Die Jovis, 13. Martii. 1644. IT is this day Ordered by the Lords in Parliament assembled, that this House doth give thanks to Master Arrowsmith, for his great pains taken in the Sermon he preached on the 12 of this instant March in Christ-Church London, before the Members of both Houses of Parliament: and giving thanks to Almighty God for his blessing to the Parliament, for their late good success at Shrewsbury and Weymouth. And that the said Master Arrowsmith is hereby desired to print and publish his Sermon, which is not to be printed or reprinted by any, but by authority under his hand. John Brown, Cler. Parl. Die Jovis, 13. Martii. 1644. ORdered by the Commons assembled in Parliament that Master Solicitor and Master Nicholas, do from this House return thanks to Master Arrowsmith, and Master Vines, for the great pains they took in the Sermons they preached at the entreaty of both Houses at Christ-Church yesterday (being a day appointed for public thanksgiving) and that they do entreat them to print their Sermons. And it is Ordered that none shall presume to print their Sermons, but whom they shall license under their hands writing. H. Elsing, Cler. Parl. D. Com. I appoint Samuel Man to print my Sermon. John Arrowsmith. England's EBEN-EZER OR, STONE of HELP. Set up in thankful acknowledgement of the LORDS having helped us hitherto. More especially, For a memorial of that help, which the PARLIAMENTS Forces lately received at Shrewsbury, Weymouth, and elsewhere. IN A SERMON Preached to both the honourable Houses of PARLIAMENT, (the Lord Major and Aldermen of the city of LONDON, being present) at Christ-Church LONDON, upon the late solemn day of Thanksgiving: March 12. By JOHN ARROWSMITH, B. D. Published by Order of both Houses. Hos. 13. 11. O Israel thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thine help. 2 Chron. 14. 11. Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power. Help us O Lord our God, for we rest on thee: and in thy name go we out against this multitude. O Lord thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee. LONDON, Printed by ROBERT LEYBURN, for SAMUEL MAN, dwelling in Paul's churchyard, at the sign of the SWAN. 1645. To the right honourable, the LORDS and COMMONS Assembled in PARLIAMENT. THe Glorious Temple had a beautiful gate. Hag. 1. 9 Such is a Gratulatory Epistle to a Sermon of Thanksgiving. Acts 3. 10. Our Estates and Liberties bless your Honours. Religion and Learning do no less: I shall therefore here mention a few of the many good offices done for them. Whereas the public worship of God was much embased, Is. 1. 25. you have been careful to take away the glittering tin of specious Ceremonies, together with the ugly dross of known Superstition. Gal. 6. ●2. Let popish Spirus bewail the want of making a fair show in the flesh, which so many desire; let them cry out, and say, There is not so much State and bravery in the service of God, as heretofore: I dare be bold to tell the World, Vitulus aureus occidit, Serpen● aeneus sanat. that much more holiness will be found in your brazen Serpent, than ever was in their golden Calf. It is not long since Christians of the greatest zeal were injured by certain Sons of Levi even as of old the sons of Eli, 1 Sam. 2. 12, 13, 14. with their flesh-hock of three teeth, offered violence to the people, when they came to offer sacrifice. You have wrested from them their flesh-book, and broken the three teeth thereof, which were illegal Canons, ensnaring Oaths, and rigorous High Commission-censures. Not long since Professors in England, Amnon-like, were lean from day to day, 2 Sam. 13. 4. by reason of the love they bare to Romish fopperies, as he to Tamar, (many affecting the garb of Rome in their most solemn worship, Ver. 6. 7. 14. as Amnon pretended to lorg for meat of Tamars' dressing: Others proceeding, as he did with her; to a carnal knowledge of that Whore.) But after your happy assembling, the hand of God wrought an happy change in their hearts, Ver. 15. 17, 18. and made them generally hate this Tamar, as much and more than ever they loved her. You have now not only turned her out, but bolted the door by an holy Covenant, to endeavour the extirpation of Popery and Superstition. Not long, since there were many pens and tongues fully employed in decrying the Lord's day, and disputing against the morality of the fourth commandment. An employment to be for ever abhorred; Gen 7. 2, with Chap. 8. 20. because as Noah took to himself clean beasts by sevens, six for propagation, the seventh for sacrifice, which was accordingly offered up, at his coming out of the Ark: So the Lord who allows us six da●es for civil affairs; would have the seventh sacrificed to himself as an whole burnt offering. Yet, as Antiochus took away the daily sacrifice, these men had almost taken from us the Sacrifice of days; but you have restored it, by a most pious and wholesome Ordinance, April 1644. according to the good hand of God upon you. And whereas one of the breasts of our common Mother▪ hath been dried up of late, or rather yielded much blood instead of milk; you have already made some, and (we hope) are about to make further provision for the other, lest the coal which is left us be quenched, as the woman of Tekoah said to David; 2 Sam. 14. 7. lest Cambridge become as a cottage in a vineyard, Is. 1. 8. as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers. After such high and holy services, be it far, exceeding far from you all to dishonour him who hath said ye are God's, Psal. 82. 6. by an ungodly conversation: If it be not, if any root of bitterness, do spring up hereafter in either House, I shall crave leave to represent the danger thereof as in a parable. A certain Priest having to do with a great men that was resolute in sin, yet desirous of absolution, and perceiving be did not understand the Latin tongue, instead of absolving him, said as followeth. Gerhard. L. C. Dominus Noster Jesus Christus, Ioc. de Poenis.§ 117. teabsolvat, si vult; & remittat tibi peccata tua, quod ego non credo; & perducat te ad vitam aeternam, quod est impossibile, My Lords and Gentlemen, the parable be to them that hate you, and the interpretation thereof to the sworn enemies of Jesus Christ. That not so much as one of you, who continue members at this day, will at anytime prove a stone of offence, by the errors of his judgement, or irregularities of his life; that every one will become an Eben-Ezer, a stone of help, in that sense wherein Joseph is called the shepherd, Gen. 49. 24. the stone of Israel, is the hope, and shall be the prayer of A worthless but willing servant of Christ, his Church, and your Honours John Arrowsmith. A SERMON Preached to both HOUSES of PARLIAMENT, at Christ-Church London, upon the late solemn day of Thanksgiving, Mar. 12. 1644. 1 SAM. 7. 12. Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. GReat conjunctions of heavenly bodies are usually attended with notable changes. I am full of hope (right honourable and worthy Senators of the kingdom, and of the City) that your present conjunction will operate much to our future advantage. Verily, 'tis a blessed sight, now when England is melting in a furnace of civil war, to behold the Parliament and London running thus into one wedg, and meeting to magnify God together. It put me in mind of what we read in Psal. 122. 3, 4. Jerusalem is builded as a City that is compact together, whither the Tribes go up, the Tribes of the Lord unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord. This is our Jerusalem, hither are the Tribes come up to day, the representative Tribes of the Land, and that for no other end but to give thanks; to prepare an habitation for him who is said to inhabit the praises of Israel, Psal. 22. 