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
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.
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
The Gods of the Heathens are but meer Parelii silly Adumbrations Ciphers compared to this One Johova An Idol is nothing so saith the Apostle i. e. of that which it pretends to represent And 't is a bold piece of presumption and sacrilegious Impudence to set up Rush-Candles or Wax-Tapers to vye with the Saviour to put mear Creatures in competition with the God of Heaven Nay the Moon herself is not fit to enter any comparison in right Judgment with the Fountain of Lights the Sun for what Light she hath 't is dim and uncertain and all borrowed she hath none of her own So nor all the Church Catholick put together that in Heaven and this on Farth are worthy of the tenth part of that Adoration and Honour we owe to the God of all theWorld And yet there have been some so absurd in their practice that they have burnt Incense to the Queen of Heaven the Moon when the Sun must be put off with a bare Sacrifice And some that say ten Ave Mary's to one Pater Noster saying with that Superstitious Monk tu spes mea Thou my Hope my Tower in whom I have placed the very End of my Salvation if which God forbid I should like a Man mad and rebrobate forget my God vere tui nunquam obliviscar Thy memory is sweeter than Honey and the Honey-comb in my Mouth c. Methinks the Apostle seems 1 Tim. 6.16 to allude to this similitude of the Vnity of the Sun 2. Of the Trinity There are three considerable distinct affections belonging to the Sun all which I mentioned but now Motion Heat and Light They are all of a several different property and yet inseparable one from the other and yet these three all concenter in one Sun Why may not this be a pretty Tolerable Representation of the Trinity of Persons the Father Son and Holy Ghost 'T is a hard Mysterious Article to Humane Reason Mankind hath long complained of the depth and difficulty of this Mystery I will not say that God meant this consideration of the Sun for a Natural Advantage to our Faith in the case But I dare say we are allowed to help our Unbelief with all the Assistances of Nature as well as Grace that we can get And this if we please may be one Nor am I singular here neither The Ancient Fathers of the Church have started the Notion before me Dr. Day in his Lectures cites Juslin Martyr Tertullian Cyprian and Lactantius making use of this Comparison I humbly acknowledge this Article of our Faith is without a bottom past Humane Fathom 'T is storyed of St. Augustin that he endeavoured to found it He walkt abroad to that purpose at last came to a River-side musing with himself and labouring to conceive it At length not far off a little Child appeared unto him very busie on the Bank He had made forsooth a little hole and with a Spoon which he had in his Hand was lading of the Water into the aforesaid little hole St. Augustine draws nearer to him demands of the Child what he was a doing Father quoth he my purpose is to unlade this whole River into this little hole you here see Augustne That 's impossible c. Child No more will you be ever able to bring to pass that which you are about And with that the Child vanished I relate not the Story for a certain Truth The thing itself in absolute consideration is true viz. that 't is as impossible for us to conceive the Blessed Trinity as with a little Spoon to unlade a Great River into a little hole The present Emblem may serve a little to take off our suspicions of the Impossibility and Absurdity of the Trinity of Persons in One God It is not sufficient to expound the thing it self all the Three Persons are represented under this Notion FATHER The Lord is a Sun Isa 60.19 SON Mal. 4.2 and vide Margent Luk. 1.78 and Mat. 17.2 Rev. 1.16 HOLY GHOST He shall baptise with the Holy Ghost and with Fire Lead you into the way of all Truth Multa sunt quae dici possunt sed suffioiat fidelibus pauca de Mysterio Trinitatis audivisse Aug. In die judicii non damnor quia dicam nescivi Naturam Creatoris mei si autem aliquid temere dixero temeritas poenas luit ignorantia veniam promeretur Id. 3. Of the Divine Glory and Vnsearchableness He that goes about to stare long upon the Sun or approach its Light and dive deep into the Nature of it may as Demecritus stare himself Blind before he can make any near approaches to it 'T is not easie to bear the insiuence of the Sun for one whole day suppose we could possibly be so long under the immediate and direct emission of its Glorious Beams tho upon the Earth It will burn combustible stuff at the distance of 1000000 miles should it stand still and neither remove away nor be tempered with other cooling Elements Consider this a little seriously and apply it The Glory of God is such an amazing wonder that as the Father saith in hac mortali vita quicquid ad nos usque pertingit aliud nihil est quam exiguus quidam rivulus ac velut parvus magnae Lucis Rivulus Naz. vide Act. 26.13 1 Tim. 6.16 so that when we go about to search into the Divine Nature we must stand off and know our distance and assume modestly to our thoughts and acknowledge the depth of the Mystery and cry out with the Apostle Rom. 11.33 c. O the Depth c. sure I am tho we ought as much as any thing in the world to study the Nature and Properties of that God we are concerned with and account it one of the first points of True Wisdom to acquaint our selves with that Almighty Being we have to do with and to pray for more Light and Grace that we may be able in due time to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the Love of God which passeth knowledge Yet in our highest attainments on this side the veil we shall know but in part and prophesie in part our utmost skill will not be sufficient to comprehend the Infinite God in the Embraces of our Finite Conceptions And we shall as soon be able to climb the Sun and stare with open Eyes upon that great Luminary and comprize all its excellent Rays and Influences within the limits of our narrow Bosom as by searching to find out and trace out the Almighty to perfection Est in Deo quod percipi potest est plane si modo quod potest velis Sicut videre est in Sole quod videas si hoc velis videre quod possis amittas autem quod potes videre dum quod non potes niteris it a ut in rebus Doi habes quod intelligas si intelligere quod potes velis Caelum si ultra quam potes speres
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