Jerusalem’s Watchmen (1) – A Sermon by Matthew Newcomen (Isaiah 62:6,7. Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give Him no rest, till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.)

The Lord, having promised unto His Church instruments fit for Himself to use in effecting the great things previously promised, says, “I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem”. And having undertaken for the fidelity of these watchmen, which shall never hold their peace night nor day, He turns to them and gives them a charge to see that they make good what He has undertaken. In the words you may consider these three things:

The first part of a sermon, as edited, preached at Westminster Abbey before both Houses of Parliament and the Westminster Assembly on 7 July 1643, a fast day at the end of the first week of the Assembly. As a member of the Assembly, Newcomen (also spelled Newcomb) was one of those most involved in drawing up the Confession of Faith. He was then minister at Dedham in Essex and a prominent Presbyterian. After he was ejected from his charge in 1662, he crossed to the Netherlands and became minister of the English church in Leiden, where he died of the plague in 1669, aged about 59.

First, the persons called upon: “Ye that make mention of the Lord”. The margin reads: Ye that are the Lord’s remembrancers. Unless our marginal reading only implies that it is the common duty and disposition of all the people of God to remember the Lord and make mention of Him, the Lord’s remembrancers seems to have something peculiar to some rank and order of men to whom it belongs to put the Lord in mind of His people and of His promises. It seems there was some standing office in the court to be the king’s remembrancer, to which the prophet here alludes – ye to whose office it belongs to put the Lord in mind of His Church’s necessities, and His promises, which can be no other than the watchmen spoken of in the foregoing words, “I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem,” and they no other but the priests and prophets and ministers of the Lord.

Second, the service they are called to, described negatively: “Keep not silence, and give Him no rest”. This implies that their employment here is vocal, and that can only be preaching or praying. Some think the ministers of the Lord are here called to diligence in both these; but in this place I conceive that the Lord calls them to attendance upon prayer, because of the following words: give Him no rest, that is, give the Lord no rest – pray, cry importunately, incessantly. God here by His prophet calls His ministers to pray, as elsewhere He doth, by His Apostle, to preach in season and out of season, night and day.

Third, the duration of this service, how long they must continue praying: “Till He establish and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth” – till God have not only laid the foundations but set up the pinnacles of a glorious Church, not only brought forth the cornerstone but the top-stone of Jerusalem and all the earth with shouting, crying, “Grace, grace unto it”.

Out of the words, I might present unto you several doctrines, as many in number as the parts of the text, as:

First, that God will certainly establish Jerusalem and make it a praise in the earth. This is clear, for God would certainly never call His servants to pray for what He never intended to do. If this was the only text in all the book of God that told us of this beauty and glory, wherewith God in the latter days will clothe His Church, even upon earth – if nothing was said of it elsewhere in this evangelical prophet Isaiah or any mention of it in that prophetical evangelist John; if in his whole book of Revelation he had not uttered one word of this glory of the Church – yet in this one text there is enough to support the faith of God’s people in the patient and comfortable expectation of it. God hath commanded prayer for it; therefore God will do it, for He never said to the sons of Jacob, “Seek ye Me in vain” (Is 45:19).

Second, we might observe that, though the Lord will certainly make His Church glorious, a praise upon earth, yet He will not do this till it be obtained of Him by earnest and incessant prayer. Therefore in order to His own holy and blessed ends, He here commands His servants’ prayers.

Third, we may observe that it is in a special manner the duty of God’s ministers to pray earnestly and incessantly to God that He would establish and make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

This third I will embrace. To an assembly of God’s ministers met together on a solemn day of prayer to seek God for the good of Jerusalem, what can be more opposite than such a doctrine as this, which tells them that it is in a special manner their duty to pray incessantly and unfortunately that God would establish and make Jerusalem a praise in the earth? May the God of wisdom and grace, who directed the thoughts of His servant unto this word, enlarge His own gracious hand, and the heart and mouth of His most unworthy instrument, so that, helped by His Spirit and your prayers, I may utter such things as may advance God’s glory and further all our hearts, not only in the work of this day, but in that great employment whereunto we desire this day to sanctify ourselves.

I will not say it is needful (in such an auditory it cannot be), but it may be convenient, to open the terms of this proposition a little. Not to speak of the persons upon whom this duty is imposed (God’s ministers), nor of the duty imposed upon them (prayer), I shall only speak of the subject of the duty here propounded to us, which is twofold: first, showing whom we must pray for; and second, what we must pray for.

