Ages to witness the baffles he hath received what a fool is he to think that her Defender should be conquered by a revolted Angel that lies under an everlasting curse 3. The violences against her which have been fatal to other Societies have been useful to her This bush hath burned without consuming and preserved its verdure in the midst of fire not from the nature of the bush but the presence of him that dwelt in it It hath not only subsisted in the bowels of her Enemies but hath been established by means of the violence of men and grown greater in the midst of torments and death she hath not only out-grown her afflictions but grown greater and better by them The last Monarchy compos'd of Clay and Iron Clay for its earthly and miry designs and Iron for its force and violence is the immediate Usher of the Kingdom of God that shall never be destroyed but stand for ever Dan. 2.41 44. 1. She hath been often encreased Persecution hath lopt off some branches of the Vine but have been found more sprouting up instead of them that were cut off Her blood hath been seed and the pangs of her Martyrs have been fruitful in bringing forth new witnesses We have scarce read of more sudden conversions to Christianity though indeed more numerous by the Preaching of the Word than by the shedding the blood of Christians Eminent Professors have sprung out of the Martyrs Ashes The storms have been so far from destroying her that it hath been the occasion of spreading her Tents in a larger ground Saul's winnowing the Church blew away some of the Corn to take rooting in other places Acts 8.3 4. Like seeds of Plants blown away by the wind which have risen brought forth their kind in another soil and it is no more than hath been predicted Dan. 12.1 4. Such a time of trouble that never was since there was a Nation should be the time when many should run to and fro and knowledg should be increased While other Societies increase by persecuting their Enemies this increaseth by being persecuted her self It grows as a Vine Hos 14.7 Though it be cut the cutting hath contributed to its thriving This Rose-bush hath not only stood in the wind which hath rooted up other Oaks but the fragrancy of it hath been carried by that wind to places at a greater distance When Antiochus commanded all the Books of the Scripture in the hands of any to be burned they were not only preserved but presently after appeared out of their hidden places as they were translated into the Greek Tongue the Language then most known in the world and made publick to other Nations Truth hath been often rendred by such proceedings more clear and glorious The persecution of Sion's Head the Captain of our Salvation to death was the occasion of the discovery of the Gospel to the whole world he was the great seed that being cast into the ground became so fruitful as to spread his branches in all corners of the Earth Joh. 12.24 And that persecution which I suppose remains yet to be acted and which will be the smartest shall be succeeded by the clearest eruption of Gospel-light wherein the Gospel shall recover its ancient and primitive glory The slaying of the witnesses shall end in an Evangelical success Rev. 11.9 10 c. The world shall give glory to the God of Heaven v. 13. The Kingdoms of the world shall become the Kingdoms of Christ v. 15. Christ shall more illustriously reign v. 17. The Temple of God shall be opened in Heaven v. 19. The spiritual Israel as well as the national the Antitype as well as the Type have multiplied under oppression * Decay of Christian Piety p. 23. and like an arched Building stood firmer by all the weights that have been designed to crush her 2. She has often been Refin'd by the most violent persecutions of her Enemies She hath not only surviv'd the flames that have been kindled against her but as refin'd Gold come out more beautiful from the furnace left her dross behind her and hath been wrought into a more beautiful frame by the hand of her great Artificer like the sand upon the sea shore she hath not only broke the force of the waves but been assisted by them to discharge her filth and been washed more clean by those waves that rusht in to drown her She hath been more conformed to the image of her head and made fitter to glorify God here and to enter into the glory of God hereafter The Church is to cast forth her roots like Lebanon Hos 14.5 The Cedar by its shakings grows up more in beauty as well as strength and the torch by its knocks burns the clearer Though the number of her children might some times decrease through fear yet her true Off-spring that have remained have increased in their zeal courage and love to God Apostates themselves have proved refiners of them that they have deserted * Dan. 11.35 And some of them of understanding shall fall to try them and to purge and make them white The Corn is the purer by the separation of the chaff Thus hath she grown purer by flames and sounder by batteries 4. When she has seemed to be forlorn and dead God has restored her When Israel was at the lowest a decree issued out in Aegypt to destroy her males and root out her seed deliverance began to dawn and when a knife was at her throat at the red sea and scarce a valiant believer found among a multitude of despairers God turned the back of the knife to his Israel and the edge to the throat of the enemies When the whole Church as well as the whole world seemed to be at its last gasp God preserved a Noah as a spark to kindle a new world and a new Church by When Jerusalem was sackt the City destroyed the people dispersed into several parts of the Babylonish Empire without any humane probability of ever being gathered again into one body yet she was preserved restored recollected brought out of the sepulchre resetled in her ancient soyl and recovered her beauty which can be said of no other society in the world but this whose deliverance and restauration hung not upon the will and policy of man but upon the Word of God who had limited their captivity to seventy years and promised a restauration The blessing of God to Abraham and Sarah is set out as a ground of faith and comfort for the Churches restauration and increase Isa 51.1 2 3. He will comfort Sion and comfort all her wast places and make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of God that joy and gladness may be found therein as well as he did enliven the dead body of Abraham and the barren womb of Sarah When the Church hath been so low that men have despaired of seeing any more of her than her ashes God hath produced a new remnant he hath
