was at the Baptisme of Christ so euery infant that is baptized is the Child of Christ. And it is a speciall thing that we should meditate of We slight our baptisme and thinke it needlesse you see the holy woman here would bee baptized presently shee would haue the seale of the covenant There are many that are not booke-learned that cannot read at least they haue no leasure to read I would they would read their booke in their Baptisme and if they would consider what it ministers to them upon all ocasions they would be farre better Christians then they are Thinke of thy Baptisme when thou goest to God especially when hee seemes angrie it is the seale of the covenant bring the promise Lord it is the seale of thy Covenant thou hast prevented mee by thy grace thou brough test mee into the Covenant before I knew my right hand from my left So when we goe to Church to offer our seruice to God thinke by baptisme wee were consecrated and dedicated to God we not only receiue grace from God but we giue our selues to God Therefore it is sacriledge for persons baptized to yeeld to temptations to sinne we are dedicated to God in baptisme When we are tempted to despaire let us thinke of our baptisme wee are in the Covenant of Grace and haue receiued the seale of the Covenant baptisme The divell is an vncircumcised damned cursed spirit hee is out of the Covenant but I am in the Covenant Christ is mine the holy Ghost is mine and God is mine therefore let us stand against all the temptations of that vncircumcised vnbaptized damned spirit The thinking of our baptisme thus will help us to resist the Devill he is a coward if hee bee resisted he will flee and what will better resist him then the Covenant of grace and the seale of it When we are tempted to sinne let us thinke what haue I to doe with sinne by baptisme I haue union with the death of Christ he died to take away sin and my end must be his I must abolish sin in my nature Shall I yeild to that that in baptisme I haue sworne against And then if we bee tempted to despaire for sin let us call to mind the promises of grace and forgiuenesse of sins and the seale of forgiuenesse of sinnes which is baptisme For as water in baptisme washeth the body so the blood of Christ washeth the soule Let us make that use of our baptisme in temptations not to despaire for sin And in conversing among men let us labor to maintaine the vnitie of the spirit in the bond of peace to live peaceably Christians must not fall to jarre why There is one faith and one Baptisme have wee not all one father one inheritance one baptisme one Religion and shall wee breake one with another for trifles they forget their Baptisme that are so in quarrells Thus if wee would thinke of it it is such a booke as would be readie at hand for all services And then for our children those that God hath committed to us let us make use of baptisme do they die in their infancie make this use of it I have assured hope that my child is gone to God he was borne in the Covenant and had the seale of the Covenant baptisme why should I doubt of the salvation of my child If they live to yeares of discretion then be of good comfort he is Gods Child more then mine I have dedicate him to God and to Christ he was baptized in the name of Christ Christ will care for him as well as for me If I leave my Children behind me they are Gods and Christs children they have received the seale of the Covenant baptisme Christ will provide for them and he that provides heaven for them will provide all things in the way to heaven necessarie God hath said I will be the God of thee and of thy children they are in Covenant thine they were Lord. A man may commit his Children to God on his death-bed thou gavest them me and I commit them to thee againe as before I did by baptisme All this wee have by thinking of our baptisme If we looke no further as prophane spirits doe not then the water and the elements we can have no comfort by these things but wee should consider Gods blessed institution and ordinance to strengthen our faith And to our children when they come to yeares baptisme is an obligation to beleeve because they have received the seale before hand and it is a meanes to beleeve Shee was Baptized And her houshold SO good is God where the governour of the familie is good he gives all the familie good because he makes conscience in governing and instructing them God crownes their indeavours with successe that they shall be all good As we see Abraham and his houshold the Gaoler and his houshold Zacheus and his houshold Oh! it is a a blessed thing to be a good governour in a familie he brings a blessing upon his house the Church of God is in his house There cannot be a more honorable title to any house then to say it is the Church of God that the Governour of the familie brings all in subjection to God that as he will have all serve him so he will have all serve God that he will not have a servant but he shall be the servant of God nor a child but he shall be the child of God and he labours to make his wife the Spouse of Christ. Thus it should be said of every Christian familie and then they are Churches Alas in many