Primitiae Synagogae.  
A SERMON PREACHED At IPSWICH, April 26. 1700.  
AT THE Opening of a New Erected MEETING-HOUSE.  
By JOHN FAIRFAX, A. M. Minister of the Gospel to the Congregation there Assembling.  
LONDON, Printed for Tho. Parkhurst in Cheapside, and Sold by Henry Truelove at Ipswich, 1700.   

TO THE Right Worshipful Sir THOMAS CUDDON, Chamberlain of the City of London.  
SIR,  
I Assure myself you cannot be surprised to red your Worthy Name prefixed to the few following impolite Pages. I dare not tell the World, especially without your leave, how much this mean offering is due to you. Tho' it were ten times more valuable than it is, I know no person can make a juster claim thereto. I never thought any thing of mine worthy of public Cognisance, and have therefore constantly declined the Press, into which at this time I am tantum non pressed. Of two Evils I have chosen the less, judging it better that this should go abroad from my own Pen, rather than from anothers. Such as it is, I humbly offer it to your hand, which gave me no small occasion to preach it. I confess I had another Argument which somewhat inclined me to this Publication. I have so much satisfaction in what my Congregation hath done, tho at their great Charge, in Building such a convenient and decent Synagogue for the Solemn Worship of God, that( if I may speak it without vanity) I was willing to leave behind me, now that I am going out of the World, being in my Seventy Seventh Year, something that might be a Memorial of this Building to Posterity in the next Generations: For it may be said in this sense, Littera scripta manet. And I pray God to remember them for good, and all that assisted them in this Work, and not wipe out all the good Deeds which they have done for this House of God, and for the Offices thereof. Sir, I am far from pretending to add any Honour to, am only desirous to make this small Testimony of the greater Honour I have for Sir T. C. whose savourable Acceptation and Patronage thereof, shall always be esteemed, by me, a very great Honour to, and strong Obligation upon,  
SIR, Your Worship's most Humble yet Ambitious Servant, J. F. Barking, June 3. 1700.   

A SERMON PREACHED At IPSWICH in SUFFOLK, At the opening of a New Erected Meeting-House, April 26. 1700.  EXOD. xx. 24. — In all places where I record my Name, I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. 
GOD having delivered his Law to Israel, upon Mount Sinai, in Thunder, Lightning, smoke, and sound of Trumpet, as we red in the latter part of the former Chapter, and the former part of this, taketh occasion from his manner of speaking to them, to caution them against Idolatry, Ver. 22, 23. Ye have seen that I have talked with you from Heaven. Ye shall not make with me Gods of Silver, neither shall ye make unto you Gods of Gold: Tho' never so costly; tho' like Nebuchadnezzar's Image of Gold set up in the Plain of Dura, Dan. 3.1. Whose height was threescore Cubits, and breadth six Cubits: So Moses doth caution them, Deut. 4.15. Take ye good heed unto yourselves( for ye saw no manner of similitude in the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb) lest you corrupt yourselves, and make you a graved Image, &c.  
God having thus prohibited Idolatry, institutes his own holy, true Worship, which should be acceptable to him, Ver. 24. Where are two Words of God: A Word of Command, and a Word of Promise.  
1. A Word of Command.  
An Altar of Earth shalt thou make unto me, and shalt Sacrifice thereon thy Burnt-Offerings and thy Peace-Offerings, thy Sheep and thine Oxen. This is the first place, in Holy Scripture, where God records his Institution of Altar and Sacrifice. Not but that these were instituted before of God, by Revelation to Adam, and the succeeding patriarches: For, before Moses, there was no Written Word of God; but Religion and the true Worship of God, first revealed to Adam, descended, by Tradition, from Generation to Generation, till the days of Moses. That Sacrifices were of God's Appointment even from the days of Adam, appears from Heb. 11.4. By Faith Abel offered an excellent Sacrifice, &c. If Abel had not had a Word of Institution from God, he could not have Offered in Faith. And he must have an Altar too from God; for, saith Christ, Matth. 23.19. The Altar sanctifieth the Gift; which it could not, if it were not of God. By this Tradition Noah built an Altar, and Offered Burnt-Offerings thereon, Gen. 8.20. And Abraham did the like, Gen. 12. 8.-13.4. So likewise Isaac, Gen. 26.25. and Jacob, Gen. 33.20. This is God's Command.  
2. A Word of Promise, in the Text, In all places where I record, q. d. wherever I shall give thee occasion to Worship me, I will indifferently accept thee, as well in one place as in another. Where I record my Name, That is the Character of the Place of God's Worship. The Memorial of God's Name relates to all God's Ordinances. That is a Man's Name, by which he is known; and that is God's Name, by which he is known. Now God is known by his Ordinances, Ps. 76.1, 2. In Judah is God known, his Name is great in Israel: In Salem also is his Tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion. Recording of God's Name, is the Solemn Administration of his Ordinances, as Isa. 66.3. He that burneth Incense. In the Original Text 〈◇〉, the same Word with this in the Text, He that recordeth with Incense, I will come unto thee; that is, I will, in a special manner, be present with thee. The Tabernacle which Moses reared up in the Wilderness, where God's Name was recorded, was called 〈◇〉, The Tabernacle of the Congregation, so 'tis generally rendered, but may as properly be rendered, The Tabernacle of Meeting, denoting not only the Peoples meeting together to Worship God, but also God's meeting with them, as God himself saith to Moses, Exod. 25.22. There I will meet with thee. Exod. 29.42, 43. At the door of the Tabernacle— where I will meet you, And there I will meet with the Children of Israel. So Exod. 30.6, 36.  
