The judgments of Providence in the hand of Christ: his voice to us in the terrible earthquake. And the earth devoured by the curse. : In four sermons. / By Benjamin Colman. ; [Four lines from Isaiah]

The Judgments of Providence in the hand of CHRIST.

Ezekiel X. 2.

And he spake unto the Man clothed with linnen, and said, Go in between the Wheels, even under the Cherub, and fill thy hand with coals of fire from between the Cherubims, and scatter them over the City: And he went in in my sight.

FOR the understanding these dark and awful words we must know, 1. who the Man is here spoken to, clothed with linnen; 2. who speaks to him; and then 3. consider the meaning of the thing commanded him and done by him.

1. The Man here spoken unto, clothed with linnen, is no other than the Man CHRIST JESUS; the eternal Son of God appearing in fashion as a man; that Son of man whom the FATHER hath made strong for himself, and who is now set down on the right hand of GOD, our High priest and King, both to make intercession and also to execute judgment.

We read of the same Man before presiding over the executioners of the wrath and judgments of God; Chap. 9.2. And behold six men came from the north, every

man with his slaughter weapon in his hand, and One man among them was cloathed with linnen. HE was not one of the six, but they were ministers and servants under Him, and obeyed his orders. Here are six Angels the ministers of the GOD MAN Mediator, hearkening to the voice of his word, to do his pleasure while he performs the whole counsel and purpose of GOD.

In the ninth Chapter this glorious Person clothed in linnen is the minister of mercy, v. 4. employed to go thro' the city and to set his mark on the men that sighed and cried for the Abominations done therein. In this tenth Chapter he appears as the minister of GOD's vengeance, as will presently be seen. And these two are indeed the summ of those Offices which CHRIST executes as Mediator between GOD and man: He effectually saves the Elect of GOD from sin and wrath, and then he executes judgment on all the rest, who will not be saved from sin by him.

CHRIST appears here in his priestly Office, clothed in linnen; for the Priests of old were so clothed; the white linnen being significant of purity and holiness; their profession thereof, and their bonds to it. The spotless holiness and shining righteousness of CHRIST is the thing here represented. As we read, Revel. 19.8. The fine linnen is the righteousness of the saints. But here the linnen clothing is the righteousness of the Holy JESUS himself. He clothes believers in his own righteousness, and makes them priests to GOD, and they shall walk with him in white.

CHRIST is here a priest upon his throne, the judge and the priest together. This is the Man, the sinless man, more than a man.

2. This Man is spoken to: HE spake unto the Man clothed with linnen and said. It is God the Father, the supream Majesty, who here speaks to CHRIST, as his Servant whom he upholds, his Elect in whom his

heart delighteth. The voice and words came from the Throne, says the first verse. Then I looked (says the Prophet) and behold in the firmament that was above the head of the Cherubims, there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a THRONE; and HE spake unto the man clothed in lin∣nen, &c. That is, the enthroned MAJESTY in the heavens, HE spake: GOD THE FATHER Almighty he spake to his Only begotten Son, the Man CHRIST JESUS. And now

3. Let us hear the things said, and let him that heareth understand: Go in between the wheels, even un∣der the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims, and scatter them over the city.

You must know that the day of the destruction of Jerusalem was now at hand, even the burning of the City and Temple by the army of the king of Baby∣lon. Zedekiah was now king of the remnant of Judah, his reign was short and his ruine at hand; and the destruction of the city by fire is the thing here repre∣sented and foretold. Burnt it was by Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, but who did it? why CHRIST the king and judge of the church and of the world. The Man the ordained judge, he goes in between the wheels; for he turns them all, high and dreadful as they are; He fill'd his hands with coals of fire from be∣tween the cherubims, for they had profaned his altars and his temple; and then he scattered the coals over the defiled city and sanctuary, which was once Holi∣ness to the LORD.

It was CHRIST's own hand did it: The flaming brands in the hand of the Chaldeans were the coals in his hand: They did but perform His holy word and will and dreadful pleasure. They were the staff of his indignation.

Finally observe, how readily and fully CHRIST executes the will of the FATHER in them whom he saves, and in them that perish. Has the FATHER said to Him, "Go set a mark on such and such to save them? He does it: Ezek. 9.11. And the man clothed with linnen reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me. Or doth the FATHER say to CHRIST, "Go set the city in flames? He does it; The Prophet saw him go; He went in (says he) in my sight. See also the 6 and 7 verses.

