man defile the Temple of God him shall God destroy 1 Cor. 3.17 he is more mov'd expresses greater indignation at this than in all his life besides He seems here to forget his Office of Mercy which he came for save that severity against Sacriledge is favour to the Saints in rescuing the place of their solemn Assemblies from rude and covetous prophanenesse and to be wholly set upon execution of judgment And yet though he may seem so and that he be sore displeased he does not shut up his loving kindnesse in his sore displeasure Psal 77.9 It is not altogether S. James his Judicium sine Misericordia 2.13 Judgment without Mercy No Deus diligit Misericordiam Judicium Psal 33.5 He loveth Mercy and Judgment the earth is full of his goodnesse They who will sing unto the Lord as David did their Song must be of Mercy and Judgment as David's was Psal 101.1 even in this Judgment he remembers Mercy Hab. 3.2 He will not proceed in Justice against them without a mercifull inclining to give them a reason of this his proceeding and though it be true which we finde in Job Who will that is who dare who may say unto the Lord what dost thou or why dost thou so Job 9.12 yet there he denies them not that as they see and feel what he does so they should know why he does it let them hear his sweet words for Reason is sweet Ps 142.6 even to him that smarts under it and Religion much more even when it threats and shoots to have us returne to it that we may get within the arrow and without the danger they cannot mislike his deeds not this the very sharpest of them to stay them from murmuring he prevents with a scriptum est so that if they will not know him to be the Lord Ex. 16.8 they shall not choose but know if they do murmur their murmuring is against the Lord he preaches to them out of two of the Prophets he shews them the right use and end why and for which that house was founded out of Isaias 56.7 My House shall be called the house of Prayer and the intolerable abuse they had put upon it out of Jer. 7.11 ye have made it a Den of Thieves The first part of his Sermon is our Text. In which we have first Divisio this House laid claim to on God's behalfe as his possession My House saies God Secondly we have the Owner of this House who best may do it disposing of it to a certain use it must be a House of Prayer And thirdly we have the Note of distinction to know it from all other Houses of Prayer the difference which God in his Heraldry sets upon the Elder House it shall not only be so but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by way of excellence It shall he called Domus Mea Domus Orationis vocabitur My House shall be called the House of Prayer Part. 1 My House Here 's first Domus Mea. this House appropriated to God and his claim put in for his speciall title to it Three common titles there are that God has to all things in the world by which they become properly all his his by all right 1. the unquestionable right of Creation Man that cannot make a hair not one hair white or black Matth. 5.36 and if not so small a thing not so much as one nothing God is the Maker of all 2. of Possession he holds them all Man is but Tenant at will of the very breath he draws it is God saies David who when he will taketh away his breath Psal 104.29 God is Proprietary of him and of all he has 3. of Preservation he saves them all God who giveth taketh away too Job 1.21 that chapter proves it by Induction by enumeration of almost every thing Servants Oxen and Asses 15. Sheep 16. Camels 17. House too and children also v. 19. and those of both sorts sons and daughters as it is expresly set downe v. 13. Man cannot preserve himself and his cattel much lesse 't is thou O God that preservest Man and Beast Psal 36.6 'T is thou O God that saist the Cattel upon a thousand hills are mine at my keeping Psal 50.10 And thus to be his is all no more than the very reference to nature in the things and to the God of nature as the Fashioner the Owner and Conserver of them But yet in particular besides Nature some other respect there is in God as it were in a civil and moral kind whereby things become yet further his His by Vse when he specially employes them and makes them his Instruments above the ordinary course of nature and then are they his by claim and challenge too he calls them so and himselfe sets his own name upon them and that 's here in this Domus mea the subject of my Text Gods own demand of it in particular to himselfe as his own and for his more peculiar service Domus mea it 's my House The whole earth is the Lords and all that therein is Psal 24.1 And therefore he might freely give it as a Patrimony to his Son the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession Psal 2.8 yet the earth he hath given too to the children of men Psal 115.16 But still the Land of Canaan is Terra mea my Land 2 Chron. 