LXXX sermons preached at the parish-church of St. Mary Magdalene Milk-street, London whereof nine of them not till now published / by the late eminent and learned divine Anthony Farindon ... ; in two volumes, with a large table to both.

The Two and Twentieth SERMON. (Book 22)

PART I.

PSAL. CXXII. 1.

I was glad when they said unto me, Let us (or, We will) go into the house of the Lord.

WHether this Psalm of degrees, or excellent Song, as some term it, were a Psalm of David, or to David, or delivered to the Masters of Musick by the hands of David; Whether it was penned by him when the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem, and there seated as in its certain place, which be∣fore had been carried up and down, now to this place, anon to another, as several occasions and the exigence of the times required; and so was fitted for the people pub∣lickly to sing when they should go up to their solemn Feasts; Or whe∣ther it was penned by a prophetick spirit for those Jews who being re∣turned out of Babylon should repair Jerusalem, and build the second Temple; Whether this Psalm were fitted for the Tabernacle, or for the first Temple, or for the second, it is not much material to enquire, Nor will it advantage to make diligent search where there is not so much light as that of conjecture to direct us. The Psalm might well serve for all, for the Tabernacle, for the first Temple, for the second: And almost all agree that it was composed by David: And he beginneth it as a Song should begin; with LAETATUS SUM, I was glad, or I rejoyced; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, so the Septuagint; Jucundatus sum, so St. Augustine: I was merry at heart, as those who meet at a costly banquet. I may entitle this Psalm David's Delight, or his Triumph, or his Jubilee. Now when the heart is glad, when the countenance shineth, when the tongue is loud, we may well think there is something more then ordinary presented to the sight. For Joy, when it is visible in the face, when it is set to Musick, is a mani∣fest indication and a loud proclamation, that there is somewhat without that hath either flattered our sense or complied with our reason. The effect doth in some sort demonstrate the cause: And the cause of Joy is the union and presence of some good. And as the cause is, such is the effect; as the object is, such is the joy. If our joy spring from the earth, it is of the same nature, earthy, muddy, gross, unclean:* 1.1 The Wise-man calleth it madness. But if it be from heaven, and those things which are above, it is bright, serene and clear. What is it then that maketh Da∣vid

so glad that he thus committeth his joy to a Song, and publisheth it to the world? The next words tell us: Something that he heard; the voice of a company earnest in expectation, and loud in expression, hasting and even flying to the service of God, and to the place where his honour dwelleth: They said unto me, We will go into the house of the Lord. Now, if ye look upon the object so divine, and consider David, a man after God's own heart, ye cannot wonder to find him awakening his harp and viol, and tuning his instrument of ten strings, to hear him chant∣ing his Laetatus sum, and to see him even transported and ravished with joy. So now you have the parts of the Text: 1. David's Delight; 2. the Object, or Reason of it. In the Object there are circumstances e∣nough to raise his joy to the highest note. First, a Company, either a Tribe, or many of, or all, the people; They said unto me. So in another place he speaketh of walking to the house of God in company.* 1.2 A glorious sight, a representation of heaven it self, of all the Angels crying aloud, the Seraphim to the Cherubim, and the Cherubim echoing back again to the Seraphim, Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth. Secondly, their Resolution to serve the Lord; dixerunt, they said it: And to say in Scripture is to Resolve. We will go, is either a Lie, or Resolution. Thirdly, their Agreement and joynt Consent; We: This is as a Circle, and taketh in all within its compass. If there be any dissenting, unwil∣ling person, he is not within this Circumference, he is none of the We. A Turk, a Jew, and a Christian cannot say, We will serve the Lord: and the Schismatick or Separatist shutteth himself out of the house ••f the Lord. We is a bond of peace, keepeth us at unity, and maketh many as one. Fourthly, their Chearfulness and Alacrity. They speak like men going out of a dungeon into the light, as those who had been long absent from what they loved, and were now approching unto it, and in fair hope to enjoy what they most earnestly desired: We will go; We will make haste, and delay no longer. Ipsa festinatio tarda est; Speed it self is but slow-paced. We cannot be there soon enough. Fifthly and lastly, the Place where they will serve God; not one of their own chusing; not the Groves, or Hills, or High-places; no Oratory which malice, or pride, or faction had erected; but a place appointed and set apart by God himself: Servient Domino in domo sua, They will serve the Lord in his own house. They said unto me, We will go into the house of the Lord. Thus much the Object affordeth us, enough to fill such an heart as Da∣vid's with joy. Now let us look upon the Psalmist in his garment of joy: And we may observe, First, the nature of his Joy: It was as refi∣ned as spiritual, as heavenly as its object. What they said was holy lan∣guage; and his Joy was true and solid, the breathing and work of the Spirit of truth. Secondly, the Publication of it. He could not contein himself,* 1.3 but, his heart being hot within him, he spake with his tongue; and, not content with that, he conveyed his speech into a song: He said it, he sung it, he committed it to song, that the people being met together at Jerusalem might sing it in the house Lord. I was glad when they said un∣to me, We will go into the house of the Lord. These are the Parts: and of these we shall speak in order.