From the Text we shall observe two things.  
1. There ought to be Places for God's Solemn Worship, where his Name is to be recorded, his Ordinances administered. When such Places were first appointed and set apart, is not mentioned in Scripture, nor was there need of it: For Reason and the Light of Nature doth certainly dictate this. Time and Place are universal Accidents, belonging to every thing in the World. Quod nunquam est non est, & quod nusquam est non est. That which never is, or no where is, is not at all. We red, Gen. 4.26. Then began men to call upon the Name of the Lord, i.e. They solemnly Assembled together to Worship God. So doth that Phrase in Scripture often signify, as Zeph. 3.9. 1 Cor. 1.2. Jer. 10.25. Ps. 14.4. Prayer being a chief part of Worship, is put for the whole Worship of God. Whereas before, when there were but few Men in the World, Men Worshipped God apart in their Families. Now when Men were multiplied, as doubtless they were when Enos was Born, for he was Born in the 235th Year of the World, Gen. 5. then, no question, they had more common and greater Assemblies, where they called upon the Name of the Lord. So Gen. 13.4. for Abraham had a very numerous Family, as appears, Gen. 14.14. Most probable it is, That Adam observing the degeneration of his Posterity, and the corruption of the Worship of God, especially by Cain's Posterity, began to separate the Godly, and gather them into particular Congregations, that, by public Prayer, Preaching the Word, Sacrifices, and other Exercises of Religion, he might preserve them from the common gross Corruptions and profaneness of the World, whereby they obtained the Honourable Name of the Sons of God, Gen. 6.2. To which purpose there must have been some public Places wherein they Assembled to perform such Worship. Such Places of public Religious Assemblies were chosen by Men. But afterward, in the days of Moses, God tells the Jews, who were his only visible Church, that he would choose a place where to put his Name, Deut. 12.5. which he did at Shiloh first, in the Tribe of Ephraim, Josh. 18.2. and afterward at Jerusalem, viz. The Temple built by Solomon. This place being but one, and that to which they were to bring their Offerings and Sacrifices, was a Type of Christ, the only Mediator between God and Man, through whom all Spiritual Sacrifices are acceptable to God.  
But besides the Tabernacle and the Temple, the Jewish Church had their other lesser Places of Worship, where they met every Sabbath-Day. They were obliged to meet at the Tabernacle, and after at the Temple, but three times in the Year, at the three Principal Feasts, viz. The Feast of the Passover, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles, Deut. 16.16. But they were bound to keep the Sabbath every Week. To which purpose they had their Synagogues. Act. 15.21. Moses of old time, hath, in every City, them that preach him, being red in the Synagogues every Sabbath-Day. Ps. 74.8. They have burnt up all the Synagogues of God in the Land; which intimates that they were many, as they must needs have been for the Weekly Sabbath Worship. Thus it was with the Jewish Church, while the Ceremonial Legal Worship continued.  
But as concerning the Christian Church, Christ tells the Woman of Samaria, inquiring, Where is the place of God's Worship? John 4.21. The hour cometh, when ye shall, neither in this Mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Yet still there were to be Places wherein Christian Assemblies should meet for solemn Worship. The Apostle Paul, Rom. 16.5. Doth Salute Priscilla & Aquilla, and, after no very short Parenthesis, addeth, Likewise greet the Church that is in their House; and 1 Cor. 16.19. When he sends Salutation from them to the Corinthians, he adds withall, With the Church that is in their House. Some think, that because there might be several Members of their Family, truly Pious and Christian, therefore St. Paul calls them a Church. But the word 〈◇〉 rendered Church, doth properly signify an Assembly, whether Civil, as Act. 19.32, 39. or Religious, as most frequently it doth. And if the Apostle meaneth only the Family by that word, sure Priscilla and Aquilla were part of the Family, and then twice saluted. It is more probable that this word Church doth signify, that some part of their Houses was the place where the Neighbouring Christians were wont to Assemble to Worship God. The like phrase the Apostle useth also, Col. 4.15. and Philem. v. 2. But if Church in their House, signify only the rest of Christian Believers in the Family, why doth not the Apostle salute others in like manner, whose Families were Christian, as Rom. 16.10, 11, 14, 15. whom he calleth not the Church in their House, but the household, or Brethren, or Saints? which maketh what I said before probable. But undeniable is that 1 Cor. 11.20, 22, 34. When ye come together into one place. That one place was distinct from their Dwellings, v. 22. and from their Homes, v. 34. To which add also that, Act. 28.30, 31. St. Paul's House was the place whither the Christians resorted to hear the Preaching of the Gospel by St. Paul. Such necessary places are all the public Churches throughout the Christian World, wherein the Name of God is recorded by the Dispensation and Administration of his Ordinances. So much for that first Observation, That there ought to be Places for God's Solemn public Worship.  
