THE DRUM OF DEVOTION, Striking out an alarum to Prayer, by signs in heaven, and Prodigies on earth. Together with the Perfume of Prayer. In two Sermons, Preached by William Leigh, Bachilor in Divinity, and Pastor of Standish in Lancashire. Luke 21. 28. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your Redemption draweth near. LONDON Printed by Tho: Creed, for Arthur johnson, dwelling in Paul's Churchyard, at the sign of the white Horse. 1613. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE SIR Thomas Parry Knight, one of his majesties most Honourable privy counsel, and chancellor of his highness Duchy of Lancaster, together with the Right virtuous & Religious Lady his wife, grace be multiplied in this world, and glory in a better. Right honourable, IF (as the Psalmist saith) The Lord hath so done his marvelous works that they ought to be had in remembrance, and are much sought out of all such as fear him: pardon me in your honourable patience, while I press with passion such prodigies, as have fallen out of old in former times, and now of late in these modern days of danger wherein we live. All harbingers of Gods Ireful wrath and indignation for man's transgression; And yet I know not how, (which is a wonder of wonders) signs from heaven, are not respected, sins on earth are not repent for. We can discern the face of the sky, like the jews in the Gospel taxed by our Saviour, and thereby we dare prognosticate of the effects of fair or foul weather to come, but we cannot discern, either by signs from heaven, or prodigies on earth, how the Lord is rison out of his place, and threateneth our destruction if we repent not. The meditations hereof, I am bold to put under the shelter of your honour's protection, and pray they may pass your judicious eye, in sort as they are tendered, that is, from the duty and service I owe in many rspects, being otherwise unable to answer the same, but in such passages, of prayer and religious exercises as fall within the compass of my profession. And surely such passages are best suited to yourself, whom religion hath made honourable, and worthy those great and weighty employments you have undergone abroad in foreign parts, and at home within the kingdom, under two religious Princes. Besides, spare me to seek protection at your honour's hands, in regard of the place you bear with us, under God and the king, our worthy Chancellor, the stern of which government you have moderated for many years, with such justice, mixed with mercy, as I dare appeal to your clemency and mild censure, in any thing I have here tendered. And for the latter Sermon, which is the Perfume of prayer, (the Arrow of our deliverance in the days of danger) I trust it shall not be offensive, if I make it proper to the Elect Lady, your religious wife and consort, whose practice of much piety, with prayers and tears (Church-weapons,) have been, are and will be a blessing to your house, and an ornament to the Church of God, whilst Anna-like, she frequents the Temple & house of God, treading upon that holy ground, with no less due, then true devotion. And now the Lord jesus, as he hath matched you together in grace, and given you much honour, with length of days, espouse you to himself in the kingdom of glory, that you may come to the feast, and marriage of the Lamb, crowned with glory, and clad with immortality, ensigns of a better world, whither Christ is gone before and hath traced you the way to follow after: which because you have faithfully done, he will come and fetch you to himself in a time accepted, that where he is there may ye also be. Against which day and blessed hour, the Lord God of heaven prepare you, with your oil and your lamps light, that ye may meet him in the clouds, and so be caught up to reign with him for evermore. Amen. Amen. Your honours most humble, and at command, William Leigh. THE DRUM OF DEVOTION. Striking out an alarum to Prayer, by signs in heaven and prodigies on earth. ACTS II. 19 And I will show wonders in heaven above, & tokens in the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and the vapours of smoke. 20 The Sun shallbe turned into darkness, and the Moon into blood▪ before that great & notable day of the Lord come. 21 And it shallbe, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shallbe saved. Upon the reading of this Scripture prophesied of by joel, applied by Peter, and to be accomplished in the latter days, me thought I heard the Lord speaking from heaven, as he did by another Prophet, and say; Habacuk▪ 2. 2 Write this vision, and make it plain upon Tables, that he may run that readeth it, for the vision is for an appointed time, and at the last it shall speak and not lie, though it tarry, wait, for it shall surely come and not stay. Now, what it is that shall come, and not stay, is the subject of my speech, and the division of my Text. There shall come signs and wonders in the latter days to provoke our repentance; there shall come faith and confidence to all the godly, to assure them of deliverance, and to this end are wonders wrought, as in heaven above, so in the earth beneath, blood and fire, and the vapour of smoke, that the damp of our sins might be put out by the breath of our Saviour, whose presence we may be assured, then presseth near us, when these his wonders are upon us. If Kings of the earth stir, the commons are moved; shall the King of heaven rise either to be judged, or judge the world, and shall the creatures sit still? surely no, for though we his reasonable & religious creatures be silent in our sins, and say nothing, yet shall the senseless creatures grieve and groan after a deliverance, I say deliverance from the bondage of corruption, wherein they are, and from the damp of sin, wherewithal they are pestered. Of these in order as God will. And first of prodigies provoking our repentance: next of the sweet perfume of prayer, assuring us of deliverance, when fear and fire shall fine us for our good; for it shall be, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. What may be the meaning of the spirit in this place, touching the time and manner of these signs, when, and how they should appear to the world's wonder, diverse have diversly divined: 1. Some say the accomplishment should be at the second coming of Christ to judgement, and be harbingers of that dreadful day: 2. Others, for it shall be at the siege and sacking of jerusalem by Titus and Vespatianus: of which opinion the Greek Paraphrase is, which citeth josephus writing thereof: 3. Some say, the accomplishment should be at the death of Christ, and in the day of his passion, when all the world should be passionate for him, but not with him, for he must tread the winepress alone. Lastly, and the least in reputation of judgement are the jews, who even at this day understand it to be meant of the wars of the Israelites, with Gog and Magog, Ezechiel, 38. 39 But that I seem not more opinative than orthodoxal, I may safely say with the precedent words of my Text, that these shall be accomplished in the latter days, which are always taken for the days of Christ, when with the effusion of his blood he will power out the abundance of his spirit upon all flesh, and withal show his wonders from time to time to a senseless world, senseless of it Saviour, so as from the first day of his coming in grace, to the last day of his appearance in glory, wonders shall appear, more or less, to the comfort of the godly, and confusion of the wicked. And surely, it is respective to see, how sparing the Lord is of his judgements, and how plentiful in his mercies, his blood and spirit are powered out in all abundance, his signs & prodigies are but sparingly showed, and pointed at, as harbingers of his wrath to move us to repentance, blood shed, spirit powered out: O bottomless depth of mercy! signs but showed, and prodigies but pointed at, limiting both fear and fire that it fall not upon us before we repent, there was never mercy either met it on earth, or matched it in heaven, and therefore I know not whether I shall more willingly admire his love in spending his mercies upon us, or his undeserved favours in provoking our repentance. David in the person of the faithful, and in a case nothing different, mourneth over Zion with this woeful complaint, Psal. 7 46. We see not our signs, and there is no Prophet left, but Lord how long? Where it is to be observed, that they do not complain, because they have no Captain to lead them in the field; but that they have no Prophet to instruct them in the faith: accounting it a greater calamity to lack the heavenly food, than the earthly fight: nay more, and to come nearer the proper Subject I have in hand, these Saints in Zion sorrow not for that they have no Ensigns to follow on earth: but because they have no signs showed them from heaven, to assure them of the Lords presence to fight their battles, and be propitious, deeming it more disastrous to fail of signs about then of Ensigns below; where prophesy is not, there the people perish: and where neither wonders from heaven wound us to repentance, nor tokens below provoke us to prayer, we are in danger, and die in our security. Are not all things as they were in the beginning: so said a secure world in the days of Peter, music, mirth, and minstrelsy were in their feasts, velvet, silk and sables were on their backs, their coffers were full of silver, gold and pearl, their dishes were filled with dainties, their garners with grain, their stawles with fatlings, and their Orchards with all manner of fruit, their gardens and fields diaperde with all variety of fruits, they felt neither sin within, nor sorrow without, no wonders in heaven above, or tokens in the earth beneath, blood and fire, and the vapour of smoke were uneath seen, and therefore no marvel if they put far away the evil day, and sunk in their security. When Israel was full, than she kicked against the Lord, and her sin increased as the signs decreased, till tokens from the Lord had taught her another discipline, the vapour of smoke blasted her garland, when it was at the greenest, famine, sword, & fiery Serpents, broke her heart to better obedience, and the Lord was merciful upon their repentance. We think it goeth well with us, when our waters keep the course of their wont Channels without inundations, when the North is clear and light without fiery inflammaons, when neither Sun nor Moon laboureth of an Eclipse, we deem the day blessed, when the air is pure, and the winds are still, when the seas are calm, and no thunder breaketh the clouds; yet better it were if thunderclappes from above did break our hearts, and prodigies below ploughed them up for a softer mould, against the day of harvest, when the Lord shall come in the clouds, with his fan in the one hand to winnow all, & fire in the other hand, to purge all; the corn for heaven, and the chaff for hell. Moabs' rest, was Moabs' ruin: and surely, I could never yet see, but the world that flattereth us, is more dangerous than the world that persecuteth us, according to that periculosior mundus blandus quam molestus: It was said of David, by one who said well, factus est securus devictis hostibus praessura caruit tumor excrevit: When he had no fight he fell from his God, and the proud tumour of his lust, the less it was handled, the more it rankled. The doctrine is good for the general, and so I will descend to a more particular use of signs, & it may be to show that he can be merciful without means, the Lord will sometimes be silent, & show no wonders, but pass us like the sweet running waters of Shiloh, that go softly by Zion, but when it pleaseth him for our loud crying sins to come in judgement, then will he swell like the turbulent waters of Iorden that run roughly, them will his signs & wonders be harbingers of his wrath, warning us of his near approach, ready to destroy, if we repent not. But to work a certainty out of such wonders as the Lord hath wrought, either by himself in th● old Testament, or by his Christ in the new: It is to be observed, that ever upon his coming to a work of judgement, or a work of mercy, there hath gone before him a commotion of Creatutes to present his presence; for as I have already said, If when Kings of the earth stir, the people are moved; shall the God of heaven rise from his rest, and the creatures sit still? I say, sit still before his presence, in whose voice there is fear, and in whose face there is fire, Heb. 12. 19 for even our God is a consuming fire. When the Law should be divulged from the holy Mount, the Lord came from Sinai, Deut. 33. 