Thoughts for the day of rain. In two essay's: I. The Gospel of the rainbow. In the meditations of piety, on the appearance of the bright clouds, with the bow of God upon them. II. The Saviour with his rainbow. And the covenant which God will remember to his people in the cloudy times that are passing over them. / By Cotton Mather., D.D. ; [Seven lines of quotations]

Thoughts for the Day of Rain.

In Two ESSAY'S: I. The GOSPEL of the Rainbow. In the MEDITATIONS of Piety, on the Appearance of the BRIGHT CLOUDS, with the BOW OF GOD upon them. II. The SAVIOUR with His Rainbow. And the COVENANT which GOD will Remember to His People in the CLOUDY TIMES that are paſſing over them.

By COTTON MATHER, D. D.

Pſal. lxv 8.9.

They who dwell in the Uttermoſt Parts have a reverence for thy TOKENS.— Thou viſiteſt the Earth, and watereſt it

Qui Meteora Videt liquido radiantia Caelo Hic Videt Aeterni facta stupenda Dei

In Engliſh

Who ſees bright Meteors in the Liquid Skies, The wondrous works of the Eternal ſpies

BOSTON in N.E.: Printed by B. Green Sold by Samuel Gerriſh at his Shop at the Sign of the Buck over againſt the South Meeting Houſe 1712.

PREFACE.

IT was in Compliance with the Deſire of an Honourable Friend that I Wrote both, & Preach'd One, of thoſe ESSAYS which I now preſent unto his, and the Publick Acceptance. I did it from a perfect Concurrence I had with him, and many other Good men, in the Opinion, That among the Engines of Piety, wherewith our Good God has accommodated us, the Rainbow is one too much neglected with the Profeſſors of our Holy Religion. To Recover the Rainbow unto the Uſe of our Faith, and Hope, and Joy, and thus to teach the Praiſing Tribe, the Uſe of the Bow, I ſaw to be ſo ſenſible a Service unto the Deſigns of Piety, that I could not but chearfully Embrace it. A very few Hours, and not many more, than the Modern Inſpection finds Colours in the Rainbow, made me an▪ Owner of ſuch Thoughts upon my bright Theme, that I began to imagine, I had honeſt Old Bernards Imprimatur for them; Si metu forte, aut Segnitie, aut minus diſcreta Humilitat, Verbum bonum, quod poſſit prodeſſe multis, inutili, imo et damnabili Ligas Silentio, certe maledictus eris, qui Frumenta abſcondis in Populis. Accordingly they are now offered unto the Children of the Covenant And One of the Things wanting in the Chriſtian Aſceticks is thus brought in to the Churches Treaſury.

The Readers for whoſe Edification theſe Eſſayes are chiefly Calculated, are for the moſt part Plain men, Dwelling in Tents. It would rather puzzle ſuch Readers, than Inſtruct them, to give them a Lecture on the Mathematicks of the Rainbow Nor does the Author profeſs himſelf to be ſo much of a Mathematician, as to do it with the Exactneſs, wherewith it ought to be done, or to be any more than a Wellwiller to ſuch Mathematicks.

A Famous Clergy-man of Spalato, in a Book De Radijs Viſus et Lucis, Written before the Beginning of the former Century, began Mathematically to deſcribe how the Interior Bow of the Iris, is made in Round Drops of Rain, by a Refraction of the Suns Light, and One Reflection between them; and the Exterior, by Two Refractions, and Two ſorts of Reflections between them, in each Drop of Water.

Deſcartes, (who don't uſe to betray his Tutors,) took the Hints from Antonius De Dominis, and went on Mathematically, and with much Demonſtration, to give us a Theory of the Iris, from the Laws of Refraction, which Lucid Rayes do ſuffer in paſſing thro' Diaphanous Bodies. He clearly demonſtrated the primary Iris, to be only, The Suns Image, reflected from the Concave Surfaces, of an Innumerable Quantity of ſmall Sphaerical Drops of falling Rain, with this Neceſſary Circumſtance, that thoſe Rays which fell on the Objects, parallel to each other, ſhould not after One Reflection, and Two Refractions, (viz. At going into the Drop and coming out again) be Diſperſed, or made to diverge, but come back again alſo to the Eye, parallel to each other. The Secondary Iris he ſuppoſes produced by thoſe Rays of the Sun, which fall more obliquely, but after the ſame manner as before, only in theſe there are Two Reflections before the Suns Rays refracted a ſecond time, and tending towards his Eye, in a parallel Poſition, can get out from the Aqueous Globules.

The Acute and Accurate Mr. Halley comes after the French Philoſopher, and ſhows how the Carteſian Problems were more eaſily ſolved than the Author himſelf imagined, He ſhows how to determine the Angle, by which the Iris is diſtant from the oppoſite Point of the Sun, and the Ratio of the Refraction being given Geometrically, or, Vice Verſa, the Iris being given, to determine the Refractive Power of the Liquor. And he goes on to Cultivate the Subject, with the Ingenuity proper to that accompliſhed Gentleman.

But then comes the Admirable Sir Iſaac Newton; One whom I may venture to call The Perpetual Dictator of the Learned World in the Principles of Natural Philoſophy; and the moſt Sagacious Reaſoner upon the Laws of Nature, that has yet Shone among Mankind; and which is the Crown of all, The moſt Victorious Aſſertor of an Infinite GOD, that hath appeared in the bright Army of them that have driven the baffled Herd of Atheiſts away from the Tents of Humanity. This Rare Perſon, in his Incomparable Treatiſe of Opticks, has yet further Explained the Phaenomena of the Rainbow; & has not only ſhown how the Bow is made, but alſo how the COLOURS are form'd; How the Rays do ſtrike the Senſes, with the Colours, in the Order which is required by their Degrees of Refrangibility, in the Progreſs from the Inſide of the Bow to the Outſide; the Violet, the Indico, the Blue, the Green, the Yellow, the Orange, and the Red.

But if all my Countrymen could Read Oughtreds Characters, or ken the Terms & Rules of Trigonometry, with the Doctrine of Fluxions; yet my Printer could not eaſily accommodate us, with the Schemes that would be needful for Dilucidation. The very few that would be gratified with ſuch things, I leave to Conſult the Authors themſelves, & ſhall proceed unto more Theological and Agreeable Contemplations.

QUoniam vero Collegium Harvardinum ter-illuſtre, de Gradu illo 〈◊〉 Theologia, quo me nec Merentem, nec Quaerentem, In lyriſſima Academia Glaſcuenſis 〈…〉 de Honore in ſuum Filium 〈◊〉 , Academice et Benevole judicaſſe, at que in Tabulas Publicas Diploma indigniſſimo homunculo conceſſum retuliſſe. Sentiam: Gratias me Almae venerandae que meae Matri publicas (et multo 〈◊〉 quam in 〈…〉 ) devere 〈◊〉 debitas que hoc Munuſculo Iride decorato, jam ex parte perſolvo. Fait enim, Digniſſimi Domini, 〈◊〉 inter Academiae Veſtrae, dum talem Gradum Conferre in Animo 〈◊〉 poteſtate habuerit, Statuta; Quod Unuſquiſ que illius Gradus Candidatus, Tractatum quendam in Utile quoddam Argumentum, pro Eccleſiarum Commodo in Lucem emittere tenebitur. Quum autem idem pro iſta Relatione hujuſce Dignitatis, quod pro ipſa Collatione (Si Licuerit et placuerit) Officium a me Expectari poterit; En Tractatulum in Utile, et Sane Nobile, Argumentum, vobis Optimo Jure Dedicatum,

In Societate Veſtra Spectatiſſima quot video, et quam amabiles Ecclefiae Irides! Vivat igitur, vigeat ac floreat, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . De Cantabrigia veſtra (cujus et idcirco ſit Nomen Eucarpia!) dicatur, Vir et Vir eft in illa natus; Multi Pietate, Ingenio, Doctrina Inſignes, in illa Renati, at que Formati, Viri; viri qui in Templo Dei refulgeant, et, (quod de Simone olim Syracides) 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 : Et qui de Diluvio quod jam Chriſtianiſmo imminet, ac omni pietati mortem intentat, Eccleſiae metus pellent, Lacrymai que Solabuntur. Fulgidae deni que ex illa, primae que Magnitudinis qúam plurimoe Stellae, et quae ad CHRISTUM ſuo ducant Fulgore, Oriantur.

Sic ex animo precatur, Veſter adhuc et in Aeternum, COTTONUS MATHERUS.

The Goſpel of the Rainbow.

Elegia Frytſchij. SIC ubi Caeleſtem ſubo • iri adſpexeris Arcum, Quo Caelum melius non Meteoron habet: Ille quidem varios ducens e nube Colores, Humano Generi conſpiciundus adeſt, Hunc ita conſpicias, ceu veri pignus Amoris Ae olim facti faederis eſto memor. Quod Deus Omnipotens Noah ſancto contulit ipſo, Se Servaturum totius Orbis opus. Nec perpeſſurum ſubmerſum Fluminis unda Iri hominem ſicut fecerat ante quidem.

Frytſchius Engliſhed. WHen you diſcern the Bow of Heaven to riſe, The Brighteſt Meteor there ſalutes your eyes. Producing various Colours on the Cloud, Mankind beholds it, that ſurvives the Floud. Behold it, Syrs, a Sign of Heav'nly Love, And of a Covenant made by GOD Above. Almighty GOD, did by that Sign Engage To keep His Noah's World from Age to Age. 'Tis thus Engag'd, God will no more Employ Deep Waters, as of old, men to deſtroy.

The GOSPEL of the Rainbow. ZECH. X. 1.

The Lord ſhall make Bright Clouds.

A Mind commonly forming of Good Thoughts, & filled with them on all Occaſions is thereby really Ennobled and Enriched: And Thoughts do not more prove the Exiſtence of it, than Good and Right and Wiſe Ones will contribute unto its Felicity. Such a Mind makes a juſt claim, to the Dignity, which in REASON belongs unto it; and it has, yea, it makes, a ſort of Heaven for it ſelf, with an Holy Anticipation of the more Local Flight, it is e're long to take into the Heavenly World. It follows, that One of the beſt Kindneſſes that can be done unto the Children of Men, is to Supply them with Good Thoughts: One of the Kindeſt Offices that we can do for our Neighbours, is to awaken in them the Thought of the Rational and Religious; and help them in Thinking on the Things wherein they are concerned. Of Writing many Books for this End, our Eccleſiaſtes long ſince adviſed, Let there be no End! Tho' the Study of Writing them ſhould be never ſuch a Wearineſs to the Fleſh, yet we will not be Weary of Well-doing in this way, nor count it a Vanity, in this way to go on with Eſſayes to cure Vanity.

We are ſurrounded with the Preachers of Truth unto us; All the Elements are full of them: In all Creatures we have the Faithful Preachers; if we have but Ears to hear them. To put the Creatures unto ſuch an Uſe, as that of being Led by them unto Good Thoughts, and unto the due Acknowledgments of Their and Our Maker and Saviour; 'tis, to do ſomething towards the Reſtitution of all Things, unto the Primitive and Paradiſian State; yea, O Sons of God, it is a little to bring on the State, for which the whole Creation groaneth! Of our Duties, and of His Praiſes to whom we owe our Duties, I will ſay, Great is the Army that Publiſheth them! And the Kingdom of METEORS has raiſed for us a particular Army of Monitors; among which there is none that makes a more Illuſtrious Figure, than One which I am going to reſcue from the Neglect, with which it has been too much diſregarded & overlooked in a World, which owes more pious Regards unto it.

It is the Rainbow. Of this you Expect not from me, any Attempts at Philology. To tell you, that the Hebrew Name for it is, Ketcheth; The Greek 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , as well as the Latin, Iris; the French, L'arc du Ciel; (or, the Bow of Heaven;) and in like manner, the Italian L'arco del Cielo; and the Spaniſh, El arco del Cielo; (as alſo, El arco de las nueues, or, The Bow of the Clouds:) and the German (more akin to ours) Ein Regenbogen; This would perhaps as little Edify you, as to tell you, that our Indians call it by ſome ſuch Name, as Ukqumogquoanuh. I ſhall as little attempt the Philoſophy of it; For, after I have given you the common Definition of it, Arcus Coeleſtis, qui fit ex Solis Luce, in Nubem varie compoſitam et temperatam, ſed ex Diametro Soli ipſi incurrente ac incidente, pluvioſo tempore; and ſhould add more than as many more, as there be Colours in the Rainbow; and with the Modern Corrections of ancient Errors, proceed unto the Differences between the Solar Iris, and the Lunar: and between the Iris and the Halo; ſo little progreſs have we yet made in real and certain Knowledge, that I ſhould Leave you after all, with the Subject of my Diſcourſe, but in the Clouds.

