in the Lord for with the Lord there is Mercy and with him is plenteous Redempption and he shall redeem Israel from all his Iniquities 9. Man must not think to divide his Service between God and Mammon Our Lord himself tells us that no Man can serve two Masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other ye cannot serve God and Mammon To mind the World as if it were the most desirable thing and to serve the Lord only for the World's sake this is hateful earthlimindedness and Hypocrisie When the Children of Israel assembled themselves before God only for Corn and Wine their Cries were but howlings in his Ears Hos 7. 14. If we would attend upon God we must come out from the World Conformity to the World and walking after the course of it must cease The most desirable good things of it must be contemned in comparison with God and the better and enduring substance We shall never look and aim at so as to obtain the things that are unseen and eternal unless the Eye be shut against the things that are seen and temporal 2 Cor. 4. 18. Not but that Attenders upon God may and ought to mind their secular business which their particular Callings lead them to Christians are cautioned against idleness as great disorderliness and are commanded and exhorted by our Lord Jesus Christ with quietness to work and to Eat their own Bread 2 Thes 3. 11 12. This notwithstanding must ever be remembred that the things of this World are to be regarded so far as God has commanded that they must be begg'd of him they must be kept used and improved for him they must not be liked for themselves but so far as God is enjoyed with them and in them And in the greatest abundance of them this should be the Heart's Language which came from the Heart and Mouth of Luther Noli his satiari Lord I will not be put off with such things as these The Lord is my Portion saith my Soul and I have looked and longed and wait for thy Salvation 10. Man must consent to cast away whatever may separate between the Lord and him And what that is the Prophet plainly tells us Isa 59. 1 2. Behold the Lord's Hand is not shortned that it cannot save neither his Ear heavy that it cannot hear but your Iniquities have separated between you and your God and your Sins have hid his Face from you that he will not hear Separation from God is the Hell of Hell and this Hell upon Earth Sin is the cause of Sin is that which provokes the Lord to be angry with Man and with his Soul to hate him to behold him afar off so that he is not admitted unto his Favour or unto Fellowship and Communion with him To talk of Fellowship with God and to walk in this darkness of Sin is to lie to others and to deceive our selves This middle Wall of Partition must be thrown down else there can be no drawing nigh to God Jam. 4. 8. Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you Cleanse your hands ye sinners purifie your hearts ye double-minded The Hand must not practise and work wickedness the Heart must not regard and like it The more the Heart is desirous of Purity the fitter it is to attend upon the Lord to serve him and to see him Therefore you read Mat. 5. 8. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God and 2 Cor. 6. 17 18. Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you and will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my Sons and Daughters saith the Lord Almighty In the second place I am to tell you what is implied in Man's Attendance upon God This Attendance is of large extent and takes in all the Service he Commands In Scripture 't is expressed sometimes by following of God sometimes by waiting upon the Lord and in the Text by Attending I shall explain what this is in several particulars 1. Attending upon God implies enquiring of God He is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 only Wise the Father of Lights from whom all true Wisdom and every good and perfect gift comes down Jam. 1. 17. The Wisdom of this World and of the Princes of this World however 't is magnified as the most profound Policy cannot secure them that are most excellent this way but they and their Wisdom come to nought and perish together but spiritual Wisdom which is hidden from the prudent of the World and is the especial gift of God is ordained to the Glory of them that have it 1 Cor. 2. 6 7. Wisdom to Salvation and everlasting Glory deserves the name of Wisdom sound Wisdom it may well be called Prov. 2. 6 7. For the Lord giveth Wisdom out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding he layeth up sound Wisdom for the Righteous he is a Buckler to them that walk uprightly Our inquiry must be of God for Wisdom of this Nature He gives it to all that desire and ask it and that liberally without upbraiding Jam. 1. 5. He upbraids not any with their former hatred of knowledge or contempt of Wisdom neither does he upbraid them with their natural dulness and unaptness to learn but both instruction and also the very heart and ability to receive it are from him Prov. 20. 12. The hearing Ear and the seeing Eye the Lord hath made even both of them The Psalmist thus desired to attend upon God all the days of his life that he might enquire in his Temple Psal 27. 4. They are well counselled and are led safe to Glory who have God to be their guide even unto death and still follow on to know the Lord. 2. Attending upon God implies hearkning and heeding what God speaks Psal 85. 