we may expect Salvation Isa 4.2 And is it not so far a decent Worship to adore such a God by the Mediation of such a Jesus to Pray to God in the Name of Christ to be usher'd into the Audience of the Father by the Intercession of his only Son to have access into the Court of Heaven in the Name of the Son of God who hath loved us and given himself for us Hag. 2.7 The Desire of all Nations 3. The Ministers by the Instrumentality of whom c. I mean not those Pseudoes that run before they are sent those lying Spirits that under pretence of Teaching deceive the People but those Ministers of the Gospel which Preach the Word faithfully and divide it skilfully and administer all the Sacred and Sacramental Ordinances impartially without addition or diminution that Preach with zeal and Pray with fervour and live well and study to approve themselves honest Pastors that need not be ashamed they that endeavour to reduce the straying sheep to warn the unruly to rebuke the gain-sayer to comfort the weak commending themselves to the Consciences of their Hearers in the sight of God and these I say if we have any such amongst us as no doubt but we have tho' I wish their number were greater are Men of a welcome Presence of beautiful Feet of pleasant Countenances Isa 52.7 The very Office it self is an Ornament thoh ' the Church never wanted those Adversaries that in despite to the Light threw Stones at the Lanthorn The Minister is a Terrestrial Angel they should be so and good Ministers are so To the Angel of the Church c. Rev. 2.1 of Ephesus Sardis c. they are Starrs and shining Lights in the dark World and Starrs ye know enamel the Hemispheres They are the Servants of the living God which shew to us the way to everlasting Salvation I would not say these things to puff the Clergy up with Pride and Vain-glory but I would have the People know those Men that are set over them and admonish them and give double Honour to them that labour faithfully in Word and Doctrine and acknowledge the beauty of their feet which run to them upon these Evangelical Errands and pay a due and humble deference to that Sacred Function and account them more than the Horse-men of Israel and the Chariots thereof 4. The Place where Whether it be a ' Tabernacle or a Temple or other place consign'd to the Holy Service not that we attribute any inherent Holiness to such places now especially under the Gospel but what depends meerly upon the relation it bears to the Work and Employment 't is devoted to and upon this score the Place ought to be dear to us and appear amiable in our Eyes and we should be so in love with the Place for the Works sake as to say of it as the Patriarch of Bethel How dreadful is this place this is none other than the House of God! and lo here the Angels of Heaven ascending and descending as it were upon a Ladder or as the Prophet David Psal 84.1 c. How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts 't is the perfection of Beauty shinning with the light of the Divine Countenance Psal 50.2 't is that Zion which the Lord hath chosen and desired for his habitation saying this is my rest for ever here will I dwell here will I treat my Spouse the Church with the sweetest Wines the fattest Delicates the choicest Ordinances in the World Manna from Heaven Angels Food the Waters of Life Nectar and Ambrosia Nourishment for Souls to fit them for Eternity Forgive me Sirs if I speak with some spice of Fondness and Admiration all the World besides is common ground compared to this Sacred Appartment and all our Employment besides in comparison of this is nauseous and impertinent here 's the Vineyard of red Wine that the Lord himself doth keep Isa 25.6 better far than all the Taverns than all the Theaters than all the Elysian Camps of the wide Universe Glad then may we be when they say unto us We will go into the house of the Lord we will worship towards his holy Temple we will go and keep holy-day in the Courts of the Lord's house on the hill of Zion in the midst of Jerusalem Hallelujah Here we have better Company than any where in the World besides I mean in a more especial manner here more peculiarly than any where else we have Heaven it self in Emblem Mount Zion in Effigie the Coelestial Jerusalem the City of the living God the Coier of Angels the Court of Saints a sweet correspondency with the best of Spirits in both the Churches in both the Worlds Militant and Triumphant Earth and Heaven which brings me to 5. The People who The Holy Church the best of Men and Angels and Spirits separate the select Company called out from the rest of the World to adore their Lord and communicate of his Grace and prepare for and partake of his Glory not that all who are called are accepted the Chaff and Wheat the Corn and Tares the good and bad Fish the Sheep and Goats the Sincere and Hypocrite are both for a while jumbled together in promiscuous Company but none are real