THE DRVMME OF DEVOTION Striking out an Allarum to Prayer by signes in heauen and Prodigies on earth Together with the Perfume of Prayer In two Sermons Preached by William Leigh Bachilor in Diuinitie and Pastor of Standish in Lancashire Luke 21. 28. And when these things begin to come to passe then looke vp and lift vp your heads for your Redemption draweth neere LONDON Printed by Tho Creede for Arthur Iohnson dwelling in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the white Horse 1613. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE SIR Thomas Parry Knight one of his Maiesties most Honourable priuie counsell and Chanceller of his Highnes Dutchie of Lancaster together with the Right vertuous Religious Lady his wife grace be multiplied in this world and glory in a better Right honourable IF as the Psalmist saith The Lord hath so doone his maruellous workes that they ought to be had in rememberance and are much sought out of all such as feare him pardon me in your honourable patience while I presse with passion such prodigies as haue fallen out of old in former times and now of late in these moderne daies of danger wherein we liue All harbingers of Gods Irefull wrath and indignation for mans transgression And yet I know not how which is a wonder of wonders signes from heauen are not respected sinnes on earth are not repented for We can discerne the face of the skie like the Iewes in the Gospell taxed by our Sauiour and thereby we dare prognosticate of the effects of faire or foule weather to come but we cannot discerne either by signes from heauen or prodigies on earth how the Lord is rison out of his place and threatneth our destruction if we repent not The meditations hereof I am bold to put vnder the shelter of your honours protection and pray they may passe your iuditious eye in sort as they are tendered that is from the dutie and seruice I owe in many rspects being otherwise vnable to answere the same but in such passages of prayer and religious exercises as fall within the compasse of my profession And surely such passages are best suted to your selfe whom religion hath made honourable and worthy those great and waightie imployments you haue vndergone abroad in forraigne parts and at home within the kingdome vnder two religious Princes Besides spare me to seeke protection at your honours hands in regard of the place you beare with vs vnder God and the king our worthy Chancellor the sterne of which gouernment you haue moderated for many yeares with such iustice mixed with mercy as I dare appeale to your clemencie and milde censure in any thing I haue here tendered And for the latter Sermon which is the Perfume of prayer the Arrow of our deliuerance in the daies of danger I trust it shall not be offensiue if I make it proper to the Elect Lady your religious wife and consort whose practise of much pietie with prayers and teares Church-weapons haue beene are and will be a blessing to your house and an ornament to the Church of God whilst Anna-like she frequents the Temple house of God treading vpon that holy ground with no lesse due then true deuotion And now the Lord Iesus as he hath matched you together in grace and giuen you much honour with length of daies espouse you to himselfe in the kingdome of glorie that you may come to the feast and mariage of the Lambe crowned with glorie and clad with immortalitie ensignes of a better world whither Christ is gone before and hath traced you the way to follow after which because you haue faithfully done he will come and fetch you to himselfe in a time accepted that where he is there may ye also be Against which day and blessed houre the Lord God of heauen prepare you with your oyle and your lamps light that ye may meete him in the cloudes and so be caught vp to raigne with him for euermore Amen Amen Your honours most humble and at command William Leigh THE DRVM OF DEVOTION Striking out an Allarum to Prayer by signes in heauen and prodigies on earth ACTS II. 19 And I will shew wonders in heauen aboue tokens in the earth beneath bloud and fire and the vapours of smoake 20 The Sun shal be turned into darkenes and the Moone into bloud before that great notable day of the Lord come 21 And it shal be that whosoeuer shal cal on the name of the Lord shal be saued VPon the reading of this Scripture prophesied of by Ioel applyed by Peter and to be accōplished in the latter daies me thoght I heard the Lord speaking from heauen as hee did by another Prophet and say Write this vision and make it plaine vpon Tables that hee may runne that readeth it for the vision is for an appointed time and at the last it shall speake and not lie though it tarry waite for it shall surely come and not stay Now what it is that shall come and not stay is the subject of my speech and the division of my Text. There shall come signes and wonders in the latter dayes to provoke our repentance there shall come faith and confidence to all the godly to assure them of deliverance and to this end are wonders wrought as in heauen aboue so in the earth