THE ARKE of Noah FOR The Londoners that remaine in the Cittie to enter in with their families to be preserued from the deluge of the Plague Item An Exercise for the Londoners that are departed out of the Citie into the Countrey to spend their time till they returne Wherevnto is annexed an Epistle sent out of the Countrey to the afflicted Citie of London Made and written by Iames Godskall the yonger Preacher of the word Psal 50. 15. Call vpon me in the day of trouble and I will deliuer thee and thou shalt glorifie me Dan. 9. 18. O my God encline thine eare and heare open thine eyes and behold our desolations and the Citie wherevpon thy name is called LONDON Printed by Thomas Creede AN EPISTLE TO the afflicted Citie of London To all you that be at London beloued of God called to be Saints Grace be with you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Iesus Christ Rom. 1. 7. with all that call on the name of our Lord Iesus Christ in euery place both their Lord and ours 1. Cor. 1. 2. AS Naomi dearely beloued in the Lord the title of honourable at this time I do omit spake vnto the people which sawe her Call mee not Naomi which soundeth beautifull or pleasant but call me Mara for the almightie hath giuen me much bitternesse the Lord hath humbled me the Almightie hath brought me vnto aduersitie So likewise thou afflicted London mayest answere to them that see and heare of thee Call me not Naomi but Mara for the Almightie hath brought thee now vnto aduersitie In which affliction I may speake with the Apostle wee are mindfull of your teares And although as Paul speaketh we be absent in the flesh yet are wee with you in the spirit Coll. 2. 5. kept from you for a season concerning sight but not in the heart 1. Thess 2. 17. For we haue you in perfect memorie Phil. 1. 3. hauing you in our hearts 2. Cor. 7. 3. And thus being affectioned toward you 1. Thess 2 8. without ceasing God is my witnesse with the Apostle wee may protest we make mention of you alwaies in our prayers Rom. 9. 1. 10. Of thee ô London with the Leuites of Ierusalem vnfeignedly I may speake Psal 137. 5. If I forget thee ô Ierusalem let my right hand forget to play If I doo not remember thee let my tongue cleaue to the roofe of my mouth True it is by the Riuers of Babel as it were wee sit in a pleasant Countrey but neuerthelesse here we weepe when we remember thee ô London we hang vp our harpes and the pleasantnesse of the countrey cannot stay our teares remembring you that are afflicted as if we were afflicted our selues weeping for the Citie as Christ did for Ierusalem Luk. 19. and not onely for you but for our selues Luk 23. 28. How could we feast while the yron enters Iosephs soule in the Citie We are not Nero singing and triumphing when Rome is on fire but as Abraham prayed for Sodome and the Prophet for the peace of Ierusalem so we for the peace of London As for the Romish Edomites the superstitious Papists who reioyce at this ours and your present calamitie insulting ouer vs in this land and in others preaching it vnto theirs publikely and muttering it priuately that this deluge of the plague is iustly broken through among vs because we haue as they speake forsaken the religion and profession of our forefathers iustly we doo acknowledge although it is falsely imputed to that pretended cause What is this their accusation else but that old song of the superstitious Israelits Ier. 44. 18. 19 Since wee left off to burne incense to the Queene of heauen we haue had scarcenesse of things and haue beene consumed by the sword and famine Were not also the good Christians in the time of Tertullian Cyprian Arnobius and others in this manner vpbrayed by the Heathens who imputed to them the cause of Pestilence Warre Invndations Earthquakes and other troubles But O yee blind sonnes of men what was the cause of the flood in the time of Noah was it the Religion of that time or was it Noah the preacher of righteousnesse The Lord himselfe sheweth the cause Gene. 6. and 7. Chap. the sinnes of that age and the flood of iniquitie For which like sinnes both we and their professors also as well as we at diuers times haue felt this rod and also at this present time in Flanders they doo taste of this smart-whip which giueth vs iust occasion to speake vnto them that of the Prophet Thine inuentions haue procured thee these things Remember O Lord the children of Edom these superstitious Romanists which speake rase it rase it to the foundation thereof O daughter of Babel worthie to be destroyed But from whence am I digressed To returne to the head of the race where I first began I returne to you my brethren with sighes to whome I may vse the Apostles words In anguish of heart I write vnto you with many teares Of Prayer of which this treatise following doeth intreate I may speake that which Martha said vnto Christ If thou hadst beene here my brother should not haue died So likewise if feruent and humble prayer had beene amongst vs we should not haue suffered these things But seeing wee are in the flood and that the waters are entred euen to our soules Psal 69. 