'Tis a Theological Conſideration of this Meteor that is now propoſed. The Goſpel of the Rainbow, is the Theme I have undertaken very briefly to treat upon. I take the Rainbow to be intended, when we read of Bright Clouds. The Glorious One, directed His People to Ask Rain of Him; a moderate Rain in the Time that ſhould render it Seaſonable and Serviceable. It is hereupon promiſed, So the Lord ſhall make Bright Clouds: that is to ſay, Clouds brightned with the Rainbow; and ſuch as a Moderate Rain, uſes to be diſtilled from. Compare Job XXVII. 11. We often enjoy this Favour of Heaven; but I am now to bring you the Goſpel of it. And my Treatiſe muſt begin with a Complaint, That the Chriſtian World have taken ſo little Notice of a Meteor, upon which the Great God that formed all things, has put ſuch a Stamp of peculiar Excellency. It has pleaſed His Infinite Majeſty, to Stamp a Sacramental Character upon it, and make it as a Sacrament of His Covenant with the Children of Men. We all know, that when the Patriarch Noah, with his Family, came out of the Ark, the Glorious GOD comforted him, and his Poſterity, with ſuch an Advice as this; Gen. IX. 13.— 17. I ſet my Bow in the Cloud, and it ſhall be for a Token of a Covenant, between Me, and the Earth. And it ſhall come to paſs, when I bring a Cloud over the Earth, that the Bow ſhall be ſeen in the Cloud; and I will Look upon it, that I may Remember the Everlaſting Covenant between God, and every living Creature of all Fleſh that is upon the Earth. And God ſaid unto Noah, This is the Token of the Covenant which I have Eſtabliſhed between Me and all Fleſh that is upon the Earth. I believe the Biſhop of Milain is the only Author in the World, that ever underſtood this Bow of any other than the Rainbow. Now, certainly after this, Whenever a Rainbow is Exhibited, there is a Sett of Good Thoughts, with which it ſhould always be Look'd upon. But God is not Glorified upon the view of the Rainbow ſo Commonly, ſo Devoutly, and with ſuch Good Thoughts, as ought to be: nor does it generally put us upon ſuch Reflections of Chriſtianity, as might be expected from a People of our Illuminations in the Covenant of the Glorious Lord. I muſt not make a Fruitleſs Complaint; and therefore my Deſign is, now to fit ſome Arrows for the Bow of God, and make ready a Quiver of Good Thoughts, Which are to be ſhot from that Bow into the Minds of the Faithful, as often as it appears unto us.

Indeed the Firſt Uſe that we unavoidably make of the Rainbow, will be in a way of Admiration. Tis truly an Admirable Spectacle. The Spectator of it, is to be called forth in thoſe Terms; Job XXXVII. 14. Stand ſtill, Conſider the Wondrous Works of God. And this the more Emphatically, becauſe the Rainbow appears in the very next words of Elihu; for the Rainbow is meant in thoſe words, He cauſes the Light of His Cloud to ſhine. The Pagan Theology makes the Rainbow, to be the Daughter of Thaumas [ 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ] becauſe of the Wonderment wherewith we behold it; It is to us, we would rather ſay, The Mother of Wonderment. But the Wonders which it raiſes in our Minds, ought to be tuned into Praiſes of the Great God, whoſe Strength is in the Clouds, & who diſplays His Power there. HE is to be Admired & Adored, & with Devout Souls, we are to Look through the Bright Clouds, & ſhoot up our Hallelujahs. Glorious LORD, How Various and how Beauteous are thy Works! With what Wiſdom and what Beauty haſt thou made them all! The Leſſon is Apocryphal, but Agreeable, which was long ſince given by the Son of Sirach; [Eccleſ. XLIII. 11, 12.] Look upon the Rainbow, and praiſe Him that made it; very beautiful it is in the brightneſs thereof; It compaſſes the Heaven above with a Glorious Circle, and the Hands of the moſt High have bended it.

But we may not, we will not flop here. We will go on to ſuch an Uſeful Contemplation of the Rainbow as may render it a noble Inſtrument of Piety, in our whole Converſation. I ſhall not Enquire into the old Opinion, that the Spots of Earth, where the Feet of the Rainbow ſtrike, are made ſingularly Fruitful by the Influences or it. But I am ſure, the Rainbow ſtriking on our Minds, may produce many Sweet Fruits of Pious Meditation. When it pleaſes the Holy One to bring out His Rainbow unto our View, Let us Glorify Him, and Meditate ſuch things as theſe upon it.

The Firſt MEDITATION.

What a Woful, what a Fearful Deſolation, once came upon a Wicked World, whoſe Foundation was overflown with a Flood! Inaſmuch as it was the Flood which introduced the Conſideration of the Rainbow, the ſight of it, may very ſuitably bring to Remembrance with us, that horrible Flood, in which as we have read, 2 Pet. II. 5. God ſpared not the Old World, bringing in the Flood upon the Ungodly. It has been well enough propoſed, Admoneat Iris horrendi illius Judicii, quod in Di uvio oſtenſum fuit. Mercer tells us, That the Religious Jews, in many Places, upon the Appearance of the Rainbow, go forth, and fall down, and confeſs their Sins, and own themſelves worthy to be Drowned with a Flood, for their Iniquities. To us, that are Chriſtians, Our LORD ſays, What do you more than they?

There is no room to doubt the Relation which the Moſaic Records have given us, of that aſtoniſhing Revolution, The FLOOD, wherein all Mankind, except the One Family of a Righteous Noah, periſhed. It is a Matter of Fact, whereof the Evidences are ſo many and ſo mighty, that they muſt Overwhelm all the Contradiction of Infidelity, and, like the Flood it ſelf, carry all before them. It was acknowledged by the moſt Ancient Writers among the Pagans, quoted by Joſephus, and by Euſebius, and by Cyril, and others. Plutarch alſo has the Story of the Dove in the Flood ſent out of the Ark. Tis demonſtrated likewiſe by Kirker in his Arca Noae, that the Deucalion of Antiquity was our Noah. Yea, The Tradition of a General Flood, was every where Currant for Thouſands of years among all People; eſpecially in the Countreys near the Place, where the Ark reſted after the Flood. Even in the Coins uſed among them, eſpecially thoſe mentioned by Falconerius, there were Commemorations of it. Martinius reports, that the Chineſe have a Tradition of a Flood, in an Hiſtory very agreeable to ours in the Book of Geneſis. Acoſta and Herrera find the like Tradition among the Indians of their Acquaintance in America; Corata found it among the Peruvians, and Gomara among the Mexicans. The inſolent Attempts of Petrerius, and ſome others, to reſtrain the Flood unto Palaeſtine, or to ſome few Countreys thereabouts, are not worthy of a Laborious Confutation. The Ruines and Reliques every where ſound in the Subterraneous World, which could proceed from nothing but the Flood, (as our Accompliſhed and Victorious Woodward among the reſt, & beyond them all, has rendred inconteſtable,) abundantly confute the Impiety of thoſe Men▪ and make it moſt evidently appear, that the Flood was nothing leſs than Univerſal. Among the reſt, the Undiſputed Skeleton of an Humane Body, of about Seventy Foot Long, and his Teeth, ſome above Two Pounds, and others more than Four Pounds in Weight, lately dug up in our Neighbourhood at Albany, at ſuch a Diſtance from the Sea, that it could be no Animal of the Sea: This can be no other, than a Lively Proof, brought from America. [How it came hither, Heaven knows!] to go into the Scale with many of the ſame kind in the other Hemiſphere, to confirm that paſſage of Moſes, There were Giants in the Earth in thoſe Dayes. In M. DC. LVI. years, there prevailed ſuch a Flood of Wickedneſs in the World, that the Holy and Righteous God, by a Flood of Water, brought upon it, a moſt horrible Deſolation. But, who can comprehend, who can imagine, the horror of the Deſolation! Many Refined Wits have Employ'd themſelves, to frame Hypotheſes, of the Methods of Nature, in which the Flood was brought about; until ſome of them fall into the Diſtemper, which Learned Men have wiſely called an, Hypotheſimania; and ſome of them have too much Excluded that Immediate Interpoſition of the Almighty GOD, in a way tranſcending the uſual courſe, and common Law, of Nature, which was doubtleſs made on this tremendous Occaſion. The Fancies and Fictions which Burnet has offered us in his Theory, (proved by Ramazzini, to be no other, than what Patritius an Italian, Publiſhed as a part of the Abyſſertian Philoſophy, an hundred and fifty years ago,) have met with ſharp caſtigations, from them, who have had at heart, the cauſe & credit of the Sacred Scriptures. But, As of old, a Muſician being asked, a Definition of the Soul, his anſwer was, Tis an Harmony! An anſwer that had a Tincture of his own Profeſſion in it: So, I do not wonder, when I obſerve, what the Speculations of Some Gentlemen on this Noble Subject, are tinged withal. A Profeſſor of the Mathematicks, brings in a Comet, as producing all the hideous hurly burly of the Flood, by approaching too near our Globe, in its Elliptick Motion. A Nation (of Whiſtons) that is not without its Probabilities: And agreeably to it, ſome Learned Men, foretel the Appearance of another Comet, [For old Seneca's Prediction about ſuch Predictions is now accompliſhed!] which may bring our Globe, under the other Deſtruction, for which, we know, it is reſerved. Nor am I without Suſpicions, That a Comet may be intended by the Vapour of Smoke, which is to bring on the Great and Notable Day of the Lord; which alſo is moſt Literally, A Star falling from Heaven: And ſome think, A World in a State of Puniſhment! A Profeſſor of Chymiſtry, from what he had ſeen in the Efferveſcence between an Acid and an Alcali, concludes, that there are great Cavities in the Bowels of the Earth, full of Water; that Minerals are generated in theſe Cavities; that by the colluctation of ſeveral Salts meeting together here, an Air was generated, which cauſed horrendous Earthquakes; that ſome of the Exhalation Eſcaping into our open Air, it produced vaſt Rains, with ſuch Thunder and Lightning, as filled the Ungodly Men with a moſt confounding Amazement; and that by the Air ſtill Encloſed under ground, the Water of the Abyſs, raged and ſwelled, and broke out, & overflow'd the higheſt Mountains. This (of St. Clairs) as probably conjectured as the other, I will paſs over Mr. Delaprymes Imagination, That God broke the Foundations, Pillars, and Hollows, of the Earth, which till then had ſtood above the Water. The continual Rains help'd forward the Diſſolution; the Earth yielded, and ſunk down; it and all the wicked Burden of it, Subſided, and was abſorb'd in the Sea, which now covers it; As this Old Earth fell in, our New Earth roſe up; This was lifted up, to ballance the other; and as it Roſe, the Waters rolled off, and left it at length to be what it is. This conjecture, ſeems liable to more objections than the former; and will have little but Plato's Tradition of the vaſt Iſland Swallow'd up in the Atlantick Ocean, to Support it. Our Warren takes the Account of the Flood given in the Sacred Scriptures, to be Sufficiently Explained, by Saying; That there were vaſt Caverns, filled with Waters, in the Antediluvian Mountains. The Great GOD broke them open, and they came rolling down, and over-turning all that was in the way of the Mighty Inundation. At the ſame time, there fell prodigious Rains for Forty Dayes together. It was impoſſible for People to aſcend theſe Mountains, when the Waters were iſſuing out from them, with ſuch an impetuous Power & Plenty: and the Loaden Clouds, hanging & bagging about them, Emptied themſelves there, like preſſed Spunges, and ran down in irreſiſtible Torrents. Doubtleſs, the Air was full of Water-ſpouts, like the Exhydriae, which are at Sea ſometimes met withal; and the Hills were full of Cataracts Poured out by the Vengeance of God. This Gentleman, finds enough here to drown the World; and thinks there is no Neceſſity of underſtanding the Bible, as if the Waters of the Flood, were Fifteen Cubits above the Tops of the Higheſt Mountains.