Communicants in this sweetness but real Believers the rest feed upon the shell these eat the Kernel the rest look on these taste the Comforts the rest fill up a space and serve for some purposes they hew wood and draw water for the use of the Tabernacles these are invested in the Communities Priviledges and Dignities of the Place they have all one Coat and Creed and Profession but these all have one Mind one Mouth one Hope one Way and one End they mutually partake and Communicate together in the same Prayers Praises Promises Priviledges every thing that is sweet and salutary and tho' their Faces differ their Natures do not tho' in Opinions about some lesser punctillio's they consent not in their Charity they are all one One so entirely that all the Cunning and Violence in the World shall not be able to dissolve the Knot One so entirely that their Interests their Intercessions their Cares and Crosses are the same the whole Company espouse the same Cause all drive at the same End all mean the Divine Glory and the good of Mankind in general if one be weak the other is weak if one be offended the other burns all the Members of the same Body do sweetly and amicably sympathize together Christians as widely distant one from the other as the two Poles meet in their Prayers in their Eucharists even the Angels stoop to us and we aspire to them we are all carrying on the same Work we shall all receive the same Wages we shall all shortly together be with the Lord Tho' our Brains be different yet our Hearts are not Bishop Hall nor our Ends shall not The Church is lovely orderly unanimous as an Army with Banners In short the Churches
of the Spirit of Grace the Company of Angels Cherubim and Seraphim Let us say as Psalm 4. many say who will shew us any good c. Besides if the Outward Court of this World be so comforted with the warmth of the Outward Parts of Heaven is there nothing in the Emperial Orbs in the Inner Chambers to refresh and comfort the Church of God! Is the Atrium Gentium so pleasant and is the Sanctum Sanctorum the Holy of Holies devoid and desolate 2. The Flux and Reflux Ebb and Flowing of the Sea that indeed depends as generally concluded upon the Moon only But that is such a Wonder in Nature that it sufficiently illustrates the Power and Wisdom of God Psalm 107.21 22 23. Oh that men would praise the Lord c. Thus God who daily makes the great and wide Seas to Ebb and Flow is able also to make the like changes and visicissiudes in the World in the Church he turneth mand to destruction again be c. Psal 90.3 5 6. Bsal 107 31 32 c. 3. Other secret Influences and Operations unknown to us as to Weather Health Plenty and it may be Wars and Peace Prosperity and Afflictions Life and Death For so far Astrologers go but I would be wise unto sokiety and not peer too far lest I should be taxed for Curiosity in all this the Glory of God appears CHAP. V. Of Comets Thunder and Lightning Air and Winds Storms and Tempests Hail Rain Snow and Frosts Extraordinary Signs and Apparitions I Shall here speak of the other Insevlour Appurtenances of Heaven I choose to range them under that notion because I intend not so much a Lecture of Philosophy as a plain discourse of Divinity I mean the Comets Thunder and Lightning Wind and Air Vapours and Exhabations Storms and Tempests Hail Rain and Snow strange Apparitions and Phenomena I hope my time will not be quite lost nor I censur'd for impertinent in treating on these things God himself therefore exhibiting them that we might duly meditare upon them and deduce Inferences thence for his Glory 1. Comets and Blazing Stars or whatever else of that nature appears in the Heavens above us I pass over those Miteors of lesser moment Falling Stars Burning Launces Flying Dragons Skipping Goats Ignes Fatui and licking Fires as exhalations of inferiour wonder Comets are the most stupendious I hope no body amongst Christians is so silly as Democritus who took them for the Souls of the Saints Trimphing in Glory Or as others Fires carried thither by Spirits only to astonish the World Whatever they are generated of for I will not meddle here with the Physical Consideration their meaning is something the God of Nature who is so Wise as to make nothing in vain without all doubt puts them in the Heavens for some sign or other Nor dare I be peremptory to assign the particular signification I humbly conceive the most that we can read in those Coelestial Hierogliphycks is that God is going to do some great thing in the World and that at the hanging out of those Flags it behoves men to enquire into their Lives and search their ways more narrowly and prepare to meet their God who is coming to judge the World in equity and maketh these Flames of Fire his Harbingers to prepare his way and give notice of his coming I shall not trouble you with particular Instances of these kind of Meteors the Scripture tells us at the Birth