the moon give light unto thee: unto thee an everlasting light, but the Lord fhall be and thy God thy glory. Thy fun fhall no more go down; neither fall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord fhall be thy everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. * 7. THE fame pleasing truth is asserted by Zechariah, where he calls upon the church to triumph, saying, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; fhout O daughter of Ferufalem; behold, thy king cometh unto thee; he is juft and having falvation, lowly, and riding upon an afs, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass. And thus Jehovah the father fpeaks, And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the battle bow fhall be cut off; and he Jhall fpeak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion Shall be from fea to fea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. Such is the language of the holy prophets, who spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghoft, who faw the day of Chrift, though at a diftance, yet rejoiced in the pleafing profpect, as is the cafe with all the lovers of peace and concord. 8. It would be an impertinent enquiry, to afk, how will God bring this to pafs? What means will he take? feeing this is one of the great fecrets, which is kept hid from mankind. He can bring the most unlikely purposes to pafs, with, or without means; or if he makes use of means, they are often such as the pride and ignorance of man would never have thought of. It was very unlikely that a company of dispirited flaves flaves, worn out with labour, and broken by oppreffior, without arms, or any apparent leader, fhould conquer fo many powerful nations, trained up in war, poffeffed of fenced cities, and armed chariots, and other dreadful engines of deftruction, moft of whom were strictly combined in mutual defence. Yet all precaution and policy were vain; all their prowefs availed nothing, for the Lord God fought for Ifrael: * fo there failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Ifrael: all come to pafs. † 9. HUMAN reafon can penetrate but a very little way into the deep defigns of infinite wifdom; for when God commands, or wills, a thing to come to pass, it fhall be, however improbable it may feem, or whatever difficulties lie in the way. He can easily reverse the courfe of nature, and controul its stricteft laws, and make the greatest improbabilities take place, when they are to serve his bleffed designs. My fcanty reafon must give way to what the bible afferts, however inconceivable. My bible declares the fun and moon. ftood ftill; or if the philofopher pleafes, all the planets stood still; my reafon cannot comprehend how this could be, without immediate deftruction to our planetary fyftem. My bible affures me, that a great fish swallowed up Jonah, and that he remained three days, and three nights in the belley of the fish, and yet came out alive; § I cannot comprehend how this # * Josh, x. 42. † Joh. xxi. 45. Jofh.-x. 13. § Jonah xi.. could be, feeing, that according to the economy of nature he must have instantly died, for want of air to breathe in; or that the friction of the ftomach, of fo enormous an animal, must have crushed him to pieces. But God willed it fo to be, and that was fufficient. My bible affures me, that three men were caft into a dreadful furnace of fire, heated feven times more than it was wont to be heated, yet that a hair of their head was not finged, nor their coats changed, and that the smell of fire had not paffed on them; * but let any man account for this upon any philofophical principles, he fhall have my free confent. The bible afferts that a virgin fhall bring forth a fon, + that fhe actually did fo; but let them account for this that can. All that can be faid is this, God spake and it was done, he commanded and it ftood faft. So the fame Almighty being can bring about the peaceable revolution, which I have been speaking of, and as fure as he hath spoken, fo fure it fhall come to pafs. The Lord Jefus is the prince of peace, and, when he takes unto him his great. power, can easily dispose the hearts of the most furious to peace, and harmony; can even weary them out, fo that like the most dreadful storms and tempefts, they can be hushed into the most profound peace, and ferenity. " 10. THIS rage and ferment of the nations ceafing, must give a furprizing turn to the state of things, and open a glorious way for the spreading of the gospel of of peace, fo that the inhabitants of the world may be cordially difposed to liften with pleasing attention, to the things which belong to their everlasting welfare. Their minds being happily releafed from a variety of perplexities, and the causes of dire revenge ceafing, the effects will happily terminate in eternal repose. The clangor of war being hufhed, the charming still voice of the gofpel can find its way, where nation doth not lift up arms against nation, and when they fall learn war no more. "No horrid alarm of war, "Shall break our eternal repofe ; And kindly each other embrace, "And love with a paffion like thine." 11. PERSECUTION for righteousness fake, will come to a final period. That horrid monster has long, long difgraced the name of christianity, and given too great a handle to infidels, who have made good ufe of their time, in rendering religion as frightful as poffible: certain it is, that a perfecuting spirit can never be justified upon the principles of the gospel, whofe author came not to deftroy men's lives, but to fave them, The fhocking crufades, in which many chriftian princes; fo called, were bent upon, ftimulated by the pride and avarice of Popes, Cardinals, Prelates, and other other ecclefiaftical wolves, will be a dreadful blot and ftumble in the way, fo long as the tidings shall reach the ears of an enemy to the cross of Chrift. Succeffive multitudes of bloody infidels, fcandalizing the name, the precious name of Chrift, induced by plunder, went to kill and to fteal, and to deftroy; but as their motives were bafe, fo God confounded them; infomuch that myriads of them perished in the attempt. From the fame motives arose the dreadful carnage made in the vallies of Piedmont, among the Waldenfes and Albigenfes, the first reformers from Popery who dared to own their Saviour, and worship him in fpirit and in truth. The horrid fcenes in EngEngland, in Paris, and divers parts of France, as well as the inconceiveable cruelties in Ireland. But thefe murderers were papifts, and therefore were hurried. on by fury and bigotry, as well as worldly pelf. It is true they were papists, yea very zealous papists; but what were thofe in England, in Queen Elizabeth and in Charles I. and II's days? Were not they proteftants? yea of the church of England, that church which many high profeflors of religion, ftickle for at the present time? yet we fhall find thefe hanging, burning, torturing, cutting off the ears, flitting the nofes, fitting in the pillory, filling the prisons, banishing, fining and ruining such as dared to object to their juro divino. So that we fee, even the church of England, has the blood of the Saints foaking in her skirts.. O yes; there is along difmal cry against her; minifters and. |