excellencies and transcendent perfections of God So this especially of sublimity that he is most high This did David I will praise thee O Lord with my whole heart I will sing praise to thy Name O thou most high I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness and will sing praises to the most high As he did himself so he stirreth up all others to do so O clap your hands all People shout unto God with the voice of Tryumph for the Lord most high is terrible he is a great King over the Earth Let the Saints sing aloud upon their Beds Let the high praises of God be in their Mouth And this he tells us is a good thing at all times especially on the Sabbath Dayes It is a good thing to sing praises unto thy holy Name O most High His Universal Regiment is to be acknowledged This matter is by the Decree of the Watchers and the demand by the Word of the holy One to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the Kingdome of Men and giveth it to whomsoever he will and setteth up over it the basest of Men. 2. His wonderful humility and condescention The Lord is high above all Nations and his glory above the Heavens Who is like the Lord our God who is most High who humbleth himself to behold the things that are done in the Heaven and in the Earth He doth not disdain from his High Seat of Glory to provide for all Creatures both Terrestrial and Coelestial He hath a gracious and loving care of vile Wormes and grievous sinners yea vouchsafes to make their hearts if humbled and contrite for their sins his dwelling place For thus saith the High and lofty One that inhabiteth Eternity whose Name is high and holy I dwell in the high and holy Places with him also that is of an humble and contrite Spirit The humility of the Son of the most high God being the same in substance with him and equal in power and glory condescended to match with a Maid of our Family that had neither beauty nor dowry A greater condescention than if the greatest Emperor on Earth should marry the poorest and most deformed Virgin upon Earth assuming a humane Nature with his Divine Person In all things like unto Man excepting sin and in that nature to suffer poverty hunger thirst weariness and other humiliations even unto Death Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God made himself of no reputation Annihilated himself and brought himself as it were to nothing Took upon him the form of a Servant and was made in the habit of Men And being found in fashion as a Man he humbled himself and became obedient unto Death even the Death of the Cross 3. Consider the exceeding high honour he hath done you to be Servants in such a House to himself whom you have made your House by choosing him and cleaving to him Nebucadnezar could not desire a higher honour for the Three Worthies whom he saw walking in the midst of the Fire than to call them Servants of the most high God Nor the Angel that appeared to Daniel in the Vision of the Four Beasts and interpreted it to him for the Subjects of God's Kingdom than to call them Saints of the most high Yea the Angels themselves glory in this title I am thy fellow-servant and of thy Brethren And James stiles himself not the Lords Brother but the Servant of the Lord. And God himself Moses not King in Jesuran but my Servant My Servant Moses 2. In Prayers I will cry unto God most high Every good and perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights We are commanded to pray to God as being above in Heaven to teach us among many other things that our Prayers should be sent forth with such fervencies that they may reach and pierce Heaven where God is to cry as David did O my God I cry in the Day time in the day time and in the Night season He heard my cry My most earnest desires in Prayer arising from feeling and fear of misery And so did Moses Wherefore cryest thou unto me God seeming to chide him for so doing but it was not for his fervent praying but for his fearing and fainting his Faith beginning to fail and to let him know that he was more ready to hear than he to pray 2. Learn humility of the most high God Be ye followers of God as dear Children Beloved if God so loved us we ought also to love one another So if God have condescended unto us we ought to do the like to our Inferiours there being infinitely more distance and disproportion between God and us than there is between us were we the highest Princes on Earth and they poorest Beggars For they are all our Brethren Have we not all one Father hath not one God created us Be not therefore high-minded but condescend to Men of low Estate And learn of me saith the Son of the most High for I am meek and lowly in heart Lowliness of mind will make you high with God and meekness of word shall make you sink into the hearts of Men. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus You that are higher than others in gifts wealth or dignity disdain them not but demean your selves humbly toward them and honour shall uphold you 3. Take heed of provoking the most High or of contemning his Counsels least you provoke your selves to the confusion of your own Faces as the Israelites did of whom it is said That they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the Wilderness Yea they tempted and provoked the most high God kept not his testimonies They contemned the Counsel of the most High Therefore he brought down their heart with labour they fell down and there was none to help 4. If you have provoked him to anger against you as David did when Satan provoked him to number the People enquire and desire to know the true means to appease him and to be reconciled unto him Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the High God And turn ye to him with all your heart to him I say and not as Ephraim of whom it is said They returned but not to the most High Renew your purposes and resolutions and vowes of more wary walking for the future and when upon your humiliation and reformation he is returned unto you with mercies offer unto him thanks giving and pay your vowes unto the most High 5. Comfort your selves against all the injustice and disorders of the World and against all the Plots and Conspiracies of wicked Men against the Church and People of God Marvel not at it but look higher and expect seasonable relief
this the Fathers of old time Of whom the World was not worthy quenched the violence of Fire and turned to Flight the Armies of the Aliens Faith is of that force that it is able to hold Argument even against the wrath of God to quench the fierceness of his Arrowes Though he slay me yet will I trust in him It s termed a Shield every faculty of the Soul is defended by it against all manner of temptations A Shield serves for defence of the whole Body and every part of it Other pieces of spiritual Armor the Girdle of Truth the Brest-plate of Righteousness the shews of Patience the Helmet of Hope are for particular parts and serve against particular sins and temptations but faith puts by and blunts all blows and as if this grace were all in all a Christians whole warfare is called the Fight of Faith This with the other now named are defensive only or mainly like to which none can be found in any other Armory And for offence here is a Sword of which it may be said as David did of Goliah's There is none like that the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God So called because the Holy Ghost hath framed it and put it into Believers hands and is of a Divine strength and temper to pierce and overthrow the spiritual Enemies With this Word which is sharper than any two edged Sword Christ himself defended himself against the Devil and with the invincible force thereof foyl'd him fulfilling in part that Prophesie In that Day the Lord with his sore and great and strong Word shall punish Leviathan the piercing Serpent even Leviathan the crooked Serpent and in that Day he shall slay the Dragon that is in the Sea Moreover Princes and great Mens Houses are stored with goods for Ornament as well as for necessity and conveniency serving to delight and please the outward Senses of Seeing Hearing Smelling and Feeling that of Tasting hath been spoken to Rich Hangings Curtains Carpets Images and pleasant Pictures Pourtrayed upon the Walls Instruments of Musick Oyntments Perfumes Treasures of Gold and Silver and precious Stone Hezekiah shewed the King of Babylon's Embassadors his House of precious things the Silver and the Gold and the Spices and the precious Ornaments and all that was found in his Treasures In Solomon's House were Hangings of Purple a rich and a beautiful Stuff of a red and bloody hue a dye of great esteem And in Ahasuerus's Palace where he feasted his Princes and Servants There were white green and violet Hangings fastned with Cords of fine Linnen and Purple to Silver Rings and Pillars of Marble The Beds were of Gold and of Silver upon a Pavement of red and blew and white and black Marble In the Houses of those unnatural sensuality we finde Women that wore Hangings to make them more delightful No less is implyed in that passage Let them stretch forth the Curtains of thine Habitation What Lamentation is made when these are harmed Suddenly are my Tents spoyled and my Curtains in a moment Or when they are not handsomely set up There is none to set up my Curtains The Tabernacle had great store of costly Hangings and Curtains to make it beautiful and glorious of cunning work woven but wrought to the Life with a Needle in manner of Pictures like Arras work or other Tapistry Solomon carved all the Walls of the Temple round about with Figures of Cherubims and Palm-Trees and open Flowers within and without Nor was hardly any goodly House without its pleasant Pictures Images of Men pourtrayed upon the Walls with Vermilion Nor without Musical Instruments The Viol the Tabret and Pipe are in their Feasts As the Prodigals Elder Brother drew nigh to the House he heard Musick and Dancing But money answereth all things By this Men furnish their Houses with all the foresaid Ornament and their Feasts with variety of all delights Thrice happy is that habitation thought to be where there is no want of this and blessed are those Children thought whose Parents go to the Devil to procure and leave them bags of theirs in abundance What shall we say to these things If God be ours how shall not all these things be ours They whose House the Lord is have all these and infinitely more to please and delight their inward Senses yea their outward also That one sight of Jesus Christ hanging upon the Cross with his hands stretched abroad to embrace them and his Head bowed down to kiss them and his pierced Side streaming forth blood to wash them from the guilt and filth of their sins evidently set forth lively and naturally represented unto them with his Death and Passion and the Virtue and use thereof is a Picture most pleasant to their Eyes So are the Portraictures of his holy Apostles and Martyrs with the description and history of their acts and passions seen and read of them And to please your Sense of Smelling the House is filled with the savour of Christs good Oyntments as that