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<DATE>2013-06-24</DATE>
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<NAME>Lauren Proux</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="1">
<P>A SOLEMN PERSWASION TO MOST Earne&s;t PRAYER For the Revival of the WORK of GOD, Bringing forth the Kingdom of CHRIST, when ever it Appears Declining under his Indignation.</P>
<P>WHETHER
<LIST>
<ITEM>In our own Souls.</ITEM>
<ITEM>In the Nation to which we belong.</ITEM>
<ITEM>In the Churches of Chri&s;t throughout.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>Upon Occa&s;ion of the late STROKE of Divine Di&s;plea&s;ure in the Death of the QUEEN of &s;o Ble&s;&s;ed Remembrance.</P>
<P>By <HI>T. BEVERLEY.</HI></P>
<Q><BIBL>Amos 7.2, 5.</BIBL> <HI>Oh Lord, by whom &s;hall Jacob Ari&s;e? For He is &s;mall</HI></Q>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>W. Mar&s;hall</HI> at the <HI>Bible</HI> in <HI>Newgate-Street,</HI> MDCXCV.</P>
<PB REF="2">
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="preface">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>The PREFACE to the READER.</HEAD>
<P>IT is indeed a Mo&s;t &V;ndoubted Duty, as to behold in All Per&s;ons in the General Humane Nature, Dying, the Exemplification of our own Mortality. It is a further Duty to con&s;ider in Chri&s;tians the Patterns of a Holy, and Religious Conver&s;ation, God offers to us in any of them. And This Duty is Rais'd by the Honour and Dignity of Station, and &s;uch have been placed in by God: On which Ac|count, the many Di&s;cour&s;es on &s;o Great a Per&s;on, as our Re|ligious, and Gracious Queen, are Ju&s;tified; But yet, as in All Princes, that can bear any Relation to the Church of God, There is a Peculiar Attention, and Regard Due; on which Account, It is Remarkable, Scripture Takes the Names of Heathen Princes into its Records, which had never el&s;e Appeared, or been Heard of in it, but as God made Them In&s;truments of his Grace, or Di&s;plea&s;ure to his own People: how much more is both the Life, and the Death of Princes, who are by Profe&s;&s;ion joyn'd to &s;uch a People; as the Kings of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> and <HI>Judah,</HI> though &s;o many Bad; But mo&s;t of All, when they were them&s;elves Holy Per&s;onages; becau&s;e All Princes over the People of God have an Eminent Relation to the Mercy, or Wrath of God upon &s;uch Nations; and God <HI>Changes Times</HI> and <HI>Sea&s;ons</HI> (as <HI>Daniel</HI> ob&s;erves) by &s;etting up, or Removing &s;uch Princes; And yet beyond All this, there is a Con&s;ideration due to that Figure, Princes, and Governments make in Order to the Kingdom of the Great <HI>Son of man,</HI> Our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t; On Account of which, <HI>Daniel</HI> had &s;o Great Vi&s;ions of the four <HI>Monarchyes,</HI> and e&s;pec<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ally of the Fourth, or <HI>Roman,</HI> &s;o immediately (in its Expiration) Con&s;ining on that Kingdom. And this is that
<PB REF="3"> Highe&s;t, and mo&s;t weighty Point of both Di&s;cour&s;e, as in Publick, &s;o of the Prayers and Meditations of Chri&s;tians in Private, on &s;uch a Publick Providence, as the Death of a Chri&s;tian Prote&s;tant Prince&s;s.</P>
<P>I having therefore through the Gracious A&s;&s;i&s;tance of God &s;et my &s;elf by the Books of Scripture (wherein the <HI>Sure Word</HI> of Prophecy is for the Churches of Chri&s;t Depo|&s;ited) to find out the <HI>Time</HI> for the <HI>Accompli&s;hing the De|&s;olations of the Sanctuary;</HI> could not but take Notice of that &s;o Monumental Providence in its Sea&s;on, the late <HI>Revo|lution,</HI> 1688. &V;pon which I then made Publick my Ob|&s;ervations, to be found &s;till, I doubt not, in many Hands: I looked upon my &s;elf therefore under as great Obligation to make mo&s;t Humble and Awful Remarks upon &s;o A&s;toni&s;h|ing a <HI>Perez,</HI> a Breach or Stroke upon us in the Death of the Queen, 1694. (when the Succe&s;&s;ion of the Kingdom of Chri&s;t is &s;o much nearer according to my Computation, as in 1697. within Little more than Two Years) who &s;u&s;tain'd &s;o Illu&s;trious a Figure in it. And though I Fram'd it onely into &s;uch a Di&s;cour&s;e as was mo&s;t &s;uited to a Plain Chri&s;tian Auditory; yet becau&s;e Wi&s;e, and Good, and Con&s;idering Per|&s;ons are not &s;o Confin'd to Curiou&s;ne&s;s of Words, or Artifice of Connexion, but are mo&s;t intent upon Things, and can take Short and even the mo&s;t Free and Natural Intimations of them under more Ample, and Accurate Reflections; I have Expos'd it to General View, mo&s;tly as it was at fir&s;t &s;poken; de&s;igning the Sub&s;tance, and Materiality of what, I have herein offered to deepe&s;t Con&s;ideration, and leaving the more Critical to Correct the Errors of Form, that they, to who&s;e Minds the mo&s;t Plain Di&s;cour&s;es have ea&s;ie&s;t Acce&s;s, may not lo&s;e the Benefit.</P>
<P>And I am Encouraged in making &s;uch a Publication, in regard of both the main De&s;ign, which is to Con&s;ider, How &s;uch a Breach upon us is Po&s;ited towards the Kingdom of Chri&s;t, and that Great Revolution of its entring into Suc|ce&s;&s;ion
<PB REF="3"> in 97. as al&s;o to Pre&s;ent it in &s;uch a Native Freedom, and In-Artifice: and upon one and the &s;ame Account in both; That is, I have Remarked, That no Divine D<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;po&s;e in our Memory hath brought forth &s;o Abundantly all Kinds of Cele|brations of any Per&s;on as of our Excellent Prince&s;s, both in Religious Improvements of &s;o Severe a Cha&s;ti&s;ement, As al&s;o Accumulating Highe&s;t Prai&s;es upon &s;o Worthy and Merito|rious a Subject, &s;peaking of her with Relation to Men; but Abating whatever any may have &s;poken of Her, like the <HI>Bla&s;|phemies</HI> of the Antichri&s;t an Bea&s;t again&s;t them, that <HI>dwell in Heaven;</HI> For all &s;uch Prai&s;es are in Sacred Style no o|ther than Bla&s;phemies, not only again&s;t God, but Again&s;t Tho&s;e &s;o Celebrated. There is therefore, in my E&s;teem, no Room for any more Publications on tho&s;e fir&s;t Topicks. But I have al&s;o ob&s;erved, none have Pitched upon the Examination of &s;o Remarkable a Di&s;po&s;e as dating the Review from the Introduction of this Government upon the removal of King <HI>James</HI> by &s;o out-&s;tretched a Hand; nor carrying the Pro&s;pect to that much greater Change God is about to make; nor giving direction, what the Servants of God are &s;o to direct their Faith, and Prayers upon, Now I having &s;ingled out the&s;e Points, to Addre&s;s my &s;elf unto the Servants of Chri&s;t, therein to Excite their Meditation, and Practi&s;e; I have taken greater Con&s;idence in &s;etting them in an open Light, as not Treated upon by any before, on this &s;o notable Providence. And yet I have not neglected on ju&s;t occa&s;ions to make tho&s;e Memorials of Prai&s;e that Scripture Allowes, and hath even &s;et apart to them that Fear the Lord, and to Honour the Remembrance of the Queen by them.</P>
<P>I have al&s;o Pointed upon tho&s;e Duties of Practice, &s;o nece&s;&s;ary on &s;o Sad and Solemn an Occa&s;ion in General.</P>
<P>And on this very &s;ame Account, that others have &s;o A|bounded in all the Florid parts of &s;uch Kind of Di&s;cour&s;es, I have Hoped, that a Sermon in &s;o Ordinary, and &V;n-Adorn|ed a Dre&s;s will be the more gladly Suffered.</P>
<PB REF="4">
<P> I have therefore been only Intent on this main End; that is, that every one may earne&s;tly &s;eek of God the coming of the Kingdom of Chri&s;t in <HI>Power,</HI> in his own Soul; And that Powers and Nations may in General wait for it, and wi&s;ely Place them&s;elves in a ju&s;t &s;ubordination to it; being mo&s;t A&s;&s;ured, if we are not removed from this Earth under the immediate Views of it, as we know we may &s;oon be; even as this Great Prince&s;s hath been; it will yet make &s;uch Appear|ances from Heaven in coming upon us, as will Amaze the World to behold; even its <HI>Kingdoms becoming the King|doms of the Lord and of his Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>And though the Lord makes u&s;e of what greater and more Honourable In&s;truments He plea&s;es, as of our Illu&s;trious Queen; or of &s;maller and meaner; yet He is not tied to any: For his own Arm &s;hall Rule for him, his Reward is with him, and his Work before him.</P>
