God that men cannot receive the heart makes up a stop a dam against them they pass not through the whole man to bring into subjection every thought 2 Cor. 10.6 but men imprison truth in unrighteonsness Rom. 1.18 and will not suffer it to pass through the whole man through the whole soul this is a marish place c. Secondly when the waters and the earth do mix together this makes the myre when the Truths of God do mix with the corruptions of men that either men can hold some Truths and yet keep their lusts they can stand for truths and yet they live in their sins and so shine as lights and have their lamps and yet be unclean all the while or else when men do make use of the Truths of God to justifie their sins and they do plead the word of God to maintain their lusts they can stand for the Truths of God yet will not leave their lusts but seek to cover them under it Clem. Alex. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. forâ—ing the Scriptures to their lusts Voluptatem sequi non quam audit sed quam attulit Aust 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Austin 2 Pet. 3.16 They do wrest the Scriptures and make them to speak that which the Spirit of God never intended in them and all is to favor some lust or other following the hidden things of dishonesty they do handle the word of God deceitfully and make it speak peace when the Lord in the word doth speak terror c. Thirdly the longer men continue the more filthy they grow the longer the Truths of God lie upon the heart of a man and if they reform not they make him grow the more filthy and the more polluted it makes a mans lusts the more hatefull and the more defiling for Ordinances do ripen mens sins as well as their graces and in this respect they may the more fitly be called myrie places Nâ—w the judgment is They shall not be healed they shall be given unto salt First They shall not be healed they had the waters flowing in upon them and by them many were healed but they were not healed under them and now in judgement the Lord saith that they shall not be healed those healing Ordinances which work a very great change upon other men and restore their souls they shall take no place upon them that which was their sin shall be their plague they would not be healed they shall not be healed they would not be purged they shall not be purged they will not come when they are invited they shall not taste of my Supper A man cannot have a greater plague befall him then to be given up unto his own sin and that which is the natural fruit there of Men that have lived under the Truths of God and have not been healed by them the Lord gives them up as incorrigible in judgement they shall not be healed that makes the Anathema Maranatha reserved they are as incorrigible for the judgement of the Lord at his coming for this is that curse upon them which is denounced by God most properly its Gods ordinary way to deal with sinners that shall be their punishment which they chose to themselves as their way of sinning He that is ignorant shall be ignorant still and he that is filthy shall be filthy still he that will not be healed the Lord says he shall not be healed c. Secondly They shall be given to salt which hath a double interpretation given of it First they shall be given up unto a perpetual barrenness Deut. 29,23 The whole land is brimstone and salt it is not sowen and neither grass nor any thing grows therein So Abimelech dealt with Shechem he beat down the city and sowed it with salt Judg. 9.45 Psal 107.34 a fruitfull land he turned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into saltness that is barrenness and so Jerom given to salt Ut in perpetuum frugibus careant that they may not bear fruit for ever Secondly Given to salt ut alios condiant exemplorum sale that is he shall be given up unto some exemplary judgement that may teach all other men to beware For he that built his house and not upon a rock when the rain falls and the winds blow he will fall and the fall of that house will be great Doctrine Some men that live under the purest and the most powerful Ordinances are in judgement given up unto a perpetual barrenness For the explication of this there are these sour particulars First that God doth by the Gospel execute spiritual Judgements as well as confer spiritual blessings Secondly that of all judgements those that are spiritual are the most dreadfull Thirdly why the Lord doth in Judgment give men up to a barrenness under the Gospel Fourthly the manner how the Lord doth this and how these Judgements are executed in an ordinary way First the Lord doth by the Ordinances of the Gospel execute spiritual Judgements as well as confer spiritual blessings there are the greatest curses as well as the greatest mercies come out of Zion all Judgements both temporal and spiritual come out of Ordinances for as they have the promises of this life that now is and that which is to come so there belongs to them also the threatnings of the life that now is and that which is to come temporal Judgements come out of ordinances Ezek. 10.2 Take fire from off the Altar and scatter over the city they thought that the fire of the Altar had served for nothing else but ad expianda scelera Calvin To expiate their sins but the Lord doth let them see that it will burn their City also 1 Cor. 11.30 for this cause many are sick and many weak and many are fallen asleep and when the day of Revelation shall come that the Counsels of God and the hearts of men shall be made manisest we shall then see that many of