of our Saviour a Star appeared which perhaps was the Comet spoken of by Heathen Authors in the days of Angustus of a stupendious greatness upon which the Tibertine Sibyl shewed the Emperor the Divinity of our Saviour in these words Hic Puer Major te est Ipsum adora Our last great Comet I doubt not was of extraordinary signification not to us only but to whole Europe and farther so far as it was conspicuous What a Gracious God have we that never scarce goes about any great Commotions or Changes in the World but he gives warning beforehand as if not willing to take us tardy He shews his signs in the Heavens above when he is about to do any great Work in the Earth beneath And therefore as Darius in the case of Daniel Chap. 6.26 27. Let men tremble and fear before this God for he is the Living God and steadfast for ever his Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed and his Dominion shall be even unto the end he delivereth and rescueth and worketh signs and wonders in Heaven and Earth 2. Thunder and Lightning called by the Psalmist the Voice of God and by some supposed to be that Trumpet that shall sound at the last day to raise the Dead and to call to Judgment I will not trouble you with declaring the strange and divers effects of this kind of Meteor its hurting of things Inward when the Outward are safe shattering the Bones when the Flesh is left sound melting the Blade of the Sword when the Scabbard is free breaking the Vessel when the Wine flows not away exempting poisonous Creatures from their Venom and infusing it into those who are not so striking men dead and leaving them in the same posture it found them as if still alive c. It is enough to say that 't is a stupendious Meteor and may well be called the Voice of the Divine Excellency Job 37.2 3 4 c. Job 26.6 14. It is said of Nero that a Thunderbolt fell upon his Table and struck the Cup out of the Emperors Hand And we have known in our Age some strong Towers and high buildings demolished to the very gound with Lightning Some Men struck dead some lamed some blinded Trees clove asunder A Learned Divine of our Nation tells of a profane Person walking abroad with another upon the Lord's Day when it thundred to his Companion telling him of it made answer 't is nothing but a Knave Cooper beating of his Tubs but he had not gone much farther but himself was struck dead This may teach us to put on a Reverential awe of the Divine Majesty at such seasons That Emperor Caligula who used to brave it out as if he meant to vye with the Almighty and cry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was an instance of the Divine Patience but no safe example for imitation The Psalmist is more ingenuous Psal 29. c. Give unto the Lord O ye Mighty c. and Psal 97.1 2 3 4. To see all the lower World cover'd with thick Clouds and the Cracks of Thunder shake the very Pillars of the Earth and terrible Flashes and Corruscations of Ligtning with a speedy pace fly from one end of the Heavens to the other is so like the Voice of God and a Type or Shadow of that Black Gloomy Day which shall put a period to the World that it may well be a Memento of our Duty and Reverence we owe to the Divine Majesty and may well put that Question into our Mouths Who shall
11.6 For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness his Countenance doth behold the upright 5. Hail Rain Snow and Frosts c. I will not stay now to shew the particular usefulness of all these in their Kind Order and Seasons nor if I cared to spend time upon it have I skill to do it perfectly Something might be said which perhaps every one is not well sensible of concerning the Wisdom as well as the Power and Goodness of God in using such a diverse method in manuring of the Earth and nursing of Sublunary Bodies I shall conclude this with only that emphatical exhortation of the Psalmist 147.12 ad finem 6. To pass over Eclipses Conjunctions and Rain-bows c. I shall instance only in Extraordinary Signs and Apparitions as that of Angels appearing to Abraham to Lot to Jacob to Manaoh to David to divers others the extraordinary chasms of Light in the Heavens at our Saviours Baptism his Transfiguration his Ascension the Cloud and Pillar of Fire to the Israelites the Darkness at our Saviours Passion the Holy Ghost in the likeness of a Dove the Apparition exhibited to Saul to St. Stephen the Revelations of St. John the Prodigies before the Destruction of Jerusalem Armies conflicting in the Air with a thousand more such wonders which I list not to relate particularly I confess they are often mixed with false incredible relations yet not therefore all to be rejected Our Saviour hath given us warning to expect some such Mat. 24. and Act. 2.20.19 and every Age almost is witness of some Miracle or other of this nature tho not so many as many would believe Even Heathen and Mahometan History as well as Christian give suffrage to this