2. and rose up from Seir unto them, and appeared clearly from Mount Paran, and he came with ten thousand of Saints, and at his right hand a fiery Law: the air thundered, the hills trembled, burning, blackness and darkness were his pavilion, and so terrible was the sight which appeared, Heb. 12. 21 that Moses said, I fear and quake: It was a great day, fearful and fiery, because of a fiery Law; what marvel then, if upon the approach of so great a majesty, the earth shook, & the heavens dropped at the presence of this God, Psal. 68 8. even the God of Israel. What should I say more of Israel's God, sith at the brightness of his presence, the red sea was divided, & Iorden was driven back, quails fell from heaven, and the Rock gushed out water springs, the sun stood still in Gibion, and the Moon in the valley of Aielan: Surely, surely, at the presence of this great God, the heavens and the earth shall shake, but the Lord will be the hope of his people. joel. 3. 16. But leave we them elder days, & come we to the later times mentioned in my Text; Nay, leave we that God of Majesty, and come we to the God of mercy, even to the days of Christ, who, when he bowed the heavens, and came down into our flesh, though he fell upon us like a shower of rain upon a fleece of wool in sofnes and in silence, yet the heavens were shaken at the brightness of his presence, when at his birth Angels sung his lullaby, and at his death, all the creatures of God mourned his funerals. To tell of the prodigies that fell out at his birth, and of the wonders that were then seen, I will be the more sparing to speak, because out of holy Writ little can be said thereof; yet if approved histories may speak, & chronicles of elder times, may be admitted for Records of truth, that blessed Babe, even in his birth, by signs and wonders was approved to be the undoubted son of God, the Messias and Saviour of all the world. It cannot be denied which holy Writ averreth, Fulget in terris lux nova de coelo, And another star appeared at his birth, and Angels were heard to publish his praises with glory in heaven, peace on earth, and good will among men; yea, and to attend the presence of that blessed Babe, Kings came from far to offer their gifts, Kings of Arabia and Seha they offered of their purest gold, and sweetest perfume; that which the shepherds heard from heaven keeping their flocks upon the downs of Bethlehem, they preached to men upon this earth, and all these are holy wonders of holy Record, showing signs from heaven upon the approach of that blessed birth, whose breath, as some write, blew open the doors of that great Pantheon at Rome, I mean the Temple of all the Gentile gods, who upon the birth of Christ fell down & broke their necks, as Dagon did before the Ark. I might tell how Devils were daunted at his coming, especially when the time of his appearance drew near, and I will here only mention two Oracles of Apollo concerning this matter, one to a Priest, and the other to a Prince. A Priest of Apollo demanding him of true Religion & of God; Suidas in Thulis. answer was made out of the hollow vault, O unhappy Priest, why dost thou ask me of God, that is the father of all things, and of this most renowned Kings, dear, and only son, and of the spirit that containeth all; Alas, that spirit will enforce me shortly to leave this habitation and place of Oracle. The other Oracle was to Augustus Caesar, Suidas in vita Angusti. even about the very time of Christ's birth, who desirous to know who should reign after him, would needs go to Delphos, and withal learn what should become of things when he was dead; to which Apollo for a great space would make no answer, till Caesar had importuned him from sacrifice to sacrifice, till he came to the great Hecatomb: when as it were enforced, Apollo uttered these strange words unto him; An Hebrew Child that ruleth over the blessed Gods, commandeth me to leave this habitation, and out of hand to get me to Hell; but yet do you depart in silence, from our Altars: Whereupon the Emperor standing aghast, and musing with himself what this answer might be, returned to Rome, Niceph. l. ●. and built there an Altar in the Capitol, Hyri. c. 17. with this inscription, Ara Primogeniti Dei, by both which you may see how Devils were enforced to leave their habitations on earth, upon Christ his dwelling in our flesh; his Incarnation was their execution, and they were enforced to howl & utter out their own misery. When it pleased him to swaddle us in his mercy, and so with this merciful miracle of our saviours birth, went the miraculous mercies of our deliverance from sin, death, and devils: his blessed birth being attended upon, as have said, to the wonder of all the world, with these signs from above, and tokens below, harbingers of his most glorious and royal presence. From the wonders of his birth, it followeth we came to the wonders showed at the death of Christ, when upon the effusion of his blood, there was a commotion of all creatures high and low, in heaven and on earth, all grieved and groaned to see and behold so dolorous a spectacle: The Sun was darkened, and the Moon became bloody, stars fell from heaven, and the earth quaked, rocks burst asunder, and Sheal was shaken; nay more, it was a day of darkness, covering all the land as with a curtain; when heaven was shut from it shine, and the grave was shaken, when that Kingdom of death and darkness was conquered by Christ, whereby his death killed death, and by his life gained us life with immortality: nay more, was it not a wonder to see how the veil of the Temple rend, when men's hearts would not relent: In a word, the foundations of the earth were out of course; and what had that righteous one done? Surely, surely, though the prodigies be passed with the passion, & tract of time hath veiled it from our flesh, that we see it not, yet can it never from a passionate faith, that it feel it not: for to this end hath God given us the spirit of prayer and compassion (as saith another Prophet) that we should weep because of him whom we have pierced, Ezech. 12. but woe is me to tell who is sorry for the afflictions of joseph the iron of sorrow, entered into the soul of our Saviour, & we are senseless of his sufferings, if man will not be moved, thou earth, ye rocks, graves, Sun, Moon, and Stars, plead the cause of the Innocent, and say, what hath the righteous done? Innocent hands whom have ye spoiled? and yet are ye pierced? Innocent heart, against whom hast thou Imagined evil? & yet art thou gored? Innocent mouth, of whom hast thou spoken evil? and yet art thou sponged? gracious face, & countenance, upon whom hast thou lowered, and yet art thou spit upon? head full of dew, and locks with the drops of the night, so wooing us in grace, & now wedding us in glory, how were thy temples crowned with sharp thorns, to the effusion of thy blood? and yet are we senseless of thy suffering? we have sinned, and he hath smarted, the Just for the unjust, and if we will be silent still and say nothing, to clear the innocent, Sun Moon and Stars, earth Rocks and Graves, will plead the Lords quarrel, and say, what hath the righteous done? When the man of God came out of judah unto bethel, 1. King. 13. 2. and jeroboam stood by the Altar to offer Incense, in reprehension of the king's Idolatry, he cried against the Altar, by the commandment of the Lord and said; Altar Altar, thus saith the Lord: Vbi alloquitur aram molliorem card jeroboam, where and when he spoke to the Altar softer than the heart of jeroboam. The heard hearted jews then, and we now, stand by the cross of Christ, as jeroboam did by the Altar at Bethel we are saddened in our sins, and senseless of the sorrows of our Saviour, the earth, stones, & graves, are more passionate than we, they tremble, break and open, at the death of Christ, our flinty hearts are shut from all compassion, and we are a people of no bowels, and because we relent not, even now the tears of the clouds are in their eyes, and they drop down shewres of reign in greater abundance then usual hath been seen, as more passionate than we, either for the sins of our souls, or death of our Saviour. When I am lifted up an high, saith Christ, then will I draw all men after me, and not men only, but earth, Stones and graves shall open unto me, woe is my heart, we are heavier than earth, harder than Rocks, more silent than the graves, we speak not, we pray not, we praise not, we stir not, at the death of our Redeemer, he is lifted up higher than ever he was, even from the cross of shame to the crown of glory, and we are pulled down to all shame and Ignonimy with the weight of our sins; heavier than a talent of lead. If any man say, show us his sufferings, and we will grieve with him, and for him, I answer, Dominus in monte verbum in alto, Christ is upon the mountain of his holiness, his word is exalted here and elsewhere in the land, for what do we preach other then Christ jesus, and him crucified? And doth it draw all men after it? The vail of this Temple, these stones in the pillars, this holy ground and dead graves shall stand up in judgement one day against this people, that they have been more priest to hear, & passionate to feel, of the preaching, piercing and sufferings of jesus Christ, than the men of this generation; for we have piped unto you out of the Gospel, and ye have not danced, we have mourned unto you out of the Law, and ye have not lamented. But when wisdom is justified of her children, then shall ye find it no wisdom, but extreme madness and folly, to have haunted the Taverns, followed your pleasures, profaned the Sabbaths, sold Christ at a lower rate than ever judas did, not for thirty pence, but for a penny shot, a goodly price whereat he is valued, and even then alas, when Christ is in preaching and agonizing over the cup of bitter affliction; Nay, the Queen of the South shall stand up in that great day, so shall the men of Niniveh, and the one shall condemn us, in that they repented more speedily, and the other that she came more readily to hear the wisdom of Solomon, then ever yet we did, to hear the wisdom of Christ. The use is good, of all I have said, to strike a Selah with our souls, in caution of our former & future sinning, procuring prodigies, signs, and wonders, at Christ his death, and our redemption, for if one sin of Achan endangered all the camp, and if one sin of David plagued all Israel, what marvel then, if when all the sins of all the world lay so heavily upon our Christ, and pressed him down to death, there was a commotion of all the creatures of God, to see and behold so dolorous a spectacle: as when the son of God gave his sacred soul, a sacrifice for our sins, who had no shelter but in the grave, for that opened to give him passage, when the vail of the Temple rend, and denied him sanctuary. And now spare we a while to pass from these prodigies at Christ his birth, and death, to the wonders were wrought sithence, even down to our disastrous days, whereby we may gather the near approach of Christ his second coming to judgement. The thought whereof so frighted job in his frailty, job. 14. 13. that he wished the grave might be his cover, till the grief thereof was past. I might tell of that great day, and it was the Lord's day, when he mightily declared himself to be the son of God, by the resurrection from the dead, and what marvel then, if upon the approach of so glorious a presence, Sheal was shaken, graves were opened, and dead bodies did rise with him, and appeared unto many in the holy city, to the great wonder of all the world. And I might tell of that great day, and it was the Lord's day, when at that high feast of pentecost, the holy Ghost appeared in a visible sign, and was powered down from God, and fell upon his Apostles in so great abundance, what marvel I say, if upon the approach of so powerful a spirit, and presence, sounds from heaven, filled their ears like the rushing of a mighty wind, fiery cloven tongues filled their eyes, and mouths, to speak magnalia dei, to all nations under heaven, I say what marvel if fear with an astonishment filled their eyes, ears and hearts, when the Lord was about a work of so great wonder, I leave these holy wonders to the leaves of holy writ, wherein you are daily exercised, and by your holy patience I will follow the stream of some such signs as sithence have fallen out, showing a presence in God prepared to punish, without passion in man to prevent the danger by speedy repentance. Memorable is the destruction of jerusalem by Tytus and Vespasian, 40. years after Christ his painful passion, who prophesied of their ruin, because they repented not, nor did, or would know the day of their visitation, she would acknowledge no presence of the Lord in mercy, and therefore must feel the presence of her God in judgement, yet not without prodigies, signs, and wonders, as harbingers of his wrath; whereof josephus writeth much, Lib. 7. and more than I can now stand to relate, Cap. 12. being prevented with time, but read his book de bello judaico, and there ye shall find▪ how first, a blazing Star was seen in the air like unto a sword hanging over the City, for more than a whole year together, threatening nothing less than fire and desolation, for their bloody sins, the blood of the Prophets, and of that Just one, crying vengeance to God in heaven, against that bloody City. 2. Again, at the feast of unleavened bread in a great assembly of people, and at nine of the clock in the night, a bright light was seen in the Temple shining, and so continued for the space of half an hour, In token, that because they had quenched the holy lamps, and put out the light of the world, therefore the glory of that house should be of no continuance. 