blockish as men hewne out of hard okes reioyce in such an open and glorious face of Iesus Christ Yea with the Prophet account it our Blessednesse to dwel in the Lords house where we may euer praise him because hereby wee come nearest vnto the life of iust and perfect men in heauen to the which while wee frame our selues afore-hand wee haue entred into some degree of their blessednesse as also of our owne Thus farre wee hetherto discouered those beautyes of the house of God both in respect of Persons present and holy thinges performed which if men could see with bodily eyes as they cannot bee perceiued but by such as haue cleared eies they would excite admirable loue and affection towardes them Now we are to intreat of the priuiledges and benefits which Gods people reape by frequenting the same and the rather that such as perhaps little regard the glory of God shining in his ordinances brighter then the Sunne in his strength might yet for their owne aduantage and profitte bee perswaded with diligence and reuerence in this his house to seeke the face of the LORD Now although the priuiledges be as manyfold in number as excellent in their quallity yet I will content my selfe to note foure of them and these foure rather then any other because I see them to bee such as moued in the Prophet Dauid aboue all other these holy and ardent desires as in euery of them will plainely appeare First the benefit of light and instruction The first work that the Lord doth in these little worlds as once in the great is to seperate light and darknes in such as are in Christ created againe vnto good workes For which purpose the Lord him-selfe by his spirit becommeth the Schoolmaister of his people teaching them to know him in himselfe in his Christ to beleeue to worke and walke Heere in his house setting a coppy to all maisters of familyes what to doe in their houses hee openeth his treasures of wisdome and teacheth no triuiall matters But first for their necessitie matters of life and death Second for their dignitie such misteries as flesh and blood can neuer attayne vnto partly concerning God as the doctrine of the Trinity Partly concerning Christ as of his incarnation conception vnion of his natures and partly concerning our selues As our resurrection life eternall all which are matters of faith Third for their vse such as perswade the truth preserue frō error raize such as are faine strengthen those that stand comfort the afflicted pacifie the conscience confirme the certaine hope of life eternall and deliuer the deeds of it into our hands indeed the benefit of our redemption and whole saluation by Christ were little worth without these holy meanes whereby it is reuealed and applyed vnto vs. This is that benefit which our Prophet expresseth in the beginning of the verse following For the LORD GOD is the Sunne That is look what the Sunne is to the World that is the LORD GOD to his Church the Sunne of the World is not so necessary to lighten the day as this Sunne of the Church to lighten the darkenesse and dungeon of the soules of men without w c seeing all our heauenly lght is from it our estate is far more vncomfortable then that of the Egiptians in their three daies darkenesse for here no man can all his dayes stirre out of the place where his naturall corruption hath sette him And where shines this Sun but in the church this is the Goshen where this light is In the ministry especially it displayeth the beames of it Secondly necessary prouision both for sustenance and safety of soule and body First for the susteining of the soule heere is milke and stronger meat here wee haue the Lord pouring out all his goodnesse Here the great King prepareth a great supper killeth his fatlings prepareth his milke and wine spreadeth his table setteth on it Iesus Christ the bread and water of life whose flesh is meat indeed whose blood is drinke indeed Here he by his ministers inuiteth and intreateth men to y e banquet here he filleth the hungry and thirsty soule with good things worketh new strēgth of life and grace as reioycing in God peace of good conscience ioy in the holy Ghost watchfulnesse against sinne comfort in tribulation quicknesse and strength in good duties boldnesse in good causes and a life led and finished in faith and obedience Here the Lord clotheth the naked soule and putteth on it the Lord Iesus Christ whose righteousnesse becommeth the costly and comely rayment of it Heere hee inricheth the poore soule with treasures of grace and godlynesse Heere by the fire of his spirit hee warmeth and reuiueth the staruen soule Here is the tree of life for the sicke soule the leaues whereof serue to cure the nations In a word Christ offered and receiued in the Ministry is food and Phisicke cloth and warmth wealth and health life and length of daies yea all in all vnto the soule of all his beleeuing ones And 2. for bodily food and rayment with other necessaries for the life present although those who ar