Is Christ a Bundle of Myrrh to You?

"A bundle of myrrh is my beloved unto me." -- Cant. 1.13

Ralph Robinson, Christ All in All, pp. 338-339:

Is it so with you? is Christ a bundle of myrrh to you or no? Every man thinks he doth prize Christ, but most deceive themselves.

Try, therefore, by the five following notes:

1. Who reigns in your hearts? He that is sovereign Lord and commander, he it is that is esteemed. Hath Christ the throne? or hath sin, the world, the throne? Do you lay that charge upon your souls which the Church doth? Psal. xxiv. 7, 8. If Christ be not principal in your hearts, if all things do not bow to Christ, he is not esteemed.

2. Who hath your thoughts? Do you meditate on Christ, do you study Christ, or do you study the world? That of the apostle is excellent to this purpose, 1 Cor. ii. 2. There was nothing so much in his thoughts as Jesus Christ was. Desire of much communion is a true argument of esteem. Anima est ubi amat. Can you say, as the Church in this chapter, ver. 7, Set me where thou feedest? If so, then Christ is high in your hearts indeed.

3. What opinion have you of his members? Do you value them? Are they precious in your eyes because of their relation to Christ, and because of their similitude to Christ? See 1 John v. 1; he that loves not saints in their meanest dress, before sinners in their best robes, prizeth not Christ truly at all. 

4. What do ye do to bring others to Christ? Do you woo souls to marry with Christ? Do you make it your work to cause others to be enamoured of him? Then you may conclude you esteem him indeed. But if you be careless whether Christ be without disciples or have disciples, he is not rightly prized of you.

5. Do ye mourn for his dishonour? David saith, Psal. lxix. 9, 'The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.' Can you say so? You are haters of Christ if you can hear or see him dishonored, and not lay it to your heart.

Viret's Holy Commonwealth

Robert Dean Linder, The Political Ideas of Pierre Viret, pp. 122-125:

From the foregoing facts drawn from an examination of Viret's remarks concerning politics, a relatively clear and complete picture can be constructed of what he considered the ideal state to be like. What he envisioned as the epitome of a godly state in which Biblical principles were observed was in many ways comparable to the Holy Commonwealth that the New England Puritans tried to establish in the American wilderness almost a half century after Viret's death. In fact the parallels are so striking as to be noteworthy.

Viret's Universal Church was one in which all true believers were members and which found its visible expression in the form of a local congregation called a "community of saints." The local church was to govern itself like a "free community" and a "celestial republic." In short, the form of ecclesiastical government was to be a type of congregationalism. It is true that Viret's congregational church polity was not exactly like that of the New England churches. He still accepted the ecclesiastical machinery of the Reformed Church with its colloquies and synods, and saw these gatherings as valuable assets to the work of God. However, his fundamental emphasis was always upon the local congregation which was to be governed like a democracy.

Then, too, he assigned to the minister an important and influential role of leadership in the local church. Like the Puritans, he maintained that the pastor was no better than any other believer and that his difference was one of function and office rather than rank. But also like the Puritans, Viret's thought reveals that for all practical purposes he conceived of the minister as the executive head, under Christ, of the local church. 

The Church as a whole was to occupy a position of privilege in Viret's ideal state. The preaching of the true Gospel was to have precedence over all other activities and have free reign among the people. In addition, the civil code of the secular state would be based directly upon the laws of God and conform with them in every possible way. Furthermore, although a Christian magistracy was not absolutely necessary nor for that matter possible in every instance and every country, still in his ideal state the magistrates would all be true Christians. In this manner they could work in complete and harmonious co-operation with the Church. The Christian magistrates would act like "guardians" and "foster-fathers" of the Church, protecting, helping and sustaining it in every way possible consistent with their office. This was also the idea behind the Holy Commonwealth of New England.

Also, the great influence of the clergy in secular government was apparent both in Viret's thinking and in New England Puritan practice. Viret felt that ministers should be consulted by secular officials in order to determine the will of God, especially in all matters relating in any way to religion, and that the head of state should include "true ministers of the Gospel" among his advisors. Furthermore, if the will of the secular government should ever conflict with the will of God, Viret recommended that the ministers go to the civil officials, call their attention to the point in question and admonish them to conform to God's plan rather than to their own.