Obs. 2. God doth promise his special Presence and Blessing to his People, wherever Assembled to dispense and partake of his Ordinances. Such a Promise is that, mat. 18.20. Where two or three, much more where two or three hundred or a thousand, are gathered together in his Name, there will he be in the midst of them. So Matth. 28.20. Which is a Promise to the Apostles and their Successors, the Ministers of the Gospel, in their Administrations to the People, to be with them to the End of the World; and so a Promise even to us as well in our Generation, as to them in their Generation.  
Quest. What is this Presence of God?  
Answ. God's Essential Presence is every where. He silleth Heaven and Earth. Jer. 23.24. Ps. 139.7, 8, 9, &c. Whither shall I flee from thy Presence? But when God is said to come to, or be present with Men in one place more than in another, this denotes a specialty of Presence. What that is, is to be inquired.  
1. A very Learned Interpreter of difficult Scriptures, as any in this last Century, Mr. Joseph meed, maketh this to consist in God's Train or Retinue, viz. His being attended with his Angels. Observe here Ver. 22. together with the Text, Ye have seen how I have talked with you from Heaven,— In all places— I will come unto thee. As if God had said, You have had experience of my Presence now on Mount Sinai, I have here been with you, and spoken to you, so will I come to you in all other places where I record my Name. Now the Lord descended on Mount Sinai attended with his Heavenly Train of Angels, who were his Instruments of the Thunder and Lightning, and Fire and smoke, and sound of Trumpet, and quaking of the Mount, and delivery of the Law. Which tho' not expressed here by Moses, yet is expressed in other Scripture, as Ps. 68.17. The Chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of Angels. The Lord is among them as in Sinai in the holy place. Acts 7.53. Stephen tells the Jews, They had received the Law by the disposition of Angels. Gal. 3.19. The Law was ordained by Angels in the hand of a Mediator. Heb. 2.2. If the word spoken by Angels, &c. Thus Ps. 138.1, 2.— Before the Gods will I sing praise unto thee. I will worship towards thy holy Temple. The Gods, that is, the Angels, so called Ps. 97.7. Worship him all ye Gods; which the Apostle quoting, Hebr. 1.6. translates, Let all the Angels of God worship him. To this agreeth the Vision of Isaiah, Ch. 6.1, 2, 3. I saw the Lord sitting upon a Throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the Temple: What that Train was, he tells us, Ver. 2. Above it stood the Seraphims; and one cried to another, and said, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts. Hence it was, that the Curtains of the Tabernacle, the Walls and Doors of Solomon's Temple were wrought and carved with Cherubims, Exod. 26.36, 37. Chap. and 1 King. 6.29, 32. to signify that where God's Name is recorded there the holy Angels, as in Duty bound, do give their attendance. It is too observable, that where God is said to come, there is mentioned this his attendance of Angels, as judas Ver. 14. Behold, The Lord cometh with ten thousands of his Saints, so 'tis in our translation, but in the original, With his holy myriad, or Ten Thousands that is his Angels; which probably is the meaning of 1 Thess. 3.13. Thus Matth. 16.27. The Son of Man shall come in the Glory of his Father, with his Angels. Matth. 25.31. When the Son of Man shall come in his Glory, and all the holy Angels with him. 2 Thess. 1.7. The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven, with his mighty Angels. All which do very aptly conspire together to make this the sense of God's coming to his People in their Religious Assemblies, viz. Attended with his Train of Angels. And if this be the meaning of God's special Presence in the Places where his Name is recorded, That very Text, 1 Cor. 11.10. is very easily understood, For this cause ought the Woman to have power on her head, because of the Angels; that is, The Woman ought to have a Covering or Veil over her Head, in token of her subjection to the Man, as Rebecca covered her Self with a Veil when she met Isaac, Gen. 24.65. So would the Apostle have Women Covered in the Congregation, lest the Angels be offended at their unseemly behaviour.  
Quest. But if this be the meaning of God's special Presence, what serve these Angels for? And what Office do they in the Assemblies of God's People?  
Answ. Their Presence in Church Assemblies is not a bare naked Presence, without Service: Nor is their Presence only to honour God and glorify him according to Isa. 6.3. but for benefit to the Assembly; for it is the matter of God's Promise, and therefore must be some good and spiritual Profit to the Church. As Hebr. 1.14. Angels are ministering Spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of Salvation. It should not seem strange to us that Angels may have some influence upon the Hearts and Minds of Men, not immediately, but through our sensitive Faculties, into which these subtle Spirits can insinuate themselves, particularly into our Imagination or Fancy, which Philosophers call Speculum Intellectus, a Looking-glass to the Understanding: Where are impressed the Species or Images of such Objects as have passed through our External Senses; of these Images which these Spirits sinned in the Fancy, may they form the Images of such Objects as they would have the Understanding to apprehended; which the Understanding, while looking on the Fancy, as it must do, in its natural operation, doth presently, and unawares, apprehended. Even, as when I am looking on my own Face in a Glass, another holds something over my Shoulder, the Image whereof is  shed upon the Glass before me, and I cannot but perceive it. But whatever the Modus of this operation be, it is not to be doubted, but evil Angels, Devils, have an influence upon the Hearts and Minds of Men, to tempt and move to Evil, 1 Chron. 21.1. Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number the people, Joh. 13.2. The Devil put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray his Master. Act. 5.3. Peter said to Ananias, why hath Satan filled thy Heart to lie to the holy Ghost. No less influence surely have good Angels, to move and suggest that which is good to the Hearts and Minds of Men: As evil Counsel, Examples, Opportunities, Objects, Corruptions are invisibly improved by Satan to make Men worse; so may good Counsel, Examples, the Prayers of the Congregation, the Ministry of the Word and Sacraments be improved and succeeded by the invisible Ministry of good Angels to make Men better. Which Office without doubt good Angels are very willing and desirous to perform, for as Christ saith, Luke 15.10. There is joy in the presence of the Angels of God over one Sinner that repenteth.  
