William Huntington

X. - The Womb of the Morning and the Children of Light

"In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning; thou hast the dew of thy youth," Psalm cx. 3.

THIS psalm begins with the glorification, exaltation and intercession of Christ (after his resurrection), at the right hand of God the Father. "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand," &c.

As the second Adam, and everlasting Father of the elect family, he is appointed heir of all things, and all things are put under his feet, and he is head over all things to the church. The Jews in particular, who put him to death, and rejected his reign, are styled his enemies, and therefore "he casts out his shoe over them;" they are subdued by his wrath; they refused the bosom of his love, and therefore he says, "I will trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment, for the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come." This is spoken in allusion to warriors, who often appear in garments rolled in blood; who, when they have subdued a rebellious people, reduce them to the most servile drudgery; which is called making "his enemies his footstool;" upon the conquest of whom, as upon a footstool, he raises himself in fame and glory the higher (as Christ's fame was by the destruction of Pharaoh in the Red Sea). This was done likewise at the destruction of Jerusalem, by leaving that people without a sceptre, without a ruler, and a synagogue of Satan, even to this day.

"The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion; rule thou in the midst of thine enemies," verse 2. Rod signifies a sceptre, and this sceptre is his power. All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he might give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. This derived power respects Christ as man, and as mediator, not as God; for as God "he is the first and the last, the Almighty," Rev. i. 8; and no power can be added to omnipotence. Besides, as God, all things are his own by creation, and by right of nature. "For by him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible; whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him, and he is before all things, and by him all things consist, and he is the head of the body, the church," Col. i. 16, 17. If all things were created by him and for him, then all things are his own by right of nature. This power, therefore, called the rod of his strength, is a derived power given to him as man and mediator. And this rod, sceptre, or power, is over all and all things; and is displayed first by his gospel, which is the power of God to salvation or damnation; called therefore a savour of life unto life to some, and of death unto death to others; which is termed smiting the earth with the rod of his mouth, and slaying the wicked with the breath of his lips: thus his sceptre reaches even to the souls of men. Moreover, his rod is seen in executing vengeance on the enemies of his people, and in their destruction by various ways, especially by war. "In righteousness he doth judge, and make war."

"Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power," ver. 3. Thy people are the elect of God the Father, given to Christ as man and mediator; "thine they were, and thou gavest them me." This people are a rebellious set, reluctant to all that is good, contrary to Christ, and enemies to God; but "Jesus hath received gifts for the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell among them."

This power is put forth to make them willing to come over to his standard, to submit to his yoke, and bow to his sceptre; which is done in the day of his power. There is a time for every purpose, a set time to favour Zion, and a day of power to every chosen vessel, when the power of the Lord is present to heal. Every chosen vessel hath his day, his appointed time. When the sinner is cut up and subdued, it is a day of power to him; when Christ is revealed, it is one of the days of the Son of man; and, when taken into the bosom of his love, it is the day of his espousals. "In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, thou hast the dew of thy youth." I will treat,

1. Of the beauties of holiness.

2. Of the morning.

3. Of the womb of the morning.

4. Of the youth. And

5. Of the dew of the youth.

I. Of the beauties of holiness. There are many things which the scriptures call beauty, or beautiful; such as a beautiful crown, beautiful rod, beautiful for situation, and beautiful face or countenance; and all these are of God: but the beauty in my text is divine beauty; it is all reflected or derived from God, and there are various branches of this beauty; and hence they are mentioned in the plural, and by way of distinction are called "the beauties of holiness." All divine and human beauty put together is now to be seen in Christ Jesus; "he is the fairest among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely." If we consider him in his divine nature, he is God over all, and the Creator of all, and the Author and giver of every natural beauty that is to be found in this world or the next; "he hath made every thing beautiful in his time." In him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; he possesses in himself, in the highest sense, every attribute and perfection of divinity; "he is the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person;" visible and invisible things, thrones and dominions, are the work of his hands, and he fills heaven itself with his fullness, and all that are in it. The light of his countenance makes eternal day in heaven; his life is an endless fountain there, and his love a river of everlasting pleasure. Now if he is the sun of that world to come, who shines in it, adorns, beautifies, and glorifies, all that boundless expanse, and all the celestial inhabitants of it; and if an angel's appearance is so bright and glorious, that Daniel turns into corruption, and faints at the sight; and if Moses and Stephen shining in his lustre was such a terror to men, all of which are nothing but rays reflected from him, what must he himself be "who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flaming fire!"