Still, the provinces of the Church and the state were to be distinct and separate. The minister, though he should have a great deal to say about the practical operation of the state, should never exercise political influence either by law or threats of excommunication and interdict but only by moral suasion. Likewise, the civil magistrate should never use his powers to force acceptance of the Gospel on people or to legislate religion for the masses. Instead he should do everything in his power to protect the Church as it carried out its spiritual mission. He also should make conditions as favorable as humanly possible for the acceptance of the message of repentance and faith in Christ which the Reformers preached. But in no case should the magistrate usurp the office of minister or interfere in the internal affairs of Church, especially in matters of church discipline, and under no circumstances should the minister assume any of the civil powers of the magistracy.

Finally, there are enough democratic elements in Viret's thought to assume that in a political entity where the vast majority of the people were true Christians, he would approve of some kind of Christian Republic based upon popular participation in government. After all, if he was so willing to trust even a common laborer who was one of the elect of God with the government of the Church, why would he be unwilling to commit to this same regenerate individual the reins of power in an ideal secular state where the Gospel was proclaimed freely and regularly and in which nearly everyone was a true believer? Even in a state where true Christians were a minority, Viret's personal preference appears to have been for some sort of democratic republic.

It is true that Viret nowhere sought to restrict political rule to the elect, but he did dream of an ideal state in which all would be united by faith and knowledge in the true religion thus identifying for all practical purposes the elect with the body politic. Therefore, it seems safe to conclude that if it were possible to win nearly everyone in a certain political community to the Reformed faith, he would have endorsed popular participation in both ecclesiastical and civil government. This would have been Viret's idea of a state which conformed most closely to God's will for man on earth.

Not as Athenians, But as Christians

Henry Hurst, “How We May Inquire After News, Not as Athenians, But as Christians, For the Better Management of Our Prayers and Praises For the Church of God?” in Puritan Sermons, 1659-1689, Vol. 4, pp. 531-550:

…all the members of the church, are to inquire into what God is doing for or against his church, as they have in their present station opportunity to do so; as Nehemiah did, who inquired of them that came from Jerusalem, what condition that city and people of God were in. (Chap. i. 2.)
…
But none may inquire like Athenians…(2.) With curiosity to know what other men believe and do in religion, than serious purpose to know what they themselves should believe and do. 

….
First, then, a Christian ought to make inquiry into news that concerns the church, according to the advantage and capacity he hath, more fully to know both the good and welfare of the people of God, or to know the sorrows and dangers that lie upon the church.
…
Jerusalem must not be forgotten; she must be prayed for. (Psalm cxxii. 6.)
 Such who know few but their Christian relations or neighbours, may know the sorrows, dangers, wants of these; and ought to pray for them, as they are members of the church; and consider [that] the like state other Christians are in, and must be prayed for, &c. We are to mourn with those that morn, and rejoice with those that rejoice: (Rom. xii. 15:) that we may better do this, we should inquire, the most we can, into the present state of the church. 

…
Thirdly. [He] who inquires as a Christian, in order to manage prayer and praise, should, I think, inquire of those who can and will inform him best, most truly and sincerely, of any news he heareth.
…
Fourthly. [He] who inquires as a Christian, must inquire with a compassionate affection to the suffering churches of Christ. – Or, feeling their wounds as living members feel the griefs and wounds of the body in what part soever, preparing to help the whole and bear his own part; as one who “prefers Jerusalem above his chief joy,” and can heartily rejoice in her prosperity; as one whose heart is wounded with the same sword that woundeth Jerusalem, and therefore bitterly bemoaneth and heartily prayeth for the bleeding church.
…
Fifthly. When you inquire into the present news that concerns the church, that you may the better pray for the church, or praise God on behalf of the church, inquire into the sins of the church with an humble, mourning, and repentant heart.
…
Sixthy. Would you as Christians inquire into the news of the present times, the better to manage prayer and praises for the church? Inquire, then, what are the effects of either good and welcome, or of sad and mournful, news upon such as are nearest concerned in both. – Do judgments awaken and frighten sinners in Zion from their sins? Do the punishments of their sins work them to deep humiliation, to public repenting and reforming? Or are they as sinful, secure, and as fearless as ever? What effect have God’s mercies upon his churches? Do his mercies prevail with them “not to conform to the present evil world, but to be transformed by the renewing of their minds?” (Rom. xii. 1, 2.)
…
Eigthly, and lastly. Would you as Christians inquire, in order to the better management of your prayers and praises? Then, whatever news of moment you hear concerning the state of the churches of Christ, be sure, to your best knowledge, compare those news with these things are signs of approaching deliverances and fuller salvation from its own sins and self-created troubles, and from the furious rage of enemies. 

