euery where It remaineth that I onely acquaint you with a safe station while you are here to stand in and a powerfull supplication while wee are here to pray with Let your station be like that of Elias in mount Horeb who stood in the clifts of the rockes entrance vntill the strong wind the earthquake and the fire in all which God was not were passed by but when he heard a soft and still voice he came out and stood before the Lord so let vs be continually meditating the passion and rents of our rocke Christ Iesus and hiding our selues therein while the winds of wickednesse the earthquakes of changings and chances the fire of might and malice and while all the works of darkenesse wherein God is not passe by vntill we heare a soft and sweete voice of the Lord to call vs forth of our station to rest Then let vs go forth willingly vnto our welbeloued and loue him and liue with him for euer Let our prayers and supplications in the meane while be the words of the hard-hearted and misbeleeuing Iewes but not their spirit for they cried His bloud be vpon vs and vpon our children and it was and is so to their vtter ruine and desolation euen vntill this day as a iust iudgment of God for their crucifying the Lord of life But we will pray and say in the spirit of the faith of Iesus in whom we beleeue His holy bloud be vpon vs and vpon our children to our saluation according to Gods blessed promise made to the Patriarks Prophets and to all the faithfull For he is the chiefest of ten thousand c. or as some reade it the chiefest of twelue thousand where in wee may see the mystery of the number both of ten and twelue as also the excellency of the partie that he is the chiefest in heauen and the choicest on earth together with the perfection of both heauen and earth in himselfe and imparted to his chosen the Church of the redeemed The Papists imitating the Platonists are very superstitious in numbers the one putting a fatall necessity in them in the period of estates and kingdomes the other affirming a certaine secret efficacy to be in many numbers but in the septenary number especially Hence haue they their canonicall houres for prayer and sacrifice But Bodin in his booke de Repub. iustly taxeth Plato for that dreame And the schooles conclude against them both that Numeri qua numerus nulla vis nulla efficacia Wee therefore will content our selues with the holy and mysticall vse which the booke of God maketh of them The mysticall numbers of sacred text are these to wit three foure fiue sixe seauen eight ten twelue Ten and twelue meete vs in this text by variation of readings both signifying perfection Ten is the highest of simple numbers all nations after ten begin to number againe The tenths was consecrated to the Priests Gods seruants In the tenth moneth the waters of Noahs floud abated Sem a father of the faithfull seeth the tenth age Ten words for the Creation of the world and ten words for the gouernment thereof as the Talmudists obserue For twelue we reade of twelue Patriarches the sonnes of Iacob twelue stones set vp in Iordan twelue precious stones in the breast plate of Aaron At twelue yeares Salomon decideth the plea of the dead child Christ the true Salomon at twelue yeares disputeth with the Doctors Twelue Apostles are sent to perfect the kingdome of grace Twelue foundations twelue gates twelue Angels the porters a tree that beareth twelue manner of fruites medicinable all the twelue moneths of the yeare describe the perfection of the kingdome of glory in the celestiall Ierusalem Thus we see that the mysterie of the number sheweth onely the excellency of the perfection of the partie being the chiefest in heauen and earth so described by Iohn the Diuine Apoc. 5. A throne is seene in heauen one sitting theron hauing a booke in his hand written within and without sealed with seauen seales But none was found neither in heauen nor in earth nor vnder the earth worthie to open the booke no nor once to looke into it Then wept the Diuine because none was found worthie to open the booke or once to looke therein But one of the Elders said Weepe not Behold the Lion of the tribe of Iuda the stocke of Dauid hath so preuailed that he may open the booke and loose the seales thereof This booke is Gods will these seauen seales are loosed and made knowne vnto vs by the declaration of Iesus Christ. The first seale is his Natiuitie opened Mal. 4. 2. But vnto you that feare my name shall the Sunne of righteousnesse arise and health shall be vnder his wings and ye shall go forth and grow vp as fat calues The second his Baptisme Zach. 13. 1. In that day there shall be a fountaine opened to the house of Dauid and to the inhabitants of Ierusalem for sinne and for vncleannesse The third his Passion poutrayed by Esay 53. chap. throughout The fourth his Descent deciphered Hosh. 13. 14. I will redeeme them from the power of the graue I will deliuer them from death O death I will be thy death O graue I will be thy destruction The fift is his Resurrection recorded Psal. 16. 