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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A72538	The drumme of deuotion striking out an allarum to prayer, by signes in heauen, and prodigies on earth. Together with the perfume of prayer. In tvvo sermons, preached by William Leigh, Bachilor in Diuinitie, and pastor of Standish in Lancashire.	Leigh, William, 1550-1639.	1613 (1613)	STC 15423.7; ESTC S103218	38,386	111

and the Moone in the vally of Aielan Surely surely at the presence of this great God the heauens and the earth shall shake but the Lord will be the hope of his people But leaue we them elder dayes come we to the later times mentioned in my Text Nay leaue we that God of Majesty and come we to the God of mercy euen to the dayes of Christ who when hee bowed the heauens and came downe into our flesh though hee fell vpon vs like a shower of rain vpon a fleece of wooll in sofnes and in silence yet the heavens were shaken at the brightnes of his presence whē at his birth Angels sung his lullaby and at his death all the creatures of God mourned his funerals To tel of the prodigies that fell out at his birth and of the wonders that were then seene I will bee the more sparing to speake because out of holy Writ little can be said thereof yet if approued hystories may speake Chronacles of elder times may bee admitted for Records of truth that blessed Babe euen in his birth by signes and wonders was approved to be the vndoubted son of God the Messias and Saviour of all the world It cannot be denied which holy Writ averreth Fulget in terris lux nova de coelo And another star appeared at his birth and Angels were heard to publish his prayses with glory in heauen peace on earth and good will among men yea and to attend the presence of that blessed Babe Kings came from farre to offer their gifts Kings of Arabia and Seha they offered of their purest gold and sweetest perfume that which the shepheards heard from heauen keeping their flockes vpon the downes of Bethlehē they preached to mē vpon this earth and all these are holy wonders of holy Record shewing fignes from heaven vpon the approch of that blessed birth whose breath as some write blew open the doores of that great Pantheon at Rome I mean the Temple of all the Gentile gods who vpon the birth of Christ fell down brake their necks as Dagon did before the Arke I might tell how Divels were daunted at his comming especially when the time of his appearance drew neere and I will here onely mention two Oracles of Apollo concerning this matter one to a Priest and the other to a Prince A Priest of Apollo demanding him of true Religion of God answere was made out of the hollow vault O vnhappy Priest why doest thou aske me of God that is the father of all things and of this most renowmed Kings deare and onely sonne and of the spirit that containeth all Alas that spirit will enforce me shortly to leaue this habitation and place of Oracle The other Oracle was to Augustus Caesar euen about the very time of Christs birth who desirous to know who should raigne after him would needs goe to Delphos and withall learne what should become of things when he was dead to which Apollo for a great space would make no answere till Caesar had importuned him from sacrifice to sacrifice till he came to the great Hecatomb whē as it were enforced Apollo vttered these strange words vnto him An Hebrew Child that ruleth ouer the blessed Gods commandeth me to leaue this habitation and out of hand to get mee to Hell but yet do you depart in silence from our Alters Whereuppon the Emperour standing agast and musing with him selfe what this answere might bee returned to Rome and built there an Alter in the Capitol with this inscription Ara Primogeniti Dei by both which you may see how Diuels were enforced to leaue their habitations on earth vpon Christ his dwelling in our flesh his Incarnation was their execution and they were enforced to howle vtter out their own miserie When it pleased him to swaddle vs in his mercy and so with this merciful myracle of our Sauiours birth went the miraculous mercies of our deliverance from sinne death and diuels his blessed birth being attended vpon as haue said to the wonder of al the world with these signs from aboue and tokens below harbengers of his most glorious and royal presence From the wonders of his birth it followeth wee came to the wonders shewed at the death of Christ when vpon the effusion of his bloud there was a cōmotion of all creatures high and low in heauen and on earth all grieued and groned to see and behold so dolourous a spectacle The Sunne was darkened and the Moone became bloudy stars fell from heauen and the earth quaked rockes burst asunder and Sheal was shaken nay more it was a day of darkenesse covering all the land as with a curtaine when heaven was shut from it shine and the graue was shaken when that Kingdom of death and darkenes was conquered by Christ whereby his death killed death and by his life gained vs life with immortality nay more was it not a wonder to see how the vayle of the Temple rent when mens hearts would not relent In a word the foundations of the earth were out of course and what had that righteous one done Surely surely though the prodigies be past with the passion tract of time hath vayled it from