There is an Excellent Ray, who will bring us yet more Light, concerning this wondrous Revolution. According to him, the Windows of Heaven were now Opened, by the Quantities of Water, deſcending from thence; all the Water Suſpended in the Air deſcending on the Earth. The Fountains of the Great Deep were now alſo broken up, in that the Subterraneous Waters which communicate with the Sea, did thro' great Apertures ruſh out upon the World. But for the cauſe of all this, he Suppoſes, that the Glorious God, now changed the Center of the Earth, and ſet it nearer to the Middle of that Haemiſphere, which was then principally inhabited! Here-upon the Atlantick and Pacifick Oceans, muſt needs preſs upon the Subterraneous Abyſs. By the Mediation thereof, they muſt force the Water upward, and compel it to run out at thoſe Wide Mouthes, which the Indignation of God had made for it. The Water poured out from theſe direful Orifices, upon the Earth, muſt needs overflow it; until the Omnipotent God reſtored the former Center of the World Finally; The Incomparable Sir Iſaac Newton, judges the Univerſal Flood, cannot have better, and fairer Account given of it, than this, To Suppoſe the Center of Gravitation removed for a Time, towards the Middle of the then inhabited Parts of the World: And a change of its Place, but the Two Thouſandth part of the Radius of this Globe, were enough to bury the Tops of the Higheſt Mountains under Water. But we have notorious Proofs, in our Subterraneous Occurrences, that the Flood reached unto America too. I add therefore, the ſame cauſe operating a little further, would over-whelm this, as well as the other Haemiſphere. After all, we may truly ſay, that there was a concurrence of many Cauſes, to bring on the Deluge. It is admirable, that Seneca, treating of that Fatal Day, (which he dreamt of, as being ſtill to come,) when a Deluge is to come; He joyns together many Cauſes for ſuch a thing; but all concurring, Uno agmine ad Exitium humani generis. But he does it in ſuch Terms, that the Acute Heidegger cryes out; Oratio ita concepta eſt, ut de induſtria Explicare voluiſſe Moſen videri Poſſet. And Patrick after him; His Words are written, as if he had been directed to make a Commentary upon Moſes.

Let a Touch of the Modern Poetry at laſt write a ſhort Epitaph, on this Liquid Grave of the World.

WHen the moſt Great Creator of the Earth, Would drown that World, to which He firſt gave Birth; Commiſſion'd Storms of Rain ruſh from on High, Thro' the Wide Sluces of the clouded sky. But while without Effect thoſe Waters fall, And only waſh the Surface of the Ball, Heav'ns Mighty Voice in dreadful Accents Spoke; The vaſt Abyſs loud Peals of Thunder broke. Impriſon'd Sea's impetuous Paſſage found, And roll'd a Liquid Ruine o'er the Ground. The roots of Mountains from their Seats are torn, And floating Iſlands on high Pillows born. Lightnings keen Flaſhes Swiftly down-ward fly, And rattling Thunder cracks the trembling sky. From frowning Heav'n, each dreadful Plague is hurl'd; And Nature groaning quits the Delug'd World.

But, my moſt Honour'd BLACKMORE, Do thou take this Theme into thy Maſterly hand. Let thy Matchleſs, and Immortal, and Envied Pen, adorn ſo Stupendous a Subject. When thy Song, ſhall be Creation, Sing alſo the aſtoniſhing Funeral of ſo conſiderable a Globe in the Creation. The Inimitable Monuments of thy Erecting, are ſuch as nothing but another Flood can damnify!

What remains, is, That the view of the Rainbow calls us to look back upon the Deſolation which the Flood once brought upon a Well-peopled World. Well-peopled, I may ſay; For conſidering the Longevity of the Antediluvians, it is not unlikely, That more People Periſhed in the Flood, than there be now alive in the World. Suppoſe a Man to have Children, at ſixty years of Age, and only in the next forty years to have Twenty Children. Single out now the ſhorteſt Liver of any mentioned, Except Enoch, before the Flood; and from that one Stock of Seven hundred years, multiplying ſtill by Twenty, you'l find the produce to be more than One thouſand, three hundred, and forty ſeven Millions; More People than are now Alive on the face of the Earth. And yet, I muſt alſo ſay, Ill-peopled. For it was, The World of the Ungodly. A World wherein, Gen. VI. 11, 12. The Earth was corrupt before God, and the Earth was filled with Violence. God Looked upon the Earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all Fleſh had corrupted His way upon the Earth. Behold then, to what our Meditation ſhall carry us, on this occaſion.

O Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty. The Sin of Mankind once Provoked thee, to deſtroy a World of Men, with a dreadful Flood of thy Wrath; and with them, to deſtroy all the works of their Hands; to deſtroy the Creatures alſo, which by their Sin were Perverted and Polluted unto other Purpoſes, than thoſe for which thou hadst created them. I ſee, I ſee, Thou art of Purer Eyes, than to behold Evil, and thou canſt not Look upon Iniquity. Oh! the Evil of Sin! Oh! what a Deſtroying Evil! My God, Affect me with deep Apprehenſions of that Monſtrous Evil. Oh! let me not be one of the Fools, that ſhall make Light of ſuch a Matchleſs Evil. Make me moſt Particularly afraid of the Sins, which were moſt reigning among the Antediluvian Sinners; Afraid of that Intemperance, that Unchaſtity, that Oppreſſion and Injuſtice, for which the Generation of Sinners before the Flood, are branded in thine Oracles. Oh! Do not leave me to do thoſe abominable Things, which are hated by thy Soul, O my God!

The Second MEDITATION.

The Great GOD, will not have this World, tho' a very Sinful one, to be drown'd any more; nor His Church in the World. This is the COVENANT, which our God has made with the Earth; and the Rainbow is the Sign and Seal to the Covenant. We ſhould thankfully Remember it, as often as we ſee the Rainbow, and Say; Bleſſed be our Gracious and Merciful and Long-ſuffering Lord, who hath Swarn, that the Waters of Noah ſhall go over the Earth no more!

Before I go any further, I Suppoſe, it will be Expected; that we a little Conſider that noted Queſtion.

Whether there were any Rainbow before the Flood?

I anſwer two things. Firſt; There is nothing in Scripture, no, nor Nature neither, to aſſure us, that there was. We are not ſure, that the Conſtitution of the Air, and of the Clouds, before the Flood, was the ſame, that it was afterwards. We are ſure, that the Flood brought a Marvellous Alteration on the World; probably on the Air, as well as on the Earth. Doubtleſs the New Conſtitution of the Air, was that which had a Share in changing the Conſtitution of our Bodies, till there came on that Abbrevation of Humane Life, which we are now brought unto. Dr. Jackſon argues, That if other Natural Cauſes depend upon the Final, which we are taught in the Scriptural Philoſophy, we may well think, that the Air before the Flood, had not the peculiar Diſpoſition, which is required unto the Production of the Rainbow; which then had not ſuch an End, as that for which it is now Employ'd by the Glorious God. It is now a Meſſenger, that Reports and Confirms unto the New World, the Covenant of God, for the Preſervation of it. If it had been a common appearance unto the Old World, it would ſcarce have appeared now with ſo Confirming and Comforting an Efficacy, to Noah and his timerous Poſterity.

But then, Secondly; Tho' Aben Ezra thinks there was no Rainbow before the Flood, and many Chriſtians alſo deny the Antediluvian Exiſtence of it; yet very many will ſay with my Learned Helvetian, Oppido falluntur; They are very much miſtaken. The Army of them, who Engage on this ſide, will have no leſs than a Great Calvin, for a Standard-bearer. The Lord ſpeaks not of the Rainbow as a New Thing; He ſeems to ſpeak of it, as a Thing that had been already placed in the Clouds; I have ſet my Bow in the Cloud. He invites us rather to Look on the New Uſe which He aſſigns unto it. Suppoſe a Rainbow before the Flood. Why, ſo 'tis in all our Sacramental Elements. The Water, the Bread, the Wine, that are uſed in our Sacraments did Exiſt before; This is no prejudice to the Sacramental Importance, which they carry with them, after a Conſecration from Heaven for that purpoſe on them. To this purpoſe Danaeus in his Phyſice Chriſtiana, ſays, To conclude from the Sacramental Importance of the Rainbow, that there was no ſuch thing before the Flood, is no other, quam ſi quis Bov • s ante Sacrificia Lege Moſ • s praeſcripta, vel Aquam ante Baptiſmum non fuiſ •• Colligat.

I return to my Meditation

The Rainbow is Expreſly called. A Token of the Covenant. One would ſuſpect, the Pagant had ſome Notion of this; when they would have this Meteor to be, Internuncia Deorum, the Meſſenger of the Gods. With Homer 'tis, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , as if one ſhould ſay, An Angel of the Covenant. He repreſents Iris therefore, as being ſent with a peremptory Command unto Neptune, that he ſhould not aid the Graecians; doubtleſs, by the Swelling of the Waters. The Name Iris, perhaps may be from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , i. e. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . Or, from the Chaldee, Ir, an Angel.

Some will have the Rainbow, to be a Token of the Covenant, which may be called, Quedammodo Naturale; inaſmuch as it is only ſeen, when the Clouds are ſo thin, as to give no Apprehenſions of Showers enough to make another Flood. Valeſius accordingly ſays, Qui enim poſſit, cum ne que Caelum totum Obductum nubibus ſit ne que quae adſunt ſunt valde denſae? Thus Aquinas, and Cajetan, and Cardan; Thus among the Hebrews, R. Levi Ben Gerſon; who is alſo followed by Voſſius. But ſome will hardly allow the Expreſſion; becauſe the Flood was not accompliſhed by meer Showers; but with ſome Supernatural Circumſtances. The Rainbow they will have to be a Token of the Covenant purely by Inſtitution. And with very much of Reaſon, if the Prognoſtications of the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the Pluvius Vates, (as the Rainbow was of old called) be as Uncertain as Pliny would make them; Nam ne pluvios quidem, aut Serenos Dies, cum Fide portendunt. And yet we can't but own there is in the Rainbow ſome ſort of Analogy, with the Covenant, whereof it is Inſtituted for a Token; whereof one point is this; The Rainbow is Naturally a Token, that the Rains will not be Great, nor Long; and that Fair Weather is anon to be Look'd for. Bodin ſpeaks the Senſe of the uſual Prognoſtications on the Appearance of the Rainbow; Certiſſimum eſt Argumentum, Imbres fore Leviores. 'Tis therewithal a moſt agreeable and Symbolical Token, that the World ſhall not be any more ſo Deſtructively, as once it was, Rained upon. Look upon it accordingly; and ſay upon it; Oh! the Patience of our God! Tho' the Earth deſerve as much as ever, to be drown'd, for the Wickedneſs of Mankind upon it, yet thou ſpareſt it, O Lord, and thou haſt promiſed, that thou wilt ſtill do ſo.

But then, I propoſe, that our Thoughts go on to Conſider, on whoſe, and on what Account the World comes to be ſo ſpared by the Lord.

When the Lord ſays unto Noah, With thee will I eſtabliſh my Covenant, it is a Remark of Munſter upon it; That this refers to the Covenant made at the Beginning, about the Promiſed Seed, that was to break the Old Serpents Head. This Covenant is now Renewed and Aſſured unto Noah; who now being ſatisfied, That the Meſſiah was to deſcend from him, he could no longer doubt, that God would have a Church continued among his Poſterity. Accordingly, When we think on the Preſervation of the World, promiſed with the Rainbow, it ſhould be with ſuch Thoughts as theſe; Tis for thy ſake, O our Saviour, that ſuch a Sinful World is preſerved. O Juſt One, Thou art the Everlaſting Foundation that the World ſtands upon! Oh! What ſhall we do for thee, and for thy Service, Thou Preſerver of Men! The Name of Nazarene, ſignifies, A Preſerver. Our JESUS of Nazareth, is our Glorious Nazarene.

