in Ezra t Ezra 3.11 all Gods people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord because the foundation of the house was laid so David to aggravate the misery of his present estate v Psal 42.4 he speakes of the joy and comfort he formerly took in going to the house of God with a multitude of them that kept holy day And in that great joy the people of God had at the celebration of the passover in Hezekiahs time This is expressed for one cause thereof that the number of the communicants was so great w 2 Chro 30.26 for there Assembled to Jerusalem much people to keeep the passover a very great congregation On the other side the faithful and truely pious have ever grieved to hear or see that the Assemblies of the Church are unfrequented or neglected or that any false or Schismatical worship or congregations were set up in stead thereof Old Eli was much more afflicted for takeing a way of Gods arke then for the slaughter of the people or for the death of his own two Sons Hophni and Phinehas x 1 Sam. 4.17 in like manner the Holy Ghost noteth of his daughter in law that being in extremities of her pain and anguish it would never out of her mouth while breath was in her body that the glory was departed from Israel for the ark of God was taken away y 1 Sam. 4.22 So was it this that troubled that zealous man of God Elijah and made him weary of his life z The children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant 1 Kings 19.10 saith he that is they are fallen from thy holy Religion they have thrown down thy holy altars that is they have abolished and shown contempt and hatred to thy holy worship and why should I then desire to live any longer in such a time And for the Ecclipse of Church Assemblies we have a notable expression a Zeph 3 18. I will gather them saith the Lord that are sorrowful for solemne Assemblies who are of thee to whom the reproach of it was a burden in which Text we may observe five things 1. That it was one of the greatest sorrowes of Gods people in their captivite that they then wanted their solemne Assemblies doubtless they might have then some Religious meetings for Gods worship yea they had publique fasts then four times a year as appears b Zâ—â—h 8.19 yet their Assemblies was nothing so solemne or so populous as they was wont to be at Jerusalem that was their grief 2. The Caldeans their enemies was wont to reproach them for this and to say to them to this effect where are your solemne Assemblies now c Lam. 1.7 they did mock at their Sabbaths they rejoyced and reproached over them because they could have no such Assemblies as they was wont to have just as many wicked ones do now mock at our Churches and their ministers because people having the reins loosed may without fear forsake the publique Assemblies to erect private conventicles for themselves and do what they list as some can say to our very faces now 3. The Text saith this was a burden to to Gods people to have this reproach cast upon them as it is certainly to every true Protestant and godly man to hear of the separatists insolenttaunts to the congregations of the Church and the ministers thereof 4. Of these that were so sorrowful for the solemne Assemblies the Lord saith to his Church these are of thee they are natural Kindly children of the true Church that do stand thus affected 5. To them he doth make a promise I will gather them saith the Lord I will have a special respect to them and though they be scattered and dispersed not one of them shall be lost but I will bring them back again to their one Land I will gather them saith the Lord that are sorrwful for the solemn Assemblies who are of thee to whom the reproach of it was a burden Indeed it is a burden to every one that hath a true love and zeal of God in him to see Religion suffer the least ecclipse in any kind in any place to lose any thing of that lustre of purity sincerity or power that once it had Hence when the foundation of the Temple was laid under Zorobabel Gods people that had seen no better rejoyced in it but the Priests and Levites and chief of the fathers who were Ancient men that had seen the first house they wept with a loud voice while the rest shouted for joy b 〈◊〉 3.12 why O it grieved their hearts to see how far short that house which God was now to have came short in beauty and glory of that that God had had before in Jerusalem For as much then as it is every ones duty especially the ministers to consider the State of the Churches and especially that of which they are members and ministers to be affected with them and to pray for them and by all means to oppose the enemies thereof And there is none of us but stand in great need to be well grounded in these points that relate to the Church least we be seduced by the cunning and diligence of seducers that are abroad in the world and all our comfort will be augmented if by the light of reason and Gods word preached from such Texts as this I have read we can prevent the Apostacy of any from the Church and can discover the wickedness of those that are dayly forsaking the Assemblies thereof And it cannot but be matter of greatest grief to the truly godly to see the solemne Assemblies neglected or unfrequented or private congregations erected in opposition unto them All these particulars shew I have great reason to make choice of the Text and such like unto it till I have so fully discharged my duty and discovered the mind of God out of the Scriptures about it that I may leave the forsaking of our Church assemblies inexcusable so that they can never plead Ignorance of their duty and sin and that I may say liberavi animammeam I have delivered mine own soul To this end and purpose have I pitched on the Text. Not forsaking the Assembling of our selves together as the manner of some is For the coherence of the Text I shall wish you to look no further back then the 22 verse For the Apostle haveing in the former part of the Chapter shewn them that the Sacrifice of Christs body which he once offered hath for ever taken away sin He presseth thence a double exhortation The first in 22 vese let us draw near to God how even in and through Christ with a true heart and full assurance of faith c. And the Second is in the 23 verse Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering that is this Doctrine of Christ sacrificed and the merits thereof The truth we have received from Christ let us avow it and not