2. The special presence of God here promised, is the presence of God by his Spirit, John 14.16, 17, 18. Jesus Christ having  told his Disciples of his going away, doth encourage them by telling them the Father would give them another comforter that should abide with them for ever, even the Spirit of truth. And addeth, I will not leave you comfortless, I will come unto you. So Matth. 28.20. I will be with you in the dispensation of my Gospel to the end of the World. As if he had said, My Word and Ordinances shall not be alone, and so vain, empty and unprofitable as they are in themselves, but the presence and power of my Spirit shall be with you and with them to make them effectual. When God made Man at first, he made him after his one Image, in Righteousness and Holiness. When Man fell by Sin, he lost both his Righteousness and Holiness. God who, in infinite Mercy, designed Man's recovery from his Fall, in order thereto, made two Grand Promises, The one of Christ to come into the World, to satisfy the Justice of God for Sin, and to fulfil all Righteousness by which Sinners might be justified; The other of the Spirit to work effectually in the Hearts of Sinners, whereby they might be renewed again after the Image of God in Holiness, and made meet to be Partakers of the Glory to which he did design them. Unto this Spirit must be acknowledged the dispensation of Ordinances; He Instructs, and Qualifieth with Gifts, and calleth Men to the Office and Work of the Ministry. 1 Cor. 12.7, 8, &c. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. To one is given the word of Wisdom, to another the word of Knowledge, &c. Ver. 11. All these worketh that one and the self same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. So Act. 13.2, 4. The Holy Ghost said, separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them; And Ver. 4. They being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed into Seleucia. So Act. 20.28. St. Paul chargeth the Elders of the Church of Ephesus to take heed to themselves, and to all the Flock over which the Holy Ghost had made them Overseers. And unto the same Spirit must be acknowledged the efficacy of the Ordinances dispensed by them, Rom. 1.16. The Gospel is the Power of God. Eph. 6.17. The Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit. What can the Sword do without the Hand and Arm that weilds it? 1 Thess. 2.13. The word as it is of God effectually worketh. 2 Cor. 10.4. Mighty through God. 1 Cor. 2.4. My Preaching was in demonstration of the Spirit and Power, i.e. The Power of the Spirit was evidently seen or felt in it. 1 Cor. 3.6, 7. I have planted, Apollo watered, but God gave the increase. So then, neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. 2 Cor. 4.7. The excellency of the power is of God, and not of us. This is it which God promiseth, when he saith, I will come unto thee, my Spirit shall he with thee. God by his Spirit, accompanying his Ordinances, overthroweth the Devil's Kingdom, enlighteneth dark Minds, convinceth secure Sinners, breaketh hard Hearts, humbleth proud Hearts, persuadeth unbelieving and disobedient Sinners and bringeth them into the bond of his Covenant, that they may be Saved. God hath not Instituted his Ordinances in vain; but, Isa. 55.10, 11. As the rain cometh down and the snow from Heaven and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, &c. so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me voided, but it shall accomplish that which I please. And it is observable, that in the Acts of the Apostles, wherever they went and preached the Gospel, among the Gentiles, some or other, more or less, were brought into the Faith, and particularly at Corinth, Acts 18.8, 9, 10. Crispus the chief Ruler of the Synagogue believed with all his house, and many of the Corinthians believed and were baptized. Then spake the Lord to Paul, Be not afraid, but speak, for I am with thee, for I have much people in this City.  