8. I will hear what God the Lord will speak and what Attention does such a speaker deserve who speaks from Heaven and whose Word shews the way to Heaven who speaks peace and publishes glad-tidings of great Salvation When Lydia her heart was opened that she attended unto those things which were spoken of Paul Acts 16. 14. She heard Paul's Voice but believed the Lord spake by him to her and she regarded the message accordingly We attend upon God in the Ministry of the Word when our Eye looks beyond the Ministry unto the Lord himself and our Ear is attentive that we may understand his Truths which are to be believed his Precepts that are to be obeyed Now the Word comes with a Divine Power and Efficacy when God is heard speaking in the Word 1 Thes 2. 13. For this cause also thank we God without ceasing because when ye received the Word of God which ye heard of us ye received it not as the word of Men but as it is in truth the Word of God which effectually
Help against Divine Anger Nay here the mightiest Man can be no Security Job 9. 13. If God will not withdraw his Anger the proud Helpers do stoop under him And those whom the Lord does undertake to comfort why should Man that shall dye dismay them Isa 51. 12 13. I even I am he that comforteth you Who art thou that thou shouldst be afraid of a Man that shall dye and of the Son of Man which shall be as Grass And forgetest the Lord thy Maker that stretched forth the Heavens and laid the Foundations of the Earth His Power may well make the Fury of Oppressors contemptible But God's Power is irresistable as his Wrath is intolerable 3. They are to be reproved who prefer the worst Lords before the greatest and the best of all The true God is certainly the best Lord and Sin and Satan are the worst that can be served and yet how few has the former how many Servants have the later The Lord's Government is most gracious the Paths he requires us to walk in are Pleasantness and Peace Prov. 3. 17. But the Ways of Sin are quite contrary No Peace saith my God to the wicked Isa 57. 21. Whatever Sin in the beginning may seem its End is bitter as Wormwood sharp as a two-edged Sword and they that serve it their Feet go down to Death and their Steps will quickly take hold of Hell Shall I shew you the manner of Sin and Satan's Reign Their Vassals are put upon Cruel Hard Service and they must stick at nothing If the fulfilling of their Lusts call for it the Estate must be wasted Health must be endangered Repute and good Name must be disregarded Posterity must be beggared Life it self must be shortened and the precious Soul lost for ever rather than sin not be gratified and served Sin has a Law and what Command does it impose upon those that are subject to it Its Injunctions are such as these Fight against God and slight the Wrath of the Lord Almighty Mind neither thy Duty nor thy Safety Pursue Vanity and Vexation of Spirit but care not for the truest and eternal Blessedness Be sure to please thy Flesh and seek thy self and mind thy Carnal Interest though thou art in the worst Sense undone thereby Go on impenitently and securely in thy Wickedness till thou fall into Hell Flames Do all this and dye and damn thy self unto Eternity What hard sayings are these Yet Thousands and Millions hear and obey them It is amazing that those who have reasonable Souls should act so void of all sound Reason as to refuse his Service who commands them to be wise and safe and good and should chuse to be Fools and to be miserable 4. They are to be reproved who have begun to serve the Lord and afterwards forsake his Service and revolt from him These revolters shew a great Zeal and Forwardness in Religion many of them for a time they seem to have escaped the pollutions of the World and to have got the Victory over it and to have overcome the evil One but being again entangled and overcome themselves by Mammon and Satan they are a credit to these Masters and to their false and pernicious ways but they are a great dishonour to Religion and to the Author of it the Lord of Glory These revolters discover an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God which is so much caution'd against Heb. 3. 12. and if without Faith 't is impossible to please God how much must he needs be provoked by infidelity and with what Torments will their unbelief at last be confuted and punished together These Revolters quench a great deal of Light which has shined into them this aggravates the works of darkness unto which they return though they have under Conviction felt the Terrors of the Lord yet they venture more than ever to incense him in a special manner they grieve the Spirit of God and deeply wound their own Spirits But these Wounds are not felt at present their Consciences are seared Satan has fuller and faster possession of them fulness of sin quickly follows and the last state with them is worse than the first Mat. 12. 45. USE II. Shall be of Advice in these particulars 1. Hearken to the Lord inviting and calling you all to his Service There is room in his House for many Thousands more than are there and there is plentiful and abundant provision for their entertainment In my Father's House says the Prodigal when he came to himself there is Bread enough and to spare Luke 15. 