well as the best and the word be to be esteemed for it own worth and his sake whose it is who ever be the minister publishing it If thou may profit by the meanest if the fault be not thy own and the profit depends not on his gifts but Gods blessing Then though thou may rightly covet the best gifts and bless God for them when thou injoyest them yet mayest thou not despise the meanest of Gods Ministers nor despair of profit by him Nor is this then a sufficient plea for forsaking the publick assemblies the Pastors defects in gifts 4. The last prejudice is from his carriage supposed to be indiscreet perhaps intollerable It s true will some say our Ministers life is good his opinions Orthodox and his gifts excellent but he behaves himself strangely in his place Either he is alwayes chiding and reproving us A meer Boanerges a son of thunder telling us oft of Hell and Damnation as Ahab said of Micaiah prophecying concerning him ever evil no good This made Faelix distaste St. Paul when he preached of temperance before him and Drusilla who was most unchast and of judgment before him an unjust judge or perhaps he is ridged in keeping us to Church orders he will not bear with us in what he dislikes though it were his prudence to pass by To this Ioppose several considerations I confess there may be indiscretion in the best Pastors It s a difficult thing both to please men in wisdome and yet to save and not betray their soules in faithfulness Yet on the other hand it is ordinary for people to blame them that are faithful for their faithfulness under the notion of indiscretion Remember Gods strict injunction to those watch men of Israel to cry aloud and not to spare to warn men from the Lord in every evil course and that under pain of being guilty of the blood of their souls that miscarry by their negligence And if you consider this how can you wonder if they be very tender of suffering any sin to lie upon you they observe unreproved unreformed if they fear Gods displeasure more then mans and take heed least that you call discretion be not nicknamed so being in truth Laodicean Lukewarmness or want of Zeal Do but in the next place survey the generality of people in these dayes how dull of hearing are some how froward and untoward others how nicely Hipocritical and tickle others and how secure others and it will seem almost impossible for a faithful Pastor to work on you to reformation unless they speak more then discretion and modesty would almost permit Consider also if it be not better the people be not reproved and kept awake and at last saved through the Pastors reproofs and corrections however deemed indiscreet then muzzled in their sins Is it not better a wholsome though smarting plaister be laid on where need is than that corruption should fester doth not more souls perish by the Ministers luke-warme coldness then indiscretion better are the faithful words of a friend than the deceitful kisses of an enemy It is blessed thunder if it do but awake men out of their sins you are much more beholdto your Pastor for his plain dealing and honest hearted reproofs in faithfulness to God and your souls than if he should flatter you in your sins with placentia speaking pleasant things All which particulers duely considered do shew how groundless mens forsakeing the assemblies is also because of the prejudice they too often cherish against his carriages and indiscretion Truth is what ever men pretend the root of all is secret malice against the Church ministry bread and nourished in their hearts or at least want of love malice cannot judge well of any thing that comes from him a man loves not perverts his meaning construes wrong all his words and actions suckes poyson from that from which a diligent Bee would draw the sweetest honey in these dayes malice between Pastors and People flames out hot or at least love is cold and we know Christ bad his Apostles look for this entertainment in the world and so we need not think it strange concerning this fiery tryal He bad them expect to be reviled and persecuted and have all manner of evil spoken of them telling them the Prophets of old had been so used before them a Mat. 5 10 12. And Saint Paul saith of himself and his fellows that they found their Masters words true by experience for they were reviled persecuted defamed accounted the filth of the world and the off-scouring of all things b Cor. 4 12-13 And when God opened to him at Ephesus a large and effectual door That is blessed his ministry mightily and gave it enterance into the hearts of men Yet were there many adversaries raised up against him c 1 Cor. 6 9. Nay it is made a kinde of marke of an unfaithful Minister not to be thus used d Luke 6. 26. Wo to you when all men speak well of you for so did your father of the false Prophets e Gal. 1.10 If I yet pleased men I should not be the servant of Christ the reason is what ever men pretend it is a Ministers fidelity and plainness and boldness in reproving mens sins that 's the prime cause of their hatred and malice against them when Jeremy complained every one did curse him though he had neither lent nor borrowed upon usury he hints the cause in the next words that he was a man of strife and contention with the whole earth f Jer. 15.10 Ahab hated Michaiah because he prophecyed not good concerning him but evil g 1 Kings 22.8 The two witnesses did vex and torment men by their ministry h Re. 11.10 Indeed this evil made Moses Jeremy and Jonah to find out so many excuses as fearing to enter upon this so hateful and thankless a calling and it tempts many good Ministers either to give over the calling if they can live without it or at least to be unfaithful in performing it as breeding them so much hatred and displeasure with men I said saith Jeremy i Jer. 20 9. I will not make mention of him nor speak any more of his name but his word was in my heart as burning fire shut up in my bones and I was weary with forbearing I could not stay Now for a remedy of this disease oh that people would consider that near relation they stand in and that dear affection they owe to their Minister they are their fathers spiritual fathers begetting them to Christ Pastors Shepheards Watch-men such as must give an account That they would consider the strict command of God for love hence under the Law the Priest was to carry in his garments the names of the twelve Tribes on his â—oulders to signifie the weighty burden he undertook and in his breast plate to shew his entire affection unto them and this affection it is that maketh Ministers faithful in