3. Thirdly, at the same feast, and in the day time, when the High Priest was offering an Heifer for the Sacrifice, she brought forth a Lamb in the midst of the Temple, In sign, that though they thought they had killed that Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world, and that Moses should still have lived when Christ was dead, yet should they see with their eyes, that the truth should rise out of that type, and when the Heifer was slain, yet the Lamb should live; yea, and that very Temple, stones and all, should turn to Greet, Ne populus redirit ad judaizmum, Lest the people might go back to judaizme. 4. Fourthly, nay yet more the great Brazen door as the Author saith, being at the East end of the Temple, which twenty men could hardly either open or shut at the sixth hour of the night flew open of it own accord, showing a new way and passage of Christ, to a better place and being, even unto a Tabernacle, not made with hands, but pitched in the high heavens, opening of itself, without help of any. 5. Together with these as josephus writeth in the 21. of May, a ghastly spirit, of an unspeakable height and bigness was seen in the city, a pregnant prodigy of their imminent desolation, when Zim & Ohim, Skritchowles, Fairies, & satires, did haunt their houses, and fairest habitations. 6. Chariotes in the air & armed men fight by troops among the clouds appeared throughout all the Land of judea, & marched towards the City with fierce Encounters, all presages of their future fall, by the fury of war which was at their doors, and yet they repented not. 7. Nay more, in a solemn feast, when the Priests were assembled by night, as their manner was to sacrifice, they heard this voice Migremus hinc, migremus hinc, let us get hence, let us get hence: the wonder they heard sell from heaven, enjoining them silence, and a cessation from all legal ceremonies and sacrifices now ended, both Priest, place, and offering, upon the sole sacrifice of Christ, whom they had cruelly murdered, and therefore had need to be gone before the fire of his fierce wrath was kindled against that place, people and kingdom. Lastly, and of all other prodigies to provoke their repentance, upon the Lord's presence & near approach, now ready to strike, it was not the least which fell out in one jesus, the son of Ananias, of the vulgar sort, who fourteen years before the siege, & when all was in quiet, peace, and plenty, this son of Ananias coming to the feast of Tabernacles, when the manner was, that the Princes of the people should do their devotions to God in the Temple, suddenly he cried out to the wonder of them all, A voice from the East; a voice from the West, a voice from the four winds, a voice upon jerusalem, a voice upon the Temple, a voice upon the Bride, and upon the Bridegroom, a voice upon all the people: Thus night & day he ran through every street, crying without thought of food, or regard of any; insomuch as when he was beaten by the mighty (impatient of the prodigy,) I say beaten to the bare bones, he neither shed a tear, or showed himself suppliant, but at every stroke still cried out, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of jerusalem; and thus continuing during all the time of the siege, and especially at their solemn feasts: At last, when the siege was at the hottest, running round about the walls of the City, without fear he uttered the same voice, and said, Woe to jerusalem, was to the people, and woe to myself; At which last woe, Sagitta ictus occumbebat, wounded with an arrow, he fell down dead. The use is good, and for us in the height of this our security, all these wonders and signs, every man interpreted as the story saith, Pro sua libidine, even as best pleased himself, some they neglected, some they corrected, some they contemned, donec patriae exidin, suaque pernieie eorum iniquitas confutata est, till their error with their wickedness was corrected, with the destruction both of their country and of themselves, they killed their Prophets, they believed not Christ, whom when they had slain, and silenced, then was it time for prodigies to speak, and say, O bloody City, I dare give remission upon thy repentance, but I dare give no rest upon thy rebellions. Before the destruction of Troy, as Virgil reporteth, Fatis aperit Cassandra futuris, era Dei jussunec unquam credita Tencris; Cassandra foretold it ruin, but could never be believed; she spoke from the holy Oracle, but was not heard: It's a fearful thing when the Prophets are despised; it's more fearful when their Prophecies are set at nought; but its fearful above all fears, when fire is a falling down from heaven, that is, when we with our Prophets and prophesying prodigies speak, and wonders work, and yet we repent not: so it was with Israel, I pray God it be not so with England. To speak of the signs, wonders and prodigies that shall be seen upon the world's ending; I dare not, I cannot, that fear and fire oppresseth my spirits in the thoughts thereof: Et horret animus meminisse: my very mind and soul melteth at the heat thereof. And therefore having in some weak measure mentioned that dreadful day heretofore in two other Sermons, I leave it under a veil, as Apelles did the imperfect portraiture of Agamemnon, father of Iphigenia, and come a little nearer home, even down to our days. Have we no signs in heaven, or prodigies in earth, to move our repentance? Have not the heavens of late years struck an alarm to provoke our prayers by uncouth signs, never seen before. It is some 40. years ago since that star in the North appeared in Cassi●peia, whereat the Astronomers stood aghast: Surely, it was some star of Bethlehem, conducting us to that Babe of Bethlehem, Non in cunis; sed in Cathedra, not lying swathled in the cratch, but advanced into his chair of high estate, by a second birth of holy doctrine then divulged through out all the world: when the Gospel should beget faith in more abundance, from the East, to the West, by North, and by South. I durst not thus presage of the effect of this star, were I not well warranted by the judgements of two worthy Divines, lights of this age, Du Plessis and Beza: who by that wonder in heaven, are bold to say, that the Lord hath prognosticated a second birth of Christ upon the earth, by the preaching of the Gospel unto all nations under heaven, never to be backed by that wicked man, 2. Thess. 2. 8. whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall abolsh with the brightness of his coming, whereof these wonders in heaven are warnings on earth for all God's children to be prepared with our oil, and our Lamps light to meet him in the clouds, and so to be caught up to reign with him for ●ver. And so to the next. Not many years after, and right ●pposite to that in the North, there appeared an other wonder in heaven, a blazing star both great and fearful, threatening some dangerous event to the Southern parts of the world, which the Affiricans in some measure felt, when the Kings of Barbary and Portugal were slain. The cinders of that star yet kindleth a combustion in the hearts of the two Kings of Morocco and Fez, nor is the flame extinct in Spain, but yet burneth in the breast of Sebastian's blood, against that of Castille. And surely, it may be a warning to all Christian Kings and Princes of the world, to stir up their zeal, and melt their coldness to fight for the christ●●● an faith against the Infidels, whi●… rather than they should live vnco●…trolled, the heavens will threate●… their destruction by sheathing the●●… swords in the blood one of anothe●… Chronicles made it an honourabl● 〈◊〉 fight which christian Kings had and undertook against the Saracens fo●… the holy land. But the holy Sepulchre is now buried in oblivion, an● the Turk hath tied it to his tax and territories, whom while Christian Kings should resist with all their powers, & fight for the christian faith, they fall in faction one against another, and so spend and blend their bloods together. Surely, Domestica mala maiora sunt lacrhymis; these home bred evils among christian kings, are greater than can be expressed with tears; & therefore I leave it in the silence of my soul, and to the prayer of all God's Saints, that their souraignes may join in a holy war against the Heathen. And so I pass ●…o the rest. That Mirabilis annus will never 〈◊〉 forgotten, when the seas, rocks 〈◊〉 shelves fought for England, and ●…ade us so glorious by deliverance, 〈◊〉 the wonder of all Christen●ome. Nay more, I may not be silent, ●…ow this our Goshen, and land of ●●…ht, was suddenly turned into an ●●…yptian darkness, when upon 〈◊〉 dark Saturday, near high noon, at what time usually the Sun giveth out his fairest shine, a sudden darkness was over all the land, and so fearful, as men were at their wits ends, panted in soul, left off all secular care, & betook them to their best prayers, not knowing what would be the Issue, till the Lord again, and ere we thought upon his mercy, removed the judgement. In token of our intolerable neglect of the light of his Gospel, whereof that gloomy day was a sure Sacrament, taxing our dim sight with his sharp censure, that because for a long season, the light had shined in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not: he could if he would remove the candlestick, candle and all, and put out the eye of faith, as he had dearned the light of heaven. Nay more, and above all, I have said to make the prodigy yet of greater wonder; it was observed by many, how during the darkness of the day, all things were hushed, and so still, as leaves stirred not, beasts fed not, birds sung not, but stood aghast as if they had been filled with astonishment. And you know how not long after, this dark day, the light of Israel was put out for a time, Queen Elizabeth died, a dearne day to England, had it not been presently repaired with as clear a light from Scotland, in whose Sunshine now we walk, and sing still with solace the Songs of Zion in our own land. It may be so sudden a darkness presenlty relieved with so great a light, was a Symball or Sacramenr of our Sovereigns, dead and living; two peerless Princes, both relieved with their desired lights; He of England's honour, She of heaven's glory; yea, and we their Subjects delivered from that dark and dangerous night of Queen Elizabeth's death, by the speedy arising, & lustre of that morning star, our Sovereign Lord the King, whose day we pray, may ever dawn. It may be some sharp sight may censure me in the applying of this dark day, to the death of Queen Elizabeth: yet dare I say, and I hope with good warranty, that when godly Kings and Princes die, Quid ni mundus ipss defleret eum principem esse rapiendum per quem duramundi istius remperari solerent; So said Ambrose of the death of Theodosius: Why may not this world deplore such a Prince to be taken away by the violence of death, as by whom the dangers and difficulties thereof have been moderated. Nay, he proceeds further, and nearer the point I aim at: Hoc nobis motus terrarum graves, hoc judges pluviae minabantur, & ultra solitum caligo tenebrosior denunciabat, quod clementissimus Imperator Theodosius recessus esset è terris: This the great Earthquakes we have felt, with the continual rain we have had, and a more palpable darkness than usually we have seen, have denounced and threatened, that Theodosius a most mild and merciful Emperor should depart this world. You are religiously wise to discern of what is said: when Christ suffered, the Sovereign of all Sovereigns, there was a commotion of all the creatures: All were moved to see and behold so dolorous a spectacle. Earth quaked, rocks rived, the Sun was darkened, and the Moon became bloody, Stars fell from Heaven, there was blood, fire, and the vapour of smoke, before that great and notable day of the Lord came. And what was jesus of Nazareth, other than a King, than conquering our enemies for a better world? And what was Theodosius? Queen Elizabeth with all of their ranks and Religion, less than Princes in his stead, to tule in this world: And why may not the creatures of God condole alike upon their dissolutions? Next, it will be remembered whiles Chronicles can speak, how the earth was bound by a prodigious frost, to London's wonder, when Thames was paved for cart and carriage, for horse and man, able in one day to support a weight of wonder, and upon the other dissolved into weak Water. It pierced deep into the bowels of the earth; and to this day, the flowers, herbs, plants and trees, (nay more, man and beast, fish and fowl) have not recovered their decayed strength, but yet feel the effects thereof; all to warn us of our chillerie zeal to God, more cold than the Isickles hanging at our doors: and strange it is, that so many Sunshines as have been since, and showers of God's mercies still powered upon us, should not melt our frozen hearts to more speedy repentance, and provoke us to prayer, with more devotion. I pass by many strange Eclipses, both of Sun and Moon, more frequent and universal than have been of old: darksome sun, bloody Moon, prognostications of our dearne light, and dead life in the Gospel of our Lord jesus Christ: wherein with those glorious lights, the Sun of righteousness seems to be veiled, as with the cloud and curtain of our sins: Alas, and woe is me therefore, we are fallen from our first love, we work not, we shine not as we did in the days of persecution, when fire and faggot fined us for our God. And the late inundations with unseasonable weather in their extremities, as of cold, so of heat, winds and tempests, are nothing less than prodigies of an ireful God, to tell us of the deluge of our sins, Gen. 7. 