3. This Promise, I. will come unto thee, doth import near Communion between God and his People, and is as much as if God had said, Mine Ordinances in the use of them shall be the means of Communion between me and thee. Our best happiness consists in Communion with God: Perfect, Full and Uninterrupted Communion is the happiness of Heaven; a degree whereof is to be enjoyed on Earth, especially in Duties and Ordinances. This indeed is a Riddle to carnal Men, but many a gracious Soul doth understand it by inward Sense and Feeling, without which it cannot be understood, Psal. 34.8. taste and see, saith the Psalmist. That indeed is the method of knowing this Spiritual privilege and exercise. What is Prayer, Praise, Singing, Hearing, Participation of Sacraments when duly and spiritually Practised, but Communion with God? Thou shalt come to me, saith God, where my name is recorded, and I will come and meet thee there. Thou shalt Call and I will Answer thee, I will speak and thou shalt hear me, thou shalt bewail thy Weakness, and I will help thy Infirmities, thou shalt bemoan thyself under Affliction, and I will pity thee, thou shalt call upon me in time of trouble, I will deliver thee, thou shalt vent thy desires to me, I will satisfy them, thou shalt trust in me, I will not fail thee, thou shalt Hunger and Thirst, I will feed thee with Bread and Wine, which is Meat indeed, and Drink indeed; I will hear thy Prayers, I will accept thy Offerings, I will resolve thy doubts, I will scatter thy fears, I will make known my Mind to thee, I will teach thee to profit, I will lift up upon thee the Light of my Countenance, I will  shed abroad my Love in thy Heart, I will satisfy thee with the joy of my Salvation, and give thee everlasting Consolation and good hope through Grace. Thus will I come unto thee, where thou recordest my Name. O Blessed are they to whom the Lord will thus come. Psal. 65.4. Blessed is the Man whom thou chooseft and causeft to approuch unto thee, that be may dwell in thy Courts, we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy Temple. This is one part of the Promise.  
Q. What is it to bless thee?  
A. This is the other part of the Promise. Blessing and Cursing belong to God, Life and Death, Good and Evil are in his Hands. Balak thought verily concerning Balaam the Sorcerer that he whom Balaam Blessed was Blessed, and he whom Balaam Cursed was Cursed, Numb. 22.6. but was soon confuted. Balaam had a good mind to Curse, for he loved the wages of Unrighteousness; but he could not, he durst not. How can I Curse whom the Lord hath not Cursed? Chap. 23.8. Men may Bless and Curse in Word, but God only in dead. His Benedieere is Benefacere, his Blessing is Effectual, he saith and doth, he said, Let there be light, and there was light, Gen. 1. And he said again, Matth. 21.19. Let no fruit grow on thee hence-forward for ever, and presently the Fig-Tree withered away. Now the Blessings of God are of two sorts, Spiritual, Eph. 1.3. and Temporal, Deut. 28.2, 3. &c. God speaketh here in general, I will Bless thee, which excludeth neither; both sorts are annexed and promised to the solemn serious practise of the Worship and Ordinances of God.  
1. Spiritual Blessings relating to our Souls and our Spiritual State, as saving Conversion from Sin to God, Acts 3.26. God sent his Son Jesus to bless you, in turning every one of you from your iniquities. With all the Concomitants and Consequences thereof, as forgiveness of Sin, Justification, Adoption, Interest in Christ and the Covenant of God, continuance and perseverance in Grace, Growth, Proficience and Edification in Grace, Mortification of Sin, strength against Sin, and Temptation, &c. All is God's Blessing. Now though God can convey and communicate these Blessings either without means or by other means, as by Education, Counsel, Example, Conversation with Friends, Providences of Mercy, or Chastisements, and many times doth so, yet ordinarily God's Ordinances are the means whereby to obtain these Blessings. They that wait on them may more hopefully expect the Blessing, as having the encouragement of God's Promise, Psal. 84.4. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house. Then verse 11. The Lord will give Grace. Prov. 8.34. Blessed is the Man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the post of my doors. Rom. 10.17. Faith cometh by hearing. 1 Cor. 1.21. It pleaseth God by the foolishness of Preaching to save them that believe. Therefore, faith Christ, Luke 16.31. If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead. If the Word will not, Miracles cannot convert Sinners.  
2. Temporal Blessings as safety from Evils. The Solemnity of the Assemblies of God's People, Worshipping him according to God's Word, in Spirit and Truth is the greatest security from Judgments to those that frequent them, and to the places where they are kept, Isa. 33.20. Look upon Zion, the City of our Solemnities; thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation. Then verse 24. The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick; the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity. Psal. 27.4, 5. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that I will seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his Temple, for in the time of trouble he shall hid me in his pavilion. The Sanctuary was accounted a place of Refuge, therefore did Adonijah for fear of Solomon flee to the Horns of the Altar, 1 King 1.50. And Joab for the same Reason did so too, 1 King 2.28. So also positive temporal Blessings are promised, Psal. 84.1, 4. with verse 11. No good thing will God withhold. Levit. 26.2, 3, 4, 5. Ye shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my Sanctuary, then I will give you Rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, &c. Personal and Family Blessings, as 2 Sum. 6.11. The Ark of the Lord continued in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three Months, and the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his household. public Blessings, 2 Chron. 13.8, 9, 10, 12, &c. Psal. 20.2. Which is a Prayer for the King, The Lord sand thee help from the Sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Sion. Hence God ordained the Priests the Administrators of God's Ordinances to bless the People, Numb. 6.23, 24. Speak unto Aaron and to his Sons, saying, On this wise shall ye bless the Children of Israel, saying unto them, The Lord bless thee and keep thee, the Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee, the Lord list up his Countenance upon thee, and give thee peace; And they shall put my Name upon the Children of Israel, and I will bless them.  
Thus far concerning the Doctrinal part of the Text, the Application followeth.  
