ISRAELS CALL TO MARCH OVT OF BABYLON UNTO JERVSALEM OPENED IN A SERMON BEFORE The Honourable House of Commons assembled in PARLIAMENT Novemb. 26. 1645. being the day of Publique Humiliation By John Durye a Member of the Assembly of Divines Published by Order of the House of COMMONS LONDON Printed by G. M. for Tho. Vnderhill at the signe of the Bible in Wood-street 1646. Die Mercurij 26o. Novemb. 1645. ORdered by the Commons assembled in PARLIAMENT that Sir Gilbert Pickering and Sir John Clotworthy do give thanks from this House to M. Durye for the great pains he took in the Sermon he preached this day at the intreaty of this House at St. Margarets Westminster it being the day of Publike Humiliation and to desire him to Print his Sermon And it is ordered that none shall print this Sermon without being authorized under his hand-writing H. Elsynge Cler. Parl. D. Com. I Appoint Thomas Vnderhill to print my Sermon John Durye TO THE HONOVRABLE HOVSE of Commons assembled in PARLIAMENT THe great work of Reformation which is put into your hand hath many and great advantages That it is undoubtedly a work which God alone can bring to passe That he will in his own time accomplish it That it cannot be wrought any other way then by the advancement of the Gospel of Christ That none can be instrumentall in it but such is are the trees of Isa 6â— 3. 4. Righteousnes the planting of the Lord by whom he may be glorified That to such the Lord hath promised that they shall build the old wasts and raise up the former desolations That none can oppose the work but such as hate to be reformed and know not the joyfull sound of his truth That all such as wait for God in the way of his judgements can be helpers in it That the decree is gone forth against Babylon that she shall be laid waste That these are pronounced blessed who shall take and dash her little ones against the stones and that you are so deeply engaged in this work that you can have no temporall safety nor subsistance but so farre as you proceed in it so that now you must either fall utterly and draw with you into ruine the other reformed Churches or else secure them and your selves by the building up of Zion all these are exceeding great advantages which I am perswaded you doe understand and can truly value Therefore when I spoke unto you I found a freedom of spirit in love to the cause and to you which opened my mouth as without fear so with an assurance of acceptance and although the shortnes of the time would not suffer me to proceed and come to a full application yet I hope that if the thing which hath been delivered which in obedience to your Honourable command I have here published so neer as I can remember both in sense and words be laid to heart and rightly apprehended the main matter of my message will be in due time effected by the grace of God in your spirits which is to know the true relation wherein you stand towards the Church of God what the mystery of Babylon is and what you ought to aim at in raising up the walls of Jerusalem within your selves If time would have given leave I should have added something concerning the extent of your building that you must not make the walls of your Ierusalem too narrow in compasse but be mindefull that they ought to receive all those that are going out of Babylon with you I mean both your own and forreign Protestants whose eyes are upon you and whose peace and safety is wrapt up in your prosperity and how farre soever you shall think good in due time to look with an eye of brotherly correspondency towards them whereof to put you in minde is a part of my duty and therefore I now desire to crave leave that at a convenient season I may be permitted to offer the means thereof unto you yet in the mean time I may have confidence and rejoyce in this that the engagement which God hath put upon you by your Covenant is such that you cannot possibly be reconciled unto Babylon if you be faithfull to it And in your faithfull resolutions I dare promise unto my self that the Prophecie of Ieremy the Prophet shall be accomplished by your proceedings namely that they shall Ier. 5. 26. not take of Babylon any one stone for a corner nor a stone for a foundation but that it shall be desolate for ever If thus you are resolved to depart and goe out from her and answer effectually the call which is given to touch none of her uncleannes you may be sure that the work of the Lord and his good pleasure shall prosper in your hand You shall be exalted in his truth and beautified with his holines when he filleth Sion with judgement and Righteousnes And you may make sure of the promise which followeth the words of my Text that you shall not need to proceed in haste nor goe out by slight because the Lord will go before you and the God of Israel will be your rereward And that this may be so I shall never cease to make mention of you before the Lord at the Throne of Grace as it becommeth Your Honours Most humble and affectionate Servant in Christ Iohn Durye ISRAELS CALL TO MARCH OVT OF BABYLON UNTO JERVSALEM ISAIAH 52. 