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<DATE>2014-03-17</DATE>
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<NAME>Colm MacCrossan</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed.</ITEM>
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<STC T="W">E3221</STC>
<STC T="C">R201892</STC>
<BIBNO T="oclc">[ocm]69648653</BIBNO>
<VID>184919</VID>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
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<P>THE ARMIES DEFENCE, <HI>OR, God guarding the Camp of the</HI> SAINTS, <HI>AND THE</HI> BELOVED CITY. SHEWING, That All oppre&s;sions in GOVERNORS, and GOVERNMENT &s;hall cea&s;e by the <HI>Appearance of God in the SAINTS.</HI> Whether the appearance of God in the ARMY, with the Saints, be in contrariety or enmity to the good Spirit and minde of GOD. Not to Rebuke an evil &s;pirit in any, but &s;oberly to enquire whether God doth not act with highe&s;t power in the Saints, when they are at lowe&s;t weakne&s;s. And whether it be their weakne&s;s to act in this way of POVVER. By <HI>WILLIAM ERBERY.</HI></P>
<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed by <HI>T. N.</HI> for <HI>Giles Calvert</HI> at the &s;ign of black-&s;pread-Eagle at the we&s;t end of Pauls, 1648.</P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="tract">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="3" REF="2">
<HEAD>THE Armies Defence: <HI>OR, God guarding the Camp of the</HI> Saints, <HI>AND THE</HI> BELOVED CITY.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>ZACH. 9.8</HI></BIBL>
<P>I will encamp about mine Hou&s;e, becau&s;e of the <HI>ARMY,</HI> becau&s;e of him that pa&s;&s;eth by, and becau&s;e of him that returneth, and no Oppre&s;&s;or &s;hall pa&s;&s;e through them any more; for now I have &s;een with mine eyes.</P></Q>
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<P>_THIS is not to defend an Army, or Arm of fle&s;h; but God dwelling in fle&s;h, defending and Saving him&s;elf in the Saints from the power of fle&s;h in the world, oppre&s;&s;ing his Glorious Appearance in them; the Oppre&s;&s;or &s;hall cea&s;e. This in &s;hort is the &s;en&s;e and &s;umm of that Scripture, <HI>I will encamp about mine Hou&s;e, &amp;c.</HI> What is the Hou&s;e of God,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Zach. 12.8.</NOTE> but God dwelling in the fle&s;h of the Saints, or the Saints filled with all the fulne&s;s of God?
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 3.9.</NOTE> the fulne&s;s of the Godhead dwelling in them bodily, or the Godhead embodyed in their fle&s;h. This hou&s;e of God, God
<PB N="4" REF="3">defends, encamping it about, with him&s;elf dwelling in the mid&s;t of them, though not yet manife&s;t in All of them through weakne&s;s; yet all of them, though in weake&s;t fle&s;h and low|e&s;t forms, the Lord of Ho&s;ts owns as his Army, in whom he Goes forth defending and &s;aving him&s;elf and them from all the powers of fle&s;h without and within, oppo&s;ing and op|pre&s;&s;ing his Appearance and Glory in them: &s;o that the Op|pre&s;&s;or nor oppre&s;&s;ion &s;hall appear any more.</P>
<P>This is yet a larger di&s;covery of God in Men, when Men &s;hall come to &s;ee God dwelling in them. This My&s;tery of God I have already manife&s;ted in part, but All the Prophets, old and new, even <HI>John</HI> that la&s;t, declares the &s;ame with the fir&s;t: for that Hou&s;e of God which the Prophets point at, and plainly tell to be built in the la&s;t days, is nothing but the my|&s;tery of God when 'tis fini&s;hed, <HI>Rev.</HI> 10.7. When God &s;hall be manife&s;t fully in fle&s;h, God dwelling with Men, yea, God him&s;elf in the mid&s;t of them; this is the new <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> the holy City, the Temple, Tabernacle, and Hou&s;e of God; as men may gather clearly, by comparing the &s;criptures of the Prophets with <HI>John,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 1.20. Gen. 1.26. Heb. 1.13.</NOTE> <HI>Rev.</HI> 21.3. <HI>E&s;ay</HI> 60.14. &amp; 65.17. <HI>Ezek.</HI> 37.27, 28. &amp; 48.35. For as the whole creation is a clear image of God, Mankinde a clearer Image then that of the Godhead:
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Character &s;ub|&s;tantiae ejus,</HI> as <HI>Era&s;mus</HI> reads, for there is no per&s;on in the Godhead, but God even the Father in fle&s;h is the per&s;on of the Sonn. 1 John 3.1. E&s;ay 9.6. John 14.9, 10. Job 37.4, 5.</NOTE> but the Saints (that's the Son) are the clea|re&s;t, the expre&s;s image of his &s;ub&s;tance or Godhead. God in his &s;pirituall being, and ble&s;&s;edne&s;s, his grace, goodne&s;s, holine&s;s, love, light, wi&s;dom, power, and all appearing mo&s;t vi&s;ibly to the world in them, whom the world of Mankinde therefore hates, becau&s;e they know them not, nor God even the Father dwelling in them, and their fle&s;h full of God: &s;o the whole Creation is called the Hou&s;e of God, yea, his holy Temple, <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 29.3. to the end. There the God of Glory in his Maje&s;ty and power, thunders marvailou&s;ly, and roars in the cloud, the Lord being thereupon, or in many waters, <HI>ver.</HI> 3, 4. The Lord &s;itteth al&s;o upon the Floods; his glorious voice in every other creature commanding forth his appearance in them: And in his holy Temple (that's the whole Creation) doth every one &s;peak of glory, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 9. or Every whit of it, uttereth, as the margin reads; that is,
<PB N="5" REF="3">every whit of the creature uttereth the glory of God; but Mankind is much more the Hou&s;e of God, and Temple of his glory, the glory of the Godhead dwelling there more manife&s;t in voice, maje&s;ty and power; fora&s;much as Man is the Image and glory of God, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 11.7. though God be not yet Manife&s;t in all Men, yet in truth, the whole earth, even all fle&s;h and Mankinde is full of his Glory,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;ay 6.3.</NOTE> full of the Godhead; and one day the earth &s;hall be full of the know|ledg of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the &s;ea, <HI>Hab.</HI> 2.14. that as nothing can be &s;een in the &s;ea but waters, &s;o Men &s;hall &s;ee nothing in the world but God.</P>
<P>But as yet God dwels onely in the Saints, or is manife&s;t in their fle&s;h onely; the Saints in a &s;peciall manner being called the Hou&s;e of God, his holy Temple,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. 2.21, 22. Zach. 2.13.</NOTE> and habitation of his Holine&s;s, the Holy of Holye&s;t, wherein all his glory appears, and to whom all his &s;ecrets are revealed, made known: there|fore though God &s;hall be &s;o revealed to all,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;ay 40.5.</NOTE> that all fle&s;h &s;hall &s;ee his glory together; yet the Saints &s;hall fir&s;t appear in Glory, and Gods appearance be fir&s;t manife&s;ted in them, they being therefore called, <HI>The fir&s;t fruits of the Creation,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jam. 1.18. Rom. 8.21.</NOTE> that is, of all mankinde, who are indeed the lump and full crop; and therefore are as holy in God and with God, as the fir&s;t fruits, as the Saints here: For though the&s;e are holy, elect, and beloved of God in his fir&s;t Appearance; yet when God or Chri&s;t in us &s;hall appear the &s;econd time without &s;inn to &s;alvation, then no &s;in, nothing but &s;alvation &s;hall appear,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 9.28. Zeph. 3.15, 17.</NOTE> as we &s;hall &s;hew another time:
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 15.4.</NOTE> And therefore as no Man is holy Now, but God onely, the <HI>Holy, holy, holy;</HI> &s;o all men are holy in God, <HI>for the earth is full of his Glory:</HI> As yet indeed,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Zach. 14.20.</NOTE> the Saints are called, <HI>Holy men of God,</HI> not in re&s;pect of God, but in relation to Men, in whom God is not yet manife&s;t: &s;o the Saints are called the Elect and beloved of God; not but that God loves every man, as the Scrip|tures &s;peak of the kindne&s;s and love of God to All Men;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tit. 3.4.</NOTE> but All men having not God manife&s;t In them, nor his love made Known to them, are &s;aid to be hated, condemned, and damn'd, becau&s;e that his love, their life and &s;alvation is not yet manife&s;t to them; &s;o they are &s;aid to be under wrath,
<PB N="6" REF="4">under the power of death, darkne&s;&s;e, and of the Divel, the Divell dwelling in them, working in them; not as if all men were not of God, and God the Father of all, and all men the Offspring of God, God dwelling in them, and they being in God, as living in him, moving and having their very being in God, <HI>Acts</HI> 17.27, 28, 29. But, the&s;e being yet left under the power of death, and dark appearing of God, that is, the Divel; God hath cho&s;en a company of men, to whom he will fir&s;t manife&s;t all his love, light, life, glory, &s;alvation, and him|&s;elf to them, dwelling in them: The&s;e are therefore called the Holy, the Elect, and the Hou&s;e of God.</P>
<P>The&s;e onely we now &s;peak of, of God dwelling in the Saints. The people <HI>&s;ay</HI> indeed, <HI>The time is not yet come that the hou&s;e of the Lord &s;hould be built,</HI> (<HI>Hagg.</HI> 1.2.) that God &s;hould be exalted and &s;et up in the Saints: and the Saints them&s;elves are very unbeleeving al&s;o and backward to build up any thing &s;ave &s;elf, <HI>v.</HI> 4. But &s;earch tho&s;e Scriptures, and you &s;hall &s;ee God will be &s;et up in them, and by them; yea, the glory of the later hou&s;e &s;hall be more then that of the fir&s;t, <HI>Hag.</HI> 2.9. that is, as the glory of the Go&s;pel was above that of the Law, &s;o the glory of the &s;aints in the la&s;t dayes &s;hall be far more excellent and glorious then all the Churches of &s;aints at fir&s;t, as we &s;hall &s;hew another time: For in this hou&s;e (&s;aith God) <HI>I will give peace.</HI> What wars did alwayes trouble the &s;tate of the legall Church of the Jews? yea, the fir&s;t Churches of Chri&s;t were full of wranglings and &s;trife a|mong them&s;elves, with &s;ufferings from the world: but the &s;aints in the la&s;t times, as they &s;hall attain the glorious liberty of the &s;ons of God, &s;o they &s;hall be freed from all &s;uf|ferings of men, and from their own &s;trugglings in the womb, where now they are; but when God &s;hall be brought forth in them,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 11.9.</NOTE> and the earth full of the knowledge of God, then no hurt nor de&s;troying &s;hall be; but as all the adver&s;aries of <HI>Judah</HI> &s;hall be cut off; &s;o <HI>Ephraim</HI> &s;hall not envie <HI>Judah</HI> nor <HI>Judah</HI> vex <HI>Ephraim;</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">V. 13.</NOTE> &s;aints in one form &s;hall not vex tho&s;e in another, <NOTE PLACE="marg">V. 14.</NOTE> but both &s;hall flee upon the &s;houlders of the Phi|li&s;tines, towards the We&s;t, they &s;hall &s;poil them of the Ea&s;t together, and lay their hand upon Edom and Moab, and the