House was with the Odour of that Oyntment of Spiknard wherewith Mary anointed his Feet Those gifts of the holy Ghost wherewith the Father hath anointed him and which he poureth upon them by the preaching of the Gospel whereof take a taste only of two words and hereby judge of the rest Herb. Ch. the Odour How sweetly doth my Master sound my Master As Ambergrease leaves a rich sent Unto the Taster So doth these words a sweet content An Oriental fragrancy My Master With these all Day I do perfume my mind My mind even thrust into them both That I might find What Cordials make this curious broth This broth of smels that feeds fats my mind And farther for the Sense of Hearing if the Musick made by Organs in the Church so sounded in the Eares of that Divine Poet that drew a Song of Thanks-giving to it from his Tongue and Pen. Id. Ch. Mus Sweetest of sweets I thank you when displeasure Did through my Body wound my mind You took me thence in your house of pleasure A dainty Lodging me assign'd Now I in you without a Body move Rising and falling with your Wings We both together sweetly live and love Yet say sometimes God help poor Kings Comfort I le dye for if you post from me Sure I shall do so and much more But if I travail in your Company You know the way to Heavens Door How infinitely sweeter must that Musick be to the Eares of this Houshold which the Organ of the Holy Scripture the Keys whereof are stricken with the hand of the holy spirit makes with such strains as these Fear thou not for I am with thee be not dismayed for I am thy God I will strengthen thee yea I will help thee with the right hand of my Righteousness When thou passest through the Waters I
removed and carryed too and fro God himself sends word to David since the Day he brought up Israel unto that Day he had not dwelt in a fixed setled House But had been from Tent to Tent from one Tabernacle to another But I have been with thee saith he whither soever thou hast walked Yea though I walk through the Valley of the shaddow of Death saith David unto God I will fear no evil for thou art with me While I sleep and when I awake I am still with thee Jacob had this assurance given him that God would accompany him and go too and fro with him when he fled from the face of his Brother Behold I am with thee and I will keep thee in all places whither thou goest and will come back again with thee I will not leave thee And so when he went to see his Son Joseph I will go down with thee into Egypt As the Wheeles accompanyed closely the living Creatures exactly following their motion and their rest resting with them When the living Creatures went the Wheels went when the living Creatures were lift up the Wheels were lift up when those went these went and when those stood these stood This living House as closely accompanies the living Creatures in it and as punctually attends their motions up and down and resteth with them in their resting place every where 11. Nor is this House capable of or subject to any such casualties as other houses are The houses of some poor Creatures which they bear about with them are so brittle that a foot that treadeth on them or a Cart-Wheel going over them may crush and destroy them The best built houses may be burnt with Fire or blown down with Tempests or rent with Meteors or broken up with Thieves Job's Sons and Daughters were eating and drinking Wine in their eldest Brothers House and behold there came a Wind from the Wilderness and it fell upon the young Men and killed them The Hold whereinto a thousand Men and Women of the Tower of Shechem entered was set on Fire and consumed with all the Persons in it Nebuzaradan burnt in one Day the House of the Lord and the Kings Houses and all the Houses of Jerusalem and every great Mans House burnt he with Fire I will gather all Nations against Jerusalem and the City shall be taken and the Houses rifled The Earth opened her Mouth and swallowed up Korah Dathan and Abiram and their Houses and all their goods But there is no fear of any such accident to this House what Plots or conspiracies soever are made to harm it or them that live in it there shall not a hair of their heads perish nor their Treasures be touched True it is this House is it self a Consuming Fire Infinitely hoter than that in Nebuchadnezar's Furnace the Flame whereof consumed those Men that took up Shedrach Meshach and Abednigo but it is only so to them that are without and dare to come nigh to pillage it or hurt any in it who walk as comfortably in this Fire as those three Children did in the burning Furnace upon whose Bodies the Fire had no Power nor was an Hair of their Heads singed neither were their Coats changed nor had the smell of Fire passed on them 12. It is a holding House as it holds the Souls of the Inhabitants in Life so it suffers not their feet to be moved out of it but it keepeth them constantly and perseveringly in Nor is it in the Power of Men or Devils to eject them no nor of the old Man that hath still a Beeing in them and perswades them to depart and make a change for though they may do both if they will yet they cannot will to do either for God hath promised that all whom he receiveth within himself shall not have a heart to leave him But to abide for ever in him I will put my fear in their hearts and they shall not depart from me And he hath power to perform what he has promised he is able to keep you from falling and to preserve you blameless before the presence of his glory is exceeding joy We are kept by the Guard of Gods Power his strongest if degrees be in Omnipotency through faith unto salvation There were never any that went into this House by the Door Such as Jesus Christ is I am the Door By him an abundant entrance is made into the Church and consequently unto God No Man cometh unto the Father but by me by him we have access with confidence that ever apostatized finally or totally Some that have seemed unto themselves and others to be real Members of this Family Demas for example that went out but they were never truly in as appears by their going out Hear the testimony of one of the houshold the truth of whom is without question They went out from us because they were not of us for if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us but they went out that they might be manifest that they were not all of us the servant abideth not in the House for ever but the Son abideth ever The righteous is an everlasting Foundation True it is he may set one Foot out of Doors David did so when he committed Adultery and practiced the Death of Uriah and Peter did so when he forsware his Master and with such direful curses denyed that he knew him But this was through the violence of temptation The purpose and resolution of both their hearts was not to take a step out but to keep close within Door I have sworn and will perform it that I will keep thy righteous Judgments Though all Men should be offended because of thee yet I will not be offended Though I should dye with thee yet will I not deny thee How fell they then into so foul sins Surely they were suddenly overtaken the one with a passion of lust the other with a passion of fear and so they fell But even then both of them had one Foot still within the House which stai'd while the other stept They had sanctifying grace still in their hearts whose essential property is constancy called therefore immortal Seed And it appeared like sparks of Fire when the ashes covering them are blown away as soon as they came to themselves David yielded to the reproof of Nathan presently And Peter when the Lord turned and looked upon him went out and wept bitterly Each drew his Foot back into the House again and kept close in unto the end of their lives 13. It is a House held by the best tenure none like it 't is held in such a head as is non-such Jesus Christ whom God hath made head of the Church in a singular and eminent manner far above the domination which he hath
over all other Creatures He dearly bought and purchased this Habitation for all the Elect which they had forfeited by their first offence and hereupon were outed of it He gave himself a Ransome for them all a Price fully answerable to their Souls and to this Inheritance In him they may have been said to have received at the Lords hand double for all their sins And for them it were and not for himself only that He fulfilled all Righteousness and thereby paid the whole debt of obedience to the Law which they did owe to God All spiritual blessings whereby they are made meet to be made partakers of this blessed Mansion Faith Repentance and Holiness though they be Gospel Gifts of God and obtained meerly through his Mercy yet is this mercy obtained from God only through Jesus Christ Blessed be God who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ in him we have Redemption through his Blood Which also purgeth our Consciences from dead Works to serve the living God and thereby we have boldness to enter into the holyest and through his Intercession it is that we have our abiding there Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect Or bring a Writ of Ejection to them Who is he that condemneth Or who is he that passeth Sentence that they must avoid their House It is Christ that dyed yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh Intercession for us He dyed for and in their name and stead whereby they are absolved from all their forfeits He is risen again for their Justification to acquit them as it were by manner of solemn Judgment His Resurrection was a certain argument that God was reconciled and that this habitation was regained for them which could not have been if he had remained dead For the continuation of the Payment would alwayes have shewed the Imperfection of it And as he is at the right hand of God in the Heavenly Glory fully manifested so they are at his right hand Upon thy right hand did stand the Queen And there he maketh Intercession for them by continually representing himself his Righteousness Merit and Love before the face of his Father and so preserves them in his favour and love from which nothing shall be ever able to seperate them by him they have and hold possession 14. It is a habitation best accommodated of any other The conveniences belonging to it are numberless and matchless The excellency of the meanest of them cannot be worthily uttered nor sufficiently magnified by the tongue of Men and Angels No such passage into any House as this When the Queen of Sheba had seen the House that King Solomon had built And his ascent by which he went up to the House of the Lord that most stately Bridge and great terrace born up with exceeding strong Walls which he set upon that hollow place and deep praecipice which divided Mount Zion from Mount Moriah by which they went from the royal Palace to the Temple There was no more Spirit in her she was ravished beyond her self How insinitely more ravished would she have been had she seen by the eye of faith as probably she did and so was the ascent and passage into this house which is the Lord. The Apostle tells us that he by his blood hath made a new and