J.T is the observation of a learned -t* man, that the revolution of a hundred years hath produced (especially in these latter times) new motions and alterations in the church, like unto those that fell out a hundred years before. So it was in Germany and Bohemia ;
5 •^'' Goodwin, in Apoc. p. 189.
John Huss, at the stake, about the year 1417, Uttered this re- iflarkable speech, Aflcr an hundred year s^ you Papists shall he call- ed to an account. The Bohemians caused post centum annos to be stampt upon their coin for the preservation of so memorable a pre- diction; and accordingly irt a hundred years, 1517, Luther arose, and with him the reformation. It hath been so in England*. Our fathers deservedly set a signal remembrance upon the year 1588j Annus octogeshnus octavus est annus mirabilis ; the year eighty- eight is a wonderful year ; and it was so indeed, for then the Lord defeated the formidable enemies of his cause and people with a mighty hand, ahd an outstretched arm upon the great waters; Then did England sing his praises, saying, " Who is like unto " thee, O Lord, among the gods ? Who is like unto thee, *' glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders ?'^ Exod; XV. 11.
A full century is now run out since that year of wonders, wherein we have reaped the precious and inestimable fruits of that year's mercy. And notwithstanding the great ingratitude of this na- tion tor all the civil and spiritual mercies it hath enjoyed in con- sequence of that mercy, whereby God hath been nighly pro- voked to say to England as he did to Israel, Judg. x. 13. I ic'dl de-i. liver you no more ; yet, behold ! another eighty-eight cro\v-ned and enriched with mercies, no less admirable and glorious than the for- mer; a year for which the children yet unborn shall praise the Lord.
You are called this day to rejoice ; I am not only called to re- joice with you in the public mercies of this day, but also to direct you to the best way of improving the mercies you rejoice in, that they may prove introductive to greater mercies than themselves. To that end I chose this scripturcj which contains both parts of the Work and duty of the day. The text contaiils the sum of Moses' prayer at Edrei, after the signal victory God there gave him over the last enemy that forbade his passage to the confines of Ca- naan. This Edrei was a to^vn on this side Jordan^ situate in the fruitful country of Bashan, near unto that famous river by which it was divided from the land of promise, and afterwards fell to the lot of Manasseh. Hither Moses had led the people, and now it was but one remove morcj (their passage over Jordan) and they should finish their wearisome peregrination, and arrive at the de- sire of their hearts^ even rest and settlement iri that good land the Lord had promised them. And here you may see how swift and strong the motions of Moses' spirit in prayer were, now it was come so nigh the centre^ almost in sight of that pleasant land where God intended to settle his worship, and record his name. " O Lord^
" thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness,^"* &c. 1 pray ^* thee let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jor* •* dan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon." Wherein note,
1. The mercy prayed for.
2. The argument pleaded to obtain it.
1. The mercy Moses prays for, that he might go over and see the good land, &c. The good land was Canaan, called the glory of all lands, Ezek. xx. 6. It was a glorious land in respect of its natural fertility and amenity ; but much more glorious in respect of the presence of God in his ordinances. And therefore above all the pleasant sights of Canaan, he desires to see that goodly moun^ tain, that is, Mount Moriah, on which Abraham offered up his only son Isaac, and whereon, by the spirit of prophecy, Moses fore- saw the glorious temple was to be built, whither the tribes should go up to worship, even the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel. There were to be the symbols of his presence, and the house of prayer for all people. There the ark was to rest, and all the promises made to Abraham and his seed to be fulfilled. This inflames the desires of Moses (now upon the very borders) to have a sight of that goodly mountain, and Lebanon, that famous forest so renowned in scripture, of whose stately cedars the glorious tem- ple was to be built, 1 Kings v. 5, 9. This desire of Moses was not from any superstitious opinion he had of the holiness of the place, in respect of the patriarchs whose bones were laid in that land, (as some Popish glosses would have it) but he earnestly de- sired to see the accomplishment of the promises, now so nigh the birth, by the actual possession of that good land. This was the mercy he prayed for.
Objection. But how could Moses desire to go over Jordan into this good land, when God had before so expressly told him he should not ? Numb. xx. 12. " And the Lord spake unto Moses ^' and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the ** eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this " congregation into the land which I have given them." Did this holy man suffer his desires to transport him beyond his duty, to go further than God would have him ?
Sol. No, he did not ; not being sure the threatening was ab- solute, but might be such a one as was made of Hezekiah's death, 2 Kings x^x. 1. or of Nineveh's destruction, Jonah iii. 4. there was room for prayer. You see the mercy Moses prayed for.
2. Let us next consider the argument by him pleaded for the obtaining of his suit, and that is taken from the whole series of former mercies, which were all introductive to this remaining and (completing mercy, the planting of them in the land of promise.
<^ O Lord fiod, tliou hast begun to shew thy servant thy great- ** ness, and thy mighty hand," &c. Where note,
1. His most thankful acknowledgment and magnifying of past and present mercies. His eyes were not so dazzled with the splen- dor of mercy to come, and in a near expectation, as to overlook the former or present mercies as small and inconsiderable. No, he lifts up the name of God in his praises for them, and tells him, he had begun to shew him his greatness in them. They are great in Moses' eye, and he expresses a suitable sense of them. He well knew the way to engage further mercies, is thankfully to acknow- ledge and magnify past and present ones. But,