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A60354 A sermon preached before the Right Honourable Sir John Shorter, Knight, Lord Mayor of the city of London at Grocers-Hall by Samuel Slater ... Slater, Samuel, d. 1704. 1688 (1688) Wing S3975; ESTC R10144 44,686 50

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all them that know them Good and Bad Friends and Foes but also their open bold and undaunted owning and professing of Christ whose they are and to whom they resolve to cleave in the darkest days and most menacing dangers Like unto those Benjamites who said 1 Chron. 12.18 Thine are we David and on thy side thou Son of Iesse peace peace be unto thee and peace be to thine helpers for thy God helpeth thee and so he doth our David and him we may set against all his Enemies for in comparison of him they all be they never so many never so mighty are less than nothing Vanity Among many great and precious Promises which are made to the Gospel-Church under the name of Sion that is one Isa. 60.14 The sons of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soals of thy feet and they shall call thee the City of the Lord the Sion of the Holy One of Israel Now Mount Sion is thus made use of as the Type and Figure of the Church of Christ in new Testament-times the times of the Messiah upon such accounts as these First Because of the special Presence of God there above any other place in the World Psal. 132.13 14. The Lord hath chosen Sion he hath desired it for his Habitation This is my rest for ever here will I dwell for I have desired it It was the place of his choice and of his desire and of his delight It pleas'd him to abide and to give Audience to his People there there he met them and heard their Prayers and made Manifestations of himself to them the House built there he filled with his Glory Now the spiritual and gracious Presence of God is in his Church and with his People From the wicked he stands at a distance he looks upon them afar off We read in the Revelation That mystical Babylon is a Habitation of Devils a Cage of unclean Birds and foul Spirits But the true Church is the Habitation of God there he dwells there he gives forth his Light and his Loves there he makes his People joyful the midst of the golden Candlesticks is the pleasant walk of the blessed Jesus Hence it is that as the Apostle Paul saith in Ephes. 2.21 all the building fuly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord that is the universal Catholick Church doth so that is the Temple of God and then he adds in ver 22. in whom you also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit Not only the universal Church that which is rightly so called but also particular Churches as that in Ephesus those in London or in any other Country City Town which are called united constituted order'd regularly or according to the Pattern given in the Mount the Divine Will revealed and laid down in the Sacred Scriptures are Temples and Habitations in which the great God doth delight by his holy Spirit to dwell yea and so are particular Saints who have been really sanctified and made partakers of those Gifts which do not only adorn and grace the Person but likewise render those that have them truly gracious Secondly Sion was a Type of the Gospel-Church and its name is therefore fitly given to it because of the proceeding or going forth of the Gospel from thence The fiery Law as you know was given upon and from Mount Sinai in a most terrible manner so that Moses himself fear'd and quak'd but the everlasting Gospel or law of Grace was from Mount Sion Isa. 2.3 Many people shall go and say Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Iacob for he will teach us his ways and we will walk in his paths for out of Sion shall go forth the Law and the word of the Lord from Ierusalem The Law i.e. not the law of Works but of Faith. The Law of the Redeemer and the Word i.e. the Word of Reconciliation and Peace the glad tidings of Life and Salvation by him who is the Fountain of Life and the Author of eternal Salvation to all those that accept and obey him This came first out of Sion and Ierusalem from whence it appears that those learned Men did not speak without reason who have asserted that the Church of Ierusalem had the best and most rightful claim to that honourable Title of the Mother Church whatever place besides doth pretend thereunto So consult Psal. 110.2 The Lord will send the rod of thy strength out of Sion Now what is that Rod but the precious Gospel accompanied with the Spirit which is the Power of God to Salvation by which he conquers and subdues a People to himself and also Rules and Governs them Now upon this account the Church may well be called Sion because there are made most blessed Revelations of Jesus Christ and of Mercy Grace and Peace in and thorough him there are the Divine Oracles there are unlocked and sweetly opened those profound and glorious Mysteries which were conceal'd and kept hid from Ages and Generations There is made known unto the Principalities and Powers in heavenly Places 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The manifold Wisdom of God viz. in the whole Oeconomy both of mans Redemption by Christ and of the Government of the Church in its various Ages and Periods from the beginning of the World. Thirdly Sion is fitly used for a Type of the Gospel-Church upon the account of its Eminency it was high and lofty Psal. 68.15 The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan an high hill as the hill of Bashan That of Bashan was a very high Hill rising up with several tops but not to be compared with Sion for as he saith in the next verse Why leap ye ye high hills this is the hill which God desireth to dwell in yea the Lord will dwell in it for ever So the Church which is the Kingdom of Christ doth excel in Glory all the Kingdoms of the World. It is the most noble Society it needs not go a begging to any other it needs no borrowed Beauty it shines brightest with its own Beams when its Worship is performed according to the Divine will without the addition of humane Inventions when its Ordinances are pure without any Adulteration and imbasing Mixtures when its Members walk in an Holy and Gospel-Order according to the Law and Rule of the new Creature Then is the Beauty of the Lord its God upon it and that Beauty is so great so sweet and ravishing that it may very well despise and abhor Painting and little pitiful Artifices to set it off it need not be beholden to any in the World for Ornaments and Dresses This precious and amiable Spouse of Christ doth then look most lovely and is then the fairest among Women when it hath only its Lords comeliness upon it and doth not appear in any of the rotten Rags