living way of entrance into the holiest for all believers who by a lively faith represent unto themselves his humane nature with all that he hath done in it for them and hereby get into the innermost fruition of Gods grace and glory He in his own Person is the way and passage into this super coelestial Pallace I am the way no Man cometh unto the Father but by me Nor is there any house that hath such Air. Kings have had a care of this especially that the edifice when erected might have fresh Air and cooling Gales of Wind continually Jehoiakim whose pride in building is blamed is brought in thus expressing his purpose I will build me a high house Chambers through Aired the Hebrew hath it so and so the Septuagint exposed to blasts on every side No house hath such continual refreshing Gales as this Christ breaths upon his proper houshold for an external sign of the Internal operation of his spirit He still doth so upon his whole houshold of faith shedding the love of God abroad in their hearts by his holy spirit to whom their common Mother makes this Prayer each is heard and granted Awake O North Wind and come O South and blow upon my Garden By these two Winds of contrary qualities is signified the same spirit working either coolness and refreshing of Comfort or heat and fervency of Zeal And Moreover that every Wind shall blow profit to every one that loveth God as every one doth that to him that dwelleth in him Nor hath any House such Gardens and Orchards with Variety of Flowers and Fruits and fresh Springs therein nor such Walks and Arbours belonging and adjoyning to it as this hath The loss of this parcel of Ground which was stored with such excellent Plants and Trees and enriched with more fruitfulness and beauty than any other part of the Earth called Paradise and the Garden of the Lord made for Mans use and delight and out of which he was excluded and to which he might no more come neer because of his sin is abundantly made up to all that dwell in God Who have liberty to eat of the fruit of every Tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food Yea Of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God and to drink of the Water of Life freely and to walk at liberty Yea themselves are the Gardens and Orchards of this House wherein he walks and delights to feed Nor have any Gardens and Orchards and Springs such Fences and Guards about them as these A Garden inclosed is my Sister my Spouse a Spring shut up a Fountain sealed in that Day sing ye unto her a Vineyard of red Wine I the Lord do keep it I will Water it every moment Lest any hurt it I will keep it Night and Day I saith the Lord will be unto her a Wall of Fire round about Nor is there any House that hath such Lands and Revenues such a stock belonging to it The Earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof Every Beast of the Forrest is mine and the Cattel upon a thousand Hills I know all the Fowles upon the Mountains They are all before me ready at my service The World is mine and the fulness thereof of the upper as well as lower World Every one that dwells in this house may say truly all these are mine The Apostle says so All things are yours Entirely refinedly
really safely serviceably satisfyingly He must needs have all that hath the haver of all He is by faith in Christ Heir of the World Yea they are in actual possession of all things when they are in want of all things Having nothing and yet possessing all things 15. It is a House of the easiest rent the chiefage to be paid is not so much as a Pepper Corn all that 's required is thankful acknowledgment and invocation which are pointed out by termes of the Law Sacrifices Prayers and Vows Offer unto God thanks-giving and pay thy vows unto the most High and call upon me in the Day of trouble Thou that teachest another teachest thou not thy self Yes that I do and that practically and continually Hear it and know it for your good What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me I will take the Cup of Salvation I will solemnly and thankfully acknowledge him a phrase taken from the custome observed in thanks-giving after which they made a place wherein the Father of the Family took a Cup in his hand and used a certain form of blessing and having drank and caused the Cup to go round to all the rest And I will call upon the Name of the Lord I will pay my Vows unto the Lord. I will offer the Sacrifice of thanks giving every Day will I bless thee and I will praise thy Name for ever and ever God is willing we should have the comfort of his blessings but he will have the glory of them My glory will I not give to another We must give him the glory which we do when we give him the praise and thanks Whoso offereth praise glorifyeth me The Shepwards returned praising and glorifying God The Samaritan that was heal'd turned back and with a loud Voice glorified God giving thanks For his healing now his thanks must not only be vocal but vital and cordial Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me bless his holy Name I will praise thee O Lord with my whole heart the Life and Conversation also must be rightly ordered The best livers are the best thanks-givers To him that disposeth his way aright will I shew the salvation of God He hath shewed thee O Man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God And lest any should think it difficult and grievous to do all this let these Scriptures be consulted 1 John 5. 3. Pro. 21. 15. Phil. 1. 29. 2. 13. Math. 11. 30. Ezek. 36. 26 27. 16. Who ever dwells in this House shall be sure not to want an Earthly House to dwell in with all provision and furniture convenient He that gives the greater will not deny the less Thus our blessed Saviour reasoneth Is not the Life more than Meat and the Body than Rayment God out of his Power and Goodness having granted unto Man his Beeing which is the greater will not deny him the lesser which is the preservation thereof And the Apostle He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all How shall he not with him also freely give us all things Object The Son of God himself when on Earth had not where to lay his head Those Worthies mentioned in that little Book of Martyrs wanted houses Wandering about in Sheep-Skins and Goat-Skins in Deserts and in Mountains and in Dens and Caves of the Earth Saint Paul describing the condition of himself and his fellows saith Even unto this present Hour we both hunger and thirst and are naked and are buffeted and have no certain dwelling place Now the Disciple is not above his Master nor the Servant above his Lord. And who will be so arrogant as to think himself better or better privileged than those of whom the World was not worthy or that Holy Apostle Answ Touching our Saviour as he was Voluntary poor to enrich us Ye know the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich He sorrowed that we might rejoyce dyed that we might live So he would be houseless that none of his might want a House 1. As for those other Worthies God did indeed exercise their faith and patience Yet 2. their Dens and Caves were better to them than any Earthly Palaces having God's gracious presence with them which was better to them than ten Houses as Elkanah to Hannah Am not I better to thee than Ten Sons Though Paul had no House of his own yet those that had willingly received him into theirs Lydia did so If ye have judged me faithful unto the Lord come into my house and abide there and she constrained us So did Publius the Chief Man of the Island receive him and his Company and lodged them Three Days courteously And Paul dwelt two whole Years in his own hired House Thus God provided for Elijah and Elisha and thus he provided for his Gospel-Ministers who have not been suffered to live in their own Houses 17. They that dwell in this House here are sure of an Heavenly House hereafter We know that if our Earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an House not made with hands Eternal in the Heavens 18. While they are here they are or may be sure no evil shall befall them Because thou hast made the Lord even the most High thy Habitation there shall no evil befall thee See parallel promises Psal 121. 7. Pro. 12. 21. 19. 23. Eccl. 85. By evil is not meant moral evil sin and iniquity Evil of fault or crime for the holiest are not free from this while on this side Heaven There is not a just Man on Earth that doth good and sinneth not Who can say I have made my Heart clean I am free from my sin If we say that we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us if we say we have not sinned we make God a lyar and his word is not in us in many things we offend all Nor are injuries and wrongs from Men intended in which sense evil is sometimes taken for none are more subject to these than the Houshold of God nor the matter of any other poenal evil sent by God as indeed all such evils are for these befall as well the Righteous as the wicked All things come alike to all there is one event to the Righteous and to the wicked to the good and to the clean and to the unclean to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not As is the good so is the sinner as he that sweareth so he that feareth an Oath As the evil partake of common blessings with good Men so the good of
common judgments with evil ones yea it is observed that when God brings any common judgments he usually begins with his own the dearly beloved of his Soul Yea that his stroaks are sorer upon them than upon any others Yea and when wicked Men whose habitation the Devil is as they are his for he dwells in them yea they are incarnate Devils when these I say are free from all manner of outward evils pious Men who have made God their habitation have immunity from none And that they are more-over obnoxious to inward afflictions terror of Conscience and wounds of Spirit which is an intolerable pressure and therefore the promise must be understood of their freedome from the form of poenal evils which is the revenging wrath of God and the power such evils have to separate the Soul from the Love of God And the meaning is they never have any dram of God's revenging justice on them A little of his chastising wrath some afflictions may have for a little moment nor shall any of them singly or all of them joyntly be able to separate them from his Love in Christ Nay they shall all co-operate for the furtherance of their spiritual and eternal good They believe as they are taught to pray that God would deliver them from all evil That is that he will either keep away evil imminent that it come not at all or that he will so assist in suffering as that they shall not sink under the burden or that he will take away the force and strength of the Instrument that it shall not be able to act according to its Nature or that he will remove the evil clean away or finally that he will take them away from the evil to come or that he will alter the nature of the evil and turn it to good One of these ways God will deliver them whose habitation he is and any of these ways is this promise made good to them No more need to be said to prove the Lord