Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

opened by our forerunner, when reconciliation was made, and he, from the tomb, trod the path to immortal life; when mercy and truth met together, when righteousness and peace kissed each other. Truth sprung out of the earth at the resurrection of Christ, and righteousness looked down from heaven propitious. Then the Lord gave that which was good, by sending his Holy Spirit, and the barren land yielded a spiritual increase; righteousness went before the Mediator, to procure his acceptance, and, when imputed, or placed to our account, it sets us in the way of his steps, Psalm 1xxxv. 10-13.

I now proceed to shew what these angels are; which I take to be not angels by nature, but angels by office, or spiritual messengers; for, if the four generals of the Turkish armies were called angels, as they are in Rev. ix. 14; and if the name of angel is given to such a messenger as Abraham's steward, when he went to espouse Rebekah to Isaac, 1 Cor. xi. 10; surely the name must be much more applicable to the saints of God, who are called spiritual men. The ministers of the churches of Asia are called the angels of the seven churches. And the apostles and evangelists which Christ sent forth to preach his gospel, being spiritual messengers, bear the same name. "And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." This trumpet is our jubilee trump;

it proclaims a release to sensible debtors, and invites us to the feast of our passover, and is a fulfilment of that prophesy, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem." And, "Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day; and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted." All God's elect are compared to angels: "For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven," Matt. xxii. 30. These are the messengers that make use of the Mediator in all their approaches to God; and these are the angels for whom, and for whose sake, the heavens are opened; the way through the vail of Christ's flesh is consecrated for us; and these ascend and descend upon the Son of man; nor can they ascend any other way. "I am the door: by me if any man enter in he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture.' If it should be asked what this going in and out means, Paul tells us, that "through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father," Eph. ii. 18. Our Lord informs us, in his prayer, that God's residence is in heaven; "Our Father, which art in heaven." This is the holy habitation of God; and Paul says, that through the Mediator

we have an access by one Spirit unto the Father; and, when indulged with this sweet access, we enter in and find pasture; but, when this sweet access is denied us, then we go out again, crying, "My leanness, my leanness; wo unto me!" until we are permitted to go in again. And the weakest soul in the household of faith is up to this going in and out; it is so conspicuous, that even his countenance proclaims it; for, when it is denied, like Joseph's fellow prisoner, he looks sadly; and when granted his face shines; the Lord being the health of his countenance and his God, Psalm xlii. 11. And this ascending and descending on the Son of man is expressive of the glorious raptures of the mind, when furnished with the law of faith, and influenced with the quickening Spirit of God; under which sweet operation the mind is much in heaven, meditating on heavenly things; and while the mind is stayed on these it is sweetly enriched and entertained. "To be spiritually

And it is said that

minded is life and peace." God hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ, Eph. ii. 6.

2. This ascending and descending is expressive of the exercise of grace upon God the Father, through the Mediator; for faith and hope both centre in God, through Christ, as saith the apostle Peter; "Who by him do believe in God that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God." Now, if faith and hope through Christ are both in God,

and if our affections are to be set above on the right hand of God, where Christ sitteth, this ascending and descending respects the heavenlymindedness of the saints when, in their most rapturous frames, and in their most devout and lively acts of devotion, and in the exercises of faith, hope, love, and joy, they approach God. And, when any minister of the spirit in his work is thus ascending, it is perceptible to spiritual wor shippers, for such ascend and descend with him; so that many in the present day, as well as Nathanael of old, see this.. Yea, there are enemics that behold this, as well as spiritual worshippers; for the ascension of saints to heaven, after dreadful conflicts and persecutions, mentioned in the Revelation, is nothing else but souls ascending to God upon the out-pouring of the Spirit, which quickens the poor lifeless witnesses, after their long lifeless state of absolute silence. "And, after three days and an half, the spirit of life from God entered into them: and they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies beheld them;" if so, much more their friends.

III.

THE LORD'S BOOK OF WARS, AND THE WARS

OF THE LORD..

NUMBERS Xxi. 14.

"Wherefore it is said, in the book of the wars of the Lord, what he did in the Red Sea, and in the brooks of Arnon."

Ir has been a matter of wonder with some where Jude got the prophecy of Enoch from, which is mentioned in the 14th verse of his epistle; and I have heard of some who formerly offered a large sum of money for that book, if it was extant, and could be procured; and that a gentleman was imposed upon by a spurious composition, which passed for Enoch's prophecy. I have read also, in Mr. Bruce, that he brought a book, called Enoch's Prophecy, from the city of Gondar, in Abyssinia. The account that he gives of it is as follows: 'There are other books of less size and consequence, particularly the Organon Denghel, or, The Virgin Mary's Musical Instrument, composed by Abba George about the year 1440, much valued for the purity of its language, though he himself was Arminian. The last of this Ethiopic library is the book of Enoch. Upon hearing this book first

« ZurückWeiter »