our flesh that wee see it not yet can it never from a passionate faith that it feele it not for to this end hath God giuē vs the spirit of prayer and compassion as saith another Prophet that we should weepe because of him whom wee haue pierced but woe is me to tell who is sorrie for the afflictions of Ioseph the yron of sorrow entered into the soule of our Sauiour we are senselesse of his sufferings if man will not be moued thou earth ye rockes graues Sunne Moone and Starres pleade the cause of the Innocēt and say what hath the righteous done Innocēt hands whom haue ye spoyled and yet are ye perced Innocent heart against whom hast thou Imagined euill yet art thou gored Innocent mouth of whom hast thou spoken euill and yet art thou spunged gracious face coūtenance vpon whom hast thou lowred and yet art thou spit vpon head full of deawe and lockes with the drops of the night so wooing vs in grace now wedding vs in glory how wer thy temples crowned with sharpe thornes to the effusiō of thy blood and yet are we senselesse of thy suffering we haue sinned and he hath smarted the Iust for the vniust and if we will be silent still and say nothing to cleare the innocent Sunne Moone and Starres earth Rockes and Graues will pleade the Lords quarrell and say what hath the righteous done When the man of God came out of Iudah vnto Bethell and Ieroboam stood by the Altar to offer Incense in reprehension of the kings Idolatrie he cryed against the Altar by the commandement of the Lord and said Altar Altar thus saith the Lord Vbi alloquitur aram molliorem carde Ieroboam where and when he spake

Bethel Moses meditations were mentall secret and silent when alone he cried to God and yet saide nothing And Dauid a part made his prayer for the adulterous child when groueling vpon the ground hee grieued and groned alone Demissa turba ascendit Iesus in montem solus orare And Peter at Ioppa prayed apart when in an higher roome he fel into a trance and prayed so long that hee languished yet saw the vision and heard the voice that filled his soule with solace I might tell of Iudith her Cell and secret when shee made her turret a temple to pray in All is but this as Bazil saith Oratio secretū postulat Soules would be secret in their sanctitie and from euery place there is a passage to his presence The temple the street the chamber the orchard field and wilde desart the mountain dales and wildernes the dungion denne and dunghill are Sanctuaries to Gods Saints are sacred for all our prayers prayses and passages to God in the day of our affliction Thus haue I told you how to pray that yee may bee heard how to call that yee may bee answered It now remaineth wee beware of such impediments lets and hindrances as diuide betwixt God and vs making the Lord lesse gracious in heaven by how much more graceles wee are on earth And so we come to the second part Now that which letteth first is the sinne of not hearing the word That wickednesse is the first wall or partition that beateth backe prayer the arrow of our deliuerance I say wickednesse as in them that pray so in them that are prayed for It must bee purged from both before the Lord will either heare or answere Iustified by that of Salomon Because I have called yee refused I haue stretched forth my hand and none would regard I will laugh at your destruction and mocke when your feare commeth VVhere and if yee read on yee shall finde how such impietie stoppeth all passage to God his care frō hearing his hand from helping his speech presence from all reliefe Then shall they call mee saith wisdom but I wil not answere they shall seeke mee earely but they shall not finde me because they hated knowledge and did not choose the feare of the Lord. A wofull warning to all such as eyther neglect despise or trample vnder foot the blood of the covenāt I meane all such as are weary of the word of God and despise preaching they shall call and not be heard they shal crie and not bee answered nay that which is wel worse and yet more dolourous He that turneth away his eare frō hearing the Law euen his praier shall be abhominable Some thinke they please God if they pray heare not they must bee warned they pester not the Lords presence with so stinking a breath in stead of more sweet perfume and while they would make themselues acceptable to God for their much praying they become not abhominable for their seldome hearing they thinke to bee heard saith our Sauiour for their much babling as and if hee should say correcting that error nay rather they shall bee answered for their diligent hearing Secondly as the eare must bee prepared for hearing that our prayers may haue passage so must wee lift vp pure hands to God that wee may haue audience for a good life must lead a good praier according to that Oratio nisi bona vita praecedat non exauditur or at least ●hey must goe together without distraction for as one hath well said qui rectè nouit orare rectê nouit viuere Hee that can tell how to pray well knoweth how to liue well God by the Prophet taxeth Israel of great impietie in that their declining estate and therefore would endure no entreaty but vpon their conformity When you shall stretch out your hands I will hide mine eyes from you and though you make many prayers I will not heare for your hands are full of blood