10. For thou wilt not leaue my soule in the graue neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption The sixt his Ascension described Psal. 68. 18. Thou art gone vp on high thou hast led captiuity captiue and receiued gifts for men yea euen the rebellious bast thou led that the Lord might dwell there The seauenth is the sending of the holy Ghost pointed out vnto vnto vs Ioel 2. 28. And afterward will I powre out my Spirit vpon all flesh and your sonnes and your daughters shall prophecie your old men shall dreame dreames and your yong men shall see visions By the opening of the first seale to wit his Natiuitie whereby he became flesh he hath redeemed vs from being worse then very brute beasts For man being in honor vnderstood it not and therefore was compared to the beasts that perish S. Augustine speaking of the grace of the new Testament comforteth vs thus saying Let no man despaire but conceiue hope vnspeakable for by participation of the word we become the sonnes of God seeing that Iesus Christ by incarnation is become the sonne of man Aske your forefathers saith Moses and the daies of old euen since the day that God created man vpon the earth and aske from the one end of heauen vnto the other if there come to passe such a great thing as this Did euer people heare the voice of God speaking out of the midst of a fire as thou hast heard and liued If Moses spake thus of the voice of an Angell for the law was giuen by the ministrie of Angels what may we say of the gracious words of eternall life vttered by the Lord of life Indeed
hypocriticall and hyperbolicall integritie like an old bottle they must vent it or else they would burst and vtter they must yea slauer out rather then faile their owne fooleries be they neuer so grosse or neuer so greeuous to be endured So that they may be then taken for great ones they thinke and haue the names of None such or the great outcrie of vaine glorie and popularity and heare others say of them as the Ephesians doting on their Idol Diana cried Great is Diana of the Ephesians And then do they beyond all meane and measure admire themselues and their owne beauties as did Narcissus and lift vp their plumes with the peacocke contemning all other in the basest manner and crying out to their brethren whom they most contemptuously despise like the Elizean spirits to the Tartarian and say Procul ô proculite profani But yet for all this the whole ranke of them in the sound iudgement of true and essentiall wisedome is but a rout of foolish dottards and dizzie drunkards doting on their owne conceitfull beauty and transgressing in the pride of their owne hearts Seest thou a man wise in his owne conceit more hope is of a foole then of him See the dottard The reason is because a foole is wiser in his owne conceit then seauen men that can render a reason Seest thou a man that is proud in his heart he is as one that transgresseth with wine as did drunken Zebul taking trees for men and as did mad Aiax taking rammes for lambes and taking carts for castles as they do Qui concipiunt aethera mente The way also that this generation walketh in is like them to wit a seeming iust and imagined straight way For whereas all skill in diuinitie is either opinion faith or knowledge these dizzie dottards are onely guided by opinion the very fountaine of Atheisme and the high way to heresie and schisme grounded vpon vncertainties and seeming truths but are not guided by the direction of Iesus faith which hath holy increasings and doth suscipere maius minus there being a progresse à fide ad fidem according to the praier of the yong beleeuer O Lord increase my faith These contrariwise take vpon them to know suddenly all reason all rule all resolutions and like ignorant idiots controll euen their learned Priests Certainely they might notwithstanding do well to call to minde Saules way which seemed iust vnto him when he spared Agag and the best things for sacrifice yet the issue thereof was the ouerrhrow of him and his estate They might also remember the fierie zeale of Iames and Iohn that would fire should come from heauen vpon the Samaritans But the Lord Iesus told them that they wotted not of what spirit they were and sent them to learne a new lesson euen this I will mercie and not sacrifice There is a way therefore that seemeth right but the issues thereof are the issues of death So S. Peter likewise in the tendernes of his hart would not the Lord should suffer at Ierusalem as he prophesied to his Apostles Math. 16. saying Master spare thy selfe But the Lord called him an aduersarie and told him that he sauored not of the things of God In the singularitie also of his good manners Peter said vnto the Lord Thou shalt not wash my feete but when he vnderstood better that if he were not washed he had no part with him he suddenly changed his minde and then would haue his head and all his body bathed by him