not only loved the wayes of covetousness but ensnared the people in uncleannesses and upon those in the Gospel that made Gods house a house of Merchandize and so a den of thieves So that another ground and reason of mens forsaking and propagating separations from our publick assemblies Covetousness selfe interest I 'le name a 5. Even Idleness and this both spiritual and natural spiritual for because many men will take no paines in the practise of the duties of godliness which might well imploy mens whole lives therefore they fall into nice and new opin ions to imploy their active mindes So spiritual Idleness in things in which they should be imployed makes men curious and curiosity contentious The zeal of practise of humility and patience and self denyal and mortifying the flesh with the affections and lusts and renouncing the world and the other parts of real goodness this zeal grows cold and so that of disputes gets and gathers heat and vigor A lass our good works in this age fall short of the first Christians and then no wonder that our controversies exceeds theirs because we spend not our time in the one which is irksome to flesh and blood and therefore we imploy it in hammering and forging the other Pharaoh understood this well though he applyed it ill when he thought the Israelites proposals of travelling into the wilderness to their divotions was the effect of their idleness and so increast their taskes as the properest way to divert their design and as spiritual Idleness so also natural is often the cause of division For as experience sheweth such men as desert or neglect their secular callings are most apt to run after new teachers and with the widowes that neglected their office of Ministration to be busibodies and in many families the she-zealots neglecting their proper business the guiding of the house have therefore run into conventicles and upon them have seducers acted their designs most leading captive silly women to become duck coyes to whole families besides these there are another sort of Idle persons to that can sit at home lurke by their fire sides when they should be in Gods house and though they have little or nothing to hinder them from attending his ordinance yet any pretence a showr of rain a sore finger an Aking head a thin blast of weather will serve the turn to divert them O that such would remember Hezekiahs example who with in three dayes after he had been sick of a most painful and mortal disease went into the Temple a Esa 38.22 And the woman that on the sabbath resorted to the Synagogue though she had a spirit of infirmity eighteen yeares b Luk. 13.10 â—1 Alass the cause is mens hearts are dead and void of grace and the love of God and his word and so they find little comfort they take no delight in his publick worship and therefore are glad of an excuse David loved Gods tabernacle well For his heart and his flesh rejoyced for the living God c Psa 84.12 Those that tast how sweet the Lord is will desire the sincere milk of this word d 1 Pet. 2.2 3 O thou that art so careless whether ever thou appear in the assemblies of Gods Church in this life thou hast cause to fear thou shall never stand in the congregation of the righteous in the life to come e Psa 1.5 That 's a fifth cause of mens forsakeing or absenting from the assemblies as the manner of many is 6. There is a sixth which I will name because I will miss none and but name it because I have spoken in effect to it before The manner of some is to forsake them upon pretence they can spend their time and serve God as well pray and read good books at home as in the Church of God But God loves the gates of Sion more then all the dwellings of Jacob f Psal 87.2 David sure being both a prophet and a King could serve God as well in private as any pretenders and he had both a prophet and a Priest with him in his Banishment yet did he for all that long for the publick worship of God bewailed the want of it exceedingly g Psal 84.3 But I have fully shown you before the excellency and acceptableness of publick worship perfoâ—rmed by Godly ministers together with his people in a publick place above any private whatsoever that 's a sufficient consideration to convince them of sin that forsake the assemblies upon this account as the manner of some is Thus have I now both discovered the evident duty of all Christians and their obligation to frequent the publick assemblies in order to the publick worship of God and the sin of those men that either upon pretence of corruptions in the Church though they acknowledg it Orthodox and right in the substantials of religion or of some faults in the ministers life or opinion or gifts or carriage but in truth out of malice or hatred against him or out of pride or curiosity or Idleness or upon pretence they can as well serve God at home do neglect or forsake the publique assemblies Now what remaines but a word of exhortation to all that have an ear to hear what Gods Spirit saith unto the Churches and members of them 1. I beseech you Beloved in the Lord to learn to lay to heart your obligation to attend upon Church Assemblies and beware of those that endeavour the divisions of the Church or to divide and separate you from it It 's the Apostles own earnest exhortation g Rom. 16 17. now I beseech you brethren mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the Doctrine which you have learned and avoid them They are no lovers of your souls as they pretend they are no servants of God for your good they are no fit guides for salvation that for things meerly external adiaphorous indifferent matters of meer order or decency separate themselves from the society of a true Church and would have you so to do As if a furious brainsick sailor should upon every occasion of anger or discontent cast himself overboard presuming to be safe enough out of the ship the ordinary road way of Gods saving any soul is in the unity of the Church And that is in a conjunction of them to some visible ordinary congregation according to that h Act. 2.47 the Lord added to the Church such as should be saved but exceruntè nobis they who go out from amongst us because they was never of us as to their hearts I will not presume to judge them as to their final state yet this I 'le say that the Church being the Spouse of Christ and Schism and Heresie being a work of the Flesh an effect of so bad causes as I have shown you fully ranked by the Apostle with fornication and drunkenness and adultery and the like I would not dye in their state for all the