From the whole we have this lesson briskly intimated to us viz. if the outward insensate Heavens that are neither endued with Sense nor Reason but are of a bruitish nature declare to the World the Glory of God what would be expected from us men to whom all these Creatures are given but as Servants If these mute senseless things preach so expresly the Glory of Him that made them what should not man do who tho he lives in place below them yet is endowed with an Excellency far above them God himself sometimes appeals to them for testimony against us to upbraid our disobedience Hear O Heavens and give Ear c. All the Host of the Inferior Heavens keep their place and observe the Laws of their Creation the very Clouds and Winds obey him Only Man is an Vnruly Vndutiful Disingenuous Obstinate Thing that will neither keep his Orb nor serve the ends of his Creation nor attend his Masters Will nor pursue diligently his own Happiness Tho our Feet are upon the Earth our Heads reach above the Clouds and we are near akin to the other World and have very great concernments beyond the Stars and yet that we should let our Affections sink into the Earth and our Souls incline so strongly towards Hell For shame Sirs let us set forth the Glory of God a little better in our Generations than commonly we do Let us vye here upon the Earth by the excellency of our Conversations with those twinkling Lamps that shine over our Heads let it never be said to our disgrace that these senseless Creatures glorifie God better in their place than we Let our Faces our Graces outshine the Sun Let men look on the Humility Honesty Sobriety Charity Piety and Patience of our Lives and give Glory to Him that hath given such Graces unto Men and let these Graces never be darkned with any unworthy unchristian practices let us appear Glorious to the World and no Hypocrisie or Apostacy ever pull down our Professions or lay our Glory in the Dust It 's possible we may meet with strong with close Temptations O let not our shining Stars fall from Heaven nor let our Moon be turned into Blood and then we shall be shortly removed from Grace to Glory and shortly shine like Stars in the highest Heavens yea as the Sun in the Firmament for ever 1 Cor. 15.41 As we shine in Grace now so in Glory hereafter CHAP. VI. Of the Continuation of the Heavenly Bodies DAY unto Day uttereth Speech and Night unto Night sheweth Knowledge q.d. one Day informeth another and one Night gives in fresh evidence to another to prove the Truth of it Not a Day nor a Night passeth over our Heads but the Heavens preach this Sermon to us We have a Continual Rehearsal of this Doctrine from Age to Age from one Year to another from the beginning of the World to this present time This Preacher is never silent this Exercise never over All that I can think necessary to be said upon this particular may be referred to two Heads 1. The wonderfulness of this Continuation 2. The practical Lessons we should learn from it 1. Wherein the wonder of it lies 1. In the multitude of the Bodies concerned We observe of Mechanical Instruments made by the Hands of Men that an Engine consisting of very many wheels or very many Motions or other parts are the most difficult to be kept in order An Orchard with many Trees or Garden with many Herbs and Flowers require more Culture and dressing or some will decay A Society of many Members is apt to disorder 'T is a harder task to manage a Nation than a Family The Hosts of Heaven are Thousands and the Appurtenances relating to them more and yet all keep still their appointed Courses We have lost none of the Stars out of their Orbs since their first coming there Some People tell us of some new ones as that in Cassiopea which was first discovered in the Heavens about the beginning of the Reformation what Salvo to give for that I know not it may be it was there before but not discovered But however 't was a case extraordinary and no prejudice to the order of the rest we have lost none of our Seasons Day and Night Summer and Winter have kept their times The Sun its Revolutions the Moon its due Changes the Stars their proper Periods and exact motions the standing still of the Sun in Joshua's time and the going back of it on Ahaz Dial are Miraculous instances and not to be parallel'd in other Ages 2. The Greatness of them Small Bodies are easily managed and apt to motion but Great Ones move slowly according to the Course of Sublunary Nature But they in the Etherial Orbs are of so vast a bigness that that Consideration doth mightily accumulate and greaten the Wonder That the Sun Moon and Stars all of them so big should move continually without disorder or period is an Accent upon the Miracle 3. The various Qualities they are of and the different motions they make do yet raise the Wonder to a higher Strain to keep all one motion especially if all of one nature were not so very much but to move from East to West from West to East from North to South from
