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8. Abide with the churches of Chrift, and minifters of the gospel, in the worship of God, and in the ordinances of his houfe: it is faid, to the commendation of the tribe of Judah, Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the faints; by no means forfake the affembling of yourselves together, but keep clofe one to another; and fo much the more as you see the day approaching; or time and hour of temptation coming that is to try them that dwell upon the earth; where the shepherds tents are, do you fix yours, and there abide; let nothing divert you, or caufe you to turn afide from the churches of Chrift to which you belong, nor from his faithful minifters; no, let not a cry concerning Chrift himself move you from thence: our Lord has cautioned his followers against this; if any man shall fay unto you, Lo here is Christ, or there, believe it not "; Christ is where you are; he is preached by his ministers, and in the churches you attend upon, and that is enough for you; this you are certain of; it may not be where the cry is: however, what feparates you from the churches and ministers of Chrift, can never be right; Chrift and his minifters, and churches, are not to be divided: there were fome in the Corinthian church for Paul, in oppofition to Apollos; and others for Apollos, in oppofition to Paul; and fome for Cephas, in oppofition to Paul and Apollos; and others were for Chrift, in oppofition to them all; they were for Chrift without his minifters; is Chrift divided? from his ministers, and from his churches? No, he is not; and fuch are they who are for Chrift, and no order; Chrift, and no ordinances; Christ, and no minifters.

9. Since there is a time of darkness, a night-feafon coming on, prepare to meet thy God, O Ifrael; with fubmiffion to his will, with dependence on him, and with expectation of support under the trying exercise and deliverance out of it. Remember it is thy God, thy covenant-God and Father, who will never leave thee, nor forfake thee; wherefore,

10. Do not be difcouraged, for though the affliction will be fharp, it will be short; the severity of it will last but three days and a half, that is, three years and a half; and then a glorious time, and a glorious ftate of the church will follow and Chrift has promised, that fuch as keep the word of his patience, he will keep from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth; and therefore when you perceive it coming on, and the signs of it, look up, and lift up your heads; do not be caft down; rather rejoice, for your redemption draweth nigh: the night of weeping will foon be over, and joy will come in the morning.

And now as to the morning that will follow after, this you should moft firmly believe; though fcoffers may mock at it, and carnal profeffors be unconcerned

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about it, and give no credit to it; yet affure yourselves, « a little while, and "he that shall come will come, and will not tarry;" pray for his kingdom and coming; give him no reft day nor night, till he arife and has mercy on Zion, and make his Jerufalem the praise of the whole earth; be hafting in your warm affections, and earnest defires, after those glorious times, which God will haften in his own time; and in the darkest season look for this morning, for at evening-time it shall be light; and a glorious one it will be, as a morning when the fun rifes, a morning without clouds. I fhall clofe all with those words of our Lord; let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning, and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord. And now, as I have fhewn you what Ifrael ought to do in those times, blessed is that fervant whom his Lord, when be cometh, fhall find fo doing ".

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The Glory of the CHURCH in the latter Day:

Preached at a Wednesday's Evening Lecture in Great Eaft cheap, Dec. 27, 1752.

PSALM LXXXVII. 3.

Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God! Selah.

SOME think this pfalm was written by David, under a prophetic view of

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the temple to be built by his fon Solomon; others, that it was composed by one that returned from the Babylonifh captivity, for the comfort of thofe that wept at the laying of the foundation of the fecond temple: but let it be wrote by whom it will, or on whatsoever occafion; it is pretty evident that the fubject-matter of it is the church of God in gofpel-times, especially in the latterday-glory; when there will be abundance of converts in the places herein mentioned. The title of the Syriac verfion is, "concerning the redemption of Jerufalem." It begins in a very abrupt manner, as the Song of Songs does, with a relative without an antecedent; his foundation is in the holy mountains: the foundation of the Lord which he has laid, who loveth the gates of Zion, and whofe

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city is here spoken of, which is founded by him; or its foundation, the foundation of the city of God, the church, which comes to the fame sense; for the church's foundation is the Lord's, being of his laying. In allufion to the mountains of Zion and Moriah, on which the temple stood, a type of the church; or to the mountains round about Jerufalem, which also frequently fignifies the church; this foundation is said to be in the holy mountains, or mountains of holiness, the purposes and decrees of God, thofe mountains of brass, Zech. vi. 1. particularly the decree of election, the foundation of God that ftands fure, and is the fource of all true holiness; likewise the covenant of grace, its bleffings and promises, fure and immoveable, and which provides both for internal and external holiness; and especially Jefus Chrift, the rock of ages, the fure foundation laid in Zion, the holy One of Ifrael, and the fanctification of his people.

It follows: The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob; he loves the church, which often goes by the name of Zion; and therefore he has chofen and founded it, and took up his reft and refidence in it; and he loves her gates, or public ordinances, and them that attend them; the work done by them, their prayers and praises, and exercife of graces, and every act of religious worship: and though he loves the dwellings of Jacob, the private habitations of his people, having fixed the bounds of them from eternity, and delighted in these habitable parts before they dwelt in them; though he loves the persons that dwell there, and what is done in them, their closet and family devotion; yet he prefers public worship and ordinances to them, where he is more openly worshipped, and by more; and which makes more for his manifeftative glory hence follow the words first read, Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God; which is not to be understood literally of the city of Jerufalem, though great and honourable things might be spoken of that; as that it was a magnificent city, compact together, full of stately buildings, the metro-, polis of Judea, and the feat of the kings of Judah, and above all, the city of the great God; where his temple stood, in which were many glorious things; where God was worshipped, and he granted his prefence: and many glorious things have been faid of it, and which have been fulfilled; as that the Meffiah should come into this temple, and give it a greater glory than the second temple had, which he accordingly has done; here he preached his glorious doctrines, and wrought his glorious miracles; near this place he suffered, died, was buried, rose again, and afcended to heaven; and here he poured forth his holy spirit in an extraordinary manner; and from hence went forth the word of the Lord,

The Jewish writers connect these words with the title of the pfalm, and make the sense to be this; the foundation or argument of it, the pfalm, is concerning the holy mountains of Zion and Feru. Jalem.