20. that of the old world, swelling but 15. cubits above the highest hills: this reaching from the nethermost hell to the highest heavens. The cry of our sins, reacheth the heavens, and even there worketh our woe, by turning them this year into brass, to make the land barren, and the next year dissolving them into tears and showers, dropping down for fatness, death and dearth: Quicquid id est timeo, whatsoever it is, I fear our rebellions against God, will make a commotion of all his Creatures against us, both great and small, Elements and all; never so much distempered as of late years, that a man would think (but that God hath promised, That Summer and Winter, Gen. 7. 22 and the seasons, shall vot cease so long as the earth remaineth) the very foundations of the earth to be out of course, and which is more and worse than all I have said, the army of our sins may bring upon us an host of men from a far country, & of a fierce countenance, to tyrannize over us, as it fell out often with the jews: as may be observed in all the course of the scriptures, still as they sinned, God raised up ever & anon one foreign power or other to chastise them, till at length the whole army of their sins joined in one, that is to say, come to the height of all impiety, called from a far country, an other army, even the fierce Romans, who brought upon them a final desolation. And have we no reason to fear the Romanists? having so many of them already in our bosoms, swarming in all places of the land, never more bold & confident then at this day: As I said before, so I say again, quicquid id est timeo, I say no more. And so much out of my love and loyalty to God, my Prince and country, as a watchman, and by virtue of my calling, I may be bold to say, for Res est solliciti plena timoris amor. Love is full of fearfulness. Nor is it least in observance, though last in succession, which fell out in the Northern parts of this kingdom, in April last, and in the parish where I dwell, and have my pasteral charge, witness five hundredth more besides myself, who beheld with astonishment that fearful spectacle. To wit, a dead child, base borne, of lewd parents, having four legs, and four arms, all out of the bulk of one body, with fingers and toes proportionable: which body had two bellies and two navels forward, with one plain back, Buried at Standish Church in Lancastshire April. 17. 1613. without seam or division, it had but one head, and that of a reasonable proportion, with two faces, the one looking forward, and the other backward: either face had two eyes, two ears, a nose & a mouth perfect, nor was there in the several members thereof, any blemish or disproportion save in the moulding, the sex was female, and the mother was delivered but half an hour before this strange birth of a perfect woman child, which was baptised at our Church and yet liveth. To presage what may follow, I cannot, neither dare I, lest I seem disastrous; only let it tax our misshapen lives, so far degenerate from the simplicity of the old world, wherein both virginal and conjugal chastity, were prized with honour, where now with many it is almost dishonourable to be honest. judah with Thamar left his claoke, to verify his lust, but joseph with Potiphers wife lost his cloak to vilify his lust. Many Iudaes, few Joseph's in these adulterous days, wherein men do rather solace themselves, than sorrow for that sin, of which I may say, Lex julia dormis? Nay Lex jehova dormis, O thou law of God? why sleepest thou? The many legs and arms may tax our untolerable pride, and averise, reaching here, and treading there yea in robbing well near all God's creatures, to fill the belly & clothe the back, with costly and garish suits, madding the mind, and making bodies monstrous, might jacob and Rahel rise out of their graves, to behold their children that tread upon them, they could not but deem them of a monstrous birth. Two mouths taking in, & two bellies casting out, tax our insatiable desire of belly cheer & drunkenness, exotic sins, and never but of late, a stain to this English Nation, In philtris philistinorun Samson fell, Et Ebrietas decepit quem Sodoma non decepit, Wine made him sinful, whom Sodom could not deceive. Lastly, two faces may tax the world of palpable hypocrisy, devilish deceit, & damned equivocation: First, in us Protestants whiles we say we believe, and yet do not live the life of the Gospel we profess: wherein we do but Sophisticate with the Lord, & equivocate with his Saints: for what availeth it, a tongue to speak well, with a mental reservation to do evil? Next, it may seem to tax the damnable doctrine of our Romish equivocators, who are double faced to deface all truth, and to destroy all commerce both with God and man, whiles they say, Dafallere, da justum, sanctumque videri, Lord give me to deceive, and yet that I may seem a Saint. Pyrrus & Ulysses, as you may read in Sophocles being sent to Lemno● to take from Philoctetes Hercules his arrows; The two Legates advised, by what means they might best wrest them out of his hands: Ulysses affirmed, it was best to do it by lying and deceit: Pyrrus answered no, I like not of that, because I never used it, but always loved the truth as my father and Ancestors have ever done. Whereunto Ulysses replied, the when he was a young man he was of that mind: but now being old, he had learned by long experience, dearly bought, that the surest way & best art in man's life, is, Fallere & mentiri. Many of this age are of Ulysses mind, especially the jesuited crew of damned equivocators: but true borne Israelites are of Pyrrus spirit: (great is the truth & prevaileth, is the sweet poesy of their profession, both in themselves, friends, & families) yea & they resolve upon the doctrine of their master Christ, that the truth shall make them free: As also Quod non patitur ludum fama, fides, occulus, that eyes honours and oaths, will not be ie stead withal. But to proceed yet further, and make use of the prodigy, it is respective, how when the Prince was dead this birth was borne, It was in the Autumn of the year, when Prince Henry that sweet blossom was blasted, with the damp of our sins, and so as with this fair flower, fell all the flowers of the field, leaves of trees, and Roses in our garden, they would not flourish while Henry was a falling, but fell with him. Woe unto us that ever we sinned, so fair a Prince, so pious and so puissant to fall in a day, was such a stroke as shook the Cedars with the shrubs and might yet well beseem our sack cloth and ashes: but this base birth was borne in the spring following, to tax us, as with the growth of our monstrous sins, so to teach us withal, that since the fair feature of a Prince so well fashioned in his life, was so soon forgotten in his death, the Lord would tempt us, with a prodigious birth for so unvaluable a loss: nor is it strange a sinful people should be so threatened, because it is usual with God to punish our pleasures by contrary passions, as he did the daughters of Zion, Isay. 3. 24. when in steed of sweet savour: he threatened a stink, and in steed ●f a girdle a rent, in steed of brothered hair, baldness: in steed of a stomacher, a girding of sack, and sunburning for beauty: & why not England, in steed of a Royal & religious issue whereof we are unworthy, with a monstruous birth and misshapen brood, of that whore of Babel, whose Romish faith and faction the Lord he knoweth doth daily breed even in the bowels of the kingdom, wherein there are but to many doublefaced, double hearted, and double handed, fawning, still upon us and yet threatening our destruction, both with eye, heart, and hand, could they but gain the opportunity. I speak not this to dismay any, but to charge us of unthankfulness: for yet we are blessed with the hopeful issue of more Princes, and with many drops of much royal blood, and by the grace of God, this strong gable of so many cords, will never be broken if our sins burst it not, yet with this caution, that we repair the ruins of this our late loss, with speedy repentance, and pray withal, that God would establish the remain of our religious hope, for his sons sake, and Zion's safety. O but he hath left a desolate court! I answer, as Ambrose did of Theodotius, Non sunt destituti, quos pietatis sua reliquit haeredes, they are not forsaken or left desolate, whom he hath left heirs and successors of his princely virtues, Religion, puissance, piety, and clemency: the brightness whereof will shine to God's glory, and England's honour, so long as Chronicles can speak, and books be opened. I might here observe as many more have done, what presages fell out upon the fall of this fair flower and peerless Prince, how the two glorious creatures of God, both Sun and moon were troubled, the Sun scarce seen of twenty days before his death, the Moon opposed with a mighty Rainbow, in the dead and and darkness of the night, bended over that house of mourning where he died. I might tell how the air, earth, and clouds, seemed to be sensible of his fall, and to condole his death, whiles strange winds, storms, and tempests, with continually showers, reigns, and floods. Many dark days, Clouds, and foggy mists, were upon us, to warn us of our woe, as formerly hath been observed of Theodotius and Queen Elizabeth, before their deaths. Nor can I pass without passion, what fell out in the summer before Prince Henry died, at Chattam. Where and when a swarm of Bees knit upon the main mast of that Royal ship, he had made for England's defence, tellng us, that ere long Angels food from heaven, more sweet than Honey, or the honey Combe, should fill the soul of this Saint to glory and Immortalie: yea and swarms of Gods holy Angels should come down to fetch him from the main mast of this earthly kingdom above the heaven of heavens, there to reign with God and his Christ for ever. A blessed Bee dedelivered from the sting of sin and death, to the endless glory of life and immortality, never to sin or die any more. Nay more than all I have yet said, Amos. 3. 6. to make good that there is not an evil in the City which the Lord will not revale to some of his Prophets, that Prophet who preached in the morning of his sickness pointed from above at the period of his life, when he uttered that text and truth, job. 14. 1. Man that is borne of a woman, hath but a short time to live, and is full of misery. It was powerful in the preacher, and passionate in the Prince, to bring him to the thoughts of his mortality. And so my dear brethren, to conclude and make use of all these fearful signs and prodigies, let all these together strike out an alarum to prayer and repentance, yea, and to godly sorrow, never to be repent of: by the sweet perfume and privilege whereof, souls are saved, and bodies delivered from threatened dangers. And not bodies only, that is to say, particular persons, but states and kingdoms are preserved from all malice of the creatures, be they never so implacable. Are there monstrous and untimely births? 