JERVSALEMS GLORY Breaking forth into the WORLD BEING A SCRIPTURE-DISCOVERY OF THE New-Testament-Church In the Latter Dayes immediately before the SECOND COMING OF CHRIST LONDON Printed by J. A. and are to be 〈…〉 most Booksellers 168◠TO THE CHRISTIAN READER THIS Precious Treatise of the New Testament Church in the latter Dayes Preached many Years a-go by that Evangelical Prophet Mr. Jeremiah Burroughes was committed to us by a Citizen of Zion to whose ready Pen the World is much engaged for Preserving the Mantles of divers of our late Elijah's which they let fall from their Pulpits before they went to Heaven If thou hast seen and tasted that Gracious and Warm Spirit which runs through His many other VVorkes Published by Himself and His Brethren it will certainly encrease in thee a Spiritful Thirst and Longing after what else he hath received from his LORD and MASTER and hath freely Communicated as His Embassadour to His People which are yet to be printed The Principal Scope of this Small though weighty Book is to give us Scriptural notice that Jesus Christ will usher in His second Coming by making Jerusalem His Church a Praise in the Earth a Glory throughout the World This is plainly demonstrated according to the WORD by this Apollos mighty in the Scriptures and an Interpreter one of a Thousand Therefore seriously peruse every Text without a prejudicate Opinion Judge not rashly lest thou be judged For this Master-Builder hath set before thee nothing but that which is grounded upon the Pillar of Truth and which is according to the Golden Reed of the Sanctuary Here is a singular Collection of several Scriptures of the Old and New Testament looking one the other in the face as the Cherubims of Gold did which Moses made at each end of the Mercy Seat and shaking Hands together for the more evident and firm Demonstration of this Great Gospel-Truth following the Apostles Rule Comparing spiritual things with spiritual things so that you will find this Soul-ravishing Point that Christ's Church shall be the Praise and Glory of all the World as the Light of the Sun breaking forth more and more to a perfect mid-day of Glory Oh! how welcome will that day of Christ's Espousals and Coronation be to His Love-sick Spouse as the Dove with the Olive Leaf was to Noah or the re-appearing of the Star to the Wise Men Let us resolve in the strength of Christ who is the only Supream Head of His Church constantly to make it our solemn business to plead at the Throne of Grace those glorious Prophesies and Promises in his Name in whom they are Yea and Amen even till He Establish and till He make Jerusalem a Praise till He have not only laid the foundations with Saphirs but finished this City of Pearl not only brought forth the Corner stone but the Top Stone of Jerusalem and all the Earth with shouting cry Grace Grace to it 26 th of this 3 d. Month 1675. Less than the Least of Jerusalems Remembrancers William Adderley THE EPISTLE THE Publisher of these Sermons is desirous they might pass with Testimonial into the World that they might pass with the greater Freedom But indeed the Name of the Author so well known may be sufficient Argument for their Reception in every place These Sermons are but some Fragments of the VVorthy Authors Judicious and Pious Labours But Christ gave order to his Disciples that the Fragments should not be lost Faith may here find some food as it takes a prospect of the Glory that is hereafter to be revealed For here you have the Author's Sentiments about the last times and of the Catastrophe of all things at last After the Dragon and the Beast have acted their parts in their opposition to the Lamb and his followers wherein he hath presented to our View the many ancient Prophesies recorded in Scripture that bear witness to these things So far as you see Prophetick Light shine before you take heed to it which is all that is desired of the Reader and by the Publisher Who having this Commodity I mean this Copy lying by him was willing to bring it forth as men bring Corn and other necessaries to Market for publick Use and benefit only remember that it was not in the Author's Intention for to have it so Had his own hand been upon the Frame you should have seen the Lines drawn with more Accuracy and the Truth more fully searched into And if any hath thoughts different from the Author 's in these ensuing Sermons let him shew however that Respect to so Reverend a Man as to reject nothing Rashly that is Asserted by him and if he doth not Receive let him Consider And let us all be waiting and preparing for the Bride-groom's coming Amen Even so come Lord Jesus ISA. 62. v. 7. And give him no rest till he establish and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the Earth SERMON I. IN the former Chapter there are many Promises of an excellent and Glorious state that God would bring his Church into in his time with those Promises the heart of this Prophet Isaiah was much taken and therefore in the beginning of this Chapter saith he For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest until the Righteousness thereof go forth as brightness and the Salvation thereof as a Lamp that burneth And as he himself would not rest nor hold his peace so he would that all the Watchmen that were set upon the Walls of Jerusalem and so after all the Ministers of the Church that they should not rest yea he