the Judgements that now we complain of will be found to be fire taken off the Altar and to be inflicted for the neglect and abuse of the Gospel which now we do very commonly attribute unto other causes every man according as his own fancy or party leads him and also spiritual Judgments as Rev. 4.5 there are before the throne the seven spirits of God all spiritual gifts and graces are poured out in Ordinances and there are out of the throne thundrings and lightnings and voices which note the terrible ways that the Lord has of punishing wicked men for their contempt and neglect of the Gospel Fulgura tonitrua terribilia supplicia significant nec ullo modo vitanda Brâ—ghtman Judgements from Heaven shall be poured out immediatly upon the spirits of men and that from Heaven Isa 28.13 The word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept and line upon line here a little and there a little that is summacum industria indulgentia He did it daily and he did it with a great deal
as when God became an enemy at first to mankind all the creatures also did become their enemy it were no matter for the desertion of all the neighbouring Nations though we were as a speckled Bird unto them and they all hate us yet if God be with us who can be against us but Tolle Deum nullus ero if the glory of the Lord departed then the Cherubims lifted up their wings and are gone as the voice that was heard to say in the Temple the night before Jerusalem was taken Migremus hinc c. Secondly if God forsake us all the creatures will break in upon us God hath forsaken him pursue him and take him for his hedge his fence is taken away I will take away the hedge thereof shall the Lord say and then a poor creature may comfort himself as Saul did in the creatures honour me before the people when the Lord had rejected him but it is but cold comfort for a man so to do for thy own servants will then become thy enemies Thirdly there is no one thing that afflicts and affects a gracious heart more then desertions either in Church or state or his own soul he fears nothing else all that David still prayes for is O Lord forsake me not Oh forsake me not utterly Lord be not thou far from me there is this difference commonly between a godly man and a wicked man the one fears Gods punishments but the other fears Gods departure and therefore Austin It is as with a chast wife and a harlot Austin they both fear their husbands Haec ne veniat illa ne decedat And the reason is because the one seeks only blessings from God and the other only seeks communion with God and if he had never so much from God yetif he be denyed to seek his face denyed fellowship with him and if the Lord do so forsake him all things are bitter unto him because the joy of his heart is gone surely if you go on to forsake the Lord he will forsake you but the desertion begins on your part if you do not forsake him he will not forsake you therefore so far as you have backslided from God return to him and you have this promise I will heal your backslidings THE DOCTRINE Of the Iews Vocation Preached at Gregories Lecture ROM 11.26 And so all Israel shall be saved as it is written c. THe Apostle having spoken in the close of the former Ch. of the vocation of the Gentiles I was found of them that sought me not of the rebellious under which is implyed the rejection of the Jews all the day long have I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and gain-saying people he closes the Discourse in this Chapter and makes of this Chapter three parts first Consolatoria he hath not cast off his people 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 è conspectu amovere he hath cast them off but not so as he will never look after them again he hath not so cast them off for there is even amongst them and to come out of their loins who are at present rejected a seed according to the election of grace though those four great Judgements threatned are come upon them there is poured upon them the Spirit of a deep sleep unto this day their table is made a snare and their eyes are darkned that they see not and they do alwaies bow down their backs but these Judgements shall not alwaies lie upon them because they are dear unto God according to the election of grace the Lord hath not cast off his people whom he knew before Secondly Hortatoria If the Jews were broken off that were the natural branches yet let not the Gentiles boast against the branches broken off be not high-minded but fear for if God spared not the natural branches take heed lest he spare not thee also behold therefore the goodness and severity of God towards thee goodness if thou continue in his goodness if not thou shalt also be cut off Thirdly Prophetica and that is of the grafting in of the Jews again the natural branches if they continue not in their unbelief of what the state of the Jews should be when the Lord again shall return to them in mercy and build up the Tabernacle of David that is fallen down and this he doth Usher in with a praemium as being a great truth and that which he would have specially observed I would not have you ignorant of this mysterie What is a mysterie a mysterie is something made known by Revelation and can be known no other way it is from the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. 