3. I have pitched upon a Text affording many choice materials for such a structure, if a wise Master-builder had it in hand. But the plain truth is, 'tis a work more fit for Angels than men: praising of God is their trade; we are all but bunglers at it. Yet because even the little children to whom John writes have leave to lisp & stammer out the praises of their heavenly Father; in obedience to his and your commands I shall set upon the duty, hoping for assistance from him, and attention from you. Satan's first design is to hinder men from holy duties, his next to create disturbances in them. Israel being here met to fast and reform, Satan stirs up the Lords of the Philistines, to bring into the field against them a formidable army. The Lord of Hosts fights for his people, puts their enemies to the rout, and enables them to pursue the victory. Then Samuel took a stone, to wit, after the men of Israel had gone out of Mizpeh, the place of their abode when the enemy set upon them, and pursued the Philistines, & smitten them until they came under Bethcar, the place of their retreat: ver. 11. And set it between Mizpeh and Shen, Junius reads it between Mizpeh and that rock, conceiving Bethcar (of which before) to be the proper name of a Rock, See Doctor Willet upon this place. and knowing Shen to be elsewhere taken in such a sense, 1 Sam. 14. 4. And called the name thereof Eben-Ezer: Eben, signifies a Stone, Ezer help. To the end, that if Israel should be silent, this stone might speak the goodness of God, this lapis adjutorii, remind them of the mercy received between these two places, Samuel not only imposes the name, but adds the reason of it, saying, hitherto hath the Lord helped us. So as here we have 1 The Monument, a stone set up in a fitting place, and named Eben-ezer. 2 The Motto, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. 3 The mannager of the work, Samuel the Prophet, and Judge of Israel at this time. Which three parts, will naturally yield three observations suitable to the present business. 1 That the Churches help is from the Lord. 2 That the church's duty is to commemorate help received. 3 That principal men, are to have a principal hand in the duty of praising God for his help. The truth of the first of these observations, viz. That the Churches help is from the Lord, Obs' 1. appears by Psal. 121. 1, 2. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help, my help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. It comes two ways. 1 Immediately, from himself alone. The Lord often raiseth help to his people, as he framed the world, out of nothing; and is therefore said to create it. Be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy, Isa. 65. 18. Whom had Christ to cooperate with him in the work of our redemption? He alone helped us out of hell, Glass. onomat. of which some understand that in Isa. 63. 5. I looked and there was none to help, p. 445. therefore my own arm brought salvation. Psal. 118. 22. This stone which the builders refused is the true Eben-ezer, not a monument but an efficient of help, such help as no created strength could have administered; for should all the Angels of heaven bring their perfections into one, it would not make a ransom sufficient for one soul. The Holy Ghost in like manner, when we know not what to pray for as we ought, is graciously pleased to help our infirmities, Rom. 8. 26. when we stick fast in the miry dungeon of sin and ignorance, he vouchsafeth to let down drawing cords of love for the helping of us out, Gratia reparatrix bonam volantatem inspirat ut sit; deinde bon●e voluntati aspirat, ut moveatur: primùm operatur eam, deinde per eam. Hugo de Sanct. Vict. as Ebedmelech did to jeremy. The work of conversion is wholly his. He first bretahs a good will into the soul causing it to be, than breathes upon that will in the soul causing it to move, works it first, and then works by it. Hence is it that some of those who assert the efficacy of his grace, entitle their books de Auxiliis, of helps. Yet, methinks, the word comes far short of expressing it fully, the spirit's concurrence being such, as is not only assistant to us, Non intelligit divina beneficia qui se tantumm●du à Deo iuvariputat. Lactant. de salsa relig. l. 1. c. 11. but operative of all in us. A consideration that moved Lactantius to tax the heathens, for giving the chief of all their gods no higher title than of Jupiter, resolving it into juvans pater, a helping father. That man (saith he) understands not the influence of God, that looks at him only as an helper. But so scant is the language of man, {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}. Basil. when applied to the things of God (whom to apprehend is difficult, to utter impossible) that for want of a better term, even we Christians, must be forced to content ourselves with this of help. 2 Mediately by the creatures whether visible or invisible, or of a mixed and middle nature. The Lord helps by all these. 1 By visible creatures. As when he rained hailstones from heaven upon the Amorites, Ios. ●0 11. slaying more with them than the children of Israel did with the sword: Iudg. 5. 20, 21. when the stars in their courses fought against Sisera, and the river Kishon swept his soldiers away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. When the sea gave way, the rock gave water, and the heavens gave bread to Israel. When both fire, and water, and air, took our part against the Spaniards in 88, which furnished the General of their forces at his return (after the defeat of that Armado, which by themselves was styled Invincible) with this excuse, That his master sent him to combat not with elements but with men. 2 By invisible. Such are the Angels, whom the Lord hath appointed to encamp round about them that fear him, Psal. 34 7. and to become ministering Spirits to the heirs of salvation. Heb. 1. last. O the bowels of our God Mittis unigenitnm, immittis Spiritum; & ne quid vacet in coel●stibus ab opere sollicitudi us, Angelos mittis in minesterium. Bern. The Father sends his Son to redeem us, the Father and Son send the Holy Ghost to comfort us, and, that whole heaven may be set on work for the Churches help, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost send the good Angels to watch over us. Manifold are the good turns which these invisible helpers do us, though we take notice but of few. If Daniel be to be rescued from the hungry Lions, Dan. 6. an angel stops all their mouths; Lot from the flames of fire and brimstone, Gen. 19 the Angels hale him out of Sodom. 2 King. 6. If Elisha be in danger of being surprised by a great host of men, a greater host of Angels appears in his defence; Acts 12. Peter of having the work of his ministry at a stand by his being kept in hold, an angel opens the prison door, and sets him at liberty. If Jacob be in his way home wanting protection against Esau, Gen. 32. the Angels of God meet and guard him; Elias in the wilderness wanting meat, 1 King. 19 an angel turns Sewer and serves it in; Acts 27. Paul in a storm wanting comfort, an angel stands by and cheers him. Luk. 10. If Lazarus give up the ghost, the Angels take his departing soul, and carry it into Abraham's bosom. Suppose the son and heir of a King returning from his travel in foreign parts, the Master of the Ceremonies meets him at the Port where he landeth, conducts him to Court, and leaves him in his father's presence: So it fares with a dying Saint; he hath been travelling in this world as in a strange country, is now returning back to God; 'tis a part of the good angel's helpfulness to meet him at the port of death, so to convey him home from thence to the enjoyment of his Father, and of full beatitude in him. 3 By creatures of a mixed and middle nature. Such are men, visible in their bodies, invisible in regard of their souls. Now there is no sort of men that contributes not more or less to the help of the Church; either freely, or against their wills by an overruling providence, turning that to the Saints advantage, which was intended for their harm. But two sorts are especially noted in Scripture for their helpfulness. 1 Godly Magistrates. When David was set up to be King, his Inauguration is thus expressed, Psal. 89. 19, 20. I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people: I have found David my servant, with my holy oil have I anointed him. Before Moses his pious government, Israel was as an helpless child without a nurse: he is compared to a nursing Father carrying that people in his bosom as a sucking child, Numb. 11. 12. Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldst say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom (as a nursing father beareth the sucking child) unto the land which thouswarest unto their fathers? No nursing father ever had a more froward child than Israel was, yet Moses held out; and might be held forth as a pattern to you, Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament, had you not made him so already. I remember Austin in his Confessions praiseth God for furnishing his nurse with milk; and for giving her an heart to impart it to him, who had perished without it. Well may this whole Assembly join with me upon this solemn day of thanks in blessing God for enabling you to do the work of nursing Fathers so well, & so long: as also for inclining your hearts (though you daily meet with frowardness more than enough) to undergo with so much patience the manifold troubles of Church and State-nursery. May it still be continued to us! may fresh supplies of the Spirit of Christ be vouchsafed to you when ever ye meet! that gasping Ireland, trembling Scotland, bleeding England may all have help from the Honourable Houses. 2 Godly Ministers. The Prophets in Ezra 5. 2. were fellowe-helpers with Zerubbabel and Jeshua. Theu rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the Prophets of God helping them. Paul styles himself and his Fellow-labourers in the ministry, helpers of the Corinthians joy, 2 Corinth. 1. last. The request put up to him in a Vision by the man of Macedonia was no other but this, Come over and help us, Acts 16. 9 When he goes about to draw as it were an Inventory of the Churches goods in 1 Corinth. 3. end. her well-gifted pious Teachers are made the Inprimis of it. All things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollo's, or Cephas. Time was when such were very highly esteemed in love for their works sake, 1 Thess 5. 13. and had in honour for their helpfulness. Satius est ut Sol non luceat, quam ut non doceat Chrysostomus. Insomuch as when Chrysostom was like to be silenced, the people cried out, We had better want the shining of the Sun than the preaching of Chrysostom. When Nazianzen was taking his leave of Constantinople, where he had been Preacher, an old man was observed to fall into passion, and heard to cry, saying, go father if you dare, Aude pater, & ●ecum Trinitatem ipsam ●●ce. and take away the Trinity with you, as if God would not stay after he was gone. Yea, there was a time here in England some few years since, when the whole religious party throughout the Kingdom reckoned upon their able and conscientious pastors as a principal part of their treasure, till some of late began to make it a piece of Religion to throw dirt in the face of our Ministers, even of the most godly among them. As when Sfetigrade in Epirus was besieged by the great Turk, Turkish History, p. 321. a Traitor within (knowing how much the Garrison soldiers abhorred the tasting of whatsoever they deemed unclean) threw a dead dog into the well which furnished the inhabitants with water; upon the discovery whereof the soldiers chose rather to die then to drink: and so the City was yielded up. In like manner, now when the Church is so straightly besieged on every side, many otherwise well affected, begin to refuse the water of life held out in the public Ministry; only because of that noisome carrion of exceptions and aspersions, which some have treacherously cast upon the persons, the calling, yea, the Doctrine, of most of our best and ablest Preachers: The good Lord send some happy hand, by which this dead and deadly dog may be removed, and all lovers of truth and peace brought to drink as before; that so the giving up of a goodly City into enemies hands, may be timely prevented. Having done with the proof, I shall now in the application hereof present you with matter of Encouragement, of Terror; and of Advice. 1 Of Encouragement to the people of God. We have an Almighty helper on whom we may rely with confidence how many soever our extremities, how strong so ever our adversaries be, Matth. 16. 18. We may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, I will not fear what man can do unto me. Heb. 13. 6. The keys of Rome will show themselves more potent than the gates of hell, if ever they finally prevail against the Church. Take a City besieged by Land, if the sea be open it may be relieved: block it up both by sea and land, yet so long as heaven is open, it may receive help from thence. That's the church's case when she is at her worst. To one that supposed the Emperor would with all his Forces fall upon the Duke of Saxony, (who was the chief protector of Protestants) and demanded saying, Where will Luther be then? That man of God returned this quick answer, Aut in Coelo aut sub Coelo, either in heaven or under heaven; because he expected protection from heaven so long as he lived, and knew he should have possession of heaven when ever he died. 2 Of Terror to the church's enemies. Know ye (if any such be here) that the league betwixt God and his people is both defensive and offensive, they have the same common friends and foes. If any shall set themselves against God, Iudg. 5. 23. his people strike in to help the Lord against the mighty, if against them, God strikes in, and appoints salvation for walls and bulwarks. Isa. 26. 1. When salvation itself can be destroyed, then may you that are opposers of Christ and his ways, hope to find a successful issue of your undertakings. But if these walls be too high for your scaling ladders, these Bulwarks too strong for your batteries; then Malignants go and get you some other trade, for believe it, you will never thrive upon this: You may for a time like Samsons foxes, carry firebrands sufficient to burn the corn in God's field: but remember how it fared with those foxes. Were not they themselves burned together with the come which they set on fire? The course you take will certainly tend to your own ruin. for when you shall have endeavoured all you can to undo the people of God, the God and helper of that people will be sure to find out a way of undoing you, according to Zephan. 3. 19 Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee. 3 Of Advice to this honourable auditory in two particulars. If the Churches help be from the Lord, Then 1 Let the Lord be acknowledged in all the help that we of this Nation have received. The holy Ghost speaking of Victories is wont to ascribe them wholly to God, and though mention be made of the instruments, to carry the praise of all to him. Thus Iudg. 4. 15, 23. it is not said that Barak and Israel defeated Jabin and his host before the Lord, but the Lord disconfited Sisra, all his charets, and all his host, with the edge of the sword, before Barak. And God subdued on that day Jabin the King of Canaan, before the children of Israel, Also in Iudg. 7. 18. where we read of the sword of the Lord and of Gideon, the sword of the Lord is set before the sword of Gideon, as that which both gave the commission to Gideon's sword, and enabled it for execution. Vain men may imagine themselves able by their prowess and policy to help and save a sinking State: but what saith Iob. Chap. 9 13. If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him? Remarkable is that reproof which was fastened upon Pope Adrian the sixth. He having built a fair college at Louvain, caused this inscription to be written upon the gates thereof in letters of gold, Trajectum plantavit, Lovanium rigavit, Pareus in 1 Cor. 3. 6. Caesar dedit incrementum (i.e.) Utrecht planted me, there he was born; Louvain watered me, there he was bred up in learning; Caesar gave the increase, for the Emperor had preferred him. One to meet with his folly and forgetfulness, wrote underneath Hîc Deus nihil fecit, Here God did nothing: because all three, planting, watering, and giving increase were ascribed to creatures. Beloved in the Lord, take we heed of saying in such successful seasons as this is, the Parliament hath planted by their Counsels, the City watered by their supplies, the Armies given increase by their valour; lest we also be charged with an Hîc Deus nihil fecit, God hath done nothing in all this: because indeed, beside what he acts of himself alone, whatsoever is well performed is his work, though creatures have a hand in it. Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us. Isa. 26. 12. 2 Let the Lord our God be depended upon, and sought to in his own way for the further help we have need of. Let us come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Heb. 4. last. Here I shall endeavour to show you three things. 