1. Therefore behold against this deluge I send to you a delineation of the true Arke of Noah whereunto yee and we ought to flie to be preserued which is the name of Iehouah Prou. 18. 10. the little Zoar and the Sanctuarie to hide and safegard our selues Two things beloued may put you in minde this yeere of two things First of Noah Secondly of Ionas withered Gourd vnto which your present calamitie for diuers respects fitly may be compared The first is your great ioyes preparations and stately buildings in the beginning of the yeere like vnto the ioy feasting marrying and building of those who liued in the dayes of Noah Matth. 24. Luke 17. The second is the suddaine alteration which ensued thereupon like vnto the vnexpected flood and deluge which came vpon the securitie of the olde world We liued before as in the dayes of Noah wee are now as it were in the flood the afflictions and troubles of the sonnes of men being not vnfitly compared vnto waters by the Kingly Prophet Dauid which prayer at this time London thou mayest make Saue me O God for the waters are entred euen to my soule Seeing therefore that thou with Ionas mayest say Lord the floods compasse me about what remaineth but that we enter into the Arke to be preserued Giue me leaue beloued by a comparison to shew you two things the flood wherewith ye are compassed about and the Arke which yee ought to enter In the flood of Noah the holy Ghost noteth foure things First the cause for which it
the sound and the sicke yea the infected with the plague In the time of infection it is not lawfull for them that dwell where the contagion raigneth to come vnto the princes court they are forbidden by proclamation to resort thither But the court of heauen is open for all men yea for the infected for they cannot infect the court of heauen the King of heauen hath made a proclamation in the 50. Psal that we should resort thither and the prince of glorie Iesus Christ who keepeth his residence there will not keepe vs backe If the prince had made a proclamation that the infected should resort to his court to be healed who would not hasten thither It was not lawfull for all men to come to the inner court of King Assuerus none might approach but they to whome he held out his golden scepter except he would die the death that was appointed for such as durst come neere no such kind of punishment is appointed for those that goe vnto the courte of the King of heauen we may approach boldely to the throne of grace the scepter of our King I meane not that yron scepter of his iustice but the golden of his mercie is euer held forth to man woman children bond or free stranger or Citizen infected or not infected whether they be called or not called and they all may safely approach I name not neither inward or outward court but euen to the throne of grace where the King himselfe sitteth and if there we craue of him I say not to the halfe of his Kingdome as Assuerus spake vnto Ester but to the whole it shall not be denied vs. Feare of punishment keepeth vs from the princes court Let not feare keep vs from the court of heauen Nehemias although he held the cup to the King yet how fearefull he was to make a request vnto him But as for you O ye righteous soules feare ye not O you litle flocke for it is your fathers pleasure to giue you a Kingdom Luc. 12. Further in time of contagion not only the court but also the other citties townes and villages will not often lodge them that come from contagious places either the Lord of the soile or the magistrate of those places forbidding it but as for that heauenly Ierusalem and the Lord of the liuing thervnto euery one may resorte the Lord and magistrate of heauen doeth not interdict it Dauid cried vnto the Lord and said thou art my portion in the land of the liuing Psal 142. 