7.20 the rest as himselfe speaks of his Vineyard he sets out and le ts out to Husbandmen at large Mat. 21.33 Ps 44.12 though he does not encrease his wealth by their price who Hold of him in Capite in Christ their Head but that he holds to himselfe as his own Demeans All the Beasts of the Forrest are mine Psal 50.10 But the Beasts that were offered up in sacrifice to him they were his after a more special manner the Cattel upon a thousand hills mine and the City upon seven hills mine mine by my general right I have to them and belonging to my generall care and providence over them but cattle for burnt offerings mine by divine institution and Cities wherein I am truly worship'd mine as partaking of my special love and favour all Israel my People but more peculiarly the Tribe of Levi mine Israel mine Inheritance Deut. 9.26 but to the Priests and Levites the Lord himself is their Inheritance Deut. 18.2 O ye the whole House of Israel trust in the Lord he is their Helper and Defender Psal 115.9 He shall blesse the House of Israel but shall he not also and more especially blesse the House of Aaron v. 12. All her Houses have need of succour and from him In her Palaces God is well known for a sure Refuge Psal 48.2 And of every House 't is truly said Excâ—pt the Lord build the House their labour is but lost that build it Psal 127.1 But Solomon shall build a House for my Name saies God 1 Chron. 22.10 His Name is great in all Israel Psal 76.1 but here it
sight then wast thou not made the Head of the Tribes then the Lord annointed thee King over Israel 1 Sam. 15.17 God looks upon us as we look upon things through a Perspective-Glasse to see great things we use it not but with it we look at small things for this Glasse makes such as them great in our eyes so these men that are great I wis in their owne thoughts that say with the Church of Laodicea Rev. 3.17 that they are rich and increased with goods c. when they are poor and miserable they that thus belye themselves with a false conceit of Greatnesse God looks not on them at all He that telleth lyes shall not tarry in my sight Psal 101. But behold the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him that are so little as to be afraid and so humble as to mistrust themselves and to put their trust in his mercy Psal 33.17 Those that do with the ten Lepers in S. 17.12 18.13 Luke and with the humble Publican stare à longe stand a far off To us they seem small and of no reputation but the Perspective eye of his wisdome makes them great when they are little in their own sight then does he make them as the Heads of their Tribes He is not like these Children that brags with the Pharisee Luke 18.11 he is not like other men yes like men like natural men he is but not like Children like these Children and he makes himselfe most unworthy of this Kingdome who sayes of himselfe as the Jews of the Centurion Luke 7.4 that he is worthy for whom the Lord should do this Non Non sum dignus we learn from one that was worthier than any of us a greater than whom was not among the sons of women Matth. 11.11 I am not worthy to loose the latchet of his shooe Luke 3.16 Quis ego sum Domine was the question of a great King Lord who am I saies David 1 Chron. 29.14 and minor sum was the answer of a holy Patriarch I am lesse than the least of thy mercies saies Jacob Gen. 32.10 Like those Plutarch writes of that saild to Athens to get Philosophy first they were called Sophistae wise men after that Philosophi but Lovers of wisdome then Rhetores onely Reasoners and Discoursers last of all Idiotae simple unletter'd men still the more they profited in learning the lesse they acknowledg'd it so these holy men like Circles the nearer they came to their Centre Christ Jesus upon whom they rest the lesse still they made themselves And so must we in spiritual graces study to be great but not know it as the stars in the firmament though they exceed the earth in bignesse yet seem much lesse and the higher and bigger of them lesse than the least In alto non altum sapere not to be high-minded in high deserts is the way to high preferment The preferment in my Text Regnum Joh. 14.2 the Kingdom of Heaven 't has many Mansions saies Christ but 't has not one for a high-minded for a proud man no not for a proud Angel they when they lost their humility lost their place there and shall Man by getting pride get in thither Pride has once already sorely shaken the walls of Heaven and cast down the too big spirited spiritual Inhabitants and therefore a sure guard there is against the re-entry of such an enemy he had need be a strong man to recover that place