came not for his mony as formerly he said that he found God had so blest him that he could maintain his Family by his labour and spare a Lecture time too And if others will try in like manner they shall have the like blessing It is said Mony answers all things Eccl. 10. 19. yea but the Blessing of God in the way of serious attending on him in his House will answer mony also will supply that too God hath many secret waies to bless his servants and doth abundantly send in what we lay out for him Our Fathers in this Wilderness experienc'd this they came for the sake of God's House and he soon filled theirs turned the Wilderness into a fruitful Land gave them what they denyed and left behind them for his and the Gospel's sake And while the first love and zeal for Christ and the things of his House were kept up they had much outward prosperity our coldness there has brought thinness and leanness both outward and spiritual upon us This also is the sure way to have all our other good things sanctified to us By the Word and prayer are all our outward blessings sanctified 1. Tim. 4. 5. and without this they are a snare and Trap. If men would observe there is none but loses as much and more than he gains by robbing God of his Time or at least he loses the blessing and what is the outward enjoyment without a Blessing why it is for his hurt rather than for his good and its better to want such things in mercy than to have them in wrath Thus much may serve for the Confirmation of the Doctrine We come now to the Application or Improvement And this word is profitable for Information or Instruction Reproof or Correction Exhortation Direction 1. by way of Information and Instruction 1. See here the Wisdome of God in providing so well for the promoting of his own publique Worship while he orders so much profit to attend the waiters upon him therein hereby obviating the objections that may be made against it that great one especially Mal. 3. 4. what profit is it that we have served God and kept his Ordinance What profit more than Cent. per Cent. profit even a Thousand to one profit and that is great gain indeed The Lord out-bids all that ever the world or the Devil the god of the world can do for his followersReason should teach us to go into his vineyard where we may have the most pleasant work and best wages Did men understand and believe there would be no great difficulty in this matter Saul to weaken David's Interest in the people and draw them off from him intimates that they could not expect much profit or high preferment from the son of Jesse 1. Sam. 22. 7. insinuating that where there is an expectation of the greatest Reward there men would be most like to be found Then God may well expect that we should prefer his House before our own houses Fields Ships or Shops because all of them cannot yield the like profit by more than a Thousand to one Difference He must needs account God not worthy to be believed or Fellowship with him in his House not worthy to be enjoyed that is not perswaded 〈◊〉 pitty any should need to be compell'd there to dwell and to Improve all opportunities of Seeing and Enquiring there Wisdom invites mâ—n to her House Prov. 9. and the foolish one calls upon Simple ones that are going right on to turn in thither the former invites to beasts slain Wines mingled and Table furnished and promises life upon obedience hear and your souls shall live Isa 55. 3. The latter speaks only of water and bread and that stollen and in secret too concealing in the mean time Death and depths of Hell the punishment of deluded fools Mee thinks none need be at a loss at which house to turn in Christ would be no way offended for turning our backs upon his Ordinances if we knew any place where to mend our selves but to leave him for lying vanities makes him angry There is nothing but Atheism and Unbelief that keeps any poor creature from making this his One thing to dwell in the House of God 2. Hence we are further Informed how careful the Lord is of us also of our Good as well as of the promoting his own service in that he does not oblige us to do any service for him nor to spend one day or hour but so as shall be to our own highest advantage No Worship of God shall interfere with our profit He will dispence with his Worship when works of necessity and mercy for our selves or others bespeak our Attendance and he never enjoynâ— it but it is best for us and most for our good 〈◊〉 This is great kindness indeed to poor Creatures that He will not be served but when we shall be profited and has so disposed that it is alwaies for our profit to serve Him If we were rightly affected towards God we should need no more or other Argument than this to bring us to the House of God and oblige us to the most serious attendance viz. that we are about God's work doing Hiâ— service that he will be glorified thereby would be enough to us but the Lord will have us to know that we are then about our own work also and that which most nearly concerns us and will unspeakably advantage us Altho' we must deny our selves and take much pains to serve God if we do it acceptably yet all this while we are working for our selves and the Harvest will be our own and that a Thousand times more than we could have gotten else where You will say when the Beggars that lay by the High-waies and Hedges were invited to the Marriage-feast they were not bidden to their losse no nor they that had Farms and Merchandize neither they never had such Incomes nor made such Bargains as they might have had and made there Let none think it hard that God requires one day in seven for the more immediate service of Himself nay if he should require six of the seven and leave us but one while he gives us the profit of more than a Thousand dayes in one there is no colour for any Complaint The Lord commanded them in the Wilderness to rest on the Sabbath day and gives this as a reason why they should so doe because he had on the sixth day given them the Bread of two dayes Exod. 16. 29. So when he commands us to wait on him in his House on a Lecture-day and by the way do not account that attending on Lectures is 〈◊〉 a free-will offering tho' if it were so God's people should be a willing people and willing in their free-will Offerings but that General Rule of taking all Opportunities of 〈◊〉 and consequently of getting Good is not without its Consideration here and if the Minister be charged to preach in season and out of season 2.