Appl. 1. Then the place where God's Ordinances are dispensed, is no prejudice to God's owning of his People, meeting and blessing them in their Assemblies. Whether such places be stately Temples, as our public Churches, or meaner places of meeting, as this is, and many much worse. Whether the Altar be of Earth, as here verse 24. or of ston, as verse 25. or of Gold as in Solomon's Days, all is one to God. It is the recording of God's Name, the Solemnizing of his true and pure Worship, and instituted Ordinances, which God hath respect to, when he saith, I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. Where these are, let none think that God is not there, because there is no external Pomp or carnal Ornaments. Judge not of Spiritual things by a carnal Eye, God's Solemn Worship is the Worship of the Soul, God's Ordinances are to work upon the Hearts and Spirits of Men. And what doth a place signify to that either Pro or Con? Have we a true Ministry Orthodox in Faith, duly called, instructed with Gifts, for the work of the Ministry, and set apart by Fasting and Prayer, and laying on of Hands according to the holy Scriptures? Have we God's Ordinances, his own holy Institutions duly dispensed, without Sinful or justly suspected Mixtures and Corruptions of Mans Invention? Whatever the place of this Ministration be, we may be encouraged to look for God's Performance of his Promise here in the Text. When Jesus Christ was in the Flesh, we red he Preached ort in the Temple, and oft in the Synagogues, and also in a private House, Mark 2.1, 2. He came to Capernaunt, and it was noised that he was in the house, and streight way many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no not so much as about the door, and he preached the word unto them. And sometimes Sub Dio as upon a Mountain, where he Preached his famous Sermon, Matth. 5.6, 7. Chap. Sometimes standing or sitting on a Ship, and the people on the shore, Matth. 13.1, 2. In the primitive times the Christians being under the persecution of Heathen Emperours, were glad of any mean, obscure, private places wherein to meet, having Pious Holy Ministers to dispense the Ordinances of Christ to them, where God met them and blessed them with great increase of Converts, notwithstanding the severity of Persecution, whence that known saying, Sanguis Martyrum seemen Ecclesiae, the Blood of the Martyrs was the Seed of the Church. Like the Israelites in egypt, Exod. 1.12. The more they were afflicted the more they multiplied. But when the Emperours became Christian, they greatly encouraged Christian Religion, and built Temples and endowed them, so as the Church grew rich in the World, but through the Corruptions of Men, this turned to the Churches prejudice; for then Pride, Covetousness, Envy, Ambition, Contention and Tyranny invaded the Clergy, the Churchmen, and the Man of Sin, the Antichrist of Rome began to appear, and by degrees ascended the Chair of Supremacy and Tyrannical Domination, which he possesseth and usurpeth to this Day, maintaining it by Bloody inhuman Persecution, by abominable Idolatry and Superstition. Which Ecclesiastical History expresseth thus, Religio peperit Divitias, & filia devorabat Matrem, Religion brought forth Riches, and the Daughter devoured the Mother. So as it was said of those times and divers States of the Church, comparing them together, that it was much better with the Church in respect of its spiritual State, when it had wooden Chalices, but Golden priests; than it was afterwards when the Church had Golden Chalices, but wooden Priests.  
I would not be mistaken, let none think that I have spoken a word to the Derogation of the Honour of those Stately, Magnificent and Sumptuous Structures, our public Churches, which the Christian Piety and Liberality of former Ages Erected for the convenient Assembling of particular Congregations in their Parochial Districts every Sabbath Day, together with their endowments. No, no. Blessed be God, who hath made such Provision for his Church, and for his Solemn Worship. Had we the liberty of those places, we should seek no other: But these Doors being shut against us, it is our necessity and not our choice to Worship God as conveniently as we can in meaner places with a good Conscience.  
Yet in these meaner places, I think we ought to have regard to God, to his Worship, and Church, and build in some measure answerable and becoming, according to our ability. I cannot censure as some do, but must commend this Congregation that they have at so great charge erected this large, spacious Meeting-Place, and adorned it both without and within. It is no other than what becometh the use to which it is designed. It is but reasonable that an house for God, and his Solemn Service should equal, if not exceed our own Habitation, Mal. 1.8. If ye offer the blind for Sacrifice, is it not evil? And if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor, will he be pleased with it, or accept thy Person, saith the Lord of Hosts? And verse 14. Cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a Male, and Voweth and Sacrificeth unto the Lord a Corrupt thing: For I am a great King, saith the Lord of Hosts. What saith holy David, 2 Sam. 7.2. See now, I dwell in a house of Cedar, but the Ark of God dwelleth within Curtains. He thought that was very uncomely that he should dwell in a better House than the Ark of God, therefore he thought of Building an House for God. And verse 3. Nathan the Prophet approved of David's design, and said to David, Do all that is in thy heart; for the Lord is with thee. And tho' God would not let David build him an House for a particular Reason, 1 Chron. 22. 8.-28.3. Because he had  shed much Blood, yet God accepted David's desire and design to build God on house. 2 Chron. 6.8. The Lord said to David, for as much as it was in thine heart to build an house for my Name, thou didst well that it was in thy heart. And though David did not build the House, yet he made very great preparation for it, as we red 1 Chr. 29.2, 3, 4. And he giveth a sufficient Reason of the great charge he was at. Verse 1. For this house is not for Man, but for the Lord God. The same Reason doth Solomon also give for his Building a Magnificent House, 2 Chr. 2.15. The house which I build is great, for great is our God above all Gods. Which Argument is not Ceremonial but Moral, and should prevail as well with us, as with them, and hath prevailed: And I hope that God will accept this at your hand, and will see that ye be no losers by what you have done, no, not in this World, Luke 7.5, 6. When they  told Jesus that the Centurion Loved the Jewish Nation, and had built them a Synagogue, Jesus then without any delay, went to heal the Centurion's Servant. If you have in the sincerity of your Hearts, out of pure respect to God, and his Worship, and Zeal, for the Spiritual good of your own and others Souls, freely and cheerfully contributed to the building of this very convenient and suitable House, I doubt not to say to you, you may with good encouragement red and apply what God saith to the returned Captives, hag. 2.18, 19. Consider now from this day and upward from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the Foundation of the Lords Temple was laid. Consider it. Is the seed yet in the barn? Yea as yet the Vine and the Fig-Tree, and the Pome-granate, and the Olive-Tree hath not brought forth; from this day will I bless you.  