We begin with the Object: for in nature that is first. We cannot tell what a mans Joy is till we see what raised it. The Object therefore of David's joy must be first handled. Therein the first circumstance is, That there were many, a Company, that resolved to go into the house of the Lord.* 1.4 The tribes go up, saith the Psalmist, even the tribes of the Lord, unto the Testimony of Israel; that is, the people of Israel go up according to the covenant made with Israel.* 1.5 And The Lord gave the word, great

was the company of those that published it. He speaketh as if there were some virtue in Number. And so his son Solomon, Two (and if two,* 1.6 then certainly many) are better then one. Yet such an imputation lieth upon the Many, that peradventure I might well have omitted this circumstance. Non tam bene cum rebus humanis agitur ut plures sint meliores; The world was never yet so happy, that the most should be best.* 1.7 Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, saith St. Paul. And, Many are called, saith Christ, but few are chosen.* 1.8 It was the Many that resisted the holy Ghost, that stoned the Prophets, that persecuted the Apostles: It is the Many that now divide the Church, that disturbe and shake the common-wealth, that work that desolation on the earth. What security, nay what religion, can there be, when our estates and our lives, when Truth it self must be held by Votes, must rise or fall by most voices? Christus violentiâ suffragiorum in crucem datus, saith Tertullian. This is it which layeth the cross upon us, which nailed the Son of God himself to the Cross. I did not well to mention it. For indeed it is the errour not of the Church of Rome alone, but of all others also, to judge of the Church by the multitude of Professours, as the Turk doth of an army by its num∣ber, nec aestimare, sed numerare, not to weigh and consider what the pro∣fessours are but to number them: And they have made Multitude a note of the true Church: As if to shew you the Sun-rising, I should point to the West; or, where there are but a few, cry out, Behold, a troup cometh,* 1.9 Our Saviour saith there are few that shall be saved. But say they, if ye will know the true Church indeed, behold the multitudes and nations, behold the many that joyn with her, that fall down and worship her. Every fa∣ction striveth to improve it self: Every Heretick would gain what prose∣lytes he can: Every Church would stretch forth the curtains of her ha∣bitation: All would confirm themselves in their errour by the multitude of those who are taken in it. Cùm error singulorum fecerit publicum, erro∣rem singulorum facit publicus. First the errour of some few spreadeth it self, and is made publick; and then being made publick and commend∣ed by the Many, it soon taketh in and involveth the rest. That there are many, then, is but a weak motive to work a good opinion in us of those we behold, or to fulfil our joy. I need not stand to confute this Tenent any further: Your very eye will discover the falshood of it. For take away the Wolves in Sheeps clothing; take away Hereticks and Schismaticks; take away those sons of Belial, open profaners; take away the proud, the disobedient, the traitour, the lukewarm professour, the formalist; take away those who profess Religion onely for companies sake, and so because there are many so; and then tell me what is become of the Many, or how many there be, how many to raise a Prophets joy. Certainly, there is not, there cannot be, any force or efficacy in number: nor hath it any influence at all to make evil good, or an hypocrite a saint. Devotion is the same in millions and in one single man. Etiam tres Eccle∣siam faciunt, saith Tertullian, Even three make up a Church. Yea, some have thought that at the passion of Christ the Church was in the Virgin Mary alone. Thus it is in reality, and in respect of the truth: But in respect of us (whose Charity must give sentence, and not our Faith; who have in∣deed a Tribunal within in us, but from thence can judge none but our selves) many professours, a multitude of those who come to serve God, is a glorious sight, a representation of heaven it self. The tribes come up,* 1.10 e¦ven the tribes of Lord, saith David. To him all Gods people were holy and every one that came up was a true professour. Faith maketh up a Church as Gideon did his army, taketh not up all she meeteth,* 1.11 but out of many thousands selecteth a band of three hundred and no more: But