more Sweetness in one hour's Fellowship with God in his House than in all the pleasures of sin for a whole Life-time See what plentiful Provision the Lord makes and invites us to there Isa 25. â— fat and marrowed things and wine upon the lees No Cook dresses such meat no Tavern sells such drink The Lord in his House makes such provision as abundantly exceeds what is to be found in any other and those that seriously attend there do find abundant satisfaction therein Psal 36. 8. And as for matter of Honour none like that which God puts â—pon them who honour him as all diligent conscientious waiters upon him in his House eminently do It is their glory to come near him and behold his Glory and there as in the Context ver 11. he gives glory and that is true Honour indeed It is the Honour and Glory of Angels to be waiting upon God in his upper House of Glory of Men to wait upon him in his lower house of the vissble Church where we may both see speak of and partake in his Glory To be admitted unto near approaches to God in his House is a greater Honour dignity than to be admitted to stand before converse with the greatest Potentates upon earth If then account themselvs much honour'd by the Company of great men much more Honour is it to be in the Company and dwell in the House of the Great God And that which commends the good things of God's House to â—â— above all other is that they are soul-Blessings soul-profit soul-pleasures c. Now as much as the Soul is better than all the world so much does soul-profit exceed all other profits whatsoever A little soul-good is infinitly better than a great deal of worldly good and consequently soul-loss is the worst loss Suppose you should gain a little worldly profit or pleasure while you might have been at a Sermon yet you lose soul-profit pleasure the while then your loss exceeds your gain Suppose you should be filling your purse by the one you are thinning your souls by the other you get bodily refreshment comfort c but you lose soul-benefit and souls-pining will not be recompensed by your estates-thriveing Isa 55. 3. hear and your souls shall live work toyl labour and your bodies may live tho' possibly they mayn't neither but hear and your souls shall certainly assuredly everlastingly live If men would but consider that they have souls and thereupon study the worth of them til they find the preference of their souls to their bodies they would then prefer soul-enrichments in God's House above all worldly profit or pleasure in their own but while men are carnal sensual and bruitish minding only their bodies and those things that do concern their bodies this Argument will neither be understood by them nor be prevalent with them Oh pray the Father of spirits the God that hath made us these souls that he would also make us to know what our souls be and what is the Concernment of our souls above all other Considerations in the world then we should realize that the enlightning of the soul converting of the soul restoring of the soul Satisfying the hungerings and thristings of the soul strengthening us with strength in our soul communion with the dearly beloved of our souls and making our souls to rejoyce in Him the universal prosperity of our souls and Salvation of our souls at last all which good things are to be attained in God's House are the Best of all blessings and consequently the attending on God there the most profitable and delightful of all duties and by many Thousand degrees eligible before all other Imployment whatsoever More particularly these that follow are some of those things to be gotten in the House of God that are a Thousand times better than what are to be had else where e. g. 1. Here is the word of God the powerful enlightening converting sanctifying saving word of God to be heard and the efficacy of it to be felt and experienced the Word preached which is the wisdome of God and the power of God to salvation Rom 1. 16. 1. Cor. 1. 18. 24. The Word by which blind eies are enlightened deaf ears opened dead souls quickned unconverted ones converted unbelievers brought to the Faith of Christ Act. 26 18 Dayes of being in the House of God are dayes of power in which God is wont by his Word to speak to the Hearts of poor needy waiters upon him and makes sinners a willing people Psal 110. 3. Here David met with that Word which was more worth to him thaâ— Thousands of silver and Gold and more sweet than the Honey and the Honey comb Psal 19. 10. with 119. 103. He that brings his Heart not his body only as many do to the House of God and laies it under the droppings of God's Word there he by so doing laies himself in the way of Light and Life and puts his soul under the Influence of an Ordinance appointed by God for the conveying of all spiritual good to him it being the Lord's way to do all by his Word If any of you come to the House of God on a Sabbath day and there God meet with you and bring your souls within the Net of the Gospel and save you then you will say it was the best way of spending Time that ever you met with If the Lord shall please to draw you off from your worldly Occasions and allure you into his House upon a Lecture-day and there speak to your Hearts and by his Spirit work upon you for your souls everlasting Good you will then be as so many living Monuments of the Truth of this Doctrine you will have the Witness in your selves and be able to set your seals to the experienced verity thereof 2. Here is the best Company to be had and such as is a Thousand Times better than what you will meet with else where And Company is a very attracting thing for the sake of good-fellowship falsly so called is many an hour and many a good day in God's House lost whereas here is that which is truly and deservedly called Good-fellowship Here God Father Son and Spirit are to be seen and Conversed with the Vision of and Fellowship with God are the great things here to be enjoyed It s â—â—ue God may be seen and conversed with elswhere but not in that manner and measure as here nor at all savingly by those that may but will not wait upon him here They have seen his goings in the Sanctuary Psal 68. 24. and so may we the sight of that Beauty which David there desired Psal 27. 4. is free for us also This is eminently a Place of drawing near to God and if you engage your hearts to draw â—ear to him there he will there meet you and bless you Exod. 20. 24. Now if you can fare so well in the House of God as to get a light of him
and Meanes appointed unto the End proposed which by their Encomiums of Joyfulness in and Thankfulness for while they have had the liberty of enjoying the same together with vehement Pantings and insatiable Longings-after when bereaved of them they have plentifully discovered Insomuch that true Love and hearty unfeigned Devotion towards the House of God has been look'd at as a Mark of Sincerity where it hath been found Thus David when making his appeal to God about his Integrity Psal 26. 8. brings this for one Argument viz. his Love to the habitation of His House and place where his Honour dwells And on the other hand the decay of love to God's House appearing either in a total neglect thereof or Slightiness and Indifferency thereabout among the Professors of Religion hath been accounted a sad Symptome of the decay of the power of Godliness a sign of great Degeneracy and an Introduction of Apostacy as also an awful Prognostick of great Judgements if not ruinatinâ—â—amity hastning on such a People This of the most bitter provocations of the Lord's Sons and Daughters when they have lost their Affection to their Fathers house and either care not to come there or if they do it is with such coldness formality and Slightiness and with so little heart and hungring after Fellowship with Himself there that he accounts himself rather Mock'd than honour'd by such Spiritless and Truthless Performances this kindles such a fire in his Anger that nothing but the bloud of Christ in a way of unfeigned Repentance and Reformation can put out If I mistake not in mine Observation there seems to be a great falling short in that Love and Zeal for the Worship of God and that Labour and Frequency of waiting upon Him in his House both on Sabbath dayes and Lecture dayes that hath been formerly observed in