1. Whom we must pray for.

Jerusalem, which may be taken two ways – either literally or mystically. Literally, for the city so named, or for the people sometime inhabiting that place. The city was sometime famous among the nations as the city where God dwelt, the habitation of His holiness, the place near to which Christ was born, in which He conversed, manifested the truth of His godhead in His actions and the truth of His manhood in His passions, in which He was betrayed, scourged, reviled and condemned, near which He was crucified and buried. But this is not that Jerusalem we must pray for; our devotions must not with the Papists dote upon the ruins and rubbish of the city of God’s curse.

Jerusalem also literally signifies the people of Jerusalem, the nation of the Jews, whom God in His righteous indignation has scattered over the face of the earth, as chaff before the wind. These we may pray for – I mean the remnant according to the election of grace – that God would gather them again according to His promise: “And so all Israel shall be saved” (Rom 11:26).

But neither is this what is here meant. The Jerusalem meant in this place is the mystical Jerusalem, whereof this was but a type, the new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven. And so it implies two things:

Revelation 21:2, which seems to refer to this verse of Isaiah and to speak the same language; for as here (vv 4,5) God saith, The “land shall be married”; and God will rejoice over Jerusalem, “as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride”, so here John sees this Jerusalem “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”.

(1.) The Church of God in its utmost latitude dispersed over the world. The general assembly and Church of the firstborn is unto us Mount Sion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb 12:22,23), for which we are to pray, that God would establish and make it a praise in the earth.

(2.) That particular Church in which we live, to which we belong, to which we stand in the same relation that the Jews did to Jerusalem. For this we are to pray, that God would establish and make it a praise in the earth.

2. What we are to pray for.

We find two things mentioned in the text: first, that God would establish His Church; second, that He would make it a praise in the earth.

First. Though the Church has a strong foundation, and walls and bulwarks, yet it is in itself but a weak building – earthly tabernacles planted on a rock. What God says of the earth may be applied to the Church: “The earth and all the inhabitants of it are dissolved; I bear up the pillars of it” (Ps 75:3). All the joints of this great fabric of the universe would be loosened if God did not put His everlasting arms under the pillars of it, and bear up and establish them. So would it be in the Church of God. Therefore we must pray that God would establish His Church in two things:

(1.) We must pray that God would establish His Church in truth, against all errors. The Church is said to be the pillar and ground of truth (1 Tim 3:15); not as the Papists affirm, as if truth were grounded upon the judgement and determination of the Church. The Church is indeed the pillar of truth, not because it holds up the truth, but because it holds forth the truth. The metaphor is taken, not from pillars that support houses, but from such pillars as anciently were wont to be fixed in market places and other places of public meeting, upon which they hung their laws, that they might be public to the view of all men. So, amongst us, proclamations are for the same end fixed to posts. We grant the Church is, and ought to be, such a pillar to hold forth the truth to the view of all men, a pillar to which all men resorting may read and know the truth. It is the pillar and ground of truth (in the original, the first signification of ground is a seat). It is the place of truth’s abode, where truth is always to be found. This the Church of God is, or ought to be.

Now, though the Church of God should be thus, yet we know there is no Church but is subject unto error. The Apostle tells the Corinthians: “There must also be heresies among you” (1 Cor 11:19), and our Saviour tells us that there shall arise such subtle masters of heresy that they shall seduce, if it were possible, the very elect of God (Mark 13:22). Therefore we must pray that God would establish His Church in truth against all errors. Truth is the Church’s girdle; a Church, as the Latin proverb is, that hath lost this girdle of truth, or hath this girdle loosed, is an adulterous, beggarly Church. Therefore, ye that are the Lord’s remembrancers, keep no silence, give Him no rest, till He establish His Church in truth.

(2.) We must pray that God would establish his Church in peace. Peace is one of the richest blessings of heaven, a comprehensive blessing, a circle of blessings. The lack of peace hath made us know what peace is worth. In the enjoyment of this rich, desirable blessing, we must entreat the Lord to establish Jerusalem, His Church. Ye that are the Lord’s remembrancers, keep no silence and give Him no rest till He establish Jerusalem in peace.

And this peace is threefold: [1.] civil, with the nations; [2.] ecclesiastical, with its own members; and [3.] spiritual, with its Head and God.

[1.] We must pray that God would establish His Church in peace among the nations. The Church is among the nations as the lily among the thorns. The lot of Israel was among the uncircumcised heathens; so is the Church’s. Yet hath her God promised peace in the midst of enemies. “He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine, and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it” (Mic 4:3,4). Ye that are the Lord’s remembrancers, keep no silence, give Him no rest, till He establish His Church in this peace.