5. At Roome the housen of the Aediles were alwaies open for all men that they might resort thither to haue their causes heard and so is the house of the Lord for the afflicted soules In some places there are appointed as I my selfe haue seene watchmenwith halbards to aske the passengers from whence they come and sometimes to keepe out those that come from infected places but in our going to this place we neede not to haue such feare for as Chrysostome saith Hic non est miles assistens qui expellat here there is no Sergiant or soldier to keepe thee out If the citties of the earth shut their gates before thee thou canst not enter As for that heauenly Ierusalem it is not lockt and although it were prayer as Augustine speaketh is a key to open heauen and to bring thee to the presence of God Serm. 226. de temp the towne and villages in times of infection although they receiue some yet they will not harbour manie and often there is no place for multitudes but so is it not with the name of Iehouah with this strong tower it is not like vnto the bulwarkes of mortall men into the which if too manie enter they will hinder one another this fortresse can receiue millions and millions without any impediment Further the temple is also interdicted to the infected for they are commanded by the magistrate to keepe their housen for a time or if they come they are entreated to sitte aside but the Lords holy temple aboue in heauen is not forbidden vnto the infected nor to any man it is lawfull for them to goe thither and pray and that with the successe of Dauid Psal 18. In my trouble I did call vpon the Lord and cried vnto my God and he heard my voice out of his Temple Sixtly some make a choyse in the plague time of a place which is neere wherevnto they may easily goe without any great trouble or cost the name of the Lord is such a place compendious to cut off vnnecessarie labours yee neede not to runne farre the Lord is neere as the Prophet speaketh to all them that call vpon him neither will it cost vs any thing money or merites intercession of friends or gifts poore men yee that want friendes or money and therefore cannot prouide your selues a place bee not dismaide behold here is a place which will cost you nothing It is a place wherevnto we may goe at all times at dinner time and at supper as Crysostome speaketh in the day time and at mid-night in thy health and in thy sicknesse the sicke man may lye downe vpon his bed and goe vnto it and when with King Ezekias he cannot vse the feete of the flesh yet may he vse the feete of the spirit In a moment we can flie thither for as soone as we haue finished our prayer we are alreadie come to this place and to the Lord of this soyle our prayer and God meeting one another in heauen as Iesus Christ and the woman at the Well Ioh 4. As for earthly places wherevnto men resort either they are far off vneasie to goe vnto and that with trouble and cost or expences sometimes we are stopped we must haue warrants and certificates of the Parish Church wardens that our house is not infected before we can be admitted all this trouble we neede not in the time of plague in our going to the name of the Lord nothing will stop vs the bodily plague shall be no impediment for wee haue a warrant that we may passe the King of heauen his warrant in the 50. Psalme Call vpon me c. and therefore this place is better then the earthly where the fearefull sonnes of men dwell which feare the apparrell houshold-stuffe and thy letters I know nothing then to stop our passage but the plague of the soule as the Lord of this soyle telleth vs in the 2 Cor 6. 17. Touch none vncleane thing and I will receiue you But I heare the weake conscience obiect I am infected with the plague of the soule and therefore it is not lawfull for me to call vpon the name of the Lord it is for the righteous as Salomon speaketh but alas I am vnrighteous and how can I therefore goe vnto this strong tower The answere is for thy comfort O weake conscience that Salomon speaketh not of them that are righteous by their owne righteousnesse but by
Lord graunt that he may long shine ouer vs euen then when prosperitie could not haue pleasured the Citie and all her inhabitants then the Gourd withered and the worme of Gods iudgement came And as Christ wept ouer Ierusalem in the midst of his triumph when the people cried Blessed is the King that commeth in the name of the Lord when the multitudes did reioyce and spred their cloathes in the way So the Lord hath giuen vs cause to weepe ouer the Citie when we were almost in the midst of our ioyes and triumphes when euery one was reioycing and made preparations for the triumph against the entire of him of whom we may say as the Israelites of Dauid Psal 118. 