1 That we of this Nation have need, great need of further help. It appears thus. There would not be so much struggling as there is in the womb of this Kingdom; so much roughness, both of the sword and of the pen, if there were not Esau's in it as well as Jacobs'. As when the Jews were employed in building the second Temple (the glory whereof was to be greater than the glory of the former) though the structure were not so magnificent, Hag. 2. 9 because of the personal presence of Christ, who appeared and taught in it) there was a Sanball at, a Tobiah, and other adversaries to the work: So now at the raising of this second reformation (which is like to have more of Christ in it, though less of outward pomp and state) many thousands are found to oppose it by force of arms, beside the swarms of pernicious Sects, that like great heaps of rubbish lie in the way, and hinder the setting up of that building which in likelihood would have prevented them, had it been erected sooner. 2 That the help we need, is much more than the best of men are able to afford us. Well may England cry to God as David doth, Psal. 68 11. Give us help from trouble for vain is the help of man. The Parliament hath already done what lay in them for the making up of breaches by the faithful endeavours of their Commissioners in the late Treaty. Si nobis cum bominibus tantum res esset (tametsi non nisi Caesares Reges & principes essent) nostro Evangelio ills mox vinceremus, ac vel intra unius anni spatium totum mundum converteremus, cùm tam clara sit veritas, &c. The Assembly doth what they are able towards healing the saddest of all divisions, I mean those that the servants of Christ are engaged in one against another. Yet may it be said at this day, as in Ier. 8. 15. We looked for peace but no good came, and for a time of help, but behold trouble. Trouble not like to be removed by human power and diligence; because all the forces Satan can raise, are resolved to continue it, if they can. Luther preaching upon that in Ephes. 6. 12. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, Hîc autem Diabolus ipse regnit rationem obstruens, &c. but against Principalities against powers, &c. hath a passage to this purpose, Were we to deal only with men, though they were all Kings and Emperors, we should quickly overcome them by the Ministry of the Gospel, Malus & neqvam host is est; inque, uno digita prudentior & astutier quam universus mun●●●. and be able to convert an whole world in the compass of one year. Divine truth would soon captivate human reason, were it not for those obstructions made in men's understandings and wills, by the workings of Satan, who hath more craft and subtlety in one of his fingers, than the world hath in its whole body. 3 That we are to seek help from God in his own way. Be entreated, right honourable, to consider the nature of the work you have in hand; Lunae radi is non maturescit botrus. and to remember that the grapes of Reformation can never be kindly, and throughly ripened, but by beams of the Sun of righteousness: the moonshine of created abilities is too weak for such a production. Seek we therefore to God for help; and see we do it in that way which Israel in this Chapter took, and whereby they obtained the help in the Text: which I shall not wander from, so long as I fetch all my directions out of the bowels of this Story. Do it. 1 In away of real amendment. Samuel here vers. 3. exhorts them to that as they hoped for deliverance; they accordingly put it in practice, ver. 4. Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only. By Baalim Sanctius understands their He-Gods, by Ashtaroth their She-Deities. Be they hees or be they she's, Gods or Goddesses, which had formerly been worshipped, all are now put away. Israel gives them a bill of divorce, saith, Is. 30. 22. Get ye hence, Hos. 14. 8. what have I to do any more with Idols? We also have had our Baalim and Ashtaroth; our prelatical innovations, popish corruptions, Arminian subtleties, Socinian blasphemies. It concerns us so to put them away, as to serve the Lord only for time to come: which how any Nation can do that gives an universal liberty to all kinds of worship, is not easy to conceive; though one of late have made his address to both Houses of Parliament in behalf of such a liberty. bloody Tenent, propos. 6 I must profess for my own part that this proposition laid down by him, viz. It is the will and command of God, that since the coming of his Son the Lord Jesus, a permission of the most Paganish, Jewish, Turkish, or Antichristian consciences and worships, be granted to all men, in all Nations and countries, was to me one of the greatest scandals I ever yet met with in print. O bloody Tenent! O speedy way of embroiling states, of massacring Churches, of erecting a Pantheon in every City! That of Omnium Deorum among the Romans, of Omnium Sanctorum among the Papists, offended me less than this of Omnium Sectarum from the pen of a Protestant. Sure I am One God, one mediator, one faith, was Catholic Doctrine in Paul's time; Ephes. 4. Delicata res est, non patitur alienum. and that Religion is so dainty as not to admit of such mixtures. Be you also well assured, Beloved Christians, that in this case every variation from unity is a step to nullity: that if ever England (which God forbid) came from one Religion to all, she will quickly run from all to none. 2. Of solemn humiliation. Such was theirs, Vers. 6. They drew water and poured it out before the Lord, Vid. sanent. & Trin. in loc. and fasted that day, and said there, we have sinned against the Lord. These actions of drawing and pouring out water are by some thought to be hieroglyphical. Empty a vessel of any other kind of liquour, it leaves some relish or colour or smell behind it; as when honey, wine, or oil is poured out. Not so upon the effusion of water: which is therefore fit to signify the pouring out of men's hearts in such a manner as to leave none of their sins unconfessed, unrepented of. To make it more solemn, fasting is added to their humiliation, as that which helps devotion to wings. Chrysostom saith, that Prayer without fasting, is a soldier without a sword; able to do but little service. And yet of the two, fasting may be the better spared. I shall not be afraid to assert, that fasting ing without prayer is a sword without a soldier, able to do no service at all. With Israel here we should confess, as well as fast. A Nation or person become speechless is near unto death. Quod bomo detegit Deustegit. If we desire to have the Lord cover our sins by his pardoning grace, we must discover them in humble acknowledgements. 3 Of earnest supplication. I will pray for you unto the Lord saith Samuel to the people ver. 5. and they to him ver. 8. Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines. {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} is the phrase that is used concerning Elias, Jam 5. 17. He prayed in his prayer: we translate it, he prayed earnestly: as if that which is not earnest were no prayer. They in Jonah 3. 8. are directed to cry mightily unto God. A whispering devotion is seldom answered with a loud echo from heaven. Ask (saith Christ) and it shall be given; seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Ask, seek, knock, there will be need of all three. Do you want ablessing ask it of God, have you asked, yet still continue to want ● seek it out, have you sought, yet cannot find: knock, and the treasury where it lies shall be opened to you. Was there evermore need? hath not peace taken her leave? doth not truth look towards the threshold? It would be most strange and ominous if the Church should not be found upon her knees, now when Rome and hellare conspiring against her: if when three Kingdoms are beleaguered by Popish confederates, they should not be garrisoned with praying Saints. 4 Of lively faith in Christ, without which all the former are invalid. Samuel here vers. 9 took a sucking lamb, & offered it for a burnt-offering wholly unto the Lord▪ thereby turning both his own and the people's eyes upon the lamb of God, John 1. 29. which was to come and to take away the sin of the world. Quicquid docetur, oratur aut vivitur extra Christum idolatria est coram Deo & peccatum. Whensoever you approach the throne of grace let it be your principal care to exercise faith in the Lord Jesus: out of whom all our learning is but duncery, all our duties but drudgery, all our devotion but formality; yea idolatry, if Luther may be believed. Incense of old was a type of his intercession; blood a type of his satisfaction, one of these was to cover the mercy seat, the other to be sprinkled upon it Levit. 