And then, as it is well remark'd by Heidegger; The CHURCH of God has a ſingular, a peculiar Concernment, in this Covenant of the Rainbow. The Churches coming to Righteouſneſs by the Meſſiah, and ſo the Inheritance of the Righteous, lies Enwrapped in it. And that paſſage, Neither ſhall all Fleſh be cut off, carries an Intimation, that God will become the God of All Nations, and bring ſome of All Nations into His Kingdom. Indeed, the Preſervation of all Creatures, is for the ſake of the Church. All is yours! It was no miſtake in Ferus; Pactum cum Noe Prefiguravit Faedus Chriſti cum Eccleſia. But he might have ſaid more than ſo. Indeed, The Signification of the Rainbow is to be ſo Summed up; That there ſhall not come another Univerſal Flood upon the World; but that God will preſerve a Church in the World; and make it Righteous, & bring it to Inherit the World; and all this, for the ſake of the Meſſiah, whom we find afterwards appearing with a Rainbow about Him.

Our Saviour has a People in the World; A People, that believe in Him; that follow His Conduct; that in the way of Obedience to Him, Look for a Reſurrection from the Dead, unto the Bleſſedneſs of a Better World. He will always have ſuch a People. All the Powers of Darkneſs have been always carrying on a Deſign to Extinguiſh this People, and Leave no true Church of our Saviour in the World. This Catholick Church has been the Torment of the Devil, the Envy and Eye-ſore of his Children; both his Inviſible and his Incarnate Legions. Horrible Floods of the Ungodly have often threatned the Ruine of the Church; Floods of Corruptions; Floods of Haereſies; Floods of Perſecutions. If our Great Saviour had not laid a ſtrange Reſtraint upon them, there had not been Left any true Church upon Earth. If the Lord had not been on our ſide, may the Faithful now ſay, If the Lord had not been on our ſide, the Waters had overwhelmed us, the Streams had gone over our Soul. There are marvellous Repetitions of that Obſervation; The Wrath of Hell does but Praiſe the Lord, and the Remainder of that Wrath does He Reſtrain! Hence, When the Church-ſtate has been Deſerted, Betrayed, Quite gone, in one place; and the Children of the Kingdom have Sinned it away, and Sinned themſelves into Outer Darkneſs, it has been produced immediately in another place; the Kingdom has been tranſlated unto Other People, that have brought forth the Fruits thereof. This, This is the Voice of the Rainbow unto us, Be Encouraged, O People of God: Let things Look never ſo diſmally, your Saviour will have a Faithful People in the World: He will come down from the Machin of Heaven where you now ſee this Rainbow, and reſcue His Church, when things come to an Extremity, and it Looks as if its Help were gone; and as if there were none ſhut up or left. Sirs, What can we now do, but return that Joyful Echo; Lord, I believe thy Promiſe for thy People; Oh! Let me be one of that Holy People.

It may be Enquired, How far this Faith may be Exerciſed, with Relation to any Particular Church, which may have any Floods aſſaulting and hazarding of it; How far the Promiſe may be applied unto this or that Particular Church in the Dangers of it? It muſt be ſadly confeſſed; Some Churches are utterly Drown'd in the Floods which the Divine Indignation pours in upon them. Every one of thoſe that are mentioned in our Bible, alas, Every one of them have been ſo. All of thoſe many Thouſands that once were in Aſia, and in Africa, have been ſo. Several Thouſands in Europe, even in our Dayes have been ſo. But we may ſay, Never, until the Covenant of God has been grievouſly neglected, ſhamefully deſpiſed in them. Let there be a Godly People in a Church, and let theſe Humbly plead with God, His Covenant, and repreſent His Rainbow before Him, in the Diſtreſſes of that Church; and let the Duties of the Covenant then be Livelily Proſecuted there. Then! That Church will be that Houſe, whereof we read, The Rain deſcends, the Floods come, and the Winds blow, and beat upon the Houſe; and it falls not, for it is founded on a Rock.

The Third MEDITATION.

A Glorious CHRIST! How can I Look to Heaven at any Time, and eſpecially NOW! without raviſhing Thoughts of Him and of His Glories! The Rainbow will many wayes put us in mind of our Admirable Saviour. He would not have appeared with a Rainbow about Him, as He did in the Viſions both of Ezekiel and of John, if He did not intend that the Rainbow ſhould Lead us to think of Him. Shall we ſay, That the Covenant on which our Eternal Safety depends, is made with our Saviour? Tis verily ſo; The Agreement is between God the Father, and our Saviour. He is our Head; We are nothing but what we are in Him. Shall we go on to ſay, That all the Good Engaged unto us in the Covenant of our Safety, is owing to our Saviour? Tis verily ſo; Our Saviour is the Purchaſer of it all; the Diſpenſer of it all. The Rainbow is the Proclamation of, A God Reconciled unto the Children of Men. Iris is related unto 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . 'Tis our JESUS that is the Author of the Reconciliation. We read, 2 Cor. V. 19. Of, God in CHRIST, Reconciling the World unto Himſelf. At the View of the Rainbow, this were a very proper Acknowledgment; 'Tis by thy Mediation, O our dear Saviour, that the Great GOD becomes Reconciled unto us!

I will proceed; There are ſome, who would find in the Rainbow it ſelf, ſome Intimations of the Glories belonging to our Saviour. In the Sun begetting of the Rainbow, ſome would read a little of that incomprehenſible Myſtery, The only begotten Son of God. In the Three Colours (for of old, they counted no more) of the Rainbow, others would read, the Three Offices of our Great Redeemer. But theſe are Strains that I would not inſiſt upon; and I would not Look upon the Clouds too fancifully. One would rather Conſider the Sun, as an Emblem of our Saviour; that wonderful Sun of Righteouſneſs. And here, tho' I am ſomewhat gratified, with a Good Thought, which I find in a Sermon, Of the Rainbow, Preached by Mr. Bourn, almoſt an hundred years ago; This Bow is in the Clouds; the further we are from it, the leſs beautiful, and glorious does it appear; and ſo, the further we are from Jeſus Chriſt, by our Corruption, and our Continuance and Impenitence in Sin, the leſs beautiful, and glorious, and excellent will He appear unto us: But the nearer we approach to Him, in Faith and Holineſs, the more Glorious will He be to us, and the more Earneſtly ſhall we Long to Enjoy Him. Yet I would rather chuſe to turn it ſo; the Cloud, by Receiving Beams from the Sun, & Reflecting of them, how Beautiful an Appearance is there now produced on it? Lord, Let the Beams of my Saviour fall upon me. Let me receive His Knowledge; Let me reflect His Image; Let me be under His Impreſſions; I cannot ask for a greater Glory! I remember it was of old given as the Commendation of a Famous and Uſeful man; Eccleſiaſt. L. 7. He was as the Rainbows giving Light in the Bright Clouds. The way to arrive unto ſuch a Glory is to get near, and keep near our Admirable Saviour; to hold Communion with Him, and to be under His Influences. The more a CHRIST is Entertained by any man, the more Glorious is He!

But then, I will take Leave, to fetch from the Rainbow, an Inſtruction of the Humility, that ſuch a man will be adorned withal. The moſt Learned man perhaps (I take him to have been ſo) that ever was in the world, was himſelf a bright Inſtance of his own Obſervation, in his, Theologia Naturalis. The Higher the Sun, the Leſſer the Rainbow. So, Quo Altior eſt Sol Juſtitiae Deus in Cordibus noſtris, Et quo plura in nos Confert Dona, eo minores eſſe debemus, Et 〈◊〉 debemus Superbire. The Higher a Glorious CHRIST is with us, and in us, and the more He does for us, the Smaller muſt we be in our own Eyes; it will Humble us, and Abate our Pride moſt wonderfully!

The Fourth MEDITATION.

Tho' a Watery Flood that may drown the World, is no more to be fear'd, yet there is a Fiery Flood, for the depredations whereof a miſerable World is growing horribly combuſtible. There is a Deſolation to come on this Lower World, which the Writings of the Ancients mention under the Name of, Diluvium Ignis; a Fiery Flood. Some think, the Heathen themſelves had ſome Notion of this, Lying under the Embers of their Fable, that made Pyrrha, (a Name that carries, Fire in it,) the Wife of their Deucalion. Tis well-known, that their Philoſophers tell of, an, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , or, Conflagration, which the World is one day to undergo. The Oracles of the Sacred Scripture have poſitively declared it; 2 Pet. III. 7. The Heavens and Earth which are now, be reſerved unto Fire, againſt the Day of Judgment, and Perdition of Ungodly Men. And ſome read it, in the very Colours of the Rainbow; as plainly Legible there as ever it could be upon Seths Pillars of old: The Watery Colour Leads them, to think on the Water which once deſtroy'd the World. The Graſſy Colour Leads them, to think on the Day of Patience which God now allows unto the World, to bring forth Fruit unto Him: The Fiery Colour Leads them to think, on that Fire which is e're long to conſume the World. Be that as it will; It is moſt certain from our Prophecies of a Divine Inſpiration, (and there can be no Colour for the Infidelity that queſtions it,) That the World which was once Drowned, is e're long to be Burned. By Fire will the Lord plead with all Fleſh, and the Slain of the Lord ſhall be many. 'Tis true, In the Circumſtances of the Conflagration to be Expected, there are Some things hard to be underſtood. It ſeems that the Deſcent of our Saviour, at, and for the Deſtruction of Antichriſt, and the Beginning of the Bleſſed Millennium, will not be without a Conflagration. Then, Our God ſhall come, and a Fire ſhall devour before Him, and it ſhall be very Tempeſtuous round about Him. Then a Fire ſhall go before the Lord, that ſhall burn up His Enemies round about, and Lightnings will Enlighten the World, and the Earth ſhall tremble, and the Hills melt like Wax, at the preſence of the Lord. But it looks as if this Conflagration would be Partial & Progreſſive. The firſt and main Effects of it, will be on the Italian Territories. And a Total Conſumption of the whole world is not as yet to be accompliſhed. The Things then to come on, are thoſe whereof we have thoſe Acclamations; Let the Earth be Glad, Let the Field be Joyful, Let all the Trees of the Wood Rejoyce. A Total Conſumption of them, could not be propoſed as that wherein they might be Glad, and be Joyful, and Rejoyce. No; the Earneſt expectation of the Creature, waiting for the manifeſtation of the Sons of God, is now to be accompliſhed. That for which the Whole Creation groaneth, even to be brought into the glorious Liberty of the Children of God, is now to be accompliſhed. The worſt that can then be ſuppoſed, is what Salonius of old, Expreſs'd as the Senſe of many more; Caelum et Terra tranſibunt per Meliorationem, non per Oblationem. Renovabuntur, non penitus diſtruentur. Tantum quippe ardebit Surſum, et Terra deorſum, quantum malitia hominum ſimul et Daemonum Coinquinare potuit. Yea, who can tell, but the Century is now begun, that ſhall ſee this tremendous Revolution? I am ſure, An Old Tradition, that the Rainbow ſhall ceaſe to appear, forty years before the End of the World, is a poor ſecurity to be relied upon.

Et quis noſtrum non pavebit Quando Judex apparebit? Ante quem Ignis ardebit, Peccatores qui delebit.

But then, there ſeems to be a Conſummation of all things, that muſt arrive, after a Number of Ages known to God alone. And, if there muſt come upon this World, a Subſtantial Deſtruction, it ſeems to be reſerved until thoſe Unknown Ages be rolled about, and the Great Day of Judgment has had Every Work brought into it.

There are many paſſages of this Importance, in the Writers of Primitive Chriſtianity; That the World ſhall 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ſuffer a Diſſolution. In Juſtin Martyr, in Irenaeus, in Lactantius, there are many ſuch paſſages. Tis enough to recite the words of Hippolitus. Fluvius igneus Egrediens, cum furore, inſtar maris ſaevi, exuret Montes et Colles, et Mare delebit ac aethera velut Ceram inflammatione diſſolvet. Yea, there are Praeſages of this thing, in the Writing of Pagan Antiquity. The Sibylline Oracles have it.

Tunc ardens flavius Caelo manabit ab alto Igneus, atque Locos conſumet funditus omnes.

And again, Omnia Ceſſabunt, tellus Confracta peribit; Sic pariter fontes, torrentes, fluminaque igni.

Juſtin quotes Verſes of Sophocles, that foretel a Conflagration wherein All things will be utterly deſtroy'd, and neither Earth nor Sea, ſhall be found any where any more. Clemens Al. quotes Verſes of Diphilus, that Sing the ſame Ditty. Ovid alſo tells us, Eſſe quoque in fatis reminiſcitur affore Tempus Quo Mare, quo Tellus, correptaque Regia Caeli Ardeat, et mundi moles operoſa laboret.

Yea, the Wicked Lucretius himſelf ſuſpects, Una Dies dabit Exitium.