[2.] There is the peace of the Church with its own members, peace in the bowels and bosom of the Church. We must pray that God would establish His Church so that the Church may not languish and die, that there may be no incurable divisions in the Church, which is one of the greatest and saddest mischiefs which can fall upon the Church, or that the Church fall under. God, who makes men to be of one mind in a house, can make men of one mind in a Church, in a nation, in Jerusalem. He has promised that He will do it: “I will give them one heart” (Ezek 11.19), and “I will turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent” (Zeph 3:9). O happy, happy we, if God would fulfil these promises in us! Happy we, if we could obtain this at the hands of God by our prayers! Ye that are the Lord’s remembrancers, keep no silence, give Him no rest, till He establish His Church in this peace.

[3.] There is peace between God and His Church. We must pray that God would establish His Church in that also – that God would so watch over and work in His Church that no sin may take hold upon it which might cause a quarrel between His Church and Him, or cause the Lord to say, “Mine heritage is unto Me as a speckled bird” (Jer 12:9). We must pray that God would so order all the ways of His Church before Him that He may never know her by any other than those precious names so full of love: Ammi and Ruhamah, Hephzibah and Beulah. Ye that are the Lord’s remembrancers, keep no silence, give Him no rest, till He establish His Church in this peace also.

Thus you see the first thing we are to pray for, that God would establish His Church upon the two pillars of truth and peace, as Solomon did the porch of the temple upon those two brazen pillars Jachin and Boaz. Yet there is one thing more that this text commands us to pray for, that God would make Jerusalem a praise; Ye that are the Lord’s remembrancers, keep no silence, give Him no rest, till He establish and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. In the former we pray that God would fortify His Church; in this that God would beautify His Church – make it clear as the morning, fair as the moon, glorious as the sun, terrible as an army with banners, lovely as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, the praise of all the earth. Now God makes His Church a praise in the earth by these five things especially:

1. God makes His Church a praise in the earth by furnishing her with fullness of ordinances. The pre-eminence of the Church of the Jews above all other nations was chiefly this: to them were committed the oracles of God. This, God tells His people, should make them glorious and praiseworthy in the eyes of all the nations of the world. “This is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this nation is a wise and understanding people: for what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon Him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgements so righteous, as all this law, which I set before you this day?” (Deut 4:6-8). Now when God bestows His oracles upon a people, appending ordinances, seals, Sabbaths, censures, administered in purity and in power, He then makes them a praise. Ye that are the Lord’s remembrancers, keep no silence, give Him no rest, till He thus make His Church a praise.

2. God makes His Church a praise by ruling it according to His own order. It is equally prejudicial to the Church not to be ordered at all, as to be ordered after the lusts and wills of men. God, who is the God of order, and not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints (1 Cor 14:33), would have all things in all churches done decently and in order (v 40). Now, when all ordinances and offices are administered in the Church according as God hath ordered, that Church is a praise in heaven and earth, with God and saints. “Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them unto you” (1 Cor 11:2). And, on the other side, disorder – or deflection from the rule of Christ – is a blemish, and detracts from the Church’s praise, as appears in the same chapter: “Now in this that I declare unto you, I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse” (v 17); and: “What, have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? Or despise ye the Church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I praise you not” (v 22). One aberration from the rule of Christ, in the administration of this one ordinance of the Supper of the Lord, casts a cloud upon this Church’s glory and causes a great diminution of their praise. Therefore we must pray that God would help His Church in all things to keep the ordinances as they are delivered unto us: Ye that are the Lord’s remembrancers, keep no silence, give Him no rest, till He make His Church thus a praise.

3. God makes His Church a praise when He fills it with abundance of light and knowledge – when, after a night of ignorance or error that had buried the Church of God, the Church hath a resurrection and looks forth as the morning, clear as the sun, fair as the moon so that men say, Who is this that looketh forth as the morning? (Song 6:10). Ye that are the Lord’s remembrancers, keep no silence, give Him no rest, till He make Jerusalem thus a praise. Remind Him of that which He has promised: “The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Is 11:9).

4. God makes His Church a praise by sanctifying this knowledge to the working of holiness in the hearts and lives of His people. This was the praise of Jerusalem: it was a holy city. This is the praise of the Church: they are a holy people. “The Lord hath avouched thee this day to be His peculiar people, as He hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all His commandments; and to make thee high above all nations which He hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy God, as He hath spoken” (Deut 26:18-19). Abundance of light unsanctified would make the Church, if it were possible, rather hell than heaven, and make men like the devils, who know much but are more desperately wicked. Therefore we must pray that God would sanctify that knowledge wherewith He fills His Church, so that its beauty may be perfect. Ye that are the Lord’s remembrancers, keep no silence, give Him no rest, till He make Jerusalem thus a praise.

5. God makes His Church a praise by increasing it, by enlarging its tents, and extending its cords. This is a blessing God calls His Church to rejoice in: “Sing, O barren… break forth into singing… Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited” (Is 54:1-3). We are to pray that God would make His Church a praise thus also.