would that they should give God no rest until he establish and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the Earth Give God no rest he speaks here after the manner of Men to note what importunity there should be among the people of God in seeking of God to make good all those glorious Promises that he hath made to his Church for the raising of it up to a glorious state as a man that is importunate of any business he is not satisfied if he doth Petition and nothing comes of it he falls to it again and again and seeks to get by importunity and resolves that he will be at no rest And so God speaks after this manner not that his rest or not rest doth depend upon us But that we should be as importunate with him for so great a mercy as this is as with any man in the world that we were resolved that till he had given us an answer we would give him no rest and give him no rest until he hath established and made Jerusalem a praise in the Earth Till he establish Till he makes good his word till the Church be brought to a settled way of mercy and into a safe and sure condition For sometimes as if the Prophet should say we find the Promises beginning to work and God is doing good for us but at other times things seem
that this Scripture in Peter though in some passages of it may seem to referr to the great day of Judgement yet compared with Isa out of which it is taken it appears to be but a very comment upon my Text and I find generally Interpreters do Interpret this of Isa to be meant of the Church of God in this World And so by comparing one Scripture with another we may find out much truth And besides the Prophets did Prophesie very little about the Eternal life after the day of Judgment though something there was about it but very little in comparison and therefore we have a great deal of Reason to think it to be meant concerning this time of this new Jerusalem when God shall make it to be the praise of the whole Earth Lastly This shall add to the beauty of this new Jerusalem that Prosperity shall do it no hurt and therefore as I remember in the 4 th of the Revelat. the state of the Church in this time is compared to an Eagle there were four Beasts the first like a Lyon the second like a Calf the third was like a Man and the fourth was like a Flying-Eagle Noting the four states of the Church and the last shall be as an Eagle that is they shall be lifted above all these outward things At first when the Church was raised from persecution in Constantines time the History of those times tells us that there was a voice heard in the Air To day is Poyson poured into the Church It was at that time when Constantine did endow the Church with great Endowments and we find it now that we have weak stomacks and are not able to bear much prosperity and therefore God hath thought it rather fit to keep his Church low but when that day comes for Jerusalem to be made the praise of the whole Earth there shall be no fear of hurt from prosperity For Christ shall be all in all to them There shall be a more immediate enjoyment of God and that will keep them from taking hurt by what they have in the creature Now let 's put all these together and see what a glorious condition the Saints shall be in surely when all these things shall be fulfilled then you must needs say that Jerusalem will be made a praise in the whole Earth That is First When there shall be a Resurrection a new creation a new world when all Tears shall be wip'd away when all wicked men shall be kept under When the Church shall appear to be the pleasant Portion of God his Inheritance his dearly Beloved his Glory and when all Promises that have been made to them and all Prophecies of their glory shall be fulfilled when there shall be a wonderful confluence of the Nations Jews and Gentiles to them and yet there shall be a great deal of purity in ordinances there shall not be filth among them as now there is And the gifts and graces of the Saints shall be mightily inlarged and raised when there shall be a glorious presence of the Father and of Jesus Christ with them when Godliness and the Saints shall be honoured in the World as much as it is contemn'd when there shall be a blessed Union among all the Churches when there shall be a mighty change of the creatures and when there shall be no fear of any danger of any hurt by any Prosperity that they shall enjoy surely then will Jerusalem be made a praise of the whole Earth Therefore let the Saints give the Lord no rest until Jerusalem be thus made as the praise of the whole Earth You will say are these things so are they so indeed This may seem to be very strange and a strange point to some of you But in former times it was not so accounted those that are learned will find that Lactantius 17. Book 18.23 24. Chapters spends them almost all upon this Argument and he speaks of very strange things which I am loath to mention It may be he might go too far and he liv'd about 1300. Years ago But Justin Martyr that was long before him for he was but thirty Years after John the Disciple speaking about this point that I am speaking of I and all that are Christians of the Orthodox Faith hold this that there is such a time a coming of a glorious condition of the Church I know that this hath been abused by those that they account Millenaries there were some that did abuse this Doctrine and made the glory of the