1. Peter. 1. 23. pray to be regenerate and borne a new, not of mortal seed, but immortal by the word of God, that liveth and endureth for ever. Are there fearful thunderclaps making thy wild heart to shake like the wilderness of Cades? stand in awe and sin not: common with thine own heart in thy chamber, and be still: say withal, it is thou Lord only, that makest me dwell in safety. Are the Son and Moon eclipsed deficient in their light, dark and bloody? The fool changeth like the Moon; So saith Siracides; and thou art changeable o Christian, when by the motion of God's spirit, thou begins to be religious, and by and by falls to be sacrilegious, Sacriligium creatori committitur dum imbecillitas ascribitur creaturae. And therefore it's not the Moon that laboureth for her light, but it's thou that labourest in thy sins, it's thou that changest like the Moon. O if I might say, we fools change like the Moon, for she shortly returns to her fullness: we fools linger our conversation. Illa velociter colligit quod amiserat lumen: tu nec tarde fidem recipis quam negasti: The Moon doth speedily gain again her light, that she hath lost, we fools do hardly in any time recover the faith we have denied. What should I say more: Luna defectum luminis patitur; tu salutis: The Moon suffereth but the loss of her light, thou of thy salvation. Gravior ergo tua quam lunae mutatio. More dangerous therefore by much is the eclipse of thy soul, than is the eclipse either of Sun or Moon. But it may be some man will say: doth neither Sun nor Moon labour in the eclipse, doubtless they do, and that continually. For we cannot deny but they labour with other creatures, as the Apostle saith, and groan with us, also traveling in pain together, unto this present, desiring the day of their deliverance out of the vanity of corruption, wherein they are. Leave off therefore to look upon the defects of those glorious lights, unless thou look upon the stains and blemishes of thy wicked life. For how is it possible for the drunkard in his wine, the wanton in his lust, or the covetous man in his wealth, to look upon the Moon, and see the things that are in heaven, when he knoweth not rightly how to use or discern of things that are on earth? Are there new Stars uncouth and unknown? Do they blaze in the heavens and move thee to wonder, what may be the effect? Say with the Sages, and then art thou wise, vidimus stellam eius in oriente, etc. we have seen his Star in the East, and are come to worship him: him, not it: lest any man might bake cakes, to the Queen of heaven, & adore the creature, for the Creator. Yet follow it till it come to the place where the babe is: then leave it, and offer of thy Gold, Myrrh, & Frankincense: that is, when these signs in heaven, & prodigies on earth, have brought thee to the sense of thy sin, and sight of thy Saviour, offer up the sweet perfume of thy prayer & praise, an evening and morning sacrifice unto thy Christ. Lastly, are there rumours of wars abroad in the world, or wars at home, woes and wonders, even at thy doors, Hannibal ad portas, Is the enemy at thy gates? Are the Barbarians abroad, and is the Turk in arms? Vibrans hastam in Christianos, breathing after Christian blood: desine peccare & civitas non peribit, cease to sin, and the city shall not be sacked. Quid fugis patriam si vis saluus esse tua potius peccata subter fuge si tu peccare deseris victus est inimicus. Why leavest thou thy country? nay rather if thou wouldst be safe, flee from thy sins, if thou leave off sinning the enemy is conquered. And how is he conquered? Non Gladio Golias sed lapide, prosternitur: Goliath was not slain with a sword, but with a stone out of a sling: that is to say, by powerful prayer. For so saith David, thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield, but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts whom thou hast railed upon. And thus you see how the Drum of devotion, in the hand of God's creatures, (though senseless of themselves, yet sensible of our sins) hath strooken an alarum to prayer. Now let us smell to that sweet perfume, and press both the power and privilege thereof to save, out of these words: It shall be that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But because I have wearied you overmuch in this, I will spare both myself and you till a further opportunity. And so let us pray: O eternal God and most merciful father, etc. The end of the first Sermon. THE SECOND Sermon. THE PERFUME OF PRAYER. THE ARROW OF OUR deliverance in the days of danger, when signs from heaven, and Prodigies on earth, are on us to move our repentance. Acts. 2. 21. And it shall be, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. Signs in heaven, and prodigies on earth (as I have told you,) are nothing else but drums of devotion, provoking our prayer, in the sweet perfume whereof, whiles we walk, the Lord will either deliver us from deserved judgements, or give us patience to abide the fiery trial, And therefore pardon me yet further to cease upon your religious ears, and hearts, on God's behalf, and in tender of your saved souls. Pardon me to press you to powerful prayer, thereby to make the Lord propitious, aiding, & assisting, when works of wonder, both above and below, do threaten our destruction. The wicked in that day shall wring their hands, rend their garments, tear their hair, and cry upon the mountains to fall upon them: but the godly shall have boldness in that day, they shall lift up their heads, and know that the day of their redemption draweth near: yea, & as it is in my text, they shall call upon the name of the Lord, and be saved. I say, all such as fear God, shall fear no fire, but call upon the name of the Lord and be saved. Yet so, as the holy Ghost ever gives the gust, power, and spirit of prayer, without which it is no perfume, but a stinch in the nostrils of the Lord of Host. And therefore as you may here see the blessed Apostle clearing the imputation of Drunkenness, both in himself, and the rest his associates, even in the height of that high feast of Penticost, doth in ebriat the souls of God's Saints, with a pregnant prophesy of the abundance of the spirit which should glad the hearts of the godly in the latter days. So then I may safely say, that as the fire is known by it heat, the Sun by it light, and the tree by it fruit, so may you by prayer, know whether the spirit of God be in you or no: As also whether ye shall be saved when prodigies are abroad, wonders in heaven above, and tokens on earth beneath, blood and fire and the vapour of smoke. Much prayer, and much passion, is ever from a powerful spirit, and it argueth a Royal presence of the holy Ghost for even as: in water face answereth face, so in plea of salvation, spirit answereth spirit, God's spirit answereth our spirit, that we are his children, yea and the incense of our prayer; answereth the perfume of his spirit, in which sweet air we are carried and breath unto salvation. Why then it may seem, where there is much prayer, there is much spirit; where there is little prayer, there is little spirit; and where there is no prayer, there is no spirit; and if who soever shall call upon the name of the Lord, hath much spirit, and shall be saved; it will follow that whosoever shall not call upon the name of the Lord, hath no spirit, and shall not be saved. And I cannot but wonder, that sith the vision is for an appointed time, and now is the time (even in the latter days, which are the days of Christ) wherein God hath promised to power out his spirit upon all flesh, even the spirit of grace and compassion, so as every one should weep apart, because of him whom they have pierced; And yet our prayer should be so scanted, and our spirits so dull, as we seem to be dead in our devotion. Surely we dire the Deity with our sins, we quench the spirit, we grieve it; we despite it, and therefore we pray not, because the spirit breathes not. Some few drops of this heavenly fountain distilled upon the patriarchs and Prophets of old, but the conduits of grace were never so fully opened as in these latter days of Christ, when with the effusion of his blood, he vented out the abundance of his spirit, and powered it upon all flesh; and is it not strange them, that men should so live, as if they stood in doubt, whether there be an holy Ghost or no; and in these last days of man's redemption, they should breathe more weakly, and pray more faintly then in the first days of the world's creation; when Abel was slain by Cain; it is of special observation, that until the days of Enoch, men were silent in their devotion, and cared not for their God, for then as it is in the Text, men began to call upon the name of the Lord; Cain's sin had so corrupted Seths' seed & sanctity, that till Enoch repaired the ruins by his holy profession, there was little prayer, little spirit, little piety in that world. It is said of Enoch, that he walked with God, and was no more seen: Gen. 5. 24. It was his special privilege so to be rapt up, else more had followed after, but they wanted his spirit, his prayer, and the familiarity he had with God; it was a bad world, for the spirit breathed not, and therefore men prayed not. When all flesh had corrupted their ways, so as God looked down from heaven, to see if there were any that were good, and there was not one good, no not one; then man's wickedness wallowed in the water of his destruction; Noah prayed, and he was preserved, the rest called not upon the name of the Lord, and therefore perished. I might tell of Abraham, Isaac, jacob, Moses, Samuel and joshua, how plentiful the spirit was in them, and how powerfully they prayed in their days: yet from a sparing spirit which breathed but upon few, besides their own families. So might I speak of all the renowned Kings of Israel, and judah; of inspired Prophets, holy men, and godly Matrons, down to the days of Christ, all of blessed memory, for fervent prayer, and frequent: yea, and from a powerful spirit: yet limited to their peculiars, and as it were confined within the borders of Paleftine, till Siloh came, mean our Christ, the Messias and Saviour of all the world; who, as I have said, with the effusion of his blood, powered out the abundance of his spirit upon all flesh; I say with Zacharie, the spirit of prayer and compassion, that the godly might mourn, because of him whom they had pierced. The Issue is sweet, and the doctrine is Orthodoxal, taken from the practices of the godly in all ages; never was it yet seen or heard, that ever man prayed, preached, or pray said aright, but as the spirit gave him utterance. The holy Ghost is the holy guide of all our holy actions, it is the seasoner of the soul, and the moulder of all our sanctity; it is the mother of piety, and it openeth the door to all true devotion; where it breathes, there is the perfume of Prayer; where it breathes not, there is sin in silence, without cry or calling upon the name of the Lord, that they might be saved. The creatures as it is in Paul, may groan, we may grieve and sigh in ourselves, waiting for the adoption, even the redemption of our bodies, in the salvation of our so ules: but yet it is the spirit that helpeth our frailty, and so, whereas we know not how to pray as we ought, the spirit itself maketh request for us, with signs that cannot be uttered; for he that searcheth the hearts, knoweth what is the meaning of the spirit, and he maketh requests for the Saints, according to the will of God. If the Apostles could have told how to have prayed of themselves, they would never have gone to Christ to have taken out the lesson, nor said, Master, teach us how to pray: but they knew that the holy Ghost and he were all one, and therefore would fetch that sweet perfume from his blessed breath, they knew that grace was powdered in his lips, Ps. 45. 2. because God had blessed him for ever. Well then I say no more but this, to press out this sweet perfume of prayer, to be practised of all with unwearied diligence. 