<PB N="7" REF="4">children of Ammon &s;hall obey them: that is, all the &s;aints clo&s;ing in love and peace together in God, &s;hall cea&s;e their pre&s;ent divi&s;ions, and fir&s;t fall to de&s;troy the powers of the world oppo&s;ing God in them;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Obad. 21. 1 Pet. 4.17.</NOTE> and then they &s;hall &s;ave the world, and be the &s;aviours of men: For if judgement hath begun with the hou&s;e of God, and the righteous &s;carcely be &s;aved; that is, if righteous men never were &s;aved without &s;uffering, but mu&s;t fir&s;t die before they live, and &s;uffer before reigne: &s;urely the world of ungodly men who have hitherto lived merrily, and reigned as Kings, mu&s;t be content to &s;uf|fer and die, not in their per&s;ons, but in their power and glory at lea&s;t, in that power oppo&s;ing, per&s;ecuting and op|pre&s;&s;ing the appearance of God in the &s;aints; they mu&s;t die to that, and have that de&s;troyed by the &s;aints, or by God in them, that at la&s;t the &s;aints may be their &s;aviours, &s;ave them and their Nation and Kingdom from all their oppre&s;&s;ors and oppre&s;&s;ions, as our Prophet and another &s;peaks more plainly; <HI>Saviours &s;hall ri&s;e from mount Zion to judge the mount of E&s;au, and the kingdom &s;hall be the Lords, Obad.</HI> 21. What's <HI>Zion</HI> but the hill where Gods hou&s;e was built, where God dwelt and delighted in, that's the &s;aints in truth: from hence &s;a|viours &s;hall ari&s;e, and judge the mount of <HI>E&s;au;</HI> that is, as the Apo&s;tle expounds, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6.2. <HI>The Saints &s;hall judge the world,</HI> and <HI>Angels</HI> al&s;o; for <HI>E&s;au</HI>'s Mount is the power of man &s;et up, oppre&s;&s;ing Gods appearings in the &s;aints, as <HI>E&s;au</HI> per|&s;ecuted <HI>Jacob;</HI> and <HI>E&s;au</HI>'s Mount is the highe&s;t power of man in civill or &s;pirituall excellency, even Angels; the &s;aints &s;hall judge Angels, men &s;eemingly &s;ent forth of God, and &s;peaking high things to men; yea, &s;aints them&s;elves flying above their brethren, and beyond their reach, as living alone in their &s;trangene&s;&s;e of &s;pirit, making their ne&s;t in the Starres, the&s;e like <HI>Lucifer</HI> the &s;on of the morning, mu&s;t come down, and the&s;e angels mu&s;t be judged by the lowe&s;t &s;aints. The &s;aints &s;hall judge Angels; that is, men and things of highe&s;t principles and places, men of civill excellency and power al&s;o, the&s;e are <HI>E&s;au</HI>'s Mount; for <HI>E&s;au</HI> was the fir&s;t father of Dukes, Lords, Nobles, <HI>Gen.</HI> 36.15. to <HI>ver.</HI> 31. the&s;e al&s;o &s;hall be judged by God in the &s;aints. <HI>For your &s;ake I have &s;ent to
<PB N="8" REF="5">Babylon, and brought down all their Nobles, I&s;a.</HI> 43.14. yea, this is the burden of <HI>Babylon</HI> which <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> did &s;ee: <HI>Lift up the banner upon the high mountain</HI> (<HI>E&s;au</HI>'s Mount) <HI>exalt the voyce unto them, &s;hake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the Nobles: I have commanded my &s;anctified ones, I have al&s;o called my mighty ones for mine anger, them that rejoyce in my highne&s;&s;e, I&s;a.</HI> 13.1, 2. Who are the&s;e &s;anctified ones? not onely <HI>Cyrus</HI> and his companions; but the &s;aints in &s;pirit, who have a command and call from God to go forth in all that the Lord &s;hall carry them on, though again&s;t King, Lords, No|bles, and the whole world, <HI>ver.</HI> 4, 5. for <HI>the &s;aints &s;hall judge the world.</HI> Judgement here and in Scripture is a right or|dering of all things, civill and &s;pirituall, in Kingdoms and Churches, and in mens &s;pirits al&s;o, that are yet full of con|fu&s;ion and darkne&s;s, which mu&s;t be de&s;troyed, before order be &s;et up and e&s;tabli&s;hed, or a &s;ettlement without and with|in: now the &s;aint &s;hall judge the world, that is, fir&s;t de&s;troy, but afterwtrds &s;ave and govern the world; for this is to judge al&s;o: and God is &s;aid to judge; that is, God in the &s;aints &s;hall judge the Nations with righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and govern the people with his truth, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 67.4, 7.</P>
<P>This Judgement-day, or coming of God to judge, is the joyfulle&s;t news which ever the world heard:
<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 96.13. P&s;al. 97.1. P&s;al. 98.9.</NOTE> therefore there is &s;o much joy expre&s;&s;ed in heaven, and earth, and &s;ea, and all the trees of the field to clap their hands, <HI>for hee cometh, hee cometh to judge;</HI> that is, to govern, and &s;ettle all things in order, to give a &s;ettlement in the Nations. Indeed, before God comes to judge, confu&s;ion and a con&s;uming fire goes be|fore him, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 97.2. therefore in that re&s;pect the Judgement-day is dreadful and terrible to fle&s;h, and formall powers, to be con&s;umed by him, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.11. But when he is come, when God is manife&s;t in the &s;aints, and God in the &s;aints &s;hall judge and govern the world, then the world &s;hall rejoyce and &s;ing.</P>
<P>Indeed, 'twas ever true, <HI>By me</HI> (&s;aith God) <HI>do Kings reigne, and Princes decree ju&s;tice: by me Princes rule, and No|bles, and all the Judges of the earth, Prov.</HI> 8.15, 16. That is, God has been reigning in Kings, and judging the people by
<PB N="9" REF="5">Parliaments or Judges of the earth: but this Government of Men has been to the grief and &s;ufferings of the &s;aints, and of the world al&s;o, oppre&s;&s;ed by worldly powers, who are there|fore called <HI>Babylon</HI> that oppre&s;&s;ing City; which when it falls, &s;ee how the world will &s;ing, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 14.4, 7. Why &s;hall this great joy be of the world? &s;urely, becau&s;e God in the &s;aints &s;hall judge and govern: then the world &s;hall be at re&s;t and peace, when violence &s;hall be no more heard in the land, but thine Officers &s;hall be righteou&s;ne&s;s, and thine Exactors peace. And how doth all this come to pa&s;&s;e, but becau&s;e the Hou&s;e of the Lord, the City of God is &s;o built and &s;et on high? God &s;o appearing in the &s;aints, that the &s;ons of them that afflicted them, and all tho&s;e who de&s;pi&s;ed them, &s;hall bow before them at the &s;oles of their feet; not to fle&s;h, but to God manife&s;t in their fle&s;h, whom they &s;hall call <HI>The City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of I&s;rael, I&s;a.</HI> 60. <HI>ver.</HI> 14, 18.</P>
<P>This is the Hou&s;e of God, and God will encamp about this hou&s;e: that is, 'tis not for me or man to guard the hou&s;e of God, and defend this Army; but 'tis the Arm of God, the mighty power of God him&s;elf dwelling in the &s;aints, that &s;aves and defends them, and him&s;elf with them from the arm of fle&s;h &s;tretched forth again&s;t him: See <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 59.26. This is &s;trange, that God &s;hould &s;ave him&s;elf; but mo&s;t true it is, that as mans &s;alvation is called the &s;alvation of God, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 52.10. &s;o when God &s;hall &s;ave him&s;elf, man &s;hall do no|thing but &s;ee God and his &s;alvation in him, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 59. There|fore when the &s;aints were to pa&s;&s;e out of <HI>Egypt</HI> thorow the red &s;ea, they were to &s;tand &s;till and &s;ee the &s;alvation of God: this the &s;aints have in all this &s;ea of bloud and wars of the Nation, nothing but God, and the arm of God &s;aving them and him&s;elf, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 51.9. when <HI>Pharaoh</HI> the King and all his ho&s;t have been drowned in de&s;truction.</P>
<P>Now therefore, behold, <HI>Thy King cometh, he cometh meek and lowly, having &s;alvation</HI> (or as 'tis in the margin) <HI>&s;aving him&s;elf, Zeck.</HI> 9.9. For 'tis God in the &s;aints, and his appear|ance in them which the Kings and Powers of the earth have fought again&s;t, and &s;ought to oppre&s;&s;e: Therefore now their
<PB N="10" REF="6">King comes,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 45.4.</NOTE> that is, God doth manife&s;t him&s;elf in them glo|riou&s;ly, that's his riding: <HI>And he rides upon an A&s;&s;e,</HI> not as earthly Kings on &s;tately hor&s;es; but God comes reigning and riding on an A&s;&s;e, that is, Revealing him&s;elf in maje&s;ty and glory in the ba&s;e&s;t of men, men counted &s;o of the Kingdom, de&s;pi&s;ed and dull fellows: for indeed men have made meer A&s;&s;es of the Saints, laid burdens on them; but when God &s;hall ride on them, and reveal him&s;elf in them, they &s;hall reign as Kings on earth, and God &s;hall cau&s;e Kings to be &s;ubject and mini&s;ter unto them, yea, and Kingdoms to &s;erve them, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 45.4, 5, 12, 16 ver&s;es.</P>
<P>For this cau&s;e the Kingdom hath not utterly peri&s;hed,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;ay 60.12.</NOTE> be|cau&s;e the &s;aints have not onely &s;erved the Kingdom, but the Kingdom hath indeed &s;erved the Saints.</P>