<P>And though on &s;o great a Di&s;po&s;e, as this removal of &s;o great a Per&s;onage from us, we ought <HI>to hear his &s;peech and to be afraid,</HI> to cry out <HI>Lord, revive thy work; In wrath remember mercy;</HI> Yet to have &s;ure Confidence he will, and is near about, to <HI>take to him&s;elf his great Power and to Reign, how Angry &s;oever the Nations will be at it.</HI></P>
<P>And if we are &s;uch, as <HI>Love his Kingdom</HI> and <HI>Appear|ance,</HI> However the <HI>Fig-tree do not blo&s;&s;om,</HI> &amp;c. How|ever <HI>dark</HI> and <HI>black</HI> things look, yet we &s;hould <HI>glory in the Lord,</HI> and <HI>rejoyce</HI> in the <HI>God of our Salvation,</HI> and be A&s;&s;ured he <HI>will make our feet like Hindes feet,</HI> and <HI>&s;et us on the High Places of his Kingdom;</HI> And though <HI>Nati|ons labour in the very Fire, and weary them&s;elves for very vanity,</HI> yet it is &s;o ordered by the Lo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">d of Ho&s;ts, becau&s;e he is ju&s;t about to <HI>Fill the Earth with the Knowledge of his Glory, even as the Waters cover the Sea. Oh let him come into his Holy Temple, and let all the Earth be &s;ilent before him.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="1" REF="4">
<HEAD>A SERMON Preached in MEMORIAL of the Awful Divine Di&s;po&s;e In the DEATH of the QUEEN OF SO Ble&s;&s;ed Remembrance to the Whole Nation.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL>HABAC. iij. 2.</BIBL> Oh Lord, I have heard thy Speech, and was afraid; Oh Lord, Revive thy work in the mid&s;t of the years; in the mid&s;t of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>I Have thought it nece&s;&s;ary in regard of that Great Sen&s;e of the Death of the Queen, God hath been plea&s;ed to Imprint upon all the People of this Nation; (who have indeed any Sen&s;e of his Providences, but to the Degree of Common Sobriety) I have thought it, I &s;ay, nece&s;&s;ary to Reflect upon that Late &s;o Tremendous Providence, and to &s;et before you, what I look upon to be mo&s;t Sea&s;onable, and mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary for the Servants
<PB N="2" REF="5"> of God in the pre&s;ent Circum&s;tances of things to apply their thoughts unto.</P>
<P>And indeed, I do not doubt, but that Funeral Re|membrances are very much warranted to us by that Ex|ample of <HI>David</HI> bewailing the <HI>Death</HI> of <HI>Saul,</HI> and of <HI>Jonathan,</HI> which we find 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 1. 17. <HI>David lamented with this Lamentation over Saul, and over Jonathan his Son. Al&s;o he bid them teach the Children of I&s;rael the u&s;e of the Bow.</HI> This, &s;ome Interpreters under&s;tand only to teach the U&s;e of Arms; of which at that time the Bow was one of the Principal, and became an Emblem of the whole Military Skill and Action; But it &s;eems rather, according to the Judgement of other Interpreters, to be the Title of the Lamentation <HI>David</HI> made over <HI>Saul and Jonathan;</HI> as &s;ome of the P&s;alms have Titles very pecu|liar, &s;uited to the principal Matter, Tunes, or In&s;tru|ments us'd in relation to them: So this Lamentation had the Name or Title of the Bow. And as a Higher Commendation of it, it is &s;aid to be written in the Book of <HI>Ja&s;her,</HI> of the upright one, or uprightne&s;s; intimat|ing &s;ome mo&s;t Excellent Record, or Records of Greate&s;t Truth and Value, (Spoken of al&s;o <HI>Jo&s;h.</HI> 11. 13.) He goes on; <HI>The Beauty of I&s;rael is fallen upon thy high places: How are the mighty fallen! Tell it not in Gath, publi&s;h it not in the Streets of Askelon, le&s;t the daughters of the Phi|listines rejoyce; le&s;t the daughters of the uncircumci&s;ed tri|umph.</HI> That is, If it were po&s;&s;ible, I earne&s;tly de&s;ire, That the Enemies of God, and of his People might have no occa&s;ion to Rejoyce and Triumph in that &s;ad &s;troke on <HI>Saul</HI> and <HI>Jonathan;</HI> E&s;pecially, as if the Intere&s;t of God and of his Kingdom &s;uffer'd, and &s;unk at all in it.</P>
<P>For were it not on this Account, it might &s;eem won|derful, that God &s;hould be plea&s;ed to ordain, that part of his Word &s;hould receive this Funeral Lamentation of <HI>Saul</HI> and <HI>Jonathan</HI> into it: E&s;pecially Con&s;idering that
<PB N="3" REF="5"> <HI>Saul</HI> was a Prince Rejected of God, and that God was very Angry with, and very &s;evere upon; and that He was a Great Enemy to <HI>David,</HI> whom God was plea&s;ed to place the Type of the Kingdom of Chri&s;t upon, and to remove it from <HI>Saul</HI> Him&s;elf.</P>
<P>But this was undoubtedly the Rea&s;on of it, Becau&s;e <HI>Saul,</HI> though in his own Per&s;on, he was a Prince &s;o re|jected of God, yet God had made him for a time, a Type, and the fir&s;t Type of the Kingdom of Chri&s;t; and though he rejected him, yet he had <HI>Anointed</HI> him, he had given him a Kingdom, and &s;et him over the people of <HI>I&s;rael;</HI> which Kingdom was &s;o Eminently a Type of the Kingdom of Chri&s;t; And therefore <HI>David</HI> the <HI>&s;weet P&s;al|mi&s;t</HI> of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> and the E&s;tabli&s;hed Type of the Kingdom of Chri&s;t, was employed by God, in an extraordinary way, to make this <HI>Lamentation</HI> over him. And of this he gives a very plain notice; when He &s;aid, <HI>The &s;heild of Saul was vilely ca&s;t away, as though he had not been Anointed with Oyl.</HI> His being <HI>Anointed with Oyl,</HI> was a Type of the Great <HI>Me&s;&s;iab,</HI> of the Great Anointing, and on that Account <HI>David Lamented.</HI></P>
<P>As this <HI>Lamentation</HI> may be therefore in General, a Foundation for a Funeral Commemoration; &s;o e&s;pecially, and very particularly, when the Per&s;on Lamented, had any relation to the Kingdom of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Now with regard to the Providence of God upon the Nation in the Removal of the Queen &s;o lately; we may &s;ay, that God hath been plea&s;ed, as it were, by an uni|ver&s;al Con&s;ent, of even the &s;obere&s;t of the Nation, to Embalm the Memory of &s;o Excellent a Prince&s;s; and we may &s;ay of Her, as <HI>Solomon</HI> in the <HI>Proverbs; Many daugh|ters have done vertuou&s;ly, But Thou excelle&s;t them all,</HI> Prov. 31. 29.</P>
<P>And as it is &s;aid of <HI>Tabitha</HI> or <HI>Dorcas,</HI> in the <HI>Acts</HI> of the <HI>Apostles; They brought forth the works &s;he had wrought.</HI> Which by the Context Appear to have been prepared, as
<PB N="4" REF="6"> works of Charity; So we may &s;ay, Many have brought forth many Eminent and Excellent Works of this Great Prince&s;s; They by the Gracious Providence of God to|wards her Memory, have been more &s;poken of, and more Commended and made known, than before; Al|though they were certainly and &s;ufficiently known to many Witne&s;&s;es of Greate&s;t Credit in the time of her Life, and to many who had them&s;elves the Experiments of the Great Tenderne&s;s and Compa&s;&s;ionatene&s;s of her Spirit; and more e&s;pecially toward Them who &s;uffered upon the Te&s;timony of the Go&s;pel, and on the Account of Con|&s;cience; Yet the notice taken of them &s;ince her Death, hath more <HI>&s;haken</HI> the <HI>Hou&s;e of Dagon</HI> than before in her Life.</P>