26. Blessed be hee that commeth in the name of the Lord. Let the conclusion of this point be all thy iudgements O Lord are number and measure thou knowed best the time when it is most conuenient to inflict them The meanes or the instrument which is the fifth thing to bee considered which the Lord vsed to afflict Ionas and which hee sent as a messenger from heauen to smite the Gourd was first a worme secondly the wind and the Sunne The worme a little and a base messenger with weapons of no power and yet giueth a mortall blow he that could haue sent a great wind to turne it vpside-downe a lightning to haue blasted it or a whole armie of wormes sendeth but one little contemptible worme to execute that businesse So the Lord to beate downe the pride and immoderate ioy of our Citie the flourishing Gourd of our prosperitie hath not sent whole armies deuouring beasts Earthquakes fire or brimstone from heauen he sendeth only a pestilence litle Carbuncles spots and tokens in our flesh which seeme to bee nothing or to haue no force and yet suddainely they beate downe the proudest and the strongest I st not strange that a little botch or carbuncle hath such admirable force Well may they be called Gods tokens for thereby he sheweth his strength Let this serue on the one side to make vs to stand in awe of the mightie power of God and on the other side adoring this his power to humble our selues before his Maiestie for how darest thou O sonne of Adam lift vp thy selfe against that Lord who can cast thee downe with a little carbuncle Let not the pleasures of this life make vs secure and sitting vnder the couert of them let vs not say we shal neuer be mooued for they are but Gourds and the Lord hath a worme of iudgement And what is the freedom from the rod of God our dauncing to the Tabert Harpe but a Gourd for a time I call to witnesse young men yee lustie gallants some of you haue had your Gourd to reioyce in Eccle. 11. the dayes of your youth the cheerfulnesse of your hearts the lustes of your owne eyes but the Lords worme the pestilence hath smitten downe some of you Rich men some of you haue had your Gourd your purple and fine linnen your delicious fare euery day Luk. 16. But this is withered with your selues and some of you lie in the graue The worme then which the Lord had prepared for this yeare to change our ioy into sorow is as now experience teacheth the Pestilence the King of heauens Pursiphant and therefore wee may crie with the Angels Apoc. 14. With a lowde voice feare God and giue glorie to him for the houre of his iudgement is come The second instrument which the Lord vsed was the wind and the Sunne good creatures created both for an other ende to gouerne the day to giue light to the world to purifie the ayre c. and yet they receiue a commandement to beate vpon the head of Ionas the principall part of the body wherein is the gouernement of the whole creature the seate of the minde from whence the senses and neerenesse take their beginning So the Lord hath commanded his Angel to infect the ayre to hunt annoy vs both good creatures erected to another end to preserue and comfort vs and yet behold he hath commanded them to beate the very head the principall part of the body of his kingdome our Citie I meane beloued the seate and imperiall Chamber of the Realme from whence the other members receiue their maintenance which redoundeth to the danger of the whole body for which the members and the daughters haue smarted and yet doo sigh for which argueth that our sinnes make the good creatures of God to become our enemies Seeing therfore the Lord hath smitten you that are the head let not the effects which it wrought in Ionas bee seene in you First faint not although the force of heate is great be steadfast and aboundant alwayes in the worke of the Lord 1. Cor. 15. 58. And I would not brethren haue you ignorant concerning them that are a sleepe that ye sorrow not euen as they which haue no hope 1. Thes 4. 13. Be not ashamed of the testimonie of our Lord 2. Tim. 1. 8. but suffer as good souldiers of Christ 2. Tim. 2. 3. The Lord hath not cast thee downe without reuocation of his fact he afflicteth thee not in his furie but in his mercie to doo thee greater honour and fauour in the time to come if this in iudgement mooue thee Let this heate inflame your hearts with the fire of Gods loue that the Lord say not of vs Amos 4. I haue smitten you with blasting and burning and you returned not Secondly be not angrie and impatient wish not desperately to die grudge not nor repine at the Lord but let your patient mind be knowen vnto all men Phil. 4. 5. to whom doo yee rather owe the quietnesse and subiection of your spirits then vnto him who giueth both his benefites vnto vs to teach how easily hee can bestow them and taketh them away that we may know how little wee deserue them with Ionas out of the waters which did compasse him call rather vpon the name of the Lord follow him not in his anger but in his prayer I haue brethren to vse the Apostles words somwhat boldly after a sort written vnto you as one that putteth you in remembrance thereof through the grace which is giuen me of God but yet as Paul speaketh Wee write none other things vnto you then that yee reade or else that yee acknowledge For this I say not by commandement 2. Cor. 8. 