but wash you make you cleane take away the euill of your workes from before your eyes cease to doe evill learne to doe well seeke iudgement relieue the oppressed iudge the fatherlesse and defend the widdow Then come and let vs reason together saith the Lord though your sinnes were as crimson they shall bee white as snow though they were red like skarlet they shall be as wooll The same Prophet from the same God and to the same people yet further presseth Israels impietie against the Lord whereby hee seemeth lesse placable whilest they charge him of impotency that he cannot helpe and of dulnesse that he cannot heare but he yeelds them a more solide reason of his restraint euen their wickednesse the wall of separation that keepes them asunder For Behold saith the Prophet The Lords hand is not shortned that hee cannot saue neither is his eare heauy that it cannot heare but your iniquities haue separated betweene you and your God and your sinnes haue hid his face from you that hee will not heare Sinnes and what sinnes reade the wordes that follow sinnes of Israel then sinnes of England now what marvell then if wee pray and speed no better then Israel then did for if wee blend in sinne with Israel why should wee not blend in judgements with them And these are the sinnes of Israel and Iudah wherewithall they are charged ô that our English Iudah were well discharged of them Your hands saith God by the Prophet are defiled with blood crueltie is in your waies your fingers are full of iniquitie they receiue bribes and are nimble to spoyle Your lippes speake lies who can be beleeued mel in ore verba lactis fel in corde fraus in factis there is hony in the mouth but gaule in the heart good words but euill deeds 7 No man calleth for iustice truth perisheth in the streete equitie cannot enter and hee that refraineth from euill maketh himselfe a prey The Lord saw this and was displeased with Israel and yet their greatest vanitie was in this that they thought their day of sinning would euer downe they dread no iudgement till it was at their doores and fell vpon them Thus infected my deare brethren with sinne how should wee thinke not to be afflicted for our sin how may we expect from the Lord either audience or answere when we pray Templum domini will serue no turne in this our temporising age if our sins make a separation betweene God and vs. When the cloud of Israels sinne had shadowed the face of the Lord shining Ieremiah laid downe his lamentation thus Thou hast couered thy face with a cloud that our prayers should nor passe through And it was the greatest griefe that euer came to Sauls hart when he said sighing The Lord is departed from me and answereth me no more Where if you marke the storie ye shall find how Sathan found him when the Lord had left him and when the holy Oracle was silent the

to the Altar softer then the heart of Ieroboam The heard harted Iewes then and we now stand by the crosse of Christ as Ieroboam did by the Altar at Bethel we are sadned in our sinnes and senseles of the sorrowes of our Sauiour the earth stones graues are more passionate then we they tremble breake and open at the death of Christ our flintie harts are shut from all compassion and we are a people of no bowels and because we relent not euen now the teares of the clowdes are in their eyes and they drop downe shewres of raigne in greater abundance then vsuall hath beene seene as more passionate then we either for the sins of our soules or death of our Sauiour When I am lifted vp an high saith Christ then will I drawe all men after me and not men onely but earth Stones and graues shall open vnto me woe is my heart we are heauier then earth harder then Rockes more silēt then the graues we speake not we pray not we praise not we stirre not at the death of our Redeemer he is lifted vp higher then euer he was euen from the crosse of shame to the crowne of glorie and we are pulled downe to all shame and Ignonimy with the weight of our sinnes heauier then a tallent of leade If any man say shewe vs his sufferings and we will greeue with him and for him I answere Dominus in monte verbum in alto Christ is vpon the mountaine of his holines his word is exalted here and elsewhere in the land for what doe we preach other then Christ Iesus and him crucified And doth it drawe all men after it The vaile of this Temple these stones in the pillars this holie ground and dead graues shall stand vp in iudgement one day against this people that they haue beene more prest to heare passionate to feele of the preaching piercing and sufferings of Iesus Christ then the men of this generation for we haue piped vnto you out of the Gospell and ye haue not danced we haue mourned vnto you out of the Law and ye haue not lamented But when wisdome is iustified of her children then shall ye finde it no wisedome but extreme madnes and folly to haue haunted the Tauernes followed your pleasures prophaned the Sabaoths sold Christ at a lower rate then euer Iudas did not for thirtie pence but for a penny shot a goodly price whereat he is valued and euen then alas when Christ is in preaching and agonizing ouer the cuppe of bitter affliction Nay the Queene of the South shall stand vp in that great day so shall the men of Niniuie and the one shall condemne vs in that they repented