17. Christ's Sacrifice of himself can put away multitudes of sins more than as yet have been pardon'd And though Millions of empty and lost Souls more come to him out of his fulness they may be all replenished and secure under the shadow of his wings His Messengers say to you Come himself says Come his Spirit says Come your Wants which none but he can supply speak aloud to you to go to him keep therefore no longer at a distance He is most ready to receive you graciously and to communicate grace of all sorts to you 2. Behold how willing this Lord is to pass by all past disobedience upon your believing and repentance The Apostle Paul was not upbraided with his persecuting Rage and Hellish Fury when once he submitted himself to the Lord and laid down his Weapons wherewith he had fought against God The Grace of our Lord says he was exceeding abundant with Faith and Love that is in Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 1. 14. and v. 15 16. he tells us that he the chief of sinners obtained Mercy that the greatest sinners hereafter may hope and expect Mercy upon their believing and Conversion Howbeit for this Cause I obtained Mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering for a Pattern to them who should hereafter believe on him to Life Everlasting Whatever your Rebellions have been if now you be willing and obedient All shall be forgotten and forgiven Scarlet and Crimson Sins shall become white as Snow and Wool Isa 1. 18 19. 3. See where your Righteousness and Strength lies Jesus Christ the righteous is the Righteousness of them that do believe His Obedience and Sufferings can satisfie for and cover all your Disobedience and 't is through him alone that you attain the free Gift of Justification of Life He became obedient to Death even the Death of the Cross Psal 2. 8. and 't is by the Obedience of this one the second Adam that all as many can believe in him are made righteous Rom. 5. 19. And as in the Lord you have Righteousness so in him you have Strength too His Power must rest upon you else no good will be done by you Through his Strength all things may be done but he himself says without me ye can do nothing Joh. 15. 5. Never think by good Works to satisfie for bad ones The best Works have much amiss in them And
the God of Love Our Lord presses our reconciliation to our Brother before we offer our Gifts unto God Mat. 5. 24. Go thy way first be reconciled to thy Brother and then come and offer thy Gift Whilst thou refusest to be reconciled to thy Brother how canst thou expect that God should be reconciled to thee Mat. 6 15. But if ye forgive not Men their Trespasses neither will your Father forgive your Trespasses As Charity thinks no evil so Uncharitableness thinks nothing else It is severe in censuring forward to judge not fearing what is threatned to be it self judged Mat. 7. 1. It hopes and believes nothing that is good it bears and endures nothing that it pronounces to be bad or in the least injurious to it Nay sometimes in Prayer instead of the acting of Grace uncharitableness will be expressed before the Lord himself there are most unseemly Complaints impious Imprecations and Desires vented that Divine Wrath may fall upon those whom the passionate are angry with But if they were so severely punished that offer'd strange fire before the Lord and fire come forth from the Lord and consumed them those that offer this hellish fire of furious and revengeful desires may well fear the vengeance of that fire that is eternal If you give way to this sinful anger you give way to the Devil and in this Chariot he will drive furiously your Hearts away from God in the Duties you perform but the more meek and composed and sedate your Souls are the Holy Ghost will the more delight to dwell in them and to vouchsafe his assistance to you 5. Another cause of distraction is the prevalency of infidelity Faith is a coming to God by Christ Jesus Unbelief is a rejecting of this Mediatour and the Hearts departing from the Lord Take heed of unbelief as that which strikes at Religion in the very root and blasts and withers all the Fruits of it Doubt not of the being of God who gives being to all things that are and who gave and upholds you in yours to this day Doubt not of his all-seeing Eye who fills Heaven and Earth with his presence Doubt not of his being ready to be found all the true seed of Jacob are witnesses for God that they have sought his face and that they have not sought him in vain Isa 45. 19. Doubt not of the promises in the Word which thousands of Saints have found accomplished unto their strengthning supply and satisfaction Doubt not of the Threatnings which have so often taken hold of them who have boldly ventured upon the sins threatned so that they have been forced to say Verily he is a God that judges in the Earth and like as the Lord of Hosts thought to do unto us according to our ways and according to our doings so hath he dealt with us Zech. 1. 