Charity seeth not any which may not fight and conquer. To Faith Christs flock is a little flock:* 1.12 but Charity seeth none that call upon the name of God which may not be gathered into his fold. If they be the tribes of the Lord, if they come up, David will rejoyce: and the encrease of the number will encrease his joy: The more come up, the gladder will he be.* 1.13 In the multitude of people is the honour of a King: And in the multitude of professours is his joy. And this God himself requireth; not onely modestum fidei, our modest and secret tetirements, our private de∣votions in our chamber. Yet even there the light of his countenance shineth upon us. He whose providence reacheth over all, findeth us out even in the wilderness, in the closest grot or cave. He that heareth all men, heareth every man. He went out with Isaac intoa 1.14 the field, when he prayed; he heard Job from the dung-hill; he was with David when heb 1.15 washed his bed with his tears, with Jonah inc 1.16 the whales belly, with Daniel whend 1.17 he kneeled upon his knees in his chamber three times a day: And though thou prayest in secretd 1.18 he that seeth in secret will reward thee openly.e 1.19 f 1.20 The Lord our God is one; and he careth for every one. And now from this the argument will hold well, That if God careth for eve∣ry one, he careth for many, and is better pleased to see many professours then one, and to hear many call upon him then one alone; That he is best pleased when many sons are brought unto glory.* 1.21 One is no number, yet One may make a Church. If in that great apostasie and decay of religion,* 1.22 1 Kings 19. there had been none but Elijah jealous for the Lord God of Hosts, Elijah had been the Church. Yet the single service of one is not so powerful and prevailing with God as the joynt service of many. He is willing to seal as many thousands as will come in:* 1.23 And the more come in, the more willing he is to seal them. He heareth every man: but where men meet together,* 1.24 he is in the midst of them. Quasi manu factâ, like an army, they besiege him, and in a most accepted way invade the Majesty of heaven. Such violence is very welcome to God; to this he boweth his ears, and is most willing to yield. For yield he must to his own glory: and his glory shineth brighter in many then in one. If his image in one single person delight him, how greatly will it delight him to see it in many! If he favourably look on one poor beads-man, on one peni∣tent, upon his knees, how brightly will he cause his face to shine upon a thousand! Triumphus Dei, passio martyris; When one Martyr suffereth, God triumpheth. And if he hath a triumph in one Martyr, what hath he in an army? This made the holy Fathers oft times break out into expressions of joy and congratulation, when they saw the people flocking and throng∣ing into the Church. S. Chrysostome falleth into a large commendation of Fear, & maketh a kind of panegyrick on Persecution it self, because it had made the people leave the theatres, and driven them in sholes to Gods house. S. Hierome telleth us that in the primitive times the Hallelujah of the Congregations was like the noise of many waters, and their Amen like a clap of Thunder. To conclude this; Though there be no virtue in number; though the proverb, Plures mali, be very true, that the most are the worst; though Heraclitus said well, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that One may be better then thirty thousand, and an innumerable company be of no account; though, as Chrysostome saith, one Elijah, or one David, put in the scales against a world of ungodly men, would far outweigh them all; yet, as the Apostle exhorteth, let not us forsake 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the as∣sembling of our selves together,* 1.25 but let us make up a company, make the Ma∣ny as many as we can. Evil beginneth haply in one, and then spreadeth in many: And as many may become evil, so many may be made good. We see here many, the tribes, the people, resolve on that which was very good,

and so made David glad. They said, We will go into the house of the Lord. And so we are fallen upon

