The Glory of the Go.JPel, That which anciently made one Commonwealth excel another to f!ourilh more and continue longer, was the excelle~cy and righteoufnefs ~f the Laws and form of Government amo~g them. This made Lacedtmonia great, bath kept the Vmtt1a11 State fiandmg thefe I 300 years, and bath made them ac·· counted a great, and a wife, and an underfianding People. But all the Nations had not fuch a Law as this, in all pam ; All this Law, fo jull, fo holy, it being that Law by which man in his holy fiate was governed, which the Angels in Heaven live by, which fet not up men as their Kings and Rulers; but fets God up as their Protector, makes him nigh them, ver.7. Therefore inPfat. 76. , 2 3 4 in that Godwas knoWIJ in Judah, this made it more excellent than the '.Mo:m: tai11s of prry. He compares all the Kingdoms of the World belides to wild wnfic places, where out-Laws dwell; favage and _cruel wild Beafis, that prey upon one another, wanting the knowledge of this Law to civilize and tame them. And therefore, though the IfraeWu were famous for Deliverances above all the Nations of the World, fuller of Inhabitants then any Nation as the Sa 11 ds of' thr Sea; which is the glory of a Kingdom, S~lomon fays, Pro~·'4· 28. flow· ing more with outward Bleilings, than any Nation elfe. Jn a word, Thougl 1 their priviledges were much every way above the Gtntitn, Rom. 3.2. yet chiefly (fayshe) That to them wrrr committed the Oraclrs of God. This you fee is made the top and height of all. Now, if the Law made them thus glorious, and the obfcure revealing of the Gofpel, and indeed but the./hadow, as Heu. to. 1. the fhine and glimmering, as it were of the glory of the Gofpel. How much more mull that make a People glorious (when as it comes to be fulfilled) which Habakuk foretold, Ha6.2.1 4 . 'Ihat a/J the Earth (ha/J brjilltdwith the knowledge of theglory of the Lord, M thr waters covrr thr Set1. And if in any Age, or in any Coafi, it is, or haih been full tide, it is now in Engl,wd. In 1 Sam.4.22. when the Ark was taken it was faid, The glory of Ifrael is dtparttd. Now the A rk, which was covered with the Mrrry-Stal, and the Cherubims, was the place where God appeared litung between the Cherubims, and lhiningbright, asP[a1.8o.I. And met the People, Exod. 2f· 22. whence he fpakc and gave Oracles, N11m. 7· 8g. and therefore is called the Speaki11g place, 'Debir, 1 Kings 6.1.3. And therefore the Arkwas call_ed the Glory•, Rom. 9· 4· and Cherubims of' Glory, He/l.g.f• Now what was this Ark, a type of which was thus, Thr Glory of lfratl, of the Gofpel? For Heb. g.z3· they were all pat terms of things in Heaven. Now, as the Temple was the type of the Church under the Gofpel, Rev. 11. r. fo the Ark was of Chrifl, revealed in the preaching of the Gofpel, in the lafi Verfe of th&t Chapter. There was feen in his Temple, the Ark of his Te{fa– ment, wherein Jefiu Chrifl comes and meets his People, and fpeaks from Hea– ven; and wherein Believers behold his glory, 2. Cor. i· utt. and therefore they are called the Oracles of God, 1 Pet-4-t· 1. So as when we Prophecy, men fall clown convinced and fay, 1 Cor.14-2$. God u amongf/ you. And the Gherubims \Jetween which God lits and fpeaks, are Minifiersof the Gofpel, as you !hall hear anon. So as indeed the manifefiation of the Gofpel is called,' The Glory, as the Ark was of old. So, I take it, that place is to be underfiood , 1 Pet. 1. 1 o, II,12. where fpeakini\ of our .Priviledge who enjoy it, he fays, The Patriarchs did fore/et thr Sttjjeri11gs of Chrift, and the Glory that jo/Jowed; namely, that fpreadingof the Gofpet, fhedding forth of the Spirit, and Gifts, which made thofe Times glorious Times after Chrifi's Afcenlion. Yea, in this refpeCl:, the Congregationsaifembled to hear this Gofpel, God manifcfiing his Prefence, are called, The Glory, I fay the AJ!tmblies are, lfai+ f· wllich place is to be un· derfiood of the Times of the Gofpel, and the Calling of the Jews ; God wiltcreate ttpon htr AJ!tmblits a Clottd by day, and a jhining Fire by?tight, to guide them as in the Wildernefs; For·upon a/J the glory jha!l be a defmce; that is, upon all thofe Aifemblies, which for the Prefence of God thus gloriouJly a– rnongfi them, he calli The Glory. And
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=