thereof The Kingdom of God is not destroyed when it is removed but transplanted into a more fruitful Soil While Christ hath a body in the world he will find a Joseph of Arimathea to embalm it and preserve it for a resurrection When the glory of the Lord goes off from one Cherub it will find other Cherubims whereon to settle Ezek. 10.4.18 That glory which had dwelt is the material ark of the Sanctuary departs from thence to find a Throne in that Chariot which had been described Ezek. 1. Nay the departure of God from one Church renders his name more glorious in another * Rivet in Hos 1.10 p. 518. The rejection of the carnal Israel was the Preamble to the appearance of the spiritual Israel the Kingdom of the Messiah was rendred more large and illustrious by the dissolving of that Church that had confidence in the flesh trusted in their external rites and patcht the beauty and purity of divine Worship with their whorish additions just as the mortification of the flesh gives liveliness to the spirit and the pulling up noysom weeds from a garden makes room for the setting and flourishing growth of good plants 2. Though God unstakes the Church in one place yet he will not only have a Church but a professing Church in another It shall be said of Sion This and that man was born there It shall be said of Sion by God It shall be said of Sion by men If Christ confesseth none before his Father but such as confess him before men Luk. 12.8 shall he ever want imployment shall the world ever be at that pass as to bear none that profess him and so none to be owned by him at the right hand of his Father Shall he by whom all things subsist have none to acknowledg their subsistance by him The world may be the Inheritance of Christ but scarce counted his possession if there were not in some parts of it a body of subjects to justifie their Allegiance to him in the face of a persecuting generation Indeed when the Church was confined to the narrow limits of the carnal Israel the profession of the truth was contracted to a few though the faith of it might be alive in others only Caleb and Joshua among the whole body of the murmuring Israelites in the wilderness asserted the honour of God and maintained the truth of his promise though the belief of it might sparkle in the hearts of others under the ashes of their fears that hindered their discovery of it to others It was another time reduced to one and Elijah only had the boldness to make a declaration of the name of God though there were 7000 who had retain'd their purity while they had lost their courage to publish it 1 Kings 19.18 But in the Christian Church since the number of elect are more the profession will be greater in the midst of an universal Apostacy of pretenders Rev. 13.8 All that dwell upon the earth shall Worship him i. e. the Beast whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb. If their election be a preservative against an adoration of the Beast it is also a security against the denial of any such worship and an encouragement to profess the name of Christ when they shall be brought upon the stage This profession may lye much in the dark and not be so visible as before As a field of corn overtopt by weeds looks at a distance as if there were nothing else but the blew and red cockle and darnel but when we come near we see the good grain shews its head as well as the weeds but a professing people there will be one where or other 'T is a standing law of Christianity that a belief in the heart should be attended by confession with the mouth Rom. 10.9 And the Church is a congregation of people sounding the voice of Christ as he was preached and confest by the Apostles while there are believers there will be professors in Society together some Ordinances setled in being during the continuance of the world as the Supper 1 Cor. 11.6 implies a Society as the seat of the administration Baptism is a Ceremony of admission into a Society the Supper a feasting of several upon spiritual Viands Officers appointed imply a body professing some rules Math. 28.20 To what purpose are all these setled during the continuance of the world if they were not somewhere to be practised till that period of time how can they be practised without a Confederation and Society Without such a body all the Ordinances and Rules of Christ would be in vain and imply as little wisdom in enacting them as a want of power in not keeping up a Society in some part of the world to observe them according to his own prescriptions There will therefore be in some part or other of the world a Church openly professing the doctrine of truth 3. This Church or Sion shall have a numerous progeny The Spiritual Israel shall be as the Sand of the Sea which cannot be measured or numbred Hos 1.10 which was the promise made to Abraham Gen. 22.17 and renewed in the same terms to Jacob Gen. 32.12 The Church is a little flock in comparison of the carnal world yet it is numerous in it self though not in every place for sometimes there may not be above three found to withstand the worship of a Golden Image yet in some one or other place of the world and successively it shall be numerous he will not lose the honour of the feast he hath prepared though those that are invited prefer their Farms and Oxen before it but will find Guests in the high-ways he will spread his wings from East to West and in every place Incense shall be offered to his Name Mal. 1.11 The Church is compared to the morning Cant. 6.10 which from small beginnings in a short time fills the whole Hemisphere with light and the promises concerning it run all that way The Hills were to be covered with the shadow of it her boughs are to be sent out to the Sea and her branches to the River Psal 80.10 11. It was to spread it self like a goodly Cedar and be a dwelling-place to the Fowl of every wing Ezek. 17.23 Yea a numberless multitude from all Nations Kindreds People and Tongues are to stand before the Throne and before the Lamb Clothed with white Robes and Palms in their hands Rev. 7.9 adorned with innocency and crowned with victory No Monarchy ever did ever can so far stretch her bounds nor hath the Sun seen any place where it hath not seen some sprinkling of a Church Every Kingdom hath met with unpassable bounds but the Ensigns of Christ have not been limited The Church was once crowded up in a narrow compass of Judaea but since that her Territories are enlarged her Ensigns have flourished over many Countries Rahab Tyre Ethiopia the vast circuit of Asia and the deserts of