1. Compare the state of the church, and your news of it, with the divine providences over the church in like circumstances in times past. – Find out some instance parallel to your present case in the scriptures; and in prayer plead it with God for the like, nay, for greater, help. The various cases of the church recorded in scripture, are glasses in which we may see what troubles we must expect; and God’s providences to his people are exemplaries for us to conform our hope and confidence unto. We may read his deliverances, and in like cases say, “This is our God, as theirs; he will lead us, preserve, and deliver us, as them.” Hence it is [that] you do so often find the people of God concluding and expecting relief, because he did in like case hear prayer, and give his people matter of praise, in times past.

 2. Compare the news you hear with the expectations of the generality of the observant, praying, meditating, scripture-wise Christians. – Consider well what the body of these look for; whether good, or evil.
…
4. Look to the promises made to the church for her deliverance, when you hear of or inquire after any great news among the states and kingdoms of the world, among which the churches of Christ sojourn, and among which the saints of God have and still do suffer. – It needs not a particular proof, that there are many express promises that the church shall be delivered; that there is a fixed time for the beginning, progress, and full accomplishment of these promises; that their accomplishment shall be gradual, and such as will clear itself; and though we cannot say when the full accomplishment [will take place] to a day or month or year, yet, by comparing transactions and occurrences with promises, we may without doubt discover somewhat of the promise made good to the church, for which we ought to praise the Lord; and all the rest of the promises shall be fulfilled, and for this we should earnestly pray to the Lord.

Monday Morning Meditation

Peter Toon, Longing for Heaven: A Devotional Look at the Life After Death, p. 134:

We have been saved to live to the praise of God's glory (Eph. 1:12). And, on earth, there is nothing more wonderful than a company of Christians whose hearts have been recently in heaven joining together to sing praises to God. Faith and hope will not be needed in the kingdom of heaven of the age to come; but there your love will be magnified and enriched. Praise will be your primary employment in heaven, and the more you are familiar with heaven on earth, the more will you praise the Lord here below. In face, your love will be purified by your praising of the Lord as you make your pilgrimage heavenward.

The Church is a Hospital

Jesus, our Great Physician, said, "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Matt. 9.12-13). And the place where he calls us to be, where he has instituted the means of grace and healing for sin-sick souls, is the church, which is a spiritual hospital.

John Chrysostom, Homilies on Repentance and Almsgiving 3.4.19:

Have you sinned? Enter into the church and wipe away your sin. The number of times you fall down in the marketplace equals the number of times you rise up. Likewise, as many times as you sin, repent for your sin: do not become discouraged. And if you sin a second time, repent a second time....And if you are in the depths of old age and you sin, enter into the church and repent, because the church is a hospital, not a court of justice.

Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed and Smoking Flax, in Works, Vol. 1, p. 57:

The church of Christ is a common hospital, wherein all are in some measure sick of some spiritual disease or other; that we should all have ground of exercising mutually the spirit of wisdom and meekness.

Simon Patrick, The Heart's Ease; or, A Remedy Against Trouble, in Works, Vol. 3, pp. 504-505:

...over the Gospel we may write what the Egyptians did over their library, ..., 'this is the hospital for sick souls.'

The Bride of Christ

Johann Gerhard, Sacred Meditations 23:

XXIII. Concerning the dignity of the Church.

The Church is the Bride of Christ.