the best Habitation and them to be the most yea the only happy ones who have made him their habitation THE SECOND SERMON THe Question will be what it is to make God our Habitation And how may we know that we dwell in him To the first part of the Question I answer it is to make choice of him to close with him and to cleave unto him 1. To make choice of God as the sole Seat of our Souls rest and the only object of the Worship and Service of our whole Man The chief end and use of a House is well known to be rest Where is the House that ye build unto me and where is the place of my rest Every Man's House is the place of his rest My People shall dwell in a peaceable Habitation and in sure dwellings and in quiet resting places I Nebucadnezar was at rest in my House Rest is both the Privation and a perfection of motion That in respect of the acquisition of the end of motion For therefore things move that they may rest Rest is deservedly esteemed a choice and chief good We may say of it what the Preacher doth of Light Truly Light is sweet Truly rest is sweet It was no deception of sight in Issachar when he saw that rest was good The truth is it is the good of goods It may be said of it as David did of Goliah's sword There is none like that give it me No good like this of rest all other good things without it availe nothing All Creatures desire rest the wild Beasts of the Desart and of the Island the Satyr and the screetch-Owle seek and finde for themselves a place of Rest It 's noted as a comfortable priviledge which Foxes and the Birds of the Air had above our Saviour that they had Holes and Nests to rest in The Dove sent out of the Ark sought but found no rest for the soal of her foot therefore returned again to that place of her rest Special Order is taken for the Oxe and the Ass that they should have One Day of Rest in Seven It kils the heart of the Earth to be alwayes tilled and therefore the Country-man lets it lye sometimes fallow that by taking rest it may get heart The very Devils affect a House upon this account The unclean Spirit gone out of a Man walked through dry places seeking rest and finding none I will he says return unto my House where I came out where I had rest Yea God himself seems to be joyed when a House of rest was builded for him to dwell in Arise O Lord unto thy rest the Lord hath chosen Zion he hath desired it for his Habitation This is my rest for ever here will I dwell for I have desired it for a Habitation and he blessed the seventh Day because that he rested thereon from all his Work The best thing one friend can wish to another or procure for another is rest The Lord grant that you may finde rest my Daughter Shall I not seek rest for thee that it may be well with thee And the worst mischief one can do his Neighbour is to spoyle his rest Lay not wait O wicked Man against the dwelling place of the righteous spoyle not his resting place The goodness and badness of every Mans condition is measured by rest This hath more rest than the other Yea for rest Death it self is desirable Why dyed I not from the Womb Why did I not give up the Ghost when I came out of the Belly Then had I been at rest There the weary be at rest There the Prisoners rest together Though bodily rest be a great good and promised as a blessing Thou shalt take thy rest in safety Israel shall be in rest and quiet yet it is not to be compared to the rest of the Soul which indeed is the Soul of rest And without which the best resting places with the greatest conveniencies that the whole World can yield can give no content witness Haman And the transcendent excellency of this rest is evidenced by its contrary a restless unquiet mind is a burden importable Let the Question be put concerning this rest which Job propounds But where shall wisdome be found and where is the place of Understanding Where may we finde the Souls Rest and what is the place of its repose The Answer is given negatively that it is not to be found in any Creatures They will each of them give the same answer which the depth of the Sea doth It is not in me the Depth saith and the Sea saith it is not in me Herb. Ch. Peace Sweet peace where dost thou dwell I humbly crave Let me once know I sought thee in a secret Cave And ask'd if peace were there A hollow Wind did seem to answer no. Go seek else
where I did and going did a Rain-bow note Surely thought I This is the Lace of Peaces Coat I will search out the matter But while I lookt the Clouds immediatly Did break and scatter Then I went to a Garden and did spie A gallant Flower The Crown Imperial sure said I Peace at the root must dwell But when I digg'd I saw a Worm devour What shew'd so well Pleasures Riches Honours under which all the good things of the World are comprehended are utterly impotent altogether insufficient to give the Soul of Man any Rest Herb. Dot. False glozing pleasures Casks of Happiness Foolish Night fires Womens and Childrens wishes Chases in Arras guilded emptiness Shaddows well mounted dreams in a Career Embroider'd lies nothing between two dishes These are the Pleasures here Riches seem to be something able to do something in order to this end but in truth they are nothing can do nothing Labour not to be rich Wilt thou set thine Eyes upon that which is not wherefore do you lay out your labour for that which satisfyeth not Take Earthly Honours in and take his testimony who had all these in abundance made tryal of them to finde what good was in them and was more able to improve them than was ever any meer Man since the fall and hear him after his utmost experimental disquisition that not only he found not what he taught namely rest for his Soul Vanity of Vanities saith the Preacher Vanity of Vanities all is Vanity But that he found the clean contrary trouble sorrow anguish bitterness Vexation of Spirit The rich Man is brought in singing a Requiem to his Soul Soul thou hast much goods laid up for many Years take thine ease eat drink and be merry But wisdom upbraids his folly for placing his joy and peace in his possessions and promising to give his Soul ease and rest in his abundance 2. Nor is it to be found in knowledge Humane or Divine not in the former For in much wisdome is much grief and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow Learning cannot be attained without great pains of mind and body and he that hath attained the highest degree and greatest measure hath his minde more unsatisfied than when he began to study And herein Children and fools have the advantage who as they want wit so they want wo. Not to know much but to know nothing in the sweetest life of all Nor in this neither for experience shews that such that give themselves most to the study of Scripture and get greatest ability to discourse of Divine matters are as far from rest as others which appears by the falling off of many of them from one Sect to another till they have made tryal of every dispensation as they call it and then they are as far from satisfaction as ever and farther 3. Nor in a form of Godliness 't is not the outward profession of the true Religion nor frequent use of holy Ordinances or religious exercises publick private secret that hath any more power to bring rest and quiet to the soul than Elishah's staff laid upon the dead Childes face had to bring heat or life into it The frequent complaints of many Christians that are much in both confirm this 4. Much less in Doctrines and Inventions of Men. These are Husks that Swines do eat they that fill their Bellies with them are like unto Pharaoh's lean kine And as they nourish not so they quiet not miserable Comforters are they all All that would take up their rest in any of these may hear the Prophet speaking thus unto them Arise ye and depart for this is not your Rest Positively the Souls true rest is to be had only in God who is a fit Harbour and Heaven for the heart to cast Anchor in because he is a Spirit 2. Being infinite he is able to fill the boundless and endless desires of it Moreover he made the Soul for himself And gave it at the first a Being in himself a local Being in the Body and a Spiritual Being in himself This being in God is Mans first being when Man fell by sin God in Justice cast him out of himself Forsook him and so the Union and the Communion that he had with God was broken off Hence it is that the Soul being out of God its proper Habitation can have no true rest till it return thither Return unto thy Rest O my Soul The first step the Soul takes in this return to its rest is a free and well-advised choice of God to dwell in him and serve there observing and conforming to the Laws and Orders of the House Joshua put the Children of Israel to their choice Choose you this Day whom you will serve whether the God your Fathers served on the other side of the Flood or the Gods of the Amorites in whose Land ye dwell if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord. Professeth her resolution that whatsoever they did what choice soever they made He and his House would serve the Lord. They make the same profession express the same resolution God forbid that we should do otherwise we are witnesses against our selves that we have chosen us the Lord to serve even the Lord our God him will we serve and his Voice will we obey Such a choice David made I have voluntarily Decreed to give up my self to be guided by thy Word I have chosen thy Precepts above other things for my soverain good and treasure with which I am resolued to be satisfied and contented and precisely to order my words and thoughts and actions according to them Having inclined my Heart to perform thy Statutes always even unto the end And being fully purposed that my Mouth shall not transgress and that my Feet shall run the wayes of thy Commandments Yea were I put to my choice I would choose rather to sit at the Threshold of the House of my God to be a Door-keeper in it than to dwell in the Tents of Wickedness The like choice did the three Children make and so did Daniel and Moses and Mary and those ancient Martyrs who would not accept deliverance which was offered them conditionally that they would deny the true God and not serve him this is the first way whereby Men make God their habitation namely by choosing him giving him their judgments wills and affections the probation before all other Persons or things or service Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that I desire in comparison of thee A Day in thy Courts is better than a thousand Thy loving kindness is better than Life How much better is thy Love than Wine and the smell of thine Oyntments than all Spices The Law of thy Mouth is better to me than thousands of Gold and Silver It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in Princes The second follows which