6. If unbelief has place in you and the great truths of the Gospel are questioned or not firmly assented to how can you be serious in any Religious Service How distracted must your thoughts needs be when you question whether the Lord has any regard what you do or how you do it This unbelief the great spoiler of your Performances the Father of Lies endeavours to promote He will indeed inject unbelieving thoughts into Hearts that have much Faith and Grace But as Bernard well says Latrat solum cum suggerit mordet cum ad consensum trahit Satan does only bark when he does suggest he bites when he gains the Hearts consent Oh never entertain such Injections never give the least consent that they should lodge in you Look upon them as errant falshoods which an Enemy pesters you with out of a pernicious design firmly believe the quite contrary truths that that Belief may influence your Spirits and make you more serious when you are before the Lord. 6. The workings of spiritual pride in the heart are another cause of distraction which you are to beware of It was a good observation of Augustine that other iniquity discovers it self in the doing of evil Superbia vero bonis operibus insidiatur ut pereant Pride lies in wait as it were about your good Works to spoil the doing of them that they may be lost labour This sin shews it self several ways and upon all occasions is apt to stir to puff up and swell the Mind with high and touring thoughts and imaginations The Pharisee fasted twice a Week which implies Prayer and other Exercises of Religion Luk. 18. 12. hereupon he became self-conceited and pride hindred his justification for he placed his confidence in his own righteousness What a dangerous distraction is that when these thoughts are fixed in thy Heart that by thy Prayers and other Duties thou canst make an atonement for thy sins which can indeed be made alone by the satisfaction and intercession of the Lord Jesus When the Heart is enlarged in Prayer and good expressions come with great fluency from the Lips how apt is he that prays to have high Conceits of himself and of his Performances His Mind is prone to wander and to think what others think of him and is sinfully pleased in the imagination that they are mightily pleased and taken with him thus Pride draws off the Soul from God to contemplate its own excellent Gifts and others Admiration of them Enlargements in holy Duties are very encouraging and comfortable when we are humble under them when we acknowledge the Spirits Grace in them and though never so much enlarged despair of acceptance but in Christ alone But when these Enlargements are so advanced and put into Christ's place that we reckon those Blessings owing to enlargements which are the fruit of Christ's merit and purchase here is distracting Pride which draws off from Christ and is very displeasing to the Father Such Thoughts as these How well do I pray How broken for sin do I appear How fervent in Spirit do I seem What credit and applause shall I get by this Performance What a choice and precious Saint shall I be accounted Such Thoughts are apt to hover about an enlarged heart but if they are not kept out with an utter detestation of them the Heart will be distracted with hellish Pride how heavenly soever the expressions of the Mouth are And as you are to take heed of the Workings of Pride so of every other sin which does easily beset you If when you are confessing any fleshly or worldly Lust it stirs in you and your Hearts have some regard to it and delightful Thoughts about it this will distract your Prayer and deafen God's Ear. Oh 't is an ill thing to have the Heart resolve to spare the sin which the Hypocritical Tongue does cry aloud that it may be slain That sin which your Constitutions Callings or the Times in which you live make you most prone to commit Satan may in a special manner endeavour to invigorate that it may be a great distraction and disturbance to you in your
attendance upon God The Grace of God therefore should make you most to watch against and hate that sin which Nature did most of all delight in and love 7. Another cause of distraction is a zealous affection towards an erroneous way Errours are of several sorts some are praeter fundamentum off from the Foundation others are circa fundamentum about the Foundation a third sort are contra fundamentum against and rase the very Foundation of Religion these last are most dangerous The broachers and spreaders of them are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ravening Wolves that spare not the Flock and truly the propagators of lesser Errors do a great deal of harm they are called little Foxes and are often very prejudicial especially to young Converts and prove a great hindrance to the good work begun in them Therefore you read Cant. 2. 15. Take us the Foxes the little Foxes that spoil the Vines for our Vines have tender Grapes Errours how do they excite the zeal of the Soul And though they are but about smaller matters yet they so command the Tongue and Thoughts that they are more talk'd of and minded than the great things of Law and Gospel Erroneous Opinions do so possess the Heart that the main truths and things of Religion are little regarded and less improved They that are very fond of Errour when they are praying or hearing or engaged in other Ordinances Satan dresses up that error with a disguise of truth and so presents it to their Minds and their Minds are drawn away by the thoughts of it and Ordinances are ineffectual and lost to them No wonder that zealots for Errour are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jud. v. 13. wandring Stars they wander from the way of truth and this wandring makes them very much to wander from God in holy Duties whilst the eagerness of their Spirits is after their mistakes in which they are so very confident Beguiled Souls are called unstable 2 Pet. 2. 14. the Apostle tells us they are tost to and fro carried about with every wind of Doctrine The unsettledness of their Judgments and proneness to run from one errour to another mightily distracts their Thoughts and they are little if at all edisied by their Duties Errours are very apt to knock at the Door when you are attending upon God and Satan is very busie then to disturb and distract you with Thoughts about them The Lord would be served with greater intention if you did not trouble your Heads with doubtful Disputations which you are caution'd against Rom. 14. 