16. 13, 14. He shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy-seat, And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy-seat, &c. to intimate that from God no mercy is to be expected but through the satisfaction and intercession of Jesus Christ; no help to be sought at any time without eyeing of these. The second observation, which I am now to undertake, runs thus. The church's duty is to commemorate help received. Obs. 2. See it both required and practised. 1 Required, Exod. 17. 13, 14. Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword, and the Lord said unto Moses, write this for a memorial in a book. Psal. 102. 16, 18. When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory. Ingratus est qui beneficium accepisse se negat quod accepit, ingratus est qui dissimulat, ingratus qui non reddit; ingratissimus omnium qui oblitus est. This shall be written for the generation to come, and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord. Should Scripture be silent, nature itself would read a lecture to this purpose. Hear one of her high priests; He is an unthankful man that denies a benefit received; so is he that dissembles it, together with him that requites it not: but of all the rest he is most unthankful that hath forgotten it. 2 Practised. Senec. de Benefic l. 3. c. 1. Behold, Saint Paul recording his deliverance, from the teeth of that roaring lion Nero, in 2 Tim. 4. 17. The Lord stood with me and strengthened me, and I was delivered out of the mouth of the Lion. David his preservations, Psal. 31. 21. Blessed be the Lord: for he hath showed me his marvellous kindness in a strong City. It will be needless to multiply instances out of the psalms: seeing Hosanna, and Hallelujah, Benedic, and Benedicatur, God bless, and blessed be God, prayer and praise epitomise that whole book. I shall rather choose to hint you to some of those courses which the Saints of old took for the registering of mer●ies. They had 1 Their festival days. Such were the Purim, viz. the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same; kept yearly as the days whereon the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day. These were made by them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor. Hest. 9 21, 22, 26. in memory of what the Lord had done for them, in breaking that snare, which the malice, pride and power of Haman had twisted for the whole Nation. 2 Their eucharistical Songs. As in Exod. 15. for the overthrow of Pharaoh, in Jud. 5. for the defeat of Jabin and Sisera, in 1 Sam. 18. for the slaughter of Goliath. Out of all which instances if it be noted, that women were wont to bear a part in such songs (for we read of Miriam in the first, of Deborah in the second, in the third of women out of all the Cities of Israel) that observation will lead us to the right understanding of a place in Psal. 68 11. mistaken by some, as if it allowed women to preach; because the word there rendered Preachers according to the old translation, {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Annunciat●icum. God gave the word, and great was the company of Preachers, is a word of the feminine gender. Whereas the true meaning of God's giving the word is his affording matter of joy and glad tidings in the course of his providence; and the Preachers spoken of are nothing else but the company of women that published the same in their songs: as may be further cleared by a passage in the same psalm ver. 25. The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; amongst them were the damosels playing with timbrels. 3 Their significant names. Which were sometimes imposed upon persons. This course Joseph took to perpetuate the memory of mercies received by him in Egypt, Gen. 41. 51, 52. He called the name of his first-born Manasseh: for God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house. And the name of the second called he Ephraim: for God hath caused me to be fruitful in the Land of my affliction. The like was afterwards done by Moses in reference to what befell him in Midian, Ex- 18. 3, 4. He had two sons by Zipporah, the name of the one was Gershom, for he said I have been an alien in a strange Land. And the name of the other Eliezer; for the God of my father, said he, was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh. Sometimes upon places. Thus Abraham, when his Isaac had escaped, and a ram been accepted instead of his son, called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh, as it is said to this day, in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. Gen. 22. 13, 14. And Jacob when he saw the Angels of God that met him, said, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim, i. e. two hosts: either because the Angels appeared in two companies, one on each side of him, for his better security; or because there was now an host of Angels added to that former host of men women and children, which he carried along with him. Sometimes upon peculiar monuments erected on purpose. Such was Jacob's El-Elohe-Israel, Gen. 33. 20. Such Moses, his Jehovah-Nissi, Exod. 17, 15. Such also Samuels, Eben-Ezer in my Text. Enough hath been said to convincemen of this duty, as also to inform them about it. The most proper way (as I conceive) to enforce the practice of it at present, will be to parallel the mercies of this story and Text, with those of this age, and day. The first mercy we meet with here is the conventing of Israel at Mizpeh in a national assembly, ver. 5, 6. Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and they gathered together. Abulens. & Lyranus apud Salianum. Interpreters are of opinion, that the Philistines whom they were subject to had so tyrannised over them, as to hinder all such conventions; lest being once gathered together they should consult how to free themselves: Indixit Samuel generalia comitia Ibid. that Samuel notwithstanding had now called a Parliament, and got them to meet. What devices have been used in former times, one while to keep off, another while to break off Parliaments here in England, he's a stranger in our Israel that doth not know. I had almost said he's an enemy to it, that is not affected with deep sense of the goodness of God in calling, and confirming (this which you all have the happiness to behold, and I the honour to speak unto) this blessed Parliament; Is. 22. 23, 24. fastened by a late Act, and made as a nail in a sure place, for the kingdom to hang all her vessels upon, from the vessels of cups, even unto all the vessels of flagons, as the Prophet Isaiah speaks. Wherefore here, before we go further, let us set up one Eben-Ezer saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. A second mercy which this story acquaints us with, is, The Lords hearing the prayers that were then put up for Israel, ver. 9 Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel, and the Lord heard him. Hath he not done the like for us? was he ever a God hearing prayers more than of late? Our devotion hath not had a miscarrying womb, but been fruitful in deliverances: neither have her breasts been dry; for three Kingdoms all this while have been nursed up in the bosom of prayer. The Jews were wont to stand when they prayed, and from thence men learned to say, Sine Stationibus non subsisteret mundus, The world could not stand but for this standing in prayer. But for it, Ireland perhaps by this time had not been at all, Scotland had been all in blood, and England giving up the ghost. Each of these Nations may say for itself as the Psalmist doth, Verily God hath heard, he hath attended to the voice of my prayer: Blessed be God that hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me. Psal. 66. 19, 20. We may in reference to them all erect a second Eben-Ezer; for herein also the Lord hath helped us; both helped us to pray, and helped us to speed. A third mercy is the Lords defeating their enemies, and that so, as to make Israel instrumental for its own preservation, in the 10. and 11. verses, The Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them, and they were smitten before Israel. And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, &c. We are assembled this day to praise God for showing the like favour to us in more than one or two places. It may be observed out of Scripture that the Lord hath still been delighted in taking to himself a denomination from some fresh and recent mercy. Gen. 14. 