forgotten Going and weeping for repentance for their former sins for grief to behold their miserable Estate Where have we any that have any such mind to joyn themselves unto the Lord To become one spirit with him We have too many that joyn themselves to Harlots making one Body with them Like the Israelites that committed Whoredom with the Daughters of Moab and then joyned themselves with Baal Peor and that joyne together with Thieves and Drunkards and Enemies to God and goodness Saying Come with us let us lay wait for blood let us lurk privily for the Innocent without cause though they have done us no wrong Come let us devise devices against Jeremiah let us smite him with the Tongue lay accusations and calumnies against him 3. There are fewer that cleave unto the Lord. How many visible Members of the Church joyned a Covenant with God by Baptisme and in fellowship with his People have fearfully apostatized yea some that have been eminent for knowledge profession and practice of piety are fallen from their holy principles and practices Some to scandalous and foul sins some to Popery and other Heresies some to Prophaneness and some to Worldliness like Demas who forsook Paul Having loved this present World The eases commodities and carnal securities thereof How many are there in whom we may see as in him that fulfilled which our Saviour speaketh Many that were the first the forwardest in their love to the Word in the work of God in publick domestical and secret duties are now become the last the backwardest of all others After they had escaped the pollutions of the World through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ They are again intangled therein and overcome by the Devil Again in some manner and for some time they fought whereby he hath for ever possessed himself of them To whom it is happened according to the true Proverb The Dog is turned to his own Vomit again and the Sow that was washed to her wallowing in the Mire 4. How few have any care to keep the Commandments of God How many give that answer to his Prophets pressing obedience which those Jews did to Jeremy As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the Name of the Lord We will not hearken unto thee But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth out of our own Mouth willingly walking after the Commandments of Men. 5. Where almost shall we finde such a one as Joshua a Man in whom is the Spirit to whom God hath given his good Spirit upon whom the Spirit of the Lord resteth as it did upon Christ the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord the spirit of grace and of supplication the spirit of sanctification of meekness of faith of love and of a sound mind Such a Spirit as Caleb had fulfilling to follow God No such spirit appears in many in our Days In most there is the evil spirit the spirit that worketh in the Children of disobedience A perverse spirit The Lord hath mingled a spirit of perversness in the Land He hath taken away the understanding and troubled them as if they had drunk some stupifying Drink A Spirit of deep sleep The Lord hath punished their voluntary blindness with a greater astonishment depriving them quite of the light of his spirit against whom they rebelled giving themselves over to the spirit of darkness The spirit of the World such a spirit as hath no proportion nor correspondency but only with worldly things which it only values and affects If Men had thâ— holy spirit of God given them they would be led by him follow his directions and good motions for the guide and Governor of their life they would live in the spirit and walk in the spirit and strive in the newness of the spirit and give and offer unto God a spiritual worship according to his nature Bring forth the fruit of the spirit which is love joy peace long-suffering gentleness faith meekness temperance but the clean contrary But none of all this they do and therefore God hath not given them his spirit and consequently they do not dwell in God 6. Very few confess truly that Jesus Christ is the Son of God They know nothing of him and his Gospel as they ought to know distinctly humbly â—avourly practically They give not their unfeigned assent and consent unto his Holy Liturgy that all in it is truth and goodness nor do they own and acknowledge him with their Lips and Lives 7. Most Men are so far from dwelling in Love that the hatred both of God and Men dwells in them They are haters of God could wish there were no God Though with their Tongue some shew much love yet with their hearts they hate him and his Laws and wayes And so they do his People as Cain did Abel and Ahab Micaiah wishing evil to them out of a rooted and setled malice and that for their Holiness though they pretend it is for their hypocrisie and if any wrong them they bear implacable spirits towards them by this it appears they dwell not in God Now my business with all these is to advise them to give all diligence to give themselves no rest till they have gained the Lord even the most High to be their habitation and to instruct them in the means conducing to this end Motives many might be given but sufficient hath been spoken in the beginning of this Discourse concerning the desirableness and excellency of Rest in general and of the Souls rest which is to be found only in this House To which I shall add that in no other a Man that takes his rest can be secure and safe but in this he may I will both lay me down and sleep for thou Lord makest me dwell in safety If thou preparest thy heart makest thy self fit to lodge under the shaddow of the Almighty Thou shalt take thy rest in safety Also thou shalt lye down and none shall make thee afraid Whoso harkneth to me useth means to have his abiding in me shall dwell safely and be quiet from the fear of evil God sayes to every one whom he sends his Ministers unto to come and take their Rest in him As David to Abiathan Abide thou with me fear not for thou shalt be in safe-guard Those Egyptians that feared the Word of the Lord threatning a direful hayle which should come on the morrow and should destroy all Men and Beasts which were out of Houses Made their Servants and their Cattel flee into Houses He that regarded not the word of the Lord left his Servants and his Cattel in the Field to their destruction It will be the destruction of you and yours to Eternity if you
get not your selves and them timely into this House where and no where else there is safety The general means is implyed in the word making which speaks stirring and action As God the Father hath made his Son Jesus Christ unto believers wisdom righteousness and sanctification and redemption So he that by faith in Christ which works by Love makes God unto himself all that to him which in all estates may give him comfort and satisfaction his King Lord Husband Father Sheapherd Son Shield Comfortress Hiding-place Habitation and Portion You that have as yet no such portion in God arise and be doing The Soul of the Sluggard desireth and hath nothing because his hands refuse to labour but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat Such shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of God's House and he shall make them drink of the Rivers of his pleasures Wherefore do they spend Money for that which is not Bread and their labour for that which satisfieth not Heathens were wont to say the Gods sell good things to Men for Labours True it is all Men are alwayes making We read of many that have made and do make wofull work They made a Calf in Horeb. Ephraim hath made many Altars to Sin They have made goodly Imamages Molton Images of their Silver and Idols according to your own understanding Their Feet run to evil and they make haste to shed innocent blood They have made their hearts as an Adamant Stone Woe to thee that puttest thy Bottle to thy Neighbour and makest him drunken We have made Lies our refuge Ye have made the Commandment of God of none effect By the Tradition ye have made my House a Den of Thieves Some having put away Faith and a good Conscience concerning faith have made shipwrack Fools make a mock of sin Such kind of making makes Men meet to be made partakers of the Inheritance of the Devil and his Angels in blackness of darkness for ever Another manner of making is required of them that would have God to become their Habitation Cast away from you all your transgressions whereby ye have transgressed and make ye a new heart and a new spirit return ye now every one from his evil way and make your ways and your doings good Prepare ye the way of the Lord make his Path streight Make straight Paths for your Feet Make the way of the Gospel easie for you By the diligent Obedience give diligence to make your Calling and your Election sure More particularly consider what they that want a House and hear of a good one to be had do and do likewise 1. They are sensible of and lay sadly to heart their misery thereby What comfort can that Man have that hath Meat Drink and Cloaths and Silver and Gold and Jewels if with these he hath not a House to live in And such a House as can keep him and what he hath dry A Housless Man is exposed to unsufferable evils to all the injuries of Heaven and Earth in the Day the draught consumes him and the frost by Night and all his Sleep departeth from his Eyes 2. They consider how happy they are that have a House and such an one as hath been described for properties furniture conveniences and how happy themselves should be if they had the same 3. The desire of your Soul is carryed earnestly after this Happiness and they express their desires both by enquiring of them that have how the House they have heard of may be had and requesting them that have interest in the owner and disposer of it to befriend them in speaking a good word for them and also making and putting up their supplication themselves to him to vouchsafe this favour to them 4. They are contented to purchase or take it at any rate within their power are willing to come up to the full price or rent demanded 5. They put themselves into the way that leads to this House with the Price in their hands as those Lords are said to go to Delilah 6. They are careful to qualifie themselves so as to be made meet to enter into the House and dwell there We read of a prohibition to suffer any that are blind and lame to come into the House of David Nor might any enter into Ahasuerus Gate cloathed in Sack-Cloath 7. They are ready to enter into Covenants and Bonds and an Oath too if need be to perform Conditions that are required by him that owns the House and must give them possession of it 1. All this must be done by you that are out of God that he may become your Habitation See and know that it is an evil and a bitter thing to be without God in the World You have no Union nor Communion with Christ the Spring of all spiritual and everlasting blessings You are separate from his body in which only he communicates his grace You have no Interest nor Portion in the goods promised by the Covenant of grace are without all hope of salvation while in that condition You are subject to the wrath and curse of God your very blessings are curses your Table is a snare and that which should be for your welfare is a trap Not only the corporal but spiritual food even the consecrated Elements which you receive Every Creature is your enemy and seeks your ruine yea all things work together to effect it You are every moment in danger of dropping into Hell out of which there is no Redemption And what will ye do in the Day of Visitation to whom will ye flee for help There is no help for you out of me They shall be bound up and tyed together as bundles and cast into the Furnace of Fire there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth You may seem to your selves and others to be in a good condition because you have the World at will and are perhaps civil and honest yea and formally religious like the Laodicean Angel Thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou art poor and blind and naked Apprehend these as the Officers of the Children of Israel did when Pharaoh denyed them Straw To be in evil case be afflicted make these miserable so the word signifies Go too now ye rich Men weep and howl for the miseries that shall come upon you Though a sinner do evil an Hundred times and prolong his Days yet surely I know that it shall go well with them that fear the Lord which dwell in him But it shall not be well with the wicked whose Habitation the Devil is whom they serve and with whom they shall shortly dwell in his infernal House to all Eternity Mean time their judgment lingereth not and their damnation slumbereth not but is coming Post-haste to meet them Evil