without y e church inioy them yet they haue them not in that speciall blessing and comfort as the members of the church who 1. haue them by vertue of that special promise First seeke the Kingdome of God and other things shal be cast on you 2. hold them by a right and title in Christ and 3. are taught how to imploy them to the glory of the giuer all which make these blessinges good to them as they are in them-selues Secondly for perfection and safety 1. Spiritual here is a shadow sweete refuge against the whole wrath of God appeased by Christ here we see sin subdued death vanquished righteousnes purchased great deliuerance wrought for the soules of beleeuers here we haue strength in temptation and victory ouer our selues for here is Gods grace reueled which is sufficient for vs. Now this saluation of God is not elswher to be heard off but in the tidings which we bring nor reuealed vnto any but the true members of the church In Mount Sion in Ierusalem shall be deliuerance As for temporal perfection whereas when men are cast out of the sight of God as vnbeleeuers who are without the pale of Gods protectiō they ly opē vnto the sword famine captiuity to the dogs to teare to the foules of heauen the beasts of the field to deuour so on the contrary the neerer God the surer of safety for iudgements flye farre frō God Hence is it that to the members of the church safety is promised vnder the shadow of the winges of the almighty especially while they are in the performāce of publick duties before the Lord and it is worthy our obseruing that the Lord in making that law of the three feastes wherein all the men three times euery yeare must repaire before the Lord
hearted to make precious account of it and while they enioy it store them-selues with such necessaries as shall after-wards besteed them Men are not so carelesse as to forget or fore-slack their markets vpon the market day neither neede many spurres to reserue some-thing as wee say against a rainie day Why then doe not such as professe themselues the children of wisdome fore-cast and prouidently fore-see their future necessities especially seeing this ouer-sight will cost them so many teares so much sorrow as their spirits shall scarce bee able to sustaine them How is it that we haue not the wisdom of men in vs to say within our selues a rainie day may be vpon vs or euer we be aware it may be the sorrows of our mother the Church are not farre of perhaps a famine of the word a want of the ministerie a black darknesse like that of Aegipt is neerer vs then we thinke off For we haue seene as bright gleames as ours ouer-cast yea as cleare sunnes of the Church set and fallen in the firmament as that in the light of which wee now walke witnesse the Churches of Rome Corinth Galatia Ephesus Philippi the seauen Churches in lesser Asia all which were farre afore vs in the Gospell but now vnder the Turke and Pope are sunke to hell in the profession of Mahometisme and Anti-christianisme yea of golden Candle-stickes which once held out the glorious Gospell and word of truth are become the very cells and dennes of diuells Or if the Lord for his owne name and truths sake forbeare the remoouing of our Candle-sticke yet the sorrowes of mine owne soule may come vpon mee as the trauell of a woman the Lord may let loose and set my sinnes in order before mee to the breaking of my heart and vexe mee with fearefull visions or else sicknesse may assaile mee and bring mee downe to the gates of death my owne deaths day and consequently my iudgement day is at doore and cannot bee farre off Let now euery Christian well bethinke himselfe whether in any of these straites hee shall not need oyle in his lampe whether hee shall haue no vse of faith of direction of comfort of patience of sence of Gods loue of assurance of pardon of his sinne of strength against such temptations as hee perhaps neuer buckled withall before I assure thee that which thy owne experience shall at that time become thy mistresse in that whensoeuer the Lord shall begirt thee and lead thee into any of these conditions if the word bee not thy comfort thou art sure to perish in thy trouble and that all thy life had beene time little enough to haue furnished thy selfe against that day yea if thou hadst begun to bee heauenly couetous when thou beganst first to breath Wouldest thou then be armed against sinne superstition heresie popery in thy life time and close vp thine eyes in that holy religion of GOD which thou hast learned and beene brought vp in yea if times and religion should alter Wouldest thou not in the day of thy sorrow be found vnfurnished and nakedly layde open to all terrors of conscience accusations of sinne and temptations of Sathan Wouldest thou not bee giuen vp to impatience to a sence of Gods wrath to shutte vp thy dayes in an horrible apprehension of an hell in thy soule afore-hand Oh then now while God offereth his grace in the ministerie of the word acknowledge the acceptable time