<P>But notwith&s;tanding this, and much more that might be &s;aid, and hath been abundantly &s;poken by tho&s;e who were mo&s;t proper to &s;peak of the&s;e things; there is that parti|cular Relation, Her Station and Intere&s;t in Government, and Her Extraordinary Introduction into it, Providence gave Her, had to the Kingdom of Chri&s;t: And this is that which I look upon as more clo&s;ely, and preci&s;ely my Duty to Con&s;ider, and to &s;peak of to All that have a humble and deep Con&s;ideration of the wayes of God in relation to his own Kingdom, which oftentimes are <HI>in the dark, and his foot&s;teps in the great waters;</HI> and He <HI>gives not Account of any of his matters.</HI> If He take away even per&s;ons that we may think of great Service, and u&s;e to his Kingdom; yet <HI>who can hinder him, or &s;ay unto him, what doe&s;t thou?</HI> If he Removes the Per&s;on of greate&s;t Honour and Dignity, of great and publick Good and of Support to the <HI>Prote&s;tant Religion,</HI> yet none can call Him to Account, but mu&s;t lie at his Foot; yet humbly interceding, as the Prophet here does, <HI>Oh Lord, I hear thy &s;peech, and am afraid;</HI> And &s;o to &s;et our &s;elves to pray, <HI>Oh Lord, Revive thy work in the mid&s;t of of the years; In the mid&s;t of the years make known, in wrath remember mercy.</HI></P>
<PB N="5" REF="6">
<P> In Order therefore to the more clo&s;e Di&s;cour&s;e to this purpo&s;e, I begin in the opening of the words according to the Context wherein they &s;tand; This Chapter there|fore follows upon two great <HI>Vi&s;ions Habakkuk</HI> had re|ceived from God in the two foregoing Chapters.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t of the <HI>Vi&s;ions</HI> was the De&s;olation of <HI>Judah</HI> and <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> by that <HI>bitter</HI> and <HI>ha&s;ty Nation</HI> of the <HI>Chaldeans,</HI> or <HI>Babylonians,</HI> Chap, 1. 5. <HI>Behold ye among the Heathen,</HI> &s;aith God, <HI>regard, and wonder marvellou&s;ly, for I rai&s;e up that bitter and ha&s;ty nation.</HI></P>
<P>The &s;econd of the <HI>Vi&s;ions</HI> is the Judgment of God upon <HI>Babylon;</HI> &s;et out in many &s;harp and reproachful Remarks of the Divine di&s;plea&s;ure upon them, <HI>cap.</HI> 2.</P>
<P>Now upon the fir&s;t of the&s;e <HI>Vi&s;ions,</HI> the Prophet had very &s;ad and Afflicting Fore-&s;ights. And therefore he &s;aith, <HI>Oh Lord, I heard thy Speech, and was afraid,</HI> ver. 2. <HI>I heard, and my belly trembled, rottenne&s;s entred into my bones, c.</HI> 3. 16. For undoubtedly, the Spirit of God that fully under&s;tood its own Coun&s;els, Taught and In&s;tructed him &s;o to &s;peak of that <HI>Babylonian</HI> Kingdom, as the <HI>Head</HI> of Gold, comprehending the whole <HI>Image, Dan.</HI> 2. and &s;o in a more eminent manner, the <HI>Roman Monarchy,</HI> which is therefore &s;tiled <HI>Babylon:</HI> And according to this the Apo&s;tle u&s;es the very words of <HI>Habakkuk,</HI> Acts 13. <HI>Beware lea&s;t that come upon you, which is &s;poken of in the Prophets, behold ye de&s;pi&s;ers and wonder, and peri&s;h, for I work a work in your dayes, which you &s;hall in no wi&s;e believe, though a man declare it you.</HI></P>
<P>This is plainly taken out of this fir&s;t <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> of <HI>Habakkuk.</HI> Now, How could that come upon them, when the <HI>Babylonian Monarchy</HI> had cea&s;ed long before? But becau&s;e the <HI>Roman Empire,</HI> was to fill up and compleat the <HI>Babylonian Image.</HI> And that old literal <HI>Babylon</HI> was mo&s;t peculiarly a Type of <HI>My&s;tical Babylon,</HI> the whole <HI>Roman</HI> Potentacy, e&s;pecially the <HI>Antichri&s;tian.</HI></P>
<PB N="6" REF="7">
<P> As therefore literal <HI>Babylon</HI> of old de&s;troyed the City and Temple of <HI>Jeru&s;alem;</HI> &s;o the <HI>Romanes</HI> took away by a more la&s;ting De&s;truction their <HI>City, Temple</HI> and <HI>Nation.</HI> And as literal <HI>Babylon</HI> has a Wo pronounced upon it for <HI>building a City with Bloud,</HI> and giving an intoxicating <HI>Bottle;</HI> &s;o Spiritual <HI>Babylon</HI> is infamous for Bloud, and its Cup of <HI>Fornication.</HI> Compare <HI>Habak.</HI> 2. and <HI>Rev.</HI> c. 17. c. 18.</P>
<P>And Further, as the <HI>Jewi&s;h,</HI> &s;o the Chri&s;tian Gentile Church hath been, and yet continues under the &s;ame Tyranny Twelve Hundred Sixty Dayes of Years, almo&s;t now expired, yet not fully ended: But till they are end|ed, the Church is in a <HI>Wilderne&s;s-Condition,</HI> and the <HI>Witne&s;&s;es in Sackcloth</HI> have lain &s;lain and dead, by rea&s;on of the Cruelty, and Per&s;ecution of the My&s;tical <HI>Babyloni|an Antichri&s;tian</HI> Powers, and the <HI>Time, Times,</HI> and <HI>Half-Time</HI> determined to them. Now <HI>Habakkuk</HI> fore&s;eeing in Spirit, this long Calamity of the People of God, both <HI>Jews</HI> and <HI>Gentiles</HI> under this Literal and My&s;tical <HI>Babylon,</HI> he is deeply Affected with it, as has been declared.</P>
<P>Upon the &s;econd <HI>Vi&s;ion,</HI> viz. the utter De&s;truction of the <HI>Babylonian Image,</HI> and the both Literal and My&s;tical <HI>Ba|bylon,</HI> wherewith the Vi&s;ion of the Kingdom of Chri&s;t is conjoyned and enterwoven, <HI>Habakkuk</HI> (Chap. 2. ver. 1. <HI>&amp;c.) &s;tands on his watch Towre,</HI> to wait for the I&s;&s;ue of his Interce&s;&s;ion, which in his fir&s;t <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> he had made <HI>(Chap.</HI> 1.) again&s;t <HI>Babylon.</HI> Now in An&s;wer to that Interce&s;&s;ion, he is commanded to <HI>write</HI> a great <HI>Vi&s;ion,</HI> and to make it plain, that he <HI>might run that readeth it,</HI> and which every one &s;hould <HI>live by Faith</HI> upon, till they &s;hould &s;ee it fulfill'd in Glory. For though it <HI>tarried long,</HI> it &s;hould <HI>&s;peak</HI> to the Full at la&s;t, and therefore to be <HI>waited</HI> for till the 1335 <HI>Days making Ble&s;&s;ed,</HI> according to <HI>Dan.</HI> 12. <HI>ult.</HI> And what <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> is that which God gives in An&s;wer to <HI>Habakkuk</HI>'s earne&s;t Prayer from <HI>Chap.</HI> 1. 12. to the End?</P>
<PB N="7" REF="7">
<P> It is certainly what we find in the &s;econd Chapter con|&s;i&s;ting of the&s;e two Great Heads.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Tho&s;e &s;everal &s;o Solemn Denunciations of <HI>Woes</HI> and Judgments on <HI>Babylon</HI> in its whole <HI>Image</HI> and State, from Litteral <HI>Babylon</HI> down to its utter de&s;truction in <HI>My&s;tical Babylon</HI> through the Chapter!</P>
<P>Secondly, Tho&s;e &s;o Gracious and Illu&s;trious Declara|tions, and A&s;&s;urances of the Kingdom of Chri&s;t; <HI>Chap.</HI> 2. <HI>ver.</HI> 14. <HI>The earth &s;hall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the &s;ea. And the Lord is in his holy temple, let all the earth keep &s;ilence before him,</HI> Ver. 20. So great a Remark of the Kingdom of Chri&s;t, as the <HI>knowledge of the glory of the Lord filling the earth, as the waters cover the &s;ea;</HI> makes clear the main Scope of the <HI>Vi&s;ion;</HI> And as Great a Di&s;play of the Kingdom of Chri&s;t is that other Branch of the Vi&s;ion; <HI>The Lord is in his Holy Temple,</HI> &amp;c. Which Expre&s;&s;ion hath a clo&s;e Alliance with that Prophetick Vi&s;ion of the Kingdom of Chri&s;t given to <HI>Ezekiel</HI> in the delineation of a <HI>Temple, Throne</HI> and <HI>City</HI> in his la&s;t Chapters, on Account of which, there is &s;uch an often mention of the <HI>Temple opened,</HI> and of <HI>God</HI> and the <HI>Lamb being</HI> the <HI>Temple</HI> of, and having their Throne in the New <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> in the <HI>Revelation</HI> c. 21. c. 22.</P>
<P>Now that the Lord would revive, or give Life to that his Great Work of carrying on the Kingdom of Chri&s;t, whenever it &s;eems (e&s;pecially) to langui&s;h, or hath been under any Embarra&s;sment; this was the Prayer of <HI>Habakkuk,</HI> and ought to be of every Servant of Chri&s;t, who loves the Kingdom of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>And &s;o the Prophet knowing that all tho&s;e Great Works God hath done in the World, are preparations to, Pledges of, and are to be Compleated, and Fill'd up in the Kingdom of Chri&s;t, recalls, and recounts the Great Works of God, from the beginning of the World,
<PB N="8" REF="8"> that &s;o he may lead to that Kingdom all along his third Chapter.</P>