8. But this say we vnto you by the word of the Lord 1. Thes 4. 15. you haue already entred this Arke for wee haue heard of your fasting prayer and liberalitie to the poore how that yee haue charged them that are rich in the world to doo good and to be readie to distribute 1. Tim. 6. 17 18. And therfore although we are absent in the flesh yet are we with you in the spirit reioycing and beholding t is the Apostles saying your order and your steadfast faith in Christ waiting for
recreate themselues in their sorrow and exile foode and necessaries for their bodies further by the riuer side or where there is good water lastly where they may also haue foode for their soules the word of God Preached This place of refuge the name of Iehouah is a pleasant and delectable place where canst thou better recreate thy selfe then by thy Father and brother Iesus Christ in this thy exile and miserie Comfortable is the bosome of the mother to the yong infant but more comfortable is the name of the Lord to the righteous which are called little babes by the Apostle Paul maketh mention in his voyage toward Rome of a certaine place which was called The faire hauens Act. 27. this place of refuge better deserueth this name let vs goe thither for it is a harbour and rode for those which are tossed in the sea and deluge of the Pestilence happie is the soule that landeth at these hauens If we desire water there is the fountaine of life Iere. 2. the water of grace Psal 51. If wee desire the word there is the word it self Iesus Christ Ioh. 1. the truth Ioh. 14. There is the best the first the ancientest Preacher God himselfe that preached in Paradise Thirdly in our choyse we seeke out a safe place whither we may goe without danger and where wee may abide safe and dwell without danger The name of Iehouah is a safe harbour the secret place and shadow of the most high Psal 91. 1. vnder whose wings we shal abide safe and harmelesse Three things prooue the safenes of this place First the name of the place it is A strong tâ—wre Prou. 18. 10. A secret place Psal 32. 7. A rocke and fortresse Psal 18. which is inuincible Such are not the fortresses of mortall men which they are constrained to render vp being driuen therevnto either by famine or force as Seba in the time of Dauid hereof is a witnesse Secondly the Lord of the soyle which inhabiteth that place his name is Iehouah the Almightie Psal 91. 1. the strong and inuincible God who will and is able to preserue vs. Thirdly it is prooued by the successe of those who runne to it and by that which they receiue they are exalted preserued or deliuered saith Salomon which Dauid acknowledgeth Psal 32. 7. and is confirmed by the successe of Dauids prayer 2. Sam 24. 25. and the plague ceased from Israel Comfortable is the saying of Dauid Psal 91 3. 15 16. in which sixe things prooue the happie successe of the righteous that runneth vnto it First Gods ready answere Secondly his presence Thirdly his deliuerance Fourthly his aduancement to honour Fiftly length of dayes Sixtly fruition of saluation O the excellent riches pleasures and ioyes which the righteous there shall enioy As Lot there sled vnto little Zoar to bee preserued from the fire of Sodome So let vs flie to the name of Iehouah to be safe from the fire of the plague The earthly places wherevnto men runne do want this propertie they are not warranted to be safe there either from danger or from the plague and the experience of this yeere doeth declare it vnto vs all Some haue returned and some haue died there but as for the name of Iehouah thy soule is certaine to be preserued if thither shee taketh her recourse and as they onely escaped the flood that entred into the Arke of Noah So likewise they that enter into this incorruptible and immortall Arke shall onely bee safegarded from the deluge of afflictions The Doue of Noah at her first flight from the Arke although shee mounted aloft and fetched many retires yet shee could finde no resting place vntill shee returned againe to the Arke So the poore soule may flie where shee will but yet shee shall not haue any sure footing to rest except shee returne to the heauenly Arke let vs therefore bee wise as Serpents and simple as Doues for as they being persecuted flie vnto the rockes so let vs in our calamities take our recourse to the rocke of Dauid Psal 18. 