If we consider him in his human nature; in which he is holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens, and in which he is crowned with glory and honour; we must conclude, with the royal Psalmist, "Thou art fairer than the children of men, grace is poured into thy lips, therefore God hath blessed thee for ever." His humanity, both in soul and body, was pure and spotless; all the fullness of the Spirit was upon him, and all the fullness of grace, and treasures of wisdom and knowledge, were in him; and every perfection of his Godhead dwells in, and shines through, the gracious, the anointed, and the consecrated, manhood.

Adam in innocency, Aaron in his beautiful garments, and Solomon in all his glory, (put them altogether) were only shadows or figures of him who is the "second Adam, the High Priest of our profession, and the Prince of Peace." Adam's innocency was soon lost, Aaron's garments and priesthood are now no more, and Solomon's glory faded like the flower of the field; but the glory and beauty of Jesus can never fade. But it may be objected, that many who saw him in the days of his flesh bear quite a different testimony; namely, that "He hath no form nor comeliness; and, when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him," Isaiah, liii. 2. But the hearts of these men were shut up in prejudice and unbelief, and the god of this world had blinded their eyes; and men that are blind can be no better judges of beauty than they are of colours: these people are called the children of night, and of darkness. The children of light, and of the day, saw him in his own rays; they beheld his glory, "and saw him as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." And I know that he is to be seen now, and his beauty too, even in this world. They had a glorious glimpse of him under the former dispensation. "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple," Psalm xxvii. 4. But his beauty is more conspicuous under the present dispensation. "He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly, that despiseth the gain of oppression, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing of evil; he shall dwell on high, his place of defence shall be the munition of rocks, bread shall be given him, his water shall be sure. Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty, they shall behold the land that is very far off," Isaiah, xxiii. 15, 10, 17. Here we have a promised view of him, in all his beauty and majesty, as King of Zion; who rescues us from all our spiritual enemies, who conquers us by his kindness, and holds us as delightful captives, by ravishing our hearts with a view of his glory and majesty.

Ask the young believer, who is just verged out of darkness, who has escaped the corruptions of the world, the bondage of sin, the wrath of God, the fears of death, and the dread of endless misery; and he will tell you that he can set his seal to the truth of the following promise. "In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel," Isaiah, iv. 2. The faith of a believer views him in his own light, in ancient undertaking, in his glorious visits paid to the saints of old, in his suffering circumstances, triumphant ascension, and glorious exaltation, with all his brilliant trains of glorious grace, with which he has gone forth, and with which he has paid his courtly and love visits to poor sinners, ever since his coronation in heaven. To them his royal sceptre is beauty, and his pastoral crook is bands, Zec. ii. 7. The finest and most beautiful ornament that can adorn a young prince is a diadem, and the noblest cap of state that can deck the brow of a sovereign is a crown; and Christ, as God and man, is both these to the children of Israel. When he shines into their hearts, and discovers himself to them, then it is day with their poor souls, and they see the truth of what follows. "In that day shall the Lord of Hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people," Isaiah, xxviii. 5. Christ crucified dwelling in the heart by faith is the believer's diadem of grace in this world; this proclaims the believer heir apparent to a future kingdom. And Christ exalted and glorified will be his crown of glory in the world to come, which secures his endless reign in heaven. "The saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever." Thus we have seen a little glimpse of the beauty of his sweet face; but this is not all, for it must be felt as well as seen, for his beauty is reflected upon his people, the lustre of it shines into them, and spreads its glorious and ornamenting lustre over them. "O satisfy us early with thy mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil. Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us," Psalm xc. 15, 10, 17. Here is mercy, rejoicing, and gladness. Here is God's regenerating and renewing work prayed for, that it might appear upon his servants; and his glorious light and truth, yea the Spirit of God and of glory is sought after in this prayer, that it might appear to the children of his servants with every heavenly endowment of the mind, every ornamental grace and needful gift; "Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us."

