comforts, hopes, sweetneffes, rejoycings, triumphs in the Spirit; and fo in the midst of evil, are free from evil; and in the midit of fufferings are free from pain; yea, they rejoyce in tribulations, and in the midft of evil, are fill'd and fatiffied with good. Verf. 15. Behold they shall furely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee, fhall fall for thy fake. A very ftrange thing it is, that the Spiritual The worlds Church, being thus builded, and taught, and e- enmity, aftablisht, any fhould yet be fo blind, and mad, Spiritual gainst this as to ingage againft it; and yet the world, and Church, the carnal Church especially doth this; yea, the thus built, more pure and Spiritual the Church is, the more taught,and enmity the world and Formalifts have against it. eftablight. Behold they shall furely gather together. When they fhall fee the Churches gathering together into the true Communion of Saints, then will they gather themselves together against the Churches: And why do thefe men blame the Churches, for gathering together unto Chrift, when they themselves gather together against the Church, as we daily fee? Indeed the gathering together of the Saints, the world doth most hate of all other things: Oh, this is a dreadful and terrible thing to them; it makes their hearts ake within them, and loofeth the joynts of their loyns; they think, their exaltation, will be their own abafement; and their gathering together, their own fcattering; and their glory, their own hame, and their ftrength, their own undoing; and out of thefe Conceits the world acts, fo ftrongly and furiously, to fcatter abroad again, Chrifts own gatherings together. But the Lord hath decreed and promifed, to hew that little stone of Chrifts Spiritual Church, out of the mountain of the world, without hands, and will certainly accomplish it, and is now about that very bufinefs; but the world, that never looks beyond fenfe, they think this is furely a Plot of ours, and that we have a great Design in hand; and fo we have indeed, but the Defign is not our Defign, but Gods, contrived in Eternity, and difcovered to Daniel, chap. 2. and this is the fetting up a Kingdom of Saints in the world, under Christ the King of Saints, wherein the People fhall live alone in point of Spiritual Worship and Communion, and shall have nothing to do with the rest of the Nations. This counfel of God begins to be accomplished, and the world thinks that we are fubtile, and we are mighty, whereas they are clearly mistaken in us; for the wisdom and ftrength, whereby this is done, is Gods and not ours. For it is the Lord muft build this Spiritual Church, and set it up in the world, and preserve it against the world, and cause it to increase, till it fills the world; fo that the design and the accomplishment of it, belongs to God, and not to us; and they that are difpleafed at it, let them go and quarrel against God; and fo they will certainly do, through the operation of the Devil; Behold, faith he, they fhall Surely gather together: As foon as ever the Church feparates from the world, the world gathers together against the Church. Yea, this place is not only to be understood of those that are open Enemies without the Church, but of a Generation in it, that are not of it; and fo the gathering together against the Church, fhall be in the Church, and fo Calvin interprets; and fuch a thing will affuredly come to pafs, that the Church as well as the Kingdom will have Domestick Enemies; it hath been fo in all Ages, and what wonder will it be, if it be fo in this? The first Division in this Kingdom, was between commcn Profeffion, and open Prophaneness; and it ever ever there be another, it is like to lie between the form and the power of Godliness; and the Children that are born after the Flesh, will up and be perfecuting them that are born after the Spirit; and the deepest wounds we shall receive, will be in the boufe of our friends; not our friends indeed, but of fuch who seem to be fo; for they pray as well as we, and preach, and hear, and receive the Sacraments, and ufe the fame Ordinances with us, and yet their enmity, of all other, will be the greatest against us; and we shall receive deeper wounds in the house of these friends, than in the streets of our enemies. They fhall gather together in thee, against thee. But not by me. The Saints gather together by God, having the Spirit of God to bring them into Union and Communion; but the Carnal Church gathers together, against the Spiritual, not by God, but without him, for worldly bafe ends and interefts, and profits, and advantages. But mark the end of fuch gathering together. Whosoever shall gather together against thee, shall fall for thy fake. fuccefs in We have feen the accomplishment of this The world mife with our eyes; even a great Party, of the bath no progreatest Men in the Kingdom, as well as of mean their unones, gathered together against the Church, but dertaking, all fallen: What is become of the great Power, against rhe and Armies, that were in the Weft and the Spiritual North, and other parts of the Kingdom? are Church they not fallen through the ftrength of this Promife? and if any new Party fhall arise up again, they shall also fall in like manner. For thy fake. For the Lord loves the Church, the Body of Chrift, even as he loves Jefus Chrift himself; thou baft loved them, as thou hast loved me; he loves H 2 Head Head and Members, with the fame love. The Lords People are his portion on Earth, as he is theirs in Heaven, and fo he will give Nations and Kingdoms for them, and hath faid, the Nations and Kingdoms that will not ferve thee, fhall perish; yea, thofe Nations fhall be utterly wafted; Oh that this Kingdom in it felf, and in its representation, would avoid this evil, as they would efcape this end. The four Monarchies for oppofing the Spiritual Church, have fallen for its fake; and fo fhall every other Kingdom and Common-wealth, that undertakes against it! Ver. 16. Behold I have created the Smith, that blows the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an inftrument for his Work, and I have created the Wafter to destroy. Verf. 17. But no Weapon that is formed against thee Shall profper, &c. Thou art, faith God to the Church, a fmall, weak, defpifed, contemned, perfecuted People; but thy fafety, protection, bleffing, lies in me, and in my power, and wifdom, and love. Behold I have created the fmith, &c. That is, I have formed him that makes the Sword, and Gun, and Pike, and that prepares the Ammunition; and both he that makes the weapon, and he that ufeth it, are in my hands, and they fhall only do what I would have them to do, and no more; and fo, No Weapon, that is formed against thee, shall profper. God blunts the edge of the weapon, and weakens the hand, and puts fear into the heart of him that ufeth it; and fo no weapons that have been ufed, have profpered hitherto, and if any more weapons fhall be used hereafter, they fhall be as unprofperous as thefe. And every tongue, that shall rise against thee in judgment, thou shalt condemn. Two Two ways you fee the Enemies of the Church affault the Church; by their hands, and by their tongues; and this latter way is the more dange rous of the two; by the former, they fcourge the Church, with Rods; by this latter, with Scorpions. This weapon of the tongue, is the most dangerous weapon that ever was used against the Church in any Age, and the laft refuge of the Devil, and his Inftruments, to annoy the Church. And thus when the Enemy fails at the ftrength of his weapons, he undertakes again with the malice of his tongue; and with this, the Enemy strikes against the Saints, that profefs the truth, and against the truth it felf, profeffed by the Saints. Against the Saints, that profefs the truth; cloathing them with odious names, and loading them with base afperfions, Independents, and Sectaries, and Schifmaticks, and Hereticks; and fome fuch, there are indeed in the Kingdom; but they abuse the precious Saints of God, with thefe and other reproaches, and fo crucifie Chrift again in his Body; not between two Thieves, but between two hundred Thieves, that fo it may be the greater difficulty to difcern him: Their tongues rife up in judgment against them; it intimates, they fhall have fpecious pretences against the Church; Oh thefe are the men that would turn the world upside down, that make the Nation full of tumults and uproars, that work all the disturbance in Church and State; it is fit fuch Men and Congregations fhould be fuppreffed, and they fhould have no Imployment in Church or State; it will never be a quiet World, till fome courfe be taken with them, that we may have Truth and Peace and Government again, And thus they have fair pretences against the Godly, and use the glorious Names of Truth, Peace and Government, Government, to the deftruction of them all. And this is the fenfe of thefe words, H 3 |