those that have professed Christianlty in Truth-Men do not make so great or Momentous and Necessary a business thereof as heretofore A dangerous condition â— both as it intimates a Decay in the very Vitals of Religion and as it makes way for God's Anger to come upon such a degenerate Generation Our Fathers have told us how precious the Word of God was in their dayes and proved their high Esteem thereof by the paines they were wont to take in travelling many a mile to a Sermon in there own Land as also by their Leaving All to follow the Lord some Thousands of Miles into a Wilderness that they might freely Enjoy the liberties of his House and obtain Communion with Him there With what an ill face then it does look that we should flagg in our Affections to and grow Cold in our Attendance on those high and valuable enjoyments that our Fathers purchased at so dear a Rate I leave to the sad and serious Consideration of all thinking Christians Sundry proffitable Lectures round about us quite â—aid down And some who keep up Lectures especially in Country-Towns where the Arguments of a Market and other secular Business do not induce People to afford their Attendance are ready to think whether they were not better lay them down also than preach to bare walls or at least to such thinn Congregations My Aym in choosing this Text at this Time and in this Place of general Resort is to bear my Testimony against this growing and dangerous Evil and to endeavour the reviveing oâ— the first Love and ancient Affection to the House and Word of God as not knowing where in I may do better service for our God and foâ— the People of our God than by raising the Reputation â—f the House of God among us And the words read furnish me with a suitable Medium unto such an end taken from the Topick of Gain and Profit that will redound unto the behoof of them that are serious therein An Argument which if it be Demonstratively urged and God shall please to set in therewith we shall not need doubt of some good Success Gain smells sweet in most mens Nostrils He that baits his hook with Profit may expect not to toyl in vain provided it be understood and realized So sweet and allureing a sound does Gain make that he who can harp well upon that string may hope for an attentive Auditory Therefore doth the Lord bait the net of his Gospel which he lets down in his House with a promise of a greâ—t Reward unto all that shall be drawn thereinto g Would men be convinced that there is no way of spending Time so much to advantage as in the House of God it is to be hoped that the end would be answered When matter of Gain was discoursed by Demetrius and the Craftsmen on the one hand and Danger of Losing their Religion tho' indeed it was no Religion on the other hand Act. 19. 34. it drew the whole City together and made them continue for two houres space in one constant Cry to proclaim their Devotion toward Diana of the Ephesians Mee-thinks the greater Gain to be gotten by waiting on God in his House with the danger of losing our Religion which by the neglect of that duty is eminently endangered should have a greater Influence and oblige us to attendance and that with all Seriousness and Joyfulness Why should not the whole City come together and spend the two hours allotted for this Exercise in the Worship of the true God with as great readiness and as little weariness as they did in the service of an Idol There needs not much to be said to the Context in order to the clearing of the Text. Briesly the Psalm seems plainly to have a Reference to some Time wherein the Psalmist was deprived of the Liberties of Gods House which he looks at as a sore Affliction and does very Pathetically and feelingly bewail the same adding vehement Soul-longings even unto fainting with reiterated and sundry wayes enforced Supplications that he might be repossess'd of those at present lost Priviledges Take the Text as related to the Context and it Contains one Reason of the above-mentioned Longings and Cryings after the House of God viz. because he saw it to be a place far more for his advantage to dwell in it was by many degrees better being there than elswhere And there to be where it is best to be should be every mans desire Take the words seperatly considered in themselvs and they are a comparison between a Day spent in the Courts of God's House and elswhere and the preference is given to a day there and that by the difference of a Thousand to One. A Day in thy Courts is better than a Thousand Or it may be read A Day is â—ood in thy Courts above a Thousand The Comparative degree better being so rendered good before Or I know not why it may not be as well read A good day in thy Courts is before a Thousand The House of God is a good place and all our dayes there are good daies in themselves and it s our own fault if
a good look from him you will account that Time spent unto unparallel'd Advantage The beholding of God's Beauty not gazeing on other vain beauties as too many usually do ought to be our â—rrand hither and will be an heartâ—avishing and transforming sight and so a blessed sight indeed Here may you see the Beauty of Jehovah the manifold and matchless Beauty of the LORD the beauty of his holiness this is to be seen in his House which is the Habitation of his Holiness The Grace Mercy Wisdom Power Love and Faithfulness of God are all of them most beautiful things and these are here to be seen To see the Lord smiling upon a poor Creature and liâ—ting up the Light of his Countenance over him Oh how beautiful Why this is eminently to be seen in his House Temple-loving kindness worth seeing and worth thinking on Psal 48. 9. Especially here is the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ to be seen 2. Cor. 4. 6. and be sure Christ has a very beautiful face He is altogether Lovely and every part of him excellent Cant. 5. 10 16. and in all his Beauty doth he appear in his House and there is but this one place where he delights in such a glorious manner and in such a measure to shew himself Something of God's Glory and Beautie does appear in the works of Creation and Providence Rom. 1. 20. but above all doth he unveil his Glory in Jesus Christ and in that great work of Redemption wrought out by â—im in the other we may see his Footsteps but in this his Face and this is a sight to be seen at his House This glorious beautiful Draught of the great work of Redemption is hung up in his house his Presence-Chamber exposed to the view of all comers Here may you see all the Attributes of God concurring cooperating in the Contriveing bringing about man's Salvation through a Redeemer The Mystery of God manifested in the Flesh which the Angels stoop down to look into as the Greek word imports 1. Pet. 1. 12. And this manifold Wisdome of God in Jesus Christ is made manifest unto Principalities and Powers by the Church Ephes 3. 10 11 there they see it thence they learn it There be two Seasons when especially men desire to be and appear to be beautiful and do therefore set forth themselves accordingly viz. in their wooing Time and on their Espousal or Marriage day So it is with Jesus Christ Lords Dayes and Lecture-dayes when the Gospel is publickly preached are Christs wooing dayes and therefore doth he then deck and array himself with all his Glory and Beauty that he may allure and prevail with men to have him that being ravish'd with his Beauty they may consent to his motion And Sacrament-dayes are more eminently the dayes of his Espousals wherein the Covenant that was before secretly made between Christ and the Soul when there was a mutual Consent and promiâ—â— pass'd between them is now more solemnly Renewed Sealed and Confirmed Now as a Bride cannot forget her Attire no more will this great Bride-groom of our Souls neither This therefore makes being in the Lords House so much better than being elsewhere because there is Christ thus to be seen And a far greater sight it is than that which tho' great was but a shaddow of this Cant. 3. 