VIII. Lastly, because that God often takes a long day for perfoiTnance of the promise, thou shalt find herein the doctrine of waiting upon God, ex- cellently handled ; a duty which we earnestly commend unto thy practice, as suitable to these sad times. Say, 0 say with the church, ' In the way of thy judgments, 0 Lord, we have waited for thee,' Isa. xxvi. 8 ; and with the prophet, ' I will wait upon the Lord that hideth his face from the
* That is, = a ' day of rejoicing.' — G.
442 TO THE READER.
house of Jacob, and I will look for him,' Isa. viii. 17. And rest assured, that ' none of the seed of Jacob shall seek him in vain,' Isa. xlv. 19 ; he will not ' disappoint their hope, nor make their faces ashamed that wait for him,' Isa. xlix. 23.
Thus we have given you a short prospect of the whole, a brief sum of that treasure which these sermons contain. We need say nothing of the author ; his former labours ' sufficiently speak for him in the gates,' Prov. xxxi. 23 ; his memory is highly honoured amongst the godly-learned. He that enjoj'S the glory of heaven, needs not the praises of men upon earth. If any should doubt of these sermons, as if they should not be truly his, whose name they bear, let him but obsers^e the style, and the excellent and spiritual matter herein contained, and he will, we hope, be fully satisfied. Besides, there are many ear-witnesses yet living, who can clear them from any shadow of imposture. They come forth without any alteration, save only some repetitions (which the pulpit did well bear), are here omitted.
The Lord make these, and all other the labours of his servants, profit- able to his church. And the Lord so ' destroy the veil ' from oft' thy heart, that thou mayest believe, and by faith come to this feast, the joy and com- iort whereof may swallow up all the slavish fear of death, dry up thy tears, tind roll away all reproach. And the Lord give thee a waiting heart, to stay ihy soul upon the name of the Lord, to believe his word, and his faithful promises, that in due time trhou mayest ' rejoice in the God of thy salvation.' This is the earnest prayer of
Arthur Jackson.* James Nalton.! WiLL. Taylor. J London, April 19. 1650.
* Jackson, like Sibbes, was a native of Suffolk, having been born at Little Wald- ingfield, in 1593. He won the respect of even Laud. It is told that when the ' Book of Sports ' was commanded to be publicly read, he refused compliance, and TV as complained of for his contumacy to the Archbishop, but that prelate would not suffer him to be molested. ' Mr Jackson,' said he, ' is a quiet and peaceable man, and therefore I will not have him meddled with.' Sheldon manifested like esteem lor him. At the Eestoration, when Charles II. made his entrance into the city, Jackson was appointed by his brethren to present to him a Bible, as he passed through St Paul's Churchyard, which was in his parish ; when he addressed the king in a congratulatory speech, which was graciously received. He was also one of the Commissioners of the Savoy. He died, Aug. 5. 1666, one of the most vener- able of the ' ejected ' two thousand. Consult ' Nonconformisfs Memorial,' vol. i. pp. 120-124 ; also ' Memoir ' prefixed to his ' Annotations,' vol. iv.
t This ' man of God,' beloved by Richard Baxter, and all his like-minded con- t( mporaries, was called ' The Weeping Prophet,' because of his peculiarly tender and tearful nature. He also was one of the ' two thousand,' but died shortly afterwards in 1663. In a copy of Sedgwick's ' Bowels of Tender Mercy Sealed in the Ever- lasting Covenant' (folio 1661), in our possession, is the following inscription, Mary Nalton, her book, given by her dear husband, Ja. Nalton, Sept. 14. 1661.' Consult ' Noncf. Mem.,' vol. 1. pp. 142-144.
X This ' William Taylor,' was probably the author of a sermon in the ' Morning Exercises,' and the same for whom Dr Spurstowe preached a remarkable funeral sermon. He died in 1661. G.
THE MARRIAGE FEAST BETWEEN CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH.
In this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees ; of fat things full of marrow, of wine on the lees well refined. — Isal\h XXV. 6.
In the former chapter the holy prophet having spoken of the miseries and desolation of the church, in many heavy, sad, and doleful expressions ; as ' the vine languisheth, the earth is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, and broken the everlasting covenant ; therefore the earth shall be accursed, and they that dwell therein shall not drink wine with a song,' &c. Here you see all sweetness and rejoicing of heart is departed from them ; yet even in the midst of all these miseries, God, the God of comforts, makes sweet and gracious promises to his church, to raise it out of its mournful estate and condition. And therefore the prophet, in the former part of this chapter, speaks of blessing God for the destruction of his enemies, and for his great love to his church. And when he had spoken of the ruin of the enemy, he presently breaks out with thanksgiving, breathing forth abundant praises to his God ; as it is the custom of holy men, guided by the motion of the blessed Spirit of God, upon all occasions, but especially for benefits to his church, to praise his name, not out of ill afiection at the destruction of the adversaries, but at the execvition of divine justice, for the fulfilling of the truth of his promise ; as in the first verse of this chapter, ' 0 Lord, thou art my God ; I will exalt thee, I will j)raise thy name ; for thou hast done wonderful things ; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.' When the things that were promised of old were brought to pass, the church was ever ready to give God the glory of his truth. Therefore, rejoice not when thine enemies fall ; but when the enemies of the Lord are brought to deso- lation, then we may, nay, we ought to sing, ' Hallelujah' to him that liveth for ever and ever.