places now they are hells because there is little regard had of instructing of them Beloved many poore soules have had occasion to blesse God forever that they haue bin grafted into such good families And put case sometimes thou hast instructed them and taken paines and there is no good done When thou art dead twenty yeares after it may come to their minds all those instructions when they are in worse families Oh! in such a place with such a Master I had such instructions but I had no grace to take good by them but now I call them to mind so the seed that was sowen long before may take effect then This should incourage those that are Governours of families to be good Lydia was baptized and her houshold And she besought them saying if you have judged me faithfull to the Lord come to my house and abide there HEre is the fruit of Lydia's conversion when shee was converted and baptized shee intreated the Apostles to come to her house and abide there and she prevailed shee constrained them by a morrall kind of violence they suffered themselves to be overcome If you have judged mee faithfull c. Come to my house and abide there Here is her invitation and the argument that she forceth it by If you have judged me faithfull to Christ then come to my house To speake a
to GOD and importune him that hee would bee good to the State that as he hath given us a pledg of his favour in delivering us from the plague so hee would not bee weary of doing good unto us but that hee would still make it a token of further favours and deliverances hereafter That as Hee delivered us in former times in 88 and magnified his mercie to us so now Hee would not expose us to the crueltie of Idolatrous enemies whose mercies are cruell Let us stirre up our selves Securitie and carelesnesse alway fore-runnes one destruction or other Prayer will doe a great deale more good now then when trouble hath overtaken us for now it is a signe it comes from a religious seeking of God then it comes from selfe-love There is a great deale of difference when a malefactor seeks to the judge before the time of the Assises and when hee seeks to him at the present time for then it is meerly out of selfe respect and not respect to him If wee seeke to God now hee will single and marke out those that mourne for the sins of the time and poure out their spirits to him in prayer that hee would still dwell and continue the meanes of salvation amongst us when God I say comes to gather his Iewells Mal. 3. He will single and cull out them as peculiar to himselfe Therefore let us in all our prayers put in the Church things doe more then speake they cry to us to cry to GOD earnestly put case wee bee not in trouble our selves our prayers will bee the more acceptable before trouble come it is the onely way to prevent it as it is the only way to rescue us when we are in trouble I come now to the remedie Hee saved them out of their distresse GOD is a Physitian good at all manner of sicknesses it is no matter what the disease bee if GOD bee the Physitian though they bee as these at the gates of death hee can fetch them backe herein GOD differs from all other Physitians First of all hee is a generall Physitian hee can heale a Land a whole Kingdome of sicknesse of pestilence and as it is in 2 Chro. 7.14 Then he is a Physitian of body and soule of both parts And then he is not tyed to meanes Other Physitions can cure but they must haue meanes Other Physitians cannot cure all manner of diseases nor in all places but GOD can cure all He saved them out of their distresse Other physitians cannot bee alway present but God is so to euery one of his patients he is a compassionate tender present Physitian Which should incourage vs in any extremity especially in sicknesse of body to haue recourse to God and never to despaire though wee bee brought never so low he that can rayse the dead bodies can rayse vs out of any sicknesse therefore let vs use the meanes and when there is no meanes trust God for hee can worke beyond meanes and without meanes They cryed to the Lord and he saved them out of their distresse It was the fruit of their prayers There was never any prayer from the beginning of the world made to God successelesly What should I speake of prayer our very breathings are known to God when wee cannot speake our sighs as it is Psal. 38. My groanes and sighs are not hid from thee God hath a bottle for our teares and preserves our sighes and groanes there is nothing that is spirituall in us but God regards as in Rom. 8. We know not what to aske but the spirit of God stirreth vp in us sighs and groanes that cannot be expressed And God heares the voyce of the sighs of his owne spirit Let us also bee exhorted from this issue to cry vnto the Lord for there was never any man did sow prayers in the breast and bosome of God but he received the fruit of it he is a God hearing prayer hee will not loose his attribute Nay further marke the instances in this Psalme are not made onely of men in the Church but likewise of men out of the Church of men that have not the true religion they pray to GOD as creatures to the Creator and though GOD have not their soules yet hee