4.12 I am instructed from heaven a truth which the Apostle had been taught by divine Revelation and though much of this is spoken of and foretold in the Scripture yet there is a spirit of Revelation that must go to the opening thereof or else he could never have understood it himself nor been able to reveal it or discover it to others its true it was abundantly revealed in the Scriptures and when it was discovered to the Apostles they could see clear Scripture for it but not till then they are mysteries till the Lord please to enlighten the understanding to know these mysteries and therefore as the calling of the Gentiles is said to be a mysterie hid in God from Ages and from Generations and made known only by Revelation Eph. 3.4,5,6 sc that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs with the same body and partakers of the Promise of Christ by the Gospel the calling of the Gentiles though abundantly foretold in the Scripture was a mysterie unto the Jews that they understood it not and so the calling of the Jews may seem also a mysterie unto the Gentiles till the Lord reveal it unto them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysostom so calls the Doctrine of the Jews calling Chrysostom a paradox and strange thing A strange and a wonderful thing and he that doth publish it shall seem at first to preach a paradox and a new Doctrine But what is this mysterie Blindness in spirit is hapned unto Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in that is the mysterie Blindness is in part come upon them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There are three Interpretations and all true First non omnibus it is not come upon all Israel but upon a part and so it is to speak as the Apostles manner is molli locutione though it came upon a great part of them and in comparison there were but a few converted unto the faith of Christ yet he saith it came not upon all but upon part of them only the whole Nation were not cast away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost there are many of them now do believe and many of them hereafter shall believe and therefore it is not come upon all the Jews for God had mercy on many in those primitive times Insomuch that the first glorious Christian
sense of the Gospel I will give you six rules briefly I beseech you carry theâ— home with you and the Lord carry them to your hearts First a man that i truly holy according to the sense of the Gospel is truly affected with the honor and dishonor of God for holiness exalts God I say holiness exalts God in Joshua 7.9 Israel had fallen before the men of At their enemies what is it now that troubles Joshuah most Israel flyes before their enemies Lord what wilt thou do for thy great name truly though we should perish and our names be rooted out from under heaven our names rot in the earth it were no great matter but thy name Lord saith he I am not able to bear the thought of it what wilt thou do to thy great name so likewise David The reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me he could have born any thing better then that God should have been dishonored my cyes gush out with Rivers of water because men keep not thy Law malo in nos murmur hominum quam in Deum Bernard I remember it is Bernards expression rather saith he let men vent their displeasure against us then against God bonum est mihi si dignetur Deus me uti pro clypeo if the Lord would please to make use of me to keep off reproaches and injuries from himself it would be satisfaction enough to me let my name be blotted never so much if Gods name be not spotted if his name be not profaned it is enough Now if I should put you to examine your hearts by this Is Gods glory dear to you and do you say profaned be my name so as Gods name be honored is there nothing better to you in this world like to this my conscience answers in the presence of God to such a question as this Truly my Brethren I am afraid few of you can say in truth that the Lord is thus exalted in your souls how is it that the dishonors done to God either we make matter of scoff or otherwise it doth but draw out our envies and invectives but it is not matter of drooping continually upon our Spirits there are few Ages that you shall read of wherein the name of God hath been higher in a more impudent way dishonored then in this Age I may say it with boldness with more open face a Whores forehead that cannot blush and yet notwithstanding where be the morners in Sion where be those that do say My estate doth me no good and my honor doth me no good nor never will while I enjoy it without God while I see God dishonored Well certainly suitable to the measure of holiness that is in any man so will his affections be to the honor of God and where this affection is not in truth there is no holiness in truth This is the first thing The second sign that I shall give you to examine your selves by is this Where holiness is in truth there the heart is mightily affected unto the truth of God which is the foundation of boliness sanctifie them by thy truth it is the expression in Joh. 17. then Truth is the foundation of sanctification whensoever holiness is in truth then the man is mightily affected to truth I do reuâ—ember it was an excellent rule that Virenencius gave long ago Virenenc quo quis sanctior co promptior novellis contraire the more holy any man is saith he the more his heart goes against all humane inventions contrary to the truths of God Why now should I put you upon the tryal by this have not you all Truths corrupt even to the very foundation those in this City that dispute whether there be a God or no to the very foundation that deny the God-head of Christ and of the Spirit deny the truth of the Scriptures why now how I pray you doâ—h this sit