South to North again as some of them do and this continually is an augmentation of the wonder 4. Without Period Flowers wither Trees rot Stones decay Man dies The very Face of things below will shortly cease to be and another succeed The Day dies and so doth the year And Stones and Castles here decay every thing here is weary of Motion The Apostle tells us The whole Creation groans But here it Groans and Dies only what is a kin more nearly to Heaven and borders upon that Court is of a more lasting Constitution of a more constant Motion of a more perpetual Duration Since the Fathers fell asleep all things of that kind relating to the upper Regions continue as they were from the beginning of the Creation 2 Pet. 3.4 7. For the Heavens are by the same word of God by which they were Created kept in store reserved unto Fire against the Day of Judgment 5. Without Interruption No faulter in their Courses no breach of Continuity in this long space of time Nothing hath been able to stop these great Bodies in the progress of their Motion or intermit the exercise of their Vertues and Operations 6. Without Error or Mistake or Deviation Tho great and many and various in their Qualities and incredibly swift in their Motions yet have they committed no remarkable fault in all this tract of years and revolutions They have all kept close to the Path Chalkt out for them by their Creator and have never leapt out of their Orbs. Nothing hath been able to tempt them from the Faithful Execution of their Offices and Employments Who hath ever becken'd the Sun out the Firmament or pusht the Moon out of its place or made the Stars wander into strange courses Or amidst all their divers Motions Mingled them into confusion or disorder When was ever Day and Night jumbled together or the Seasons of the year reversed or the Order of the Coelestial Bodies turn'd backward Illic justo foeders rerum veterem servant sidera pacem 2. Practical Inferences Learn we then 1. To hold on from day to day from night to night in the excellent Offices of a Christian Life let day to day utter speech and night to night shew knowledg of our continual goodness Mankind is born with his Eyes higher set than all the rest of the Creation besides his looks are by Nature more sublime and lofty Let us look up earnestly towards those lucid Spangles those sparkling Globes over our Heads and use our Eyes to some good purpose Let us make thence some Practical Deductions for our imitation at least emulation and scorn to Truant and Loiter here at that rate as usually we do Let no Temptation sosten our Spirits into an unnecessary repose nothing provoke us unduly to depart our Orbs to run back or start aside Let us never be weary of well doing Particularly 1. Let us never be weary of the duty of Prayer 'T is an excellent exercise and such as we ought continually to be intent upon Our Saviour spoke a Parable Luke 18.1 2. unto his Disciples that men ought always to Pray and not to Faint And the Apostle Col. 4.2 Continue in Prayer and Watch in the same with thanksgiving c. And 1 Thes 5.17 Pray without ceasing And let this amongst many others be one Argument to perswade us to assiduity in this kind of Devotion viz. That God Almighty is continually from day to day from night to night serving and supplying our necessities by the Ministery of the lower Heavens all the Hosts of the Etherial Regions are in continual employment for our Good why then should we disdain to bestow some few Minutes upon warm and serious Addresses to the God of Heaven Let neither the Day or Night go away without a Testimony of our Devotion Let not God hereafter ever cite the Sun Moon or Stars for to bear witness to our Ingratitude You know the Story of Daniel Recorded to the honour of his Memory That three times every day he open'd his Windows and set his Face towards Jerusalem and Prayed to the God of Heaven even then when pinch'd with the close Temptations of the Court under a Heathen Emperor Let us at least twice a day do Obeysance to Heaven Offer as God appointed to the Jews a Morning and Evening Sacrifice continually Let our Altars burn with Incense at least so often and this shall not only perfume our Days and Nights and make our Conversations smell sweeter to our selves and Neighbours but be a fragrant Odor in the Nostrils of the Almighty And please the Lord better than a Bullock c. Job 1.5 2. Let us Praise God continually as long as we live let us praise the Lord yea let us sing praises to him whilst we have any being Psal 34.1 His Praises continue in my mouth Psal 36.9 3. Let us be continually employed in doing Good to others And let us remember this that our God causeth his Sun to shine and Rain to Descend on the Just and Unjust Let us try what we can to be like him like our Heavenly Father diffusing our Rays to as wide a Circuit as possibly we can not limiting