longest to be freed from it It 's Grace certainly that makes thee able to discern so hidden and close a Corruption and to hate it And as sense and feeling is a certain sign of a living Man as was now said So thy sense of hypocrisie with a hatred of it is a sure note and token of thy sincerity So that thou art not in the Flesh but in the Spirit Nor matters it so much what evil motions thou findest in thy self as how thou standest affected to them There are and will be filthy scums rising up in thy heart continually while thou livest here But while thou castest it off as it riseth by confession and self-condemnation it shall never hurt thee God will not condemn but absolve and acquit thee of it Thou mayest and oughtest to take comfort in the allowance of the Law of God in thy judgment and in thy will consenting to do it having an unfeigned desire purpose and endeavour to please God and to do his will this being the work of God's sanctifying Spirit and a special fruit of Christ's purchase as real comfort therefore herein as if thou wast perfect in obedience For if there be first a willing mind it is accepted according to that a Man hath nor shall he be rejected for that he hath not In this God's choicest Servants have comforted themselves against all their imperfections and falls and failings Obj. But I question the truth of my desires Answ That thou need'st not do as long as thou esteemest God's grace and favour above all things Seeking by prayer and other means every Day to grow less sinful and more holy and mournest for thy Daily miscarriages lamenting after the Lord. Obj. But my Conscience condemns me for an Hypocrite Ans O spiteful bitter thought bitterly spiteful thought Thou hast reason to discredit thy Conscience if it be opposite to the Word of God and not to regard it against the Word of God If our heart condemn us God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things He knowes the way thou takest that it is right And his word which is the Judge of Conscience hath given Sentence on the right side And therefore thou art bound in this case to check and condemn thy Conscience for troubling thee causlesly So did David and Job Let me give thee one caution take heed of making inherent Grace the only and chief ground of thy comfort Though it is indeed the only evidence of thy title to comfort For in so doing thou shalt commit two great evils one against thy self in leaning upon a bruised Reed for thine own Spirit may fail thee and be overwhelmed and thy heart may reproach thee another against the Lord making an Idol of that gift of his which cannot be so trusted in without sin Rely more upon God's Grace without thee than that which is within thee Yet cherish also inherent Holiness as thy only evidence of Life Eternal and the beginning of it Finally give not credit to thy misgiving heart that would perswade thee thou hast no assurance that God is thy Habitation For thou hast that degree of assurance which is necessary to the beeing of Grace the lowest degree of certainty which is in every true believer consisting in an application of adherence Whereby the Soul of a penitent sinner casts it self upon Jesus Christ with a resolved humble recumbency cleaving to him as the Ivy doth to the Oak Eagle to the Carkass goes out of it self renouncing its own Merits and relying upon the Person and Merits of Christ his active and passive obedience for forgiveness of sins and for Life and Salvation This is the act of Faith and every one that thus receiveth him with an Obediential affiance knows that and that through him dwelling in his heart he hath his dwelling in God You therefore as yet that have not any comfortable assurance cease hence-forth to doubt and fear and assay to joyn your selves with them that have with whom we are next to deal as Saul assayed to joyn himself to the Disciples at Jerusalem Who will not at all as they were awhile of him be afraid of you but receive you joyfully into their blessed Society And when thou hast told despair Divine Herbert's strange story Say to it as he doth Hark Despair away THE FOURTH SERMON HAving dealt with those of this Divine Houshold that have as yet no comfortable assurance that the Lord is their Habitation we proceed to deal with them that have higher degrees of assurance which carry sensible comfort with them one is the Application of Experience when a Christian discerns in himself Divine impressions effects of regenerating Grace two or three whereof we will mention The prime and most general is a real change of the whole Man from evil to good This is a sure evidence of our being in Christ If any Man be in Christ he is a new Creature old things are past away all things are become new Whoever is changed in all his senses motions and affections speeches and actions is certainly ingrafted into the Body of Christ by his spirit The substance of the Soul and Body is the same the qualities and operations altered Another is walking in the light as God is the light Living and conversing following that light of God which is conferred upon us by Grace evidenceth us to be partakers of the Divine Nature Purifying our selves as he is pure Hereby we know we have fellowship one with another God with us and we with him that he dwells in us and we in him Love to the Brethren Christ's whole spiritual kindred who are knit to him to the bond of Faith and among themselves by that of love another infallible note We know that we have passed from Death to Life because we love the Brethren When a Christian's faith in lively exercise reflects upon its own acts receptive of Christ and operative by him having withall a sanctified Conscience witnessing sincerity in the actings he gathers by discourse and reasoning his own spiritual estate as Paul did Our rejoycing is this the testimony of our Conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity not with fleshly wisdome but by the grace of God we have had our conversation in the World and now abundantly to you-ward Such an application of experience had Thomas upon his Faith not quite exquisit before but very weak was raised and renewed by beholding touching and feeling The other application is that of evidence when the testimony of God's spirit comes and concurs with ours when we finde the Holy Ghost in us not only as a seal imprinting the graces of Christ upon our Souls nor only as an earnest giving us the first Fruits and as it were handle of Heaven Those holy and Heavenly Gift conferred in this life being a pledg of the perfection which shall be in the next but
particular duties are many in sundry references both to things and Persons The first of the former sort we will dwell awhile upon are Earthly Houses and Habitations Some whose dwelling Place the Lord is have no House on Earth which they can call their own Of those that have some are not suffered to live in them and of them that have this liberty some have very poor Houses with as poor Furniture or other Conveniences Others have convenient Dwellings with an indifferent outward estate and some few have gentile and stately Edifices with riches and honour in abundance 1. To those that have no earthly Houses of their own but are in a state of beggary or next to it of whom some there are who never had any others had comfortable ones but have lost them by Fire or other casualty and so are for the present Housless to these I have this word of Exhortation Let not your hearts be troubled 1. Because you are not without Fellowes and Companions better than your selves that are in the same Housless condition you have heard of some Of whom the World was not worthy Who wandred in Deserts and in Mountains and in Dens and Caves of the Earth And of the blessed Apostle St. Paul Who both hungred thirsted and was naked and had no certain dwelling place And of our blessed Saviour Who had not where to lay his head And you know how little it troubled these holy Ones that they were thus destitute how well pleased with their want it being their Heavenly Fathers good pleasure that it should be with them as it was And how joyfully those believing Hebrews took the spoyling of their Goods knowing that they had in Heaven a better Mansion and a better and an enduring substance 2. You are not without a House which likes you best and which you would not change for the best House in the World You hear God asking you as Elkenah did Hannah Am not I better to thee than Ten Sons Had you not rather enjoy me and do you not finde more comfort in me than in Ten Houses And your Heart answereth truth Lord. And can it then be troubled It may be said of all Houses compared with this of yours as it 's said of all Nations they are as nothing less than nothing and vanity And in truth all Houses and Riches which others inherit are not though they seem to be You only and your fellow Inhabitants inherit that which is Esther had good reason to be content when she was preferred to the best place of the House And so have you who are preferred to live in the best House and in the best place the very heart of it You are not only graven upon the Palmes of God's hands but you are in his heart set as a seal there Yea I will rejoyce over them to do them good with my whole heart and with my whole Soul How then can ye choose but rejoyce exceedingly in the want of all Creature comforts yea though you have to boot the present feeling of the greatest outward evils And say with the holy Prophet Although the Figg-Tree shall not blossom neither shall fruit be in the Vines the labour of the Olive shall fail and the Field shall yield no Meat the Flocks shall be cut off from the Fold And there shall be no Herd in the Stalls Yet I will rejoyce in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my Salvation The Lord is the portion of mine Inheritance The Lines are fallen to me in pleasant places Yea I have a goodly Heritage Having nothing