<P>This Army and arm of fle&s;h, as I &s;aid, I doe not &s;tand to defend, but God dwelling in the fle&s;h of the &s;aints, whether in an Army, or no, tis all one with God, and to me al&s;o, where ever the &s;aints dwell, and what they doe, he does all, and dwels in them: that as God hath rai&s;ed the &s;pirits of &s;aints to &s;erve the Kingdom in an Army; &s;o the Kindom has done nothing but Served the &s;aints, both in the Kingdom, and in this Army al&s;o; who by the wi&s;e appointment and di&s;po&s;ing of God in them, has called them forth to act not in their own particular private way and power, but in the publique autho|rity of the Magi&s;tracy and Kingdom; though both have been de&s;troyed by it, and None &s;aved thereby as yet, but the Common Intere&s;t and freedom of Saints, who le&s;t they might bee markt as Rebels by Men, God &s;tampt them with the authority of a Parliament, at fir&s;t, to break the beginning of their bondage; and when Parliament could goe no further, the Army (for the Saints &s;ake among them) had the Call of the Kingdom, petitioning by &s;everall Counties, and the common cry of all the oppre&s;&s;ed in the Land, that the Oppre&s;&s;or might cea&s;e; and the vi&s;ible power of God comming in, clo&s;ing all the &s;pirits of the &s;aints with tho&s;e in the Army, and carrying forth the Army with them to act in the immediate power of God, who&s;e appea|rance among them cau&s;ing all the power of men, and oppre&s;|&s;ion
<PB N="11" REF="6">of the mightie&s;t to fall: All this to me is a manife&s;t to|ken of the hand of God lifted up, not onely for the liberty of the &s;aints, but for the deliverance of the Land at la&s;t from all Oppre&s;&s;ions and Oppre&s;&s;ors. I &s;peak not this, that men might look upon and adore an Army, but that all men might &s;ee God in the &s;aints, whether in an Army, or with|out, where ever they are, they are as well the Army of God, as publique Per&s;ons, not for particular intere&s;t, (though that may appear for a time in &s;ome;) but for publique and eternal things, not to them&s;elves, but for all &s;aints, yea, for all Men al&s;o.</P>
<P>Therefore as Chri&s;t or God in us, comes,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Zach. 14.5. Matth. 24.27.</NOTE> and all the Saints with him; &s;o the comming of Chri&s;t is as the lightening, &s;hining from Ea&s;t to We&s;t; that is, all the Saints are enlight|ned with Glory alike, when Chri&s;t comes, when God comes, or is manife&s;t in fle&s;h, then all the Saints come or are manife&s;t, and appear with him in glory: that appearance therefore of God which is confined to &s;ome particular Saints only, though in them it be a Chri&s;t, yet 'tis but a fal&s;e Chri&s;t, that's <HI>Lo here's Chri&s;t, lo there;</HI> I mean a fal&s;e Chri&s;t, in re&s;pect of that ap|pearance of his in glory, when all the Saints &s;hall appear with him in Glory al&s;o.</P>
<P>I &s;peak this, that the more glorious God appears in us, the more glorious all the Saints appear with us in God, as 'tis, Zach. 14.5. <HI>The Lord my God &s;hall come, and all the Saints with thee;</HI> not, with him, but, with thee: the &s;aints &s;hall come or appear in God. The mo&s;t glorious appearance of God in any Saint, gathers up all the Saints with him, and leaves no Saint behind in devil, or fle&s;h, &amp;c.</P>
<P>Again, the more glorious any di&s;covery of God is in the Saints, the more generall it is, and of common comprehen|&s;ion, what all Saints may comprehend and conceive:
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 2.10 13 Ephe&s;. 3.18.</NOTE> there|fore tho&s;e &s;trange conceptions and &s;trong comprehen&s;ions, tho&s;e high expre&s;&s;ions which Saints commonly cannot reach unto, nor under&s;tand, this mu&s;t be the comming of a fal&s;e Chri&s;t, both among German Divines, and Engli&s;h al&s;o.</P>
<P N="3">3. The more glorious any deliverance is, which God will
<PB N="12" REF="7">manife&s;t in and by his appearance in the Saints, the more generall and publique the deliverance will be, not of a King or a Parliament, but of the Kingdom and People, yea, of all people al&s;o at la&s;t: for as Chri&s;t is the &s;aviour of the world, and of all Men; &s;o the Saints Shall be Saviours in like manner, that is, God in the Saints &s;hall appear as the Saviour of all Men, when the appearance of the great God and Saviour &s;hall be manife&s;t in them; for this is Chri&s;t, and the appearance of Chri&s;t: Therefore the &s;aving of a particular per&s;on of a King or Parliament, is but a fal&s;e Chri&s;t, as I &s;aid before, in re&s;pect of the &s;alvation of Kingdom and People, which God in the Saints appears for.</P>
<P>Fourthly, as God is not to be known nor con&s;idered in his naked being, but as cloathed with fle&s;h, <HI>God manife&s;t in fle&s;h,</HI> that's the my&s;tery of godline&s;s: So 'tis a fal&s;e Chri&s;t, 'tis of Man onely, not of God, to &s;peak of a naked pre&s;ence of God, a naked power and appearance of God, as if God would ever appear and act, not in fle&s;h; or as if God would ever act with power not in and by the Saints, but by Him&s;elf, &s;ingly and nakedly; for as this breaks that union and mari|age which God has made with mans fle&s;h: So all the Glory which ever God &s;hall &s;hwe, it &s;hall be &s;een &s;hining forth in the fle&s;h of Men, though the fle&s;h profit nothing, but it, and the goodline&s;s thereof &s;hall wither as gra&s;s, <HI>E&s;ay</HI> 40.5, 6. <HI>E&s;ay</HI> 60.19. and throughout, <HI>E&s;ay</HI> 62.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. that is, all fle&s;h &s;hall at la&s;t &s;ee God, and glory in the Saints, though no fle&s;h &s;hall be &s;een or appear, but GOD onely, <HI>Zach.</HI> 8.21.</P>
<P>But to proceed where I left.</P>
<P>'Twas not to &s;et up an Army, or arm of fle&s;h, but to &s;et up him&s;elf in the &s;aints; God rai&s;ed this Army, and all the&s;e warrs in the time: For their &s;akes the Lord God rai&s;ed the&s;e warrs, el&s;e the &s;aints had not now liv'd in peace, nor the Kingdoms peace followed with them: For as from the be|ginning of the world there was a warr in heaven, and an enmity between the &s;eed of the Woman, and the Serpents &s;eed: for the enmity between both &s;eeds has cau&s;ed the&s;e
<PB N="13" REF="7">warrs, that at length all enmity and warr may cea&s;e in the world.</P>
<P>The woman is the weaker ve&s;&s;el, and the &s;aints in this Land were the weake&s;t party for power, the fewe&s;t for num|ber, two or three in a Pari&s;h per&s;ecuted by King, Lords, and all the Commons, by Church and Common-wealth: God comes forth and makes a warr with both, dividing the King|dom again&s;t it &s;elf, and dividing the Church again&s;t it &s;elf: Thus God <HI>by dividing the&s;e waters, makes a way for the ran|&s;omed ones to pa&s;&s;e over, E&s;ay</HI> 51.10. that is, by dividing King and Parliament, and by dividing Prelates and Presby|ters, the Saints have got liberty and freedom in their &s;tates and &s;pirits to &s;erve God, and Men al&s;o to their good. For this was the &s;econd &s;tep of the Kings comming, and Gods appearing in the &s;aints, when the &s;aints (who would and could not live in peace) were rai&s;ed up in armes, and &s;treng|thened to an Army.</P>
<P>Now though the Parliament and power of man rai&s;ed the Army; yet it was God rai&s;ed up the &s;aints to an Army. A|las, they were men mo&s;t quiet in the Land, or lambs in the mid&s;t of wolves, they would not hurt, they could not hate tho&s;e who hated and abhorred them, and God in them;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 10.16. <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF">.</NOTE> the &s;aints were &s;illy &s;heepi&s;h men, harmle&s;s, or hornle&s;s as doves, they had no horns to pu&s;h, nor hoofs to tread men under, not a &s;word to &s;trike, nor a &s;pirit to &s;lay, but all to lie down and &s;uffer: Who but God above could rai&s;e up the &s;pirit of a &s;aint to be a man of war like him&s;elf? who, as he de|lights to be &s;tiled the Lord of Ho&s;ts, the Lord mighty in bat|tell, the Captain of our &s;alvation; yea, the Camp, the Fortre&s;&s;e, Tower, Shield and Buckler of the &s;aints: &s;o God dwelling in the &s;aints, though long hid and buried in their fle&s;h, yet now hath rai&s;ed him&s;elf and them al&s;o with him, that as he is the Camp, <HI>(I will encamp about mine hou&s;e)</HI> &s;o they become an Army whom God hath rai&s;ed: <HI>I will rai&s;e up thy &s;ons, O Zion, again&s;t thy &s;ons, oh Greece, and make thee as the &s;word of a mighty man, Zech.</HI> 9.18. <HI>Ari&s;e and thre&s;h, oh daughter Zion, for I will make thine horn iron, and thy hoofs bra&s;&s;e,
<PB N="14" REF="8">and thou &s;halt thre&s;h many people, Micah</HI> 4.13. Although this was true in the &s;pirit at fir&s;t, it is as true in the letter at the &s;econd appearance of God. He will make the &s;aints to have hoofs, and horns al&s;o, whom God will exalt as he did <HI>David</HI>'s from the &s;heep, to be a mighty man of war. 'Tis God hath put a &s;word in their hands, and made them as the &s;word of a mighty man again&s;t all the &s;ons of <HI>Greece: Greece</HI> was that Countrey famous for the wi&s;e&s;t, wealthie&s;t, and mo&s;t warlike men of the world: Hi&s;torians can tell you the names of tho&s;e wi&s;e Ma&s;ters, mighty wealthy men, men of warr, the &s;eat of &s;ouldiers and &s;cholars, &s;chools of learning al&s;o were fir&s;t in <HI>Greece:</HI> all the&s;e humane excellencies and glories God in the &s;aints hath ruined in this land, rai&s;ing up the &s;ons of <HI>Zion,</HI> and the &s;pirits of &s;aints in the Army, to that height, that every high thing is fallen before them, both King, Coun|treys, Coun&s;ellors; His State&s;men, &s;ouldiers, &s;cholars, Lords, Nobles, gentlemen, with all the gallantry of Men in the Kingdom, yea, the Churches al&s;o, for the fir&s;t and la&s;t Chur|ches of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> the 7 Churches of <HI>A&s;ia</HI> were all, and mo&s;t of the re&s;t in <HI>Greece;</HI> now All the Churches in the King|dom, the Church of <HI>England,</HI> the Presbyterian and Indepen|dent Churches had a &s;word of the &s;pirit come forth from the &s;aints abroad, which hath &s;lain their fle&s;h, and forms of do|ctrine and wor&s;hip, which God in the &s;aints there hath judg|ed, di&s;covered, and de&s;troyed, by the appearance of a greater glory in them ready to be revealed.</P>
<P>And indeed, the greate&s;t de&s;truction in the Land hath been by the appearance of God in the &s;aints, even at home and in battell; for nothing but his appearance, and the mighty power of God in men could in &s;o &s;hort a time ca&s;t down &s;o many &s;trong Holds, conquer &s;o many royall Armies, rout &s;uch multitudes with &s;o few a number, as the Nation of the Scots can witne&s;&s;e, and the Cities of <HI>England,</HI> one of them able to encounter a Kingdom, yet fell twice in their &s;pirits before a &s;mall party, which in mans rea&s;on had ea&s;ily been &s;wallowed up, had not the Lord of ho&s;ts, who is the Father of &s;pirits, rai&s;ed up the &s;pirits of the one, and laid low the