1. and if you did follow that counsel 2 Pet. 3. 17. Beware lest ye being led away with the errour of the wicked fall from your own stedfastness 8. The sloth and loziness of the Heart in refusing to take pains with it self to keep close to God is another cause of distraction a cause it is which most commonly prevails there is therefore need of caution against it The Work of the Heart with its own self is very hard Work indeed in the doing of this to purpose lies both the difficulty and also the truth of Religion To be wicked and deceitful are the two bad properties of the Heart which are natural to it the wickedness of the Heart makes it backward to come to God the deceitfulness of the Heart makes it very ready to start aside like a deceitful Bow and to fly off from him Great pains and labour is absolutely necessary to engage the Heart to approach to the Lord and to abide with him These accesses to God are against nature like rowing a Boat against a swift Stream or rolling a Stone up a steep Hill If the Oar be not plyed the Stream carries the Boat back let the Stone but a little alone to it self and how presently and how far will it run downward The Poet observed the strength of Natures inclination Naturam expellas furcâ licet usque recurret Use greatest force ' gainst Natures Will It shall recoyl upon you still There is need of constant care and industry and the aid of supernatural Grace else the Heart will never be brought to acquaint it self with God or to delight in Communion with him Take heed of sloth in holy Duties and carelesness of Spirit which makes Men indifferent and unconcerned what frame their Hearts are in as if in these distractions there were no great sin or harm The Psalmist tells us The Lord is in his holy Temple the Lord's Throne is in Heaven his Eyes behold his Eyelids try the Children of Men Psal 11. 4. with a pleased Countenance he does behold the upright Heart but he frowns upon all careless Servants Take heed of imagining there is no need of striving again vain Thoughts in the Lord's Service If these are allowed of know that God allows not of them and if they have place in you what may they come to at last The greatest sin that ever was committed began with a Thought and if the first Thought had been utterly banished the sinful desire had not been kindled nor the Deed done I have spoken of the causes of distraction with great heed you are all of you to beware of them for if you give way to these they will corrupt all your Duties I read in the old Law that nothing that had a blemish was to be offer'd to God in Sacrifice this shews that Christ the great Sacrifice was without blemish and without spot and 't is an intimation what our Duties ought to be But if Distractions and the causes of them are not taken heed of your Services will be no better than a Sacrifice would have been that had all the forbidden blemishes Lev. 22. 22. Blind broken maimed with Wens Scurvy and Scabbed which must needs have been very hateful if it had been offer'd to the Lord. USE II. By way of expostulation I shall expostulate the matter with you about these distractions in your Religious Performances 1. Without distraction you can mind your Secular Affairs and why should you not be more intent and serious about your eternal concerns What is a small Cypher to the whole Circle of the Heavens What is Time which is ended almost as soon as begun to Eternity that will never end at all Temporal Afflictions are light and burthens only for a moment 2 Cor. 4. 17. Temporal felicity is but a pleasant and short Dream and is chased away as a night Vision But eternal Woes and Joys are Woes and Joys indeed they are perfectly possessed all at once altogether and as to the Woes there can be no hope of any release as to the Joys there is no room for any fear of deprivation 2. Without distraction you can hear or read News or a pleasant History and is not a Religious Duty of far greater importance to you Shall the pleasing of the fancy be minded more than the securing of the Soul Shall the State of Affairs in this World be asked after and will you not seriously
worketh also in you that believe It concerns us to take heed what we hear and how We should be forward to be made acquainted with God's Truth and Will and neither should be held in unrighteousness for to hear what God speaks and not to mind it but to act quite contrary is disobedience with an high aggravation 3. Attending upon God implies returning and yielding our selves unto God Man is naturally Contentious and struggles hard about this point and will not yield that God should direct and rule and that 't is reasonable that he in all things should submit and obey Man till he is instructed and enlightned from above will be still murmuring and disputing against his Duty and will not come to God though God is Light and can shine into his Mind though Divine Goodness can satiate Man's Soul though the Lord has supream and sufficient Authority to Command the Conscience and to lay the whole Man under obligation to Obedience But when we attend upon God indeed we hearken to his Call to return and we return at his Call There cannot be a right Attendance without sincere Conversion and this Conversion is Man's yielding of himself to his Lord. Rom. 6. 