<P>Now therefore, becau&s;e all the time of the <HI>Babyloni&s;h Captivity,</HI> till the Re&s;toration by <HI>Cyrus,</HI> the Work of the Kingdom had lain, as it were, in a Swoon, this earne&s;t Prayer is Left on Record to the Servants of God in all Ages, to powre out their Souls to God in, on &s;uch Oc|ca&s;ions.</P>
<P>We need not &s;tand upon the Critical Middle of years, although the very re&s;toration by <HI>Cyrus</HI> after that Capti|vity in <HI>Babylon,</HI> was a mo&s;t remarkable Middle of Time, between the fir&s;t Creation and Eternity; yet in any time, wherein God hath &s;eemed to forget his Great Work for his Kingdom, or to do any thing in delay of it, we may thus Cry out to him in General, <HI>In the mid&s;t of the years revive thy work, in the mid&s;t of the years make known.</HI></P>
<P>And &s;o proportionably in our private Ca&s;e, when we find any declining and going down of our Hope in the Salvation of God, in our own Souls, the Grace of Chri&s;t retiring from us, and his Spirit withdrawing from us: Or when in the Publick State of the Nation, the Glory of the Go&s;pel is under any Eclip&s;e, the good State of the Government of a Nation, with relation to the King|dom of Chri&s;t is &s;inking, or loo&s;ing any of the Pillars of it; or when any &s;ad Providence is upon our &s;elves in particular, that looks &s;ad upon us, as depriving us of the Comfortable A&s;pects of the Kingdom of Chri&s;t; we may Cry out to God for a revival, <HI>a Remembering Mercy even in the mid&s;t of Wrath,</HI> a making known in the mid&s;t of the years. And thus our late &s;ad Providence, which &s;hews the fitne&s;s of the Text to this Occa&s;ion.</P>
<P>Three things therefore I Propo&s;e in this Di&s;cour&s;e to &s;peak of.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Of the Great and Earne&s;t Interce&s;&s;ion of the <HI>Prophet Habakkuk,</HI> as it may be taken up and made u&s;e of by every Chri&s;tian in &s;ecret, in relation to his own
<PB N="9" REF="8"> Soul, and the inward State of it, or to his outward Con|dition, and the Providences of God towards him in that, or with re&s;pect to his Family, and neare&s;t Relations: And all the&s;e with a look towards, and &s;ubordination to the Kingdom of Chri&s;t. And herein I &s;hall con&s;ider all the&s;e more &s;trictly, when they are at any time in a plunge and &s;inking of Condition, under any Eclip&s;e, or Cloud of Providence; Then in &s;uch a &s;trait, we may go to God, crying out, <HI>Oh Lord, Revive thy work in the mid&s;t of the years, make known, in wrath remember mercy.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, I will take into Con&s;ideration the more Publick State of the Servants of God, <HI>that keep his Com|mands;</HI> of his <HI>Witne&s;&s;es that hold the Te&s;timony of Je&s;us, when they are in Sackcloth, and even lying dead in any of the Streets of the Great City;</HI> or when the <HI>Church</HI> is in the <HI>Wilderne&s;s,</HI> How earne&s;t we &s;hould be with God to <HI>Revive his work in the mid&s;t of the years, to make known, and in Wrath to remember Mercy.</HI></P>
<P>In the Third Place, I &s;hall Apply it Particularly to the late Providence of God upon the Nation, in which he &s;eems (as it were) to have Rever&s;ed a late Gracious Di&s;pen&s;ation of that Providence to this Nation; to have rever&s;ed it in &s;uch a Part, in &s;uch a Principal Part of it, by the Removal of the Queen.</P>
<P>And &s;o I &s;hall clo&s;e with Application.</P>
<P N="1">1. The Fir&s;t thing that I would Propo&s;e is this; There are many &s;ad and dark Vales of Providence, and as to the Pre&s;ence of God, in every Particular Chri&s;tians Soul: There are many times, when we &s;eem to Lan|gui&s;h in the Ways of God; when our Hearts grow very vain very Worldly; when we are <HI>ready</HI> (as it were) <HI>to Die:</HI> The things that are in order to the <HI>Kingdom of Chri&s;t,</HI> they are <HI>ready to die;</HI> As we find, <HI>Rev.</HI> 3. Con|cerning
<PB N="10" REF="9"> the <HI>Church of Sardis: Thou ha&s;t a name that thou live&s;t, and art dead. Be watchful, and &s;lrengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works filled up before God.</HI></P>
<P>O, How often do we find that our Souls are Ready to <HI>lo&s;e their fir&s;t love!</HI> that they are going backward, that they are going downward in the Wayes of God. Cer|tainly, Every one of us has rea&s;on to fear, and to &s;u&s;pect, that &s;uch a Time has been upon us, or that it may come upon us.</P>
<P><HI>David</HI> was very &s;en&s;ible of &s;uch a State as this is; and therefore in the 119 <HI>P&s;alm,</HI> he is continually praying, <HI>Quicken me, O Lord, according to thy word,</HI> ver. 25. This Prayer returns upon him, <HI>ver.</HI> 88. <HI>Quicken thou me after thy loving kindne&s;s: So &s;hall I keep the te&s;timony of thy mouth.</HI></P>
<P>There are many Times, when God retires the Graci|ous Motions and A&s;&s;i&s;tances of his Spirit. What a dread|ful complaint is that, that the Servants of God make, in <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> 63. 17. <HI>O Lord, why ha&s;t thou made us to Err from thy wayes, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Re|turn for thy &s;ervants &s;ake.</HI> How often is it, that our Souls have rea&s;on to Complain, that in a ju&s;t Judgement He &s;o retires from us, as to make us to <HI>erre from his ways,</HI> and <HI>to harden our heart from his fear?</HI> So, <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> 64. 5. <HI>Thou meete&s;t him that rejoyceth, and worketh righteou&s;ne&s;s; tho&s;e that remember thee in thy wayes.</HI> But immediately he cryes out, <HI>Behold thou art wroth, for we have &s;inned; Yet</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>in thy wayes there is continuance, and we &s;hall be &s;aved;</HI> Here comes in, <HI>in the mid&s;t of the years,</HI> (as it were,) a <HI>rejoycing in God;</HI> When we are Free, and E|&s;tabli&s;hed in the wayes of God, <HI>Thou meete&s;t him that re|joyceth, and worketh righteou&s;ne&s;s;</HI> But then, on the other &s;ide, <HI>Thou art wroth, for we have &s;inned:</HI> We give God occa&s;ion to retreat the Light of his Countenance; the
<PB N="11" REF="9"> Motions of his Spirit, the Comfort of his Pre&s;ence: And yet, notwith&s;tanding, as <HI>Habakkuk</HI> here &s;aith, <HI>Revive thy work in the mid&s;t of the years, There is continuance</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>in thy wayes, and we &s;hall be &s;aved;</HI> But then immediately he goes on again to Complain: <HI>We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousne&s;&s;es are as filthy rags, and we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind, have taken us away; And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that &s;tirreth up him&s;elf, to take hold of thee:</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>When therefore we find the Graces of the Spirit of God looking in us, as if they were Bla&s;ting; like Flowers, or Blo&s;&s;oms bla&s;ted with an Ea&s;t-Wind; when we find our Souls dead in the Wayes of God, and Holine&s;s; when we find our Iniquities, and temptations to Evil have Prevalency upon us; then, what's our Duty to do? but to ca&s;t our &s;elves down before God, and &s;ay unto him, <HI>O Lord, Revive thy work in the mid&s;t of the years; in the mid&s;t of the years make known.</HI></P>
<P>When at any time we fall, as <HI>David,</HI> into Sin; that <HI>God would re&s;tore the Joy of his Salvation, and e&s;tabli&s;h us with his free Spirit. That he would not ca&s;t us away from his pre&s;ence, nor take his holy Spirit from us.</HI></P>
<P>When we find our &s;elves dead in the U&s;e of Ordi|nances, we have no way, but earne&s;tly thus to cry out to God. When God plunges us under fears of Eternal Wrath and Di&s;plea&s;ure, to &s;ay unto him, <HI>In wrath re|member mercy.</HI> And &s;o in regard of outward Provi|dences; <HI>when God brings us into the dark, and not into the light;</HI> (as that Expre&s;&s;ion is in the <HI>Lamentations.) when he &s;eems to &s;hut out our prayer:</HI> And though <HI>we &s;hout,</HI> and <HI>make a noi&s;e in Prayer,</HI> yet that &s;till he will not hear; Then we &s;hould in&s;i&s;t, <HI>O Lord, Revive thy mercy to us in the mid&s;t of judgement, In wrath remember mercy;</HI> Work