This beauty is not the varnish of a harlot, nor artificial beauty, which consists in being "arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls," Rev. xvii. 4. This gaudy shew is the attire and only beauty of the whore of Babylon, all which is strictly forbidden the church of God, 1 Pet. iii. 3.

Now for the various parts of this beauty of the Lord, which is upon his church. It consists in an illuminated understanding, and in a well-informed judgment, where the Holy Spirit is a spirit of judgment to them that sit in judgment. "My judgment was a robe and a diadem," says Job.

In a cheerful heavenly countenance, the true index of pardon and peace in the conscience, and of a lively hope in the heart. "Sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely."

In a humble, meek, and lowly mind, which is not corruptible. "The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit in the sight of God is of great price."

It having the feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; walking with God, who ordained peace for us; walking in Christ, who is our peace; and in keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. "How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O princess daughter," Cant. vii. 1.

It stands in the glorious robe of imputed righteousness, which is the wedding garment, and the covering that is of God's Spirit, and in being clothed with humility, which acquits us from the legal yoke of servile fear, and from the yoke of our own transgressions. "Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion, put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! Loose thyself from the bonds of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion," Isaiah, lii. 1, 2.

It consists in the application of free salvation to the soul, by which the poor sinner is saved from guilt and filth, death and wrath, and in which he stands proof against all the attacks of sin, Satan, and sinners, though they are always at him. "For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation," Psalm cxlix. 4.

Another part of the spouse's beauty lies in her eye, and in her necklace. The eye is the eye of faith, which is always looking to Jesus; the necklace is the doctrines of Christ, which is the mystery of faith in a pure conscience; by which consistent and harmonious chain of truth, and new covenant promises, we abide by the Head; the bond of which covenant unites Christ and his members together, as the neck does the human body; the word of truth, and the eye of faith, are the church's eye and necklace. "Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck," Song iv. 9.

O how the Lord applauds this; be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life; and, touching the truth doctrine, hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation. "Open the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in."

All the sacred mysteries of the ancient tabernacle and temple; the mystery of the ark, mercy-seat, golden table, shew-bread, golden pot, manna, Aaron's rod, candlestick, holy fire, incense, cherubim, brazen sea, and even the SHEKINAH itself, with the cloud by day and the fire by night in the wilderness; are now to be found in Christ, and in his church. Christ is our ark where the law is hid, our mercy-seat where we come; the golden table is a gospel minister's believing heart, containing, living on, and holding forth, Christ as the bread of life; the golden pot, a vessel of mercy; the manna, the comforts of the Spirit; Aaron's rod is the church of Christ in his hand, the candlestick, the church holding forth the true light; the holy fire, the word and Spirit; incense, spiritual prayer; the brazen sea, regeneration; the SHEKINAH, the glory of the Lord risen upon us; our everlasting light, our God and our glory; the cloud by day, the favour of the King of kings; the fire by night, the eternal love of God, which never waxes cold to us, though ours does to him. All those things were the beauty of the ancient tabernacle and temple. "Honour and majesty are before him, strength and beauty are in his sanctuary," Psalm xcvi. 6. The temple was built of the cedars of Lebanon, on which account it is called by the name of "Lebanon. Open thy doors. O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars," Zech xi. 1. A dreadful prophecy this to the Jews! The doors of the temple did open of their own accord, as Josephus relates; and soon after the Romans set fire to all the cedars; but the spiritual glory and beauty of it was gone some time before, and was all translated to the gospel church, agreeably to ancient prophecy. "Therefore thy gates shalt be open continually, they shall not be shut day nor night, that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be bought. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious," Isaiah, lx. 11, 13. Thus we see that all the mysteries, glory, beauty, strength, and honour, of the ancient tabernacle and temple are now to be found in gospel Zion. Not only the carved work of the cedars, but that of the fir, pine, and box tree: which evergreen verdure sets forth the life of the saints, and their verdant profession, as well as the carved work; all of which shall never be destroyed or broken down "with axes and hammers. Here is beauty for ashes, and the oil of joy for mourning, and the garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness. O how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! Corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids," Zech. ix. 17.