19 In one of the first ages of the world he is styled the possessor of heaven and earth; as having not long before made the one for his throne and the other for his footstool. After he had revealed himself by many promises to the Fathers he is frequently called, Gen. 28. 13. the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Exod. 3 15. & alibi passim. When he had newly broken the yoke which Pharaoh had put on his people's neck, Exod. 20. 2. then, I am the Lord, saith he, that brought thee out of the Land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Having at another time delivered the same people from Babylon, he renews in his stile the memorial thereof, Jer. 16. 14, 15. The days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, the Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the Land of Egypt; but the Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the North. After the Word was made flesh, 2 Cor. 1. 3. ibid. c. 11. 31. the amiable Title which the New Testament gives him, is this, The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Col 1. 3. and elsewhere. It is not long since he was pleased to crown the endeavours of our men of war with a triple victory, that so with a threefold cord of love he might draw us to thankfulness. Let him therefore be styled, at least for this day, The God of our Parliament and of their forces at Scarborough, at Shrewsbury, and at Weymouth. I am not able to parallel our success with theirs in all things. The chapter tells us of a defeat occasioned by miraculous thunder; here was none such: only an artificial thundering on both sides, and that on ours blessed to the discomfiting of our enemies. Yea our three Commanders in chief, in those three forementioned places, what were they else, but (to use the poet's expression) Tria fulmina belli? yet in two particulars they may be compared. 1 Israel's victory, which the Text relates to, was unexpected. They were met together at this time to consult, and not to combat; not to fight and kill, but to fast and pray; to reform, and not to embattail themselves. Yet now doth God give up their enemies into their hands. Tell me, was not the gaining of Shrewsbury unexpected by all men here? the regaining of Weymouth a thing which but few of us had in our hopes? Hath not the Lord in both these, yea, and at Scarborough, Is. 64. 3. done terrible things which we looked not for? Have we not received Weymouth especially, as Abraham did Isaac, Heb. 11. 19 even from the dead? may we not say upon this occasion, mutatis mutandis, as the man in the parable did of his son, Luk. 15. 32. It is meet that we should make merry and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; was lost and is found? 2 Israel got the victory, though the Philistines had the advantage. It seemeth by the tenor of the story, that full men set upon such as were fasting; armed men upon such as were naked: Israel for aught we read, being furnished with no other weapons but their prayers and tears, Salian. Annal. and sacrifices. Only when the Philistines were discomfited by the thunder they ('tis thought) took up the weapons, that fell from their amazed enemies, and with them did execution in the pursuit. 'Tis easily found which side the advantage was on at Weymouth. Were not our numbers inconsiderable? were not the few men we had well-nigh spent, and worn out with watching and other military duties? yet did they prove more than conquerors, by getting, not only victory, but booty; recovering what they had lost before, and withal possessing themselves of what the enemy had laid in. Let us therefore bestow another Eben-ezer upon this; and say once more, Hitherto the Lord hath helped us. I hasten to the third and last observation, viz. That principal men are to have a principal hand in the duty of praising God for his help. Obs. 3, Climb we up to the full explication of this truth by certain steps: which are these. Every creature is made to praise God in its kind; Men are more bound to this duty than other creatures; Christians more than other men; Professors eminent for their places in Church or State more than other Christians. 1 Every creature is made to praise God in its kind. praise ye him Sun & moon, praise him all ye stars of light, praise him ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens: praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps, Fire and hail, snow and vapour, stormy winds fulfilling his word, mountains and all hills, fruitful trees and all Cedars, beasts and all cattle, creeping things and flying fowls. Psal. 148. 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10. They do it accordingly, Psal. 19 1. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handy work. 2 Men are bound to this duty more than other creatures. O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, & for his wonderful works to the children of men. Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, & praise him in the assembly of the Elders. Psal. 107. 31, 32. The whole world is a musical instrument; every string is so tuned, as to be fitted for resounding the great creator's praise: But man of all visible creatures is the only musician that knows how to play upon this instrument. The rest can praise God but Objective, by being the objects of man's meditation. They do all bring, as it were, their several sacrifices unto him, and lay them down at his feet: he is the Priest that must offer them up for the whole Creation. 3 Christians more than other men. That place in Psal. 65. 1. deserves more than ordinary consideration. praise waiteth for thee o God in Zion. The Saints pour out their hearts to day in thanksgiving to God; Quasi dicat, heri elaudavimus propter besternum be ●esicium; hodie expectat te laus propter novum & hod. the next day, yea it may be the next hour there comes a shoal of new mercies: he must be acknowledged also in them; and therefore praise is said to wait, till the blessing arrive, as being at hand, ready to be tendered upon all occasions. According to the original, praise is silent for thee o God: Coppen in Ioc. perhaps to imply that when the Saints set themselves to pay this tribute, {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Tibi silentium. they are struck into a silent admiration of that rich bounty and grace, which supplies all their wants; wondering that the Sun of righteousness should vouchsafe to shine upon dunghills, and wanting words to express the goodness of their Master to such unprofitable servants. Praysewayts, silently waits, and that in Zion. 'Tis due from all Quarters of the World, but it waits for God only in Zion: None have it in a readiness for him but the members of that Church, whereof Zion was a type. All thy works shall praise thee o Lord and thy Saints shall bless thee, Psal. 145. 10. Unto him be glory; but where? in the Church, by Christ Jesus, Ephes. 3. 21. Great reason there is why it should be so. For the Church is more indebted to God, than all the societies in the world. They receive but drops of blessing to her showers. Ezek. 34. 26. I will make them, and the places round about my hill (meaning his holy hill of Zion) a blessing: and I will cause the shower to come down in season, there shall be showers of blessing. No wonder then if the Spouse have doves eyes, Cant. 1. 15. Behold, thou art fair my love, thou hast doves eyes; lifting up themselves to heaven, when ever she either eats a grain or drinks a drop: while the rest of the world have hogs eyes; devouring the acorns that fall from the tree, without so much as looking up, or ever considering whence they come. 4 Professors eminent for their place in Church or State more than other Christians. I gave them the name of principal men in reference to Micah 5. 