and day of saluation laye holde vpon wisdome while shee calleth giue her answer while shee yet knocketh open the doore of thy heart to giue the best enterteinment thou canst to this deare Daughter of GOD Store thy soule with knowledge but especially with faith and good conscience Make roome in the house of thy hart by remouing all the trash in it such as is infidelity impenitency earthlynesse voluptuousnes and whatsoeuer sauoureth of the flesh then lay vp in it prouision for thy necessity that it may become a little granary or treasury to which thou maist alwaies resort when either the publike meanes may faile thee or thou maist bee debarred from them Be dilligent in gathering this Mannah while the sixe dayes last before that day come wherein though thou seekest it yet shalt not finde it In these seauen yeares of plenty lay vp like a prouident Ioseph for thy selfe corne for the seauen yeares of famine wherein seauen leane kine shal eat vp the seauen fatte kine and bee neuer the fatter Passe not thy Summer singing with the foolish Grashopper but with the Emmet prepare thy Winters store When Agabus prophesied of a famine Act. 11 28. the bretheren were carefull to prouide against it so thou now hearing that a time of dearth will come in which thou shalt stand in need of great store of grace get thee a stocke before hand to spend vpon least when the time ouertaketh thee vnprouided thou begin to late to houle and say O the time was when I had the Word the Sacraments the Ministry whereby I might haue not meanely inriched my selfe and haue bene able to haue bene helpful to others rather then my selfe to be vtterly destitute of prouision in such times as this is and this is my griefe I had warning that these daies of straightnesse would come vppon me Alas that euer I should so haue lost my time that euer I should haue refused wholesome counsell oh that I might once more inioy the meanes againe Oh for one day in the courts of Gods house I would neuer neglect so great saluation And herein the folly of our nature bewrayeth it selfe that we are wiser in the want then in the fruition of good things and that we cannot so rightly prize a present benefite as sighe after it when wee haue negligently depriued our selues of it Caine cared not for the worship of God all the while he was in his fathers familie till hee was cast out of it and then too late he cryed out that he was cast out from the face of God Esau contemned his birth-right and blessing till it was bestowed and then could seeke it with teares when it was too late Saul forceth not of Samuels prayers for him till the Lord was departed and had cast him off The Prodigal son careth not for the dainties of his fathers house till he was driuen to feed among Swine and then he can desire to bee among his fathers herd-men The prophane of the world take daies with the Lord If they can be at leysure to heare him another time with Festus so it is but for the present they cannot intend it Many Professors wil not foule their dainty feete now for the word who I doubt not would afterward seeke the blessing if God should once deny it y t with tears the case being y e same with vs as somtimes it was with Israel when they had with GODS Commandement all the incouragements which Moyses could vse to speed them forward vnto Canaan they would not go
will not vouchsafe that name but sties of vncleane beasts cages of filthy birds and rudiments of Babilon Thus they vexe themselues aboue measure in seeking Ministers callings people of God and Churches and because they cannot finde a man in the market they seperate from our assemblies To which I answer that though it be not the condition of our or any Church to be free from all blemish and spotte yet is hee as blinde as a Mole and palpably deluded that can espy no beautie therein What is our Mother so black as shee hath no comlinesse or because perhaps she wants some beautie hath shee lost her face sure I am that where there is the face of God in the midst of his people there is a face of the Church and where God is present there is the house of God But in our assemblies wee haue God present teaching his people yea wee haue Christ present in the word and Sacraments euen crucified before our eyes who is the image of his Father Wee haue the presence of the blessed spirit of God which they cannot deny enlightning the vnderstandings softning the hearts comforting the consciences powring forth his graces of faith of hope of loue and that in aboundant manner in this his owne ordinance vpon many thousand soules which are dayly added vnto the Church and therefore whatsoeuer wee yet want let vs thankfully acknowledge that wee want not the presence of God nor the house of God nor the face of God before which his people present themselues with liberty and protection ioyning together in the pure worship of his name to his endlesse praise and their owne vnspeakable comfort Howsoeuer therefore Sathan worketh according to his accustomed craft to trouble our sight let vs bee more wise and wary then to bee ledde from the beholding of the face of God and so wilfully depart from this our reioysing And let such as are so readye to bee mislead acknowledge with thankfulnesse their spirituall father that begat them to God their Mother the Church that bare them her brests the Testaments that gaue them milke and that shee is not since their birthe so weakened but that shee is as able to preserue them as to bring them forth and to feede them with stronger meate so to bring them to their tallnesse in Christ. 