And yet againe in the singularitie of his sincerity aboue all his fellowes he told his Master that if all forsooke him he would not and see his sinfull defect immediatly following as a punishment of that presumptuous singularity for he first and onely denied him and that most strangely being vanquished with very slight prouocations There is a way then that seemeth right to a man but the issues thereof are the issues of death In this conceitfull generation then and in this seeming way there is no essentiall worth much lesse any especiall vertue to be found Looke vp then to your Lord Iesus your soules beloued and in him and by him you shall see a beautifull generation regenerated by grace who are of his owne generation and partake of his diuine graces by the measure of sanctification giuen them they are also a choice generation set apart for himselfe and for his seruice which are stiled The generation of them that seeke the Lord. The way that they insist in is a right way not of opinion but of iudgement For all the waies of God are so many iudgements saith Gods secretary Moses These turne neither to the right hand too superciliously nor to the left hand too superstitiously but keepe the old ancient and perfect way to God Christ himselfe being their direction in this blessed way for he is verbum genitum the begotten word and the way to him is by verbum scriptum the written word If therefore I should haue my wish I would rather choose to be a doorekeeper to this generation of essentiall goodnesse then to dwell in the glorious tents of seeming holinesse and I shall rather be at sea tossed with a tempestuous storme in the ship with those that humblie professe themselues sinners then on the shore in the table of those Pharisies that iustifie themselues with their hideous haughtinesse Now as this bright beautie is essentiall in the substance so also it is especiall in the brightnesse and excellencie thereof For there are foure sorts of whitenes First fanatically phantasticall whitenes Secondly superficiall whitenes Thirdly naturall whitenes but changeable in the subiect Fourthly natiue whitenes and not changeable in the subiect The first is the diuell transformed into an Angell of light for he is fanatically phantasticall white The man that had a blemish of white in his eye was debarred from the priesthood was resembled to the owle of whom the Naturalists yeeld the reason that shee cannot see in the day time because of the exceeding great whitenes she hath in her eyes which scattereth so the sight that the optiques thereof cannot discerne perfectly the obiects Such are all those that conceiue themselues pure and yet are not washed and cleansed from their euill conscience who say they see and therefore their sinnes remaine for had they bene blind they might pretend some excuse but now all excuse is taken from them because they say that they see The superficiall white are painted sepulchers and whited walls loathsome within and the best is but woodden without like the gilded potsheard Salomon speakes of that the next shower of raine discouereth to be but an outcast for the potters field how gloriously soeuer it glister The natural white but changeable are they that are borne faire but afterwards by the Sunne and soyle they become blacke and Aethiopian-like Semblable are those that begin in the spirit of grace and bright
liue in his feare Taste then and see how gracious the Lord Iesus is and how plentifull is his goodnesse which he hath layed vp for them that feare him and prepared for them that trust in him euen before the sonnes of men He being the perfection of Priesthood and prophecie of sacrifice and sacrament so that now who so setteth his heart vpon any thing but vpon the Lord Iesus is liable to the extreme curse of Gods desertion Set not then your hearts on beautie beloued it is but a forward blossome soone nipt nor on pleasure it is but a bitter pill lapt in sugar nor on your belly it is but the pantrie for the draft house nor on riches they are but guiles and baites to insnare vs which while they are in getting wearie vs while they are possessed befoole vs and when we lose them they crucifie vs. Set not your hearts on the fauour of Princes or Potentates for they are but the sonnes of men nor on ambition it is but a feather tossed with the wind nor on gay apparell it is but rags nor on goodly houses they are but so many bonefiers against the day of doome nor on any thing vnder the sunne but only like and loue them in and for the Lord Iesus sake as they are either remedies for sin or directions in ordine ad Deum for our vsefull necessities and furtherances to further our future happinesse But as for those who despite the spirit of grace and trample the blessed bloud of the new Testament vnder their feete as do all sycophantizing Papists schismatizing Puritans neutralizing Atheists satanizing scorners of all godlinesse truth and honestie I will euer pray against their wickednesse Psal. 69. Let their table be their snare their eies dimmed their habitation voide their backes bowed downe let them heape vp iniquitie vpon iniquitie and let their names be razed out of the booke of life Let them be vnto vs as paganish Ethnicks and Publicans as vncleane leapers put out of the campe of Israel as rotten members cut off from the bodie of the Church as dead branches broken off from the true vine as vncleane dogges put out of the holy Citie and as those of the Concision of whom we must beware Phil. 3. 