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So Aben Ezra, Farchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech: the Targum joins them together thus ; by the fons of Karah is faid a fong that is founded by the mouth of the fathers that were of old."

Lord, and doctrine of the gofpel, throughout all the earth: but rather this is to be understood figuratively of the church of God, which is often in scripture compared to a city, and is a city of God's building, and where he dwells; the name of it is Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is there; of which glorious things may be faid; as that it is the city of the King of kings, its foundation is Chrift, its walls and bulwarks are falvation, its gates praise; here glorious ordinances are administered, and glorious truths are preached; and fo the words may be rendered, as they are in the Syriac verfion, Glorious things are spoken in thee, O city of God. There are many glorious things which have been spoken of the church, which have been fulfilled already in the first times of the gospel; when there was an increase of it in Judea, and in the Gentile world; when the gospel was fpread, when the apoftles triumphed in Chrift, and diffused the favour of his knowledge in every place; when Chrift went forth in their miniftry, conquering and to conquer; when paganism was demolished, and Christianity established throughout the Roman empire: and fo likewife many glorious things fpoken of the church were accomplished at the time of the reformation from popery; when gospel-light broke forth and spread itself throughout feveral nations of Europe; but my intention is to give an account of the glorious things fpoken of it, which yet remain to be fulfilled.

In my two last anniversary sermons at this time of the year, I have touched upon future things. In the former, I took notice of the feveral revolutions of nights and mornings from early times to the end of the world, and shewed you the dark fide of the cloud, and what a dismal night we are now entering into. In the latter, I pointed at those things which Ifrael, or the people of God, ought to do in the prospect of such times; and now I shall hold out unto you the bright fide of the cloud, and give you in one view an account of the glorious things fpoken of the church of God in the latter day; and which will be accomplished both in the spiritual reign, and in the personal reign of Chrift; which two are very diftinct things, and lie at fome distance from each other, and ought to be carefully distinguished, and not confounded: by help of which diftinction, we may better understand many prophecies of the Old Testament, which are to be ranged under these different heads, and to be referred to these diftinct periods of time; which are too often huddled and jumbled together by those that speak and write of these things. And,

I. I shall begin with the fpiritual reign of Chrift; by which I mean a future period of time eminent for fpirituality; for otherwife Chrift now reigns, not only in heaven, at his Father's right hand, where he must reign until all ene

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d Intitled, The Watchman's answer to the question, What of the night? on Ifai. xxi. 11, 12. Called, The practical improvement of the Watchman's anfwer, on 1 Chron. xii. 32.

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mies are put under his feet, but alfo in the hearts of his people, by his fpirit and grace; into which he enters as the king of glory, causing the everlasting doors to open to him; where he implants his grace as a governing principle, fets up his throne, and dwells there by faith, and erects a kingdom, which lies in righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Ghoft; and here he reigns in at fpiritual manner, and fo he has done in all ages, and now does: but this period of time I fpeak of, will be remarkable for his fpiritual prefence among his people; when he will come down, in the communications of his grace, like rain upon the mowen grafs, as fhowers that water the earth; when there will be a large and plentiful effufion of his fpirit; when his people in general will be more fpiritual in the temper of their fouls, and in the frames of their mind; more fpiritual and favoury in their difcourfes, and in the whole of their behaviour and conversation, and will eminently worship God in fpirit and in truth: not that they will arrive to a perfection of fpirituality; though there will be a great deal of light and glory break out, yet there will be a mixture of darkness, obfcurity, and imperfection; in which this ftate will differ from the perfonal reign. of Christ in the new Jerufalem; of which it is faid, the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day, for there shall be no night there; which of this ftate is thus differently expreffed, thy gates shall be open continually, they shall not be fout day nor night it will be only in the personal reign that the church's fun shall no more go down, neither shall her moon withdraw itself; when the Lord shall be her everlasting light, and the days of her mourning fhall be ended. In the fpiritual reign there will be the miniftry of the word for the converfion of finners, and the adminif tration of ordinances for the comfort and edification of faints; all which fuppofe an imperfect state: whereas in the perfonal reign there will be none of these things, nor any need of them, or ufe for them; the new Jerufalem church-state will have no need of the fun, neither of the moon to fhine in it; no need of the gofpel, and gospel-ordinances to be administered as now, for the light and comfort of the faints; for the glory of God will lighten it, and the lamb will be the light thereof. In the fpiritual reign the temple of God will be opened in heaven, and the ark of the teftimony will be feen in it'; public worship will be set up and reftored to its primitive purity; but in the perfonal reign, or new Jerufalem church-state, no temple will be feen there; for the Lord God almighty, and the Lamb are the temple of it". The spiritual reign of Chrift will be on this earth as it now is; and the fame natural and civil actions of life will be performed as now, as eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, procreation of children, carrying on trade and commerce, and attention to the feveral callings and duties of civil life; neither of which will have place in the perfonal reign:

Pfal. lxxii. 6. * Rev. xxi 23.

& Rev. xxi. 25.
↓ Rev. xi, 19.

▲ Ifai. lx. 11.
m Rev. xxi. 22.

1 Ifai. Ix..20.

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