upon your spirits how are you affected with truth for truth is the mother of holiness and I say unto you it will bear a child-like affection thereunto my Brethren will you give me leave a little to speak plainly to you the great design that Satan hath I conceive in this present age the great design for he hath many but I say the Great design I look upon to be this So to dispute all things as that in matters of Religion men might look upon nothing as certain dispute all things that so you may be certain of nothing for this hath been the great business and truly I must though some of them go under the name of Saints I must say they are highly the instruments of the Devil in it I fay the great business of these latter years hath been this it hath been to dispute principles and overthrow foundations Augustine Augustine saith there are two waies by which the Devil draws men from Christ one in a time of peace and another in a time of persecution in a time of persecution coget homines negare Christum he compels men to deny Christ in the time of persecution But in the time of prosperity docet he teacheth men then to deny Christ he finds out such Doctrines as shall teach men handsomly to deny Christ and to defend it when he hath done O my Brethren how doth this sit upon your Spirits It was Luthers saying Luther Spiritus sanctus Scepticus non est the holy Spirit is not a Sceptical Spirit there is little of that Spirit in this Land Christianism is turned to Sceptism question every thing and dispute every thing and men look upon it as a great piece of Religion to maintain that there is no certainty in Religion and truly this is the way of the wise men of our times Why now consider two things are added hereunto One is to prosecute this design the Ministry must first be undervalued that by that means there may be way made that they may be suppressed for while these men live they do say in their own bosoms so much as Saul did of David to Ionathan while the son of Iesse liveth saith he thy Kingdom will never be established they do say so that these new waies of Religion will never be established so long as some of these men continue they do say that this is the Heir let us kill him and the inheritance will be ours we shall never be the great Preachers till then nor our lights and opinions will never be entertained for Gospel till then for so what was the advice of Consenus the Jesuite a great while ago and truly this is the very truth for as it is justly to be feared you have a great many among you so those that are acted among you are acted very much by a Jesuitical principle and what was his advice he wisheth them by all means to take away the Ministry but saith do it not all at once but take away some first and disgrace the rest and so by that means a way will
The spirit of God came down in the likeness of a Dove A Dove as it is without guile so is it without gall also and a righteous man is not only thus within but in his conversation his light shines before men he is alwayes walking in his uprightness Secondly In his death and so he is said to perish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word in the Hebrew is either put for temporall or eternal death Iohn 3.16 that they should not perish but have everlas ting life but here it 's meant of temporal death the disunion between the Soul and the Body and so to perish is to dye Matth 8.25 Master save us else we perish And it 's said also they are taken away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in unum colligere They are gathered unto their Fathers here in this world they are scattered and some live in one place some in another but death is a gathering there is fasciculus viventium even a bundle of the living as the tares are bound in bundles so is the wheat also Thirdly After his death the Soul in this life is full of trouble here in this life but a little peace enters into him my peace I give unto you but then after this life he shall enter into peace here a little joy enters into him but then he shall enter into the Masters joy for ever and for their bodys they shall rest in their beds as the grave is commonly called it being the sweet sleeping place as 2 Chron. 16.14 it is said of Asa that he slept with his Fathers and they buried him in his own Sepulcher and laid him in a bed which was filled with sweet odors c. Secondly Here is a publick loss bewailed the righteous perish and there is no man that doth apponere cor Mich. 7.1 woe is me for I am as the Summer-gatherings the good man is perished out of the Earth the taking away of the godly is the great loss and matter of great mourning unto those that survive Thirdly Here is a publick and a common evil reproved the foolish and unthankful world is no whit affected with the loss of those of whom the Lord says the world was not worthy of and this want of affection is grounded upon the want of consideration no man lays it to heart no man understood that they were taken away from the evil to come Fourthly Here is a secret of providence discovered godly men are taken away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 à faciebus mali from the evil to come there being a storm coming the Lord doth hasten to gather in the Corne into the barne before-hand That I should speak unto al these cannot be expected at this time there are only three points that I shall pick out of them all First Godly men dye not as other men doe it is peculiar unto them to enter into peace and rest in their bed c. Secondly Godly men are usually taken away