<PB N="12" REF="10"> a Salvation, even in our outward Condition, &s;o far as is nece&s;&s;ary to our Eternal Peace and Salvation.</P>
<P>And in all the&s;e things, there ought to be a peculiar Eye to the Kingdom of Chri&s;t; For the Kingdom of Chri&s;t, and our Salvation are united, and the Glory thereof &s;hines out together; even as now they are <HI>Re|&s;erved</HI> together <HI>in Heaven,</HI> till they are &s;o <HI>Revealed;</HI> and there they are alwayes <HI>in a Readine&s;s</HI> to be <HI>Revealed,</HI> as the Apo&s;tle <HI>Peter</HI> Witne&s;&s;es, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1. 5. &amp;c.</P>
<P>And even &s;o all outward Salvation and Deliverance are upon the Title of the Kingdom of Chri&s;t, Pledges of, and in Order to it; even as the Re&s;toration of the State of <HI>Judah,</HI> and <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> by <HI>Cyrus</HI> and the Kings of <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> that was more immediately in the Eye of the Prophet <HI>Habakkuk,</HI> when he prayed for the <HI>Revival of the work of God, in the mid&s;t of the years;</HI> and was a very Great Type of the Kingdom of Chri&s;t, according to the State of that time.</P>
<P N="2">2. In the Second Place, Thus in regard of the Pub|lick State of the Nation: If there be an Appearance of things, that God is taking away from us the Enjoyment of the Go&s;pel at any time, the Enjoyment of his Ordi|nances; that he is taking away the Peace, or the Free|dom of the Nation; that we &s;eem to be in danger of a return of Evil upon us: For &s;o indeed, is the State of things: Till the Kingdom of Chri&s;t, we are between Light and Darkne&s;s: There are continual returns of Evil, as I have often Ob&s;erved. Look over all the Hi&s;tories of Scripture, and the Hi&s;tories of Times &s;ince the Scripture; if there have been better Times at any time, Darkne&s;s and Wor&s;er have come and followed upon them.</P>
<P>If you look upon this Nation; Indeed, It is very Re|markable, &s;ince the time of the Dawns of the Reforma|tion upon it: You know, Fir&s;t we had the Excellent
<PB N="13" REF="10"> Appearances of Government, in that young Prince, <HI>Edward the Sixth:</HI> God took him off &s;uddenly, in the very ri&s;ing of his Youth: And the dark and dole&s;ome time of the <HI>Marian-Dayes,</HI> of the Burning &s;o many of the Servants of God, came on, and <HI>Antichri&s;tiani&s;m</HI> re|turned and came back.</P>
<P>Now, at &s;uch a time, undoubtedly, the Servants of God were earne&s;t with God, that he would <HI>Revive his work in the mid&s;t of the years.</HI> And &s;o it came forward a|gain, in the Reign of Queen <HI>Elizabeth.</HI> And we have had &s;omo Appearances of Hope of the glory, of a greater glory of the Go&s;pel, and of Chri&s;tianity, at &s;ome times; and then they have been vailed and clouded, and darkned again: I would not enter into Particulars.</P>
<P>But what &s;hall we do at &s;uch a time as this? How &s;hould we cry out, O Lord, thou ha&s;t appointed a King|dom to thy &s;elf, to thy Son: thou ha&s;t re&s;olved, that the <HI>knowledge of the Glory of the Lord &s;hall cover the Earth, as the waters do the &s;ea;</HI> Some things have &s;eemed to move towards it, and they have gone back again, and down again; O therefore, <HI>Revive thy work, O Lord, in the mid&s;t of the years make known, in wrath remember mercy.</HI></P>
<P>This ought to be a Pattern to the Servants of God, in all times, when any thing that God hath done for them, hath &s;eemed to go backward; that God would <HI>revive his work in the mid&s;t of the years:</HI> Ble&s;&s;ed be that God, that can do it; He can revive it; He can give Life, af|ter we &s;eem to be in a Swoon, and under Faintings; yet God is able to do it; And therefore, our Souls &s;hould, upon this very Account, be continually powred out, upon all occa&s;ions before him.</P>
<P>But then,</P>
<P N="3">3. The Third thing that I propo&s;ed And that is, To mako a particular reveiw and remark upon this late Pro|vidence:</P>
<PB N="14" REF="11">
<P> And that Briefly; becau&s;e I would give occa&s;ion to greater enlargedne&s;s and &s;eriou&s;ne&s;s upon the&s;e things in the thoughts of Chri&s;tians; that (as I have &s;aid) we may not lo&s;e the u&s;e of &s;o &s;ad a Providence, by letting it evaporate in onely an outward Formality, and Com|memoration, and Commendation of the Honour of &s;o great a Per&s;on, God hath Removed: VVe &s;hould not let it go off &s;o, but let it come to &s;erious and deep Con&s;i|deration.</P>
<P>I would therefore Propo&s;e the&s;e two things.</P>
<P N="1">1. Fir&s;t, That which we may look upon, as Dark and Sad, in this Di&s;pen&s;ation and Providence.</P>
<P N="2">2. In the Second Place, How we may reap Benefit and Comfort, and Encouragement to beg of God, that He would <HI>revive his work in the mid&s;t of the years;</HI> that he would yet carry on his work: And though this was a &s;troke of VVrath and Di&s;plea&s;ure, yet that he would return in Mercy.</P>
<P N="1">1. The fir&s;t thing that I would lay before you, as a Sad and &s;erious Con&s;ideration, is, That when God &s;ees a People unreformed, when he &s;ees a Spirit of Profane|ne&s;s, of Athei&s;m, of VVretchedne&s;s, Sen&s;ele&s;ne&s;s of things, and of Ungodline&s;s; He takes away tho&s;e Per|&s;ons, that are as the <HI>Chariots and Hor&s;emen</HI> of a Nation; as it was &s;aid of <HI>Elijah.</HI> He removes tho&s;e, that are in them&s;elves, ble&s;&s;ings to a Nation: And &s;o we &s;hould Con|&s;ider this late Providence, as a &s;troke upon the Irreligion, upon the Athei&s;m, and upon the Prophanene&s;s of the Nation: God takes away tho&s;e, whom he makes De|fences; whom he makes (as it were) Buttre&s;&s;es and Props of the Nation.</P>
<P>Thus of that excellent Prince <HI>Jo&s;iah,</HI> we read: becau&s;e it was a very wicked State of the People at that
<PB N="15" REF="11"> time, It was a very &s;en&s;ele&s;s State: And when God gave them &s;uch an Excellent Prince of &s;o very great Hopes, and of &s;o great Zeal for Reformation. In the 34th. Chapter of the 2d. Book of <HI>Chronicles,</HI> you may read all along; And in the 35th. Chapter, what an Excellent Per&s;on he was: Yet God took him away in great VVrath and Di&s;plea&s;ure upon the Nation, <HI>Chap.</HI> 35. 25. <HI>And Jeremiah lamented for Jo&s;iah, and all the &s;inging-men, and the &s;inging-women &s;pake of Jo&s;iah in their lamentations to this day, and made it an Ordinance in I&s;rael: and behold, they are written in the Lamentations.</HI></P>
<P>Certainly, many Expre&s;&s;ions in that book of the <HI>La|mentations of Jeremiah,</HI> have great re&s;pect to this very <HI>Jo&s;iah; Of whom we &s;aid, under his &s;hadow we &s;hall live among the Heathen,</HI> Lam. 4. 20. <HI>The Crown is fallen from our head, Wo unto us that we have &s;inned.</HI> Chap. 5. 20. And why was it? becau&s;e <HI>God would not turn</HI> (as it is &s;aid) <HI>from the fiercene&s;s of his anger,</HI> for all the Sins that <HI>I&s;rael</HI> had joyned with <HI>Mana&s;&s;eh</HI> in; So we find it expre&s;ly taken notice of, that God would not turn from the fiercene&s;s of his Anger, notwith&s;tanding all the Re|formation <HI>Jo&s;iah</HI> had made; And therefore he took a|way <HI>Jo&s;iah.</HI> That's the Fir&s;t Sad Con&s;ideration that we may have upon us.</P>
<P N="2">2. The Second very Sad Con&s;ideration, is;</P>
<P>That when God takes away Per&s;ons of very great U&s;e; of very great Sen&s;e of Him&s;elf; of very great Hopes to do good in that State and Condition, wherein he hath placed them; the Account that He is plea&s;ed to give of it is this; (which indeed, may look very Sad upon us, and as if God would have us under&s;tand VVrath and Di&s;plea&s;ure by it) <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 57. 1, 2.</P>