11. Depart ye depart ye goe ye out from thence touch no unclean thing go ye out of the midst of her be ye clean that beare the vessels of the Lord. THe Prophet Isaiah is truly called the Evangelicall Prophet because his scope is to shew two things First how the warfare of the The sâ—ope summe and parts of the Prophet Isaiah Church of God under the Law should be accomplished Secondly what the comforts are which under the Gospel should be conferred upon her and these are the two parts of this Prophecie the first concerning the warfare under the Law and the dispensation of severall judgements depending thereon is from chap. 1. to 40. The second concerning the comforts of the Gospel which at the accomplishment of this warfare the Church was to receive is from chap. 40. to the end His second part subâ—ivided in to foure promises 1. Of deliverance from Babylon 2. Of the comming of Christ In this second part four chief heads of comfort are promised unto the Church by the Prophet of which The first is That the Church should be delivered from the captivity of Babylon from chap. 40. to 53. The second chief comfort is That the Messias should come and by his suffering save his people chap. 53. Erect a new Covenant with his Church under the Gospel chap. 54 55. upon which true felicity is effected to all that keep it chap. 56. and from which are rejected Idolaters chap. 57. Hypocrites chap. 58. and obstinate Sinners chap. 59. The third chief comfort is That the bounds
of the 3 3. Of the calling of the Gentiles Church should be enlarged unto the Gentiles chap. 60. and the Gospel being preached chap. 61. Christ should be married unto them chap. 62. The fourth and last comfort is That notwithstanding 4 4. Of the recalling of the Iews the rejection of the Jews for their rebellion and obstinate refusall of the salvation purchased by Christ and offered unto them chap. 63 64 65 to 17. yet that in end they should be renewed and recalled again and glorifie God together with the Gentiles from ver 17. of chap. 65. to the end of the Prophecy The Text which I have chosen at this time for this day of our Humiliation doth belong to the first head of these comforts and is annexed thereunto as a duty to be performed by those to whom the promise of comfort is given And seeing the end and purpose of our Solemn Humiliation is to obtain this favour of God That our warfare wherein at the present weare may come to a happy end we may be delivered frō the danger of Babylonian captivity which cannot be hoped for except the condition whereupon it is promised be fulfilled Therefore it will not be out of season to put you in minde of this condition is the duty which is to be intended for the attainment of the comfort which we desire But before I come to speak distinctly of the words of the Text I will desire you to observe two things which Two things to be observed in the promise of deliverance from Babylon made by God the Spirit of God doth much insist upon in the proposall of this first comfort concerning the Churches deliverance out of Babylon The one is That it was God and God alone that would be the Authour of that deliverance The other is an argument to make this former truth evidently apparent unto all alledged thus That because God alone had declared and none but he could declare the end of this great work from the beginning That therefore he alone was to be acknowledged the Authour thereof Both these truths are often repeated and much pressed upon us by the Prophet to be taken notice of and almost in every chapter from the 40. to this 52. the first point is delivered the places are these for the first chap. 40. to 10 11 12 13 21. chap. 41. ver 4. 10 20 21 22 23. chap. 42. ver 8 9. and chap. 43. ver 1 2 3 7 10 11 12 13 15 18 19 25. and chap. 44. ver 6 7 8 24. and chap. 45. ver 5 11 18 19 21 22 23. and chap. 46. ver 4 5 9 10 13. chap. 47. 4. chap. 48. ver 3 4 5 6 7 9 11 12 15 16 20. chap. 52. 6. and in many of those chapters the second also is insisted upon the places are these for the second chap. 41. ver 22 23. and chap. 42. ver 9. chap 43. ver 12. chap. 44. ver 7 8. chap. 45. ver 19 21. chap. 46. ver 10. chap. 48. ver ◠4 5 16. the particular places I will not now mention for brevities sake only I thought it fit to put you in minde of these two Doctrines because the Spirit of God doth so much insist upon the truth of them in this matter namely that he even he and none but he should bring this deliverance to passe and that it should be known that it was he and none but he by this that he declared from the beginning Isa 42. 8 9. the end of his works for herein God doth difference himself from Idols and Men and in this deliverance Isa 41. 20 21 2◠23 24 25 26. especially doth he challenge a peculiar emminency of glory in the manifestation of his power and wisdom namely in this that he doth declare the end from the beginning which he hath done ordinarily both in the letter of the Text in plain-words and in the mystery of his working He told Adam in plain tearms from the beginning Gen. 3. 15. the end of the whole work of our salvation which is that the seed of the woman should tread down the head of the Serpent he told Abraham that in his seed all Gen. 12. 13. the nations of the earth should be blessed he told David that upon his Throne his seed should sit for ever and ordinarily Psal 89. 