beneath bloud and fire and the vapour of smoake that the dampe of our sinnes might be put out by the breath of our Saviour whose presence wee may be assured then presseth neere vs when these his wonders are vpon vs. If Kings of the earth stirre the commons are moved shal the King of heauen rise either to bee iudged or iudge the world and shal the creatures sit still surely no for though we his reasonable religious creatures bee silent in our sinnes and say nothing yet shall the senselesse creatures grieue and grone after a deliverance I say deliverance from the bondage of corruption wherin they are and from the dampe of sinne wherewithall they are pestered Of these in order as God will And first of prodigies provoking our repentance next of the sweet perfume of prayer assuring vs of deliverance when feare and fire shall fine vs for our good for it shall bee that whosoever shall call vpon the name of the Lord shall be saved What may be the meaning of the spirit in this place touching the time and manner of these signes when and how they should appeare to the worlds wonder divers haue diuersly divined 1. Some say the accomplishment should bee at the second comming of Christ to judgement and bee harbingers of that dreadfull day 2. Others for it shall bee at the siedge and sacking of Ierusalem by Titus and Vespatianus of which opinion the Greeke Paraphrase is which citeth Iosephus writing thereof 3. Some say the accomplishment should bee at the death of Christ and in the day of his passion when all the world should bee passionate for him but not with him for hee must tread the
wine-presse alone Lastly and the least in reputation of iudgement are the Iews who euen at this day vnderstand it to bee meant of the warres of the Israelites with Gog and Magog Ezechiel 38. 39. But that I seeme not more opinatiue then orthodoxall I may safely say with the precedent words of my Text that these shall bee accomplished in the latter dayes which are alwayes taken for the dayes of Christ when with the effusion of his bloud hee will power out the abundance of his spirite vpon all flesh and withall shew his wonders from time to time to a senselesse world senselesse of it Sauiour so as from the first day of his comming in grace to the last day of his appearance in glory wonders shall appeare more or lesse to the comfort of the godly and confusion of the wicked And surely it is respectiue to see how sparing the Lord is of his judgements and how plentifull in his mercies his bloud and spirit are powred out in al abundance his signs prodigies are but sparingly shewed and pointed at as harbingers of his wrath to moue vs to repētance bloud shed spirit powred out O bottomlesse depth of mercy signes but shewed and prodigies but pointed at limitting both feare and fire that it fall not vpon vs before we repent there was never mercy either met it on earth or matched it in heaven and therefore I know not whether I shal more willingly admire his loue in spending his mercies vpon vs or his vndeserued fauors in prouoking our repentance David in the person of the faithfull and in a case nothing different mourneth over Sion with this wofull complaint Wee see not our signes and there is no Prophet left but Lord how long Where it is to be observed that they doe not complaine because they haue no Captaine to lead them in the field but that they haue no Prophet to instruct them in the faith accounting it a greater calamity to lacke the heauenly food then the earthly fight nay more and to come neerer the proper Subiect I haue in hand these Saints in Sion sorrow not for that they haue no Ensignes to follow on earth but because they haue no signes shewed them from heauen to assure them of the Lords presence to fight their battels and be propitious deeming it more disasterous to faile of signes about then of Ensignes below where prophesie is not there the people perish and where neither wonders from heaven wound vs to repentance nor tokens below provoke vs to prayer we are in danger and die in our security Are not all things as they were in the beginning so saide a secure world in the dayes of Peter musicke mirth and minstrelsie were in their feastes velvet silke and sables were on their backes their coffers were full of siluer gold and pearle their dishes were filled with dainties their garners with graine their stawles with fatlings and their Orchards with all manner of fruit their gardens and fields diaperde with all variety of fruites they felt neither sinne within nor sorrow without no wonders in heaven aboue or tokens in the earth beneath bloud and fire and the vapour of smoake were vnneath seene and therefore no marvell if they put farre away the evill day and suncke in their security When Israel was full then shee kicked against the Lord and her sin increased as the signes decreased til tokens from the Lord had taught her another discipline the vapour of smoake blasted her garland when it was at the greenest famine sword fiery Serpents brake her heart to better obedience and the Lord was mercifull vpon