which Angels could not hold freed by Gods grace in Christ from all sins but especially from that daring sin Angusta Porta though this Kingdome within be spacious and glorious Mat. 7.14 yet the gate is streight that leads unto life as they be few so those few are little ones humble ones Tales saies my Text such as these little Children that enter in thereat This grace of all other I know not how whether for the excellency of it in it selfe or for the necessity of it in regard of us there 's more to be said of it than of any other and a man has more to do to hold a mean it is both a Grace it selfe and a Vessel to comprehend other Graces and this is the nature of it the more it receiveth of the blessings of God the more it may for it ever emptieth it selfe by a modest estimation of it's owne gifts that God may alwayes fill it it wrestleth and striveth with God according to the policy of Jacob that is winneth by yielding and the lower it stoops to the ground the more advantage it gets to obtain the blessing O quam excelsus es Austin Confess Domine humiles corde sunt domus tuae O Lord how high and soveraigne art thou and yet the humble of heart are thy houses to dwell in Where is the house saies God that ye build unto me and where is the place of my rest To him will I look even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my words Isa 66.2 What was it in the blessed Virgin the Mother of Gods First-born the Glory and Flower of Woman-kinde that God regarded so much she tels us in her Magnificat He hath regarded the lowlinesse of his Handmaid Lu. 1.48 yea the bloud and juice of the whole Song is in praise of this one Grace He hath scattered the proud he hath put down the mighty V. 51 52. he hath exalted the humble and meck I must end with this one Observation more that ye may be assur'd 't is this Grace of Humility is intended in the Talium of my Text this especially in which we must be like these children if we will gain the Kingdom of Heaven because the very same blessing in the very same words is in another place of the Gospel by Gods Charter confirm'd upon the very same Vertue Blessed are the poor in spirit Matt. 5.3 quoniam ipsorum est Regnum Coelorum for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven And if we hope to enter this Kingdom by the help of this humble Poverty in spirit let none of us be so proud to refuse to learne and practise the Prayer of a King against Pride Let not the foot of Pride come against me Psal 36.12 Let not the proud man insult o're me and trample on me with his feet so some expound it I let not the sinne of Pride get any foot-hold in my heart so the very Letter will warrant S. Austin's Exposition Non veniat mihi pes superbiae that so we being like little Children may be suffered to come to this Child that was born to us that we may meeke and lowly creep to him who himselfe is meek and lowly in heart to him in whom the Father blesseth us with spirituall blessings in heavenly places Ephes 1.3 who himselfe was thus highly exalted to this Kingdom not without his Propter quod even for this cause that he humbled himselfe and who will with the Reward of the
there is the exercise of Common-Prayer and joint praising in a more peculiar respect whereto it is termed called the House of Prayer Prayer and praise too saies the Psalmist wayteth for God in Sions Praise waiteth for thee O thou that hearest prayer Psal 65.1 2. It cannot be small comfort to enjoy are such consolations of God Vid. Hier. in Ps 31. p. 306. ad finem as these small with any Job 15.11 or small losse to be deprived of the fruition of these things By the want of publick Prayer to omit the other inconveniencies a man is destitute of that quickening which the children of God receive by being provok'd edified and inflam'd with one anothers forwardness and hath lesse interest in that blessing which the joynt Prayers of more of the Faithfull with a united force do bring down in a full measure upon those by whom they are offer'd up and presented to the Throne of Grace And however a man in his own reason may imagine he does well enough with the private use of Prayer though he enjoy not the publick yet this alone that there is no such promise of blessing to the single as to the concurrent nay none at all to the private if the publick be not waited upon and desired this cuts off all solatary contentment and grounded satisfaction therein and confirms the wo still upon those Eccl. 4.10 who not onely are alone but will be sequestred from the presence of God in the holy Assemblies Alas we do not generally understand our owne happinesse herein and as Christ said to the Woman of Samaria John 4.10 we do not know the gift of God else with what cheerfulnesse would men call upon