1. That there is an house of prayer, and the Lord hath purged it. 2. There is a day of prayer, and the Lord hath sanctified it. 3. There is an heart for prayer, and the Lord hath possessed it. 4. There is a mouth for prayer, and the Lord hath opened it. 5. There is a precedent for prayer, and the Lord hath enjoined it. 6. There is a premium or reward for prayer, and the Lord hath given it, even salvation to out souls: for so saith the text, It shall be that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, Nay & if none of these were, yet because we are fallen into the last and worst days of the world, wherein sin was never so sinful, deserved judgements, never more doubtful, nor Satan so busy to bestir himself, for that he hath but a short time: It might move us to be no less fervent than frequent in prayer, and the rather, for that wonders, signs, & prodigies, harbingers of God's wrath are upon us, yea Hannibal, ad Portas, judgement is at our doors: Oh, pray, pray, pray, never more need to pray. But it may be ye know not how to pray, and therefore ye ask and have not, because ye ask amiss, ye seek and find not, because ye seek amiss. For every man seeks his own, either of pleasure, or profit, but few the things that are of jesus Christ: and therefore spare me, while I tender to your religious ears and hearts, a model of prayer, where after if you fashion your devotion, ye may be sure, both to have audience, and answer from the Lord. Wherein, first consider the manner how to pray, which is your preparation. Secondly, remove the impediments that hinder prayer, which is your pollution. Thirdly, respect the encouragement, ve have to pray, because of the premium and rich reward which is salvation: for it shall be that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And first for the manner, how must I call, that I may be heard? how must I be prepared that I may make the Lord propitious, and ready to help in time of need? how may I make him to return my prayers into my bosom, while I double my plaints within my breast? I must first call in faith, for without faith it is not possible to please God: faith is the salt of the sacrifice that makes it sautrie: it is the Star guiding, it is the pillar of fire conducting, it is the hand reaching, it is the spirit breathing, a passion from us more sweet than Incense in the nostrils of the Lord of Host. In my faith I have full assurance that I shall be heard, answered, & obtain my desires, for Christ so promised when he cursed the barren tree, and blessed the batsome heart thus, Whatsoever ye desire when ye pray, Mark. 11. 24. believe that ye shall have it, and it shall be done unto you. And james the Son of thunder, Math. 21. 22. before the call of prayer sent out the fire of faith, like lightning, before the clap, when he said, jam. 1. 5. If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, which giveth to all men liberally, and reproacheth no man, and it shall be given him, but let him ask in faith, and waver not, etc. Yea & David was of this consort, Ps. 145. 18. when he sung to the solace of his soul, The Lord is near unto all that call upon him, yea to all that call upon him faithfully. What should I say more, our faith is the victory by which we overcome the world, it is daunted with no difficulties, it passeth for no impossibilities, it extent reacheth far, even from the nethermost hell to the highest heavens. Secondly, 2. as I must call in faith if I will be heard, so must I pray in humility, if I will have answer: for he hath regarded the low degree of his handmaid, it was her virginal voice, and in the humbleness of her heart she was exalted with her God. O it's an excellent virtue, when honour is humbled, and humility is honoured with the title of blessedness, as it was with Mary. judeths' humility pulled down the Assyrian pride, when pouring out her prayer to God for the deliverance of her people, jud. 9 11. she said. Thy power standeth not in the multitude, nor thy might in strong men, but thou O Lord art the help of the humble and little ones. Aron and Hur must hold up Moses hands, lest he might seem to be exalted in his own strength. And when Hester the Queen was to deal with her God by prayer, she put off her princely robes, but when she went to the King's Palace she put them on: to teach us, that we may not deal with God as with men, for he will be better pleased with our poverty then with our pride: with our sackcloth and ashes, then with our silk and sables. ay, and the child will go alone, so said Abraham of his beloved Isaac, I and my misery will go alone, so saith the humbled soul unto his merciful Saviour. No plea with God like the poor man's plea, and to go informa pauperis, is the best plea in heaven, though it be the worst on earth. Thirdly, 3. as the Lord must be called upon in faith and humility, so must he be applied with good zeal and affection: no perfume of prayer but from a passionate heart, a broken and contrite heart God will never despise, his eye and his answer is towards all such, according to that of the prophet, Isay. 66. 2. To him will I look, even to him that is poor and of a lowly troubled spirit, and trembleth at my words. Moses said nothing, and yet he cried unto the Lord, it was a passionate prayer, not from Laodecean lips, but from a fiery spirit, as with Anna when she powered out her soul before the Lord in the day of her barrenness. David's affection in his prayer, was much kindled with the oole of zeal, when he cried unto the Lord, it was more inflamed when he watered his couch with his tears, for the sins of his soul, but most of all battered when he roared within, for afflictions without, Oseah. 12. jacob wept & prayed & fou●d. God at Bethel, Isay. 39 14. So did good Ezekias when he turned him to the wall and wept, saying, Attenuati sunt occuli mei suspicientes in coelum, mine eyes are weary with watching upon my God, and I had fainted in my misery, had he not turned to me in mercy, & said; I have heard thy prayers, 2 King. 20 5. and seen thy tears. What should I say more, Mardoche in the midst of the city, cried to God with a great cry and a bitter, and he was heard in that he desired: so was Christ upon the tree, when grieved in soul, he washed away our stains in blood & tears. It was Augustine's sorrow, when thinking upon his vain passions, he said, flebam Didonem morientem ob amorem Aeneae, I wept for Dido, dying for the love of Aeneas. but alas and woe is me therefore, I seldom wept for my Saviour dying for my sin, nor yet for myself living in my sin. Surely tears and prayers are church weapons, and I may conclude as Ambrose did with Monacha Augustine's Mother, when she wept after his conversion, vade a me ita vivas, fieri non potest ut filius istarum lachrimarum pereat, Go from me thou mournful mother, and do as thou dost, it can never be that a son of all these tears should ever perish So dare I say of the Saints of God, sorrowing & weeping, either for their own sins or others, it can not be that children of all these tears should ever perish. I pass to the fourth, 4. which is from our fervency in prayer, to our frequent and often praying, thereby to importune the Lord, to be propitious, ever wrestling as jacob did, and never leaving him without a blessing. Nor as it is in the Prophet, Isay. 62. 7. giving him no rest till he repair our ruins: for the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent catch it, yea and the Lord is ours by much entreaty, as we are his by many allurements. O that our prayer were with more assiduity, much and continual, as ever needing, & therefore always begging. Eliah when he prayed for rain, sent his servant seven times to see if the Lord would answer his sighs with a shower, 1. King. 18. 43. 44 from the top of Carmell he crouched unto the earth, and put his face between his knees, I say seven times he prayed with passion, and the Lord was propitius, he fainted not, but continued crying, till the clouds dropped down fatness, he prayed with passion, while the king was at his repast, Ahab in his chamber eating, but Eliah upon Carmel praying. job must fast & pray, all the while his children did feast and play, his prayers, his tears, and his sacrifice still went out, as the days of their banqueting went about: job. 1. 5. for so saith the text, thus did job every day: Darius sealed the decree, and Daniel dread it not, but continued his prayer, and was instant with God, three times a day upon his knees with his face towards jerusalem, Dan. 6. 10. and his window open that way: both to stir up himself with the remembrance of God's promise to all such as should pray towards that house. As also that all might see, he dread no danger of the Lion's den, but had rather die ten thonsand deaths than yield to their Idolatry. And surely, Ps. 55. 17 David was much in prayer, when he said, Evening and morning, and at noon day will I pray, & make a noise, and he will heaere me. So Paul, 1. Thes. 5. 17 when he said, in prayer often, it was his daily exercise, and what he practised himself, he preached to others, when he said, pray continually. Fifthly, as our prayers must be often in respect of times: so must they not be limited in regard of places, whether in the great congregation, and in public, or abroad in the field, less public, or in private at home, when thou art shut in thy closet, and art still, there is a christian liberty, and freedom in all, so thy deuction be done without schism, and separation; for thou art not only tied unto the Temple, but thy chamber, field, and garden, the mountains, dales and wilderness, dens, caves, and hollows of the earth are sacred for thy devotions. When jacob prayed against Esau his brother, in that his dangerous peregrination to Bethel, he divided himself from his family, that he might the nearer be joined to God in his prayer, he sent his two wives, and his eleven children over the river jabbocke, with all he had; and when himself was left alone, there wrestled with him a man to the dawning of the day; he alone a Saint, and in secret, wept and prayed, and found God at Bethel. Moses meditations were mental, secret, and silent, when alone he cried to God, and yet said nothing. And David a part made his prayer for the adulterous child, when groveling upon the ground, he grieved and groaned alone; Demissa turba ascendit jesus in montem solus orare. And Peter at joppa prayed apart, when in an higher room he fell into a trance, and prayed so long, Act. 10. 9 10. that he languished, yet saw the vision, and heard the voice that filled his soul with solace; jud. 8. 5. I might tell of judith her Cell, and secret, when she made her turret a temple to pray in. All is but this as Bazil saith, Oratio secretum postulat, Souls would be secret in their sanctity, and from every place, there is a passage to his presence. The temple, the street, the chamber, the orchard, field, and wild desert, the mountain, dales, and wilderness, the dungeon, den, and dunghill, are Sanctuaries to God's Saints, are sacred for all our prayers, praises, and passages, to God in the day of our affliction. Thus have I told you how to pray, that ye may be heard, how to call, that ye may be answered. It now remaineth, we beware of such impediments, lets, and hindrances, as divide betwixt God and us, making the Lord less gracious in heaven, by how much more graceless we are on earth. And so we come to the second part. Now that which letteth first, 2. Part, & first impediment. is the sin of not hearing the word. That wickedness is the first wall, or partition; that beateth back prayer, the arrow of our deliverance: I say, wickedness, as in them that pray, so in them that are prayed for. It must be purged from both, before the Lord will either hear or answer; justified by that of Solomon: Pro. 1. 14. Because I have called & ye refused, I have stretched forth my hand, and none would regard, I will laugh at your destruction, and mock when your fear cometh. Where, and if ye read on, ye shall find, how such impiety stoppeth all passage to God, his care from hearing, his hand from helping, his speech & presence from all relief; Then shall they call me, saith wisdom, but I will not answer, they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me, because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord. A woeful warning to all such, as either neglect, despise, or trample under foot the blood of the covenant, I mean all such as are weary of the word of God, and despise preaching, they shall call, and not be heard; they shall cry, and not be answered; nay, that which is well worse, and yet more dolorous, Pro. 28. 9 He that turneth away, his ear from hearing the Law, even his prayer shall be abominable. Some think they please God if they pray & hear not, they must be warned, they pester not the Lord's presence with so stinking a breath, in stead of more sweet perfume, and while they would make themselves acceptable to God for their much praying, they become not abominable for their seldom hearing; they think to be heard, saith our Saviour, for their much babbling; as and if he should say, correcting that error; nay rather, they shall be answered for their diligent hearing. Secondly, as the ear must be prepared for hearing, A second impediment that our prayers may have passage; so must we lift up pure hands to God, that we may have audience; for a good life must lead a good prayer, according to that, Oratio nisi bona vita praecedat non exauditur: or at least, ●hey must go together without distraction; for as one hath well said, qui rectè novit orare rectê novit vivere, He that can tell how to pray well, knoweth how to live well. God by the Prophet taxeth Israel of great impiety, in that their declining estate, and therefore would endure no entreaty, Isaih 1. 