Now the thing to be remarked is, That the burning coals, the dispensation of Judgments, are put into the hand of the Man clothed with linnen, and scattered by Him: Which teaches us this Doctrine— "That the present Judgments of Providence are put into the hand of CHRIST, and come forth from his hand.

But when I say the Judgments of Providence, it can't be meant in exclusion of the dispensations of Mercy and Grace; which as they do equally belong to the kingdom of Providence, so the administration of them is equally in the hand of CHRIST. Nor when we say that the dispensation both of mercy and of judgment is from the hand of the LORD JESUS, can this be understood in exclusion of, or derogation from the FATHER and the HOLY GHOST, as if the kingdom of Providence were not always in their glorious hand: For the glorious Persons in the GODHEAD are one in essence and in operation. And altho' there is a special Mediatorial Kingdom com∣mitted to the SON, which takes in the whole Admi∣nistration of the kingdom till the consummation of all things, when the whole mystery of GOD shall be finished; yet the FATHER worketh hitherto in and by the SON, and so doth the HOLY GHOST with and from Him; and this in a way of Sovereign dominion.

1 Cor. 12.11. All these worketh that one and selfsame SPIRIT, dividing to every man severally as He will.

The SPIRIT of GOD is therefore represented as guiding all the motions of Providence, together with the SON OF MAN, in the visions which Ezekiel had of the living creatures and of the wheels, Chap. 1.12, 19, 20. The living creatures (i. e. the Cherubims or Angels, ministers in the executing of the Divine will) went straight forward whither the SPIRIT directed them; and the wheels (the course of nature) followed them: Whithersoever the SPIRIT went, they went; for the SPIRIT of life (so the Hebrew is) was in the wheels. So that we do not exclude the agency, power and sovereign influence of the HOLY SPIRIT, in the judgments or mercies of Providence, when we say that these are put, into the hand of CHRIST; For the Man clothed with linnen is in the midst of the same Wheels together with the SPIRIT of life; And while the SPIRIT lifts up the wheels, and the Cherubims act under his immedi∣ate direction; lo above the firmament appears the Throne, and the likeness of a Man upon it, with a rain-bow over his head, and fire from his loins down-ward. Ezek. 1.27, 28.

Having premised this guard on the sacred Truth be∣fore us, I come now to the proof and illustration of it, in the plainest manner I can. And because it is a Truth known only by Revelation, and capable only of Scripture proof, I shall therefore argue

• 1. from Scrip∣ture affirmations,
• 2. from Visionary Representations,
• 3. from Instances or Facts related,
• 4. from other great Doctrines of Christianity which infer the Truth I am upon; scil, "That the judgments of Providence are put into the hand of CHRIST, and come forth from his hand.

I. I argue from plain Scripture affirmations. And such I take the following places to be: Psalm 2. I have set my King upon my holy hill of Zion: I will declare the decree; the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my SON, this day have I begotten thee: Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession: Thou shalt break them with a rod of Iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potters vessel. Be wise now therefore O ye kings, be instructed ye judges of the earth: serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling: Kiss the SON, lest he be angry and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little: Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. The sum of this Psalm is CHRIST's dominion over the kingdoms of men and his judgments on them. In vain do the rulers or people of them take counsel together, and rage against the LORD, and against his ANOIN∣TED: He shall speak to them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure.

The like to this is the 110. Psalm: The LORD said to my LORD, set thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool: The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion; rule thou in the midst of thy ene∣mies: — Thou art a priest and king for ever, at my right hand, and shalt strike thro' kings in the day of thy wrath; shalt judge among the heathen, and wound the heads over many countries. Here the judgments of Providence are put into CHRIST's hand, in words as plain and full as can well be utter'd.

At his first manifestation to Israel, John the baptist told them that his Fan was in his hand: Matth. 3.12. And He himself said to them For judgment am I come. Luke 12.49. I am come to send fire upon earth; and what will I if it be already kindled? In what a sove∣reign manner is this said? as indeed having the coals of fire in his hand, to scatter them where he would. Agreeably he said again, All power is given to me in

heaven and on earth. This power must take in that of all the present judgments of Providence. As he told the Jews, John. 5.22, 27. That the FATHER had committed all judgment to the SON, and given him authority to execute judgment, now and hereafter, because he was the Son of man. The same thing is in effect said over and over to the Christian Churches in the second and third Chapters of the Revelations of St. John. All these are plain Affirmations that the judgments of Providence are in the hand of CHRIST, and come forth from his hand.