<PB N="15" REF="8">others, as the ground to go over. I &s;peak not now of our Army of &s;ouldiers, but of the Army of &s;aints; not onely a|broad in battel, but tho&s;e al&s;o at home have had a hand in the de&s;truction of Kingdoms, <HI>not by power or might, but by my Spirit, &s;aith the Lord:</HI> Now the Lord is that &s;pirit, that is, the Lord who is that Spirit, dwelling in all the &s;aints, hath powerfully gone forth and fought again&s;t the Nations, as <HI>when he fought in the day of battell, Zech.</HI> 14.3. that is, the Lord in &s;aints at home went forth and fought,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 68.12.</NOTE> as well as in tho&s;e who were in battel. And as the Lord laid Ambu&s;h|ments when his people of old were fighting;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Chron. 20.15, 22.</NOTE> &s;o it was the Lord in tho&s;e al&s;o who were at home which fought; for the battell was the Lords. Of the lea&s;t &s;aints he &s;aith, <HI>Thou art my Battle-ax, and weapons of war, with thee will I de&s;troy Nations, and break Kingdoms, &amp;c.</HI> Jer. 51.20.</P>
<P><HI>Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of I&s;rael: I&s;rael</HI> is a name of &s;trength, but <HI>Jacob</HI> of weakne&s;s; yet though a worm, &s;aith God, <HI>I will make thee a &s;harp thre&s;hing in&s;tru|ment that hath teeth, thou &s;halt thre&s;h the mountains, and beat them &s;mall, and make the hils as chaffe; thou &s;halt fan them, and the winde &s;hall carry them away, and the whirl|winde &s;hall &s;catter them, I&s;a.</HI> 41.15. The &s;aints have been as worms hid in their holes, and trod under every foot of the ba&s;e&s;t men; but God hath made the highe&s;t heads, the hils and mountains, and mightie&s;t ones of the Land to lie down at la&s;t like &s;heaves of corn, and the lea&s;t and lowe&s;t &s;aints to thre&s;h and tear their fle&s;h with a flail of teeth, and to &s;catter the re&s;t as chaffe with a whirlwinde into forraign Countries. See the &s;ame <HI>Micah</HI> 4 11, 12, 13.</P>
<P>I &s;peak this the more, that men might under&s;tand my meaning when I mention the Army; 'tis not to magnifie an Arm of fle&s;h, but that the Arm of the Lord might be made bare, that men might &s;ee nothing but the power of God in the &s;aints, where-ever they are, in the Country, in the City, or in the field: they are all the Army whom God doth guard, and in whom God goes forth, be they never &s;o weak, confu&s;ed, un&s;etled, or uncon&s;tant in their wayes and
<PB N="16" REF="9">motions; <HI>that they are often pa&s;&s;ing by, and again return|ing:</HI> that's their un&s;etledne&s;e and un&s;tayed &s;pirits, coming and going, now going forward to high principles, then re|turning back to ba&s;e and low complyances: yet for all this, &s;aith God, <HI>I will encamp about mine hou&s;e, becau&s;e of the Army, becau&s;e of him that pa&s;&s;eth by, and becau&s;e of him that returneth:</HI> that is, the unbelief of men &s;hall not make the faith of God of none effect: God is faithful in his pro|mi&s;es, though men are not faithfull in their places, nor &s;o performing their purpo&s;es and re&s;olutions, as God is re&s;ol|ved to perform what he hath promi&s;ed of tho&s;e great deli|verances and glorious di&s;coveries to his people, and his peo|ple &s;hall po&s;&s;e&s;s both, though they beleeve neither; for <HI>when the Son of man cometh, &s;hall hee finde faith on the earth?</HI> that is, when God &s;hall be fully manife&s;ted in fle&s;h, when God &s;hall gloriou&s;ly appear in them, will men beleeve &s;uch a glory, even the Godhead to be revealed in them? But mans unbelief &s;hall not hinder the coming of God; yea, the coming of God, or the manife&s;tation of God, or God fully manife&s;t in fle&s;h &s;hall &s;wallow up mans unbelief and faith al&s;o; for as the &s;ight of God &s;hall cau&s;e our hope and faith to cea&s;e: &s;o the &s;aints have &s;een more of God in the&s;e days, then they would beleeve or hope for; yea, their for|mer unbelief and weakne&s;&s;es makes them &s;ee God now come and manife&s;ted cleerer: for as Gods &s;trength is perfected in weakne&s;s, &s;o his goodne&s;s abounds in their evill, and his un|changablene&s;&s;e in their uncon&s;tant actions: for though <HI>they pa&s;&s;e, and return,</HI> yet God &s;tands &s;till and the &s;ame, &s;ure and &s;table as the mountains, in the mid&s;t of mans un&s;etled and various motions; yea, the more &s;ub&s;tantiall and &s;olid the &s;aints appear, who change, this cau&s;eth God to appear the more without all &s;hadow of changing, who dwels as high in a &s;aint fallen never &s;o low from his &s;tedfa&s;tne&s;s, as when he inhabits eternity, or dwels in the unchangable being, there|fore is God in a &s;pecial manner &s;aid <HI>to dwell in the heart of the contrite one and humble &s;pirit,</HI> which is not a &s;aints excel|lency, as has been thought, but 'tis the lowe&s;t, weake&s;t &s;tate
<PB N="17" REF="9">of a Saint to be &s;o humble, broken, contrite, ground to pow|der, as the word &s;ignifies; or as that du&s;t which every bla&s;t of wind blows away; yet there the eternall unchangeable God dwels as gloriou&s;ly as in his holy place, and highe&s;t heavens, that is, as gloriou&s;ly as the mo&s;t excellent Spirits and Saints who appear mo&s;t full of God, though God fils all things, the weake&s;t Saint, as well as the &s;tronge&s;t, yea, all the weakne&s;&s;es of a Saint are full of God, who fils all things, as all men, for God de&s;cends to the lowe&s;t part of the earth,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 4.9. P&s;al. 139.8.</NOTE> and fils the lowe&s;t part of fle&s;h, yea, Hell al&s;o, in the dark|ne&s;s and horrid confu&s;ion of a Saint, God is there, <HI>If I goe down to Hell thou art there;</HI> and God is no where idle, but he is walking and working al&s;o in a Saints wandrings and weakne&s;&s;es, in his greate&s;t back&s;lidings. Therefore he &s;aith, <HI>I will encamp about mine Hou&s;e, becau&s;e of the Army, and becau&s;e of him that pa&s;&s;eth by and returneth:</HI> This, as I &s;aid, is the Saints weakne&s;s, not to go on in their way as an Army &s;hould, but to retreat and return upon the appearance of a threatning danger or difficulty; the Saints &s;hould have gone on, God going before them, and encamping about his hou&s;e becau&s;e of the Army, that is, becau&s;e they are an Army of Saints, and the &s;pirits of all are gathered in one, yea, the Spirit and &s;trength of God is as full in one &s;ingle &s;aint, as in all together; yet &s;uch a weakne&s;s &s;ometimes po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth all, that all are pa&s;&s;ing by and returning again; yet this weak|ne&s;s of theirs God appears in, yea, powerfully al&s;o, for he encamps about his Ho&s;t, <HI>becau&s;e of him that pa&s;&s;eth by and returneth,</HI> that is, his power encompa&s;&s;eth that weakne&s;s, and encamps about it; his power not onely appearing in weakne&s;s, but his power is made perfect in weakne&s;s: Look in that la&s;t particular of publique tran&s;action, wherein the Army, that is, all the &s;aints, acted in, or God in them; for as we cannot divide God from the &s;aints, &s;o the &s;aints can|not be divided one from another, though &s;ome are in the Countrey, &s;ome in the City, &s;ome in the field, yet all make but one Army or Arm of God; for in them his mighty power appears, and is made bare before the world: now
<PB N="18" REF="10">&s;ee when and why God made the Saints, the Army &s;o weak as to <HI>pa&s;&s;e by, and return back</HI> again from their former prin|ciples of liberty and promi&s;es to free the Land from bon|dage and burthens, and they were once <HI>pa&s;&s;ing by that way.</HI> But why returned they back? becau&s;e there were &s;tumbling blocks then in their way, yea in the way of God, and God will not go on till his way be made plain before him; there was the power of an oppre&s;&s;ing King,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 40.4.</NOTE> the power of an op|pre&s;&s;ing Parliament, the power of an oppre&s;&s;ed people, yea the power of an oppre&s;&s;ing Army as a guard to the oppre&s;|&s;our in all, all the&s;e &s;tumbling blocks were then before God in his way with the Saints, therefore they returned in weak|ne&s;&s;e, but the power of God appeared in it, that the oppre&s;|&s;our might appear the more in King, Parliament, and Peo|ple, in &s;ecret Engli&s;h &s;o di&s;covered, in open Scots &s;ince de|feated, yea in the Saints own Divi&s;ions now united, all the&s;e &s;tumbling blocks being taken out of the way, and the way, made plain for God to bring in &s;ettlement, &s;alvation, free|dome, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, not onely to the Saints, but to the world.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 57.14.</NOTE> The Lord hath &s;poken it powerfully, <HI>ca&s;t ye up, ca&s;t ye up, prepare the way, take up the &s;tumbling blocks out of the way of my people.</HI> Now God begins to work higher to levell that great mountain, that mighty oppre&s;&s;or, that oppre&s;&s;ing mountain <HI>Babylon,</HI> all that is oppre&s;&s;ing in the world, God will de&s;troy in the Saints.</P>
<P>This is the la&s;t work which God will do in the Saints, and by them al&s;o, no oppre&s;&s;our &s;hall pa&s;&s;e through them any more, for now I have &s;een with mine eyes, that is, as when God delivered his people from Egytian bondage, <HI>I have &s;een,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act 7.34.</NOTE> <HI>I have &s;een &s;aith the Lord, the afflictions of my people, and have heard their groanings, and am come down to deliver them.</HI> Gods coming down then was his manife&s;t|ing him&s;elf in <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> with mighty &s;ignes and wonders in de|&s;troying the enemy, and delivering his people: but he &s;aw fir&s;t with his eyes, he &s;aw their bondage, that is, he made it vi&s;ible and certain, cleare and mo&s;t evident to all men, how his people were oppre&s;&s;ed and embondaged in <HI>Egypt.</HI></P>
<PB N="19" REF="10">