their repentance VVe thinke it goeth well with vs when our waters keepe the course of their wonted Channels without inundations when the North is clear and light without fiery inflammaons when neither Sunne nor Moon laboureth of an Eclipse we deeme the day blessed when the ayre is pure and the windes are still when the seas are calme and no thunder breaketh the cloudes yet better it were if thunder-clappes from aboue did breake our hearts and prodigies below plowed them vp for a softer mould against the day of haruest when the Lord shall come in the cloudes with his fanne in the one hand to winnow all fire in the other hand to purge all the corn for heaven and the chaffe for hell Moabs rest was Moabs ruine and surely I could never yet see but the world that flattereth vs is more dangerous then the world that persecuteth vs according to that periculosior mundus blandus quam molestus It was said of David by one who saide well factus est securus devictis hostibus praessura caruit tumor excrevit When he had no fight hee fell from his God and the proud tumor of his lust the lesse it was handled the more it rankled The doctrine is good for the generall and so I will descend to a more particular vse of signs it may be to shew that he can be mercifull without means the Lord will sometimes be silent shew no wonders but passe vs like the sweet running waters of Shiloh that goe softly by Sion but when it pleaseth him for our loude crying sins to come in judgement then wil hee swell like the turbulent waters of Iorden that run roughly thē wil his signs wonders bee harbingers of his wrath warning vs of his neare approch ready to destroy if we repent not But to worke a certainety out of such wonders as the Lord hath wrought either by himselfe in th◠old Testament or by his Christ in the new It is to be observed that ever vpon his comming to a worke of judgement or a worke of mercy there hath gone before him a commotion of Creatutes to present his presence for as I haue already saide If when Kings of the earth stirre the people are moued shall the God of heaven rise from his rest and the creatures sit still I say sit still before his presence in whose voice there is feare and in whose face there is fire for even our God is a consuming fire When the Law should bee divulged from the holy Mount the Lord came from Sinai and rose vppe from Seir vnto them and appeared clearely from Mount Paran and he came with ten thousand of Saints and at his right hand a fiery Law the ayre thundered the hils trembled burning blacknes and darkenes were his pauilion and so terrible was the sight which appeared that Moses said I feare and quake It was a great day fearefull and fiery because of a fiery Law what maruell then if vpon the approch of so great a majesty the earth shooke the heauens dropped at the presence of this God even the God of Israel What should I say more of Israels God sith at the brightnes of his presence the red sea was diuided Iorden was driven backe Quailes fell from heaven and the Rocke gushed out water springs the sunne stood still in Gibion
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
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 pregnaÌ„t prodigie of their imineÌ„t desolation when Zim Ohim Skritchowles Fairies Satyres did haunt their houses and fairest habitations 6. Chariotes in the ayre armed meÌ„ fighting by troups amoÌ„g 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 froÌ„ 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 Cassiâ—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 theÌ„ 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 â—ver And so to the next Not many yeeres after and right â—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
heard so must I pray in humilitie if I will haue answere for he hath regarded the lowe degree of his handmaid it was her virginall voyce and in the humblenes of her heart she was exalted with her God O it s an excellent vertue when honor is humbled and humilitie is honored with the title of blessednes as it was with Mary Iudeths humilitie pulled downe the Assirian pride when powring out her prayer to God for the deliuerance of her people she said Thy power standeth not in the multitude nor thy might in strong men but thou O Lord art the helpe of the humble and little ones Aron and Hur must hold vp Moses hands lest he might seeme to be exalted in his owne streÌ„gth And when Hester the Queen was to deale with her God by prayer she put off her princely robes but when she went to the Kings Pallace she put them on to teach vs that we may not deale with God as with men for hee will be better pleased with our pouertie then with our pride with our sackecloth and ashes then with our silke and sables I and the child will goe alone so said Abraham of his beloued Isaacke I and my miserie will goe alone so saith the humbled soule vnto his mercifull Sauiour No plea with God like the pore mans plea and to goe informa pauperis is the best plea in heauen though it be the worst on earth Thirdly as the Lord must be called