Contemplate, devout soul, how much benefit God has furnished for you, since He has called you into the consortium of His Church. “My love is one,” the Bridegroom says in the song (Song of Solomon 6:8). It is certainly one for there is one true and orthodox Church, the beloved bride of Christ. The Spirit of Christ is not found outside of the body of Christ. Whoever does not yet have the Spirit of Christ is not his (Romans 8:9). Whoever is not Christ’s, is not able to become a participant in eternal life. All outside of Noah’s ark were forced to perish in the flood. Outside of the spiritual ark of the Church, all are destined for eternal destruction. Whoever does not have the Church as his mother on the earth will not have God as his Father in heaven. Contemplate, devout soul, how many thousands of souls descend into hell every day because they are outside of the bosom of the Church. It is not your nature that differentiates you from them, but only the grace of the merciful God. When the Egyptians were enveloped in complete darkness, the Israelites alone were in the light (Exodus 10:23). So also, only in the Church is the light of the knowledge of the divine found. Whoever is outside of the Church passes from the darkness of ignorance in this present life into the darkness of damnation in the subsequent life. Whoever does not have a share in the Church militant will never have a share in the Church triumphant. The following things are indeed most intimately joined: God, the Word, faith, Christ, the Church, and eternal life.

The holy Church of God is a mother, a virgin, and a bride. She is a mother because every day she gives birth to spiritual sons for God. She is a virgin because she keeps herself blameless from any association with the devil and the world. She is a bride because Christ has betrothed her to himself by an eternal covenant and given her the pledge of the Spirit. The Church is that ship that carries Christ and his disciples (Matthew 8:23) and transports us at long last to the port of eternal blessedness. The Church navigates her established course through the sea of this age with the rudder of faith, having God as her pilot, angels for oarsmen, and the company of all the saints for her passengers. In the middle of her, her mast is the cross of salvation, on which is suspended the sail of the evangelical faith, by which she is lead by the breath of the Holy Spirit to the security of eternal rest. The Church is that vine that God has planted in the field of this world, watered with His own blood, surrounded with the protection of angels, having constructed the winepress of his own passion in her, having removed the stones and offensive things from her. The Church is that woman clothed with the sun (Revelation 12:1) because she is clothed with Christ’s righteousness. She tramples the moon underfoot because she despises the world, which is subject to manifold changes.

Contemplate, devout soul, this dignity of the Church and give the thanks owed to God. Indeed, the benefits that God grants through the Church are great, but they are not obvious to everyone. It is like a closed garden and a sealed fountain (Song of Solomon 4:12). Therefore, no one recognizes these highest blessings in the Church unless he himself is in it. This bride of Christ is black on the outside, but beautiful inside (Song of Solomon 1:5). Certainly all the glory of the daughter of the king is inside (Psalm 45:14). This ship is struck with various storms of persecution (Matthew 8:25). This vine is lifted up by being bound and enlarged by being cut back (John 15:2). The infernal dragon himself plots against this woman in many ways (Revelation 12:7). The Church is as beautiful as a lily, but a lily between thorns (Song of Solomon 2:1). The most beautiful garden is the Church, but only when the north wind of tribulation blows through it do its aromatic spices at last flow out. The daughter of God is the Church, but she is completely hated by the world. She expects a heavenly inheritance. Forced to live as a foreigner in this world, opposed in her sojourn, silent in suppression, courageous in silence, she conquers in fortitude. The Church is the spiritual mother, but she is forced to stand under the cross, just as Mary, from whom Christ was born into this world, was standing under the cross (John 19:25). The Church is a palm tree because she grows all the more under the weight of tribulation and temptation.