in mercy before an evil come Thirdly When they are taken away it should be unto them that survive matter of serious Consideration Affliction and Lamentation First This is made the peculiar portion of the righteous and mercifull men at their death they shall enter into peace Doctrine Godly men dye not as others doe there 's a great difference between them and others in their death There is indeed a great deale of difference between men in their lives they are men of another spirit of another generation they walk by other principles they aim at other ends they live upon other comforts then others doe and therefore they are men of another value and esteem they are the excellent ones when the greatest amongst men if they be wicked are vile persons they are amongst men as gold amongst the dust of the Earth and as diamonds amongst the common pebles in the streets But the great and the grand difference between them is in their deaths there is something in a special maner in death peculiar to the Saints and this we are specially to observe Psal 37.37 the end of that man is peace this Balaam could observe Numb 23.10 There is a death peculiâ—r to the righteous Proverbs 14.32 The wicked shall be cast away in his wickedness but the righteous hath hope in his death The opposition shews the difference When a godly man shall be gathered a wicked man shal be destroyed cast away and when the godly man dyes he dyes in hope but the wicked man at death he breaths out his soul his life and hope together But seeing they do both dye the righteous man as well as the wicked we see also that wise men dye as well as those that are foolish and for the manner of their death to outward view there is a great resemblance Eccles. 2.16 as dyes the fool so also dies the wise man yet there is a great difference Ahab and Iosiah a wicked and a gracious King they both dyed for the manner of their deaths it was much alike they dyed both in War with the same words in their mouthes turn thy hand for I am wounded and yet it s said of the one he dyed and was gathered to his fathers in peace though he dyed in War What is therefore in death that is peculiar to the Saints how dyes the wise man this will be seen in three things First in respect of the persons dying Secondly in respect of death it self Thirdly in respect of the fruit and the consequence of death First In reference unto the person dying for a godly man dyes in the Lord. Rev. 14.13 he doth sleep in Iesus 1. Cor. 15.18 which implies two things First an union with him a being in him Secondly A dying in him by the power and efficacy of the same union now we doe not only reade in Scripture of our being in Christ but also living in him working in him bearing fruit in him c. Now a man doth live in Christ when by the Almighty working of the Spirit of Christ the Graces of Christ appeare in him and he lives no more according to Men in the Flesh but according to God in the Spirit so we are said to die in him when by the Power of the Spirit of Christ by vertue of our union with him we do exercise these dying graces that were in Christ for their be in him living and dying doing and suffering graces and when by vertue of our Union living by the faith of the son of God a man doth exercise these Graces then is a man said to dye in Christ work in him suffer in him live in him so that a godly man dies in the Lord he is one with him and even in death the Mystical union is not dissolved and the dying graces that were in Christ and which a Saint doth receive by vertue of union with him those graces he doth exercise as Christ doth for he dies in him Secondly He dies in Faith First in respect of himself
fallen upon all the Nations round about because they saw that God did fight for them the Lord hath gone before them and the God of Israel was their rereward and therefore he hath given them the necks of their enemies and no weapon formed against them hath prospered every tongue that did rise up in judgement against them hath he condemned but if this state shall now fall in love with her own beauty and greatness and shall say this is Babel that I have built and my hands have gathered the riches of the Nations if this state shall now trust in an arm of flesh and say wee 'l have no more care of the truths of God and the Ordinances of God they are upon Civil and Politick respects that we stand the Lord will surely depart from them if they shall say we are Lords we will come no more at thee their Rock will sell them their wonted presence will depart from them and the Lord will take pleasure to bring them down whom he hath before exalted and to destroy them after he hath done them good 3 Yet for the further opening of this point it is necessary that we discover what it is for a person or people to forsake the Lord and what it is for God to forsake them and when he is said in Scripture so to do First What it is to forsake God and when the Lord is said to be forsaken First they that forsake the Law and truths of God forsake God wicked men that live without God are described by Psa 119 5â— forsaking the Law of God the wicked that forsake thy Law Jer. 9.13 they have forsaken my Law which I set before them and have walked after the imaginations of their own hearts and after Baalim which their fathers taught them c. For it is God that we have to do with in the word the word is mighty Heb. 9.12 13. and all things are open and naked before him with whom we have to do therefore the word hath as it were the properties of God attributed unto it