I. possess all things having the Haver of all things 3. You may and ought to take comfort in the promises which God hath made to his People in this case of Poverty which for the present pincheth you He is pleased to bring you to this want of house and maintenance that he might humble and prove you to do you good in the latter end And he is able and no less willing to help you either by inclining the hearts of the rich to shew compassion upon you to receive you into their Houses and feed you at their Tables or if you have but Pulse to eat he can make that nourish you better than Kingly fare yea he can make you go in the strength of one Meal made of a Cake baken on the Coals Forty Dayes Qu. But may we expect God will work Miracles now adayes Yes that we may rather than his promise should faile Is my hand shortned at all This resolve upon that the Eyes of the Lord run too and fro throughout the whole Earth to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him And of this also that all things are possible to him that believeth And therefore with Job resolve to trust in him though he slay you and to dye rather than to help your selves by any unlawful means and cast off all solicitous carking thoughtfulness for your Bodies where to dwell and what to eat and wherewith ye shall be cloathed Ponder those Seven Disswasives from distrustful cutting dividing distracting cares And having Food and Rayment how little how course soever be content therewith Considering that a little that the righteous Man hath is better than the riches of many wicked Nor do you doubt all but if God see that a House with wealth and riches may serve to further your spiritual and eternal good you shall not fail to have them before you dye He hath raised the Poor out of the Dust and lifted the needy out of the Dunghill and set him with Princes And so he will you Hear his express primise Wealth and Riches shall be in his House or if you live and dye poor and mean your Children shall be blessed with abundance His Seed shall be mighty upon Earth And you that were some Years since wealthy but by the rage of the Fire or malice and fraud of Men or other mishaps are become as poor as Job do not despair of recovering your losse but remember what the Man of God said to Amaziah who demanded of him What he should do for the Hundred Talents The Lord is able to give thee much more than this and how he gave Job twice as much as before Wait upon God and keep his way and he shall exalt thee to inherit the Land Yee have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord that the Lord is pittiful and of tender Mercy 2. To you that have Houses of your own but may not live in them at least cannot with any safety 1. See and acknowledge the hand of God in your expulsion as in every other Cross so in this you should a Divine Providence It is God that and not Man only that hath thrust you out 2. Examine the cause of
and redress how high soever their rage doth rise and how low soever they lay the Saints of the most High If thou seest the oppression of the poor and violent perverting of Judgment in a Province marvel not at the matter for he that is higher than the highest regardeth and there be higher than they Shall any teach God knowledge seeing he judgeth those that are high He is the Soveraign Lord and Judge of the World above all Power and Greatness Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right He worketh all things after the Counsel of his own will And his will is the absolute Rule of all Righteousness Thy righteousness also O God is very high Who hast done great things â—ear not O Land be glad and rejoyce for the Lord will do great things Though the Lord be high yet hath he respect unto the lowly them that are of a poor and abject condition and trodden upon by the Foot of imperious contempt But the proud he knoweth afar off and they shall know when they have spent all their strength spit out all their malice and done their worst That thou whose Name alone is Jehovah are the most high over all the Earth From the Second property of this your Habitation Viz. Strength learn in your Prayers which you Daily make to God for your selves and fellow-servants in the House who are all weakness to say Stir up thy strength and come for Salvation to us Shew it make use of it stand in the front of thy feeble Army as a Leader to defend them from their Potent Enemies And let it appear that thy Prayer is not idle Give thy strength unto thy Servants Awake awake put on strength O Arm of the Lord awake as in the ancient Days in the Generations of old Art thou it that hath cut off Rahab and wounded the Dragon Art not thou it which hath dryed the Sea the Waters of the great Deep which hath made the depth of the Seas and way for the ransomed to pass over Display thy Soveraign Power for the deliverance of thy Children as thou formerly didst in Egypt and at the Red-Sea Look down from Heaven and behold from the Habitation of thy Holiness and of thy Glory Where is thy zeal and thy strength the sounding of thy bowels When you have thus prayed cast off all slavish fear of what the might or malice of Men or Devils can do Who art thou O my poor weak faint-hearted Church that thou shouldst be afraid of a Man that shall dye and be made as Grass Take now good courage setting before thee thine Enemies approaching and certain destruction Fear thou not for I am with thee be not dismayed for I am thy God I will strengthen thee with the right hand of my righteousness That is with mine Omnipotence I have and will put forth in righting thee of thine Enemies The Lord is my Light and my Salvation Whom shall I fear The Lord is the strength of my life and of whom shall I be afraid He it is that will dissolve all my inward darkness of trouble and confusion and external ones of dangers and calamities In this will I be confident namely in this that the Lord is my Light Salvation and Strength My God shall be my strength thou hast girded me with strength The Lord will give strength unto his People He delivered me from my strong Enemy And from them that hated me for they were too strong for me Thou hast guided thy People in thy strength to thy holy Habitation Thou wilt do so still and not forsake them when their strength faileth My Flesh and my Heart faileth but God is the strength of my Heart and my portion for ever Be not discouraged at all for the weakness or absence of outward meanes Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit saith the Lord of Hosts When Men and meanes and hopes and helps and Hearts and all fail Trust ye in the Lord for ever for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength He giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might he encreaseth strength They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength They go from strength to strength The righteous shall hold on his way and be stronger and stronger I will go in the strength of the Lord God I shall never faint but always even every step I take gather new strength and courage Wait on the Lord be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine Heart Despair not like her that said My strength and hope is perished If thou chance to do so recover quickly as she did This I recall to my mind and therefore have I hope Be fully perswaded that what God hath promised he is able also to perform Acknowledge as your Father Abraham did as his Soveraign truth so his infinite power above all inferiour order or contrary difficulty Yea he is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think Neither do you despair of any Man's Salvation for whom you pray No not of the Jewes whom you are bound every Day to remember in your Prayers For God is able to graft them in again When you are tempted to any sin think thus with your selves Do we provoke the Lord to jealousie are we stronger than he that we should not fear to provoke him Can thine Heart endure or can thine Hands be strong in the Days that I shall deal with Thee Wilt thou have courage or strength enough to endure or withstand my Judgments I say unto you my Friends be not afraid of them that can kill the Body and after that have no more that they can do But I will fore-warm you whom you shall fear Fear him which after he hath killed hath power to cast into Hell If Men should be in danger of present Death by any Mens unjust Decrees in case they refuse actively to obey them They must say if it be so Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us but if not we will not serve any false Gods Nor the true otherwise than he hath appointed in his Word And in the midst of the most desperate dangers serve the Lord with sweet security knowing that your good Shepheard Jesus Christ is alway doing his Office standing still on Foot and watching for the safeguard of his employing for their safety his Fathers Divine Power whereby they shall rest secure having the King of the Universe for their Protection He shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord in the Majesty of the Name of the Lord his God and they shall abide When you shall be cast upon your sick Beds doubt not but he will both turn and stir and make them easie but strengthen you upon them His everlasting Armes shall be
believers and those that are regenerate by God's spirit apply themselves to the obedience of the Law without constraint or terrifying having the habit of righteousness and holiness in themselves as an inward and living Law They have no need of the horror and constraint of it and also being justified by Christ they are freed from the condemnation of it seeing that a Soveraign pardon stayeth and endeth all Actions and Condemnations grounded upon the Law Great Houses with the Gardens Orchards Parks and Grounds belonging to them have their bounds and limits made by Walls Pales and Hedges That great glorious House which Ezekiah saw in a Vision had its limit This is the Law of the House upon the top of the Mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most Holy God is said to have determined the bounds of all Mens Habitations upon Earth The Ten Commandments of the Moral Law are the Bounds Walls Pales and Hedges set round about the House wherein you that are Saints on Earth inhabit beyond which you may not pass but must keep within this compass As the Waters dwelling within the great Channel have their bounds which they are commanded to keep and forbidden to transgress pass or go over I establish saith God to Job my Decree upon it speaking of the Sea break up for it my Decreed place set Bars and Doors to it Figurative terms to express the concavities wherein the Sea is enclosed and said hitherto shalt thou come and no further and here shall thy proud Waves be stayed You are commanded in like manner to keep within the bounds of your Decreed place and you are bound to keep within them under a greater penalty than that which was laid upon Shimei when he was confined to his House by Solomon and to the City of Hierusalem the Walls whereof were his utmost limits The King sent and called for Shimei and said unto him build thee an House in Hierusalem and dwell there and go not