our goodness to a few individual Persons or a Single Party or a narrow bound but as our faculties will extend to the Church Catholick and the wide World in general This is to be in truth like the God of Heaven And let our Charity never be discouraged never tired To do good and to distribute forget not c. To make it plainer yet God hath given us a Copy of his Infinite Goodness in General to the whole World in the face of the outward Heavens as of his special goodness to the Church in the Revelation of the Gospel If we contemplate seriously the structure and Properties and several Vertues of the Heavenly Bodies we may read there in legible Characters not only the Greatness and Glory but the infinite Goodness also of him that made them and that to the whole Race of Mankind and that not for a spurt a short fit of two or three Ages but of continual Duration his Patience is Indefatigable and his Beneficence reacheth to the end of time Let us then if we will aim at Perfection and try to tread in our Father's steps Do good unto all men without weariness and Communicate the Light of our Graces to a whole Nation a whole World if possible and never grudg to lend our Candles to the Assistance of those that are about us And as for those narrow Souls that confine their goodness to a Canton or whose Light is like that of a flaming Meteor or an Ignis Fatuus or a Falling Star they deserve to lie down in Darkness and never more rise up again to Light or Glory Levit 24.2 Cause the Lamps to burn continually 2. Let us consider a little the Imployment of the Saints and Angels in Heaven 'T is pretty hard to conceive with our present apprehensions the business of
Eternity and reconcile the Notion of a Compleat Happiness to the exercise of a continual Devotion and yet this is handsomly represented to us in the Scheme of the Heavenly Bodies the Sun Moon and Stars are never weary never decay never wander out of their place but still are exercised in a continual Motion and keep still their brightness and glory and yet they are inanimate sensless Creatures Why should we think it strange or absurd that the blessed Spirits in the other World should be still employed in the Offices of Devotion and yet still possess'd of Ease and Bliss and which I drive at why should we not strike up and mend our pace at present Why do we often mutter and complain as if it were a weariness to serve the Lord And cry out When will the Sabbath be over that we may return to our worldly Cares and Pleasures again Is there so much difference indeed between Grace and Glory between the Apprentice-ship and the Profession between the Church here and hereafter Or is it possible think ye to make so quick a return from one Extreme to another To be all Earth and Flesh and sin here and Heaven and Spirit and Holiness there Or must we not a little at least be Heaven'd in our Minds now and be in a continual Motion to the end of our happiness Having these things always in remembrance 2 Pet. 1.15 or as Psal 119.112 Enclined to perform the Statutes of the Lord always or Psal 1.2 Exercising our selves in his Law day and night And when we can do this and do it with delight we are upon the brink of a blessed Eternity upon the skirts of the Holy Land upon the Borders of Heaven when our Light shines without darkness tho it do Twinkle now and then and shines continually when our Devotion doth not Die with the Day but glimmers through the darkest Night then and not till then we are in a fair way to the Life of Angels and the Spirits of Just men made perfect 3. Learn we hence to look for that which is lasting In this World we have no continuing City nothing durable no lasting motion unless it be that of Changes and Vieissitudes Summer and Winter Day and Night Peace and War Health and Sickness Life and Death even the Earth changes its Face according to the Seasons and the Seas tho they flow continually they are supplied from the Clouds above and both Earth and Sea and every thing here depend upon the Heavenly Bodies for that motion and continuance which they have In Heaven only is to be found the perpetual Motion Everlasting Life an House Eternal durable Riches and Righteousness Rivers of Pleasure for evermore there only is a continual Day a Light that suffers no Darkness a Sun always shining an everlasting Summer along Eternity of Bliss and Happiness This is easily demonstrable to any one that knows the present World and can but see the Skirts of the Holy Land the very Borders of Heaven Were it not Wisdom for us then to leave off building with so much anxiety here to take down our Scaffolds and get a Jacobs Ladder and climb up to that place of Angels to send our Hearts before us and cast our Anchor safe within the Veil and choose that other world for our portion and think and speak of it and provide for it and account it as our own and pack up all our last cares and passions for it that whilst we live