Let this beauty of Israel, this altogether lovely one, be viewed and considered as the Spirit of God by the ancient saints has set him forth, and then consider and view him as shining with all his glory and majesty into his beloved spouse, and it is no wonder that he praises her as he does. "Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah;" yea, beauty itself, both perfect, and eternal. "Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined." I have almost lost myself in these beauties of holiness; I must quit them, and go to

The morning. The morning sometimes signifies the spiritual resurrection of a poor soul after many months groping and stumbling upon the dark mountains of Horeb and Sinai, amidst the blackness and darkness, till we look "like a bottle in the smoke," Psalm cxix. 83. But all our toil to find a way to God and to heaven there, has been labouring for the wind; a deliverance from this is a blessed morning indeed, and that my soul knows right well. No wonder then that the poor self-lost soul is bid "to look to him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning."

Morning sometimes signifies a restoration of the soul to love, peace, and joy, after a long and sad night of spiritual desertion. "His anger endureth but a moment, in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Moreover, morning signifies the beginning of endless light and glory with us in heaven, of which the light that shines unto us at Christ's rising and shining into our souls is the glorious dawn. "He that overcometh, I will give him the morning star." Which light of life, joy, and comfort, is a pledge and earnest of everlasting day in heaven. "Like sheep they are laid in the grave, death shall feed on them, and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning;" that is, when Christ shall be revealed from heaven to raise the dead, at which time "the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father for ever and ever;" the wicked dead will not rise till a thousand years after the just.

The beginning of the creation of the world is called the morning. "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" Job, xxxviii. 4, 7. But, literally, the morning signifies the early part of the day, when the rising sun brings the day on; to which the church of God is compared. "Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?" Song vi. 10. This fourfold appearance of the church may signify the different figures that she has made in the different ages of the world. With "the womb of the morning" Christ revealed "the beauties of holiness." Adam and Eve were types of Christ and his spouse; the tree of life, another representation of the Saviour; the tree of knowledge of good and evil, a figure of our fallen state, when nothing but a bare knowledge of what was good was left, and hardly that, and nothing but evil done by us, and felt in us; the garden of Eden was a figure of the church, as God's husbandry and walk of pleasure; and she bears the name of Eden to this day; every plant there, being planted of God, represented the trees of righteousness, which are all planted by the same hand, and he plucks up all others. After the fall, the beauties of holiness appeared in the tree of life; in the sword that kept the way to it; in the cherubim; in the sacrifices offered; in the Lord's appearance as judge and saviour to our first parents; in the clothes he covered them with; in the promised seed held forth; in the bruising of Satan's head; in the suffering of the heel; in salvation from Satan's power by it, and the enmity that would by the grace of God be put between the children of God and those of the devil, which soon began when Abel obtained grace and Cain trusted in dead works. In all these things "the beauties of holiness appeared even from the womb of the morning." And the church, from this time to the giving of the law, is said "to look forth as the morning." The whole religion and devotion of the saints was pure, simple, and spiritual; the doctrines and commandments of men, human traditions, grievousness which they prescribe, the vain pen of the scribe, superstition, and will worship, ceremonies, and a form of godliness, had not obtained then as they have now. It is true that now and then one of these crept in among them; but, not having the canon of scriptures to pervert, as now, they went into the most glaring presumption, and were soon discovered; so that they were presently purged out, as Cain, who was excommunicated by God himself. The sons of God (in name) who married the daughters of Cain, and became renowned for wickedness, were condemned by an overflow of water; and the select few which were preserved in the ark, among whom Ham escaped, and Canaan, and abode for one year, and then were cursed, and condemned to a double servitude. Next Abraham and his chosen spouse appeared, and many circumcised ones with him; till Hagar would be the mistress, the princess, and the mother of us all, and her illegitimate son the heir of promise; when the true heir at law, and the mistress of the tent, became the sport and ridicule of these "from the tabernacles of Ham." All this mocking at Sarah and Isaac was laughing and sporting at God, for which insolence and presumption both are banished at the command of the most High. Next Esau struggles from the womb, runs, sports, cooks, and cries for the blessing; and is determined to keep his ground and foot-hold, at the expense of his brother's blood; till Jacob flies from the church to save his life, and the God of his life goes with him, and by his instrumentality brings two more into the household of faith, namely, Rachael and Leah, if not one of the hand-maids, which two did build the house of Israel; by the handmaid I do not mean Bildah, who committed incest with Reuben. I might have mentioned Melchisedec, Tamar, &c. but I forbear. Thus the church of God, from the morning of creation, "looked forth as the morning," in her first dawnings of grace and glory, "and worshipped God in the beauties of holiness." And the church in the days of gospel light is a pattern and copy of that, when God, as then, is worshipped in spirit and in truth. Hence Christ is the person of whom "Adam was a figure" � Christ's priesthood is taken not from Aaron's order, but from the order of Melchisedec, after which order he is consecrated for evermore. In Abraham's loins, Levi pays tithes; and the father of the faithful, who had the promises, is blessed by Melchisedec, who is the greater both in dignity and office; the one being a king of righteousness, the other a prince; the former a priest of the most high God, the other a prophet. The one received tithes, the other paid them; the former blessed in God's name, the other received it in faith. Hence it is that we are commanded to look unto Abraham our father, and not unto Moses; and to Sarah that bare us, and not to the Jewish synagogue in her moonlight state; but to Abraham and Sarah, because their religion is a copy of ours, and not that under the law; and because our call, faith, justification, blessing, promises, and devotions, are like theirs; I mean "in the beauties of holiness;" and not scented nor tainted with will-worship, or a specious form of godliness, as theirs was. But the most remarkable thing of all is, that God, as a God in covenant, takes his eternal name and memorial from the church in this her morning state. "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; this is my name for ever, and my memorial to all generations." And the very blessing, and blessed seed, that was promised to Abraham, is the same which is now come upon the uncircumcision through faith, which reaches to all generations to the world's end; promised to Abraham, and to his mystic seed for evermore. The next appearance of the church is,