II. We have visionary Representations of this in the Book of God. My text is such, wherein is represen∣ted to the Prophet under the form of a Man clothed in linnen with his hands full of burning coals, the burning of Jerusalem by the power and vengeance of CHRIST. And in the first Chapter of this Prophecy we have the same Vision of a Man upon a Throne, over and above the Cherubims and the wheels, with a rain-bow of peace over him, and yet from his loins downward a burning fire. The fire is as much the token of judgment and wrath, as the rain-bow is of grace and mercy: And the MEDIATOR cannot be truly represented to us but by both together; being equally glorious in his holiness and mercy. He is clad with zeal as with a cloke, while he is arrayed in the garments of salvation. The fire about the loins of the Son of man is alike significant of his executing judgment, as the coals in his hand.

Nebuchadnezzar saw him in the form of a Stone cut out of the mountain without hands, which smote the Image of Idolatry and brake it in pieces, and it self became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Dan. 2.44.

Zechariah saw a Man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees which were in the

bottom, and behind him a troop or host of horse, red speckled and white: i. e.

Angels the executioners of God's purposes, whether in a way of judgment, noted by the red, or in a way of mercy signified by the white, or of a mixt nature, noted by the speckled.

But these visionary representations of the Son of man with the judgments of Providence in his hand are more abundant in the Book of the Revelations. So John saw him in the midst of the golden Candlesticks, his feet as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters, and out of his mouth a sharp sword.

In the 19. Chap. of that book, John saw a Man upon a white horse, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war: His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many Crowns, and he was clothed in a vesture dipt in blood, and his Name is called the WORD OF GOD: And the armies in heaven follow him, clothed in fine linnen white and clean, — Lo the livery of CHRIST, which the heavenly hosts wear, the executioners of his judg∣ments upon men, such as becomes his righteous and spotless administration. As He himself is clothed with linnen, so his armies follow him in fine and white linnen. Did you ever hear of an Army so clothed before? an army of Angels and holy ones! of pure and spotless Spirits, the ministers of his holy judg∣ments!

III. I come now to give you some Scripture Instan∣ces, or Facts related, in which CHRIST has appeared unto men with the Judgments of Providence in his hand. And I will take these sacred Stories in their order, as they ly in the Book of GOD.

The first is the Judgment of GOD on wicked Sodom: With respect to which we read of three men

(i. e. two Angels attending CHRIST their Lord and ours) who appeared to Abraham in the plains of Mamre, as he sat in his tent-door, in the heat of the day. Gen. 18.1. Abraham as soon as he saw them ran to meet them, bowing himself to the earth; and perceiving that One of the three appeared much the Superior of the other two, he addressed himself in a particular manner, and with a more especial reve∣rence to Him, and said, My Lord, If now I have found grace in thy sight, pass not I pray thee from thy servant. It was this Chief of the heavenly Guests that said to Abraham, v. 10. I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a Son: At the hearing of which when Sarah laughed, it is said v. 13. And the LORD said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh? So that this Person was the LORD himself, in fashion as a Man; and the other two were Angels, his servants and ministers, who waited on him in this his descent to our earth.

But there was a more special reason of His com∣ing down, and theirs with Him, than this visit to Acraham; as it presently appeared. For as Abraham bro't them on their way after their courteous visit was over, the LORD sent the two Angels on their way to Sodom, to deliver righteous Lot and to burn up the cities of that polluted plain; But he stopt short Himself, and told Abraham how great the cry of the sin of Sodom was before him. Then Abraham stood before the LORD, and drew near to him, and made, that most awful and reverend Intercession for mercy on the wicked place, which will be famous in the Church for ever; And the LORD granted him his petition till he could not presume to ask further. And then the LORD went his way, and Abraham returned to his place.

The mean while the heavenly Messengers reached Sodom, and found as we all know, and the next morn∣ing

the LORD rained brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven. Gen. 19.24. The Lord the SON rained the fire from the Lord the FATHER, who worketh by the Son. It was not the two Angels that rained the fire; No, It was the LORD who stood with Abraham when these went on their way. It was the Lord CHRIST, and He did it from the FATHER, who hath committed all judgment to him.