Contemplate, devout soul, the dignity of the Church, and beware lest you engage in anything unworthy of her. The Church is a mother, so beware lest you despise her voice. She is a mother, so you ought always to cling to her breasts. The Church’s breasts are the Word and Sacraments. The Church is a virgin. If then you are really her son, abstain from the embraces of the world. You are a member of the virgin. See to it that you do not associate the members of the virgin with prostitutes and with Satan through sin. You are the bride of Christ. See that you do not send away the pledge of the Holy Spirit that has been given to you. You are the bride of Christ. Pray without ceasing so that the Bridegroom may hurry to bring you into the heavenly marriage banquet. For the Bridegroom may come in the safety of the night. Be vigilant therefore lest the Bridegroom will come and find you sleeping and close to you the door of eternal salvation (Matthew 25:10). Shine with the oil of your faith, lest in the coming of the Bridegroom you may be forced to wish for it in vain. You have been carried in a ship. See that you do not throw yourself into the sea of the world (Matthew 8:25) before you arrive at port. You have been carried in a ship. Pray, lest you be absorbed by storms of affliction and the waves of temptation. You are called into the Lord’s vineyard (Matthew 20:1). See that you labor strenuously. Let the thought of the denarii ease the labors of the day. You are the vine of the Lord. Throw away all the worthless branches, all the fruitless works of the flesh. Regard all the time of your life as a time of pruning. You are a branch in the true vine (John 15:1). See to it that you remain in it and bear much fruit, because the heavenly farmer takes away the branches that do not bear fruit and purifies them, in order that they may bear more copious fruit. You have clothed yourself by faith (Galatians 3:27) and you have been covered with the Sun of righteousness (Malachi 4:2; Revelation 12:1). See to it then that you tread the moon, that is, all earthly things underfoot and esteem all these things lightly in respect to the good things of heaven.

O good Jesus, who has led us into the Church militant, lead us also at long last into that Church triumphant.

A Solitary Christian is a Contradiction

James Bannerman, The Church of Christ, Vol. 1, pp. 19-21:

We may assert, therefore, that that Christian society which we call the Church of Christ is a society formed by Divine appointment, even did we see in it nothing more than a body of men brought together by the constraint of the same faith and same affections wrought in them by the Spirit of God. But there is much more than this intimated in Scripture, on which we ground the assertion that the Church of Christ is a divinely instituted society. There are express commands in Scripture, leaving the believer no alternative in the matter, and requiring him to unite together with other believers in the outward and public profession of his faith before the world. He is not left at liberty to hide that faith within his own heart, and himself to remain alone and separated from his fellow-believers. It is the office of the Christian society to be a witness, by means of an outward and public profession, for Christ on the earth; and it is not a matter of choice, but of express obligation, with a Christian man to join with others in that public profession. The command is "to confess Christ before men;"1 and upon the ground of the command, then, is laid the foundation of a society, each member of which is called upon, whether he will or will not, to lift up a public testimony for his Saviour jointly with other believers; and that public profession is one to be made not merely with the lips, uniting with others in a common declaration of the faith believed. The outward ordinances of the Christian society are so framed and devised as to be themselves a significant profession of faith on the part of those who join in them; and communion in ordinances is with Christians not a matter of choice, but of express command. Christ has judged it proper to appoint that His disciples shall be solemnly received into His Church by the initiatory rite of baptism; so that the very entrance of life, or, at all events, the admission into the Christian society, shall be itself a public testimony to Him. He has enjoined the public and open commemoration of the central and most characteristic doctrine of His faith, by the celebration, at stated intervals, of the Lord's Supper; and as often as the first day of the week returns, the disciples are commanded "not to forsake the assembling of themselves together," but to unite in the outward and joint worship of the Saviour. In short, in the whole divinely appointed institutions and ordinances of the Christian society we see the provision made for, and the obligation laid upon, His disciples to be joined together into one outward body, and to form a common society of professing believers. That community is one, therefore, of Divine institution; and in the duty laid upon them, not as a matter of choice, but of express command, to become members of it, we see the ordinance of God for the existence and permanent establishment of a Church on earth. A solitary Christian is seen to be a contradiction in terms, if you view merely his faith as a principle of affinity naturally destined to draw to it the faith of other believers. A solitary Christian is worse than a contradiction, he is an anomaly, standing out against the express institution of God, which has appointed the fellowship of believers in one Church, and made provision in its outward ordinances for their union and edification. The Christian society is a kingdom, set up by express Divine appointment, and differs from every other society on earth in this remarkable fact, that the builder and maker of it is God.

1 Matt. x. 32; Luke xii. 8; John xii. 42; Rom. x. 9.

The Duty to Join the Church

Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian's Reasonable Service, Vol. 2, pp. 55-56:

It is the duty of everyone who desires to be saved to turn to the church, making diligent effort to be accepted as a member of the church community.

First, this is God's way whereby He leads the elect unto salvation. "And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved" (Acts 2:47); "Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from His people" (Isa. 56:3).