more speedily and the other that she came more readily to heare the wisdome of Salomon then euer yet we did to heare the wisdome of Christ The vse is good of all I haue said to strike a Selah with our soules in caution of our former future sinning procuring prodigies signes and wonders at Christ his death and our redemption for if one sin of Achan endangered all the campe and if one sinne of Dauid plagued all Israel what maruell then if when all the sinnes of all the world lay so heauily vpon our Christ and pressed him downe to death there was a commotion of all the creatures of God to see and behold so dolorous a spectacle as when the sonne of God gaue his sacred soule a sacrifice for our sinnes who had no shelter but in the graue for that opened to giue him passage when the vaile of the Temple rent and denied him sanctuarie And now spare we a while to passe from these prodigies at Christ his birth and death to the wonders were wrought sithence euen downe to our disasterous daies whereby we may gather the neare approach of Christ his second comming to iudgment The thought wherof so frighted Iob in his frailtie that he wished the graue might be his couer till the griefe thereof was past I might tell of that great day and it was the Lords day when hee mightily declared himselfe to be the sonne of God by the resurrection from the dead and what maruell then if vpon the approach of so glorious a presence Sheal was shaken graues were opened and dead bodies did rise with him and appeared vnto many in the holy citie to the great wonder of all the world And I might tell of that great day and it was the Lords day when at that high feast of penticost the holy Ghost appeared in a visible signe and was powred downe from God and fell vpon his Apostles in so great abundance what maruell I say if vpon the approach of so powerfull a spirit and presence sounds from heauen filled their eares like the rushing of a mightie wind fiery clouen tungs filled their eyes and mouths to speake magnalia dei to all nations vnder heauen I say what meruell if feare with an astonishmēt filled their eyes eares and hearts when the Lord was about a worke of so great wonder I leaue these holy wonders to the leaues of holy writ wherein you are daily exercised and by your holy patience I will follow the streame of some such signes as sithence haue fallē out shewing a presence in God prepared to punish without passion in man to preuent the danger by speedie repentance Memorable is the destruction of Ierusalem by Tytus and Vespatian 40. yeares after Christ his painefull passion who prophecied of their ruine because they repented not nor did or would know the day of their visitation she would acknowledge no presence of the Lord in mercy and therefore must feele the presence of her God in iudgement yet not without prodigies signes and wonders as harbingers of his wrath whereof Iosephus writeth much and more then I can now stand to relate being preuented with time but reade his booke de bello Iudaico and there ye shall find how first a blasing Starre was seene in the ayre like vnto a sword hanging ouer the Citie for more then a whole yeare together threatning nothing lesse then fire and desolation for their bloodie sinnes the blood of the Prophets and of that Iust one crying vengeance to God in heauen against that bloodie Citie 2. Againe at the feast of vnleavened bread in a great assemblie of people and at nine of the clocke in the night a bright light was seene in the Temple shining and so continued for the space of halfe an houre In token that because they had quenched the holie lamps and put out the light of the world therefore the glorie of that house should be of no continuance 3. Thirdly at the same feast and in the day time when the High Priest was offering an Heyfer for the Sacrifice she brought foorth a Lambe in the midst of the Temple In signe that though they thought they had killed that Lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world and that Moses should still haue

liued when Christ was dead yet should they see with their eyes that the truth should rise out of that type and when the Heyfer was slaine yet the Lambe should liue yea and that very Temple stones and all should turne to Greet Ne populus redirit ad Iudaizmum Lest the people might goe backe to Iudaizme 4. Fourthly nay yet more the great Brason doore as the Author saith being at the East end of the Temple which twentie men could hardly either open or shut at the sixt hower of the night flew open of it owne accord shewing a new way and passage of Christ to a better place and being euen vnto a Tabernacle not made with hands but pitched in the high heauens opening of it selfe without helpe of any 5. Together with these as Iosephus writeth in the 21. of May a gastly spirit of an vnspeakable height and bignes was seene in the citie a pregnāt prodigie of their iminēt desolation when Zim Ohim Skritchowles Fairies Satyres did haunt their houses and fairest habitations 6. Chariotes in the ayre armed mē fighting by troups amōg the clouds appeared throughout al the Land of Iudea marched towards the Citie with fearce Encounters all presages of their future fall by the furie of warre which was at their doores and yet they repented not 7. Nay more in a solemn feast when the Priests were