2. neuer haue there beene holes in the rockes so open for the doues as the name of Iehouah for the righteous soules There are two renowned places mentioned by Plinie Locris and Crotone where the plague was neuer as he writeth lib 1. cap. 96. and without doubt many resorted thither but although we should flie at this day to Locris and Crotone if we carrie within vs the plague of sinne the inward cause of the bodilie contagion we haue no warrant to bee safegarded But me thinkes I heare a controuersie Many righteous haue fled to the name of the Lord and yet haue not beene safe from the deluge of the pestilence or from the snare of the hunter but thousands and thousands are fallen yea some of the chosen of Israel The answere is that they haue first obtained either that which they prayed for secondly or that which is better or thirdly that which is sufficient And the Lord heareth vs alwayes although alwaies he granteth not our petition this seemeth a Paradoxe and yet the trueth thereof is manifest for in steed of that we asked he giueth vs a better thing and a better place thou askest the earth saith Augustine and the Lord giueth thee heauen temporall life and he giueth thee the eternal The Surgion that saweth off the arme or legge of the patient who crieth for impatience and apprehension heareth him Non secundum voluntatem sed sanitatem not according to his will but according to his health and so the Lord dealeth with his patients Fourthly to proceede men make choice of places where they haue their friends the children resort to their parents the parents to their children brethren to their brethren and one friend to another The name of the Lord is a place of refuge where we haue our best friends there we haue our father our eldest brother Christ Iesus the holy Ghost our comforter and therefore Dauid in the time of plague went to this comfortable place In earthly places vnto which the sonnes of men resort either we haue no friends or they are farre off and therfore wee seeke other or sometimes although we haue friends yet they will not receiue vs for feare of infection but in this holy temple and vpon this holy mountaine we are sure to finde at all times the aforesaid friends Fiftly we haue regard to choose a place which is lawful for all men to come vnto which is not prohibited or forbidden by the Lord of the soyle magistrate of the place and where we knowe we shall be receiued This place of refuge is such accessible for all men for whosoeuer shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saued Ioel. 2. 32. Neuer a cittie of refuge so free for all manner of transgressions hither may come the King and the subiect the rich and the poore the learned and the vnlearned the merchant and the tradesman
in heauen are impure in his sight Secondly if we send vp feare and distrustfulnes the length of the way will tire them out they are as heauy and lumpish as gaddes of yron they will sinke to the ground before they come halfe way to the throne of saluation Thirdly if we send vp blasphemies and curses all the creatures betwixt heauen and earth will band themselues against vs. The Sunne and the Moone wil raine down blood the fire hote burning coales and the ayre thunderbolts vpon our heades And therefore let vs not vse the ayde of these three bad seruants As prayer is a seruant to ayde the sicke so it is a trustie friend or seruant to keepe your housen and families O ye Londoners that are departed in the Citie yee vse the ayde and trust of others but they are not the best for they are mortall and corruptible exhort them therfore to vse this friend towards the Lord both for you for themselues for except the Lord build the house they labour in vaine that build it except the Lord keepe the citie the keeper waiteth in vaine saith Dauid Thus I haue shewen you that be at London beloued of God called to be Saintes the Arke of Noah to enter in with your families I come now to you beloued that haue left your mother citie for a time which hope to returne your departure I will not disprooue nor wiser then I if ye haue vsed it lawfully remembring in your exile the affliction of Ioseph And spending the time in those things which make for the peace of your cittie To refesh your mindes and spend your time there because the workes of your vocation you cannot exercise diuers other exercises I knowe haue beene vsed perhaps not so well as ye might al of them I do not condemne but it is to be feared that the exercises of some haue beene friuolous and game some quarrellers and that carding dicing and that Cup challenging Profession by which many drinking to health drinke theirselues