2. Their Resolution; DIXERUNT, They said. To Say in Scripture is to Resolve. I said, I will take heed to my wayes, that is,* 1.26 I resolved to set a watch upon my self. For there is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a word that float∣eth on the tongue, and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a word conceived and shaped in the inward man, a word spoken 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, from the very heart, verbum operis, a word which is a work, which will break forth into acti∣on, a word like unto that of God, who spake, and it was done;* 1.27 who speak∣eth, and repenteth not. God hath spoken once, that is, immobiliter, saith a Father: His word is immutable. IBIMUS, We will go. Here is their Resolution, a strong will begotten of Love, vehemens & bene ordinata voluntas, a vehement and well-ordered will. Lord,* 1.28 I have loved the ha∣bitation of thy house, saith the Psalmist. This is invictissimè & constantis∣simè velle, as S. Augustine speaketh, a preserving and unconquered will, a resolution taken up once for all; not 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as the Stoicks speak, an assent that it is fit so to do, but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, an active motion, by which the mind is carried along and in a manner forced to that it desireth; a full perswasion, as that of Abraham, Rom. 4. as that of S Paul, Acts 21. who,* 1.29 though he was so sure to be bound and put in fetters by the Jews at Jerusa∣lem, yet he would go up thither, and by no arguments, nor intreaties, nor tears be persuaded to the contrary; as that of Martine Luther, who would enter the city Wormes, though every tile on every house were a devil; as that of the blessed Martyrs, whom neither threats nor flatteries could at all work upon, but their firm and setled purpose of mind added strength to the weaker part, animated and quickned and as it were spi∣ritualized their bodies, and made them subservient and ministerial to bring their resolution into act: Hence in a manner they suffered as if they suffered not: They seemed to be ignorant of their stripes, senseless of their wounds, unconcerned in their torments: Death appeared to them in as fair a shape as Life it self; yea, was desired before it. This is it we call Resolution; to will, and do; or, to will, which is to do. For quicquid imperavit sibi animus, obtinuit; Whatsoever the mind commandeth it self, whatsoever it resolveth on; is as good as done already. For when we have looked upon the object, and approved it, when we have beheld its glory, and confirmed our selves in the liking of it, when we have cast by all objections which flesh and bloud may bring in, of danger, or diffi∣culty, when we have fastned the thing to our soul, and made it as it were a part of it, when it is become, as Christ saith, our meat,* 1.30 then there is such an impression of it made i•• ••he heart, such a character, as is indeleble, and we are as violently carried towards it as an hungry man is to his food and refreshment; neither difficulty, nor danger, neither principa∣lities, nor powers, neither life, nor death can so stand between as to keep us from it. My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed, saith David;* 1.31 and then he cannot but sing and give praise. The heart being fixed to the object, carrieth it about with it, is joyned to it even when it is out of sight, when at the greatest distance. Finis operi adulatur: The end we propose, and the glory thereof, doth give light and lustre to our endea∣vours, yea and cast a kind of 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 and loveliness even on that which would deterre us from it, and leaveth not in us the consideration or me∣mory of any thing besides it self. This is Resolution: This maketh an I∣BIMUS, We will go, significant: without this we cannot clearly pronounce IBIMUS, we cannot truly say, We will go into the house of the Lord. Such a resolution David here observed, at least supposed, in the people of Israel. For whether the Ark were to be setled, or the Temple to be edified, or

re-edified, any of these might well stir up a desire in them and a resolution to see it done. For the Ark wasa 1.32 the glory of Israel: and,b 1.33 The Temple of the Lord, was a frequent and solemn word in their mouthes; theyc 1.34 made it their boast all the day long: their long absence therefore could not but whet their desire, raise their expectation, fix and setle their will, and make them impatient of delay: Oh when shall we appear in the presence of God! When shall we go into the house of the Lord! Thence we heard the oracles of God; There is the mercy-seat; There we offered sacrifi∣ces and burnt-offerings; There we called upon God's name; There are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David; There the glory of the Lord appeared, and made it as heaven it self. We will go. This was their Resolution. We now pass to behold.