their office of teaching Since he promised his presence with his ministry to the end of the world he will have a Church to the end of the world to enjoy the benefit of that promise to be taught by them It consisted not with the wisdom or faithfulness of Christ to promise a perpetuity to that if he knew it were to be cut short before the end of the world And this himself also assures the Church of in all its variety of states Revel 2.1 These things saith he that holds the seven Stars in his right hand who walks in the midst of the seven Golden Candlestiâ—k Not only seven Stars at one time or seven Golden Candlesticks in being together but in all the successions of the Church to the consummation of the world And as he describes himself by this title when he speaks of the Church of Ephesus which was the first state of the Church not only assuring her of his holding her Star and walking by her Candlestick but all the rest that were to follow so he doth renew the same expression in part when he speaks of the Church of Sardis which is the rising of the Church from the Apostacy wherein it had been covered in the Thyatirian state Revel 3.1 These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God and the seven Stars The seven spirits of God signifies the gifts for the building and perfecting the Church still in the hand of Christ which should be in a more plentiful way poured out than for some time before as they were in the first reformation He is still therefore as a Prophet walking in the Church in all ages Not only in the first Foundation of it by the Apostles but in the reformation of it after it had been buried in Superstition and Idolatry And at the restauration of the Church in the world there shall be a pure river of water as clear as Christal proceeding from the Throne of God and the Lamb Revel 22.1 i. e. Pure doctrine without any mud and mixtures 2. 'T is his part as a Priest to establish it in the favour of God and look to the reparations of his Temple The Church is his Temple A Temple is the proper seat the proper care of a Priest He is a Priest still upon his Throne Zach. 6.13 and that for ever As he hath therefore some thing to offer so he hath always some for whom he offers who are they but his Church His prayer on earth John 17. was but a model or draught of his intercession in Heaven one part of it is for preservation of them through the truth of God John 17.17 The keeping up the Gospel in the world in order to a sanctification of some is the matter of his intercession which is one part of his Priestly Office And we cannot imagine his plea for his Church to be weaker on his throne it being also a throne of grace than it was for his enemies when he was upon a cross of suffering The compassions annext to his Priesthood remain still Heb. 4.15 If his office be perpetual the qualifications necessary to that office are as durable as the office it self as long as there is any object for their exercise To what purpose are his compassions if he should not pity her for whom they were designed and for whose behoof he was furnisht with them He cannot be faithful to God in his office if he be not merciful and tender to Sion in her distresses He certainly pities her as he would himself were it possible he should be in an infirm condition He must lose his Soul before he can lose his pity and the Church must cease to be his body before she can cease to be the object of his compassions He hath the same sentiments now that he had when he called to Paul from Heaven Act. 9.4 It was not then Why persecutest thou mine but why persecutest thou me Nor is it so now as the relation continues the same so doth the compassion so do his sentiments so do his cares To what purpose doth he as a Priest sit upon a Throne of grace if he did not shew grace to his Sion against the cruel designs of her enemies As God pities us when he remembers our frame Psal 103.13 14. So no question doth Christ when he remembers Sions oppressions as a distressed child is the object of the fathers pitty Add to this That since the death of Christ was one part of his Priestly performance and that the virtue of his sacrifice is as eternal as his Priest-hood what a disparagement would it â—e to him and the virtue of his death if ever the world while it stood should be void of the fruits of it There can be no moment wherein it is not valid to expiate the sins of some men and therefore not a moment wherein the world shall be without a Sion whose sins are expiated by it Should the standar'd of Sion be snatcht away and torn by the powers of darkness what would become of the glory what would become of the virtue of the Redeemers death Would God consecrate him so solemnly by an oath to be a Priest to so little purpose How could it be for ever if the execution of that office should be interrupted by the cessation of a Church as long as the world stands upon its pillars Would it not be an empty title if the end of it were not performed We cannot imagine the falling of Sion but we must question the merit of his death the truth of his exaltation the strength of his intercession the faithfulness of his office and the sincerity and candor of his compassions 3. 'T is his part as a King to establish Sion in being and govern her The Prophets always testified that of his Government there should be no end If the Church should cease for one moment in the world what subjects would he have to govern here Can he be a King without a Kingdom or a governour without subjects to bear a voluntary and sincere witness to his name If he be King in Sion he will also have a Sion to own him and a Sion to rule in not only a conquest of the Serpentine brood and infernal powers was promised but the total and perpetual victory Gen. 3.15 The sted of the woman was to bruise the Serpents head When the head is bruised there is no more wisdom to guide or force to Spirit the arm and the other members of the body It was a promise made not only of Christ to man but of a compleat victory to Christ that he should outwit the Serpents wisdom and utterly discomfit the Serpents power If the conquest were not perfect and perpetual it could not be called a spoiling of principalities and powers as it is Col. 2.15 but an interruption or temporary check whence they might rescue themselves He is therefore said to still the enemy and the avenger * Psal 8.2 I make no scruple