<P>Again, when God brought his people from <HI>Babylons</HI> captivity,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Zach. 3.9.</NOTE> he &s;aw al&s;o with his eyes the &s;tone God laid be|fore <HI>Jeho&s;hua</HI> had &s;even eyes, Zach 3.9. <HI>and I will engrave the engraving thereof, &s;aith the Lord of ho&s;ts, and I will re|move the iniquity of the land in one day; in that day &s;aith the Lord of Ho&s;ts, &s;hall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine, and under the figtree,</HI> that is peace, and perfect freedome to men; this God &s;hall bring to pa&s;&s;e in the Saints, typified in <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> (called al&s;o <HI>Je&s;us,</HI>) that is God in the Saints, <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> and his fellows, ver. 8. <HI>and ye &s;hall call every man his neighbour under his vine,</HI> ye &s;hall call, that is, the Saints &s;hall powerfully go forth for the liberty and peace of the Land, <HI>who&s;e iniquity he will remove in one day, &s;aith the Lord,</HI> by iniquity their puni&s;hment is al&s;o meant, and all manner of oppre&s;&s;ion God will remove in one day, in what day? in the day of God; when God &s;hall appeare in the Saints, the Saints &s;hall appear as the Saviours and de|liverers of the world, as tho&s;e who &s;hall &s;et peace and per|fect freedome. That is the &s;tone laid before <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> having &s;even eyes, and engraven by God him&s;elf, for God does all in and by the Saints, what he begins he fini&s;heth in them, the &s;tone &s;et before <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> is the beginning of liberty and freedome; the engraving of God upon it, is the perfecting of it.</P>
<P>What is darkly delivered by the Prophet in that chapter, is cleared up in the next, Zach. 4.6. <HI>This is the word of the Lord unto</HI> Zerubbabell, <HI>&s;aying, not by power or by might,</HI> or as it is in the margine, <HI>not by an Army or by might, but by my Spirit &s;aith the Lord.</HI> Jehou&s;hua the high Prie&s;t was before, but now <HI>Zerubbabel</HI> the Captain of the Lords ho&s;t, the civil Magi&s;trate is mentioned, &s;hewing that liberty both in civill and Spirituall things &s;hal be accompli&s;hed in and by the Saints, who are typified by <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> and <HI>Zerubbabel, the two olive trees,</HI> ver. 12. (<HI>or two witne&s;&s;es and candle&s;ticks &s;tand|ing before the God of the whole earth,</HI> that is witne&s;&s;ing God, and giving light to the world, <HI>Rev.</HI> 11.4.)</P>
<P>Now the Saints do all this not by an Army or might, but
<PB N="20" REF="11">by the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit and power of the Lord appearing in them, all the powers of men, and mighty things, Kingdomes and Cities &s;hall fall down before them, and be levelled at their feet, ver. 7. <HI>Who art thou O great mountain before</HI> Zorubbabel? <HI>thou &s;halt be made a plain, and he &s;hall bring forth the head &s;tone thereof with &s;houtings, grace, grace, unto it.</HI> This &s;tone is the &s;ame with that before, the fir&s;t &s;etting up of the Lords hou&s;e, that is of the Lord God dwelling in the mid&s;t of men. Now the hands of <HI>Zo|rubbabel</HI> have laid the foundations of the hou&s;e, his hands &s;hal al&s;o fini&s;h it, and thou &s;halt know that the Lord of Ho&s;ts hath &s;ent me to you. ver. 9. <HI>For who hath de&s;pi&s;ed the day of &s;mall things, for they &s;hall rejoyce, and &s;hall &s;ee the plummet in the hand of</HI> Zorrubbabel, <HI>with tho&s;e &s;even they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth, ver.</HI> 10.</P>
<P>The &s;umm of all this is, No Oppre&s;&s;or &s;hall pa&s;s through them any more; for now I have &s;een with mine eyes. Tho&s;e &s;even eyes are nothing but the perfect &s;ight of God on all the ways and hearts of Men, on all the intents, and thoughts, and actings of Men to oppre&s;s the Appearance of God in the Saints, this being the Hou&s;e of God to be built, the founda|tion &s;tone being laid of Deliverance and liberty to the &s;aints; the &s;aints &s;hall no more act for them&s;elves, but for the world al&s;o, to &s;ee how liberty may be &s;etled on the whole earth; and foundations of Ju&s;tice, of righteou&s;ne&s;s, and Peace may be e&s;tabli&s;hed in the Nations. There is yet but a &s;tone of this building laid before <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> onely the foundation laid by <HI>Zorubbabel,</HI> there is yet but a plummet in his hand, a way prepared to this glorious &s;tructure. But who hath de&s;pi&s;ed the day of &s;mall things? What man dares de&s;pi&s;e the beginnings of God? The fir&s;t breakings forth of his glory, and of that Glorious liberty of the &s;ons of God, yea, of the &s;ons of men; for the whole creation, all Mankinde &s;hall be delivered from the bondage of corrup|tion,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8.21.</NOTE> <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.21. from all oppre&s;&s;ion, not onely in the &s;pirit at la&s;t, but in the letter al&s;o from all vi&s;ible oppre&s;&s;ors.</P>
<PB N="21" REF="11">
<P>Now as the &s;aints are the fir&s;t fruits of the creatures, and the dead in Chri&s;t &s;hall ri&s;e fir&s;t: &s;o the&s;e dry bones, the em|bondaged &s;aints in &s;pirituall <HI>Babylon,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 37.12.</NOTE> &s;hall attain to the fir&s;t Re&s;urrection and Redemption from Antichri&s;ts captivity; The Saints &s;hall fir&s;t enjoy their glorious liberty inward and outward, and by them the world afterward, as we &s;hall &s;hew at another time and Treati&s;e. Let this &s;uffice for the pre&s;ent, That the oppre&s;&s;or &s;hall cea&s;e, both Egypt, and A&s;&s;yria, or Babylon, the onely oppre&s;&s;ors of Gods people: <HI>My people went down to Egypt, and the A&s;&s;yrian oppre&s;&s;ed them with|out cau&s;e; Now therefore what have I here, &s;aith the Lord That my people is taken away for nought, and they that rule over them make them to howle,</HI> E&s;ay 42.4, 5. <HI>Behold I will bring them again out of the Land of Egypt, and gather them from the coa&s;ts of</HI> A&s;&s;yria; <HI>and the pride of</HI> A&s;&s;yria <HI>&s;hall be broken, and the &s;cepter of</HI> Egypt <HI>&s;hall depart away,</HI> Zach. 10.11. <HI>Therefore, thus &s;aith the Lord God of Ho&s;ts, O my people that dwelle&s;t in Zion, be not afraid of the</HI> A&s;&s;yrian, <HI>he &s;hall &s;mite thee with a rod, but he &s;hall lift up his &s;taffe for thee, after the manner of</HI> Egypt. <HI>For yet a very little while, and the indignation &s;hall cea&s;e, and mine anger in their de&s;truction. For the Lord of Ho&s;ts &s;hall stir up a &s;courge for him, according to the &s;laughter of</HI> Midian <HI>at the rock of</HI> Oreb, <HI>and as his rod was upon the Sea; &s;o &s;hall he lift it up after the manner of</HI> E|gypt. <HI>And it &s;hall come to pa&s;&s;e in that day, That his bur|den &s;hall be taken away from off thy &s;houlders, and the yoke from off thy neck; and the yoke &s;hall be de&s;troyed becau&s;e of the anointing,</HI> E&s;ay 10.24, 25, 26, 27. <HI>For the Lord will have mercy on</HI> Jacob, <HI>and will yet chu&s;e</HI> I&s;rael, <HI>and &s;et them in their own land; and the &s;trangers &s;hall be joyned to them, and they &s;hall cleave to the hou&s;e of</HI> Jacob. <HI>And the People &s;hall take them, and bring them to their place. And the hou&s;e of</HI> I&s;|rael <HI>&s;hall po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e them in the land of the Lord, for &s;ervants and handmaids. And they &s;hall take them captives, who&s;e cap|tives they were, and they &s;hall rule over their Oppre&s;&s;ors. And it &s;hall come to pa&s;&s;e in that day, That the Lord &s;hall give thee re&s;t from thy &s;orrow, and from thy fear, and from
<PB N="22" REF="12">the hard bondage wherewith thou wa&s;t made to &s;erve. That thou &s;halt take up this proverb again&s;t the King of</HI> Babylon, <HI>and &s;ay, How hath the Oppre&s;&s;or cea&s;ed, and the golden City. The Lord hath broken the &s;taffe of the wicked, and the rod of the Rulers,</HI> E&s;ay 14.1, 2, 3, 4. <HI>The Lord of Ho&s;ts hath &s;worn, &s;ay|ing, Surely, as I have thought, &s;o &s;hall it come to pa&s;&s;e; and as I have purpo&s;ed it &s;hall stand: That I will break the</HI> A&s;&s;y|rian <HI>in my Land, and upon my mountains tred him under foot; then &s;hall the yoke depart from off them, and his yoke from off their &s;houlders,</HI> Ver&s;. 24.25.</P>
<P>Let &s;ilent Truth, and the&s;e Speaking times interpret the&s;e &s;criptures, and the reall experiments of Gods providences in this pre&s;ent Age, be a living commentary to future Gene|rations of the &s;aints, who &s;hall Know clearly (what the &s;aints now but confu&s;edly apprehend) that the Anointing, or Godhead filling their fle&s;h, hath taken away the burdens of Egypt from off their &s;houlders, and de&s;troyed the <HI>A&s;&s;y|rians</HI> or <HI>Babylons</HI> yoke from off their neck, that now the oppre&s;&s;or cea&s;eth, yea the Golden City, that Church &s;tate, and &s;aints rule over their oppre&s;&s;ors; not the &s;aints, as exal|ting them&s;elves, or exalted over men, but as exalting God alone in the mid&s;t of them, and in all Men al&s;o. This is the Lords land, the fle&s;h of man in whom God inhabits; and the&s;e are the Lords mountains, Men and women in whom God onely is exalted: In them all yokes, and burdens, and oppre&s;&s;ions be troden down, and by them likewi&s;e, the&s;e being <HI>Jacob</HI> in truth, and the I&s;rael of God, who have power with God, with Men much more, or mightie&s;t Oppre&s;&s;ors, who are the A&s;&s;yrian and Egypt &s;o much &s;poken of by the Prophets.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, <HI>This Man &s;hall be the peace when the</HI> A&s;&s;yrian <HI>&s;hall come into our Land, and when he &s;hall tread in our palaces; Then &s;hall we rai&s;e again&s;t him &s;even Shepherds, and eight principall Men</HI> (or princes of Men, Hebr.) <HI>and they &s;hall wa&s;te the land of</HI> A&s;&s;yria <HI>with the &s;word, and the land of</HI> Nim|rod <HI>in the entrances thereof, &amp;c.</HI> Mich. 5.5, 6. What is this Man, but God, manife&s;t in fle&s;h: For the &s;aints, hough