Here I will venture to speak another word upon this Subject. Seeing this House is built for God, for his solemn Worship, and dedicated to Religious Use. It is surely a question worthy your serious consideration, viz. Whether for any reason which may hereafter fall out, you may alienate it and convert it to common use? You must know, this House is not like that in which you have recorded God's Name twelve or thirteen Years last past. That was but like St. Paul's, Acts 28.30, 31. viz. Your own hired House, whereof you had the use, but wherein you had not a Propriety and so could not dedicate it to God beyond your Lease. But this is your own Propriety purchased with your own Money, and built at your own Cost and Charge, and so you have power to dispose of it: And if you dedicate this House once to God, do you not transfer the Right from yourselves to God? If then you shall at any time hereafter resume it again, to convert it to common use for your Worldly Interest, may not God call it Robbing him? It may possibly so come to pass, whereof past experience is a convincing Argument, that you may not be suffered by the Magistrate to use it as you do this Day. If any for your so using it, shall confiscate this place to public civil Use, Ipsi viderint, but we know there are other pious Uses for which Charity is to be exercised. The Poor( saith Christ) Matth. 26.11. e have always with you. It behoveth us so to manage ourselves, and this affair, that the words of the Apostle, Rom. 2.22. may not reproach us. Thou that abhorrest Idols dost thou commit Sacrilege.  
Appl. 2. When ever we come where God records his Name, think we, we are now in the Tabernacle of Meeting, where we meet not only one with another, but all with God; we are all before the presence, the special solemn Presence of the glorious God( as Cornelius  told Peter, who according to the Word of the Angel, was to tell him what he ought to do, Acts 10.33. We are all here present before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God, whose train of Angels filleth the place of our Congregation. And then what Reverence and Godly fear, what Humility and self-Abasement, what Modesty and Seriousness, what attention of Ear, and intention of Mind would become us? How careful and observant are we of our demeanour before great Men, before Kings, or Princes, or Persons of Honour? much more ought we to charge ourselves with becoming behaviour, both of our outward and inward Man, before the great God, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. 1 Cor. 6.20. glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's. We red of Jacob, when he went to Padan Aram, Gen. 28.12, 13. He by the way slept and dreamed, and behold a Ladder set upon the Earth, and the top of it reached to Heaven; And behold the Angels of God ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood above it. And ver. 16. Jacob a waked and said, Surely the Lord is in this place. And he was afraid and said, How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven. And he called the name of that place Bethel, that is, The House of God. Such apprehensions of God's presence and such affections towards Him ought we to have when we come where God's Name is recorded; for that place is Bethel. Did we apprehended this, could we talk, or laugh, or indulge ourselves to sleep, or give liberty to wandring eyes, thoughts or affection. Yea, could we think( unless the Body require it, and then God will have Mercy and not Sacrifice) that covering the Head under the Word red or Preached, or sitting on our Seats at Prayer, or at the Blessing were a becoming posture. We ought to avoid Superstition, yet not to flee so far from it, as to run into profaneness. Isa. 66.1, 2. God clotheth himself with Majesty, and then speaks slightly of Solomon's Magnificent Temple, Heaven is my Throne, and Earth is my Footstool, Where is the house that ye build unto me, and where is the place of my rest? Then ver. 2. tells them, who it is that he will especially regard, even Him that is poor and of a contrite Spirit and trembleth at my word.  
Appl. 3. What a glorious privilege and happy advantage is it to have our lot and Station where God doth record his Name? If the gracious presence of God with us, the powerful influences of his Spirit upon us, Fellowship and Communion with him be valuable and desirable in our judgement, so should the places be where God doth record his Name. It is infinite dignation on God's part to come to us, and to admit us to Communion with him, 1 Kings 8.27. Will God indeed, saith Solomon, dwell on the Earth? Behold the Heaven and Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee: how much less this house that I have built? It was Israel's privilege above all other Nations, Psal. 147.19, 20. He sheweth his word unto Jacob— He hath not dealt so with any Nation— This is the Crown and Glory of all other Blessings, Psal. 144. ult Happy are the people that are in such a case.( viz. As is described, Verse 12.13, 14. Yea happy is that people whose God is the Lord. And this is a recompense for all other crosses, Isa. 30.20, 21. Though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction; yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more; but thine eyes shall see thy teachers; and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way walk ye in it. The Faith and Consideration whereof should make us not only willing but very desirous and glad to go to the House of the Lord, and stir up in us such affections as David had towards the place where God's Name was recorded, Psal. 42.63, 84.  