3. Their Agreement and joynt Consent; Which is visible in the pro∣noun WE, We will go. Much hath been said of Pronouns, of the pow∣er and virtue of them; of Meum, and Tuum; what swords they have whet, what bloud they have spilt, what fires they have kindled, what tumults they have raised in the world. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; saith Nazianzene; How long shall we hear in the Church these quarrel∣some words, Mine, and Thine; My understanding, and Thy understand∣ing; My wit, and Thy wit; My preacher, and Thy preacher; My Church, and Thy Church? It is not Mine, or Thine, but Ours. WE is a bond of peace and love, that tieth us all together, and maketh us all one. We are all Israelites, we are one people, we are 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, fellow-citizens, and members of the same body; We have one Law, one Temple, one Religion, one Faith, one God, one Heaven; & cur non omnes unus di∣cantur? saith Origen; and why may not all then be one? Yes, we are all one: And there is as great unity between us, if we be of the same body, saith Cyprian, as there is between the beams and the Sun, between rivers and their fountain, between branches and their root. WE taketh in a whole nation, a whole people, the whole world, and maketh them one. DECERNIMUS, We decree, We ordein, is taken for a word of state and majesty; but it is indeed a word of great moderation and humility; an open profession, that though Princes command, yet they do it not a∣lone, but by the advise and counsel of others: For in making a Law the King and his Counsel are but one. So WE maketh Manasseh and E∣phraim, all Israel, all the Tribes, one. WE maketh a Common-wealth; and WE maketh a Church. Though there be Lords and peasants, Pa∣stours and people,* 1.35 though the number of the names together be an hun∣dred and twenty, yea, many millions, yet WE by interpretation is but one.* 1.36 To one is given the word of wisdom; to another, the word of know∣ledge; to another, faith; to another, the gifts of healing; to another, the working of miracles, &c. But it is by one and the same Spirit. And as there is but one Spirit, so there is but one Christ; and in him we, that are many; are but one. It is a good observation of S. Basil, That the Love of God is not 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, exclusive of our Love to others, but calleth it in, that it may not be I and Thou, but WE, and one. I say, it calleth it in, to fill up the measure thereof, but so that it hath dependencie thereon. The Love of God knitteth all Loves to it self, and it self to all. We may call it, with the Philosopher, conglobatum amorem, so many loves heaped to∣gether,* 1.37 but beginning from one, even the Love of God: For this com∣mandment we have from him, that he who loveth God, love his brother also. Tota vita sanctorum, negotiatio, saith St. Augustine; The whole life of the Saints is a kind of traffick and Merchandise. We all venture together: Every man ventureth for himself and for his brethren, singuli pro omnibus, & omnes pro singulis, every man for all, and all for

every man. We all go together: For Religion maketh all one: and the most excellent parts of it are not mine, nor thine, but ours, our common Faith, our Self-denial, our Fear, our Joy, our Riches, our Peace. Whatsoever conquereth, winneth me the garland; whosoever prayeth, is my advocate. He prayeth, and I pray; he against my am∣bition, and I against his distrust; he against my presumption, and I a∣gainst his diffidence. We go up to the house of the Lord together, and we hope to go to heaven together. Such is the virtue of this Commu∣nion, that though I live in a society where more scatter then gather more are bankrupt then thrive, yet by my charity and compassion I may gain by their loss, and have interest in the good of every man, and by my prayers and ready assistance improve my spiritual estate by every mans loss. They that are ignorant of this cannot pray, nor go to Church to∣gether. For he loveth not any, no, not himself, who loveth not all. We say, Love beginneth at home; but it spreadeth its garment over all; o∣therwise it is not begun. My heart must be hortus deliciarum, a garden of delights, a paradise wherein are set and deeply rooted these choice plants, the Love of God, the Love of my self, and the Love of my bre∣thren. He that rooteth up one, destroyeth all: He that taketh my bro∣ther from me, divideth me from my self: And when I take my love but from one, my heart is no longer a paradise, but a wilderness. Deo non sin∣gularitas accepta est, sed unitas, saith the Father: God liketh not singularity, where every one is for himself; but unity, where all are one. We all go together: Nor do I lose by keeping my self within this circle or compass. For my scattering is my possession, my losing is my gain, my bounty is my thrift. He that giveth not his love, hath it not: but when he giveth, he hath in more abundance. And is it not now pity that we should be more then one? Is it not a shame that we should be divided, and so go up to∣gether, and not go up together? be a press, a throng, a confused multi∣tude, and not a body? or fly asunder, and be many Wees, We of Paul,* 1.38 We of Apollos, We of Cephas, We of this congregation, and We of that? Ye will soon say so when ye see what it is that keepeth this WE, this body, compact within it self, and what it is that divideth and scattereth it. First, God is a God of peace, and hateth division. For although Christ said he came to send a sword upon earth, he declareth not his purpose,* 1.39 but pro∣phesieth the event, and sheweth not what he would bring, but how men would abuse his doctrine, as if indeed he had come on purpose to set the world on fire. He could not come with a sword; for he breath∣ed nothing but peace: All his precepts and counsels naturally tend to make all men of one mind and one heart. Charity will bear any bur∣den; Liberality buyeth and purchaseth peace; Temperance keepeth Reason in her chair undisturbed, that she may command peace; Pati∣ence is a reconciler, melteth an enemy, and transformeth him into a friend; Humility stoopeth, and falleth down at every foot-stool, and boweth it self to woo and beg and beseech us to be at unity. A Christian will be any thing that is not evil, do any thing that is not sin, suffer any thing, to preserve unity. Further, those duties which we do as superiours, and which are wont to give distast to others, as Reprehension, good Counsel, Discipline, even these have no other end but unity; these are enjoyned us as preservatives, that we may be one. 1. Reprehension seemeth indeed to be a sword, and to cut deep: For we fly from the face of him that bringeth it: Every word is a wound, and the greatest Prophet our greatest enemy. But if Reproof be a sword, it is a Delphian sword, or like his that did both wound and cure at once: Its end is peace and unity. It is like to the shepherds whistle, calling us back when we