themselves and out-call the Bell Come let us go to the Mountain of the Lord to the House of the God of Jacob and he will teach us his wayes Isa 2.3 How glad would they be with David when any should say unto them we will go into the House of the Lord Psal 122.1 Vp let us go and pray to the Lord of Hosts I will go also Zach. 8.21 Thus would it be if we had Davids heart Poore wofull miserable men they in the mean while who do even wilfully excommunicate and banish themselves from Gods House so as do not onely some Separatists who as if our Church because perhaps she wants some beauty and is certainly not altogether so faire here as she shall be in Heaven had therefore utterly lost her face flie from our Congregations as if they were so many Cages of unclean Birds or else Market-Cages of men more uncleane than they and our Recusants who because they see not their Breaden and Wooden gods amongst us refuse all society with us in holy things I must onely say to the former Can we not be holy at all unlesse we are more holy than all holy beyond the state of militarinesse Nulla fides pietasque viris Lucan qui castra sequuntur they have no faith no holiness who delight in war in a secular war Ps 68.30 and their holinesse is but imperfect their faith but a growing faith who are banded in a spirituall warfare and to the latter Can we not be holy unlesse we are unholy too not serve God unless him onely Mat. 4.10 Mat. 6.24 2 King 5.18 we do not serve unlesse we serve Mammon as well as God unlesse we bow in the House of Rimmon as well as in Gods House unlesse we bow to the God of the King of Syria as well as to Elisha's God the God of Israel unlesse we have our severall sorts of holy waters those of Abana and Pharpar Vers 12. as well as holy Baptismal water that one of Jordan But too many others there are who will have no House and in a manner no God too who caring only for their purses that they may not pay for their abscence and a little for their reputation that they may not be thought plain Atheists do otherwise almost wholly cast themselves out of the presence of God in their carnall lazinesse they cannot rise time enough and loose prophanenesse they have somewhat else to do than to take care for Heaven passing over many of these dayes wherein the service of God in these Houses can have no attendance from them they have no love to the preaching of the Word no respect nor appetite to the Sacraments no delight to the duties of Invocation and Prayer Not in this place that 's the point we stand upon from this Text further we cannot judge They will say they pray at home perhaps they do so but shall God appoint a House for the Prayer of the Church and shall not the Church in gratitude as well as obedience appoint Prayer for the House of God Because no man hath hitherto been so impious as plainly directly to condemn Prayer therefore the best stratagem Satan has who knows his Kingdome to be no way more shaken than by the publick devout Prayers of Gods Church in Gods Church is by traducing the dignity of the place yea Gen. 3.1 has God said that his House is a House of Prayer and the necessity of the number to bring both of them into contempt and so to slack the fervency of mens devotion towards them he has made some in this case wiser in their generation than he could hope to make either David Luk. 16.8 who notwithstanding the one of his suggestions would still worship God in the beauty of holinesse Psal 96.9 or S. Paul who should be likely to prevail with God as much as one and yet he not yielding to that other temptation thought it much more both for Gods glory and his own good if Prayers might be made and thanks given in his behalfe by a number of men by many persons 2 Cor. 1.11 O the true judgement of the Ancient Church in this point Lib. de Ponit delivered to us by the Fathers by S. Ambrose Multi minimi dum congregantur sicut nives sunt magni multorum preces impossibile est conteri ones single prayer like one feather of Snow soon melts away whereas many of both these littles grow to much so much that God cannot slight the Prayers which come from the consent of his many Apolog. 1.39 by Tertullian we come by troops to the place of Assembly that being banded as it were together we may be supplicants enow to besiege God with our Prayers by more than these but I am weary of this cavil and your trouble The Lord of his infinite mercy give us such a due respect to these publick Devotions that he may not in his wrath Psal 95. ult Ps 51.11 take away both the place of his Rest and his holy Spirit from us that he may not leave us to our owne Styes to our owne Spirits to nothing else but a bare pretence to his Holy Ghost Psal 106.48 and let all the most deluded of his People say Amen A