"That she is as fair as the moon," which has much borrowed light, but no heat; many spots, but not much transparent brightness; never in one stay, always waxing and waning; to which the church is compared from the times of giving the law to the coming of the Son of God (under all their new moon observations of feasting and fasting); at which time the true light of the Sun of righteousness (not of the borrowed light of the moon) appeared, when life and immortality was brought to light; "then the day broke, and the shadows fled away." The national church of the Jews, which were God's people by national adoption (as God says to Pharaoh, "Israel is my son, my first born," &c.), had, like the moon, little or no heat, full of spots; their light was borrowed from the letter, not from God shining into the heart; they had a form of knowledge out of the law, not the knowledge of him by perfect love casting out all fear; they were always in the wax or wane. But God had a peculiar treasure in this sand a remnant in this roll of national genealogy; a few berries on the top of the utmost boughs of this olive tree; a few good figs in thus garden; a gleaning after the harvest was done; a few clusters, with a blessing in them, upon this degenerate and strange vine, that bears so many wild grapes; a holy seed in this deciduous oak; an ox and an ass (I mean the apostles) to send forth from Jerusalem, when that city was low, in a low place; which the Saviour calls the light of the world, and the salt of the earth.

The next appearance of the church is "clear as the sun." She began to put on this appearance as soon as "the day spring from on high visited her," when those that sat in darkness saw a great light, "and those who sat in the shadow of death, upon them the light shined." The church in this glorious state was enlightened with knowledge, experience, purity, doctrine, discipline, and worship; and she has so continued, more or less, ever since: and the church in that glorious time was expressly called "a woman clothed with the sun," with the moon (the shadowy appearance of the former church state under the law) under her feet, with a crown of twelve stars upon her head; that is, with the crown of loving-kindness, knowledge, spiritual virtue, and glory; which twelve stars are those shining lights (I mean the twelve apostles) by whom Christ diffused and spread the light of life in the Gentile world.