are gone astray and near to danger,* 1.40 and reducing us to that one fold and one shepherd. 2. Counsel also bringeth an imputation along with it, and a silent charge against him to whom it is given: but it is the charge, not of a severe judge, but of a kind friend, of a tender brother. It is presented as physick, not as poyson. It is the diet of a sick mind, saith Clemens; and its end is to cure the diseased party, that neither his lepro∣sie break out, nor himself be shut out of the congregation. It is to him, as Moses said to his father-in-law,* 1.41 instead of eyes, to discover to him his danger, and to shew him the way he should go. In a word, it is like care∣ful dressing of a part which is ready to fester, that it may not be cut off, but be healed. 3. Discipline is indeed the Pastoral rod, and machaera spiritualis, a spiritual sword: And this cutteth off a part from the whole, and leaveth the body WE less in number then it was. Yet he whom it cutteth off may say WE still. For it doth not cut him off from the in∣ward communion, but from the outward onely; and that, to the end he may be brought in again. Vulnus, non hominem, secat; & secat ut sanet: The Apostle rendreth it,* 1.42 The flesh is destroyed, that the spirit may be saved. This weapon non nocet nisi pertinacibus: The blow hurteth not if it meet not with a stiff neck. It severeth offenders, that it may gather them: it driveth them out, that it may draw them in; it anathematizeth them; that it may canonize them; it restraineth them, that it may free them; it putteth them to shame, that they may be ashamed to stay out. And the Church, when they return unto her, laeto sinu excipit, with joy receiveth them into her bosome: and then We are one again. So there is nothing in the Church to drive any out of it, nothing in the We to divide it. Whatsoever things are true,* 1.43 whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoe∣ver things are of good report, if there be any vertue, and if there be any praise, these make a company, a congregation, at unity within it self; these make many one, and carry them together to the house of God with joy and triumph. We must then seek for the cause of dis-union abroad: For Religion can no more make it, then the Sun, when it shineth, can produce darkness. Light and darkness may assoon meet in one as true Religion and Division. No; Inimicus homo, the envious man, the Devil, doth this. It is Covetousness, and Pride, and Malice, and Envy, the fruitless fruits of the evil Spirit, that have torn the seamless coat of Christ, yea, that have divided his body, that have set up the partition-wall, and made of one many. 1. Aemulatio, mater schismatum, saith Tertullian; Envy is the mother of division: An evil eye, which striketh and hurteth when others are in glory; which when it cannot behold its own good, delighteth in others evil. Arius will break forth, and trouble all, if Alexander be in the chair before him. 2. Covetousness, that would not onely depopulate, but gather in the whole world unto it self. Etiam avaritia quaerit unita∣tem, saith S. Augustine: Even Covetousness is a great lover of unity, would swallow all into it self: And then where were the WE? It is the observa∣tion of Aristotle, that that friendship which is enterteined for pleasure, is subject but to few quarrels; that which is for vertue and honesty, to none: but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, all complaints and quarrels arise from that which is grounded upon profit. While they are assistant to one anothers designs, so long they have but one purse, but one soul; but when they come short and fail, then they flie asunder, and keep distance, and look back upon one another as enemies. They are one to day, and to morrow they are divided. Quòd unum velimus, duo sumus: We therefore disagree, because we are so like; we are not one and the same, because we love one and the same thing. Quod vinculm