upon Earth we may have our Conversations above and then we shall be eternally safe from Hell beneath But especially at the approach of any unkindly stop or period in our worldly comforts whether it be a black Night or a cloudy stormy Day or an ill Winter or Poverty or Shame or Sickness or Death Let us then take the advantage of the opportunity and look up as high as the Firmament and further even beyond the Starry Orbs and say with our selves In those Countries in that World is no Night or Darkness or Sickness or Sea or Hell let us scorn to grovel here as we have done Let us pack hence our Best Goods and be gone Let that be our Home and the Lord of that Country our Father and let us live heavenly holily humbly as becomes Citizens of that Heavenly Jerusalem the Metropolis of both Worlds 4. Let us live by Rule as those Coelestial Bodies all do even the Rule prescribed us by our Maker and fitted to our Natures and conducive to the ends of our being and this without stragling aside deviation or error on the one hand or the other without intermission or passion or weariness or any thing that may disturb our Motion I know as our Natures are more excellent than the Stars so we are upon greater disadvantages upon the score of sin that hath so enfeebled our Spirits and emasculated the courage and vigour of our Piety that as long as we live we shall be apt to flag but then let it be considered that our God hath offered to accommodate us with all the excellent helps of the Gospel and the assistance of his Spirit and therefore in the strength of these let us go on from day to day in the exactest course of a Religious Piety making no considerable blot or faulter if possible in the whole series of our Life or if that thro the frailty of Humane Nature may not be done let the blot be presently washed off by the Tears of a sound Repentance and then by that means all the crookedness of our former ways being made streight let us take care for the time to come to move upright steady and streight according to the excellent Rules prescribed us in the Laws of God and Life of our Saviour Let us try not only to keep pace with the Sun but to out-vy all the Stars of the Firmament and let it be accounted no disgrace to be thus watchful and curious about the keeping of our Orbs and observing our due Postures and modelling our Actions but rather our greatest excellency and glory Slight those who say amidst their sickly Healths Thou liv'st by Rule What doth not so but Man Houses are built by Rule and Common-wealths Entice the Trusty Sun if that you can From his Eccliptick Line becken the Skie Who lives by Rule then keeps good Company Herb. CHAP. VII Of the Extensiveness of the Heavens The Stars and Firmament the expanded Sky and all the Hosts of the Etherial Orbs speak expresly unto all the Nations of the Earth that there is a God to be worshipped and with such a Worship as becomes his Infinite Excellency Their words are so loud they may be heard to all the Ends of the Word Then let us consider 1. WHether the most dark and distant Nations of the Earth have taken notice of this Rule heard this Voice 2. What they have understood by it 3. What they might understand 4. What Inferences we may deduce from the whole for our own use 1.
could reduce the World to such a Posture or put Mankind in such a pleasant frame and temper as these do could furnish us with such pure and untainted streams of Piety Virtue and good Nature as these Graces well got and thoroughly attained And therefore let your light so shine before men c. It hath been long since observed if a Man standing at a great distance see a company Dancing he wonders at their antick gestures and seemingly ridiculous Motions and thinks them a company of Mad men but if he approaches nearer and comes within the reach of the harmonious Musick and Melody which guides and measures all these Motions and observes how regularly one answers to the other he than admires them approves their decency and order and desires to Dance with them So if a Man takes up the reports of the World concerning serious Christians or sees them at a distance busily attending all the Duties of their Calling and holy Profession he thinks of them as Festus of Paul they are beside themselves c. But come we nearer to an Intimacy and familiar Acquaintance with the Rule of Holy Living and Prov. 3.15.17 She is more precious than Rubies and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace 7. The Ordinances wherein whether it be the Preaching of the Word When the Man Preaches with such life and seriousness Orthodoxy and Authority Grace and Eloquence and such easie Methods and variety of Matter that the People are never weary of Hearing or Prays with heavenly life and fervour as may take the Souls of them that join with him or Praises with that alacrity and joyfulness which beseemeth those that are ready to pass into glory or Administers