Indeed, with the Stoicks it was a common Expectation.

I reſume the propoſal I was upon; Let the Rainbow bring to our Thoughts, the Circumſtances of the Terrible Day, when all theſe things ſhall be diſſolved. But at the ſame time, Oh! Let our Hearts be taken and weaned, from the Things of a World, which an hideous Fire ſhall one Day ſieze upon. Let us not be bewitched with a World, that ſhall one Day be Burned. Think, and wiſh, at this rate. O my God, Let me have my Portion in thoſe Durable Bleſſings, which the Laſt Fire can't reach unto; O my Saviour, I commit my ſelf unto thee for my Safety in the Day when the Laſt Fire ſhall carry all before it.

A Fifth Article.

Fifthly and Finally, I will preſent you with a whole Cluſter of MEDITATIONS, which the Rainbow will very agreeably produce in a Serious Mind; and many of them, (which you will ſee when I mention them,) ſuch as it has already produced, in the Pens of the Servants of God.

And here, firſt; I do not ask you, to fall into Baſils Meditation; who, when he ſaw (for at that time of day, they would ſee no more,) the Rainbow appearing in Three Colours, but One Bow, applied it unto the Doctrine of the Trinity; Three Perſons, but One God. Chriſtian, To Converſe with the Great GOD, and very diſtinctly with each of the Three Perſons in the God-head, is the very diſtinguiſhing Spirit and Glory of Chriſtianity. May this part of the Divine Aſceticks be more Studied a more Practiſed! I confeſs, the Rainbow will do a Good Office, if it Excite ſuch a Study and Practice; tho' this be not the Office it was firſtly intended for.

Nor Secondly, was it intended for a Repreſentation of our Three Graces; Faith, and Hope, and Love. Yet I find ſome, drawn from the Three Colours which were all that Antiquity diſtinguiſhed in the Rainbow into a Tropological Meditation on the Three Graces. And it will do us no Hurt on this Occaſion, to lift up our Hearts unto the God of all Grace, with our Supplications; Lord, Let me have an Holy Faith, and Hope, and Love, ever ſhining in my Soul!

It has been on all hands agreed, That in the Rainbow, we have, the Mercy of our God, in Lively Colours Painted out unto us. And ſome will more Particularly have the Three Colours of Red, and Green, and Blue, in the Rainbow, to intimate the ſweet Mixture of Juſtice and Mercy, accompliſhed by the Blood of the Covenant. But it is a Prejudice to thoſe Niceties, that the Colours of the Rainbow are more than Three, This however, may, Thirdly, be a very Proper Meditation on the Sight of the Rainbow. It Proclames the Mercy of God unto a Sinful World. Yea, how Emblematically! It was noted by Ambroſe of old; That our God ſayes, I will put my Bow in the Cloud. He ſayes nothing of any Arrows. Tis a Bow without Arrows. When we ſee this Bow, let us then call to mind the Mercy of our God; and with a Grateful Soul acknowledge, Lam. III. 22. It is of the Lord's Mercies, that we are not Conſumed; becauſe His Compaſſions fail not. Indeed as the Rainbow is formed in a Cloud, (which Commenius obſerves,) a Luce in millies millenis diffluentu Nubis Guttulis div • rſimode reflexa: the Mercies of our God unto us, are far more than the Drops in that Cloud. Lord, How great is the Sum of them!

The Mercy of God, holds out the Rainbow, like the Scepter of old, and invites the worſt of men, to come in unto Him, with an Exerciſe of true Repentance. He ſayes to the Rainbow, as in Jer. III. 12, 13. Go, and Proclaim theſe words, and ſay, Return, and I will not cauſe my Anger to fall upon you, for I am Merciful, ſaith the Lord: Only acknowledge thine Iniquity.

But then, there are two Circumſtances of the Rainbow, that carry much Admonition in them. And there alſo, are to be taken into your Meditation.

Firſt. The Bow is only to be ſeen above the Earth. Accordingly, tis only in this Life, and while we are yet above the Earth, that we have our Opportunity to lay Hold on the Offered Mercy of God. Lord, They that go down into the Pit, cannot hope for thy Truth.

Secondly, Tho' the Bow has no Arrows upon it, yet the Impenitent will find, the Great GOD, has His Quiver full of them. The Great God has Treaſures of Wrath, and fearful Reſerves of Plagues for the Impenitent. He ſayes, I will heap Miſchiefs upon them, I will ſpend my Arrows upon them.

I paſs on, to take notice, in the Fourth place; of ſome Leſſons which the Rainbow may give us, concerning the Covenant and the Kingdom of our Saviour. Some of the moſt Judicious Men in the World, and ſuch as have been the fartheſt from indulging and humouring a roving Fancy, have ye noted ſuch Things as theſe. The Rainbow never fills a Circle, nor makes more than a Semicircle. The Kingdom of our Lord in His Church, has in this thing a Picture of it. It is part on Earth; part Above. Our Saviour was on Earth when He Suffered for us, and began His Kingdom; He went up from Earth to Heaven; and will come down from Heaven to Earth again. The Afflictions attending the Kingdom of our Lord in the World, and the Enemies not yet all wholly ſubdued, make the Condition of a Semicircle too agreeable unto it. The Circle will not be filled up, till the Kingdom ſhall be delivered up unto the Father, and God ſhall become All in All.

And ſince the Rainbow is not a Perfect Circle, if Moreover the Servants of God are Warned from thence, of the Imperfection, which will attend all Sublunary Things, we ſhall but go on to make an Improvement thereof, that ſome Wiſe Men have made before us. Look upon the Rainbow that wants Perfection, [its nearneſs to the Earth allows it not!] and ſay, I have Seen an End of all Perfection!

But, Finally, Let our Meditation carry us over, to another World, that has it. The Excellent Alſted adviſes us, from the Rainbow, to form a Meditation, of the Glory that ſhall be imparted by our Saviour, to our Bodies, at the Reſurrection of the Dead. After this manner he gives us the Noble Reflection. Si Deus per Solem in Nubibus Excitat tam Splendidum Meteorum, multo magis ipſe tanquam 〈◊〉 Juſtitiae in Corporibus noſtris aliquando Progignet admirabilem Splendorem. Our Saviour fetching up our Bodies into the Heavenly Places, will ſhine upon them, and communicate a Glory beyond that of the Rainbow to them; a Glory wherein, being Changed into the likeneſs of His Glorious Body, they ſhall Shine like the Brightneſs of the Firmament; Yea, Shine like the Sun, in the Kingdom of our Father.

Ne timeas Imbres; datus eſt in Nubibus Obſes. That we deſtructive Showres no more may fear, An Hoſtage, Lo! does in our Clouds appear.

THE Saviour with His Rainbow. Amici, quum legiſſet, Carmen Gratulatorium. To the Reverend, Doctor COTTON MATHER. SIR, AN Iris you diſplay, that mars her Pride Which on the Circuit of the Clouds doth ride. Tho' that exceeds all the Fair Tribes that come To paint the Rooms in Pan-meteorum. Your RAINBOW ſpreads a far more ſplendid Train, Than Sol himſelf when Shining after Rain. Nay, than the bright Effulgences that run Thro' the Empyreal Court, and mock the Sun. It Crowns the Temples of the Glorious Head Which laſting Rays from Light Eſſential ſhed. The Church has, how Good Aſpects from the Bow! What Arrows does it ſcatter on the Foe! It tells the Changes of the Ages paſt, And bodes the Glories coming in the laſt. The Heavenly Meſſenger proclames the birth Of the Redeemers Promis'd Reign on Earth. The ſenſe of this Fair Signal, who would know, Let him unto out Cunning Archer go; (To You, who Teach the Uſe, Sir, Of the Bow!) The Bow is manag'd, he'l confeſs at length, By one, whoſe own, ſtill, does Abide in Strength. You ſhow how Blind the Pagans were, & odd, Who numiniz'd their Homers Bowyer God. But, Oh! the fatal Occaecations which The Goſpellized Pagans do Bewitch; Who when in Fleſh they Manifeſted ſee A God, deny His dread Divinitie! Rouſe up, Angelick Doctor, once again; Againſt the Arians your Bright Shafts Ordain. Your Bow is Bent, which no deceits will ſhew; The Arrows feather'd from your Pen, will do. R. H.

The SAVIOUR with His Rainbow. At BOSTON-Lecture. 12. d. 5. m. 1711. REV. X. 1.

A Rainbow was upon his Head.

IT is the Head of your admirable Saviour, which, O Diſtreſſed People of God, now appears before you. Oh! Behold it, with ſweet Encouragements; with juſt Aſtoniſhments! The Head about which we now ſee the comfortable Rainbow, is thy Head, O thou Church of the Living God; It is HE, whom God has Placed as thy Head, and thou thy Self haſt choſen Him, haſt owned Him.

When you ſee what it is that this Mighty Angel comes down from Heaven to do; That He comes with a loud Voice to proclame the End of the Time for the Reign of Sin and Satan in the World, and make a Demand of this Lower World, for the Kingdom of the Great Redeemer, how, how can you forbear a loud Voice of Supplications▪ Great God, Send this Mighty Angel 〈◊〉 wrong 〈◊〉

The Servant of God had ſeen the Face of the Roman Empire, down as Low as the concluſion of the Saracen Oppreſſions, and the Turkiſh Hoſtilities; the very Period unto which we are now certainly arrived. Then there appears unto him, a Mighty Angel, in ſo Stately and ſo Splendid a Pomp, that many Interpreters can hardly allow Him to be any leſs a Perſon than our Great Saviour Himſelf. He appears to Exhibit a New Scene of things Marvellous and very Amazing. And if this be the Period for the Appearance of ſuch an Angel, I do a very Seaſonable Thing this Day, in Showing Him among you. I diſpute not, whether this Angel be our Saviour Himſelf, becauſe He deſcends with a Glory too big and bright for any Creature; Or, whether He be a Created Angel; For, if He be ſo, yet He comes in the Name of our Saviour; and He comes with a Repreſentation of that Glory, which belongs to none but our Saviour.

The Deſign of the Deſcent made by this Mighty Angel, is, to foretel, and bring on, a wonderful Reformation of the World. If he appears in a Cloud, this muſt not be wondred at. There is a Super-celeſtial Cloud, which from the Beginning has been Employ'd as a Symbol, and a Cover for the Majeſty of our God, in His Appearance. Not only the Iſraelites, who were favoured ſometimes with an actual view of ſomething that belong'd unto that vaſt Cloud; but even the Pagans alſo, and their Poets, had ſome Tradition of it.

There is an Intimation in it, that there will be Unſearchable Circumſtances, Unſearchable Diſpenſations, in His Appearances. And if thou wilt come unto us in Cloudy Times, O Glorious Lord, Thy will be done: Yet, Even ſo come unto us!

The only Thing that we now Single out for conſideration, is that Particular Glory of our Appearing Saviour; A Rainbow was upon his Head. The Rainbow is a well-known Meteor, often beheld, but not with Eyes Devout enough, among us in the Day of Rain. Perhaps, there is nothing in all the Meteorous Kingdom ſo very Beautiful. Such is the Beauty of the Meteor, that while the Heathen Mythology made it, The Daughter of Wonderment, Cicero makes it a matter of Wonderment that it was not Lifted in the Number of their Gods. Let thoſe declaim on this Beauty, who can fetch a Text from the Son of Sirach, that ſayes, Look on the Rainbow, and Praiſe Him that made it; very Beautiful it is in the Brightneſs thereof. That which it becomes us moſt of all to Ponder, is, That the Sovereign Creator of the World, has in His Wiſdom Stamp'd a Sacramental Character on the Rainbow; He has Inſtituted the Rainbow, for a Sign, and Seal, of His Covenant with the World. All Chriſtians are appriſed of the Signification which the Ninth Chapter of Geneſis, has left upon the Rainbow, for our perpetual Conſolation; and as our Aſſurance, that the World ſhall no more be Drown'd, as it was in the Days of Noah. Wherefore, our Saviour appearing to us, with a Rainbow, about His Head, Propoſes to Preach this Joyful Doctrine unto us.

Our Glorious LORD, will Remember His Covenant with His People; Even in the moſt Cloudy Times, that are Paſſing over them.