Secondly, this has been the task of the apostles in accordance with their commission (Mat. 28:19), as is to be observed in the entire Acts of the Apostles.

Thirdly, this is consistent with the nature of God's children. As soon as they are converted, they cannot rest until they have been received into the bosom of their spiritual mother (Gal. 4:26).

Fourthly, this is the consistent confession of the church of all ages, and particularly of churches of the Netherlands. In article 28 of the Belgic Confession we read: "We believe, since this holy congregation is an assembly of those who are saved, and that out of it there is no salvation, that no person of whatsoever state or condition he may be, ought to withdraw himself, to live in a separate state from it; but that all men are in duty bound to join and unite themselves with it."...

Fifthly, the church is the glory of Christ. It is there that Christ is confessed and proclaimed throughout the world, being held forth as a banner upon a hill around which one must gather himself. This is the city upon a hill, and a light shining in the darkness. She is the means whereby truth is made known and preserved, and the means unto the conversion of souls. Everyone is therefore obligated to facilitate this by joining himself to the church.

MHCC 35: God's Garden

Matthew Henry on Deut. 32.7:

The reason given for the particular care God took for this people, so long before they were either born or thought of (as I may say), in our world, does yet more magnify the kindness, and make it obliging beyond expression (v. 9): For the Lord's portion is his people. All the world is his. He is owner and possessor of heaven and earth, but his church is his in a peculiar manner. It is his demesne, his vineyard, his garden enclosed. He has a particular delight in it: it is the beloved of his soul, in it he walks, he dwells, it is his rest for ever. He has a particular concern for it, keeps it as the apple of his eye. He has particular expectations from it, as a man has from his portion, has a much greater rent of honour, glory, and worship, from that distinguished remnant, than from all the world besides. That God should be his people's portion is easy to be accounted for, for he is their joy and felicity; but how they should be his portion, who neither needs them nor can be benefited by them, must be resolved into the wondrous condescensions of free grace. Even so, Father, because it seemed good in thy eyes so to call and to account them.

Zion God's Habitation

Thomas Shepard, Journal (January 2, 1642), in Michael McGiffert, God's Plot: Puritan Spirituality in Thomas Shepard's Cambridge, p. 108:

In singing Psalm 132:12, 13, 14, 15 in the public, I was sweetly refreshed by seeing the reason why the Lord's people, if they keep his covenant, he would not leave them [when they are] in church fellowship, because the Lord desired to be with his people; he is loath to depart. In musing on which when I came home I saw a strong motive to have God our God (1) because he makes choice of his people in Sion above all places and persons in the world; (2) because when this is done he desires never to be parted by any sin again; (3) because when this is done he takes full content and is at rest when he enjoys his people; (4) because he promiseth upon this there he will dwell, not because of their good but because he delights in them.

The Most Beautiful Thing Under Heaven

David Dickson, A Brief Explication of the Psalms, Vol. 1, p. 292:

The true visible church, where God's ordinances are set up as he hath appointed, where his word is purely preached, is the most beautiful thing under heaven, and there is God's glory set forth and manifested more clearly than in all the Lord's handiwork beside in heaven or earth; therefore is the place of the Lord's temple here so highly commended, and Zion called the perfection of beauty, because of the glory of God sundry ways revealed there: out of Zion God hath shined, saith he, in regard to the clear manifestation of his will, specially in the matter now in hand about the way of judgment.

(HT: Holdfast)

MHCC 14: Observe the Beauty of Providence

Matthew Henry on Ex. 2.1-4:

Observe the beauty of providence: just at the time when Pharaoh's cruelty rose to this height the deliverer was born, though he did not appear for many years after. Note, When men are projecting the church's ruin God is preparing for its salvation.

Be Not Too Quick To Bury The Church

I came across two similar quotes from a couple of my favorite Puritans which resonated with me as I consider how darkness seems to be overspread across the church, and many faithful saints wonder where they can worship God purely, and hear the true gospel preached. Thankfully, we have the promises of God that the gates of hell shall never prevail against the church (Matt. 16.18); we have the witness of history that when times are dark, God is nevertheless able to bring about a time of Reformation; and we have such encouraging words as these to consider even in our own day. Having such promises, such a witness, and such encouragements, God grant that the saints, by His grace, will not give up, but will trust that He who first planted the church will never let her be overwhelmed by her enemies but will bring her to glory in the end.