The next appearance of the church is "terrible as an army with banners;" which appearance is altogether military, in which the national church of the Jews often appeared; but the remnant, according to the election of grace, among them never cut so formidable a figure, for they were so hid in Elijah's days as not to be known, and therefore called "hidden ones," a solitary family, sparrows upon the house-top, owls of the desert, pelicans of the wilderness, a very small remnant, faint and feeble; without this small remnant the Jewish church had been as "Sodom or Gomorrah." This formidable and military appearance of the church never hath taken place in the world as yet, though it was prefigured in the times of Constantine; therefore it is a prediction of a singular appearance yet to come, which will commence when the witnesses, who have long prophesied in sackcloth, will throw it off, and rise upon their feet as a cloud of witnesses for Christ; when the kings of the earth will be converted, and come to the brightness of Zion's rising, and have their hearts turned to hate the whore, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire; when the vials of wrath will be poured forth upon antichrist, and the whore of Babylon, by an army of saints upon white horses, and the King of kings and Lord of lords at the head of them; when eternal majesty will appear on his robes and victory on his sword; and it will be manifest, to all who can read either providence or grace, justice or mercy, "that he has a name written on his vesture, and on his thigh, King of kings and Lord of Lords." For this will be taught them by his omnipotent power and just judgment. Now will the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord, even Christ; who will destroy antichrist in the east, and in the west, both soul and body, branch and root; the one by the ministry of his word, the other by the force of his sword. When the greatest kingdom under the whole heavens shall be given to the saints of the Most High; greater than the Babylonian, the Median, and Persian, the Grecian, or the Roman; "for this shall extend from sea to sea, and from the river Euphrates to the ends of the earth; when all that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him, and his enemies shall lick the dust." Now shall all rule and all authority of the wicked be put down, and those kings only shall reign who come to the light of Zion, and to the brightness of her rising; who shall be nursing fathers, and their queens nursing mothers, to the church; yea, all kings shall bring their glory and honour into Zion. O what a time must this be, when none but saints are on the throne, none but saints in the council; "when the officers shall be peace, and the exactors righteousness; when Christ shall break in pieces the oppressor; when violence shall no more be heard in her, neither wasting nor destruction within her borders; when she shall call her walls salvation, and her gates praise!" Now shall the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of Christ, and none but his saints shall fill the thrones; "for the nation and kingdom that will not serve him shall perish, yea, those kingdoms shall be utterly wasted;" yea, the kings shall bring their gold and their silver, their glory and their honour, into Zion; and all their gain shall be consecrated to the Lord of the whole earth, for the God of the whole earth shall he be called. O could my hand keep pace with my heart! could my pen run like my thoughts! O could I describe what I see, and express what I feel! But, alas! I can think what I cannot write; I can see what I cannot express; and triumph in the future prosperity of our family, although I see one of the most dreadful nights before us that ever beclouded the horizon of mount Zion since the dawn of immortal light cast the first radiance upon her. Having shewn that the church is called or compared to the morning, and described her morning state, her moonlight state under the law, her sunshine state under the gospel, and her formidable appearance and triumphant state yet to come, I shall proceed to offer a few thoughts upon

The womb of the church, which is compared in my text to "the womb of the morning." The womb of the morning is the darkness that covers the hemisphere; which covers, conceals, and hides, the day from our eyes, as the womb of a woman conceals an infant. When the beams of the sun, which brings day, and which is the light that rules the day, shoot forth, this vail of darkness opens and gives way, and day breaks forth with the beams of the sun, which is called day-break, and day-spring. But what is the church's womb? Some say it is the church herself, where saints are converted and born again with the incorruptible seed, the word of God; but some are born out of the church, as I was; and some "out of due time," as Paul was. The womb is not the church. It may be said, perhaps, that the womb of Zion is the Mediator, because he is called Shiloh, which signifies the secundine, in which the infant is wrapped, and because we were chosen in Christ, hid in him, and God gave us life in him, before the world was made, which is true; but then Christ is called the husband of the church, and the everlasting father of the family, in whom they lay in embryo, in non-existence, from everlasting. Nor is the purpose of God in election, or his decree of predestination to adoption, the church's womb; for this is called the Lord's secret, and "secret things belong to God;" but, when revealed to the elect in effectual calling, then "the secret of the Lord is with the righteous."