<PB N="23" REF="12">they be never &s;o many milions of men in multiplyed fle&s;h, yet they make but One perfect Man in whom the Godhead is embodyed fully, or One &s;pirit, that is,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 6.17.</NOTE> God manife&s;t in fle&s;h. Now this Man &s;hall be the peace, when the A&s;&s;yrian &s;hall come into our land. What's <HI>[our Land]</HI> but our fle&s;h, which is indeed the Lords land, which he wholly po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth for him&s;elf: Now when the A&s;&s;yrians, when &s;ome embon|daging principle and oppre&s;&s;ing power within &s;hal &s;o po&s;&s;e&s;s us, as to break our peace and joy; then this Man God be|ing manife&s;t in our fle&s;h, becomes our &s;pirituall peace again. This indeed is my&s;terious, and the &s;pirituall meaning of it, but 'tis as true in the letter; for as in God we live and move, and have our being:
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 17.26.27</NOTE> &s;o God has appointed our bounds and habitations; that's our Land therefore in truth, where God has brought us forth, appointing us to live in and inhabit, (though in &s;pirit we inherit the whole earth, and are prin|ces in all Lands) yet we lay claim to nothing but to this peice of earth which is ours, with as much or more right then Princes lands to them: Now if the A&s;&s;yrian &s;hall come in|to our Land, and tread in our palaces, that is, if poor or rich among us &s;hall have our propriety and peace invaded, by a Kingly prerogative, or Parliamentary priviledge (that's the oppre&s;&s;ing A&s;&s;yrian) We &s;hall rai&s;e again&s;t him &s;even Shep|herds, and eight principall Men: 'twas not the King that called a Parliament, but the &s;aints called a Parliament to op|po&s;e an oppre&s;&s;ing King: &s;o 'twas not the Parliament rai&s;ed an Army again&s;t him, but we rai&s;ed an Army again&s;t an oppre&s;&s;ing Parliament: And if God rai&s;eth not up the Army to act immediately in the immediate power of God, but to give that power back again to a Parliament, as the Parlia|ment gave it up to the King, God wil rai&s;e up a living power from the du&s;t of King, Parliament, and Army, which &s;hall appear in the &s;aints, who &s;hall yet rai&s;e &s;even &s;hepherds, and eight principall men, a perfect and &s;ufficienc &s;trength to op|po&s;e all oppre&s;&s;ing powers, and to e&s;tabli&s;h righteou&s;ne&s;s, peace and liberty in the land, <HI>Mic.</HI> 5.7, 8.</P>
<P>For as there is no power but of God, &s;o there is no power
<PB N="24" REF="13">of God executed but in and by the Saints among men, it was God that &s;tirred up the &s;pirit of <HI>Cyrus</HI> to proclaim liberty to his people, the Jewes in captivity, <HI>Ezra</HI> 1.2. that is, God in his people then did appear &s;o powerfully in the &s;pirit of <HI>Cyrus,</HI> that he could not chu&s;e but give them that liberty, being indeed the Lords captives, (the glory of the Lord in them being impri&s;oned, and kept under in that captivity and bon|dage) therefore God &s;pake thus in his people to <HI>Cyrus let my pri&s;oners go free;</HI> yea his owne arme and power in them brought &s;alvation to him&s;elf, fir&s;t &s;tirring up the &s;pirits of his people after freedome, and then &s;tirring up the &s;pirit of <HI>Cyrus</HI> to &s;et them free.</P>
<P>Thus the power of <HI>God</HI> in the &s;aints, once po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed the &s;pirit of the King, and all men in the Kingdom were &s;ubject to the power of God in him; the Saints of all men would not &s;tir, but &s;uffer in &s;ilence what ever oppre&s;&s;ions and per&s;ecutions he &s;hould burthen them with: But God who will not a|bide for ever in any form but in the fle&s;h of &s;aints, (being that <HI>Zion</HI> in whom he will dwell, for ever) the &s;ame God though he bear long the evil of men, and the injuries done unto him in the Saints, yet at la&s;t he is weary with forbearing, weary in the burdens of the Saints, therefore his power departs from that form where it was before in the King, and &s;eates it &s;elf in that of a Parliament, to whom all the Saints are afterward &s;ubject as to their King, yea their &s;pirits who were before &s;till in &s;ufferings, now begin to &s;tirre, and to be rai&s;ed up, &s;haking off all that Royall du&s;t which &s;tuck upon them, and &s;eeing that the power of God departed from that fir&s;t, and dwelling now in other powers, they fly to this, and fight al&s;o for it as for God: but when the power of God departs from a Parliament al&s;o, led a&s;ide to &s;elfi&s;h Principles, and oppre&s;&s;ing practi&s;es not onely toward the Saints, but to the whole Kingdome, then the Kingdome and all the Saints look upon the power of God in the Army, and though the Army being in a fle&s;hly po&s;ture, had well nigh forfeited the appearance of Gods power a|mong&s;t them, yet the mo&s;t of their &s;hepherds and principall
<PB N="19" REF="13">men being Saints in truth though they pa&s;&s;ed by, yet they returned again to their fir&s;t faith, their former principles, yea to higher actions of Honor then before.</P>
<P>And though all fle&s;h be gra&s;&s;e, and the goodline&s;&s;e thereof as the flower of the field, and God will &s;tain the pride of all glory, and bring to contempt all the honourable of the earth, yet I cannot but &s;ee God, and his glory, his glori|ous appearance in this Army, mo&s;t of the &s;hepherds, the leaders and principall therein, being part of that Army of Saints we have &s;poken of all this while.</P>
<P>For God dwells gloriou&s;ly, and mo&s;t highly in all the Saints, under lowe&s;t forms, as the &s;hout of a King,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Numb. 23.21,</NOTE> was with tho&s;e under the Law, when as yet no vi&s;ible King was a|mong&s;t them: &s;o though this wa&s;ting of the Land with the Armies &s;word be of a legall &s;pirit, far below that of Go&s;pel &s;aints, who fought only by the &s;word of the Spirit, yet the wa&s;ting of the land of <HI>A&s;&s;yria</HI> with the &s;word, is of a higher di&s;pen&s;ation and di&s;covery of God then was in law or Go&s;pel Saints: This third di&s;pen&s;ation is of a differing con&s;titution from Law or Go&s;pel, that of the Law appeared mo&s;t in an outward policy of the Church, and Kingdome of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> that Church being Nationall, the Kingdome was the Church of God, and the Kings were Mini&s;ters therein, as the Lords annointed, being types of Chri&s;t in &s;pirit: but the Go&s;pel &s;tate was mo&s;t in the Spirit, and of a &s;pirituall appearance in the Churches of &s;aints, with manifold gifts of the Spirit manife&s;ted among them: whereby they were differenced from Kingdoms and Nations without: and as Kings then, and the civil Magi&s;trates medled not with Church or Go&s;pel my&s;teries to order any thing in Doctrine or Wor&s;hip, or &s;tamp their authority on it: &s;o the Churches of Saints, med|led not with matters of &s;tate in Kings or Kingdoms, having nothing to doe to judg them that are without, only in obe|dience to the Magi&s;trate in Civil commands, the &s;aints were then taken up wholly with things within, in &s;piritual enjoy|ments, and expectations of a greater Glory to be revealed in them, called, <HI>The glorious liberty of the &s;ons of God;</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8. Titus 3. 2 Peter 3.</NOTE> <HI>the Appearing of the great God and Saviour in them; the new
<PB N="26" REF="14">heaven and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteou&s;ne&s;s:</HI> This the Saints waited for.</P>
<P>And this is the third di&s;pen&s;ation we are now entring into, which, as 'tis a di&s;covery of God differing from Law and Go|&s;pel; &s;o 'tis mixt of both, for both were glorious, and the glory of both concentrates and is joyned together in this third. The glory of the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">r&s;t was much in Great deliverances, God appearing gloriou&s;ly in delivering his people from out|ward oppre&s;&s;ors, from <HI>Egypt</HI> and <HI>A&s;&s;yria,</HI> from many kings, and mighty oppre&s;&s;ing powers, whom God rebuked for their &s;akes:
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jo&s;h. 12.34. Neh. 9.22.27.</NOTE> thirty &amp; one kings are numbred together, whom God then threw down before his people, be&s;ides many after|ward, rai&s;ing them &s;till &s;aviours, till at length the Saviour in|deed appeared, even God manife&s;t in fle&s;h, not only in the the fle&s;h of Chri&s;t, but in the fle&s;h of the &s;aints (who are indeed Chri&s;t in &s;pirit) God appeared,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 12.12. Act. 9.5. Col. 1.24. I&s;a. 60.1. Obad. 21.</NOTE> the Saints therefore being called, <HI>Je&s;us;</HI> who as he was per&s;ecuted in them, they filling up the &s;ufferings of Chri&s;t in their fle&s;h; &s;o when Chri&s;t &s;hall ri&s;e in them, and God be revealed fully in their fle&s;h with glory, then they &s;hould ri&s;e and appear with him in glory, as the Saviours of men al&s;o. But now as the glory of the Law was in great deliverances of God: &s;o that of the Go&s;pel was in Glorious di&s;coveries of God in Men, the re|vealing of my&s;teries, and of the deep things of God by the &s;pirit in the &s;aints, who then enjoyed no great deliverances from outward powers, and per&s;ecutions, but laid as dead under all the &s;ufferings of Men.</P>
<P>The third di&s;pen&s;ation of God in and to the &s;aints, is mixt therefore with both the glory of the Law and Go&s;pel al&s;o; wherein the &s;aints do begin to &s;ee (as if faith were failing) they &s;ee God manife&s;t in fle&s;h fully; they &s;ee God in great deliverances from Men, and in glorious di&s;coveries of God him&s;elf in the mid&s;t of them. <HI>Awake, awake, put on &s;trength, &ocirc; arm of the Lord;</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 51.9.</NOTE> <HI>Awake as in the Ancient days: Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the Dragon? Art thou not it that hath dryed the Sea, the waters of the Great deep? That ha&s;t made the depth of the Sea a way for the
<PB N="27" REF="14">ran&s;omed to pa&s;&s;e over?</HI> What's this? &s;ure God hath &s;eemed to men to be a&s;leep in all the&s;e &s;ufferings of the Saints, in the&s;e latter ages; but God now awakes as in the Ancient days, cutting <HI>Rahab,</HI> and wounding the Dragon,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 29.3.</NOTE> that's <HI>Egypt</HI> and <HI>Pharaoh</HI> King of Egypt: Now God begins to break our bonds, to take away our Egyptian burdens, to bring us out of our bondage under oppre&s;&s;ing Kings and rulers? how is this done, but by drying the deep waters? and what is the waters but the people and nations;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 17.15.</NOTE> the&s;e God dries up and drains all their fullne&s;&s;e of &s;trength and &s;tate: but how is there a way made in the deepe for the ran&s;omed for the &s;aints? &s;urely by dividing the waters, by dividing the na|tions as we &s;aid before, God now delivers his people and the nations al&s;o at la&s;t.</P>