2. An other sorte of them who wilfully by excommunicating themselues out of our assemblies deliuer them-selues to Sathan are Popish minded persons who because they cannot see neither their little breaden God in our Sacraments nor their wooden guilded Gods in our worshippe and because they cannot heare GOD speake Latin in our Churches nor our Ministers inuocating Saints and Angels in our Prayers therefore sure heere are no foote-steppes of GOD nor so much as the rudements of his worshippe and seruice hence they refuse all communication with vs in worde Sacraments Prayers and Church seruice and ioyne themselues in a worshippe wherein they neede not bee at the paines to seeke a God sitting so high as in the heauens seeing they can haue him at home in a boxe who if hee chance to putrifie or corrupt or bee deuoured of Mice they can haue a new one made by the Priest and Baker together euery day A worshipp in which if they haue no knowledge no faith of their owne the knowledge and faith of the Church will besteede them nay if they can beleeue as the Church beleeues although they knowe not what the Church dooth beleeue a worshippe wherein if they neyther can praye them-selues nor yet gette CHRIST to bee an intercessor for them yet they canne procure a thousand Mediatours besides of Saints Angels and if these should faile they haue the Virgin Mary at a dead lift to command her sonne in the right of a Mother to clemencie A worship wherein if they can neither abstaine from sinne nor yet repent of it in truth yet if they can pay well a little pennance shall acquit them A worship wherein if they neuer were good nor did good yet their Church hath a treasurie which vpon another condition can supply them of good workes which some man who in his life time was too good bequeathed to such purposes Oh vaine worship and full of delusion not more plausible to the corrupt nature of man then dishonorable to the high Maiestie of God! And were these things true who could blame him that hath resolued to liue and dye a Papist but alas that poore soules should bee held in such chaines of darknesse and death The Lord in his good time open the prison doores and strike off the boults from so many as belong to him that they may see them-selues set free from such woefull estate as wherein they laye bound by Sathan and his instruments euen vnder damnation And yet more fearefull is the condition of such of them as haue had their error discouered by the cleere sunne-shine of the Gospell and yet are setled vpon their lees vpon no better ground then like so many Barzillaes that they haue beene so long accustomed to the worse that they despise the better their sences are past them they cannot taste the truth they cannot see the wisdome of GOD shining round about them they cannot heare the voyce of the charmer in Gilead they will dye before they will choose to liue in Ierusalem in superstition they began they continue in error they will dye in wilfull blindnesse and will bee buryed in the graues of the idolatrie of their fore-fathers The Lord once appeared to Iacob but hee was not aware of it the reason was because hee was a sleepe the Text saith Then Iacob awooke out of his sleepe and said surely the Lord is in this place and I was not aware and this is the case of many a superstitious person God appeareth vnto his Israell in Bethel in his house but they are not aware of him they see him not they will not beleeue hee is among vs. But what is the reason not because hee is not there but because they are a sleepe and in their dreames but if euer GOD awaken them they will bee able to vtter Iacobs confession and vpon better aduise to say How fearefull is this place It is no other but the house of God and this is the gate of heauen 3. Others are more prophane and secure then wilfull and refractarie and though not so much hatred yet little more loue bewrayeth it selfe in them then in former sortes and least they should seeme also to bee madde with-out reason they are not without sundry coulours and pretenses which they thinke are reasonable inough to absent them-selues from our assemblies And therefore they aske What can wee not bee Christians vnlesse wee trotte so often to Church haue wee not the Scriptures and other good bookes at home to reade vppon can wee not praye at home Ans. They may aswell aske Can wee not haue an haruest vnlesse wee haue a seede