will not bee beholding to any man for duties if Ahab do but hypocritically fast Ahab shall haue outward deliverance for his outward humiliation and these men mentioned in the text if they call to GOD but as creatures and not to Idols GOD will regard them in outward things and deliver them GOD will not be in any mans debt for any service to him though it bee outward And doe we think that he that regards dogges out of the Church will neglect his children in the Church Hee that regards heathen men when they pray to him in their extremity and delivers them to shew his over-flowing bounty and goodnesse will hee not regard his owne children that haue the spirit of Adoption of supplication and prayer that put vp their suits and supplications in the mediation and sweete name of Christ will he not regard the name and intercession of his sonne and of his spirit the Holy Ghost stirring vp prayers in them and the state of his children being his by adoption since he regards the very heathen Nay more then so God heares the very young ravens and spreads a table for euery living thing and will not suffer them to die for hunger but provides for them because they are his creatures and will hee not for his children those that he hath taken to be so neere him to be heires of heaven happinesse Let us I say be incouraged to cry unto the Lord upon all occasions if God bee so good as to deliver sinfull men that haue nothing in them but the principles of nature when they flye to God in praier as the author and preserver of nature much more will hee heare his owne children he will giue his spirit to them that aske him Luke 11. But here may an objection be made I haue cried long I am hoarse with crying I haue wayted a longtime I have bin a long time sick or annoyed with some particular trouble God seemes as it were to stop his ears to harden his heart against me to shut up his bowels of compassion and pitty therefore I were as good giue ouer as continue still crying and not be heard I answer there is no one duty almost more pressed in scripture then waiting watching to prayer waite still hath not God waited thy leasure long enough and wilt not thou waite on him A patient when he feeles his body distempered with Physicke oh hee cries out partly for the Physick and partly for the sicknes that trouble him both together and make civill warre in his body yet notwithstanding the Physitian wisely lets it worke he shall haue no cordiall nor nothing to hinder it
Could he in his humiliation before his great abasement on the crosse strike downe his enemies with his word what shall he doe at the day of judgement when all flesh shall appeare before him And what can he doe now at the right hand of God in heaven Let us never despaire what state soever we be in in our owne persons or in respect of the Church or common wealth Let us yet pray yet solicite God and wrastle with him for wee see here when they were at the gates of death he fetcheth them againe with his word hee can fetch things againe when they are at destruction as it were when mans wit is at a losse that he knoweth not what course to take God with a word can turne all things againe Oh that men would therefore prayse the Lord for his goodnesse and for his wondrous works to the children of men Let them sacrifice the sacrifice of Thansgiving and declare his workes with rejoycing YOU see that God the great Physitian he is good at all disseases hee is never set at any thing for he can create helps and remedies of nothing if there be none in nature hee can create peace to the soule in the the middest of trouble of conscience God can make things out of nothing nay out of contraries you see here what this great Physitian hath done hee fetched them from the gates of death when their soule abhorred all manner of meate and what doth he require for all this great cure surely the text tells us he looks for nothing but prayse Oh that men would therefore prayse the Lord for his goodnesse c. In which words you haue these circumstances considerable together with the substance of the duty First the persons who must prayse God Oh that men would prayse the Lord And then the duty they are to performe to prayse God to sacrifice to God to declare his works one main duty expressed by three termes The third is for what they should prayse him For his goodnesse It is the spring of all for all particular actions of God doe come from his nature his nature is goodnesse it selfe and indeed all other attributes are founded on goodnesse why is he gracious and mercifull and long-suffering because he is good this is the primitiue attribute And then another thing for which we must praise him For his wondrous workes for the children of men Fourthly the manner how this should be done with rejoycing and singing as the word signifies declare his workes with rejoycing For as all holy actions must be done joyfully and chearefully so especially prayse God loveth a chearefull giver much more a chearefull thanksgiver for chearfulnesse is the very nature of thankesgiving it is a dead sacrifice of thanksgiving it is a dead sacrifice else these are the mayne things considerable in these words First of