4 29. he hath foretold unto his people by his servants the Prophets the particular judgements which were to befall unto them with the issue thereof as Amos saith Surely the Lord God will doe nothing but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the Prophets Amos 3. 7. But this is not all for God not only doth declare the end from the beginning in the letter of the word but also in the mystery of his work For the foregoing works of God doe represent and hold out as it were in a picture the manner of his way and the issue of the following works So that the work it self doth speak in one period that which is to fall out in another analogically And thus there is besides the litterall a spirituall Sodom and Egypt in the Revelation of Jesus Christ discovered unto us chap 11. 8. Thus also there is a spirituall Babylon from which the Church under the Gospel is to receive a spirituall deliverance which is not only foretold in plain terms but also represented and delineated unto us in the temporall deliverance of the people of God from earthly Babylon which is Typicall unto the spirituall This I have been willing to observe before I come unto my Text because it will have an influence upon the matter which is to be delivered and cleer that unto your understanding which otherwise might perhaps be doubtfull concerning the mysticall Babylon of which I have Reasons why this text was chosen chosen to speak at this time for two great reasons The first is the importance of the work in it self because the destruction of Babylon and the deliverance of the Church out of it is the great work which God doth intend to accomplish by the Gospel in these latter times The second is the relation wherein we doe stand to it for I conceive that God is not only working our deliverance to bring us out of Babylon at this time but that his purpose is if we marre not our selves to make us instrumentall towards others to help to free them from the bondage of it and therefore it will concern us in a speciall manner above others to regard his work and consider the operation of his hands That when you shall see by the contemplation of this matter that this time of our Humiliation is an acceptable time and a day of our Salvation you may with greater willingnes cheerfulnes of minde follow the call by which all the Israel of God is stirred up to march out of Babylon to come to their spirituall Jerusalem according to the exhortation of my Text Depart
in a large countrey and that the charets of his glory should become the shame of his Lords house and why should all this befall unto him it may be gathered from the place that it was because he was not faithfull to the charge which God had committed to him and that he did not look so much to the vessels of the Lord as to himself In a word he was a states-man that lookt to his own ends in a publike place therefore God appointed Eliakim to be put in his place who should have a care of the vessels from the least to the greatest who should support the glory thereof and in this employment be fastened as a nail in a sure place I need not to insist further upon the application of this example only look to it that there be no Shebna found amongst you but that every one set his heart in uprightnes to his duty as Eliakim did And this much for the first part of the Text concerning the persons to whom the promise of deliverance out of Babylon is made now follow the duties which God requireth of them by vertue of a call Of the duties These duties we have said in the beginning are chiefly two The first is that they should resolve upon a march from Babylon The second is that in their march they should be carefull to preserve themselves from uncleannes and perfit holines The call to march from Babylon is in these words Depart In the call to march out of Babylon is observed 1. The earnestnes thereof ye depart ye goe ye out from thence goe ye out of the midst of her namely out of Babylon First observe here how earnest the Spirit of God is to give this call this is apparent in the frequent repetition of the same thing to shew the importance of the duty and the necessity of doing it without delay for when God saith Depart ye depart ye go ye out go ye out is not this as much as if he had said make no delay tarry not march away with all speed the reason of this earnestnes to presse us to all diligence in this departure is two-fold The first is the danger wherein we may be if we stay long By reason of the danger of staying in Babylon this is declared more expressely in the Revelation chap. 14 ver 4. Come ye out of her namely Babylon my people that ye be not partaker of her sinnes and that ye receive not of her plagues the danger is that if we make any stay in Babylon we may be infected with her sins and be involved in her plagues being called away if we obey not we can promise to our selves no protection either from sinne or from the punishment thereof and the danger of being overtaken with the punishment is great because it is said that it shall be very suddain when she shall think her self most secure and safe then in a moment