Isaac is the pattern of us all. Now as Isaac was, so are we; and where did he lie? Why in Sarah's womb. True; but he lay in the womb of the morning before he lay there; and that is in the promise of God. "Sarah shall have a son; Abraham shall have a seed." And I believe Isaac lay in the promise forty years before his conception; Ishmael is born after the flesh, but "Isaac is by promise." You read of children of the womb, and the son of her womb, "but we, as Isaac was, are children of the promise." Zion's offspring are spiritual: and what can cause her to labour and travail, in expectation of a family, if no spiritual family is promised to her? "Thou shalt break forth on the right hand, and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles; a little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation; I the Lord will hasten it in his time." Here they lay. And shall I make such promises to Zion, and not perform them? "Shall she labour" in hope and expectation, "and bring forth nothing but wind? Shall no deliverance be wrought in the earth? Shall I cause to travail, and not cause to bring forth? Shall I raise" thy hopes and expectations, and shalt thou be disappointed of thy hope, and have all thy expectations cut off? "Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth?" Shall I make such promises to thee, and not fulfil them? "Shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God." Shall the children struggle, being quickened, and then die in the place of the breaking forth of children? No; I, that give them life to labour, will give them love to cast out fear. "Before she travailed she brought forth;" before the apostles began to form churches, and they to labour in hope of increase, numbers of children appeared in the world; "before her pains came she was delivered of a man child," of a strong manly family, who were young men, who were strong, who overcame the wicked one, and the word abode in them. I go now to consider the youth which is to spring from the womb of the morning.

The youth which is to spring from the womb of the morning, which is to be as numerous as the drops of dew, seem to be at a time yet to come; when popery shall be discovered "by the brightness of the Lord's coming, and be destroyed with the breath of his lips;" when the earth shall be covered with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea; when there shall be such a wonder performed as never was heard of till God revealed it. "Who hath heard such a thing? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day?" Yes, it did at the creation, when God commanded it; "Let the earth bring forth abundantly. But shall a nation be born at once? Yes, when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ;" when the spiritual seed of Abraham shall be as the stars of heaven for multitude, and as the sand upon the sea shore innumerable. Now that this is a promise yet to come appears in my text, and in the whole psalm out of which it is taken. "In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, thou hast the dew of thy youth." But then why are they called youth, when the spiritual family is said to consist of "babes, little children, young men, and fathers?" Why, because of a nation being born at once; the Gentiles' fullness and the Jews' call and conversion coming in together; for, if the earth is to "bring forth in one day," if a nation is to be born at once, if a little one is to become a thousand, and a small one a great nation, and if God will hasten this in his time, then it cannot be supposed that there will be one old man in faith in a thousand, or one father in ten thousand; on which account it appears plain that the family will consist chiefly, if not entirely, of youth; and so saith the Spirit, "Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth," Psalm xlv. 16. Now the off-spring of the womb of the morning being called youth, this text mentions nothing but children; and the birth of this family is to be all over the world, "for these children are to be made princes in all the earth:" this must be when the greatest kingdom under the whole heavens is given to the saints, and they shall take it, and when both kings and subjects shall be the saints of God; kings nursing fathers, and queens nursing mothers; the officers peace, and the exactors righteousness; "when spears shall be beat into ploughshares, and swords into pruning hooks; when nations shall learn war no more, but the abundance of peace shall be enjoyed as long as the moon endures."

But then it may be asked why the womb of the church at this time is called or compared to "the womb of the morning?" Answer. When the church shone forth in the antediluvian world, soon after the creation, soon after the morning stars had sang their hymns of creation together, Rev. iv. 11. Soon after which the songs of grace begun, when the church shone first forth, "when men began to call on the name of the Lord." Under the law, when she was compared to the moon, then they were called "children in bondage, under tutors and governors, under a schoolmaster, shut up to the faith which should afterward be revealed;" in which state they were said to grope as the blind for the wall, wishing the day to break, and the shadows to flee away. But, when Christ the day-spring visited them, and the dawn of gospel day began to shine, then the saints bore a name suitable to the state of their mother, who then "looked forth clear as the sun;" then her family bore another name, a name which they never bore before, being called by Christ himself the "children of light," and "God the father of lights;" and, as the church was then said "to be clothed with the sun," so her family, says Paul, "are all children of the light, and of the day; not of night nor of darkness." Hence it appears that, in this future time to come, the church's womb will be the womb of the morning, her offspring the children of light and of the day, in a glorious sense; "her watchmen will see eye to eye; the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun as the light of seven days, when the Lord shall bind up the breach of his people, and heal the stroke of their wound;" when the teachers of the saints shall be hid in a corner no more, but their eyes shall see their teachers.