William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armour; A Treatise of the Saints' War Against the Devil: Wherein a Discovery is made of that grand Enemy of God and his People, in his Policies, Power, Seat of his Empire, Wickedness, and chief design he hath against the Saints. A Magazine Opened, From whence the Christian is furnished with Spiritual Arms for the Battle, helped on with his Armour, and taught the use of his Weapon: together with the happy issue of the whole War. (1662-1665), Vol. 1, pp. 110-111 (The Christian in Complete Armour, 1983 Banner of Truth ed.):

Behold therefore thy God at work, and promise thyself that what he is about, is an excellent piece. None can drive him from his work. The pilot is beaten from the helm, and can do little in a storm, but lets the ship go adrift. The architect cannot work, when night draws the curtain, yea, is driven off the scaffold with a storm of rain. Such workmen are the wisest counsellors and mightest princes on earth. A pinch may come, when it is as vain to say, Help, O king; as, Help, O beggar. Man's wisdom may be levelled with folly, but God id never interrupted. All the plots of hell and commotions on earth, have not so much as shaken God's hand, to spoil one letter or line that he hath been drawing. The mysteriousness of his providence may hang a curtain before his work, that we cannot see what he is doing, but when darkness is about him, righteousness is the seat of his throne for ever. O, where is our faith, sirs? Let God be wise, and all men and devils fools. What though thou seest a Babel more likely to go up, than a Babylon to be pulled down; yet believe God is making his secret approaches, and will clap his ladders on a sudden to the walls thereof. Suppose truth were a prisoner with Joseph, and error the courtier, to have its head lift up by the favour of the times; yet dost [thou] not remember that the way to truth's preferment lies through the prison? Yea, what though the church were like Jonah in the whale's belly, swallowed up to the eye of reason by the fury of men, yet dost [thou] not remember [that] the whale had not power to digest the prophet? O be not too quick to bury the church before she be dead. Stay while Christ tries his skill before you give it over; bring Christ by your prayers to its grave, to speak a resurrection word. Admirable hath the saints' faith been in such straits; as Joseph's, who pawned his bones that God would visit his brethren, willing them to lay him where he believed they should be brought; Jeremiah purchaseth a field of his uncle, and pays down the money for it, and this when the Chaldean army [was] quartered about Jerusalem, ready to take the city, and [to] carry him with the rest into Babylon. And all this by God's appoint­ment, Jer. 32:6-8, that he might show the Jews by this, how undoubtedly he, in that sad juncture of time, did believe the performance of the promise for their return out of captivity. Indeed God counts him­self exceedingly disparaged in the thoughts of his people, though at the lowest ebb of his church's affairs, if his naked word, and the single bond of his promise, will not be taken as sufficient security to their faith for its deliverance.

John Flavel, A Saint Indeed: or, The Great Work of a Christian Opened and Pressed; from Prov. 4. 23: Being a seasonable and proper expedient for the recovery of the much decayed power of godliness, among the professors of these times (1673, later reissued as A Treatise on Keeping the Heart; or simply, Keeping the Heart), p. 72 (Keeping the Heart, 2007 Cosimo ed.):

Direction 5. Believe that how low soever the church be plunged under the waters of adversity, it shall assuredly rise again. Fear not; for as sure as Christ arose the third day, notwithstanding the seal and watch set upon him, so sure the church shall arise out of all her troubles, and lift up her victorious head over all her enemies. There is no fear of ruining that people that thrive by their losses, and multiply by being diminished. Be not too quick to bury the church before she is dead! Stay till Christ hath tried his skill before you give her up for lost. The bush may be all in a flame, but shall never be consumed; and that because of the good-will of Him that dwelleth in it.

Happy Reunion of the Divided Church Promised By God's Word

Thoms M'Crie, The Unity of the Church, pp. 57-62:

Discourse 2 - On the Removal of Church Divisions and Application of the Doctrine

"They shall be one in mine hand" Ezekiel 37:19

Having taken a view of the scriptural unity of the Church, and of the nature and causes of those divisions by which it is broken, let us now turn our eye to a more agreeable and cheering prospect.