vpon in faith and humilitie so must he be applied with good zeale and affection no perfume of prayer but from a passionate heart a broken and contrite heart God will neuer despise his eye and his answere is towards all such according to that of the prophet To him will I looke euen to him that is poore and of a lowly troubled spirit and trembleth at my words Moses said nothing and yet he cryed vnto the Lord it was a passionate prayer not from Laodecean lippes but from a fyrie spirit as with Anna when she powred out her soule before the Lord in the day of her barrennes Dauids affection in his prayer was much kindled with the oole of zeale when he cryed vnto the Lord it was more inflamed when he watered his couch with his teares for the sinnes of his soule but most of all battered when he rored within for aflictions without Iacob wept prayed fouâ—d God at Bethel So did good Ezekias when he turned him to the wall and wept saying Attenuati sunt occuli mei suspicientes in coelum mine eyes are wearie with watching vpon my God and I had fainted in my miserie had he not turned to me in mercy said I haue heard thy prayers and seene thy teares What should I say more Mardoche in the midst of the citie cryed to God with a great crie and a bitter and he was heard in that he desired so was Christ vpon the tree when greeued in soule he washed away our staines in blood teares It was Augustines sorrow when thinking vpon his vaine passions he said flebam Didonem morientem ob amorem Aeneae I wept for Dido dying for the loue of Aeneas but alas and woe is me therfore I seldome wept for my Sauiour dying for my sinne nor yet for my selfe liuing in my sinne Surely teares and prayers are church weapons and I may conclude as Ambrose did with Monacha Augustines Mother when she wept after his conuersion vade a me ita viuas fieri non potest vt filius istarum lachrimarum pereat Goe from me thou mournfull mother and doe as thou doest it can neuer be that a son of all these teares should euer perish So dare I say of the Saints of God sorrowing weeping either for their owne sinnes or others it can not be that children of al these teares should euer perish I passe to the fourth which is from our feruencie in prayer to our frequent and often praying thereby to importune y e Lord to be propitious euer wrastling as Iacob did and neuer leauing him without a blessing Nor as it is in the Prophet giuing him no rest till he repaire our ruines for the kingdome of heauen suffereth violence and the violent catch it yea and the Lord is ours by much intreatie as we are his by many allurements O that our prayer were with more assiduitie much and continual as euer needing therefore alwaies begging Eliah when he prayed for raine sent his seruant seauen times to see if y e Lord would answere his sighs with a shewer from the top of Carmell he crowched vnto the earth and put his face betweene his knees I say seueÌ„ times he prayed with passion and the Lord was propitius he fainted not but continued crying til the clouds dropped downe fatnes he prayed with passion while the king was at his repast Ahab in his chamber eating but Eliah vpon Carmel praying Iob must fast pray all the while his children did feast and play his prayers his teares and his sacrifice still went out as the daies of their banqueting went about for so saith the text thus did Iob euery day Darius sealed y e decree and Daniel dread it not but continued his prayer and was instant with God three times a day vpoÌ„ his knees with his face towards Ierusalem and his windowe open that way both to stir vp himselfe with the remembrance of Gods promise to al such as should pray towards that house As also that all might see he dread no danger of the Lions denne but had rather die ten thonsand deathes then yeeld to their Idolatrie And surely Dauid was much in prayer when hee said Euening and morning and at noone day will I pray make a noise and he will heaere me So Paul when hee said in prayer often it was his dayly exercise and what hee practised himselfe he preached to others when hee said pray continually Fifthly as our prayers must bee often in respect of times so must they not bee limitted in regard of places whether in the great congregation and in publike or abroad in the field lesse publike or in private at home when thou art shut in thy closet and art still there is a christian liberty and freedome in all so thy deuction bee done without schisme and separation for thou art not onely tyed vnto the Temple but thy chamber field and garden the mouÌ„taines dales and wildernesse dennes caues and hollowes of the earth are sacred for thy devotions When Iacob prayed against Esau his brother in that his dangerous peregrination to Bethel hee diuided himselfe from his family that hee might the nearer bee ioyned to God in his praier hee sent his two wiues and his eleuen children ouer the â—iuer Iabbocke with all hee had and when himselfe was left alone there wrastled with him a man to the dawning of the day he alone a Saint and in secret wept and prayed and found God at