12 13. Let not sin reign in your mortal Bodies that ye should obey it in the Lusts thereof neither yield ye your Members as instruments of unrighteousness unto Sin but yield ye your selves unto God as those that are alive from the Dead and your Members as instruments of Righteousness unto God The Body must be yielded that the Holy Ghost may Consecrate it to the Lord's Service that Eyes and Mouth and Hands and Feet and all may be at God's Beck and ready to fulfill his Pleasure And especially the Heart must be yielded nay the whole heart else returning is but feigned Jer. 3. 10. Her treacherous Sister Judah hath not returned to me with her whole heart but feignedly saith the Lord. The Soul must consent to have all its powers renewed and sanctified that with them all it may give Attendance upon God the Heart without any reservation must yield that God should work out of it whatever is offensive that he should work in it that which is pleasing in his sight 4. Attending upon God implies seeking and desiring after God Isa 26. 9. With my Soul have I desired thee in the Night yea with my Spirit will I seek thee early The bent of the very Soul was towards God and the desires are kept up in vehemency both Night and Day The Lord humbles himself to behold things done in Heaven yet he looks down upon the Children of Men upon Earth to see if there be any that understand and seek him And if he seeks after these seekers how ready is he to be found of them The Command is that we should seek the Lord and his strength and his Face evermore Psal 105. 4. God is to be sought unto for himself when the all-sufficient Jehovah gives himself to any he gives infinitely more than if he gave them many thousand such Worlds as this is His strength is of absolute necessity to secure us from evil and to assist us in the doing of good and the shining of his Face makes our work easie and pleasant it makes our Life and even Death it self comfortable No wonder therefore when God said Seek ye my Face one of his Attendants heard presently as the Eccho answers the Voice said Thy Face Lord will I seek Psal 27. 8. To seek to any else is vain 't is seeking for Water in a broken Cistern that can hold none Men of low degree though never so great a multitude are vanity and Men of highest degree are a ly Psal 62. 9. But God's Power Mercy and Truth are an evident proof that he is forward and sufficient to satiate the Souls of all that charge their Souls to wait only upon him and to have their expectations from him 5. Attending upon God implies waiting upon him in his own House and Sanctuary Every Christian's House should be an House of Prayer but the place of publick assembling to Worship should be highly prized and frequented for the work sake that is performed there The living the true the eternal God is here publickly owned and acknowledged and so is the only Mediator Jesus as also the Holy Ghost whose Aid and Grace is all in all as to the efficacy and success of those Ordinances which are administred Saints that have seen God's Power and Glory in his Sanctuary it is no marvel that their Souls thirst for God for the living God and that 's the Language of their Hearts When shall we come and appear before God Psal 42. 2. As the Sanctuary was next to the holiest of all so the House of God on Earth is as it were the Suburbs of the City of God in Heaven The Sanctuary is the place where the Light of holy and heavenly Doctrine shines Here the Psalmist understood the end of the ungodly and that all their prosperity was but a Dream and Image being abused by themselves to further and hasten their destruction for they are quickly cast down from their greatest height and brought into Desolation as in a moment and utterly consumed with Terrors Psal 73. 17 18 19 Here also he understood how good God is to Israelites indeed when he does afflict them his Rod guides them purges their Hearts he upholds them with one hand when he corrects them with another he makes earthly things more contemptible in their Eyes and sets their Affections more upon himself who is their Portion for ever In the Sanctuary Believers are quickned strengthened comforted and settled And this one thing they desire of the Lord and that they seek after that they may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of their life that they may behold the Beauty of the Lord his Holiness and Grace in Christ with the admirable Harmony of all his Attributes and that they may perpetually be enquiring in his Temple until being guided unto Death and brought safe to Glory they are past all danger Psal 27. 4. 6. Attending upon God implies not only keeping the way of his Ordinances and Institutions but minding his Dispensations and the manner of his dealing with us The Ordinances of the Gospel are from Heaven and not of Men. Men have no right to institute who have no power to bless Mens Inventions in Religion though often followed with great eagerness are found unprofitable and vain to them that have been Zealous for them But the Ordinances which the Lord himself has appointed he is ready to own and make effectual to them that attend upon him in the use of them so that they shall have reason to say they have sought the Lord and have found him and have tasted and seen that he is gracious Ordinances are Feasts with which Saints are entertained called by the Prophet Feasts of fat things full of Marrow and of Wine on the Lees-well refined Isa 25.