<P><HI>The righteous peri&s;heth, and no man layeth it to heart; and merciful men are taken away, none con&s;idering that the</HI>
<PB N="16" REF="12"> <HI>righteous is taken away from the evil to come; He &s;hall enter into peace: they &s;hall re&s;t in their beds, each one walk|ing in his uprightne&s;s.</HI> This is the Note I would give; When Per&s;ons of Eminent Piety, of Eminent Mercy, and doing Good, as nece&s;&s;ary to Mankind, are taken a|way, it is from <HI>the Evil to come</HI> very often; It is a Sign, that God is bringing a Storm upon a Nation, a Storm of Wrath and Di&s;plea&s;ure: When he takes away Per|&s;ons of Eminent Sen&s;e of Him&s;elf, or of Good to the Nation, or that are Publick Ble&s;&s;ings; when he takes them away, it is a Sign, that there is <HI>Evil to come.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. The Third Con&s;ideration is this, and Indeed, that ought to Affect us very much: For, you know, that God hath, within the&s;e few late years made &s;o great a Change in the Government of the Nation, as tended to an Introduction to the further Glory of Chri&s;tianity, a greater Advancement of <HI>Prote&s;tanti&s;m,</HI> and the Reformation among us; And you know, how Principal a Per&s;on the Queen was in this very Revolu|tion, which has been often &s;poken of, and Celebrated, as is well known among us; Now, this is a Rebuke upon the Nation, that God would be plea&s;ed, to take &s;uch a Per&s;on away; that in every thing, we may &s;ay, Accor|ding to the Opportunity, and the mea&s;ure of Light vouch&s;afed to her, as <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;peaks of the Vertuous Woman; <HI>She did good, and not Evil, all the dayes of her being in the Government;</HI> And was (as I &s;aid) an Emi|nent Per&s;on in that <HI>Revolution;</HI> which we have, both in Solemn Acknowledgement to God, and in General Di&s;|cour&s;e, looked upon, as a great Mercy to this Na|tion.</P>
<P>The Happy Union of the King, and the Queen in the Government was a great Mercy to the Nation in the&s;e Regards;</P>
<P N="1">1. That it gave &s;uch a Sweetne&s;s, and Conciliatorine&s;s
<PB N="17" REF="12"> to the Government in the thoughts of All, who were not Enemies to the true Intere&s;ts, to the Happine&s;s, and Pro&s;perity of it in regard both of the Religion, and of the Freedom of the Nation. The King, and the Queen were <HI>Lovely,</HI> and <HI>undivided</HI> in their Regnancy, in &s;o happy a Configuration of Graces and Vertues, as in their Union in Titles; in &s;uch a &s;trict Fidelity to the Prote|&s;tant Reformation, as in their Joynt Swaying the Scepter.</P>
<P N="2">2. This Union gave Stability to the Government; In this In&s;tance, as <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;ayes, <HI>Two are better than One,</HI> and the Union made it a <HI>Three fold Cord,</HI> that is not Ea&s;ily Broken.</P>
<P N="3">3. It was a Security to it; For &s;eeing, the King, and the Queen were &s;o united, as that the Government &s;ur|viv'd in each; the <HI>Sons of Violence</HI> had this Di&s;courage|ment of Attempting again&s;t either &s;ingle.</P>
<P N="4">4. It gave a pre&s;ence to the Government, that in the nece&s;&s;ary Ab&s;ence of the King for the Defence of the Nation in the Wars Abroad, the Government was yet always pre&s;ent, and at Home, by the Queens Union in Supream Power.</P>
<P>Now, I &s;ay, When God is plea&s;ed to take away &s;uch a Per&s;on, &s;o Eminent in the <HI>Revolution;</HI> It is, as if he would put a Di&s;grace, and a Di&s;honour upon the <HI>Revo|lution</HI> as to us-ward. And, we have rea&s;on to Fear, le&s;t God &s;hould Roll back from us, the Good that he had be|gan to do. And, As it is &s;aid, <HI>I will Repent of the Good</HI> (not of the Evil; though God does al&s;o &s;ay that) But <HI>I'll Repent of the Good that I thought to do unto you.</HI></P>
<P>That therefore God &s;hould bring us again into the Dark; and if there be Place, and Room for &s;uch a thing, as many of the Servants of God have Apprehend|ed, and (I believe) do Apprehend: Though (as I have &s;aid) it is not according to the Apprehen&s;ions that I have
<PB N="18" REF="13"> I may Humbly Hope) had from the Word of God.</P>
<P>But, If there be Room for &s;uch a thing, as that <HI>&s;lay|ing of the Witne&s;&s;es,</HI> and as their <HI>lying dead yet three days and an half of years;</HI> It may &s;eem to be as fair an Intro|ductory &s;troke of God upon us for it, as may be.</P>
<P>Therefore, I &s;ay, We have Rea&s;on to Apprehend it, in this regard, and to humble our &s;elves before God; le&s;t he Repent of the Good, he thought to do unto us, and will not do it for us.</P>
<P>I Acknowledge, It is a very dark Di&s;pen&s;ation of Pro|vidence; That, if the Succe&s;&s;ion of the Kingdom of Chri&s;t be &s;o near as 97, that &s;o Eminent an In&s;trument in the Hand of God within the&s;e Nations, &s;hould &s;o &s;ud|denly before it, be Removed.</P>
<P>But as I have &s;aid, <HI>His way is in the Sea, and his Paths in the Great Waters: He gives not Account of Any of his Matters.</HI> If <HI>He take</HI> away &s;o Great Per&s;ons, <HI>who can hinder him?</HI> Who can <HI>&s;tay his hand,</HI> or <HI>&s;ay unto him, what do&s;t thou?</HI> He will &s;hew he needs no ones Service, &s;o as to depend upon it; he can rai&s;e up, and fit others, as he plea&s;es; and yet more abundantly provide for the Honour and Happine&s;s of Any, he hath u&s;ed, with him&s;elf; And whereas they are Removed out of the Vi&s;ibility of &s;uch Glory before the Eyes of All; even in that they &s;hall not be Loo&s;ers: For when the Lord comes, all his Saints, Great and Small &s;hall <HI>come with Him</HI> in Glory, on white Hor&s;es, Bodies of Glory in <HI>Fine Linnen, white and clean,</HI> which is the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of Saints. And &s;o however Dark, I &s;ay, this Providence may Look now in relation to the Queen, becau&s;e we have no Views of the Glory into which &s;he is entred; yet then All this &s;hall clear up, and brighten into Lu&s;tre and Open Appearances of Glory. But now,</P>
<P N="2">2. In the Second place; According to tho&s;e Hopes, and tho&s;e Earne&s;t Prayers, that I de&s;ire every one of us
<PB N="19" REF="13"> may joyn, in pouring out before God; there is hope (as Scripture &s;peaks) in our <HI>I&s;rael concerning this thing;</HI> and that God will yet go forward, and perfect the Mer|cy that he had intended to us.</P>
<P>Therefore, I &s;hall give you two or three Con&s;olatory Con&s;iderations, in relation to this.</P>
<P N="1">1. The Fir&s;t is, That God hath oftentimes been plea|&s;ed to make a Breach, when he was in the way of do|ing his People Good; And, as if he were Rever&s;ing, and putting an end to his Work, and yet he hath not &s;o in|tended: As I'll name briefly &s;ome In&s;tances to you.</P>
<P>When <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> was in the Cour&s;e of Victory, over the Kings of <HI>Canaan,</HI> You know, upon the Sin of <HI>Achan,</HI> there were very dreadful Di&s;comfitures of the People of God, by tho&s;e whom God would Root out and De&s;troy; and yet, notwith&s;tanding, this did not prove an end of Gods work: But, as you find in <HI>Ho&s;ea</HI> 2. 15. (a mo&s;t comfortable place) when at any time God is plea&s;ed to make a &s;troke upon his People, he thus &s;peaks; <HI>I will give her her Vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope;</HI> Which was the place where the <HI>Children of I&s;rael</HI> were Di&s;comfitted, and where God &s;eemed to make a Breach upon them. <HI>I'll give it her for a door of hope.</HI> God turned that very <HI>Valley of Achor</HI> into <HI>a door of hope.</HI> So, when God &s;eems to make an End of his Work of Grace, he may make it a <HI>Door of Hope.</HI></P>
<P>So God made a Breach upon <HI>&V;zza: David</HI> could not tell what to make of it, whether he would E&s;tabli&s;h him, and give him the Happine&s;s of his Hou&s;e; <HI>David</HI> was afraid of it; But yet, notwith&s;tanding, in a little time after this, the <HI>Ark</HI> was <HI>brought down</HI> to the <HI>City of David.</HI> So, I &s;ay, that was not an Argument that God would put an End to his Intentions of Grace to|ward <HI>David</HI> and his Family; though he made &s;o Dread|ful