forth thence any whether For it shall be that on the Day thou goest out and passest over the Brook Kidron that thou shalt surely dye Abide within So long as you do so you abide with God Cursed be the Man whose Heart departeth from the Lord. As a Bird that wandereth from her Nest so is a Man that wandereth from his place Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed who do erre from thy Commandements Thou hast trodden down all them that erre from thy Statutes Take heed Brethren lest there be in any of you an evil Heart of unbelief in departing from the living God Every Sin small and great is a transgression of the Law Exceeds the bounds which God by his Law hath appointed unto Men for the moderating regulating of their thoughts words and actions And every transgression and disobedience every commission and omission received a just recompence of reward If at any time through frailty or violence of temptation you pass these bounds If at any time said I Alass who doth not every Day both in thought word and deed There is not a just Man upon Earth that doth good and sinneth not In many things we offend all David a Man after God's own heart passed these bounds oft through infirmity once most abominably Well consider what is to be done after such excursions Consider your wayes in your hearts Bend your minds very diligently weigh ponder think seriously with your selves what you have done Most Men are guilty of this neglect No Man repenteth of his wickedness saying What have I done Remember this and shew your selves Men bring it again to mind O ye Transgressors Know therefore that it is an evil and bitter thing that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God Be ashamed and confounded to have been found out of the bounds of your House Then shalt thou remember thy ways and be ashamed What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed Let it not be said of you as of the generality of the Jewes in Jeremyah's time Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination Nay they were not at all ashamed neither Let the review remembrance and thought of every ordinary sinful digression by rash anger or any bitter expression against Wife Husband Childe Servant Neighbour by vain empty idle unprofitable conference at any time by intemperance in Eating or Drinking though never so little beyond necessity or honest delight making you unfit for divine service in either of your Callings by immoderate sleeping or not being up as early for God as for your selves or spending more time in dressing your Bodies than your Souls by wanton glances of your Eyes or lusting after strange Flesh or abusing the lawful duty of Marriage by envying and grieving at the outward welfare of others or discontentment with your own health wealth credit or carking distrustful caring for to morrow or hasting to be rich by passing rash censure upon the spiritual estate of others or speaking of their faults and follies with mirth by silence at the unsavory speeches of any or conniving at their miscarriages not reproving them at least by discountenance for fear of giving them offence by having too great a hankering of heart after things not evil in themselves Tobacco Hunting Hawking Angling Gameing though not for gain but sport by suffering buying and selling thoughts and vile distractions to have incursions and lodging within you in holy Duties Let the thoughts I say of these and numberless other sinful digressions fill your Souls with shame and blushing ing and sinful abhorrence Much more if you call to mind grosser crimes Then shall ye remember your own evil wayes and doings that were not good and shall loath your selves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations Nor let your shame for taking so many steps out of your Heavenly Fathers House or sense of selfloathsomeness hinder your return thither but say as that unclean spirit for it is lawful and stands with godliness honesty and reason to learn of an enemy I will return unto my House from whence I came out And as that penitent Wife that had stept aside from her Husband I will go and return unto my first Husband for then was it better with me than now So did the Prodigal resolve to do I will arise and go to my Father and say unto him Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee O Israel return unto the Lord thy God for thou hast fallen by thy iniquity Go and knock at the Door of Divine Mercy confess your folly accusing and judging your selves Surely it is meet to be said unto God who hath revealed himself not only in his Law by commanding and threatning but also in his promises of grace to comfort and encourage by the remission of sins so the Italian reads the word following I
of the Day we are not of the Night nor of Darkness therefore let us not sleep as do others There is a twofold waking literal and metaphorical the former is sometimes a punishment Thou holdest mine Eyes waking It is alwayes a duty to with-hold your Eyes from immoderate and unseasonable sleep How long will thou sleep O sluggard when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep yet a little sleep a little slumber a little folding of the hands to sleep Too many Christians willingly suffer this Thief to steal away the best and feed upon the very fat of their time which are a shame to the House they live in It was thought in Austin's time to be an undecent thing for a Christian at any time of the Year to have the Sun beames finde him in Bed How early every Morning was David up at his Devotions My Voice shalt thou hear in the Morning O Lord. In the Morning will I direct my Prayer unto thee Awake up my Glory awake Psaltery and Harp I my self will awake early yea mine Eyes prevent the Night Watches that I might meditate on thy Word I have awaked of my self in the Night before I have been called upon by the Watchmen who give warning of the seasons of the Night Yea at Mid-night will I arise to give thanks unto thee This was ordinary for the Servants of this House to do their Master service as well by Night as Day Behold bless ye the Lord all ye Servants of the Lord which by Night stand in the House of the Lord. Nothing was more ordinary in Primitive times in the House of godly great Men than to have Vigils Paul says of himself that he was oft in voluntary fastings which he undertook to fit himself the better for Supplications and Prayer So oft in such Watchings It 's said of our blessed Saviour that He continued all Night in Prayer to God Come lye all Night in Sackcloth ye Ministers of my God David fasted and went in and lay all Night upon the Earth This was extraordinary literal watching for spiritual ends and for our imitation upon like occasions time allow'd to spend in sleep must sometimes be set apart for religious Duties And every Night of of our life when we are awake we must take care to spend piously â—is the Character of a godly Man His delight is in the Law of the Lord and in that Law doth he meditate Day and Night When I remember Thee upon my Bed and meditate on Thee in the Night Watches With my Soul have I desired Thee in the Night Stand in awe and sin not commune with your own Heart upon your Bed But it is the latter wakeing and watching which the Apostle chiefly intends when he saith let us not sleep as do others that is through carelesness slacking giving over acts of faith and piety or doing them listlesly or perfunctorily sluggishly or by being lull'd asleep and over-burthened by worldly desires cares or pleasures 't is an heedful observation of our selves in all things and a serious careful and diligent circumspection over all our thoughts words and ways that we may please God by doing his will and neither commit any sin nor omit any duty This Christian heedfulness is very frequently and earnestly urged upon God's People no duty more Take heed to thy self and keep thy Soul diligently take heed unto your selves lest ye forget the Covenant take diligent heed to do the Commandment and the Law take heed then that ye walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise Watch ye therefore for ye know not when the Master of the House cometh at Evening or at Mid-night or at the Cock crowing or in the Morning lest coming suddenly he finde you sleeping and what I say unto you I say unto all Watch. This watchfulness must be in all things what Saint Paul saith unto Timothy who was as all Gospel-Ministers should be religious faithful Watch-men warning their People of spiritual dangers and enemies as God's Prophets of old were somewere then as too many are now careless Guids Watch-men in Name but not in truth wretched or rather wretchless and scarce Watch-men he saith to every private Christian Watch thou in all things Evil civil good Take heed how ye hear read pray give Almes How you do the works of your particular Calling and even natural actions eat drink play and watch over all the powers and parts both of your Souls and Bodies your outward Senses Eyes and Eares and tast and touch Job 31. 1. Mat. 5. 28. Psal 119. 37. Esay 33. 15. Pro. 23. 1 2 3. Your Tongues especially Psal 39. 1. 37. 30. Pro. 15. 4. 7. 23. 18. 20. 25. 11. 1 Cor. 15. 31. Jam. 3. 2. Mat. 12. 34-38 Psal 45. 1. Eph. 4. 29. Col. 4. 6. But above all your hearts must be watched over Pro. 4. 23. Heb. 3. 12. And you must watch especially against those sins that are most dangerous and whereto you are naturally most inclined Luk. 3. 12 13 14. 12. 15. The Pathes of your Feet must also be pondered Pro. 4. 26. And this must be in all places and at all times all the days of your lives Deut. 4. 9. Nor must you only watch over your selves but over your Brethren also Heb. 10. 24. 3. 13. Gen. 4. 9. Lev. 19. 17. A great many reasons may quicken you to this duty besides the many Precepts that press it in reference to your selves 1. The estate and condition wherein you stand 1. You are weak at best full of infirmities Mat. 26. 41. As they that have weak sickly Bodies observe a strickt Dyet so should you much more be careful and fearful whose Souls are so 1 Cor. 10. 12. Phil. 2. 12. Pro. 28. 14. 2. You are naturally drowsie and therefore had need to do as the Nightingal that is said to set her Brest against a Thorn to keep her self from sleeping Mat. 25. 5. Cant. 5. 2. Eph. 5. 14. The wise as well as foolish Virgins slept your hearts are naturally wicked and deceitful and desperatly wicked Jer. 17. 10. Psal 18. 57. Deut. 11. 16. Heb. 3. 12. 1. You are extreamly apt to relapse into your former condition Rev. 2. 5. Mat. 12. 45. 2 Pet. 2. 21 22. 2. You have many mighty and subtile and malicious and dangerous enemies Eph. 16. 12. 1 Pet. 5. 8. 3. Great are the benefits of this continual watchfulness You will hereby tame your Flesh The wildest Beasts are tamed by watching This will be a great furtherance to your Prayers and hereby you will be kept from being foiled by temptations Mat. 26. 41. 4. Great is the danger of neglecting this one Moment There is no sin but may be sowne in you while you sleep Mat. 13. 24. witness David 2 Sam. 11. and so you hazard your salvation Means enabling you to the performance of this duty are 1. Sobriety in the