Now that this time is yet to come will appear by the contents of the psalm out of which my text is taken; and the first is putting down all idolatrous kings, popish, Turkish, and Pagan; "He shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath," Psalm cx. 5. Secondly, the judgment that shall be executed upon the heathen, and their death, and the wounding the head, Satan, in popish, heathen, and Mahometan countries. "He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies, he shall wound the head over divers countries," verse 6. Which leads me to consider

The dew of the youth, which shall spring from the womb of the morning; which I think is not so much expressive of the number of the saints, though they are sometimes compared to stars, to sand, and here to the drops of dew; though in that sense it may be true, yet I think their flourishing state, and abundant refreshing, is signified by the dew more than their number. Sometimes "the poor and needy seek water, and there is none;" at other times the ministers of Satan "speak so much villany, that they make empty the soul of the hungry, and cause the drink of the thirsty to fail;" then there "is a famine not of bread nor of water, but of hearing the word of the Lord;" at which times the Lord promises that "he will hear them, and that he the God of Israel will not forsake them, but pour water on him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground." The dew principally, represents the flourishing state of the church at the time that this prophecy alludes to; "when the everlasting gospel shall be preached," stripped of human forms, and unadulterated with human inventions, human traditions, and carnal ceremonies; "when the pure doctrine of Christ shall drop as the rain, and distil as the dew;" when there shall be no complaining of leanness, dryness, and barrenness; "when the sun (of persecution) shall no more smite them by day, nor the moon (of legal devotions) by night; when Zion shall call her walls salvation, and her gates praise. In those days the Lord will be as the dew unto Israel; they will thrive as the corn, and grow as the vine, and send forth their roots as Lebanon." All which is expressive of the gentle distillations of grace, and the abundance of it; when hard hearts will be softened, barren souls revived, parched souls refreshed; the sun of persecution, and the flames of carnal lust, shall be allayed; and both the floor of the Lord's harvest, and the fleece of the Lord's sheep, will be wet with the dew of heavenly grace. The morning mentioned in my text, the womb of it, the innumerable progeny, the universal ruin of the wicked, the spread of the gospel, the wonderful increase of Zion, and the universal call of her family, are all mentioned in one psalm, which is as follows, Psalm lxxii. The first is, the committing all judgment into the hands of Christ, and the execution of all righteousness by him: "Give the king thy judgments, O Lord, and thy righteousness unto the king's son," verse 1. The next particular is, the justification of his people, and the avenging their wrongs by executing the righteous sentence of God upon them. "He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment," verse 2. Next comes the free publication of the finished work on mount Calvary, and sweet reconciliation by the preaching of peace and imputed righteousness upon every little hill of Zion, or in every little assembled flock of the chief Shepherd. "The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness," verse 3. The next branch of his work at this future time is, to execute true judgment in behalf of the poor in spirit, to proclaim and save them that feel the need of salvation, and to execute vengeance and eternal damnation on all the covetous, overreachers, defrauders, and oppressors. "He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save ye the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor," verse 4. When this is done all the world will fear him and every generation will share in the benefits of his reign till time is no more. "They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations," verse 5. And now comes in the dew of his youth mentioned in my text. "He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass; as showers that water the earth: in his days shall the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth," verses 6, 7. All this alludes to the time when all the kingdoms of this world shall become his, from one end of the world to the other; for so it follows. "He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth; they that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust; yea all kings shall fall down before him, all nations shall serve him," verses 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. I must now conclude this subject, having said what I can of the beauties of the Lord Jesus Christ; of his beauties on Zion by the manifestations of himself to her, of the beauties of holiness in the worship of the saints, of the mystery of it, of the womb of the morning, of the youth, and of the dew of grace that is to appear upon these youths, and of the glory of these children of light, which are to spring from this womb of the morning.