amoris esse debebat, seditionis & odii causa, idem velle: That which should draw and knit us together, divideth and separateth us, namely, having the same desires, the same mind, the same will. Covetousness nei∣ther careth for union, nor community: And this is it which raiseth sedi∣tions in the Common-wealth, and maketh rents in the Church. This sent that swarm of Flies and Locusts, the Novations, the Puritanes of those times, disciples of Novatus, who would be stiled 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, pure. But saith Nazianzene, as pure as he was, he was 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, very covetous: A disease which may seem to have cleaved to his sect and followers throughout all generations to this day. Consider of it, judge, and give sentence. 3. Ambition looketh not back, leaveth all behind, will be on the top of the ladder. Pride lifteth up the nose, as the Psalmist speak∣eth, keepeth distance; and her word is,a 1.44 Go from me: for I am ho∣lier then thou.b 1.45 I sit as a queen.c 1.46 I am, and none else besides me. The proud man loveth to be alone, and would have no companion; but would be learned alone, beautiful alone, rich alone, strong alone, reli∣gious alone.d 1.47 I am not as other men; I am not as this Publicane, was the Manifesto of a Pharisee; and he was proud. To conclude; These vices, which distract us in our selves, can never make nor keep us at one with others. No; it is Humility, and Patience, and Contempt of the world, and the Love of Christ, which alone knit this love-knot,e 1.48 break down the partition wall, and make them one, causef 1.49 brethren to dwel to¦gether in unity, draw them 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as the Septuagint have it, to the same thing, to have the same faith, the same purpose, the same mind, the same wealth, the same wit, the same understanding, or to be as assistant to one another as if they were the same; in a word, which make them one in Christ, asg 1.50 Christ and the Father are one; that they be of the same quire, and sing the same song with the people of Israel; IBIMUS, Let us (or, We will) go into the house of the Lord. I have been carried a∣way, ye see, as with a stream: but the waters were pleasant. Bonum & ju∣cundum, saith the Psalmist;* 1.51 Good and pleasant it is for brethren to go toge∣ther. There is but one stage more, and we shall be at the journeys end, even at the Temple-gates; but one circumstance to consider, and we shall lead you in; and that is

4. Their alacrity and chearfulness in going. I told you, their long absence rendred the object more glorious. For what we love and want, we love the more and desire the more earnestly. When Hezekiah, ha∣ving been sick unto death, had a longer lease of life granted him,* 1.52 he asketh the question, What is the sign (not, that I shall live, but) that I shall go up to the house of the Lord? Love is on the wing, chearful to meet its object; yea, it reacheth it at a distance, and is united to it while it is afar off: But when it draweth near, and a probable hope leadeth us towards it, then is Loves triumph and jubilee. Love, saith one, is a Sophister and a Philoso∣pher, witty and subtile to compass its own ends; a Magician, able to conjure down all difficulties and oppositions that lie in its way. How doth the Co∣vetous hast to be rich, the Ambitious fly to the pinnacle of State, the Glutton run to a banquet! When the fool had filled his barns, he sung a Requiem to his soul. When Haman was advanced by the King,* 1.53 he sent and called for his friend, and Zerish his wife, and told them of his glory. We read of one who hired a horse from the cirk to ride to a feast. Love is alwayes in hast, delighting it self in thoughts of hope, and carried on them as on the wings of the wind. Thus it is in sensual Love, and thus it is also in spiritual, When we have once tasted the good word of God,* 1.54 and the powers of the world to come, when our hearts are possessed with love of God's glory, when our minds are truly principled, when, as the Apostle