in one dry her plagues shall come even in their perfection Isa 47 8 9. therefore it is very dangerous to make any delayes Besides the danger of the event of a slow departure there is another cause why the call is so earnest namely the dulnes of our inclination to and the aversenes of our And by reason of our inclination to stay minde from the resolution of this march and removall We caÌ„not naturally apprehend the daÌ„ger wherein we are within Babylon and not being sensible thereof we finde no cause of fear and so cannot resolve to flee nay we love to stay there where we are accustomed You may see a cleer example of this in Lot He was a godly man he was told by the Angels that Sodom should be destroyed he did beleeve the warning and in his former conversation 2 Pet. 2. 8. amongst the Sodomites he found no delight but grief of soul Yet for all this when it came to a suddain removall he could not get his matters dispatched nor come to his march from thence till the Angels forced him in a manner away for the Text saith they took him by the hand and set him without the City Gen. 19. 16. and then when he was gone his wife having received a command not to look back could not refrain to expresse her inclination towards Sodom although she could not be ignorant of the prohibition This then doth manifest the strong bent of our desires to remain in Babylon which by this earnest call the Spirit doth endeavour to overcome in us even as Christ also doth upon the like occasion in few words warne us Luk. 17. 32. saying Remember Lots wife to shew that in us there is a disposition to remain in Sodom although we be strongly called out of it The words of the exhortation are cleer and need no explication The Doctrine to be gathered from them is this That the great and main work of a Christian in this life 1 1. The duty delivered in a Doctriâ—e is to march away and make a safe retreat from Babylon to come to Jerusalem To make good this truth and to open the whole matter And opened in three â—eadâ— I must here shew three things 1. What the mystery of Babylon is in opposition to Jerusalem 2. How all Christians are in a Babylonian captivity whiles they are in this present world 3. How notwithstanding this captivity they may be marching away and ever advancing towards Jerusalem Concerning Babylon to lay open the mystery thereof 1 1. In the mystery of Babylonâ— in opposition to Jerusalem we must first observe the literall truth of both these Cities and then take up from thence that wherein the mystery doth stand The first originall of the City and Tower of Babylon Grounded upon the History is reported in the eleventh Chapter of Genesis the substance of the story is this That mankinde after the flood being of one language did designe to build a tower whose top should reach unto Heaven and a city by it to get themselves a name lest they should be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole Earth This purpose did miscarry by a judgement of God upon the builders whose language God did confound and so scattered them abroad over the Earth whence the place did get the name Babel or Babylon which signifieth confusion after this scattering of the first builders of Babel the foundations of the City being only laid in processe of time it was built by Nimrod who in it began the first Monarchy Gen 10. 8 9 10. Dan. 2. 37 38. of the world which continued there till it came to its highest perfection in the dayes of Nebuchadnezzar This Nebuchadnezzar was the man that took Jerusalem by force burnt it with fire and transported the people thereof into Babylon and the vessels of the Lords house into 2 Chron. 36. the house of his gods Now Jerusalem which he did conquerand subdue was the Mother-City of the Jewish Nation the place where God had put his
it proposeth unto it self are chiefly two Policie and Power The greatnes of this world doth walk upon these two leggs Rabsakeh doth acknowledge that counsell and strength are for warre and all the states of Isa 36. 5. this world are states of warre for there is no peace to the wicked saith the Lord Isa 48. 22. By policy we understand all the contrivances of humane wit and reason to compasse self-ends and whether the contrivance be fair or foul if it but reach the end it will serve the turne of a naturall states-man Babylon doth boast of her wisdom Isa 47. 10 12 13. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge hath perverted thee saith the Prophet and immediately before Thou hast trusted in thy wickednes thou hast said None seeth me The men of this world lay their plots deep they seek deep to hide their counsell from the Lord their works are in the dark and they say Who seeth us who knoweth us Isa 29. 