15 etc. but upon their conformity. When you shall stretch out your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you, and though you make many prayers, I will not hear, for your hands are full of blood: but wash you, make you clean, take away the evil of your works from before your eyes, cease to do evil, learn to do well seek judgement, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, and defend the widow: Then come, and let us reason together, saith the Lord, though your sins were as crimson, they shall be white as snow, though they were red like scarlet, they shall be as wool. The same Prophet from the same God, and to the same people, yet further presseth Israel's impiety against the Lord, whereby he seemeth less placable, whilst they charge him of impotency, that he cannot help, and of dullness that he cannot hear: but he yields them a more solid reason of his restraint, even their wickedness, the wall of separation that keeps them asunder: For, Behold saith the Prophet, Isaiah. 59 1. 2. The Lord's hand is not shortened that he cannot save, neither is his ear heavy that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. Sins? and what sins? read the words that follow, sins of Israel then, sins of England now: what marvel then, if we pray and speed no better than Israel then did; for if we blend in sin with Israel, why should we not blend in judgements with them? And these are the sins of Israel and judah, wherewithal they are charged, o that our English judah were well discharged of them. Your hands saith God by the Prophet, are defiled with blood: cruelty is in your ways, your fingers are full of iniquity, they receive bribes, and are nimble to spoil. Your lips speak lies, who can be believed? mel in o'er verba lactis, fell in cord fraus in factis, there is honey in the mouth, but gall in the heart, good words, but evil deeds. 7 No man calleth for justice, truth perisheth in the street, equity cannot enter, and he that refraineth from evil, maketh himself a prey. The Lord saw this, and was displeased with Israel, and yet their greatest vanity was in this, that they thought their day of sinning would ever down, they dread no judgement till it was at their doors, and fell upon them. Thus infected my dear brethren with sin, how should we think not to be afflicted for our sin? how may we expect from the Lord either audience or answer, when we pray? Templum domini will serve no turn in this our temporizing age, if our sins make a separation between God and us. When the cloud of Israel's sin had shadowed the face of the Lord shining, jeremiah laid down his lamentation thus. Lam. 3. 4. Thou hast covered thy face with a cloud, that our prayers should nor pass through. And it was the greatest grief that ever came to Saul's heart, 1. Sam. 28. 15. when he said, sighing, The Lord is departed from me, and answereth me no more. Where if you mark the story, ye shall find how Satan found him, when the Lord had left him, and when the holy Oracle was silent, the hollow vault at Endor spoke: to teach us, that if we will not know there is a God, we shall be taught that there is a devil. Zim and Ohim will haunt our habitations, and the witch at Endor will endanger our dwellings. A third wall of separation stopping the passage of our prayer to God, 3. Impediment. is the sin of unmercifulness towards the poor: for as the wiseman saith, Prou. 21. 13. He that stoppeth his ear at the crying of the poor, he also shall cry and not be heard, unmercifulness towards the poor, was one of the sins of Sodom, and little do I doubt but it stopped the passage of Abraham's prayer, even from fifty to ten merciful men not found in Sodom for whose sake the Lord might spare the rest. The use is good, I pray God the tears of the poor hinder not the prayers of the rich: many are oppressed, & yet are not pitied: we can go to no pulpit, but they press our hearts to provoke our speech, & all I can say is this, take heed, for as ye know, he that would not give a crumb of comfort, was denied a drop of mercy, and not to pity the poor on earth, it cannot but hinder your prayer in heaven. Fourthly, 4. Impediment. if you long after audience, and answer from God, of that ye pray for, you must beware of malice, and pick out that poison: you must forgive, that you may be forgiven: yea and which is yet more, you must pray for your worst enemy, that you may prevail with your best friend. That friend hath well advised thee as a friend, Mark. 11 25. saying, When ye shall stand and pray, forgive, if ye have any thing against any man, that your father also which is in heaven, may forgive you your trespasses. Ye ask saith a brother of the Lord, and yet ye receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye might lay the same out on your pleasures: It's a foolish pleasure on earth, that beats back a prayer from heaven: It's a foolish passage with man, that stops a passage with God. And so for conclusion of this point, be warned, that as you heighten your prayers upward, so you lessen your sins downward. And with Siracides return unto the Lord, Eccl. 17. 23. and forsake thy sins, make thy prayer before his face, and diminish the offence. Lastly, 5. Impediment. as wickedness in ourselves, and proper sins do hinder our prayers: So when sin is in those we pray for, it often stoppeth our passage unto the Lord, and maketh him inexorable. As in jeremiah the Prophet, when the Lord said, I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim: Therefore thou shalt not pray for this people, jeremiah. 7. 16. neither lift up cry or prayer for them, neither entreat me, for I will not hear thee: Seest thou not what they do in the cities of judah, and in the streets of jerusalem? As and if he should say, exemplary sins, shall have exemplary judgements, for I will power my wrath upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground: it shall burn o jeremiah, and thy prayer shall not quench it. Nay, and as it is in an other Prophet, Ezech. 14. 14. If these three men, Noah, Daniel, and job, were among them, they should not but deliver their own souls by their righteousness saith the Lord God. All I have said is but this, if our prayers be not heard, it is quia petimus 1. indigné 2. indigna, 3 pro indignis: either the thing is unlawful we pray for, or we are unworthy, who pray, or they for whom we do pray. The mother of zebedees children, had not her boon at the hands of Christ, for that her demand was not lawful. Esau had not that he prayed for, because he was unworthy. And if you pour out ten thousand prayers, either for the devils or damned, ye shall not be heard, for their sins are gone before them, to their just condemnation. And here spare me a while, and I hope it shall not be unprofitable to the further sanctifying both of your will and skill in prayer, if I lay down certain Rules whereby you may know how diversly the Lord doth answer the requests of his Saints, & yet all to their endless comfort, if they can but be patient of his answers. And first observe, and you shall find it to be true, that God heareth some, ad voluntatem & non ad utilitatem, he answereth their pleasure, but not their profit, what they would have, but not what they should have. As when the people lusted after flesh in the wilderness, and loathed Manna, God gave them their fill, yet while the flesh was between their teeth, Numb. 11 10. 30. & before it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, & the Lord smote the people with an exceeding great plague, in so much as the place of their burial is called unto this day, 1. Sam. 8. 6. 7. kibroth hattavah, graves of lust. Again, it was their desire to have a king like other nations, Deut. 17. 14. whereunto the Lord yielded, yet told them it had been better for them if they had not forsaken him, but kept him still their guidon. The use is good against all such as pray for nothing but for the pleasures, and profits of this world, beauty, wealth, and plodding wit, which oftentimes God putteth into their hands, like a sword into the hands of a lunatic man, wherewithal he endangereth himself, and so, the Lord answereth all such, ad voluntatem & non ad utilitatem. The second rule is religious too, & much to the solace of God's Saints, who often heareth, and answereth, ad utilitatem non advoluntatem, answereth I say our profit, and not our pleasure. As he did Paul, who praying thrice, that Satan's buffetings, which were the pricks of the flesh, might be taken from him: Christ answered, no Paul not so: 2. Cor. 12. 7. my grace is sufficient for thee, and my power is made perfect through thy weakness. And this made the Saints of God to rejoice in nothing more than in the cross of Christ, where by the world was crucified unto them, and they unto the world, they rejoiced in their infirmities, anguish, and persecutions, though buffetings of Satan, and pricks of the flesh, yet purging fire fining them for their God, whiles they were resolved that all the afflictions in this world, were never worthy of that glory which should be revealed, and all such the Lord doth answer, ad utilitatem non ad voluntatem, whiles they seem to shrink under the burden of their afflictions. The third rule is not irregular with God, who for the most part doth answer all his Elect children, ad voluntatem & ad utilitatem, making them glorious by deliverance in the days of their afflictions, answering their pleasure with their profit, and what they should, with what they would, as he did the Ninivites, when he delivered them from their destruction. The woman of Sirophenishia from her devil, the children from the fiery furnance, Lazarus from the grave, and Christ from his cross, yea and all his Elect from death and doom, when they shall meet him in the clouds, and be caught up to reign with him for evermore, with palms in their hands, in sign of victory, and crowns upon their heads, in sign of glory. Lastly, and not the least to our comfort, read and you shall find, how oftentimes and for the most part, the Lord doth answer us according to that we should ask, and not according to that we do ask: as he did jacob, who sought a leader to Haram, and God showed him a ladder to heaven. And Saul who sought his father's asses, & found a kingdom: the Maries sought Christ dead, but they found him risen, And that Saint at Sychar sought but puddle water at Jacob's well, but she found, & went away with the water of life. Surely the rule is true, uberior gracia quam precatio, God's grace is more abounding then either we can desire or deserve, the thief upon the cross craved but a memento when Christ should come into his kingdom, and he had a promise even that day, of a perpetuity in paradise. To justify that I have said, Vberior gracia quam precatio, and therefore pray with good hope to be heard, be your prayers never so many, powerful, or piercing, yet shall ye find his grace will be evermore abounding, brimful, and flowing over. I may not be long, and therefore pass to the last part of the text, which is the reward, crown, and diadem of our prayer, bossed with many blessings from the Lord, more precious than the Carbuncle, Topas, or chrysolite. And seldom have you heard or read of a powerful prayer from an holy heart, without remuneration from the Lord: for as you here see, invocation is crowned with salvation. It shall be, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved: who ever prayed and found not the Lord propitious? who ever made entreaty unto his God, and had not a blessing returned into his bosom? It is said of Augustus Caesar, that never suitor departed from him discontented: & that Titus Suetonius thought the day lost wherein he did not good to some. A milder & more merciful Saviour is here then all the Caesars clapped in one, even our good God, called Deus a dando, God in creating, but good in giving, for who hath gone from him discontented? who hath trusted in him and been deceived? Come unto me all ye that travel, and be heavy loaden, & I will ease you: it is his gracious call, Be of good comfort my little flock, it is your father's will to give you a kingdom, it is his glorious crown, Ask & ye shall have, seek & ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you, it is his irrevocable promise, at which the gates of heaven fly open, and against which the gates of hell shall never prevail: only wrestle with God for a blessing, till you have wearied both God and yourselves. The advertisement is good from the prophet, Isay. 62. 