Church to consist in fleshly pleasures and the like and so they were condemn'd But I make the glory especially to consist in Spiritual good yet so as it shall appear to all the World And I find some Expressions in the Revelations where the Holy Ghost speaks of this of Christs coming to appear in this glorious manner he hath another manner of phrase to express it than I find in all the Book of God when other things are spoken of In the 19. of the Revel v. 9. He had spoken before of the Kingdom of Christ And he saith unto me Write blessed are they which are called unto the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me These are the true sayings of God Are there any false sayings of God It were blasphemy to think so one would think that if he did but say these are the sayings of God it were enough or these are true sayings But to make it sure that we may believe it These are the true sayings of God Not only the sayings but the True sayings of God Now if you say How can these things be To that I answer as in the eighth of Zech. v. 6. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts if it be marvellous in the Eyes of the Remnant of this People in these days should it also be marvellous in my Eyes saith the Lord of Hosts It 's marvellous in your Eyes should it therefore be marvellous in my Eyes I am the Lord of Hosts We may be ready to think these things cannot be But the Lord intends to put forth an Almighty power in bringing this to pass and it is that that is much in the heart of God to do These things the nearer the time comes the more they will be known and therefore I think it very useful at some time or other that people should be acquainted only Ministers had need have a Spirit of sobriety and moderation because not yet being fulfill'd they are not throughly understood and therefore we must not dare to be too bold in our guessing at things that are not clear But such things as appear clearly so as we may see there is footing for we should exercise our selves in and labour to make others acquainted with But now If you ask me when shall these things be when shall Jerusalem be made the praise of the whole Earth I Answer thus The Third SERMON IT 's very hard to determine the particular time but surely at the end
of Antichrist's Reign it must be And how long Antichrist shall reign that we know certainly only the difficulty is to reckon the very time of the beginning of his Reign I say how long his Reign shall last we have certain knowledge of that that Antichrist shall reign for 1260 Years And we have such Parallel Scriptures for this that there is nothing more evident than it is and generally Divines agree upon it Those two Scriptures in the Book of the Revelations are sufficient especially compared with some in Daniel Rev. 11.2 3. The Court which is without the Temple leave out and measure it not for it is given unto the Gentiles and the Holy City which is the Church shall they tread under feet forty two Months And I will give power unto my two Witnesses and they shall Prophesie a thousand two hundred and threescore dayes cloathed in Sackcloath Now these forty two Months and one thousand two hundred and threescore dayes will come to the same that is a day for a year wherein the Church should be under the power of Antichrist And he saith two Witnesses not as if he meant only two men but because by two or three witnesses every thing is established But the Spirit of God means by the witnesses whatever they are those that shall witness to his Truth in the true Church of God in all places of the World those that witness to his truth They shall prophesie in Sack-cloath that is in a mourning condition they shall go on in their witness for 1260 dayes 1260 years And so in the 12 of the Revelations there we read of the womâ—n by which the Church is set out that fled into the Wilderness where she had her place prepared of God that they should feed her there even 1260 dayes The Holy Ghost falls upon this number which is 1260 years Now all the difficulty is about the beginning of this 1260 dayes that is when Antichrist did prevail and when the Church was driven into the Wilderness I find generally those that make a computaiton of the Reign of Anti-Christ they pitch it upon two Periods either upon such a time as will be ended within a very few years as Mr. Brightman and others he thinks it will be ended so as that the beginning of these dayes will be a matter of five or six years hence And others in the year 1666. But there is another computation of those that think Anti-Christ did not begin to reign so soon and they conceive it will be a matter of two hundred or more years before the beginning of these times But I think God hath not left it fully clear to determine about the time only this God by his strange kind of workings among us doth seem as if he were hastening of the time as if it were near at hand Wherefore then we leave all uncertainties and come to shew you what use you are to make of what hath been said about this time of Jerusalems being made the praise of the whole Earth Vse The first is the consideration of this that God hath his time to bring his Church to be in such a glorious condition here in this World this should be a great incitement to us all to come in and embrace Jesus Christ to be Godly Why because the Lord intends to glorifie himself so much in the Church