And this is the Doctrine, which I am now to inſiſt upon; I wiſh you had a more able Barnabas, to inſiſt upon it. My Doctrine, it may drop as the Rain; as the Sweet, and Small Rain from a Cloud, that has a Rainbow brightning of it. We may ſee Cloudy Times; Yea, we may apprehend ſuch a Flood of Calamity, as will carry all before it; yet now, O People of God; You are a People in Covenant with Him; A Reliance on your Sacrificed Saviour, Secures your Title to His Covenant. O Now Look up to your dear Saviour. See, He appears to you, in your Cloudy Times, with a Rainbow about His Head. He declares unto you, That He will Remember His Covenant; He has not Forgotten to be Gracious. You ſhall not be Overwhelmed; The Evil Things, which threaten you, ſhall not be too hard for you. You ſhall, you ſhall be Gloriouſly Delivered.

I. In the firſt Place, I will ſhow the Rainbow about the Head of a Saviour, unto every Particular Believer on that Faithful Saviour. My Friend, Apply the Glorious Rainbow, to thy own Particular Condition; Thy Saviour invites thee to do ſo. I will venture to lay this down, as a Rule of Application. The Promiſes which belong to the whole Church of God, are the Portion of every Particular Believer, and he is welcome to make uſe of them, as far as ever he can find his own Caſe adapted in them. According to this Golden Rule of Faith, and of Fellowſhip, I now ſay; Believer; Doſt thou not ſee Cloudy Times? I know, thou doſt: There is no Believer, but what has his Times of Darkneſs: No Child of Light, but what ſometimes Walks in Darkneſs, and ſees no Light. 'Tis often, often the Caſe of every Believer; Lam. III. 1, 2. I am the man that hath ſeen Affliction; He hath brought me into Darkneſs. He cannot underſtand the meaning of the Divine Dealings with him; he cannot ſee the Face of God favourably Shining on him; he cannot but fear a ſad Iſſue of the Things which are breaking of him. His Temptations make it the Hour and Power of Darkneſs with him. He knows not what to do, nor what God intends to do. Perhaps it comes to that Extremity; Lord, Thou haſt covered thy ſelf with a Cloud, that my Prayer ſhould not paſs through. In ſo dark a Time, the afflicted Believer is afraid of a Flood that will totally over power him; that he ſhall periſh in his Affliction.

But now, Comfort ye, Comfort ye my Children, ſaith the Lord. Show my Rainbow unto them; Tell them, that I will be Ever mindful of my Covenant. The Children of God, may be ſure, that in Remembrance of His Covenant with them, He will ſave them from the Floods, which threaten Deſtruction to them. Only, My Brethren, Be ſure that you Remember one Direction; Pſal. XXXII. 6. For this ſhall every one that is Godly pray unto thee, in a Time, when thou mayſt be found; Surely in the Floods of Great Waters, they ſhall not come nigh unto him. [One has thus given us the true ſenſe of it. For this ſhall every Good man pray, when thou art to be found; And ſhall be ſafe in mighty Floods, when other men are drown'd.] I Will firſt of all ſhow you, what the Comforts are, that May delight and ſupport your Souls, and keep you from Sinking in the multitude of your Thoughts within you; The Comforts to be read in this Rainbow on the Head of your Lovely Saviour.

Firſt. Have you a Flood of Adverſity beating on you? Perhaps you may ſuffer a vaſt weight of Adverſity; Troubleſome Occurrences, Innumerable, Irreſiſtble. The Roaring Billows of Adverſity rolling in upon you, may make you cry out, Save me, O God, for the Waters are come in unto my Soul, I am come into deep Waters, where the Floods overflow me. Hear the Anſwer from the Rainbow. Ah, Thou afflicted and toſſed with Tempeſt; Be thou Comforted: Thy Lord will ſtep in and ſave thee. He will fulfil that Promiſe of His Covenant unto thee; Iſa. XLIII. 2. When thou paſſeſt thro' the Waters, I will be with thee, they ſhall not overflow thee.

Again; Does a Flood of Corruption riſe in your Souls? Perhaps, the power of Corruption in you may be ſuch, that you may think, I ſhall one day periſh by the Hand of ſuch or ſuch a Sin! Luſt may ſo prevail againſt Grace, that you can ſee no hope of Grace ever getting the Upperhand. O Soul, Mourning becauſe of the Oppreſſion of an Adverſary that provoketh thee ſore▪ Mourn on, Mourn on; And then know, that the Spirit of God will dry up thoſe curſed Waters. Tho' thy Grace be but a Spark, yet many Waters ſhall not quench it, neither the Floods drown it. Thy Saviour will fufil unto thee that promiſe of His Covenant; Rom. VI. 14. Sin ſhall not have Dominion over you.

Furthermore; In the Aſſaults of Hell upon your Souls, does the Enemy come in like a Flood upon you? It may be the Powers of Darkneſs are pouring in upon you. Your Tempted Souls are exceedingly born down; diſordered with hideous Injections; terrified at the Noiſe of the Water ſpouts. Yet, O Moleſted Chriſtian; Thy Saviour, hath Set Bars to the Tempter; & ſaid, Hitherto ſhalt thou come, but no further, and here ſhall thy proud Waves be ſtaid. That promiſe of His Covenant ſhall be fulfilled unto thee, 1 Cor. X. 13. God is faithful who will not ſuffer you to be Tempted above what you are able.

Once more; We read concerning The Floods of the Ungodly. Sometimes the Servants of God, are uneaſy at the Power, the Number, the Malice of Men that are diſaffected unto them. If they are Engaged in more notable Services for God, they may be Expoſed unto the Rage of Wicked and Reſtleſs Men, which may make them afraid, left their Serviceableneſs be utterly Extinguiſhed. There may be Times wherein Hell may be Evidently and Furiouſly broke Looſe upon them. The foaming Waves of Hell, may daſh, & beat againſt them, and make a Noiſe that reaches up to Heaven. Times when the Workers of Iniquity do as it were make an Inſurrection, and bend their Bows to ſhoot their Arrows, even bitter words. How accommodated a Rainbow for ſuch Times! What is the way, which, O Lord, thou knoweſt thy Servants uſe to take, in ſuch Storms as theſe! They repair humbly, with Repentance, with Prayers, and with Tears, to their Compaſſionate Saviour. All their Opportunities to Do Good, they put into His Gracious Hands. Lo then, then! they ſee the Rainbow about the Head of their Strong Friend in the Heavens concerned for them. He ſends this Advice unto them, and the Promiſe is fulfill'd unto the ſurprize of all wiſe Obſervers; Iſa XLI. 10, 11. Fear thou not, for I am with thee; Behold, all they that were Incenſed againſt thee, ſhall be aſhamed, and confounded. This, this was the Ancient Experience. The Floods of Ungodly men made me afraid. In my Diſtreſs I called upon the Lord, & cried unto my God. He drew me out of the many waters; He delivered me from them which hated me!

Finally; The Fate of Mankind, under the Law of Mortality, is thus deſcribed unto us; Pſal. XC. 5. Thou carrieſt them away as with a Flood. Believer, Thou alſo muſt in thy Fathers Time for it, be Carried away. Death, Death, is unavoidable. But thy Head is always above Water; Thou ſhalt not always ly among the Dead. The Quickning Spirit of that Head will fetch out of the Grave, all that belong unto Him. When the Black Waters of Death have Compaſſed thee about, and the Depth has Clos'd thee round about, and thou art gone down to the Bottom of the Mountains; thou ſhalt not have cauſe to complain, The Earth with its Bars is about me for ever! No, Thou wilt bring up our Life from Corruption, we know it, we know it, O Lord our God. Ah, Dying Believer; Thy Saviour who was once Dead, is Riſen from the Dead. On the Rainbow about His Head, O Read what is written; Behold, I am alive, and I live for evermore. Becauſe I live, thou ſhalt alſo live. Heaven, that high Seat of the Rainbow, yea, an higher Heaven ſhall be the Seat of the Raiſed Believer too. The Riſen Saviour will infallibly Raiſe the Believer. Child of God, Thy Sin has waſh'd thee over-board. O cruel Wave! It layes thee in the Deeps. But the Hand of thy Kind Saviour will take thee up;— will pull thee up, and ſhow wonders to the Dead;— Thou ſhalt Riſe, and Praiſe Him!

A Marginal Note, will very agreeably come in, at the Bottom of this Page; and relate ſuch a Paſſage as this.

Quickly after the Preaching of this Sermon, there died a Perſon of Shining Piety, a Chriſtian of Uncommon Holineſs, Devotion, Patience, and Humility, Mrs. Abigail Whippo; Gloriouſly triumphing over the Sting of Death, & the Fear of the King of Terrors. God marvellouſly bleſſed this Sermon, to produce and aſſiſt the Triumphs of a Soul, ſo ſweetly winged for the Heavenly World. With Rapture ſhe gave Thanks to Heaven, for theſe Conſolations; Rapturouſly ſhe cried out, O the dear Saviour, that I am now it ſee with a RAINBOW about His Head! I am ſure He will Remember the Covenant, which He has helped me a Thouſand times to lay hold upon! I am ſure He will do me Good, according to His Covenant! I do with Pleaſure, anſwer the Deſire of ſome, to Preſerve the Memory of ſuch a Chriſtian.

I will go on, and ſhow you, Secondly; Some ſpecial Seaſons, wherein you will do Exceeding well, to make uſe of theſe Comforts. And there are Eſpecially Two ſuch Seaſons, that I will commend unto you. I ſhall ſenſibly Serve the cauſe of Piety, by commending of them.

Firſt. On the Sight of the Natural Rainbow, theſe comfortable Meditations on the Covenant of God, and of Grace, will be very Seaſonable. It is a real Fault in the People of God, that they can be Spectators of the Rainbow, with no more Proper, Holy, Heavenly Thoughts, produced in their Souls; A very Faulty Unthankfulneſs to our Great Saviour, who has placed it as His Bow in the Clouds, and ſaid unto us, O my dear People, Do you Look upon that, as the Memorial of my Covenant! The Goſpel of the Rainbow, is truly, One of the Deſiderata, among the Subjects that ſhould be cultivated in the Church of God. At preſent, I will only ſay; The Covenant with our Father Noah, whereof we have the Rainbow, for an Obſignation, had ſuch an Aſpect upon the Meſſiah, that we may fairly be led by the Rainbow, to Remember the whole Covenant of Grace, in all the Very Great and Precious Promiſes of it. Concerning the Covenant which God has made with our Saviour, for the Redemption of His People; we read, Pſal. LXXXIX 37. It ſhall be Eſtabliſhed, as the Faithful Witneſs in Heaven. By the Faithful Witneſs in Heaven, is meant, The Rainbow. Well then; when we have that Comely Work of God before our Eyes, Let us Entertain ſuch Thoughts as theſe; May a Glorious CHRIST be my Saviour, and my Surety, how Happy, how Happy, am I! My Sins will be caſt into the Depths of the Sea; I ſhall not my ſelf be caſt thither for them. O my Soul, Be not thou caſt down. Be not afraid of all thy Sorrows; Thy Lord will not leave thee to Sink in any of thy Sorrows. Tho' the Grave do Swallow me up, Oh! Let me not Fear to go down into the Grave; My Lord will Bring me up again! I ſee a Faithful Witneſs in Heaven, that puts me in Mind of an Eſtabliſhed Covenant for ſuch Bleſſings of Goodneſs.

Secondly. When we ſee the Baptiſm of the Lord adminiſtred, theſe Meditations may be very Seaſonably awakened. It is no ſmall Advantage, to be minded of the Covenant, which our God has made with our JESUS for us, and with us, in our JESUS. We are minded of this Covenant after an Excellent Manner, by the Adminiſtration of Baptiſm in our Congregations. God Sanctifies the Sight of this Adminiſtration, as well as the other Ordinances in the Aſſembles of Zion; and it is a Profane Folly to make light of a thing which God uſes for an Inſtrument of ſo much Good unto the Souls of Men. As in any Sprinkled Water, the Light eaſily cauſes a ſort of a Rainbow, ſo in the Baptiſmal Water, we ſee the Rainbow about our Saviour; He there and thence calls to the Beholders; O my People, I will be ever mindful of my Covenant! Let our Glad Souls be Senſible of this. I mention it the rather, becauſe I find, 1 Pet. III. 19. Baptiſm is made the Antitype of the Flood; unto which the Rainbow has Relation. The Old Man in us, is like the Old World; under a Curſe. The Blood of our Saviour waſhing away the Guilt of our Sin; and the Spirit of our Saviour taking away the Life of our Sin; are both of 'em compared unto Waters. By theſe Waters, the Old Man is deſtroy'd in our Souls, as the Old World was by the Flood. The New Man, like Noah in the Ark, is by theſe Waters, Raiſed up, and brought nearer to God. In this Way tis, that the Bleſſings of the Covenant become our Portion. Sirs; When you ſee a Perſon Baptiſed in our Congregations; then think! O that Bleſſed Covenant! According to that, only my Sin ſhall be drowned; But I my ſelf ſhall be Raiſed unto the neareſt communion with Heaven. Yea, a Reſurrection from the Dead will be beſtowed upon me!