15. But the children of light delight to walk in the light and in the presence of their God to doe all things openly because they know that nothing is hid but it shall be revealed The counsells of Babylon are not only such as proceed from the principles of naturall truth honest and justice whereunto all pretend for their own ends but such as admit of all craft subtilty and deceit nay of witch-craft sorceries and inchantments Stand now with thine inchantments and the multitude of thy sorceries wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth saith the Prophet And this is the finall result of all humane deceits and policies which tend to wickednes Satan becomes their oracle The power of Babylon is all the riches the strength and the authority which it can purchase to make it self considerable whereby it doth exalt it self in comparison of others and what with allurements on the one side and with terrours on the other or with actuall violence it laboureth to bring all into subjection to it self But the means by which the City of God doth compasse the end of her government are also two namely the word and the spirit This is my Covenant with them saith the Lord my Spirit which is upon thee and my words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy seed nor out of the mouth of thy seeds seed The Covenant on Gods part is to furnish his Church with the Word and Spirit these are the two guides of truth to lead all that come to God in all his truth by these two namely through the spirit according to the word the Church is setled in a way of government under Christ with diversities of offices and differences of gifts of administrations and of operations answerable thereunto the office of ministring the Word 1 Cor. 1â— and Sacraments the office of ruling and overseeing the flock the office of distributing unto the necessities of the Saints are the principall and ordinary means of bringing the Citizens of Jerusalem to have communion with God The administration of Instruction of Exhortation of Comfort of Reproof and of Correction in the way of government judgement and discipline by the use of the keys of the Kingdome of Heaven to shut it upon the refractory and to open it unto the penitent sinners are the duties of those to whom the offices are committed all which they must doe not in a Lordly way but according to the rule as stewards of the mysteries and manifold gifts and graces of God ordained for the edification of the Children of God in the household of Faith The manner of dealing which Babylon useth towards 4 4. In their opposite manner of dealing Revel 17. 3. her subjects is that which men use towards beasts she rideth upon the beast I understand this of the beastly part of humane nature for the corruption of our nature in that which is sensuall and carnall doth put us in the case and condition of beasts to be ruled and governed as they are this way of ruling men as beasts is practised when with absolute power she doth bring her subjects unto absolute obedience when they are bound to doe all by an implicite faith ignorantly only because she doth command it to be done even as a horse turneth this or that way only because he that rideth on him doth draw the bridle to the right or left hand When they are led by baits and sensuall allurements of pleasure or profit or imaginary greatnes and when they are over-awed with the whip and the spurre and driven to doe whatsoever she doth please without any respect to reason or conscience for their own good but only to exalt her greatnes in this world And this is the way of all humane government which is meerly naturall nay the use of naturall reason as it reflecteth upon outward things without respect unto God doth teach the great ones of this world none other way to deal with their subjects and herein the great Romish whore of Babylon the Mother of Fornication hath outstript all the rest of the Earth in policy and shewed to all the Kings of the earth the depth of the mystery of iniquity in this government so that they have drunk out of the cup of her fornications and their statesmen have committed adultery with her But the manner of dealing which is used in the City of God towards the inhabitants of Jerusalem is not at all Arbitrary it is altogether Legall there is but one Law-giver Jesus Christ and under him the government is to be administred even as he himself when he was in the flesh did behave himself in the administration thereof towards his subjects He was not as a Lord over them but as their servant in love to admit of them and to receive them to the glory of God His way of dealing was to inlighten their understandings to exhort them and to lead them forth in the way wherein they were to walk and to go before them By this rule all the officers of his Kingdom are to walk towards his servants all his true servants are his members and these have as great a right in him as those whom he hath made rulers over them in him they are all but fellow-servants and Brethren and the meanest of them in case of any offence may call the greatest nay though he were an Apostle yea and the chiefest of the Apostles as we see it fell out in Acts chap. 11. to an account to shew the grounds and reason of his proceeding in any matter and to this effect Thrones of judgement are set even Thrones of the house of Dâ—vid within Jerusalem By the means of these thrones all the liberties and priviledges of the Children of God are preserved and none for all are alike accountable to them is suffered to live and doe what he pleaseth in an Arbitrary way whether he be high or low to the throne of Christ he must stoop or be