the Holy Sacraments with that veneration and solemnity that Pathos and Devotion as is due to those Sacred Mysteries this Decency this Beauty in the Divine Worship is enough to embellish the Church and make it look like Heaven in Emblem and signification More particularly 1. The Preaching and Hearing of the Word To speak familiarly 't is very becoming the Constitution of our Religion or any Religion in the World for an Ezra the Priest to bring the Law before the Congregation and to read therein from the morning till mid-day and the Tribe of Levi to cause the People to understand the Law to read distinctly and give the sense and cause them to understand the reading Neh. 8.12 to have a Testimony established in Jacob and a Law appointed in Israel which the Fathers are commanded to make known to their Children Psal 78.5 6. to go into the Synagogue on the Sabbath dayes and read and expound there the Will of God concerning our Salvation 'T is a pleasant thing for the Sons of Aaron to dispense the Manna of the Word with a good Conscience and in due season and to try what they can by the foolishness of Preaching to save them that believe to fill the Pulpit with Orthodoxy the Sentiments of the Divine Oracles the Authority of Heaven with wholsome Admonitions and suitable Reproofs and cordial Promises and the Ministry of Reconciliation to throw Coals from the Sacred Altar to warm the Hearts of all them that come Auditors out of the cold World and to stir them up to the Offices of Piety by putting them in remembrance of what God hath left upon record to that purpose in his Gospel And 't is a comely thing for the People to sit down in humble posture at the feet of Gamaliel to watch daily at the gates and wait at the Posts of Wisdom's doors to search for Knowledge for spiritual Knowledge with as much pains and diligence as Men are wont to search for Gold or Silver or hid Treasures when Men are glad to go to the house of the Lord and every Neighbour joggs his Brother and calls friendly upon him to go in society with him when the Tribes of Israel go up together with unanimous Consent with one Heart in one body as an Army with banners to gather Manna and eat Angels Food when they come with reverence to the House of God and take heed to their Feet and be more ready to hear believe and mediate than to offer the Sacrifice of Fools when the People are more willing to learn and practice than dispute and censure and contradict and disobey when Humility opens the Church door and Veneration attends their seats and Faith waits upon their Ears and Devotion hath taken possession of their Hearts When the Fields are ripe for Harvest and the Auditors as willing to learn as the Pastor to teach when the Lambs cry and bleat with importunity for the Udder and the Milk of the Word is taken greedily in and turns not into noxious Humours but into good Blood and Nourishment and makes the Conversation shine with good works and Evangelical Graces the fruits of a Holy Life when these things accord together as they should do then there is a beauty and comeliness of aspect in the Divine Worship 2. When they join in Prayers with that Unanimity and Concord that Faith and Sincerity that Devotion and Zeal as if all the Congregation had a mind to climb Heaven in a fiery Chariot to attach the Heavenly Jerusalem with a Volley of Prayers to take the Holy City with a sacred Violence to Pray the Gates open to that Coelestial Paradise in spite of all the Powers of Earth and Hell when our Prayers are well grounded and our Hearts well qualified and the Holy Jesus is the Fore man the Intercessor our High Priest to carry our Petitions within the Veil and to offer them there incensed with the Presenee of his own Merits and Mediation and we are resolved not to rise off our Knees without our Errand 'till we find sin bleeding upon the ground our Hearts melting in a gentle thaw under the benign influence of the Divine Clemency and we our selves clasping fast into the Embraces of the Almighty when the Breast pours out Prayers the Eye tears the Body kneels down the Soul lies in Paraphrase and the Man considers that Eternity depends upon the grant and is resolved to wrestle it out with the Angel of the Covenant 'till the dawning of the day the day-spring from on high does visit him 3. When they join in Praises and Thanksgivings to the God of Heaven with that chearfulness and alacrity as if they would send their Hearts also in their Eucharists and praise God not with the Calves of their Lips but the best Instrument they have their very Hearts and Souls When there are no Mutes in the Alphabet no jarring string in the whole Assembly no particular Member out of Tune but every individual Soul contributes to a Psalm and strives to make up an Harmonious Melody to that God that made their Tongues and calls for Hallelujahs Psal 66.1 Psal 76.11 Psal 81.1 2. Psal 92.1 95.1 Psal 96.1 4. When they all