it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a discerner of the secret thoughts and intents of the heart which belong unto God onely but it is not from the power of the word alone but from the presence of God therein for in the word it is him with whom we have to do therefore if in the word we have to do with God then they that do forsake the word of God forsake God and men do forsake the Law of God first when they depart from the foundation there is a twofold foundation that the Sâ—ripture holds forth fundamentum doctrinae personae its true a personal foundation can no man lay any other then what is laid Jesus Christ but there is also a doctrinal foundation which is called the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Eph. 2.20 and this is that pattern of wholsome words that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that form of Doctrine and that which the Apostle mentions of the foundation which he himself hath laid Heb. 6.1 and this the Church of Christ in the purest times shall not depart from for Rev. 21.14 the walls of the City shall have twelve foundations and upon them written the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb c. that Antient standing of Truth let it be preserved and all superstructures let them tend to the cleering and establishment and not to the subverting of them let men build as high as they can so as they hold the foundation sit verè profectus fidei non permutatio Lyren And in this the people of God have been always fearful quo quis sanctior eo promtior novellis adinventionibus contraire c. we are now quite contrary the more holy any man seems to be the more open hâ—s ears are and the more ready he is to close with every novelty or call all into question Satans great design in this age is to keep all men in uncertainties two ways Satan hath one way in the time of peace and another in the time of persecution in the one cogit homines negare Christum in the other docet Austin he doth force them in the one he doth teach them in the other but his great aym is at fundamentals for there is such a connexion of these that a man cannot deny one but he overthrows all the rest It was the rule that Luther gave Spiritus Sanctus scepticus non est and therefore it is to be feared that under these great pretences of the Spirit there is very little of the Spirit of Christ in men when it tends to Scepticism not to Christianity Secondly Men forsake the Law by putting false interpretations for he that hath not the spiritual and true sense of the Law is without the Law Rom. 7.9 Psal 11â—… and so men are said to make void the Law of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is not Palam ex professo but it is fecretly under hand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ye have unlorded the Law by your traditions and they that take away the mind of the Law they do destroy the Law and this is the greatest sacriledge in the world men are called by Nazianzen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They that do steale away the sense of the Scripture from the words of the Scripture and take them not according to the scope of the place or the intention of the spirit of God in them but in Allegories and mystical senses now this way and then another as it chimes into their fancies We blame the Papists for making of the Scripture a nose of wax if ever it were so it is so made by many of our Teachers at this day and by this means it shall serve to usher in and to patronage any invention that our own hearts can present unto us there are great pretences of love now held forth that men should love one another though they differ in opinion upon the point of saintship c. the same thing we also say and press that we love one another but let it be with the Apostles assertion 2 Ioh. 6. This is love that we walk after his Commandments and let it be also with the Apostles Injunction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 truth it in love Eph. 4.15 steal not away Truth from us under the shews and pretences of love in vain have the endeavours of Conciliators been that have sought to unite men whose principles in respect of Truth were contrary It is a great honor to be as Nazian of Athanasius he was dissentientibus magnes c. but yet so as we are to consider that Truth is primo-primum in Religione without which all motives unto union though in a moral construction good and coming from a good intention will never prove in any measure effectual it is speaking Truth in love that will onely make men grow up into one body in the Lord and it was the dishonor of that great
these did labour to their utmost to retard the settlement of this people newly returned into their own Land again laboured to keep the City and Temple in their ruines and to that end by their interest and power in forraign Nations they had engaged against them even the whole authority of the Persian Monarchie Now when the hopes of the enemy grew high and when the hearts of the Saints fell low what is the way God takes to remove them now why now a Prophet must go to them he sendeth Zachariah the Prophet and bids them Return to your strong holds ye prisoners of hope your strong holds why their City was laid wast their Temple burnt with fire strong holds they had none satis praesidii in un Deo Calvin Calvin There is enough strength in one God even then when walls and fortifications fall Why now that the Lord might bear up their Spirits in this condition he reveals his mind as the manner of the Lord was in those times unto his Prophet by