and though I dare not tell you the time yet there 's nothing to the contrary but that it 's possible it may be in your dayes that you may live to see these times or if you should not live yet in the 12 of Daniel we read of a Resurrection that should be at that time However when we do but think that there is a time that Jesus Christ shall be honoured in the World and Godliness shall be had in high esteem in the World it 's a mighty Argument to cause man and woman to come in and imbrace Religion But if it should prove to be in your days as nothing appears to the contrary but many probabilities there are for it it would go very hard with you if so be these times should come upon you unawares and you not found to be Godly For the Scripture speaks most dreadfully against those that have liv'd in the places where Christian Religion hath been known and yet have been naught and ungodly and these times found them so After these times were described to John in the Book of the Revelations then saith he in the 21 Chap. 8. vers But the fearful and Vnbelieving and the Abominable and Murderers and Whoremongers and Sorcerers and Idolaters and all Lyars shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone which is the second Death Mark The very Fearful and Vnbelieving and I take it the Reason why the Fearful and Vnbelieving are here placed among these notorious Sinners it is because that in the time that Anti-Christ shall prevail many out of fear of trouble and danger shall deny the truth and cleave to the Antichristian Party and because they see things go very hardly with the Godly Party they will forsake them through their Unbelief and therefore they are reckoned in among the notorious vile sinners and the rather because that a little before this time shall come ☞ There will be a great tryal and hour of Temptation Men will be put to it to be tryed what they are whether they have faith in the Word or not or whether they have courage for God or not Now therefore because God intends to put men to the tryal a little before these times come therefore he saith The fearful and unbelieving he reckons up them among the notorious Sinners as if the Lord should say When I am about to set up this new Jerusalem there will come a time of tryal and abundance of you that made fair Professions while you met with some evils and troubles through your fear and unbelief you will forsake my cause and will rather cleave to them But know you shall have your Portion in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone which is the second death And so in the 22 Revelations there the Holy Ghost speaks of men that are unjust when this time shall come and saith he He that is unjust let him be unjust still he which is filthy let him be filthy still If men will go on in their Injustice and Filthiness let them go saith God I intend not now to work further upon them but as these times shall meet with them so it shall be with them to all Eternity The nearer the approaching of these times the less will wicked men be wrought upon Therefore now let us come in and embrace the truth for this truth that is preached to you and the works of God that you are put upon they will be honoured one day we love to be of the strongest side the side that will prevail we love to joyn unto it Certainly the side of Godliness and the truths of
will help you to pray much and you should put this into your Petitions Lord make thy Church appear to be thy Portion Thy Treasure Thy Glory Now come Lord Jesus come quickly O that that day might come The third thing is this That when God sets up Jerusalem as the praise of the whole Earth then God will make good the Promises that he hath made unto his Church in the Old Testament And the Prophecies of the glory of his Church which are very many that the truth is we do not know what to make of them we are fain to make Allegories of them when it 's very probable that they are to be in a literal way to be understood and all for the want of the knowledge of this one thing that there is a time for God to set up Jerusalem as the praise of the whole Earth Commonly we find that Divines have opened the promises of the Old Testament either by way of an Allegory or of the state of the Church in glory so that there hath been a great mistake in this thing We find in the 54 of Isa v. 17. when the Lord makes a promise to his Church that no weapon that was formed against that should prosper he concludes it and saith This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. All the promises in the Old Testament are the Inheritance of the Saints of God It 's a very sweet place it 's an Excellent place to poor People that have no Riches nor Inheritance left them by their Parents but they have the Promises for their Inheritance Thou may'st look over the Book of God and watsoever promise thou findest made to the Church thou mayst look upon it as thine Inheritance Many carnal men that have great Inheritances other ways they have nothing to do with the Promises of the Saints But the poorest Saint hath all the glory that there is in the Promises of the Word of God they are their Inheritance But in the mean time I have little Why thou art under age yet and God he is thy Guardian and God will be accountable to thee for all and the longer thou stayest before thou comest to thine Inheritance the more shalt thou have when thou comest