On the other side, what a miserable State are they in among whom God doth not record his Name. God cometh not to them nor blesseth them, Josh. 22.19. Phinehas and the rest of the Princes, sent from the Ten Tribes to the two Tribes, do by those words intimate that that Land is unclean where is no Altar, no Place where God's Name is recorded. What a sad and woeful Day would it be with us, if God should take from us the Records of his Name, the Testimonies of his Presence, the Dispensation of his Ordinances: Then might we take up the words of the Wife of Phinehas, 1 Sam. 4.21, 22. when she name her Child Ichabod, and said, The glory is departed from Israel, for the Ark of God is taken. Or take up the Prophets Lamentation, Lament. 2.6, 7. The Lord hath violently taken away his Tabernacle, he hath destroyed his places of the Assembly. The Lord hath caused his solemn Feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion. The Lord hath cast off his Altar, he hath abhorred his Sanctuary, &c. This indeed would be matter of sad Lamentation, the Lord grant that we may never see it.  
Appl. 4. Let us not satisfy ourselves that we have built this House for God, for his solemn Worship, where his Name may be recorded. This is not our whole Duty, nay, 'tis but a small part thereof. God expects that we prepare him another Habitation, even our Hearts, 2 Cor. 6.16. Ye are the Temple of the living God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them. And 2 Cor. 3.16. Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? Know ye not? Ye ought to know, full assurance is your Duty, Heb 6.11. Ye are concerned to know. For Rom. 8.9. If any Man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 2 Cor. 13.5. Know ye not that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be Reprobates? This Spiritual House ought to be the end of this material House; charge we ourselves so to improve the records of God's Name here, his Ordinances industriously, faithfully, consciencously, that we may ourselves become an holy Temple, an Habitation of God through the Spirit, else we shall, ( oleum & operam perdere) lose all the cost, charge, and pains we have been at in building this House; but what a blessed account will all our charge turn to, if this be the fruit and consequent thereof. Would it not be a glorious privilege, that the most High God should have a propriety in us as his own? That what Christ hath purchased by his Blood, he might possess by his Spirit? If he enters into us, and dwelleth in us, he will sanctify and beautify his Habitation, he will rule and govern there, he will destroy the Dominion of Sin and Satan, and cast them out, he will repair his Habitation when decayed, will never forsake his House. This is my rest for ever, here will I dwell. Yea, Rom. 8.11. If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your mortal Bodies by his Spirit which dwelleth in you. O then let us hear and answer the Psalmist, Psal. 24.7, 9. Lift up your heads, O ye Gates, and be ye lifted up ye everlasting Doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. It is repeated, because we are backward to hear. inquire, who is this King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord of Host, he is the King of Glory. Can we have a more honourable Inhabitant?  
Quest. How shall we get this Inhabitant into us?  
Answ. 1. Beg this of God, the Spirit is his gift, Heb. 6.4. John. 4.10. with verse 14. acts 2.38. God promiseth his Spirit, Ezek. 36.27. I will put my Spirit within you. Yet addeth verse 37. I will be enquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them. So Luke 11.13. Your Heavenly Father will give the holy Spirit to them that ask him.  
2. Attend seriously and conscientiously on such means as through which God hath promised and doth ordinarily communicate his Spirit, and that is chiefly the Ministry of the Word, which is therefore called the Word of his Grace, Acts 20.32. Word of Life, Phil. 2.16. Salvation itself, Acts 28.28. Hence, Gal. 3.2. Received ye the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by the hearing of Faith? And Acts 10.44. The holy Ghost fell on them that heard the Word. Hear it as the Word of God, and apply it as spoken to thee, 1 Thes. 2.13. 2 Cor. 5.20.  
3. Take heed of shutting the Door of thy Heart against the Spirit, when he offers to enter in, Rev. 3.20. Behold I stand at the door and knock. Christ knocks by his Spirit at the door of our Hearts. Do we not oft experience this, by Convictions, Reproofs, Commands, threatenings, Chastisements, &c. First more gently, then louder; and he calleth as well as knocketh, If any man hear my Voice, &c. as Isa. 30.21. When God saith, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear, say thou as 1 Sam. 3.9, 10. Thus should we open the Door; but if we stop our Far, harden our Heart, quench the Spirit, stifle its motions; What is this but to turn the Holy Ghost out of Doors, and to say to the Almighty, depart from us? which is very dangerous, Prov. 1.24, 25. &c. But if we will comply with these motions, and treat the Spirit of God kindly, and yield to his drawings, then he will come into us and Sup with us, &c. Will dwell with us, within us, and we shall be his Habitation; and we may be assured God will build us an House, as 1 Chr. 17.10. When this Synagogue which ye have built shall be demolished, and the Earthly house of the Tabernacle of our Bodies be dissolved, we shall have a building of God, an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens, 2 Cor. 5.1.  
FINIS.