Removal of Divisions in the Church

III. Of the removal of the divisions of the Church, and the restoration of her violated unity.

1. A happy reunion of the divided Church is promised in the Word of God. It is implied in those promises which secure to the Church the enjoyment of a high degree of prosperity in the latter days - in which God engages to arise and have mercy on Zion, to be favorable to his people, pardon their iniquity and hear their prayers, cause their reproach to cease, and make them a praise, a glory, and a rejoicing, in all the earth; in a word, in which he promises to pour out his Holy Spirit and revive his work. God cannot be duly glorified, religion cannot triumph in the world, the Church cannot be prosperous and happy, until her internal dissensions are abated, and her children come to act in greater unison and concert. But when her God vouchsafes to make the light of his countenance to shine upon her, and sheds down the enlightening, reviving, restorative and sanctifying influences of his Spirit, the long delayed, long wished-for, day will not be far distant. It will have already dawned.

But there are, in the Bible, promises that bear directly on this part of the Church's felicity, and pledge the divine faithfulness for the restoration of her lost peace and violated unity. Some of these I shall lay before you as grounds of your faith, and encouragements to your hopes and endeavors.

I begin with the declaration of the evangelical prophet, which has been often reechoed in the prayers of the friends of Zion, and which deserves your particular attention from its occupying a place in the midst of promises referring immediately to the times of the New Testament: "Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion" (Isa. 52:8). The divisions and distractions of the Church have, in every age, been greatly owing to the conduct of her overseers and guardians. If they "follow their own spirit, and see a lying divination," how can it be expected that they shall "go up into the gaps, to make up the hedge, or stand in the battle in the day of the Lord?" (Ezek. 13:3-6). If in giving forth instructions respecting sin and duty, danger and safety, their voices be dissonant and contradictory, must they not cause great distress and perplexity to their people, and prove, instead of messengers of peace, "the snare of a fowler in all their ways, and hatred in the house of their God?" (cf. Hos. 9:8; Micah 7:4). How cheering, then, the assurance that they "shall see eye to eye" in the matters of God, and lift up their united voice in "publishing salvation, and saying to Zion, 'Thy God reigneth!' " (Isa. 52:7-8).

To this may be added another passage from the same prophecy which bears an equally undoubted reference to the latter days, although clothed in Old Testament language: "He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the enmity[1] of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim" (Isa. 11:12-13). Then, instead of waging an unnatural war, and forming ungodly alliances to enable them the more effectually to harass one another, they shall, with united strength, assail the avowed enemies of religion: "They shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them" (Isa. 11:14).

The remark made as to the period referred to in the above predictions may be applied to the following, although some parts of the description relate more immediately to the deliverance from the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities: " 'At the same time,' saith the Lord, 'will I be the God of ALL the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.' " (Jer. 31:1, 6). "For there shall be a day that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, 'Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God.' " "Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth. And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first" (Jer. 33:6-7).

Suffice it to add these two evangelical promises: "Then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent" (Zeph. 3:9). "It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, 'Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord: I will go also.' Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord" (Zech. 8:20-22). "And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be ONE Lord, and his name ONE" (Zeph. 14:9).

These, brethren, are "exceeding great and precious promises" (2 Pet. 1:4); and do they not amply secure the attainment, in due time, of the blessing to which they all so evidently refer? Yes, "these are the true sayings of God" (Rev. 19:9) - of Him who cannot lie nor change nor call back his words. They are the sayings of him "that frustrateth the tokens of liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish; that confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers" (Isa. 44:25-26). They are "written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord" (Ps. 102:18) for the fulfillment of them. Give him glory by placing your hope and confidence in his promises; and let the cheering prospect which they hold forth console and animate your hearts, amidst all the distress which you feel in contemplating the present disordered and divided state of the Church. Are you still disposed to say, "How can these things be?" Do you find it difficult "against hope to believe in hope?" (cf. Rom. 4:18). Consider what I have farther to say. [Continue reading here.]

1. See Bishop Lowth's note on the passage.