Here now was my Text exemplified in the very letter of it. Those burning coals of fire which were scattered over the cities of the valley in Abraham's time, came from the hand of the SON OF GOD, the Man CHRIST JESUS. That fiery judgment and desolation, the image of the devouring eternal fire and everlasting burnings, came from those gra∣cious arms which had just before embrac'd Abraham, and all his spiritual Seed in him. — Go, said the FATHER to Him, go in between the wheels, the high and dreadful wheels of my all-governing Providence, and fill thy hand with fire and brimstone, and scatter it down in a rain of furious flames upon the accursed cities, and burn them up together: And it was done.

The same hand that burnt Sodom, the Alient from his Covenant, did afterward burn Jerusalem, the holy City.

This instance alone is a sufficient Illustration of my text, and a Demonstration of the Truth before us, That the Judgments of Providence are in CHRIST's hand, and come from Him.

But I come to a second Instance, which is the Judgment of GOD upon the wicked Cananites, the Nations which GOD rooted out by fire and sword before the Children of Israel. I might have nam'd the plagues that destroyed Egypt; for it was CHRIST who appeared to Moses in the bush on fire and sent him to Pharaoh. But the latter instance of his ap∣pearance to Joshua before Jericho may suffice, be∣cause

the vision which he then had sufficiently tells us from whose hand the destructions of Egypt, and all the Judgments on Israel in the wilderness, had come. For to be sure the same hand that destroyed the Cananites executed also the other judgments.

Now the story of CHRIST's appearing to Joshua with the judgments of Providence in is hand, you have in the 5. Chap. v. 13, 14, 15. And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jerico, that he lift up his eyes and looked, and behold there stood a MAN over against him, with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went un∣to him and said, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And He said, Nay, but as Captain of the Host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did worship, and said unto Him, What saith my LORD unto his servant? And the Captain of the Lord's Host said to Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for the place whereon thou standest is holy: And Joshua did so.

Here was a Man in form, but more than a man, the mighty SON OF GOD himself, who afterward took our flesh, and took the name of Joshua, JESUS, a Sa∣viour, the Captain of our salvation. He is the Cap∣tain of all the Lord's hosts, in heaven above and on earth below; the King of Israel, and Joshua's Lord. He appeared here with a drawn sword in his hand, for the defence of his Church and for the slaughter of their enemies.

Joshua fell on his face and worshipp'd him, as Abra∣ham had done in his day with fear and trembling. And because he permitted this, we know certainly that he was no meer Angel of God; for then he would have forbid it. But this Man in appearance received the profound worship of Abraham, and requir'd it from Joshua, who fell prostrate before him with aw∣ful reverence, faith, love, attention and ready obedi∣ence; and said unto Him, What saith my LORD unto his servant? It became him to fall, and say thus, be∣fore

the LORD OF HOSTS and Him only. Just as when GOD called to Moses out of the bush, the ser∣vant hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon GOD.

It was the same GOD of Israel who now appeared to Joshua in the form of a Man, and had appeared to Moses in the form of devouring fire. We know him to be the same GOD, because the same word of com∣mand is given to Joshua that was before given to Mo∣ses, Put off thy shoe from thy foot, for the place whereon thou standest is holy.

Doubtless as soon as Joshua heard these words, he knew that it was the same LORD GOD whom his master Moses had seen at Horeb; even the GOD of Abra∣ham, of Isaac and of Jacob. See Exod. 3.4, 5.

But why did He now appear to Joshua? It was to execute judgment, the wrath of God upon the nations of Canaan, whose iniquity was now full. He threw down the wall of Jerico, and commanded it to be burnt with fire. A sword or a coal in his hand is the same thing. He fill'd his hand with judgments, and made Joshua the dreadful executioner of them upon all the devoted nations of that goodly Country. It is the vision of the same JESUS, Revel. 19.13. with his drawn sword and vesture dipt in blood, who will here∣after burn the Romish Jerico; when all the fowl that fly in the midst of heaven shall be called to the supper of the great GOD, to eat the flesh of Kings and the flesh of Captains, and of mighty men, and of all men, both bond and free, small and great. Then the Cananites shall be a second time rooted out with great fury, and the Church of GOD a second time shall enter into rest, be enlarged and edi∣fied. Even so LORD JESUS come quickly.