all of the persons Oh that men would prayse the Lord. THE blessed Psalmist whosoever he were directed by the spirit of God hee would haue all men to prayse God not onely those that participate and haue interest in the favour but the beholders also of the goodnesse of God to others for here hee that was not interressed in these favours for his owne particular yet hee prayseth God for the blessings to others and hee wisheth that God might haue praise from them For we are all of one societie of one family wee are all brethren therefore wee must prayse God for his blessings and benefits on others and not onely our selues but we must wish that all would do so and specially wee must prayse God for our selues when we haue part of the benefit for shall others prayse God for us and shal notwe for our selues Shall the Churches of God abroad prayse God for his great deliverance of this citie as there is no Church in the world that heares of it but is thankfull for it and shall not wee for our selues Shall the angels in heaven prayse God and sing for the redemption of the Church by the blood of Christ Glory to God on high peace on earth good will to men and shall not we that haue interest in the worke of redemption For Christ is not a mediator of redemption to Angels hee hath relation to them in another respect yet they out of loue to God and the Church and a desire to glorifie God hey prayse God for this and shall not wee much more for our selues wee must prayse God our selues and desire that all would doe so as he saith here Oh that men would prayse the Lord c. and in some other Psalmes he stirs up ' all the creatures hayle and snow and winde and all to prayse God How can these praise God They doe it by our mouthes by giving vs occasion to prayse him And they praise him in themselues for as the creature groaneth Rom. 8. That none knowes but God and it selfe they groane for the corruption and abuse that they are subject unto and God knowes those groanes so the creature hath a kind of voyce likewise in praysing of God they declare in their nature the goodnesse of God and minister occasion to us to praise GOD therefore the Psalmist being desirous that GOD might be praysed for his goodnesse and mercy hee stirres vp every creature Psal. 103. even the very Angels insinuating that it is a worke fit for Angels The children of God haue such a loue and zeale to the glory of GOD that they are not content only to prayse GOD themselues but they stirre vp all they need not to wish Angels to doe it but only to shew their desire oh the blessed disposition of those that loue God in Christ What shall wee thinke then of those wretched persons that greiue that the word of God should run and haue free passage and be glorious and that there should be a free use of the sacraments and the blessed meanes of salvation they envie the glory of God and the salvation of peoples soules What shall we say to those that desire to heare God dishonoured that perhaps sweare and blaspheme themselues or if they doe not yet they are not touched in their hearts for the dishonour of God by others this is far from the disposition of a Christian he desires that all creatures may trumpet ouâ— the prayse of God from the highest Angell to the lowest creature from the Sunne and starres to the meanest shrub only divellish spirited carnal men take delight to blaspheme God that can strike them with his word and send them to their owne place to hell without repentance and can heare him dishonoured without any touch of spirit a child of God desires God to be glorified from his very heart roote and is greived when God is dishonoured any kind of way so much breifly for the first Now what is the dutie this holy man wishes That men would prayse God And sacrifice the sacrifice of thankesgiving and declare his workes OUT
malice David thought this a favour even that God would single him out to punish him with the Plague of pestilence that he might not fal before his enemies The mercies of God are wondrous great when we fall into his hands hee is a mercifull God hee hath tender bowels fuâ—ll of pitty and compassion but The very mercies of wicked Idolaters are cruell there was a mercie therefore in that that God would take us into his owne hands In the third place we see when he had taken us into his own hands how he hath stopped the raging of the pestilence and hath inhibited the destroying Angell even in a wondrous manner that the Plague when it was so raging that it should come to decrease upon a sudden God was wondrous in this worke is not here matter of praise Then againe it is a mercy to us all here that he should give us our lives for a prey as God saiâ—h in Ieremiah to Baruch Wheresoever thou goest thou shalt have thy life for a prey might not Gods arrow have followed us wheresoever wee went Whither can a man goe from this arrow but that God being every where might smite him with the pestilence now in that hee hath watched over us and kept us from this noysome contagious sicknes and hath brought us altogether here quietly and freely that so there may bee entercourse betweene man and man in trading and other callings this is the fourth