But thus I Leave every Particular Believer to his own Meditations, on his own ſhare in the Covenant of God.

II. I am now to tell you, What a Meſſenger [Excuſe and Indulge me if I make Repriſals of the Term, A Meſſenger] of Happy Tidings, the Rainbow about the Head of the Saviour, is unto the Church in general, unto the whole Church of the Living God upon Earth.

The Covenant of God, for the Continuance of His Church in this World, and its Fruition of Bleſſedneſs in a New World; this was included in the Covenant made with our Patriarch after the Flood. Our Holy God never gave the Rainbow for a Token, that He would preſerve a World, only to be a Rendezvouz of Traitors & Rebels: a Field for none but Wicked People to graze upon. The Preſervation of the World, is, that ſo our Saviour may have an Elect People here Prepared for Him, and that anon there may come on a Revolution wherein the Whole Earth ſhall be filled with that People, and His Kingdom. You ſhould Read this Glorious Thing written on the Rainbow with Capitals! And hence this Covenant of God, is Engroſſed in thoſe Terms; Iſa. LIV. 9, 10. This is as the Waters of Noah unto me; for as I have ſworn, that the Waters of Noah ſhould no more go ever the Earth, ſo— my Kindneſs ſhall not depart from thee, neither ſhall the Covenant of my Peace be removed, ſaith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. We are fallen into Cloudy Times; and, The Floods have Lifted up, O Lord, the Floods have Lifted up their 〈◊〉 ; the Floods lift up their Waves. But we have a Lord with a Rainbow about His Head; and this our Lord is mightier than the mighty Waves of the Sea. You find me uſing ſome Expreſſions in the XCIII Pſalm. I will go on, and give you a very Good Gloſs on the laſt verſe of that Pſalm, which I find in a Late Verſion of it.

Becauſe thy Promiſes O Lord, are very firm and ſure; Thy Beautiful and Holy Church for ever ſhall endurs.

O People of God, and you that have Jeruſalem coming into your Minds; Look up, Look up; ſee a Rainbow about the Head of your Saviour; and hear that raviſhing Voice come out of His Mouth; I will take a ſufficient Care of my Church in the World. My Covenant for my Church, there ſhall be no breaking, no failing of it!

And is not this the meaning of that Exibition? Rev. IV. 3. There was a Rainbow round about the Throne. Our JESUS is Enthroned in the Heavens; The Scepter of God is in His Hands; But He will ſo manage every thing, that His Covenant for the preſervation of His Church in the World, ſhall be moſt punctually accompliſhed.

Firſt. I will give you ſome Reaſons why the Rainbow about the Head of our Saviour will not prove an Empty Show; but He will fulfil to His Church, the Covenant of His Mercy. Tis for ſuch Reaſons as theſe.

Firſt. The Bleſſed God, is a moſt Faithful God: The God of Truth. Oh! Let our God be True, in our Praiſes of Him, and Every man a Lyar, that has the leaſt Murmur of His being any other. In the midſt of our deepeſt Lamentations, we muſt own that thing; Lam. III. 23. Great is thy Faithfulneſs. He is the Unchangeable One. He makes a Covenant, and He Changes not; Therefore the Church to be preſerved according to His Covenant ſhall not be conſumed. His Nature, and His Glory is that; Pſal. III. 4, 5. The Lord is Gracious and full of Compaſſion; He will ever be mindful of His Covenant.

Again; Our Saviour with the Rainbow about His Head, appears before His Father, as well as unto His People. The Eternal Father is the God of our JESUS, He is in Covenant with Him. Our JESUS, is the Head of the Covenant which is made for the People of God; it is made with Him. Our Saviour preſents Himſelf before God, as the Mediator of the Covenant. He pleads the Cauſe of His Church; He pleads for its Preſervation. We are ſure of that; Heb. IX. 24. He is gone into Heaven it ſelf, now to appear in the preſence of God for us. This Angel with the Rainbow, if He who took not on Him the Nature of Angels, and He who is, Above all Angels, may be ever called, An Angel; He is the Angel of the Covenant; and I will add, He is the Angel of His Preſence. In the Preſence of the Eternal Father, He makes this Demand; O my Father, my Father; The Church which I have dy'd for, it muſt, not be Loſt; Oh! Let it Live Eternally!

Laſtly. The People of God, they Mind Him of His Covenant; they point Him to His own Rainbow. They are a Praying People. Becauſe they ſee a Rainbow about the Throne of Heaven, this Emboldens them to Approach the Throne; they come with Boldneſs unto it, as a Throne of Grace. They lay hold on all the Promiſes. The Cry of their Inceſſant Prayer to God is that; Jer. XIV. 21. O Remember, Break not thy Covenant with us. They are a People that alſo wait upon God in the Sacraments of His Covenant. By attending on the Sacraments, they Celebrate the Covenant of God; they ſollicit for the performance of it. Yea, When they ſee thoſe Commemorations of the Covenant in the Churches of the Lord, they Lift up their Hearts unto Him; O thou Great God, who keepeſt Covenant and Mercy; Remember thy Covenant of Mercy to thy People! And, I hope, the view of the Rainbow will now more than ever, have the like Improvement with them. The Glorious Hearer of Prayer will take notice of it.

I will proceed Secondly, to ſet before you, ſome Articles in the Covenant of Mercy to the Church, which are declared and confirmed unto us, by the Rainbow about the Head of our Merciful Saviour. Be the Times never ſo Cloudy, and the Floods never ſo boiſterous, never ſo mountainous, the Church of God, has the Expectations of the Rainbow to Live upon.

They are ſuch as theſe.

Firſt. The Church cannot be drown'd. The Church of God may read that Motto on the Rainbow; Jer. XLVI. 28. I will not make a full end of thee. Our Saviour will always have a Church, yea, a Viſible Church, in the World. Tho' it may fly for ſome Ages into the Valleys of Piemont, yet even there it ſhall be Viſible. No Flood ſhall utterly ſwallow it up. A Number of People viſibly Embracing the Truths, and obeying the Laws of the only Saviour, will be always upon the Face of the Earth. We read, Pſal. CXXV. 1 Of a Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever. I will not ſay, This was a Covenant for the Literal Mount Zion; for this has been Removed; the Hill was dug down, with a vaſt Labour of three years, in the Days of the Maccabaean Simeon. The Jews on certain Accounts of Policy, dug down their Zion with their own Hands. But, O Church of our Bleſſed JESUS, Thou art that Mount Zion. The moſt Ancient of all the Mountains, the moſt Laſting of all the Hills; Eternally Impregnable! No Flood can roll over the Top of the Holy Hill of Zion. There is a word in the BIBLE, which has been as an Ark for the Church of God, in the moſt Cloudy and Stormy Ages of it; That word, Mat. XVI. 18. I will build my Church, and the Gates of Hell ſhall not prevail againſt it. I Incline to think, that our Saviour alludes to what occurred in the Flood which once Overthrew the Foundations of the Wicked. In that Flood, we read, The Fountains of the Great Deep were broken up; and, The Waters prevailed exceedingly upon the Earth; they prevailed, and the Mountains were covered. Yet the Family of the Juſt One periſhed not. Sirs, It will be ſo! Tho' the Bars of the Bottomleſs Pit ſhould be broken up, and ſhould pour out a Flood of Miſchiefs on the Church, yet there ſhall not iſſue out ſuch a Flood from thence, as to drown the Family of our Saviour. The Flood ſhall not prevail ſo far as to drown the Church in the World. Our Lord Sits King on the Floods, and ſets Bounds to them; they ſhall not prevail to carry all before them. Had it not been for this Word, the Church had been drown'd in the Days of Diocleſian, when he ſet up his Pillars, with this Inſcription on them, Chriſtiana Superſtitione Deleta. Wretch, The Inſcription on the Rainbow about the Head of our Saviour, confounded thine! Had it not been for this Word, the Church had been drown'd by the Flood, which the Dragon caſt out of his Mouth in the Arian Haereſies; when, The World Sigh'd, that it ſaw it ſelf become almoſt entirely Arian. Had it not been for this Word, the Church had been drown'd in the Flood of the Romiſh Apoſtaſy, at the Latter end of the Fifteenth Century; when there were left One Little Flock of Taborites in their Caves; and theſe poor Speculani ſent four Agents to the ſeveral points of the Compaſs, to find, if it were poſſible, any pure Church in the World; and they all return'd with a Sorrowful Report, That there was none to be met withal. Were it not for this Word, The Grand Aſſyrian of this Day would be Maſter of Europe, and the Religion of Chriſt be every where Little better of it, than it is in his own Bloody Dominions. But O thou Monſter of Baſeneſs, The Daughter of Zion deſpiſes thee. And, O thou Troubler of the Nations, A Few Months more ſhall bring thee down to the Sides of the Pit, and it ſhall be ſaid by them that Conſider thee, Is this the man that ſhook the Kingdoms of the Earth!

In ſhort▪ The Church of our Saviour muſt Our live all the Attempts of Earth and Hell againſt it. The Story of the Church Surviving all the Attempts of its Adverſaries in the former Ages, is a wonderful Story. The Threed of the Story ſhall never be broken off! Our JESUS will have Subjects, His Bible will have Students, His Spirit will have Temples, let all the Devils in Hell do what they can to defeat ſuch Intentions of Heaven. The Saviour with the Rainbow about His Head, will tread on the Head of the Old Serpent; All the Plots in that Bruiſed Head, ſhall come to nothing!

Secondly. The moſt Cloudy Times that paſs over the Church of God, have their Mixtures of Mercy, and of Moderation in them. There's a Rainbow; The Clouds of Wrath are not ſo thick, not ſo ſpread, but there is a Sunſhine of Mercy with them. If the Floods riſe high; yet not ſo high, that all ſhall be covered; all overcome. It was a thing propoſed; Hab. III 2. O Lord, Revive thy Work in the midſt of the years; In wrath remember Mercy. His Church is His Work. In the midſt of the Seventy Years aſſign'd for the Captivity of the Jews, they found a Remarkable ſavour from the Court of Babylon, in what was done to one who repreſented them there. This Revived them in the midſt of the years; This was Mercy in the midſt of Wrath▪ Indeed things may go very bad, with the Church; yet never ſo Bad, but they might be Worſe. O the amazing Supplies of Grace which are ſent in unto the Church, under its greateſt Languiſhments▪ There will be at leaſt a battle Reviving. What Ezra of old called, A Little Reviving to ſet up the Houſe of our God. The Church will find that thing; Pſalm LXXVIII. 38. He does not ſtir up all His wrath. The Church will find, the Saviour with His Rainbow, dealing according to that word; I am with thee, I will correct thee in meaſure. That word; He ſtays His Rough Wind, in the Day of the Eaſt Wind. The Calamities of the Church, have Glorious Mitigations.