to it and therefore remember that all the Promises in the Word are to be made good to thee one way or other and all that concern his People will be made good in this world when God shall come and set up Jerusalem as the praise of the whole Earth We shall understand that hereafter and therefore we find in the 5 th of the Revelations that there the Lamb he only is able to open the Seals of the Book There was brought a Book Seal'd and a Proclamation was made to know who was worthy to open the Book and to loose the Seals thereof Now the Text saith that John saw none found worthy At length there appeared a Lamb as it had been slain and he was found worthy and the Book was given to him and he opened the Seals of the Book this Book is the Book of the Prophecies of the state of the Church in the new Testament and the promises of God for the glory of the Church of the new Testament Now these things have been kept Sealed for a long time and especially before Christs time But Jesus Christ the Lamb that hath been slain it is he only that is able to open this Book and the Seals of it and there is a time that he will open it he opens it by degrees to his Church And therefore I find it 's very observable in the 22. of Revel vers 6. There comes an Angel to John and said unto him These things are faithful and true And the Lord God of the holy Prophets sent his Angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done Why now John was before speaking of the glorious condition of Jerusalem the Jerusalem that came down from Heaven Now saith he The Lord God of the holy Prophets sent his Angel Why is it said here The Lord God of the holy Prophets The meaning is this that the Lord now sends his Angel to make his Servants to understand what was in the Prophets and therefore the Lord hath this title The Lord God of the holy Prophets It 's not said here The great God or the holy God only or the Father of Christ or any such title But the Lord God of the holy Prophets That is I here will manifest to my Servants what I did Inspire the holy Prophets with in former times and will open their Prophecies unto them O it will be a blessed time when we shall come to understand the Prophecies of the Old Testament and how they do aim at the New Testament you Read their Book and how often do you shut the Book and say O Lord I cannot understand I do not know the meaning of these things and so likewise the book of the Revelations and sometimes you are ready to think why doth God write so in his word But be satisfied in this thing in your Reading the Scriptures there are some things very dark But now the main things that concern thine everlasting Salvation are clear enough and bless God for that But now if you would know why other things are dark they are dark because the Lord intends in them to manifest some glorious thing that he will do towards the latter end of the world for his People that the truth is God would not have generally known till then You will say why then have we the Scriptures Yes we have them now that God may appear so much the more glorious when they are fulfill'd that they may be manifested to his Saints that these are no other things than the Prophets did Prophesie of divers thousand Years ago Now this will mightily add to the Joy of the Saints when they shall come to see O this is partly fulfilling of such a Prophecy in Isa and in Ezek. and in the Revelations now it adds to the Joy of the Church to know that these things that now they have are no other than God did foretel by his holy Prophets as no question now when Christ was Prophesied of For he was Prophesied of for four thousand Years before he came into the world and in a Mighty dark way as now this first Prophecy of Christ The seed of the Woman shall break the Serpents Head what could they understand of this and yet under this Prophecy was the whole Gospel Prophesied of and he shall bruise thy heel there all the sufferings of Jesus Christ were Prophesied of under that Prophesie Now I am confident that for the general part of the Jews they understood no more of that Prophecy to be meant of Christ and his sufferings than we when we Read in Ezekiel and in the Revelations do understand what God will do for his Church in time to come But now when this Prophesie is fulfill'd that we find
Christianity is of the side that will prevail one day and therefore come in and joyn with them Though it's true there are many things now that seem to darken Religion but certainly Religion is getting up in the World though the Devil doth bestir him as much as ever he did since he was a Devil to darken Religion and the Glory of it in the World yet certainly Religion is getting up and it will prevail Take heed you be not like the five foolish Virgins which I find divers do apply to this very time when the Bridegroom shall come when Christ shall come in his glory to set up Jerusalem as the praise of the whole Earth that then the wise Virgins shall enter in with him and be partaker of the glory of the times but the foolish Virgins shall knock at the door saying Lord Lord open to us but he shall say I know you not depart ye workers of Iniquity You that make but a meer out-side of Religion and have but a formal profession of Religion you have Lamps but you have no Oyl in your Lamps burning when Christ shall come you shall be shut out and not be Partakers of the glorious