11. viz. King Solomon in the day of his Espousals â— greater than Solomon bâ—ing here On those Festival dayes doth the Lord Jesus put on all the Robes of his Grace Love Righteonsness Meekness c that he may appear in some measure as he is among them He puts on his red Garments comes in his Blood and Woundâ— shews the scars of his Combate with the Enemies of our Salvation which tho' heart-breaking sights too yet in these are his Love and Good-will to his people gloriously discovered Thus their eies are blessed with beholding the King in his Beauty Isa 33. 17. To â—eâ— a Church of Christ assembled together in the Excercise of the Ordinances of his House in thâ—â— Temple-Robes Sanctuary-dress Holyday 〈◊〉 regular and exact in their 〈◊〉 according to the Order of his House â—hich is far above the Order of Solomon's 〈◊〉 that help'd to ravish the Qeen of Sheba 1. King 10. 4 5. And further to see Christ come in among them according to his promise in the Riches of his glorious Grace manifesting himself to them I say to see this is to see the most Glorious sight on this side of Heaven yea it is Heaven it self tho' Heaven upon earth Hence it is that Sion is said to be beautiful Psal 48. 2. yea and the Perfection of beauty Psal 50. 2. And we may thank our selves if when ever we come to the House of God we do not see these matchless Sights for Jesus Christ has promised his Disciples Mat. 28. 20. to be alwaies with them while preaching and Consequently with those that are hearing In the midst of those that are gathered together in his Name In the Ordinances of God's House doth he bring us to Jesus and to the bloud of sprinkling one drop of which if it light on thee there if being called thither thou have Communion with Christ there no created good can match it Here also the Spirit of Christ is present who lists to be bearing witness to his own Ordinances here you may meet with him speaking to you and in you and helping of you here you may experience the enlightening teaching quickening sanctifying and comforting presence of the Spirit of Christ And he that sees and converses with God in Christ in his House he sees and enjoyes even all that is worth seeing and enjoying he may say to his soul Return to thy rest for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee Psal 116. 7. This is such a filling Comprehensive enjoyment that it leaves no room for any thing else When Christ was disposed to make an eminent discovery of his Glory unto meet witnesses who might afterward give Testimony to the world of what they had seen he chose Peter who had made such a Confession of him and was to suffer such great things for him and James who was the first of the Apostles that that we read of that laid down his life for Christ Act. 12. 1. and John the beloved Disciple who was to Live long and do much service for him and was favoured with this Vision as a special evidence of his Love to him I say he took these three and brought them up into the Mount and was transfigured before them Matt. 17. 1 4. upon the sight of which Excellent glory as he calls it 2. Pet. 1. 17. they presently cry out it 's good being here and they might have said for they meant as much it 's a Thousand times better being here than elsewhere here let us dwell the very Language of David in Psalm 27. 4. They never concerned themselves about what they should eat or drink or where-with they
Beauty in the Sanctuary and had been enlightned quickned and comforted there for which Favours you have him in sundry Psalms tuneing his Harp and Psaltery and fixing his heart to the Praises of God and blessing himself and the people in those high enjoyments in respect of which God had so dealt with Israel as with no other people But now you find him in quite another Frame longing fainting Crying out like a person in great distress fareing like a poor forlorn miserable wretch in a state most sadly afflictive and deplorable intimating that he could have been glad to change Conditons with the Swallow and Sparrow when he seems to envy that priviledge which they enjoyed and he was bereaved of what was the matter what ail'd him why alas this was his Case a. woful Case indeed that sweet precious beloved place the House of God he could not come at those Glorious and gainful daies which he had with so much pleasure and advantage spent were now past and gonae with him and when or how to be recovered he knew not and he so demeans himself as one that both understood what he said and said as he meant when he set so high a value upon one of those daies Of like nature and scope is Psal 42. and had you seen him at that Time when he Composed it you would have found him in a most solemn frame his eyes weeping and himself making meat of his tears when he had wept them his Heart beating and panting his soul fainting and poured out within him and had you consulted with him he would have told you this lamentable story I once dwelt in Sion and had mine Habitation in Jerusalem that pleasant place where the Lines were befallen me where I had a goodly Heritage had free access to the House of God thither was wont to go with the Company that kept Holy-day but now I am an Out-cast from the Temple in the land of Jordan and the Hermonites I cannot come to Meeting I cannot hear a Sermon as I was wont by the loss of which Mercy I have learnt somewhat more than ever the worth of it a loss that can by no other attainment be compensated This was the cause of his mourning and the inward disquietment and casting down of his soul and this also caused him to make that Prayer in the following Psalm ver 3 4. that God would conduct him back to his Holy Hill and to his Tabernacles that he might again goe to the Altar of God his exceeding Joy and promises his praises for the hearing of his prayer nor would any thing raise up his down-cast soul but the Hopes that those prayers should be heard And it is to be noted in both thâ—se Psalms the like also may be observed â—lse where when bemoaning his Exilement he â—ever once mentions his own House or his Relations or family Concerns all which were beyond dispute according to the value of each very dear to him but this is the matter with him the House of God! And so when he was driven out of Jerusalem he saies nothing of his Kingdom or Palace or any Relations he left behind only the Ark and its Habitation the House of God where the Lord dwelt and afforded his Presence This this I say he thought and discoursed of and thereby shewed what lay at his Heart and how much he prized them above other Things which he accounted not worthy to be mentioned the same day with these Thus also when sick Hezekiah had the Sentence of Death that was upon him reversed and an Addition of fifteen Years promised he asked a sign whereby he might be assured about his going up again to the House of God as if he had valued his Time of going thither more than all his Time besides or as if his repriâ—val from the Grave were therefore principally grateful to him because he might have the liberty of rendering the Lord a further visit there Isa 38. 22. the fear of seeing the Lord no more probably he means in his House the chief place for seeing God having been most grievous to him in his sickness ver 11. whereupon he engaged that he would not only goe up thither but dwell there to praise him all the daies of his life And at this day how many just and Righteous ones are there in the world that are begging on their knees with Tears in their eies that they might enjoy one of these dayes of the Son of Man that we have plenty of they would wonder to see the streets and shops so full of people while a Sermon is a preaching which they would gladly leave their very meat to hear what a Pathetical lecture would they read you of the worth of Sermons and Ordinances How feelingly would they discourse of these things and tell you that whatever outward good things are left them they do all avail them little or nothing while banished from the House of God and how affectionately would they exhort and beseech us to know iâ— this our day the things of our peace to improve every inch of Hearing-Timé and that with utmost Seriousness and Intensness to believe them while they do give evidence to the Truth of this Doctrine and in so doing speak what they have seen and felt lest we also pay dear for our learning as they have done that one day in the Courts of the Lord is worth a Thousand So much may serve for the first Reason oâ— Argument The second followes Reaf 2. One day in God's House is better than a Thousand Because serious waiting