ground of praysing of God And that it did not rage in other parts in former time God scattered the pestilence more ouer the kingdome It is a great matter to blesse God for I beseech you let us say with the same spirit as this holy man hâ—re Oh that men therefore would prayse the Lord for his goodnes and for the wonders that he doth for the children of men For his goodnesse that hee would rather correct us here then damne us for his goodnesse that hee would not giue us up to our enemies For his goodnesse that he stayd the infection so suddenly and that he stayd the spreading of it further For his goodnesse vnto us in particular that hee hath kept us all safe What shall wee doe now but consecrate and dedicate these liues of ours for he giues us our liues more then once at the beginning there is neuer a one heere but can say by experience GOD hath given me my life at such a time and such a time let us give these lives againe to God labour to reforme our former courses and enter into a new covenant with God this is one part of thanksgiving to renew our covenant with God to please him better and indeed in every thanksgiving that should bee one ingredient Now Lord I intend and resolue to please thee better whatsoeuer my faults haue formerly beene I resolue by thy grace and assistance to breake them off without this all the other is but a dead performance Now breifly by way of analogie and proportion to rayse some meditations from that that hath hath beene delivered concerning the body to the soule for God is the Physitian both to soule and body If God with his word can heale our bodies as the Psalmist sayth here much more can hee with his word heale our Soule There are many that their bodies are well thanks be to God but how is it with their soules here you haue some symptomes to know their spirituall state and oh that people were apprehensiue of it haue you not many that their soule loatheth all manner of meate and they draw neere the gates of death their soules are in a desperate state they are deeply sick how shall wee know it their soule abhorreth all manner of wholsome meate how many are there that relish Poets and history any trifle that doth but feed their vaine fancie and yet cannot relish the blessed truth and ordinances of God Where is spirituall life when this spirituall sence is gone when men cannot relish holy things if they relish the ordinance of God it is not the spirituall part of it so farre as the spirit toucheth the conscience but something that it may be is sutable to their conceit expressions or phrases or the like but it is a symptom and signe of a fearefull declining state when men doe not relish the spirituall ordinances of God which should be as it were their appointed food when they doe not delight to acquaint themselues with God in hearing of the word and reading and the like let such therefore as delight not in spirituall things know that their soules lye gasping they are at the gates of spirituall death all is not well there is some fearfull obstruction upon the soule that takes away the appetite the soule runnes into the world ouermuch they cloy themselues with the world when men caÌ„not relish heavenly things they are eate vp with the delight and joy of other things pleasures and profits Let them search the cause and labour for purging sharpe things that may procure an appetite Let them judge themselues and see what is the matter that they doe not delight more in heauenly things let them purge themselues by confession to God and consideration of their sins and labour to recover their appetite for it is almost a desperate estate They are at the gates of death Especially now when we come to the communion what doe we heere if we cannot relish the food of our soules let us examine if we desire to tast the loue of God and to be acquainted with God here if not What shall wee doe in these spirituall distempers Desire of God cry to God that he would forgiue our sinnes and heale our soules by his holy Spirit that hee would make us more spirituall to relish heavenly things better then we haue done before that as the things that are heauenly are better in their kind then other things are so they may be better to our tast A man may know the judgement of his state when hee answereth not the difference of things what the difference is between the food of life and ordinary food what the difference is between the comforts of the holy Ghost and other comforts betweene the riches and pelfe of the world and the riches of the spirit the graces of God that will cause a man to liue and die with comfort the true riches that make the soule rich to eternity there is no comparison beg of God this spiâ—ituall relish to discerne of things that differ that we may recouer our appetite God by his word and spirit can doe it not only the word written but the in ward spirituall word written in our hearts desire God to joyne his spirit with his word and sacraments and that will recover our tast and make us spirituall that we shall relish him that is both the feast-maker and the feast it selfe he is both the meat and the provider of the banquet For whence is it that all other things are