Thirdly. The Church can't be totally Drowned: The World is; But the Flood of Wickedneſs, which overſpreads the Whole World, is going off. We have a ſad Account of this wretched World, 1 Joh. V. 19. The whole World lies in Wickedneſs. Alas, the Whole World is under that Flood, which we find before the Old Flood, and the Cauſe of it; we ought with unutterable Anguiſh, to make the Complaint, Behold, the Earth is corrupt before God, and all Fleſh has corrupted his way upon the Earth. A Flood of wickedneſs, has laid Mankind groaning under the Waters. The Exceptions to the Epidemical, the Univerſal Wickedneſs of Mankind, are ſo very few, that we may ſtill Complain, They are all gone aſide; they are together become filthy! But, my Brethren; It ſhall not always be ſo. The Saviour of Mankind ſhows Himſelf unto us with a Rainbow about His Head. It is to inform us, That the Flood of Wickedneſs in which the World is at this Day buried, ſhall one day be rolled off. Of the Angel coming down from Heaven with a Rainbow on His Head, we read, He ſets His Right Foot on the Sea, and His Left Foot on the Earth. Our Saviour will come to take poſſeſſion both of the Sea, and of the Earth. He will poſſeſs Himſelf of Mankind, both on the Sea, and on the Earth. He will aſſert His Dominion both on the Sea, and on the Earth. He will Chain up the Deceiver of the Nations. But, How Long, O Lord, Holy and True, How Long ere thou So come down unto us! There is a Day a coming in which, according to the ancient Prophecies; Pſal. XXII. 27. All the Ends of the World ſhall turn unto the Lord. And, Pſal. LXXXVI. 9. All Nations whom thou haſt made, ſhall come and Worſhip before thee, O Lord, and ſhall Glorify thy Name. Moſt certainly, There will come a Day when there ſhall be more Godly People, than there are now Wicked People in the World. I am certain, God will one day deſtroy them that Corrupt the Earth; We ſhall ſee an Earth wherein ſhall dwell Righteouſneſs; it ſhall be filled with Righteous ones. The very firſt Time, that an Hallelujah occurs in the Sacred Scriptures, it is on this occaſion; Pſal. CIV. 35. Let the Sinners be conſumed out of the Earth, and let the wicked be no more. Hallelujah. There will come a Time, when that Great Hallelujah ſhall be heard in the World!

Fourthly. Our Great Saviour, the Ruler of the World, aims at the Good of His Church, in all the Changes which He brings upon the World. This, is a very Turneable World; very Changeable. Others beſides that King of Egypt, the Great Seſoſtrys, whom our Bible calls by the Name of Shiſhak, have ſeen a Wheel Turning about. Tis a moſt Elegant and Expreſſive Hieroglyphick, which our Prophet Ezekiel had of it, in his Viſion of the Wheels. There is a Tradition, that Pythagoras invented his, from his Acquaintance with Ezekiels, who was his contemporary. He ſaw four Wheels. Will you give me leave to Say, That here is a Wheel for each of the Four Great Monarchies. The Laſt of them is now Turning apace. Our Immortal King is bringing the Wheel over that wicked Empire. Will you give me leave alſo to Say, That here is a Wheel for each of the Four Quarters of the World? Then beſure America muſt be concerned in the Turning of the Laſt Wheel; and verily, we find it ſo to our Wonderment. Well, but who has the Management of all theſe Wheels? Truly, Our Saviour with a Rainbow about Him? All the Angels in Heaven, who have their uncontroleable Influences on Humane affairs, are but the Officers of our Saviour; they Execute His Orders; they are the Miniſters which do His Pleaſure. We read how the Wheels are managed; Ezek. I. 26, 28. On the Throne, there was the Appearance of a MAN above upon it: [That MAN, tis our JESUS, tis our JESUS! We know, tis He!] It followes; As the Appearance of the Bow that is in the Cloud in the Day of Rain; [The RAINBOW!] So was the Appearance of the Brightneſs round about. From our JESUS on the Throne we are now ſo advertiſed; O my dear People, I remember my Covenant for you: And in all the Turns which I bring upon the World, I am fulfilling of it!

This is HE, whom the Diſciple that Jeſus Loved, had His Allowance to Look upon!

But may We alſo at this Day, be allowed and advanced unto a View of that Glorious One! Yea, O People Highly favoured of the Lord; unto You does the Saviour with a Rainbow about His Head give that Glorious Call; Behold me, Behold me, O my People; Behold, and Believe my Remembrance of my Covenant, in all the Cloudy Times that are paſſing over you.

We are fallen into a Day, whereof we may ſay, what we read; Zech. I. 15. It is a Day of Trouble and of Diſtreſs, a Day of Clouds and of Thick Darkneſs. Yea, tis a Day wherein the People of God have their Fears, Leſt the Waters overwhelm us, leſt the Proud Waters go over our Soul. In the midſt of theſe Clouds our Saviour appears to us, with a Rainbow about His Head.

And the firſt thing, with which I would animate my Brethren, is; That He is Our Head, and we may ſafely truſt Him with Our All. On that Paſſage; Eccl. II. 14. A wiſe mans Eyes are in his head, I remember two of the Ancient Gregories, both a Greek one, and a Latin one, have a devout Gloſs, which is rather an Alluſion than an Expoſition; Our Glorious Chriſt is our Head; and ſay they, in Him we have our Eyes. This I may very Reaſonably ſay; O Church of the Lord; Thy Eyes are in thy Head; Even in that Head which has the Rainbow about it. His Eyes will be on the Look-out for thy welfare: He will See to the fulfilling of all that His Covenant has engaged for thee.

What tho' there be diſmal Clouds! The Clouds gather; Look very diſmally; tis true. But, of thy Saviour, thou haſt been told, Behold, He cometh with Clouds!

I will go on to ſay; Tis a dreadful thing unto Good Men, to ſee ſuch a Death upon all that is Good in the World. Every thing lies Dead: Zeal, tis Dead; Love, tis Cold & Dead; The Life of Religion is gone. A Publick Spirit, its Dead; The Succeſs of the Goſpel, ſeems Dead. Churches, Oh! how Cadaverous are they! What Putrefactions in them! O ye Witneſſes of the Lord, you alſo, are either Dead, or at leaſt have not got off your Grave-Cloathes. And yet, this may the rather be the Time for a Speedy Appearance of our Saviour. It was a Prediction; Mat. XXIV. 28. Whereſoever the Carcaſe is, there will the Eagles be gathered together. I take it for a Prediction of our Lords coming, with His Goſpel, as the Lightning, to Ruine Antechriſt, & Reform His People. The Church at this Time; is to be like a Dead Carcaſe; partly ſo, by Sufferings: much more ſo, by Corruptions. Our Saviour will now come as a Glorious Eagle; ſo He did, when He brought His Dead People from Egypt of old. And, becauſe He will uſe His Mighty Angels in what He is to do, marvel not, that you hear of Eagles, in the Plural Number for it.

And, yet; I judge it not amiſs to acquaint you, That there is of late, within theſe few years, a moſt Surprizing Revival of Good Things in the World. Should I ſpeak of but One Country; There are ſome ſtrict obſervers of the Signs of the Times, who have lately Publiſhed a Collection of Obſervable Things, wherein the Kingdom of God has been more ſenſibly opening it ſelf in the Heart of Germany; Things of an Holy & Hopeful Tendency, to bring on a more ample Reign of Piety; The Collection contains no fewer than Fourſcore and Four Articles. In many other places, there are ſome Excellent Things a doing. Eſſayes to do Good, begin to be in requeſt. They grow more Faſhionable, and Reputable. North-Britain will become a peculiar Seat, and Example of them. Among the reſt, there is this to be obſerved; A Spirit of Aſſociation for Noble & Pious Purpoſes, has of late begun Strangely to Viſit the World; it begins to do Wondrouſly. Some Societies perhaps are yet only laying Foundations, for purpoſes of a more Exact Regulation hereafter to be built upon. But as far off as in Switzerland they Prognoſticate upon them; They annunciate a more Illuſtrious State of the Church of God, that is Expected, in the Converſion of Jews & Gentiles. Theſe Things are the Rainbow of the Day!

In the next Place; I will freely confeſs to you, that there is not any One thing at this day a doing, which I have my Eye more upon, than the Fate, & I hope, the approaching Fall, of the Ottoman Empire. There is a Coincidence of more than as many things, to perſwade us, That the Threchundred & ninety odd years allotted for the Turks to be the Plagues of the Roman Empire, Expired at the late Peace of Carlowitz. If that Empire ſhould once fall, what a Jubilee would arrive to the poor Greek Churches! Oh! Let us Pray more for them! Yea, the Jews as well as the Greeks would feel a quickening Energy upon it. Now, a mighty ſhake ſeems to be giving unto the Ottoman Empire. There are Millions of Oppreſſed Chriſtians, who begin to ſee a Rainbow in that Thing, if God will pleaſe to give the Word. If it ſhould be ſo, that the Ottoman Empire be falling, Then, Then, that Great Trumpet is going to be blown, which brings on the Kingdoms of this World, to be the Kingdoms of the Lord.

I have one thing more to ſay. The Grandeur of Antichriſt is plainly on a Decline. Yea, the Clouds of this day, are big with deſolating Thunder-bolts, to be diſcharg'd upon him. The Twelve hundred & Sixty years of the Papacy, could not commence much later than the year Four hundred & fifty, or ſixty. All Rational computations conſpire to proclame this; A Great & Notable Day of the Lord is at hand; The Day is near, it is near, & it haſteth greatly! The Papal Authority now Suffers a marvellous Diminution; it is Irrecoverably diminiſhed. Its Bulls roar very inſignificately. Let it fulminate what it will, People do but Squib at it. The Spirit of Perſecution, which where-ever tis found, is the Spirit of Antichriſt, it is wondrous to ſee, how tis going out of the World; men grow Aſhamed of it; They that would fain be at it, yet they alſo Occaſionally acknowledge, That it is Contrary to the Spirit of Chriſtianity. Some that have been moſt notorious for it, Labour mightily to ſhift off the charge.

I greatly ſuſpect, that we are fallen into the Period, for the Effuſion of the Vials, which brings the Laſt Plagues on the Papal Empire: It looks, as if the firſt of them, were newly diſpenſed; A Boyl on the Earth; A Peſtilence on the Inland Parts of that Empire. I tremble at the Second. — But they will all be Rainbowes of Hope, for the pure Worſhippers & Followers of the Holy JESUS.

Finally; But muſt my poor NEW-ENGLAND, have no part in the Rainbow, about Him, that has hitherto been the Hope of NEW-ENGLAND, and the Saviour thereof in the Time of Trouble! Yea; And tho' there is no Particular Church, but what may be drown'd, yet I Suppoſe, tis not until it neglect the Rainbow, and by overgrown Impiety & Impenitency forget the Everlaſting Covenant And, O poor Flocks in the Wilderneſs; will you do ſo? I confeſs, we are very criminal; and all out crimes have peculiar Aggravations. Yea, there are ſome very Baſe People among us; People who do things that Pagans would abhor to do; People who bring a Blemiſh on all the Country. But yet, firſt, the Body of the People, are a Sober, Honeſt, Well-inſtructed People. All Civil Travellers who do them Juſtice give them this Teſtimony. Then, there is alſo Scattered all over the Country, a Generation of Serious, Prayerful, Watchful Chriſtians; many that make no Noiſe, are the Humble Favourites of Heaven; the Chariots & Horſemen of the Land, & yet by their Modeſty almoſt Inviſible. The Charities of theſe Chriſtians, eſpecially in this Town, they are going up as Memorials before God continually. There is likewiſe a Set of Young Miniſters, and Candidates for the Miniſtry, who are full of Goodneſs; Lovely Young Men; Sons of Zion, comparable to fine Gold; Nazarites, Purer than Snow, brighter than Pearl; their Poliſhing that of Sapphire. God grant the Rainbowes may Multiply! O Multiply our Tokens for Good.

I will Conclude with Saying this thing▪ Methinks, A Saviour with a Rainbow about His Head, ſhould moſt movingly. Invite every Sinner to come in unto Him. I have read ſome-where, a Sorrowful Relation of a man who was a Drowning, at the very Inſtant when he ſaw a Rainbow in the Sky before him; whereat he cryed out, Haec Iris, quid mihi proderit, ſi Ego peream. What Advantage to me the Rainbow which ſecures the World from Drowning, if now I my ſelf be Drowned. This I will ſay; O poor Sinner, what Advantage canſt thou Expect from a Saviour with a Rainbow about His Head, if thou deſpiſe that Saviour, & Provoke Him, to caſt thee off! Wherefore, Oh! Hearken to the Voice from the Cloud about the Glorious High Throne of our Saviour; Ah, Repenting Soul, I remember my Covenant of Mercy; I am ready to receive thee! Behold His Bow; there are no Arrows in it. But if any of you will go on ſtill in your Treſpaſſes, think on that word, Pſal. VII. 11, 12, 13. God is angry with the wicked every day; If he turn not, He has bent His Bow, & made it ready; He ordains His Arrows againſt him. Verily, The Clouds about Him, will Pour down terrible Thunderbolts!—

FINIS.