there is not only the way to have these unparaleld Blessings already mentioned but also the furest and safest way to obtain all other Good things which we need and for the getting of which the House of God is too often neglected yea and to have them sanctified and secured too This being cleared will evince the Truth of the Doctrine against all Gain-sayers This is the common Objection Mâ—n cannot come to Meeting on a Lecture-Day because their business will not give leave this and that work calls for their presence or else they shall be great sufferers The Husband-man especially in seed-Time and Harvest has no leisure he must get his seed into the Ground and his Harvest into the Barn The day-Labourer gets his Living by the sweat of his Browes and has but from hand to mouth and therefore he can spare no time for the Worship of God The Handicraft's man has work bespoken and must keep touch lest he lose his Custome The Shop-keeper will tell you Rent is high Trading dead he has a Family to maintain and therefore must lose no opportunity of taking Mony and Lecture-dayes are his Market-dayes and he cannot leave his shop tho' if none did appear to buy as mee thinks none should that did consider that the doors of Christ's House are then open where better Commodities are to be bought viz. Wine and milk soul-maintenance and that without
Tim. 4. 1. 2. by like reason the people are obliged to hear doe not think we are hardly dealt with straitned in our time abridged of our liberty to labour and do all that we have to doe on the six dayes seeing our own profit is propounded and such profit as has been mentioned to induce us thereunto If a company of poor indigent people should be ordered by some great Person to wait at his Gate two hours on such a day in the week there to receive a liberal Dole from his bountiful Hand they would account themselves bountifully dealt with while they had so much more given them than they could have gotten by their own industry in the mean Time And that is the Case before us 3. This also Informs us how much we stand Debtors in God's Account for every day's Liberty in his House he sets down a Thousand for One and after that Rate will reckon with us and therefore we should reckon so also and hold our selves engaged to make an Answerable improvement of them that we may render proportionably This is the choice the Cream the Quintessence of all our Time for this especially are wee bound to lift up our eyes and souls and bless the name of the bountiful God and that a Thousand times more than for any other Time Thanks are to bâ—â—â—â— proportion to the quantity of the Kindness received As they that have much forgiven will love much so they that have much given should thank much praise much which they will do if they love much We should bless God heartily every morning we rise for bringing us to the Light of another day but we should bless him a Thousand times more for a day in his Courts because it is a Thousand times better It was an exceeding great and precious Promise that the Lord gave to his People Isa 30. 20. a rich high Cordial fitted on purpose for an evil day that tho their meat should be bread of Adversity and drink water of Affliction yet their eyes shall set their Teachers they shall have Preaching and Ordinances among them Alas how many have bread of Adversity and their Teachers removed too How should the scarcity of that Best of all Commodities serve to enhaunce the price of it All our Time is precious but this part of our Time much more precious than the rest Many account Sabbath-dayes lost-dayes and Lecture-dayes broken dayes no they are good dayes and full dayes dayes full of Blessing one of them has the Good of a Thousand daies in it Some had rather sickness or Foul-weather should fall out an a Sabbath-day or on a Lecture-day than any other secretly think it is so much Time saved not â—onsidering how much the Wisdom and kindness of God is thereby Reflected upon and themselves prejudiced 4. Hence we may learn what is the best Course to redeem Time which is a duty incumbent upon all Christians Ephes 〈◊〉 16 The spending as much of it as you may i◠〈◊〉 House of God is the best way of Redeeming 〈◊〉 If men were good Husbands of their Time it were an easie matter to save ever and anon a Day for the Service of God and yet not strike one stroak the less about their other ordinary Occasions and one day thus Redeemed provided it be rightly improved so as to become a good day to them is more than a Thousand dayes 5. From hence also it followes that it is a greater Blessing to a People to have the Liberties of God's House than to have a Confluence of all this World 's Good flowing in upon them They are better that enjoy the House of God among them tho' they are straitened in other outward Things than they which have the greatest outward Enlargements without it God so orders it that the Richest places in the World as to Things of the World are very poor upon this account while 〈◊〉 People tho' dwelling in a Barren Land have the Riches of Earth and Heaven both in having the House of God among them Thesâ— Gleâ—â—ings of Ephraim are better than the 〈◊〉 of Abiezer Suppose a Place in â— Temperate Zone that is an healthy Climate has a sweet Air pleasant Situation fertile Soyl Havens for Ships a place of great Trade and much Resort so that what they have not of their own they may bring home tho' from far out of other places Imagine an Eden of all manner of pleasures and Delights yet under all these Considerations and Circumstances it is a miserable place if the House of God be wanting That poor solitary Pilgrim Jacob lying in the open Air having the cold Earth for his Bed and a stone for his Pillow yet the place being turned into a Bethel an House of God he fared better than if he had been acommodated with all the Entertainment that a Princes Palace could have afforded him Israel in the Wilderness tho' dwelling in Tents â—ed with bread and Water without the Flesh-pots of Egypt and other good things they so much longed for yet being the Church in the Wilderness and having God's Tabernacle in the midst of them were in a far happier Condition than the Canaanites who dwelt in a land flowing with Milk and Honey but no House of God near them Our Fathers coming into this Wilderness and bringing Christ and the Ordinances of his House along with them never repented them of the Exchange they had made nor were so mindful of the pleasant Land from whence they came as to return thither again tho' they had opportunities of so doing See Heb. 11. 15. Nay the Lord prevented them by turning the Wilderness into a fruitful Land and the House of God set up and attended will make any place so After the large Description of that great City given by the Prophet Ezekiel we find its real Glory contained in the name by which it was called viz. Jehovah shâ—mma The Temple of the Lord and his presence in the Temple renders a place glorious Never complain of Hardships and Difficulties the Consideration of the Transcendent Goodness of God to be enjoyed in his House should swallow up all Difficulties whatsoever Dwelling in Tents of wickedness nay in the Palaces of the World is to be despised in Comparison of dwelling here He that for Elbow-room in the World removes from under Word Ordinances makes a very imprudent Choice It s Religion not any nor all other things that makes a place It was the Presence House and Worship of God in the Land of Canaan principally that made it the Glory of all Lands the Land of Glory or the glorious Land as it is called Ezek. 20. 6. Dan. 11. 16 41. It s therefore glorious because it is Immanuel's land Isa 8. 8. This Mount Sion so beautiful a place because out of Sion the perfection of beauty God hath shined Psal 50. â— Prize Gospel-Ordinances and Christ's presence in them as the chiefest Glory of our Land and evermore pray that such Glory may