5. where we read of God's raising up against the Assyrian seven shepherds and eight principal men, i. e. a competent number of Office-bearers to withstand the fury of the enemy, under Christ, who was their peace. Such are to have a principal hand in this duty. 1 In regard of the depth of their interests. They as being more concerned in the public welfare than Christians of a more private station, are bound to observe the wheelings of providence more than others; and to acknowledge the hand of the Lord in every turn. Hence are Church-officers called upon so expressly, with so much importunity, both in the beginning, and in the end of the 135. Psalm. Ye that stand in the house of the Lord, in the Court of the house of our God, praise ye the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing praises to his name, for it is pleasant, ver 2, and 3. And again, in the 19, and 20. verses, bless the Lord o house of Aaron; bless the Lord o house of Levi. Beza in argument. Ps. 136. Beza gives a good reason why that clause, for his mercy endures for ever, is so often repeated; no less than six and twenty times in one psalm. 'Tis done, saith he, to make it appear that we may not content ourselves with acknowledging mercy in the lump, but should take a distinct view of each single favour: as the Psalmist there begins with the goodness of God in general, O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good. Psal. 136. 1. but afterwards descends to particulars, and to every one of them annexeth the forementioned clause. For example, it well becomes us at this time, not only to say in the language of that psalm, O give thanks to the Lord of Lords, to him who alone doth great wonders, who remembered us in our low estate, and hath redeemed us from our enemies, ver. 3, 4, 23, 24. but more distinctly, To him that blessed our forces at Plymouth, for his mercy endures for ever; and prospered them at Scarborough, for his mercy endures for ever: Who delivered Shrewsbury into our hands, for his mercy endures for ever; and gave us our lost Weymouth again, for his mercy endures for ever. This if men of the deepest interests shall neglect, who then will be found to do it? will not God be a looser by this omission? yea, will not they be losers themselves, whose engagements to the Common wealth, or to the Church, are such as that they must needs stand or fall with it, whatever becomes of other men? Super tribus consistit mundus; super lege, & cultu sacro, & Retributione beneficiorum. The Jews have a saying, that the world stands upon three things, The Law, holy worship, and retribution. Now we can make retribution to God no other way but by thankful acknowledgements, which we therefore have cause to be punctual in. Aloys. Novar. Schediasm. p. 149. n. 99 What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me? I will take the cup of salvation, Psal. 116. 12, 13. he alludes to the cup of blessing used in their peace offerings, which were always accompanied with solemn thanks to the most High for his saving health. Have you a mind to take the shortest cut to ruin? be unthankful. Expect showers of blessings from heaven no longer than we continue to send up vapours of praise: for as trumpeters delight to sound where they may be answered with an echo; so doth God delight to give where he is answered with thanksgiving. 2 In regard of the height of their relations. Who was the sweet singer of Israel, but David the man that was raised up on high? 1 Sam. 23. 1. The higher he was raised the more sweetly did he sing, and warble out the praises of God, insomuch as, if the penmen of Scripture should come to be differenced by their characters, Solomon haply would be styled The Preacher of wisdom; Jeremiah the Prophet of lamentation. Saint John the Disciple of love, and Saint Paul the Apostle of grace: but the style of the sweet singer of praises must be reserved asdue to David, more than to any of them all. 'Tis a maxim in divinity, Beneficium postulat officium. Those whom God calls to the highest places, he calls withal to the highest services: and such is this of thanksgiving. Prayer is an high and holy duty, but (if it be lawful to compare them) praising will be found to excel it in some respects. As the martyr said when she was at the stake, Now farewell hope, and welcome love▪ because she was then going to heaven, where hope being swallowed up in fruition, was to have no longer being (For hope that is seen is not hope, Rom. 8. 24.) so may a dying Christian say, Now farewell prayer, and welcome praise, for in heaven there will be no use of prayer; because all wants shall be supplied without asking, or rather because there shall be no want of any thing the soul can wish: but of praise there will be use to all eternity. Revel 7 10. salvation to our God which sitteth upon the Throne, and to the lamb shall be the song even of those, that have obtained salvation to the utmost, by the Lamb with him that sits upon the throne. David accordingly seems to have plied this somewhat more than the other duty, though he was abundant in both. He tells us in Psal. 55. 17. of his praying thrice aday, Evening and morning and at noon, will I pray and cry aloud. But as on purpose to put his soul in tune here, that in heaven it might make the better music; he multiplies praises even to seven times in a day, Psal. 119, 164. Seven times a day do I praise thee, becanse of thy righteous judgements. The Application hereof followeth. What now remains, (O ye principal men, Lords, Commons, and Citizens) but that you be exhorted to have a principal hand in this duty of praising God for his help; and called upon to do what ye ought, both for the substance of the work, and manner of performing it? 1 For the substance of the work. Know and remember that God must be praised with your hearts, your parts, your lips your lives, and your estates. 1 With your hearts. Psal. 103. 1. bless the Lord, o my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name: The deepest springs are wont to yield the sweetest waters: they are the sweetest thanks that proceed from a depth within. Gratitudinis ad animum tota aestimatio redit. For as Seneca well, the value of thanks resolves itself wholly into the frame and disposition of the heart. Senec. de Benefic. l. 4. c. 21. 2 With your parts. You are men of great and vast abilities; o consecrate them all to God. The Spirit of man, Solomon saith, is the candle of the Lord, Prov. 20. 27. Suffer not your bright candles to burn downwards; employ not your parts in the things of this world altogether, not at all in the things of hell; left they sweal quite away, without doing any considerable service to God or man. Great parts are like great Ordnance: if the Fort wherein they are planted be yielded up to Jesus Christ, they're of excellent use against the Serpent and his seed. But so long as Satan holds the Fort, no men more mischievous to the Church than those that have the best natural and acquired abilities; yea none in so dangerous a condition in reference to their own souls. I must be bold to tell such, as abuse their wits and other endowments in the service of Satan against the truth, that their lightsome candles will but serve to light them to hell; and their large parts to enlarge their condemnation there. 3 With your lips. Psal 16 9 with Acts 2. 26. Psal. 51. 15. O Lord open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. The tongue is called a man's glory, partly because speech is a thing wherein men excel beasts; and partly because it is given him to glorify God withal. Praise and thanks should be offered up when ever we draw near to him in any duty, particularly when ever we pray. Phil. 4. 6. Be careful for nothing: but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God, with thanksgiving. Expect no acceptance of those prayers wherein there is not some spice of that. Oratio sine laude, est thuribulum sine prunis. Luther. Prayer without praise is a censer without burning coals, from which there can no sweet savour ascend. 4 With your lives, for therein lies the life of thankfulness. He is the most thankful that is the most fruitful Christian. There must be Gratiarum actio a doing of thanks. Else if our thanks be not accompanied with obedience, John. 19 3 we do but play Jews-play with Christ; saying, hail King of the Jews, and smiting him. physicians judge of the heart by the arm; feel the pulse, that they may know the state of the vitals. How beats the pulse of thy conversation? according to that will God judge of the soundness, or sickliness of thy constitution. Would you render real thanks? Remember what you have lately sworn, namely, to go before each other in the example of a real reformation. Ezek. 20. 