Wisedome and Love of the Father leaves his to the discretion of others these thoughts are not from above 3. Hath Christ taken his own House to himself upon so many Titles let not men put those buildings on him for his which are not so which he holds not by these Titles Go to a man that dwells in a stately Palace of his own show him a hog sty tell him this is your House here you dwell this is yours can you put a greate indignity on him No sayes the man that is not mine I dwell in yonder sumptuous Palace And shal we deal thus with the Lord Jesus He hathbought adorned his own House a glorious House it is I ●now men shall hold out to him a sty of swine a den of unclean Beasts a ruinous Heap whereof the far greatest part are dead stones and tell him this is his Church his House will it notexceedingly provoke him will he bear such a reproach Nay he will reject such Tenders to their Ruine 2. Jesus Christ is the Builder of this House This man is counted worthy of more Honour then Moses inasmuch as he that buildeth the House hath more Honour then the House Heb. 3. 3. I saith he will build my Church Math. 16. 18. This is not a Fabrick for any workman but Christ It is true there are others imployed under him and some so excellent that they may be said to be w●se master-builders 2. Cor. 3. 10. But yet all the Efficacy of their labour in this building is not from themselves but meerly from him by whom they are imployed Except the Lord build this house they labour in vain that go about to build it Now this House receives a two fold building 1. Spirituall of all the stones thereof into one mysticall House of this I chiefly treat 2. Ecclesiasticall of some particular stones into severall Tabernacles which are usefull Partitions in the great mysticall House called Assemblyes and dwelling places of mount Sion both these it hath from Christ alone 1. For the first If all the most skilfull Workmen in the world should go to the pit of Nature by their own strength to hew out stones for this building they will never with all their skill