alwayes dwell in our Land 6. Then we should above all other Things fear losing a day in God's House yea fear losing the House of God and being outed of our Possession thereof According to the value of a thing is our Love to it Desire to keep it Fear to lose it Now if being in God's House is a Thousand times better than other-where then we should be a Thousand times more afraid about that than any thing else It is now a Time of Fear with us some fear they shall lose this thing some that and some another but above all fear and tremble for the Ark fear for the House Ordinances of GOD there is most Cause of Fear we have a Thousand times more cause to fear for God's House than for our own houses lands c. And if we are providentially kept from the House of God by Sickness or otherwise it should afflict us more than being kept from our own business To have lost a day through any inadvertency or neglect of his own or through any Adverse Providence that has disappointed him in his Expectation or blasted his Endeavours is afflictive to an industrious man but to have lost a day from or in the House of God should be by many degrees more grievous to a serious soul nor should our being driven out of our own houses be so yrksome to us as the Lord 's plucking up stakes or breaking up house among us We live in Times of Plucking up and pulling down to be now seeking great Things for our selves in the world would be absurd and blame worthy Ier. 45. but to be seeking the greater things of God's House and to be most Thoughtful about the Continuance thereof and our dwelling therein all the dayes of our life is very becoming in us and will be no less acceptable unto God The only way to secure what is our own is to be most solicitous about the concerns of God's House let our Hearts be mainly there and then we may roul the Burden of all other Cares upon him 7. This Doctrine doth intimate to us with what spirit and Frame we should go when ever we go to the House of God viz. with an high esteem of it Expectation of great things in from it Value an hour there worth a Thousand and expect to receive accordingly They had no more because they askâ— no more Jam. 4. 2 3. and we have no more because we expectâ— no more There is ordinarily some proportion between our Receivings and our Expectations and the Reason is because Expectations arising from the sence of our need and the reallizing that there is a supply to be had and being accompanied with answerable preparation and Attention bring us under a promise The Text tells us there is a Thousand times more to be had in the House of God than else-where then we should expect as much as the Word saith and the Lord is not wont to fail his people of their Expectations Psal 9. 18. The Expectation of the poor shall not perish But we may add something further to this in the sequel 8. Is one Day in God's House better than a Thousand then the Lord expects that they who dwell in his House should be better and doe better than other men Where much is given much is required They who live in His House fare better than any others are known above all the families of the earth Amos 3. 2. He hath not dealt so with any other Nation Psal 147. 20. Such have better Liberties better meanes better opportunities a Thousand times better than those who are not thus favoured and therefore their knowledge their principles their Hearts and Conversations should be better If any Heathen have more moral Honesty Sobriety Love c. than we beware such do not rise up in Judgment against â—s condemn and triumph over us in the Day of Account The Lord does and justly may look for better Grapes from his Vineyard upon which he had bestowed such costly and careful Husbandry and in the midst of which Himself dwelt than he could have expected from the Wilderness Isa 5. 1 4. Hence that chideing and stinging Interrogation implying great disappointment of just expectation in himself the Lord speaking there after the manner of men and unreasonable unaccountable Ingratitude in them ver 4. Wherefore when I looked it should bring forth Grapes brought it forth wild grapes We that have all the Precious and Pleasant things of God's House afforded and at thiâ— time continued when it is not so with others are better dealt with and at a Thousand times more chargeable rate maintained than they if our Returns be not somewhat singular we shall never be able to hold up our Heads wheâ— God shall thus interrogate us as he did them and if he should take away our Hedge and break down our stone wall and leave us to be eâ—â—en up and trodden down and forbid the clouds to 〈◊〉 upon us so that in the Issue we be laid waste 〈◊〉 he adds ver 5 6. If he should take away the Vineyard from us and let it out unto others that should render him the fruit in their seasons as Mat. 21. 41. and when he had done all this refer the matter to our own Judgment as he did to theirs Isa 5. 3. our Consciences would constrain us to say Righteous art thou O Lord. God was angry with Hezekiah not because he made no Returns at all that sanctifying Grace he had in him would not let him be altogether unthankful but it 's said Hezekiah rendered not According to the benefits done and hence was Wrath upon him 2. Chron. 32. 25. His Returns were not according to Expectation so proportionable to his Receivings as they might have been and there lay the Controversy We wrong and reflect upon the Name and House of God and the priviledges we enjoy there under so many better dayes and better things for want of better Conversations with which tho the Lord may bear long he wilâ— not alwaies USE 2. By way of Reproof If One day in God's House be worth a Thousand then they are blame-worthy who in their Judgement or practice or both are guilty of Slighting Undervalueing or Neglecting the same and what is lightly esteemed will be neglected Now these are faulty not only for wanâ— of due respect to an Institution of God or instiâ—â—ted Worship which ought alwaies to be observed with 〈◊〉 Veneration as that about which the Lord is wont more especially to 〈◊〉 himself â— jealous God but they are to be reproved from the Text under that Notion as not consulting their own interest while they put a slight upon that wherein their greatest Profit Advantage is concerned herein they miss it in not doing well for themselves And here we may take notice either of a Total or at least very frequent Neglect in some so as not to come at all or if they do it s very rarely or else when
food when rained about the Camp every day and called light Manna The Lord grant that our making so light of it may not provoke Him to send a Famine of Hearing the Word among us Amos 8. 11. Obj. I know what some will object here Viz. that I lay more stress upon Lectures than is due and urge the Attending them with more strictness than is necessary are they not to attend their particular Callings diligently and laboriously do they not serve God there as well as in their General Calling what may they â—ot upon any account miss a Lecture c. Answ Do I say more than my Text saith One day is better than a Thousand and is not Time best spent where there is such odds in point of profit will not Prudence direct every man to doe the best he can for his own best Advantage I know there may be just reason to absent from a Lecture as the Case may be and would not therefore make that absolutely necessary which God hath not made so All that I would iâ— that men beware they deal not deceitfully with God nor fallaciously with themselâ—es by alledging that for a Cause which is not so and will not pass with God for a Cause â—ow nor with their â—â—n Conference when it comes to be 〈◊〉 Let all men in these matters so deal as becomes those that make the Knowledge of God in Christ their Life eternal Communion and Fellowship with Him in all the wayes of his appointment their Happiness that have subordinated all other things to his Glory and made Dwelling in his House their one thing and so as they may practically demonstrate that they do unfeignedly believe and realize the Truth of this Text. Let them see that under any pretense whatsoever they do not gratifie a profane Atheistical sensual or covetous spirit in themselves nor justly grieve the good Spirit of God in themselves or others Be sure that the House of God and the Concerns thereof have in our Hearts and let it also be manifest in our Actions a deserved precedence before our own houses and the Affairs thereof So live so act as that it may be evident that God's Worship has the preeminence with us Keep up the Honour of his House by longing and panting for it and rejoycing in heart when it shall be said to us Come let us goe up thither Do but shew such an Affection to and Delight in God's House as God's people have been all along Characterised by and our Souls good and Edification may be promoted by and that is the summe of what is intended by this Discourse and with any thing lesse than this we shall not be able to approve our selves to the Heart-searching God that we do truly cordially love the hâ—biâ—ation of his House and the placâ— where his Honour dwells Psal 26. 