37. The Lord had caused the Land to pass under a rod, a rod that fetched blood at every lash, before we would be brought into the bond of that Covenant believe it, he that whipped us to it, will whip us for it, if it be not kept. The curses engrossed in that flying roll Zech. Ver. 2, 3, 4. 5. will be sure to overtake us, for swearing falsely by the name of the Lord. 5 With your estates: Honour the Lord with thy substance, Prov. 3. 9 Christ will never trust Judas more. The Saints are now his purse-bearers; and from them it is expected that they should willingly disburse, {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, Matth. 21. 3. when ever the Lord hath need in his members: This is the duty of every day; especially solemn days of thanksgiving. Eat the fat and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Nehem. 8. 10. That joy which enlargeth the heart at such a time should take away straightness of hand. Thanksgiving days should be giving days. Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him, saith Saint Paul, prescribing an order concerning the collection for the Saints, 1 Cor. 16. 1, 2. Why upon the first day of the week? Chrysostom hints to this reason▪ because then in the use of those Ordinances that were dispensed on the Lord's day, the spirits of Christians resenting the goodness of God more than at other times, would be more ready to give the Saints a taste of theirs. You that have this world's good, 1 John ●. 17. shut not up your bowels now, from those of Melcomb, Weymouth, and Plymouth, that need so much; and deserve so well. Let the consideration of those late mercies we have received be a means to open all obstructions of heart and purse, and to procure mercy from you, for those persons by whom, and places where we have received them. 2 For the manner. This great work of praising God must be performed unanimously and cheerfully. 1 Unanimously. We should all glorify God with one mind and with one mouth, Rom. 15. 6. which is utterly impossible so long as through difference in opinion and affection, that event is looked at as a cross by one, which appears a rich blessing to another. There will hardly be one mouth, where there is not one mind: God will hardly be glorified, where there is not a sweet conjunction of both. Cleopatra dissolved an union of great price, and drank it in an health to Marcus Antonius. Divisions are Satan's Drinke-offerings: No such drinkers of health to hell as dissolvers of union. If my soul might have its wish, I should not desire, what Austin did, to see either Paul in the pulpit, or Rome in its pomp: but the thing I would beg should be Union. Next to a full and clear sight of its own union to Jesus Christ; my soul should long for nothing more in all the world, than union of the King to his Parliament, & of the godly throughout the Kingdom among themselves. Who ever lives to see these things may sing his Nunc dimittis with Simeon, Luk. ●. 29, 30. Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. 2 Cheerfully, Psal. 149. 5, 6. Let the Saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud upon their beds; let the high praises of God be in their mouths. The birds chirp most in the fairest weather; successful seasons are joyful seasons to thankful Saints. Yet because, as poison conveyed in flowers is most dangerous, in that it presently takes the brain, so there is nothing more deadly than poisoned joys: to the end your cheerfulness may be kept within Scripture bounds your rejoicing be such and none but such as becomes the Gospel, I shall here present you, before I conclude, with a short character of Christian joy. 'Tis a spiritual affection that hath the Holy Ghost for its Father, Faith for its Mother, Prayer for its Midwife, the Word for its Nurse, Sincerity for its Keeper, and trembling for its Handmaid. 1 The Holy Ghost for its Father, we find it called joy of the Holy Ghost, 1 Thes. 1. 6. They in Nehemiah kept the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, with gladness, and thanksgivings; they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced, for God had made them to rejoice with great joy; Cap. 12. ver. 27. 43. Light is sown for the righteous, Ps. 97. 11. Spiritual joy is a light shed from heaven, it springs not out of one's own bowels, as the carnal joy of worldings doth; but is as seed cast in from without, and the seedsman is the Holy Ghost. 2 Faith for its Mother. Joy of Faith, so 'tis called, Phil. 3. 25. believing ye rejoice, saith Peter, with joy unspeakable and full of glory. 1 Pet. 1. 8. In the ring of graces, faith is the diamond; joy the sparkle of the diamond. Phil. 3. 3. hear Saint Paul, We are the circumcision which worship God in Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus. Holy men have their rejoicing only in Christ; they are made partakers of Christ only by faith. Such as desire to have joy as a flower blown in their hearts, must be careful to water the root of faith; for from thence it springs. 3 Prayer for its Midwife. John 16. 24. ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. Rejoice evermore, 1 Thess. 5. 16. and presently after, pray without ceasing. as if he had said, Cease to pray, you will cease to rejoice; pray without ceasing, so shall ye be able to rejoice evermore. The cheerfullest Christians are usually those that are fullest of Prayer. After Hannah had poured out her soul before the Lord, her countenance was no more sad. 1 Sam. 1. 15, 18. 4 The word of God for its Nurse. {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}. Prov. 12. 25. heaviness in the heart of a man makes it stoop; but a good word makes it glad. A soul sick of sorrow is directed by the Word of grace to an able Physician. Upon Philip's preaching Christ, there followed great joy in the city of Samaria, Acts 8. 5, 8. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And there was great joy in that city. Where the Priests are clothed with salvation, there the Saints shout aloud for joy. Psal. 132. 16. 5 sincerity for its Keeper. 2 Cor. 1. 12. Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity, and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world. They are the upright in heart for whom the light of gladness is sown, Psal. 97. 11. It comes up in no other soil. Any kind of sin may nip joy in the bud, hypocrisy kills it at the root. True joy can never breathe in an heart obstructed with by-ends. In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare (such a snare as will be sure to strangle his joy; that appears by the opposition there made) but the righteous doth sing and rejoice, Proverbs 29. 6. They in 1 Chron. 29. 29. were able to rejoice in the service then in hand; why? because with perfect hearts they offered willingly to the Lord. 6 Trembling for its handmaid. Psal. 2. 11. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Do you lend an ear to this, who are members of the Honourable Houses; for the Psalmist speaks it to such as are Rulers of the earth, Verse 10. Your affections should be proportioned to God's dispensations. His manner is to feed the Church with bitter-sweets: her care should be to mingle trembling with her joy. Be pleased to reflect upon the war which yourselves have managed, and consider whether providence have not seemed to delight, as it were in checkerwork; a white and a black, a success and a blow, whether for the most part, ye have not had a white in the North, for a black in the West; or a black in the North (as at this day) to tremble at, when ever you had a white in the West. Wherefore rejoice in the Lord at present; Philip. 4. 4. and again I say rejoice: but do it with trembling to think of provoking the eyes of his glory, Is. 3. 8. whose power is able to confound us in a moment. Tremble, but with rejoicing to think how many places the Lord of hosts hath appeared for us in of late, as glorious in holiness, Exod. 15. 11. fearful in praises, doing wonders. Now unto him that is able to do (and hath done for us) exceeding abundantly, Eph 3. 20, 21. above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us; Unto him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world without end. To him that hath helped, and doth help; in whom we trust, that he will still help us more and more, to him be praise, and thanks, and dominion, for ever and ever. Amen. FINIS.