<P>This glory of the &s;aints is differing and far above the glo|ry of Go&s;pel &s;aints, who were &s;till &s;uffering, from with|out and within, from men and from God al&s;o hiding his face, through their <HI>forgetting him in the midst of them:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 51.</NOTE> but both this inward weakne&s;&s;e is removed ver&s;. 13. and the outward al&s;o in the end of that ver&s;. <HI>and where is the fury of the oppre&s;&s;or?</HI> yea all that &s;orrow and &s;ighing that was in Go&s;pel &s;aints flyes away in the now redeemed of the Lord, <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 11.</P>
<P>Now nothing but &s;ongs are heard among &s;aints, who live in the &s;pirit, who live in God, in the di&s;coveries of God, in this third di&s;pen&s;ation which is indeed the third Heaven, in which <HI>Paul</HI> was rapt for a time, which is in|truth the Heaven of heavens. Therefore rejoyce over her, thou heaven, and yee holy Apo&s;tles and Prophets, for God hath avenged her, <HI>Rev.</HI> 18 20. &s;ee heres joy in heaven for vengeance done on earth; On whom? on Kings and mer|chants, or mighty rich men who weep and wayl, Alas, alas, <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 9.10. therefore the&s;e are plagued, <HI>ver.</HI> 7.8. by whom are the Kings or mighty men of the earth &s;o plagued? &s;ure|ly by the &s;aints, by God in the &s;aints, (who are called here the holy Apo&s;tles and Prophets, the mini&s;ters of the old
<PB N="18" REF="15">and new Te&s;tament) who are of a mixt temper between Law and Go&s;pel, or who pertake of the glory of both, as tho&s;e who fing the &s;ong of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and of the Lambe, <HI>Revel.</HI> 15.2, 3.</P>
<P>This glorious e&s;tate of the Saints is called by the Prophets, the raign of God, and of <HI>David</HI> our King, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 37.24. <HI>Ho&s;ea</HI> 3.5.</P>
<P><HI>David</HI> had great di&s;coveries of God, above all Kings and prophets that he could call him&s;elf the Chri&s;t, <HI>P&s;.</HI> 2.2. the Son of God <HI>v.</HI> 7.12. yet this was but a type of Chri&s;t in us, of God manife&s;t fully in our fle&s;h, that's the la&s;t reigne of <HI>David,</HI> who was not only a man of God, But a man of war, who had not only inward di&s;coveries of God, but glorious deliverances from men, yea from the King, from King <HI>Saul,</HI> and after|ward was &s;et in a Kingdom, by whom? by every one that was in di&s;tre&s;&s;e, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was di&s;contented, or of a bitter &s;pirit, gathered them&s;elves to <HI>David,</HI> who was captain over them, and afterward King, 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 22, 2.</P>
<P>Therefore it is no &s;trange thing to me that &s;o many mi&s;era|ble creatures are in the Army, and that &s;uch ba&s;e fellowes, fooles and knaves, joyn with their de&s;ignes, that men in debt, and di&s;contented, yea bitter &s;pirits comply with the &s;aints in &s;etting up God and his glory in them, for the glori|ous appearance of God in the &s;aints, and God exalted in them with power, &s;hall not onely break the oppre&s;&s;or, but bring in righteou&s;nes to the world, when the bea&s;ts of the earth, the dragon and the owle &s;hall honour him, that is, the mo&s;t &s;a|vage men &s;hall come in and &s;erve God with honour, and prai&s;e to his grace. <HI>I&s;ay</HI> 43.20, 21. when all the &s;ervices of formal profe&s;&s;ors, and fle&s;hly churches &s;hall not be owned of God, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 23, 24. but their Mini&s;ters and mini&s;try ab|horerd, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 27, 28.</P>
<P>This is that new thing which God will create <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 19, when he will make all things new in churches and King|doms, a new Heaven and a new Earth, the new Jeru&s;alem;
<PB N="23" REF="15">The holy City, <HI>Revel.</HI> 21.1, 2. 5 compared.</P>
<P>In this third di&s;pen&s;ation, God in the &s;aints re&s;tores all things, heaven and earth, things &s;piritual and civill al&s;o, re|newes the formes of Kingdoms, of outward governments, and order, as well as things in the &s;pirit, in and by the &s;aints; who as they have been in the hand of God to break na|tions and de&s;troy Kingdoms: &s;o they are hid in the &s;hadow of his hand, that he may plant the heavens and lay the foun|dation of the earth again, <HI>I&s;ay</HI> 51.16. that is, that they may rai&s;e up the former de&s;olations, repair the wa&s;t cities and the de&s;olations of many generations, <HI>I&s;ay</HI> 61.4. for this is that Holy city called <HI>Jehovah Shammah</HI> the Lord is there, the new Jeru&s;alem: the third di&s;pen&s;ation of God dwelling with men. fir&s;t, the glory of God returns into his Temple, that is,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 48.35.</NOTE> all &s;piri|tuall things are re&s;tored, <HI>&amp;c. Eze.</HI> 43.7, 8, 9, 10, 11. &amp; then there followes re&s;titution of civill power, <HI>Ezek</HI> 45.9. <HI>Let it &s;uf|fice you O Princes of I&s;rael: remove violence and &s;poil, execute Judgment and ju&s;tice, take away your exaction (or expul&s;ion) from my people &s;aith the Lord;</HI> the then way of wor&s;hip is pre&s;cri|bed to the Prince with the people, Ezek. 46.10. <HI>The Prince in the mid&s;t of them, when they go in, &s;hall go in &amp; when they go forth &s;hall go forth:</HI> the Prince here, is not above, but in the mid&s;t of his brethren, not as our Princes and Parliaments have been, as if civill Magi&s;trates, mu&s;t have power in &s;pirituall things, and the wor&s;hip of God, to force or conform all to a form of godlyne&s;&s;e; nor the Prince now (if any power of Magi&s;trate be when God &s;hall appear) the prince mu&s;t be, not above, but in the mid&s;t of his brethren, in the knowledge and wor|&s;hip of God, waiting on God with them, to enlighten and lead them in and out together, out of one truth, into another, or into a higher light in the &s;ame truth of God.</P>
<P>For this has bin the burden&s;om &s;tone, which hath burdened and broken kingdoms, when Kings and civil powers would &s;it above to judg of things in Churches, or &s;pirituall concern|ments: and it is ob&s;erved, That as former Parliaments have ever erred this way, by their own confe&s;&s;ion at this day: &s;o,
<PB N="30" REF="16">when ever this pre&s;ent Parliament renewed their Debates a|bout Church bu&s;ine&s;&s;es, by compelling or confining the &s;pirit of Men, God renewed his plagues upon the Kingdom, and &s;o will upon an Army, or any power of Man that &s;hal interpo&s;e between God and the &s;pirits of Men, by compul&s;ion or re&s;tri|ction, as they &s;ay, <HI>O princes of I&s;rael, take away your exactions</HI> (or <HI>expul&s;ions,</HI> Hebr.) <HI>from my people, &s;aith the Lord.</HI></P>
<P>I &s;hall not now &s;tand to an&s;wer the objections of men, &s;aying, that to &s;et in order things by the &s;word in this confu|&s;ed oppre&s;&s;ing &s;tate, is more confu&s;ion and oppre&s;&s;ion of the power of God, who&s;e Ordinance it is, both in Law and Go&s;pel, that Kings and Governouts &s;hould be obeyed, that the Magi&s;trate onely mu&s;t &s;et things in order in the King|dome, <HI>for he beareth not the &s;word in vair,</HI> therefore we mu&s;t be &s;ubject to the higher Powers. I might reply, that the pow|er of the Magi&s;trate at lea&s;t is but the power of the &s;word upon men. Why may not God now make the power of the &s;word, the power of the Magi&s;trate? &s;eeing there the power of God appears at pre&s;ent; and if the &s;word be now the high|er powers, why mu&s;t not men and Magi&s;trates al&s;o be &s;ubject to it by Gods appointment? e&s;pecially &s;ince the power of Kings and Governors, is but the Ordinance of man at be&s;t.</P>
<P>But leaving the&s;e controver&s;ies to wi&s;e men of the world, it is enough for me to know that the Saints now are under a a differing di&s;pen&s;ation from Law and Go&s;pel. Now &s;ince all the glory of the Go&s;pel is gone, and all the gifts of the &s;pirit con&s;tituting a Go&s;pel Church are cea&s;ed; then Churches, and Chri&s;tian Kingdomes, and the Saints al|&s;o being in <HI>Babylon,</HI> without and within: there has been a waiting in all Saints,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Zach. 14.5.</NOTE> not onely for liberty, but for the Spirit to come again, for a &s;econd coming of Chri&s;t, which is called, the coming of God with all the Saints; now God comes not by changing his place, as Chri&s;tians carnally conceive Chri&s;t to come in the clouds, but as the coming of Chri&s;t, is the coming of God: &s;o the appearing of Chri&s;t is the appearing of the great God and Saviour in the Saints,
<PB N="31" REF="16">and as God comes, &s;o the Saints mu&s;t be &s;aid to come; God comes when he appears in glory in us, and the Saints there|fore come when they appear with him in glory, when the glory of God comes and clothes the Saints that men can &s;ee nothing but God, in them.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Zach. 14.6.</NOTE> This is called the <HI>day of God</HI> which day is not all light at fir&s;t, but <HI>'tis neither day nor night; though in the evening there &s;hall be light;</HI> thus the day of God has begun, though the Saints have been and are &s;till in confu&s;ion; neither day nor night, but in the Evening, (when a man would think that light is even going away) all then &s;hal be light, and a full glory flaming forth in the Saints which &s;hall darken all the glory of man, and da&s;h in pieces the oppre&s;&s;ing powers on earth, God appearing in the Saints <HI>&s;hall puni&s;h Kings of the earth upon the earth;</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 24.21.</NOTE> <HI>and they &s;hall be gathered together as pri&s;oners are gathered in a pit, and &s;hall be &s;hut up in pri&s;on, and after many dayes they &s;hall be vi&s;ited or found wanting</HI> as the margine reads; that is, tho&s;e high ones, Kings of the earth, who have invaded the King|dome of God, and &s;et them&s;elves on high to rule in the Church, to determine of doctrines and divine wor&s;hips, to order all things in the &s;pirituall affairs of men by a tempo|rall &s;word, by Parliaments or civill power, impri&s;oning and puni&s;hing all Saints who would not conform to their formal Religions. God will &s;o ri&s;e and reveal him&s;elf in the Saints, that they in his appearance and with his power &s;hall oppo&s;e tho&s;e earthly powers and Kings of the earth, yea impri&s;on and puni&s;h with the &s;word the Kings of the earth upon the earth, not onely by the &s;word of the Spirit, (for thus they are puni&s;hed in hell) but on the earth the Kings of the earth &s;hall be puni&s;hed with the &s;pirit and &s;trength of the &s;word: and tho&s;e who impri&s;oned and captivated the Saints by their earthly power, or temporall &s;word, en&s;laving their &s;pirits al&s;o, &s;hall be led into captivity, &s;hut up in Pri&s;on, and &s;lain by the &s;word: <HI>He that leadeth into captivity &s;hall be led into captivity, &amp; he that kills with, the &s;word, &s;hal be killed by the &s;word</HI> here is the patience &amp; faith of the &s;aints, <HI>Rev.</HI> 13.10. that is, the &s;aints