Jerusalem that shall be made the Praise of the whole Earth And likewise this is a great Argument to move you to bring up your Children in Godliness and to instruct them in the wayes of Godliness because if you should not live to it yet your Children may Therefore labour to infuse what you can the knowledge of Christ into them now betimes that so they may partake of those glorious things that are spoken of in the Word But Secondly Is there a time that Jerusalem shall be made as the Praise of the whole Earth let us be willing to mourn with Jerusalem while it is in a mourning condition and be willing to suffer for Jesus Christ a while seeing there is a time that all sorrows shall be turned into Joy and all Sufferings shall be done away and wherein the Saints shall be all honoured and recompensed abundantly In the eleventh of the Revelations you find that the Witnesses were to prophesie in Sackcloath in a mourning condition for a long time It can't be meant of two men because they were to prophesie 1260 Years but what made them go on in that mournful condition they did believe this time Therefore in the 12. verse you shall find how they that had prophesied in Sackcloath for so long a time they were slain a little before this time came and for three years and an half together there was a slaughter made of them and the Text saith After three dayes and an half that is three years and an half the Spirit of life from God entred into them and they stood upon their feet and great fear fell upon them which saw them and they heard a great voice from Heaven saying unto them Come up hither And they ascended up to Heaven in a Cloud and their Enemies beheld them They were mightily honoured before their Enemies Those that had been prophesying in Sackcloath and were willing to suffer for Christ for a long time now they were called up and honoured before their very Enemies Let us be willing to suffer and that will be an evidence that we shall rejoyce with this new Jerusalem when it shall come to be made the Praise of the whole Earth So in the 66 of Isa v. 10. Rejoyce ye with Jerusalem and be glad with her all ye that love her rejoyce for joy with her all ye that mourn for her All that mourn'd for Jerusalem when the glory of it was darkened shall come and rejoyce with Jerusalem when Jerusalem shall be made as the praise of the whole Earth And the very Book of the Revelations is written on purpose for to encourage the Saints to be willing to suffer all the time of Anti-Christ's Reign And hence it hath been that in the time that Antichrist hath Reign'd there hath been so little known of the Book of the Revelations because it hath been applyed only in a metaphorical way and all the glory hath been interpreted of the glory of Heaven Because I say there hath been a darkness on the face of the Earth in the time of Antichrist's prevailing And it hath been the care of Antichrist to darken this and to keep under the Saints and to make them suffer very hard and grievous things But as I remember I have read of Caius the Emperour that when Agrippa had spoken for him before he was Emperour and suffered for his sake after Caius came to be Emperour he put a Chain of Gold about his Neck and gave it him just as heavy as his Iron Chain had been before So look what any one suffers for Jesus Christ now before he comes to take this Kingdom to himself before the time comes when the voice shall be heard from Heaven saying The Kingdoms of the Earth are become the Lords and his Christs and he shall reign for ever I say look what measure of sufferings any have for Christ now Christ will put a Chain of Gold upon them as heavy as ever their Sufferings were And especially now we had need prepare for Sufferings if it should prove that this time be at hand for we find that a little before this glorious time there 's like to be as great Sufferings to the People of God as at any time as in the 11 of the Revelations where it 's spoken of the Witnesses prophesying in Sackcloath they prophesied for 1260 Years But they were not slain until three Years and a half before this glorious time was risen and then they were slain So that immediately before the time that Christ shall come and appear in his Glory there will be greater Sufferings unto his Churches than there were in former times for you find that just upon their slaying that they were call'd up to Heaven And the seventh Trumpet sounded presently after and there were great voices in Heaven saying The Kingdoms of this World are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign for ever and ever As if the Holy Ghost should say Now all sufferings are done with all and now the Kingdoms of the World are become the Kingdoms of the Lord and his Christ and he shall reign for ever and ever And the four and twenty Elders which sate before God on their Seats fell upon their faces and worshipped God saying We give thee thanks O Lord God Almighty which art and wast and art to come because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned Whereas before men had power now God hath taken his great power to himself ☞ This follows presently upon it which is a very great Argument why those Witnesses are not yet slain because immediately upon their being slain there should follow such strange things as these are And then the Kingdoms of the Earth should be the Lords and his Christs You will