or gaudy Attire of a loathsome Harlot And besides there is a most gracious Promise made to the Church which shall have its certain and full accomplishment in due season Isa. 2.2 It shall come to pass in the latter days and hath he said it and will he not do it Yes without all doubt he will that the mountain of the Lords house shall be established in the top of the mountains and exalted above the hills that is there is a time coming and I would hope it is not far off the nearer it is the better when the true Church of Christ shall be the Head and not the Tail when she shall not be as a Scullion among the Pots but as a Bride made ready for her Husband and when that Religion which came down from Heaven and will carry them to Heaven who sincerely profess and practice it that Religion which is pure and undefiled before God and the Father shall prevail against all the false and counterfeit Religions in the World as it doth now excel them all in Truth Purity and Glory so it then shall in Virtue Power and Efficacy Dagon shall fall before the Ark of God and the Idols be utterly abolished Yea tho they be made of Silver or Gold which men have made each one for himself to worship yet shall they be cast to the moles and to the bats Isa. 2.20 The Inventions of Men shall be made to give place to the Appointments and Institutions of Christ and the Doctrines of Devils shall disappear and vanish before the Doctrine of the Gospel Babylon shall be made a Hissing and Confusion but Ierusalem a Rejoycing and her People a Joy this we do now rejoyce in the Faith of and patiently wait for the glorious and happy performance Amen Come Lord Jesus Fourthly Sion was a Type or Figure of the Gospel-Church because of its Firmness and Stability It is said in Psal. 125.1 They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Sion which cannot be removed but abideth for ever So shall the Church yea tho the Hills do depart and the Hills be removed even Sion it self at the end of the World yet the Church shall abide and when it ceaseth to be in any part Militant it shall be throughout Triumphant Let Men and Devils combine and unite their Strength and do their worst the Church shall stand the shock and outlive their Fury They may Rage Persecute and Kill they may Imprison Inslave and by their Cruelties force multitudes from their own Countries and native Soils but when they have done Christ will shew himself to be above them They may weary themselves in the greatness of their way and sweat and fret in their Gears but they shall never reach their designed and desired End. They may say Raze her raze her even to the Foundation but Ierusalem is a burthensome Stone upon whomsoever it falls it will grind them to Powder This spiritual Vine which Gods own right hand hath planted may be cut and wounded and bleed sorely but it shall not be to Death the old and excellent saying is at this day as true as ever Sanguis Martyrum semen Ecclesiae The Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Church The more Martyrs there are the more Believers there shall be Pauls bonds did turn to the furtherance of the Gospel and so have done and shall do the patient sufferings and joyful comfortable Deaths of others in the Cause and for the sake of Christ and his Truths and Worship Let all the Enemies do their best and their worst too God will have a People in the World to praise his Name to load his Altars and to serve him in the beauty of Holiness In the worst of times when Ahab had the Throne and Idolatry was grown rank and rampant there were seven thousand in Israel that had not bowed the Knee to Baal so tho at some times the number of faithful Professors may be much diminished by miserable Persecution and far more miserable Apostacy yet there shall be so many preserved as shall be a seed to serve him and accounted to him for a Generation and that seed being water'd with the Divine blessing shall happily spring up in its season and yield a mighty increase There is a sweet and precious Promise of eternal Truth gone out of the mouth of him who is the faithful Witness upon which it is our duty and richly worth our while to live and in the assurance thereof greatly to rejoyce Mat. 16.18 Upon this Rock will I build my Church Upon what Rock not Peter himself for tho he was a good Man and an excellent Apostle yet he was a frail fallible and dying man But either upon the Truth which was then confessed by him or rather upon my self who am the eternal Rock i.e. upon the Lord Jesus Christ himself and what he hath so built none shall be able to pull down The gates the Policy and Power of Hell shall not prevail against it So much may suffice to be spoken to the first thing viz. what is here meant by Sion and why the Gospel-Church is called so 2. Q. Our second Question is this Why is Sion called Gods holy Hill Or the Hill of Gods holiness A. To which I thus briefly Answer Sion is so called because of the Ark which was there when the sweet Singer of Israel composed this Psalm which was a visible Symbol of Gods special spiritual and gracious Presence and also because of the Temple which was built there afterward and was an eminent Type of Iesus Christ. In that the great God was pleased to place his Name that house he was pleased to fill with his Glory there he did meet his People hearing their Prayers and returning his Answers from thence it was that he commanded the blessing even life for evermore Psal. 133.3 There is no argument to be drawn from hence that can evince to us the holiness of Places now As in every Nation Persons that fear God and work righteousness are accepted of him So is that Worship in all places which is performed to him according to his Will in Spirit and in Truth Ierusalem is not now an holy City nor Canaan the holy Land. Christ our Altar doth sanctify indeed those Gifts which are by a gracious heart in Faith offered up to God upon and by him but the meer place doth not do it it contributes nothing toward it it puts no beauty upon it no savour nor rellish that will take with God. Fervent prayers cordial praises all holy duties have as free an access to God as speedy admission with him as full a welcome as sweet gracious reception and entertainment which are offered and performed in this place in a Kitchin a Closet a Chamber or a Field as those that are performed in any place which man is said to consecrate If men would look more after heart-holiness they would not talk so much of nor insist so much upon the holiness