<PB N="20" REF="14"> a Breach to &s;trike <HI>&V;zzah</HI> immediately, in that he mi&s;took, and was in an Error concerning the <HI>Ark.</HI></P>
<P>So we have the Ca&s;e in the 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 1. when God <HI>took away Saul,</HI> and <HI>Jonathan his Son; Sauls</HI> Kingdom was undoubtedly a Type of the Kingdom of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, though it did not continue in <HI>Saul</HI>'s Per&s;on and Family: But immediately, you &s;ee; the <HI>Hou&s;e of David, David</HI>'s Kingdom, and <HI>Solomon</HI>'s Kingdom ro&s;e up. So, I &s;ay, it is not an Argument, when God hath an Intention of Grace, that he will not carry it on, or that he does in|tend to put an end to it becau&s;e he makes &s;ome breach; yet we &s;hould pour out our hearts before God in all &s;uch Ca&s;es, and &s;ay unto him, <HI>O Lord, in wrath remember mercy; O Lord, revive thy work in the mid&s;t of the years.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. The Second Con&s;ideration by way of Con&s;olation, is this; That God hath yet, and doth yet; and, as the Apo&s;tle &s;aith, we &s;hould tru&s;t, and earne&s;tly pray, that he will yet continue the King, and make him a great In&s;trument for the Advancement of his Glory, and the good of the Nation. The Lord, yet hath left us a Nail <HI>in his Sanctuary</HI> (as the Expre&s;&s;ion is) <HI>a nail in his Hou&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>God gives us yet our hopes, by &s;uch a <HI>Nail in his Hou&s;e,</HI> as he pre&s;erves among us; And though we know No other <HI>Nail,</HI> except Chri&s;t alone, is fa&s;tened in <HI>&s;o &s;ure a Place</HI> but that it may be remov'd, yet we may have Hopes that God that hath been pleas'd &s;o immediately to make the King his In&s;trument in reviving his Work in the&s;e Nations, when it &s;eem'd declining &s;o Fa&s;t amid&s;t the years of K. <HI>James,</HI> will &s;u&s;tain and &s;upport him, till the very Time of the Right of that Greate&s;t King for entring into the Succe&s;&s;ion of his Kingdom; when the <HI>Time, Times,</HI> and <HI>Half Time</HI> given by his Oath to <HI>An|tichri&s;t</HI> &s;hall be at an End, and &s;uch <HI>Time</HI> be no more
<PB N="21" REF="14"> for ever; as is al&s;o &s;worn by Chri&s;t; which I have made out, as I doubt not to affirm, on &s;uch Grounds as will not Fail, to be at the &s;o near 97. from the Compare of the two Oaths, the fir&s;t giving Times, and half, <HI>Dan.</HI> 12. the latter defining tho&s;e Times and half to be at an End, and never to be renewed, <HI>Rev.</HI> 10. It &s;hould cau&s;e us yet, in relation to this, to cry out, <HI>O Lord, re|vive thy work in the mid&s;t of the years, in wrath remember mercy,</HI> in the Pre&s;ervation of the Government to us, as there is an E&s;tabli&s;hment of the Reformation from <HI>Anti|chri&s;tiani&s;m,</HI> and as there is an Enjoyment of the Ordi|nances of the Go&s;pek in &s;o much Freedom. And then,</P>
<P N="3">3. The Third thing I would mention to you, by way of Con&s;olation (and &s;o I &s;hall immediately conclude in Application) is this,</P>
<P>That &s;urely, we cannot (I am humbly bold in the Word of God, to &s;ay to you) we cannot be far off; We cannot upon any Account whatever, be far off, from a far greater <HI>Revolution</HI> and Change that God will make, by the Succe&s;&s;ion of the Kingdom of Chri&s;t. The very Labour in the Fire, and Weari&s;omne&s;&s;es for very Vanity, that we behold in All States, amid&s;t all Per&s;ons, and on the account of &s;o great Per&s;ons as we now Memorialize, removed from us &s;uddenly, is a certain A&s;&s;urance, it is near, even at the very Doors. For I dare Appeal to All the World, whether though the World hath been alway full of Wars, and of Rumors of Wars; yet whe|ther ever there were Wars of &s;o little Fruit, Succe&s;s, or Archeivement? Whether even there was &s;uch <HI>Labour of Nations,</HI> and of People in the very Fire, all con&s;um'd without Fruit, and for <HI>very Vanity,</HI> nothing come of it, as hath been of late years: And is not this God hath &s;poken, and Challeng'd the whole World upon? <HI>Hab.</HI> 2. 14. <HI>Is it not</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>of the Lord of Ho&s;ts,</HI> &s;o ordered, and contrived, it &s;hould be thus? Becau&s;e the <HI>Knowledge of</HI>
<PB N="22" REF="15"> <HI>the Glory of the Lord;</HI> that is, in the Fir&s;t Appearances, and Encrea&s;ing Glory of his Kingdom, ri&s;ing like <HI>Eze|kiels Waters,</HI> fir&s;t to the Ancles, then to the Knees, and Loynes, and then like the Great Sea, covering All. This therefore, that we are &s;o Apt to Complain of, &s;o much Charge, and Labour, and no Effect, is a Comfortable Progno&s;tick, the Kingdom of Chri&s;t draws near, and will by the bitterne&s;s of the Former State be thus wel|com'd into the World.</P>
<P>We &s;hould therefore take Comfort, in this very third of <HI>Habakkuk,</HI> as the Prophet goes on in his &s;etting out the glorious Works of God of old: And he does it to that very purpo&s;e to Comfort, <HI>Ver.</HI> 3. <HI>God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran, Selah: His glory covered the Heaven, and the Earth was full of his prai&s;e. He stood and Mea&s;ured the Earth,</HI> (Ver. 6.) <HI>he beheld, and drove a&s;under the Nations, and the everlasting Mountains were &s;cattered, the perpetual Hills did bow.</HI> And &s;o he goes on, &s;etting out the Works of God. And he Concludes, (let Appearances be never &s;o Dark) (V. 17.) <HI>Although the Figtree &s;hall not blo&s;&s;om, neither &s;hall fruit be in the Vines;</HI> though things be never &s;o Dark, &s;aith he, <HI>yet I'll rejoyce in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my Sal|vation: The Lord is my &s;trength, and he will make my feet like Hinds feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.</HI></P>
<P>He Alludes to &s;uch Expre&s;&s;ions, as &s;et out the Glory of the Kingdom of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t. And he hath left it as a Song to all Ages: <HI>To the chief Singer on my Stringed In&s;truments.</HI> That is, Let all the Servants of God in every Age, prepare to Sing upon the&s;e Grounds that I have laid, to Sing to the Prai&s;e and Glory of God, and to the glory of his Kingdom, even till Je&s;us Chri&s;t our great <HI>Beloved &s;hall make ha&s;te, and be as a Roe, and as</HI>
<PB N="23" REF="15"> <HI>a young Hart upon the Mountains of Spices;</HI> upon the glory of his own Kingdom as the <HI>Anointed.</HI></P>
<P>Certainly, I &s;ay, This cannot be far off, let us compute Time how we can; there is &s;uch Evidence that we mu&s;t needs believe it. And happy will it be for any One of us, whom God continues in the pre&s;ent State in this World, to &s;ee but the Dawns and the beginning of that Kingdom.</P>
<P>O how Comfortable would it be, to Live or to Dye, as God is plea&s;ed to Call us to it, if we could but once &s;ee tho&s;e Dawns! If we could but hear tho&s;e <HI>Loud Voices from Heaven</HI> re&s;ounding upon Earth; <HI>The Kingdoms of this World are become the Kingdoms of the Lord, and of his Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>I &s;hall now &s;hut up what I have &s;poken, in very brief Application.</P>
<DIV2 TYPE="application">
<HEAD>APPLICATION.</HEAD>
<P>The Fir&s;t Application offer'd to us, is,</P>
<P><HI>&V;SE</HI> I. A Wi&s;e, and a Holy, and a Prudent, Chri&s;tian Commemoration of the Graces, and Vertues, and Excellencies that God hath given to any Per&s;ons of our Times; And &s;o Particularly to this Eminent Per&s;o|nage that God hath lately removed from us. It doth become the Serious and Holy Servants of God, and of Chri&s;t, to make a VVi&s;e, and a Prudent Commemo|ration.</P>
<P>This is warranted to us, by what I &s;ay we have in the 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 1. <HI>David</HI> &s;peaks thus; <HI>The Beauty of I&s;rael is &s;lain upon thy high places: How are the mighty fallen! Tell it not in Gath, publi&s;h it not in the Streets of</HI> Aske|lon.</P>