<PB N="22" REF="17">have got by all ther Patience in former &s;ufferings, and faith in the performance of future Glory promi&s;ed, that Kings and Rulers who have puni&s;hed and impri&s;oned the &s;aints, &s;hall be &s;o u&s;ed by God appearing in the Saints: <HI>And after many days</HI> &s;aith the Scripture before, E&s;ay 24. <HI>They &s;hall be found want|ing,</HI> that is, for a few dayes men cannot bear with the want of Kings and Rulers; but after many days they &s;hall be found wanting, and Men wil not finde the want of them &s;o much: When's that? <HI>When the Lord &s;hall raign before his Ancients gloriou&s;ly,</HI> ver. 23. the Saints &s;hall not rule like Kings of the earth, but God in the Saints <HI>&s;hall be King over all the earth,</HI> then all Kings &s;hall fall down before him in them, <HI>the Moon &s;hall be confounded, and the Sunne a&s;hamed,</HI> ver. 23. that is, all earthly powers of Kings and Rulers, yea heaven|ly powers of Churches and Ruling Elders &s;hall be confound|ed and a&s;hamed <HI>when the Lord of ho&s;ts &s;hall raign in mount</HI> Zi|on, <HI>and before his ancients gloriou&s;ly;</HI> this is <HI>Zion,</HI> the Saints in whom God dwells gloriou&s;ly, and the&s;e be his Elders, as <HI>John</HI> calls them,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 4.10.</NOTE> before whom God will &s;o appear.</P>
<P>Therefore Chri&s;t though in his fir&s;t appearance, would not judg nor make war, nor ride a hor&s;-back, but on an A&s;s: yet in the &s;econd appearance of God in fle&s;h, Chri&s;t is &s;aid, <HI>to ride upon a white Hor&s;e</HI> (as a conqueror in triumph) <HI>and in righte|ou&s;ne&s;s to judg and make warr; and to have on his head many crowns,</HI> Rev. 19.12. this mu&s;t be meant of Chri&s;t in us, of God in the &s;aints; who are therefore the Armies of <HI>Heaven fol|lowing him on white hor&s;es, clothed in fine linnen, white and clean,</HI> v. 14. What's this fine linnen, but <HI>the righteou&s;ne&s;s of &s;aints?</HI> v. 8. not the righteou&s;ne&s;s of Ju&s;tification, as men inter|pret, but righteou&s;ne&s;s to judg men, as Chri&s;t before, or God in fle&s;h is &s;aid, <HI>In righteou&s;ne&s;s to judg and make war.</HI> There|fore 'tis in the Original <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF">, <HI>The righteous actings;</HI> that's righteou&s;ne&s;&s;es of the &s;aints: For the &s;aints when they &s;hall judg and govern, or rather God in them, Men &s;hall be judged or governed in righteou&s;ne&s;s; yea, all manner of righteou&s;ne&s;s &s;hal be admini&s;tred by them, civil righteou&s;ne&s;s
<PB N="25" REF="17">and &s;piritual al&s;o; righteou&s;nes that mens con&s;ciences may not <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> oppre&s;&s;ed; and righteou&s;ne&s;s, that men in their conver&s;e <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="left margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters">y not oppre&s;s; this is the righteou&s;ne&s;s of &s;aints, wherein <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="left margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters">y &s;hall judg: &s;o that kings and rulers, yea, all oppre&s;&s;ors <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="left margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters">ll come under their judgment, as the Prophets plainly ex|<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="left margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters">&s;s, E&s;ay 60.10, 11, 14, 17. <HI>Kings &s;hall mini&s;ter unto thee, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word">, the &s;ons of them that afflicted thee, &s;hall come bending unto <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="left margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters">e, &amp;c. When thine Officers &s;hall be peace, and thine exacters <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="left margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters">teou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> v. 17. <HI>Yea, thy people &s;hall be all Righteous, they <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> inherit the Land for ever,</HI> ver. 21, 22. <HI>This is the new <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="left margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters">h wherein dwels righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e,</HI> 2 Pet. 3: The&s;e things <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> mo&s;t of all performed in the &s;pirit, yet I wait on God to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> them accompli&s;hed in the letter, to See God in the Army <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="left margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters">aints, wa&s;ting all oppre&s;&s;ing powers in the land, that's the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> of <HI>A&s;&s;yria,</HI> or the land of <HI>Nimrod. Nimrod</HI> being the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> king in the world, and he al&s;o was king of <HI>Babel, Babylon</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="left margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters">he &s;pirit, is the oppre&s;&s;ing City,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 10.9.</NOTE> and <HI>Nimrod</HI> the fir&s;t king <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> king of <HI>Babel,</HI> the fir&s;t oppre&s;&s;or of the world, as 'twas <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> in a Proverb or taunt, <HI>Even as Nimrod the mighty hun|<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="left margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters"> before the Lord:</HI> not a hunter of bea&s;ts, as our kings have <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="left margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters">n, but a hunter of the be&s;t Men, as our kings have al&s;o bin, <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="left margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters">ting the &s;aints up and down all the land over, even to far <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="left margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters">ntreys; but the land of <HI>A&s;&s;yria,</HI> the whole oppre&s;&s;ing <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="left margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters">ver of men &s;hall be wa&s;ted by God in the &s;aints at la&s;t, if <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="left margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> now at this time, God will do it in his time, not only de|<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="left margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters">y Antichri&s;t within by the &s;pirit and &s;word of his mouth, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> all worldly oppre&s;&s;ors by the mouth of the &s;word. There many of the&s;e in this land, like the <HI>A&s;&s;yrian,</HI> many oppre&s;|<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="left margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters">g laws and Courts; but Clergy-men and common Lawyers <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> the chiefe&s;t oppre&s;&s;ors therein; the one by their legall <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="left margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters">es and teachings; the other by their tedious &s;uits and <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="left margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters">ks of the Law oppre&s;s and plague the Souls and &s;tates of <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="left margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters">n: be&s;ide the Pri&s;oners, and the Poor have heavy oppre&s;|<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="left margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters">s, and are Chief among the oppre&s;&s;ed. If God now appear <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="left margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters">en for their relief &amp; Relea&s;e, that poor families may have <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="left margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters">d, &amp; the Pri&s;oner go free: and if the Lord God &s;hall now
<PB N="26" REF="18">appear in the &s;aints to wa&s;te the land of <HI>A&s;&s;yria</HI> with the &s;word, and the land of <HI>Nimrod</HI> in the entrances thereof. That no Oppre&s;&s;or nor Oppre&s;&s;ion enter in again into the Government of this Kingdom; I &s;hall prai&s;e God that all Men &s;hall have joy and Peace.</P>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q>The Lord raigneth, let the earth rejoyce, let the multitude of I&s;les be glad thereof, P&s;al. <BIBL><HI>97.1.</HI></BIBL></Q>
<Q>He &s;hall not fail nor be di&s;couraged, till he have &s;et up judgment in the Earth, and the I&s;les &s;hall wait for his Law, <BIBL><HI>I&s;aiah 42.4.</HI></BIBL></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