2. Yea let all that is about them be hatefull vnto vs. Let the goods of such be as the cursed things of Iericho their houses as odious as a iakes their possessions as direfull as Acheldama their gaines as vile as the Pharisies Corban their name as branded and as infamous as was Ieroboams their posteritie as obscure as the vntimely fruite of a woman which neuer seeth the sunne If they be honourable and do not honor Christ ô Lord lay their honor in the dust If noble let them be accompted base vnlesse they be ennobled in Iesus Christ. If learned let their learning be a by-word and a fable among the vulgar that studie not to be students in Christs schoole If they be a whole nation let their portion be as the men of Ashdod 1. Sam. 5. If a king let him be made as Nebuchadnezzar that he may know the Almightie If a Courtier let him be despised in the sight of the king yea let all them be deliuered ouer that loue not the Lord Iesus but despise him vnto Sathan by excommunication that confession at least may be wrested from them as it was from Simon Magus and Elimas the Bariesu who craued aide of the Church which formerly they desperatly despised that if it be the will of the Lord they may be saued by repentance in this day of grace before that fatall and finall diuorce from the Lord of their soules and bodies be denounced before the curses of separation Depart from me of indignation ye cursed of dolor into fire of desperatiō into hell fire of confusion prepared for the deuil and his angels be in the last iudgement awarded against them for their contempt of the Lord Iesus Christ. But to them that seeke the Lord Iesus mella fluant illis and all the beatitudes of mount Gerazim let their eares neuer heare the horrors of the vale of the children of Hinnon but let Sions rayes shine vpon them all their life and let the Lord Iesus appeare vnto them in his second coming to saluation who loue him and looke for him from heauen and long for him from the bottome of their hearts crying come Lord Iesu. Let them heare ô Lord thy perfect blessings of association Come of benediction ye blessed of inheritance possesse of glory the kingdome of election prepared for you before the foundations of the world were layed And God perswade Iaphet to dwell in the tents of blessed Sem. Euen so ô Lord be it Amen My welbeloued is white and ruddie the chiefest of ten thousand Cant. 5. 10. YOu may iustly demand of me blessed and beloued in the Lord Iesus as the daughters or faithfull people of Ierusalem do here of the spouse in the Canticles concerning her beloued saying What is thy beloued more then other beloued what is thy beloued more then another louer that thou dost so charge vs because of late I denounced from this place before you not against you for I am perswaded better things of you my brethren and such as accompanie saluation Paule his fearefull curse of Anathema Maranatha to wit If any man loue not the Lord Iesus let him be accursed when the Lord shall come And my reply vnto you must be my text which the spouse here maketh to the like demand that is My beloued is white and ruddie the chiefest of ten thousand The words are few the matter manifold Out of Sion saith Dauid hath God appeared in perfect beautie for what higher and more heauenly perfection can be imagined or was euer hard of then Sions sacred rayes which giue bright splendor and most glorious lustre to the whole Christian world The rigor of the law frō Sinay is satisfied in the righteousnesse of the Gospell from mount Sion If any thē be affectionate let him come hither here is loue and if he haue grace here is his welbeloued also and this commencement and commerce of sweet loue will be the whetstone of true perfect and perpetuall loue If any be curious here is amiable beautie white and ruddie white answering the purenesse he would haue and ruddie corresponding the zealous hartines he would craue And further if he shall be curious and be elegans formarum spectator here is choice euen the chiefest of ten thousand For here he may behold the spouse first shewing her deere affection then her true loues description her affection she vttereth by appellation of vnfained loue welbeloued and also by application thus My welbeloued she then describes him generally as thus is white and ruddie the chiefest of ten thousand And then particularly in his parts as in the verses following of this Chapter In her generall description she sets him downe in