8. Furthâ—r here also are to be reproved those that if they do come they come with their bodies only without their Hearts let their Hearts run after their Covetousness while with their Bodies they sit like God's people Such doe the Work of the Lord deceitfully and their own unprofitably Such heartless however they may seem specious Services will not excuse them from that Denunciation and Curse of Deceivers Mal. 1. 14. who have a Male in the Flock but sacrifice a corrupt thing The Excellent things that are there deservedly call for all the Soul Heart Mind and might to be imployed thereabout and the contrary is very foolish and unworthy Again If one day in the House of God be worth a Thousand they may not pass without Reprehension who for want of Care and Heed lose any part of this precious Time by coming late after that so profitable Worship of God is begun Did men indeed beleeve and consider that there is so much good to be gotten the Consideration of the profit should make every one strive to be foremost to be at the beginning of so good an Exercise We are all here present before God well became those Hearers Act. 10. 33. and they got well by their ready Attendance the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the Word ver 44. To be watching and waiting at Wisdom's gates and posts has a Blessing promised Pro. 8. 34. Not to be at the beginning of a Sermon is a great disadvantage to him that makes Information and Edification his Business And to be absent from the Prayer before the Sermon is to miss an Ordinance that sits us for Hearing and by which the Word heard comes to be sanctified to us If the Whole be so good he consults ill for himself that loses any part of it Again Sleeping at a Sermon is hereby condemned the worth of a Day or an Hour in God's House affords matter of sharp Reproof to them that can sleep away any part of it What can you not watch with Christ one hour Men do not use to sleep when they are receiving mony A man that is standing before the Judge while the Sentence of Absolution or Condemnation is pronouncing will certainly keep his eyes open why of no less importance is our being at a Sermon where we are before God the Judge of all and hearing those words by which we shall be judged at the Last day How they can be said to take heed how they hear who hear themselves asleep would be good for them to consider when they are awake and might help to keep them so They that sleep out a Sermon will be like the barren Heath of the Wilderness that does not see when good comes And it is to be feared that he has but little sense of the Worth of that Ordinance or expectation of benefit by it that can allow himself in such a Deportment under it a due Esteem of it with suitable Expectation from it would teach him better Sitting asleep while the words of eternal life are dispensing is not Sitting like God's people Men may be awake and yet little the better but they may conclude that what time was slept away was lost Time He that gazes or sleeps away some few Sentences may thereby incapacitate himself for understanding the whole Discourse However possibly that word may then be a speaking which would have suited thy case and reached thy Heart if thou hadst been awake to hear it and such a vvord it may be thou shalt never have an opportuiny of hearing again You have or may have in your hands * Mr. Mather's Sermon upon Act. 20. 9. an awakning Discourse of God's exemplary Justice upon sleeping 〈◊〉 God may doe so by thee when he finds thee in a deep sleep at a Sermon he may make it a dead-sleep to thee and may sufficiently vindicate himself by rendring that Reason I will be sanctified in them that come â—igh me and before all the people I will be gloriâ—â—â—d Levit. 10. 3. How that Word should prove a Savour of life to thee which thou didst sleep at the hearing of I cannot imagine
if any should come to Meeting only for a name to get and keep a Reputation for Religion truly if you think you have made your market and done your errand I doubt you will find your selves mistaken such a 〈◊〉 and unseasonable With-drawing will crack your Credit and lessen your Esteem among them that are serious and judicious They are to be Reproved who tho' they pretend to much Devotion come to the House of God and sit there like Gods people yet while they offer the lame and the blind unto God reserving the Male in the flock for their better friends discover their Insincerity unto the Heart-Searching God who curses such deceivers Mal. 1. 14. however cunningly and fairly they may carry it before men The Lord tells the Prophet Ezekiel Cap. 33. 31. what a sort of Hearers he had who both look'd and sate spoke and in their outward behavior carried it like his people but their Hearts went after their Covetousness Their Hearts were in their Houses Fields Shops in close pursuit of their worldly Concerns under the Cloak of External Worship God expects the Heart if we give him not that he reckons he hath nothing if he has the Heart he can overlook many Infirmities and Defects while the most specious Appearances and fairest Performances without the Heart are but bodily exercise and Lip-labour little profitable to themselves but highly provoking unto God Such Persons give â—od only the Skin for the Sacrifice the lame â—â—an seeming Services instead of the fat of heart-Obedience and the Lord gives them as good as theâ— bring rewarding empty Professions with as empty Expectations They are deceived that think God will be mocked he doth not only see men but see into men and through them and all those duties will be found too light for his acceptance that have not the heart going with them in the performance It was a pleasant sight Luk. 12. 1. to see the people crowding together to hear the Word of God insomuch that they trod one upon another and one would think it should be common among us where the people are so numerous and the access to the Ordinances so easie but yet even then it is observable that Christ began with a caution against Hypocrisie Beware of Hypocrisie is a Text fit to be preach'd on before the most zealous and full Auditory Look diligently that the snake of Hypocrisie lurk not lye not hid among the tallest and rankest herbs of a forward Profession Worshiping of God and coming constantly to his House is like the Apothecaries Oyntment very odoriferous and grateful only the dead Fly of Hypocrisie will spoil the Savour of it and make us to lose all that we have wrought thereabout USE 3. In the last place this Doctrine may be improved by way of Exhortation and we are from hence excited unto these three Duties I. To Prize the House of God after the raâ—â— given in the Text. II. That we thereupon carefully attend the same and this will follow on the former III. That we so carry it towards and under those Ordinances as that we may find the Truth of this Text in our own Experience which is the genuine fruit of our being sincere in the two foregoing duties 1. Thus prize the Liberties and Priviledges of God's House labour to believe that One day in God's Horse is worth a Thousand in so doing thou wilt shew a David-like heart an heart after God's own Heart Indeed David was taught the worth by the want of God's House the Lord grant we may learn at a cheaper rate usually our Dullness puts him upon such kind of Discipline We may well and safely take them at the price God has set them they are not prized too high 2. So prizing the House of God attend it accordingly Here is most profit to be had and therefore omit no season of being here Wait dayly at Wisdom's posts You may buy Gold too dear but the Liberties of God's House you cannot buy to dear their fruit is better than Gold and their Revenâ—e than choice Silver Prov. 8. 