out of health haue beene to others as vsuall pastimes as the fieldes to walke in Giue me leaue beloued to shew you a better exercise and another pastime the pastime of King Dauid a roiall exercise which he vsed in the time of plague his prayer and inuocation with the elders of Israel spend heerin your time beloued till ye returne when your mother mourneth will you sport when the head smarteth shall the members be senselesse pray with the prophet for the peace of your Ierusalem It is the Apostles precept to pray continually which if it euer was time to practise it is at this present Suffer me to enter into the prayse of this exercise diuers things doe adde commendation to it which ought to presuade you to the vse thereof The first argument of prayse may be taken from the author thereof Not Moses or Samuel prophet or Apostle Patriarke or martyr but God the father God the sonne God the holy Ghost the blessed trinitie haue bene the authors which make it a diuine and heauenly exercise The second argument from the persons which haue vsed it we delight in exercises which are accounted honorable which men of credite and good account doe commonly vse this exercise is honorable yea royall not base and contemptible onely haue spent their time with it but Kings and princes King Dauid Manasses Exechiat and the rest The blessed Prophets Patriarks yea the prince of glorie the sonne of the immortall God Christ Iesus It is so heauenly and honourable that by prayer we doe approach neere vnto God and doe as it were conioyne our selues with him while we are in the bodie we are absent from home but by prayer we do ascend into heauen prayer being as it were the band of our internall coniunction with God Further it is honorable not onely in regarde of the persons which haue vsed it but also to God and vs. To God for thereby we honor and glorifie him Psal 50 acknowledging that all might glorie felicitie health and saluation belongeth to him and that from him alone we must receiue it To vs for thereby we are familiar with the Lord if it be an honor for vs to be familiar with earthly Princes which are but dust and ashes O what an honour is it then to be familiar with the King of Kings and monarke of the world It is the cheefest honour wherevnto he can aduance vs when hee giueth vs the spirit of prayer If we desire the valor of Knighthoode by prayer we may stand in place where Gods hand hath made a breach and doe as much as all the chariots and horsemen in a kingdom If you esteeme it an honour to be in the seruice of the Prince giue your selfe to prayer it is one of the chiefest parts of Gods seruice Yea it is so excellent that the sacrifice of prayer is offered alone to him whom Salomon calleth excellent and glorious It is an honor to be a christian let vs therefore vse the christian exercise two things doe admonish vs our name and the example of Christ Christians we are called annointed also to be Priests and Prophets and that royall Priesthood in Christ Iesus As the Priests offered the sacrifices of bullocks and rammes so let vs offer the sacrifice of prayer which hath also beene Christs exercise Mercie hath prayed and shall not miserie charitie hath prayed and shall not iniquitie pray the Physition prostrated vpon the ground prayeth and shall not the sicke and the patient call vpon the Lord the innocent and he in whose mouth there is no fraude prayeth and shall not the sinner the iudge prayeth and desireth that the Lord would be mercifull and spare his people and shall not the guiltie bee suppleant to receiue mercie The pleasure of it may bee the third argument of commendation this exercise is pleasant and delectable To spend the time in the Countrey diuers vse pleasant and delectable exercise this is both acceptable to God pleasant to man to God for the sweete odours of our prayers ascend into heauen Apoc. 8. And as the sent of incense and Odoriferus things is pleasant to the nostrels of mortall man So the prayer of the righteous saith Chrysostome is pleasant to the immortall God It is not then the lamentation of men eiulation of women and children mingling heauen and earth together with a confusion of out-cries that is acceptable to God and which can enforce him to giue vs audience but it is humble prayer the voyce of repentance which as Iesus Syrach speaketh Eccl. 35. 16. shall bee accepted with fauour and reach vnto the cloudes Secondly to vs all that our heart desireth is in this exercise Some being in the Countrey spend their time in discourses prayer is a discourse with our beloued If it was a pleasure to Iacob to speake vnto Rachel and to Ionathan with Dauid O what a recreation is it for