<PB N="24" REF="16">
<P> They were Cities of the <HI>Phili&s;tines,</HI> the Enemies of the People of God, the Enemies of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI> O let there not be an occa&s;ion for them to Triumph and Rejoyce in it!</P>
<P>Let God do &s;omthing Graciou&s;ly for the Nation: We &s;hould earne&s;tly Pray, that God would do &s;ome Graci|ous thing for the Nation; That though they will be Triumphing and Rejoycing, and making great Mirth upon it; yet notwith&s;tanding, that God may <HI>Laugh</HI> at them, with a far greater Scorn, and have them in Deri|&s;ion, that are Enemies of his Go&s;pel, and of his King|dom. And, If any Per&s;on, whom they thought, and did look upon as a Friend and Servant to the Kingdom of Chri&s;t, and an Enemy to their Intere&s;t that are of ano|ther kind, of another Region, of a Region below; that God would &s;natch their Triumph and their Singing out of their Mouth; which we &s;hould earne&s;tly Beg and De&s;ire; and we &s;hould beg it of God, that he would Interpo&s;e again&s;t it.</P>
<P>And therefore, we may make a Wi&s;e, and (I &s;ay) a Prudent Record of any Per&s;on of Eminency and Service: And &s;o we ought to do upon this occa&s;ion, by this Ex|ample of <HI>David</HI> upon <HI>Saul</HI> and <HI>Jonathan.</HI> Therefore, according to all Freedoms of Apprehen&s;ion and Expre&s;|&s;ion, we may do it. As <HI>David</HI> &s;ayes, in 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 1. 23. <HI>Saul and Jonathan</HI> they <HI>were lovely and plea&s;ant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided Jonathan,</HI> undoubtedly, was an excellent Per&s;on every way: And <HI>Saul,</HI> in regard of his Government, and bearing a re|pre&s;entation of the Kingdom of Chri&s;t, he is thus &s;poken of, by <HI>David:</HI> Though otherwi&s;e, Scripture hath &s;et very black Characters upon him.</P>
<P>So we may &s;ay, The King and the <HI>Qu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">en were Lovely and Plea&s;ant in their Lives:</HI> And it is the great Goodne&s;s of God that they have been <HI>Divided</HI> in their Death;
<PB N="25" REF="16"> And that God hath been plea&s;ed to Re&s;erve and Pre|&s;erve the King; and that he would &s;till Pre&s;erve him, our Earne&s;t Prayer &s;hould be upon it; and any thing of Mercy, that God doth to the Nation, by tho&s;e that he hath &s;et in &s;o Eminent Place and Station, and Soveraignty over it, we &s;hould Adore Him in.</P>
<P>And, you &s;ee here, there may be a Covering of Imperfections. You &s;ee that <HI>David</HI> covered the great Evils that were in <HI>Saul.</HI> And the Spirit of God &s;peaks of it, and hath Enrolled it in the <HI>Book</HI> of <HI>Ja&s;her:</HI> That (I &s;ay) there may be a wi&s;e and a Prudent and a Holy Commemoration. And much more when there was &s;uch an Eminency as in our Ca&s;e; for we may &s;ay, So great a Per&s;on, &s;o Exemplarily <HI>Fearing God,</HI> ought accord|ing to the Word of God to be prai&s;ed; Her <HI>Memory</HI> to be <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed;</HI> She ought to be had in <HI>Perpetual Remembrance.</HI> We may &s;ay of Her, <HI>Many Daughters have done Vertuou&s;ly, but thou excelle&s;t them all;</HI> as was &s;aid before.</P>
<P>And &s;o we find God oftentimes in his Word, &s;peaks of his Servants; <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> my Servant is Dead, &s;aith God. That was a kind of Solemn Memorial of <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI> And &s;o we find of <HI>Jo&s;iah, Jeremiah &s;poke of him in his Lamen|tations,</HI> to this Day, to After Times.</P>
<P>Now therefore, That God hath been plea&s;ed to take away one of the Pillars; though (as it were) the Left-Hand-Pillar onely, pre&s;erving the Life of the King; We have Rea&s;on to &s;peak of it with Apprehen&s;ions of His Goodne&s;s, and al&s;o of His Stroke; the Stroke that looked like a &s;troke of Di&s;plea&s;ure; In that Regard we ought to Con&s;ider, as in a <HI>Day of Adver&s;ity.</HI></P>
<P><HI>&V;SE</HI> II. In the Second Place, it teaches us to make a Holy, and a Wi&s;e, and Spiritual U&s;e of this Providence, in relation to our &s;elves: 1. To Con&s;ider the great Weakne&s;s, and uncertainty of our Condition here: 2. To
<PB N="26" REF="17"> take out any of the Exemplars God gives us; the Ex|emplarit of good and gracious Per&s;ons; and of the good we find in any of Eminency. And in that Emi|nent Per&s;on that God hath Taken and Removed from the Nation. We ought to Con&s;ider, wherever there is any thing of Worth, and Loveline&s;s, and Excellency in any of the Servants of God, and any that have been In|&s;truments of Publick Good and Advantage.</P>
<P><HI>&V;SE</HI> III. In the Third Place; it Teaches us to be Apprehen&s;ive, le&s;t God &s;hould have &s;till in Re&s;erve a Scourge, and &s;ecret Stroke (as it were) upon the Na|tion. You &s;ee, we don't know what a Day; and much le&s;s what a Week, Moneth or Year may bring forth; how God may Change the Publick State of Things, within &s;uch a Time. And therefore it &s;hould teach us to lye Low before God; to Humble our &s;elves, and ear|ne&s;tly to &s;eek him. And then,</P>
<P><HI>&V;SE</HI> IV. In the la&s;t Place; It &s;hould teach us to hope in the Salvation of God, both in Relation to Pub|lick and Private; and in relation to the Glory and King|dom of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, earne&s;tly to pour out our Hearts in Prayer and Supplication to Him; that he would be plea&s;ed to manife&s;t him&s;elf in great Power and Glory, for the Glory of his Kingdom e&s;pecially, and for the Glory of the Go&s;pel; for the Glory of the particu|lar Nation and Community that we are of: And al&s;o for great Grace, and Infinite Mercy every one particu|larly to our Selves, to Cry out, <HI>O Lord, Revive thy work in the mid&s;t of the years; in the mid&s;t of the years make known, in wrath remember mercy. For we have heard thy &s;peech, and are afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the mid&s;t of the years,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<PB N="27" REF="17">
<P> And therefore, by way of Supplication, and lifting up our Hearts; Let us &s;et before us that 64 of <HI>I&s;aiah, O that thou woulde&s;t rent the heavens! that thou woulde&s;t come down; that the mountains might flow down at thy pre|&s;ence.</HI> That there might be &s;uch great works of God; <HI>As when the melting fire burneth, the fire cau&s;eth the waters to boyl: to make thy Name known to thine Adver&s;aries; that the Nations might tremble at thy pre&s;ence. To make known the wrath of God to his Enemies; and by terrible things that we looked not for, that he would be plea&s;ed to &s;hew him|&s;elf to us in Salvation.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="hymn">
<HEAD>A HYMN.</HEAD>
<LG N="1">
<HEAD>1.</HEAD>
<L>O Lord, in &s;under Heavens part,</L>
<L>Them open, Lord, to thee:</L>
<L>That coming Down in Grace to us;</L>
<L>Thy Glory We may &s;ee.</L>
</LG>
<LG N="2">
<HEAD>2.</HEAD>
<L>O let the World thy Power Know!</L>
<L>The Nations All, perceive,</L>
<L>How great a God our Lord is, when</L>
<L>His Kingdom He'll Receive.</L>
</LG>
<LG N="3">
<HEAD>3.</HEAD>
<L>Let Mountains all Di&s;till and Melt,</L>
<L>At thy Great Pre&s;ence near;</L>
<PB N="28" REF="18">
<L> But let our Hearts, much more thy Grace</L>
<L>Feel them Aright to Steer.</L>
</LG>
<LG N="4">
<HEAD>4.</HEAD>
<L>Such Efficacies Let us feel,</L>
<L>In An&s;wer when we Pray;</L>
<L>So far &s;urmounting all our Thoughts,</L>
<L>In their mo&s;t free Di&s;play.</L>
</LG>
<LG N="5">
<HEAD>5.</HEAD>
<L>That in a Holy Wonder We</L>
<L>May Fear, and Prai&s;e, and Joy</L>
<L>In thy Great Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and Live,</L>
<L>When Our Sins thoul't De&s;troy.</L>
</LG>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="18" MS="y">
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