19. with 34. Tho' you should be at great pâ—ines and expence you will have a good Penniworth Let not any Ordinary Business divert you from a Sermon Make Conscience of taking every Opportunity to work while the Day lasts And here let me say If that Business hinders you from a Sermon that would not hinder you from a Feast a merry-meeting from receiving mony from spending an hour or two with a friend that had sent for you or come to visit you from making a good Bargain c. I say if kept from a Sermon by those occasions which would not have kept you from these you will not be able to answer it to God nor to your own Judgment and Consciences neither when they come to be Serious and Considerate Then call upon one another exhort and encourage one another say come let us goe to the House of God you that have ever tasted the sweet of God's Worâ— oâ— been made joyful in his House of Prayer tell others what you have found your Example and Council may be of use to draw others along with you for which they will thank you and God will reward you another day 3. So attend upon God in his House as that your own Experience may testifie to the Truth of this Text and Doctrine viz. That One day here is worth a Thousand that you may be able to say as we have heard so have we seen in the House of God we have heard that there is great profit and Gain there to be gotten and we have found it so Do not content your selves as many do that you have been there but enquire what you have done and gotten there To goe in a Round of Duties Secret Private Publique without making any progress or getting any profit is in it self irrational and unto God very provoking You are going up to the House of God to spend a day before him there now see that it prove a good day to you that you may have the good of it to your selves this ought to be every one 's Care You would think your selves much to blame if being in extream Want you should come to a plentiful market where all manner of supplies are offered you freely and you carry home nothing with you And yet how often hath many an Hearer come into God's House and tarried till the Sermon was ended but carried away not one penniworth of spiritual good soul-benefit and it may be not so much as afflicted or troubled to think on it How did the Spouse behave her self when her Beloved was with-drawn Cant. 3. 1 to 5. she rises goes about seeks enquires of the Watch-men never rests till she had found him and then held him fast and brought him home with her 'T is Finding Christ in his House that is the profit of our day's work that renders Time so advantagiously spent and therefore this should be sincerely aym'd at
us there be many awful Symptomâ— Symptoms of his Departure and woe unto us if he depart from us Hos 9 12. Our Father's Love to the House of God above their own houses and all outward Concerns Occasioned the bringing of his Tabernacle into this Wilderness see that the coldness of our Affection thereto does not prevail with him to remove it again There is a beginning made among us already Judgment is begun at the House of God let us take warning and receive Instruction the master of the House is risen from his place and hath begun to shut the door and if men either care not to come in or venture to come carelesly in he will shutt it quite New-England's Name and Glory has been Jehovah-Shammah the Lord is there His House and Ordinance in a place give that name to a place But what if he should take away the Vineyard from us for our want of rendering him the fruit of it Why then call them Ichabod for the Glory is departed from Israel The Glory of the Lord seems to be standing at the Threshold of the door To look upon God and see him going upon Ordinances and see them going is a most awful sight for when they go the true glory of a place goes nor will our other good things stay behind as woful experience does abundantly testifie If we come to lose God's House and the glorious priviledges of the same we shall be the 〈◊〉 miserable people under Heaven As none havâ— been so priviledged so none will be so miserable as our selves It sorely aggravated Jerusalem's misery iâ— the day of her Affliction Lam. 1. 7. thaâ— the Enemy mockt at her Sabbaths and for ouâ— making a mock of Sabbaths which we do while we make a light matter of them under-value get no good by them God may justly leave the Adversary to mock at our Sabbaths Surely the Lord hath been long threatening but now he is in the way of Execution it 's high time for us to awake and awaken one another And if it will be so bitter to remember the goâ—â— things of God's house wheâ— they be lost is it not better to consider them love prize and improve them while they are presem which they that do rightly shall never have that Occasion to remember them when they are gone God doth not easily give up or depart from a people that he hath once visibly and signally owned no altho he may observe a great deal of sin and backsliding among them Hos 11. 8 9. Where he has once built his House God delights to dwell and is not for removing till there be no other remedy 2. Chron. 36. 15 16 17. But if they either Idolize the House of God as Israel did the Ark 1. Sam. 4. and grow secure and wanton by reason of it as they did Jer. 7. 8 12. or do not prize it as they ought nor make such Returns as may be expected but contrariwise profane and pollute it Then Goe to my place at Shilo and see what I did to them and so will I doe to you To be deeply humbled for and hasten to the bloud of sprinkling for pardon and cleansing of these provoking Evils that have been and aâ—e among us and to get an up-raised Esteem of Affection to the House of God is the only way in which we may hopefully and comfortably meet the Lord while he is yet in the way To conlude If one day in God's House here upon Earth â—e so much worth what is a day yea the DATES of ETERNITY worth in that upâ—er House that Presence-Chamber that Father's House where the Lord will exhibit all his Glory before and solace himself with his Children for ever Think what a sweet time that will be If now and then a Glimpse of his Glory be so takeing and ravishing what will near intimate familiar uninterrupted endless Fellowship with Father and Son be If they be blest that may dwell in this House and should still praise him for the same how will they be blest that shall for ever dwell in 〈◊〉 House and what soul-delighâ—ing 〈◊〉 will be everâ—â—stingly sâ—ng bâ— thâ—â—â— to whom the Lines shall â—all in that pleasant â—lace when they shall be possess'd of that goodly Heritage 〈…〉 where we now are is but the Gate of 〈◊〉 the Porch the Courts belonging to that 〈◊〉 of Glory what then is the inmost Room 〈◊〉 Holy of Holies If a day in these Courts 〈◊〉 worth a Thousand how many Thousand 〈◊〉 Millions of dayes and years is a day an 〈◊〉 there worth If this place be so beautifull 〈◊〉 Admirable oh how Amiable is that Dwellinâ— place Surely it is good dwelling there 〈◊〉 obscurer Glimpses of God's Glory in his 〈◊〉 be so precious and pleasant what will theâ— holding of him face to face be and that â—â—â—â—ver and forever too Oh then prize this House as the Gateâ— that and as the way that leads us thither 〈◊〉 attend upon God therein accordingly until 〈◊〉 can experience the Truth of what David heâ—â— expresses And be we well assured that Goâ— will sooner or later give every sincere At-Attender on him here just cause to set his hand and Seal to this great Truth One day in thy House is better than a THOVSAND FINIâ— Books printed for and Sold by Joseph Bruâ—â—â—â—â— at his Shop at the Corner of the Prison-Lane next the Exhange ADiscourse concerning Comets wherein the Nature of Blazing Stars is enquired into by Mr. Increase Mather An Essay for the Recording Illustrious Providences The Doctrine of Divine Providences opened and Applied To which is Annexed A Sermon wherein is shewed That it is the Duty and should be the Câ—re of Bâ—lievers on Christ to live in the constant Exercise of Grace by Mr. Nathanaâ— Mather Minister of the Gospel at Dublin in Ireland Self-Employment in Sâ—cret containing Evidences upon Self-examination Thoughts upon Painful Afflictions Memorials for Practice by Mr. John Corbet ADVERTISEMENT THere is intended for the Press a Discourse Concerning the Person Offices and Glory of Jesus Christ being Sacramental Meditations on Christ by the Revâ—â—â—â—d 〈◊〉 Increase Mather