several Visions in an especial manner in this Chap. and the latter end of the former Chap. he doth it in a double vision In one the Lord tels him that be the powers of the enemy what they would be though they saw no help none to oppose them yet the Lord would raise up an adverse power that should break them though they knew not whence it should come And he tels them in the 21. ver of the former Chap. there were four horns that did push Ierusalem and the Lord saith I will raise up four Carpenters and they shall beat them in pieces equal to the horns so shall the Carpenters be In the next place in this Chapter the Lord shews him another vision a man with a line in his hand taking me asure of the City Ierusalem and of the Temple as the manner of Builders and Artificers is to do Jesus Christ doth usually appear to his people according to those great things that he is about to effect for them when the people were to be carried into Captivity Jesus Christ then appears cloathed in linnon with a writers Inkhorn by his side Ezek. 9.1,2 and when the instruments of vengeance come Iesus Christ comes in the midst of them the man with a writers Inkhorn was in the midst of them what to do to mark those that were written to life in Ierusalem First before the instruments of vengeance can stretch out their hands against any the man with a writers Inkhorn will set his mark upon those that are written for life But when the people returned out of captivity now Jesus Christ appears with a line in his hand for he it is that must build the Church so you have it in the 6. Chap. 12. ver Behold the man whose name is the Branch he shall build thee he shall build the Temple of the Lord no wonder then that when the Temple and City is to be built Jesus Christ appears with a line in his hand This is the Vision Now observe in this Chapter three things that I may bring you home to the words read to you First you have the Vision it self the man with a line in his hand Secondly you have the interpretation of the Vision Ierusalem shall be built and the City shall be inhabited Thirdly you have a threefold Apostrophe that the Lord infers from this First directed unto the Jews that yet continued in Babylon the Lord calls them deliver thy self Oh Sion that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon It is barrenness and lowness of spirit not to accept deliverance it is pitty but those men that say they love their Task-masters they should have their ears bored as a token of perpetual service The Lord calls upon them Oh Sion that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon deliver thy self Secondly the next is to the enemies that were their neighbours the truth is my Brethren it was a good observation that of Tertullian unto the Church Tertul. there are tot hostes quot extranei all that be strangers be enemies now the Lord speaks unto these and tells them I will shake my hand against you and they that spoyl you they shall be a spoyl to their servants their own servants shall spoil them The third and last branch of this Apostrophe is in the words that I have read unto you the words of the Text and it referrs partly to the enemies and partly to the people of God that were returned out of captivity be silent Oh all flesh for the Lord is raised up out of his holy habitation Let the enemies silence their murmurings silence their slanders Be silent Oh all people Let the Saints silence their frettings silence their doubtings for the Lord is raised up out of his boly habitation You have then in the words two things First a Proposition The Lord is raised up out of his holy habitation Secondly an inference by way of Exhortation or Command thereupon Be silent before the Lord Oh all flesh The Proposition is first in nature though it be last in place and therefore I must first speak of that and then afterwards of the Application First then the Proposition is this the Lord is raised up out of the habitation of his holiness Here are two things to be explained before I can come unto those points that I purposed to commend to you First I must shew you what is meant by the habitation of his holiness And Secondly I must shew you how the Lord is said to be raised up The habitation of his holiness is used two waies in the Scripture It is sometimes put for heaven in 2 Chron. 30. ult it is said their prayer came up to his holy habitation even unto heaven So in Isa 63 15. look down from the habitation of thy holiness and thy glory why then the habitation of the holiness of God is Heaven Secondly it is many times put for the Temple the place of Gods presence amongst his people manifested in Ordinances so the Tabernacle is called Gods habitation in 1 Sam. 2.29 And the Lord is said to be at Ierusalem Brusius Brusius interpreteth it of the former Calvin Mr. Calvin of the latter we may very well by way of subordination take in both for I conceive the sense will be made up with both all the Churches deliverances as well as all the enemies destructions they come out of heaven the sword is bathed in heaven before it comes down upon the people of Gods curse in Iudgement in Isa 34.3 and yet all these whether deliverances or destructions are obtained by the prayers of the Saints in the Temple so that you may well ascribe it to both Observe I beseech you and it is a mighty truth the Saints have as glorious a hand in the Government of the world as they shall have an eminent hand in the Judgement of the world There is a threefold Authority that was erected by Christ when the government was taken into