6. Ye that are mindful of the Lord keep not silence, and give him no rest till he have repaired your ruins, and set up jerusalem the joy of the world. But what may be the different blessings we receive from God by our prayer? and whereunto the Lord hath tied himself by promise for the performance, not for our merit, but for his mercy's sake? Surely they are many, and they are Remarkable, if you please to rank them thus. First, by the suffrage of prayer, all the creatures of God are sanctified to our use: so saith the blessed Apostle, 1. Tim. 4. 4. 5. Every creature of God is good, and nothing ●ought to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. Stamped with the word of God upon the one side, and with the perfume of prayer upon the other, then is it a Shikel for the sanctuary. Our meat, our drink, our corn, our cattle, our clothes, and lodging, our wives, children, and families, our labours in our vocations, our King and kingdom, our Church and Commonwealth, nay our lives and deaths must be sanctified with our prayer, otherwise though the creatures be good in themselves, yet are we profane in the usage. And therefore our Saviour when he had performed all to his death and passion, yet shutteth it up with this powerful prayer, Father now the hour is come, glorify thy Son. As and if he should have said, I have prayed, I have preached, I have wached, I have fasted, I have cured maladies, and saved souls, I have given life, and forgiven sins, I have done my father's business on earth, now let me be glorified in heaven, I pray for that which is past, that it may be sanctified, and I pray for that which is to come, that it may be glorified, joh. 17. 1. Father now the hour is come glorify thy Son, etc. jerom, in his book, de laudibus Bethlem, doth much commend the Christian carriage of that place and people; in the usage of God's gifts and creatures, even from the Prince in his Palace, to the Ploughman in the field. Of whom he saith, Arator ad Stivam semper aliquid cantat davidieum, The Ploughman with his stilt in his hand, doth still folace his soul with some psalm of David. And surely God speed the plough were no bad prayer, when the labourer taketh the stilt in his hand, but I fear it is done of few: And if all our manual trades were sanctified first and last every day with prayer, and praises for a blessing, they could not but prosper much better. There is much poverty in the world, and it is no marvel, for that men work not, yea but many work and yet are never the richer: that's possible too, for that men pray not, they spend their thrift in drinking, when they should bestow their time in praying: the creature is not sanctified with the word of God and prayer. In the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy Ghost, is neither fond begninng, nor foolish ending of all thy labours, blessed work so begun, blessed work so done, so it be said of conscience, and not of course, without hypocrisy in the heart, or superstition in the thought: surely such perfume is like the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed, its sweet as balm, and therefore break it: its fragrant as Myrrh, and therefore use it, Cant. 5. 5. ever dropping from the binges of thy heart, lips, and hands. A second blessing that cometh by prayer, is the forgiveness of sins, for by the suffrage of prayer sins are pardoned, covered & concealed: As may appear by Moses his entreaty with God for the people, Exod. 3. 32. either to forgive the trespass Israel had committed, or else to raze him out of the book of life: he had his prayer, and the people were both spared, and pardoned. Blood and prayer shall reconcile God and the people: for as the text saith, Levi. 4. 31. the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him: Father forgive them, for they wot not what they do. It was Christ his prayer upon the tree, and he prevailed. And Demitte nobis debita nostra, is our daily prayer, and who doubteth of indulgence? Satan winnowed, Christ prayed, and Peter's faith failed not. Nay that I may shut up this assurance, and close with your religious ears and hearts, who hear me this day. This man saith Paul, Heb. 7. 24. 25. because he endureth ever, hath an eternal priesthood, wherefore he is also able perfectly to save them that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Mark I pray you, how grace aboundeth in our Christ, a man of our mould and misery, ergo, merciful to save. A God of might and majesty, ergo, able to save, yet not with shadows and Iterations like Aaron, which argued his imperfection, but once sacrificed for all, which made him an absolute Saviour. And all this without limitation, either of time, place, time, or person to all such as go to God by him. Thirdly, as by the power of prayer, the evil of sinning is taken away, and forgiven, so likewise the evil of punishment is often pardoned and & quite forgotten. When Abimelech had taken from Abraham his wife, and so endangered his state, life, and kingdom, God by night warned him of the wickedness by a dream, and said, Gen. 20. 3. 7. Behold thou art but dead, because of the woman which thou hast taken, for she is a man's wife, now then deliver the man his wife again, for he is a Prophet, and he shall pray for thee that thou mayst live: and if thou deliver her not again, be sure that thou shalt die the death, thou and all that thou hast. You see the sin, you see the danger, and withal, you see the means of deliverance from both. Even Abraham's prayer powerful with God, to stay the stroke of death from the king, and barronnes from every womb of the house of Abimalech. When Sodom for her sinning, was to feel the judgement of God punishing, Let prayed that he might shift to Zoar, O let me escape thither, is it not a little one, and my soul shall live? to whom God answered, Behold I have received thy request: also concerning this thing, that I will not overthrow this city, for which thou hast spoken, hast thee, save thee therefore, for I can do nothing till thou come thither. Where mark I pray you, how prayer openeth the fountain of grace, and beateth back the ocean of God's judgements, it mouldeth him to be merciful even to Sodom, till Lot be safe in Zoar, for so he saith, I can do nothing till thou come thither: thy prayer hath manacled my hands, I cannot strike till thou be gone: hast thee, save thee, escape thy life, fear and fire are a falling, see thou saint not, either in thy powerful prayer, or speedy passage. Corath, Datham, and Abiram, with a rout of Rebels more, stand up against Moses & Aaron, Numb. 16. 41. etc. saying, Ye ha●e killed the people of the Lord: God saw the sin and hastened on the judgement, when he said unto Moses, get you up from among this congregation, for I will consume them quickly. Then as the text saith, they fell upon their faces. And Moses said unto Aaron, Take the censor, put in fire of the Altar, cast on Incense, and go quickly to the congregation, and make an atonement for them, for there is wrath gone out from the Lord, the plague is begun. Then Aaron took as Moses commanded him, and ran into the midst of the congregation, and behold the plague was begun, but when he stood between the dead and them that were alive, the plague was stayed. O blessed Incense, blessed prayer, blessed station, O blessed devotion, so readily running, to repair the ruins of a dying, & decaying people, where fourteen thousand, and seven hundred died, besides them that died in the conspiracy of Chora: yet as you may there see by the suffrage of prayer, the rest were saved, and the plague was stayed. Elephas as it is in job, urged much the power of prayer, to deliver from punishment, job. 5. 1. when he said to job, The Papists abuse this place to make good their prayer to Saints, which is spoken not of the dead but of the living Saints. call now if any will answer thee, and to which of the Saints wilt thou turn? As and if he should say, to aggravate his grief the more, O job of all thy miseries this is not the least, that neither thy God will answer thee, nor the Saints will pray for thee, whither wilt thou turn thee upon thy tossed bed? if there be no passage for prayer in the day of thine affliction, whither wilt thou turn thee upon thy tossed bed? Let Paul conclude for all, to make good the power of prayer in this particular of putting off the punishment of sin, with deliverance from danger, when he pressed the people to pray for him. 1. That he might be delivered from the disobedient in judea. 2. Rom. 15. 30. 31. etc. That his service in the church might be accepted of the Saints. 3. That he might always come to them with joy. 4. And that he together with them might be refreshed with the shower of all heavenly comforts. A needful prayer my dear brethren, from you to God for us, who are your Pastors, that we may feed you without peril, that our service may be accepted, that our presence may be with joy. And that drops of grace distilling from above, may daily refresh our more than dying and decaying plants. And here I might seasonably press with Paul's peril, Peter's deliverance out of prison by the prayers of the Saints. Who when he was in durance, and imprisoned by Herod the king, Act. 12. 5. 6. etc. earnest prayer was made of the church unto God for him, and prevailed, for even there (as you may read) the prayers of the Church, overturned the counsel of tyrants, obtained the presence of Angels, broke the prison, unloosed the chains, put Satan to flight, and preserved the Church, yea and Peter too, when by the prayer of men, and conduct of an Angel, he passed away without peril, and was delivered out of the hand of Herod, and from all waiting for of the people of the jews. Fourthly, and lastly, as prayer is the arrow of our deliverance, ●oth from the evil of sinning, and the evil of punishing, so is it piercing in procuring all good things for us, from the hands of God. For by it, the barren womb is made batsome, Gen. 25. as in Sarah, Annah, the Shunamit, 1. Sam. 1. and in Elizabeth, of all which it fell out, 2. King. 4. as it did with Zacharie, Luk. 113. when the Angel said, fear not Zacharie, for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth, shall bear thee a son, etc. By it the enemy is conquered, as in Moses against Amalecke, of whom it is said, Exod. 17. plus fecit oratio mosis orando, quam Iosue pugnando, 1. Sam. 7. Moses prayer was more piercing than josua's pike. 2. Chron. 20. 6. In Samuel against the Philistimes. In jehosophat against Moab and Ammon. In judeth against Holofernes. And in David against that Gyon of Gath, when he said, what is this proud Philistim that he should revile the Host of the living God, Thou comest to me with a sword, 1. Sam. 17. 45. and with a spear, and with a shield, but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the host of Israel, whom thou hast railed upon. It would be too long to tell of all, but this is the sum, by the power of prayer, devils are dispossessed, the dead are raised, maladies are cured, eyes are opened, tongues are untied, and sinews are loosed, prayer fatched done fire from heaven, and it stayed the sun in Gibion, it openeth heaven, it shutteth hell, and shaketh all the powers of darkness, it conquereth God, it quieteth the conscience, it sacketh sin, and to conclude, as it is in my text, it saveth souls, for it shall be, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. These words are three times mentioned in the scriptures of God, joel. 2. 23. to make us the more attentive, Rom. 10. 13. they are riveted with a stiddy hand, & a treble stroke, to make us the more apprehensive of the Lords mercies, they are driven in like holy nails of the holy Sanctuary, whereon t● hang our salvation on the days of trial, when there shall be signs in the heavens above, & tokens in the earth beneath: blood and fire and the vapour of smoke: than whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved And such privilege have all his Saints, but the devils & damned, shall either be silent & dumb in the day of danger, or if they speak, they shall call to the mountains to fall upon them. The Lord God of spirits prepare us ever to pray, and by that way and means give us passage into the presence of our good God, there to have both audience, and answer, for his sons sake, who hath saved us from our sins, by shedding of his most precious blood, thereby to redeem the world of his Elect. To that God and Christ, with the power of the holy Ghost, proceeding from both, be all honour and glory, this day and ever. Amen. Amen. FINIS.