assembled by night as their manner was to sacrifice they heard this voice Migremus hinc migremus hinc let vs get hence let vs get hence the wonder they heard sell from heaven enioyning them silence and a cessation from all legall ceremonies and sacrifices now ended both Priest place and offering vpon the sole sacrifice of Christ whom they had cruelly murthered and therfore had need to be gone before the fire of his fierce wrath was kindled against that place people and kingdome Lastly and of all other prodigies to provoke their repentance vpon the Lords presence neere approch now ready to strike it was not the least which fell out in one Iesus the sonne of Ananias of the vulgar sort who foureteene yeeres before the siedge when al was in quiet peace and plentie this sonne of Ananias comming to the feast of Tabernacles when the manner was that the Princes of the people should doe their devotions to God in the Temple sodenly he cried out to the wonder of them all A voyce from the East a voyce from the West a voyce from the foure windes a voyce vpon Ierusalem a voyce vpon the Temple a voyce vpon the Bride and vpon the Bridegroome a voyce vpon all the people Thus night day he ran through euery street crying without thought of food or regard of any insomuch as when he was beaten by the mighty impatient of the prodigie I say beaten to the bare bones he neither shedde a teare or shewed himselfe suppliant but at euery stroke stil cried out Wo woe to the inhabitants of Ierusalem and thus continuing during all the time of the siege and especially at their solemne feasts At last when the siege was at the hotest running round about the walles of the City without feare hee vttered the same voyce and said Woe to Ierusalem was to the people and woe to my selfe At which last woe Sagitta ictus occumbebat wounded with an arrow hee fell downe dead The vse is good and for vs in the height of this our security all these wonders and signes euery man interpreted as the story saith Pro sua libidine euen as best pleased himselfe some they neglected some they corrected some they contemned donec patriae exidin suaque pernieie eorum iniquitas confutata est till their error with their wickednesse was corrected with the destruction both of their country and of themselues they killed their Prophets they beleeved not Christ whom when they had slaine and silenced then was it time for prodigies to speake and say O bloudy City I dare giue remission vpon thy repentance but I dare giue no rest vpon thy rebellions Before the destruction of Troy as Virgil reporteth Fatis aperit Cassandra futuris era Dei Iussunec vnquam credita Tencris Cassandra foretold it ruine but could neuer be beleeved she spake from the holy Oracle but was not heard It s a fearefull thing when the Prophets are despised it s more fearefull when their Prophesies are set at nought but its fearefull aboue all feares when fire is a falling downe frō heauen that is when we with our Prophets and prophesying prodigies speake and wonders worke and yet wee repent not so it was with Israel I pray God it bee not so with England To speake of the signes wonders and prodigies that shall be seene vpon the worlds ending I dare not I cannot that feare and fire oppresseth my spirits in the thoughts thereof Et horret animus meminisse my very mind and soule melteth at the heat thereof And therefore hauing in some weake measure mentioned that dreadfull day heretofore in two other Sermons I leaue it vnder a vayle as Apelles did the imperfect portraiture of Agamemnon father of Iphigenia and come a little neerer home euen downe to our dayes Haue we no signes in heauen or prodigies in earth to moue our repentance Haue not the heavens of late yeeres strucke an alarum to provoke our prayers by vncoth signes never seene before It is some 40. yeeres agoe since that starre in the North appeared in Cassi●peia whereat the Astronomers stood agast Surely it was some star of Bethlehem conducting vs to that Babe of Bethlehem Non in cunis sed in Cathedra not lying swathled in the cratch but advanced into his chaire of high estate by a second birth of holy doctrine thē divulged through out all the world when the Gospell should beget faith in more abundance from the East to the West by North and by South I durst not thus presage of the effect of this star were I not well warranted by the judgements of two worthy Divines lights of this age Du Plessis and Beza who by that wonder in heauen are bold to say that the Lord hath prognosticated a second birth of Christ vpon the earth by the preaching of the Gospell vnto all nations vnder heaven neuer to bee backed by that wicked man whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shal abolsh with the brightnesse of his comming whereof these wonders in heauen are warnings on earth for all Gods children to bee prepared with our oyle and our Lampes light to meet him in the cloudes and so to bee caught vp to raign with him for ●ver And so to the next Not many yeeres after and right ●pposite to that in the North there appeared an other wonder in heauen a blazing starre both great and fearefull threatning some dangerous event to the Southerne parts of the world which the Affiricans in some measure felt when the Kings of Barbary and Portugall were slaine The cinders of that