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Show H,,,.,r;or11u SpoNJe is4J" people hath ·~~ording_ro the _unfearchable coun~els of_ God, and wife dilpenlanons of Ius Provtdence been fomeumes 10 a more fp!endid , glorious,_ pe1~picuous condition as a . City upon <In Hill at other nmes 10 a more perfecuced aiHtcted !late, as a Do~e httlu cleftt of the Rock.!, in the fecw places of 1~e flairs" .But this is enopgh for the fecond particular. 3· Thirdly';. I told you this Exprellion may alfo denote r_he [piritu•lity and ~tavrnly-mindedne[t of the SpoHft.The phrafe (fatth the learned Me-lur, ) may be referred ad decorem SpoHj<£ alta pe· tnu. The Lar/t,_, the .Partridg, many other Birds, they love, they tir, they nellie on the ground. The Dove _doth ~or fo, fhe mak~s her r.ells in the Rock.!, in the AfomtJ. It IS Chrtfls ptecept to hts .Difciples,Matth. 6. Lay up for your {dve1 'IreafimJ in Heaven: -yea, and there every true SpoufeofChrilllives, there fhe nellleth. Our converjittion if in heavm (laith the Apo!tle) from rl'ht>tct weexpet: l a Redeemer, They ~ive in Chrift: I in you (l~ith ChriU,) and .you in rm. Yor<r lift (fatth the Apollle) u btd wttb Chrift 111 God.. This comes to Bernardi notion, In vulneribiH Chrifti, 'in the clefts of the R ocks, that is, faith he, in the wounds ofChrill. You know -Chrill is in Scripture comparee! to a Roci(_; he was prefigu~ed by •the Rock that furnifhed the Ilraelites \Vith drink in the Wilder· ·nefs. That Roci(_ wuCbrift (faith the Apollle, I Cor. 10. 3.) This is advantaged by the two things I noted to you concerning the ,form of the word which is uled in the Text II'?On which is in the fingular number, and hath a prdix which thpugh not always yet very often denoteth an Emph•[t1, in the clefts of that Roci<,: 'Tis not every Rock that hath clefts. /it for Chrills Dove. There are Rocks that are never feen but at low-water, every Tide covers them. The Dove would be drowned if the were hid in thefe 1Rocks,buc (he is in the clefts, II.,On of that Rock;that Rock which was Chrifi; that is, a1lofty Rock, a Rook' of Ages, a Rock above all rocks. Ocher Rocks are as Solomqn iaito,habitation forCo~iu; this alone is the habitation for thele Doves, and fhe dwells in the tlr{t! oft hi! Roci<,. ihat I may put my hand (faith 'IbomM) into the holes of his fid es, and lay my lingers in the Print of his natls; ifberc's the cleft of the Rock where <::hrills Dove lives. · 4· Lallly, The phrale denotes.fecurity ~ndprqtdl,ion. This a!· moll all Interpreter! touch upon. A Rock IS ajfrong place, no un- dermining Ruck.! no eafie coming :It Cities built upon them ro ,bmer them ; th~refore Nature hath taught the ·Conies to ma~e thm their houfes there, ( there they cannot be dtgged out. ) It is the work of the Omnipot(nt Arm to cue River1 in Rock.!, Job 28.ro. He aloXJc could cleave the Rockf in the Wildernefs. Pfalm 78, 1 5· It is faid that the man who walktth righteoufly 01all dwell un l"gb, Efay 33• ti. hi! place' of defence Jh•U be tbe mu11itio11 of Rock.!. Eve~y one of Chrifis Doves is in chis fenfc in the clefts of the Rock, tn the le-crec place of the Afcents: Pf"lm 9'· r. Hethat dwcllab in the Je-erer place of the mojl High,jha/1 be rtnder the f"•dJrv oft he Almtgbty. T hey are under the fpectal protectiOn of God; they are under thefingularcare of the great l~oci<,J the Lord J.lusChrifl. Yon know the Church hath a Promile, 'Ihe gatu of Hell ]hall not pre-vail• gatNJI it: What is the real?n ?'jhc if in the clrjtJ oft be lii.ock_; The righteous man hath a Promtle; Hu drfmce_ ( fattb lf.mb~) fhall be the munition ofRo:k.!. Flaim 12. 5· I wtO [et hun on htgh from him tbat jHjfcth at him. But chis is enough to liave n<>ted to you both for the ~xplication ofth!s Propoficion, and alfo lor _the Confirmation wbtch I have fubJomed to the feveral branche, of the Explication. I come now to the Application. . In the firll place fe~ here an anfwer to the Romijh ~cjlron, fo Vfl. 1. mLlCh at their tongues ends in every company : Where WJJ your Church before Luther l If they mean by. ic ( which they mull if they fpeak fenle;) Where was the people owning the lame Faith yot1 own? (he was where ChriOs Dove fometimes uleth to be, iJttbe clt{tJ of tbe Rock.!, in tbe {ecret place of tbe flam ; f!>e was there whither the bloudy and·ravenous Vultures ofthetr Svna: gogue had driven her. Was the a Vir~in llript of hf' Orna· mcncs? it was becaufP. ,themlelv e~ bad llnpt her to dre•s up the Whore th.at fits upon the [even HiU1. She was where Gods [even thoufaHd ,.,ere when Elijah thought he ~ad been left alone, ~tt ~e then was in the cleft! of the Roci<,, owmog the Lord Jefus Chnll, and Faith in him, hoping in, believing io him, who died for our fins and rofe again tor our Jullification. Where was ?ur ChLacb? fhe was partly in Sou/1 dep4rted before the Altar, cry10g for Ven-geance again II tbofe Romi(h men ofbloud that had haU~ned h:r thither :P•rtly in places where the Lord had btddm her, whtles tbetr Rev. 12, 1 sgr. eat red Dragon, ( which deceived tbe whole world f or a time, and timn, and hal[ a time,cajl out af hit mouth rl'aterJ M a fiuud aft:r ber, that he might c.•ufe her to be carmd arl'ay of the fi•oJ, If whe.n they,_ ask, where was your Church before Lutluri they f!lean,. where was the Doctrine of our Church ? The anf wer is cafie, it was, X X i~ |