speaketh,* 1.55 we have received Christ Jesus the Lord, and are rooted and built up in him, Lord! what an heaven is virtue! what glory is there in obe∣dience! what beauty in holiness! what a holy place is a Church! how do we faint and pant, not onely after religion and the service of God, but even after the means which may bring us unto it! with what joy do we embrace all opportunities! how do we bless and magnifie every Ordi∣nance! how doth every occasion appear unto us as the cloud that cover∣ed the Tabernacle! what a light is every glimmering! what a Sun is every star! how doth the least help raise us up, and the smallest advan∣tage fill us with joy!* 1.56 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. We no sooner say, We will go, but we are at our journeys end: We make haste, and delay not to keep God's commandments. Alacrity is a sign that devotion is sincere, and as it were natural. Nature runneth her course chearfully, without inter∣ruption, and displayeth her self with a kind of triumph in every creature. The Moon knoweth her appointed seasons;* 1.57 and the Sun, his going down: And the Sphears are constantly wheeled about with a perpetual motion: Iterum redeunt per quod ibant, They still hast from the same point, and back to it again. Naturae animalium à nullo doctae sunt, saith Hippro∣crates; The natures and qualities of living creatures are not conveyed into them by long instruction; but what they do they do by nature, and that with ease and alacrity. Who taught Fire to burn, or Trees to grow? Who taught heavy bodies to descend, or light ones to mount a∣loft? We may say they were all taught by God, by that Power which Philosophers call Nature. And thus it is with those who being 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, taught of God, are well-affected unto and love his service; they have as it were a second nature put into them.* 1.58 The Apostle calleth it a renewing of the mind, and a new creature. They are carried with facility and chearfulness to their end, and strive forward to the things which are a∣bove with as great propensity and readiness as light bodies move up∣wards.* 1.59 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God, saith the Psamist. As Nature is operative and forcible in the one so is the Spirit in the other: And as Nature doth her work with ease, so doth Grace. All difficulty and slowness is from the earth, earthy, from the flesh, from corruption. An unclean heart maketh virtue an heavy task; but a right spirit maketh it a delight. Nihil difficile amanti: There is nothing of difficulty in that which a man loveth. The fool goeth to his duty as to the correction of the stocks:* 1.60 But he that is wise, and loveth goodness, is delighted with the very thought and contemplation thereof even when it is beset with terrour and difficulty. A good man hath more reluctancy to evil then an evil man to good. He falleth not from his duty but by some strong temptation which surprizeth him unawares: but the o∣ther nè rectè quidem facere sine scelere potest, as Tullie speaketh of Vatinius, committeth an offence even when he doth that which is right, and defi∣leth a good deed in the doing. The one loveth the work it felf; the o∣ther is dragged to it as an ox to the slaughter.* 1.61 It was well said of Hilarie, Minus est facere quam diligere; To do a virtuous act is not so considerable as to love it. For it may be done grudgingly and with an evil mind; which is indeed not to do it, but to turn bread into stones, hony into gall and bitterness, that which should feed and cherish into an offence. But when Love hath wrought in us an alacrity to our duty, then it is in a man∣ner become natural to us. We call it an Habit: And it is a fair note of a virtuous habit, if the acts of virtue be performed 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, with oblectation of mind. For if the soul be well disposed and qualified, if it be fitted and shaped to that which is good, joy maketh an effusion and flux there, and letteth out the heart, IBIMUS, We will go into the house of the Lord; We long to be there; We will hasten our pace; We will break through

all difficulties in the way: No chains shall keep us back but those of Ne∣cessity: And though these lay hold on us, yet if our will be free and have determined its act, the duty is dispatched. If we look toward the Tem∣ple with a longing eye, we serve God there, though we enter not into it. For plus est diligere quàm facere: If I love and will, I have done my work before I begin. Again, chearfulness is a sign of perfection in our devotion. Till a thing be perfect, it is in a manner streightned and contracted in it self, there is in it a kind of striving towards its 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 as in a journey, though it is some pleasure to look back upon that part of the way which we have left behind us, yet it troubleth us to look forward upon that which is yet before us, and we are never merry indeed till we sit down at our journeys end. Semivirtues, dispositions, faint inclinations to duty, may warm, perhaps, but cannot enflame us; they make us nei∣ther active, nor chearful, nor constant in our wayes. Non facimus assiduè, non aequaliter, saith the Stoick; We do our duty neither constantly, nor equally; We do it to day, and leave it undone to morrow; We do this thing to day, and to morrow the quite contrary: One day, as St. Hie∣rome saith, in the Church; another, in the theatre: one day, devout; another, profane: to day hang down the head like a bulrush, to mor∣row lift up our heads on high and exalt our selves without measure. This 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, this irregularity and inconstancy of behaviour, as St. Ba∣sil calleth it, is visible in the lives of those men whom the love of God hath not built up and rooted in that which is good. For the seeming good∣ness of such is not natural, but forced and artificial; like the motions in water-works, which, while the water runneth in the trough, present us with some delightful sight, it may be some history of the Bible, as the Faith of Abraham, the Devotion of David, the Humility of the Publi∣cane; but when the water is once run out, all is done, and there is no more to be seen. Thus outward respects, love of a good name, profit and advantage, may carry us about a while, and present us to the view as men washed and cleansed, as Prophets and holy persons: but when those fail, we suddenly fall to the mire where we first wallowed, and are three times more polluted then before. For that form of godliness did not proceed from a right principle, from the love of that we did, but from the love of something else which is contrary to it; from the love of the Flesh, which Religion crucifieth; from the love of Profit, which Piety casteth behind her; from the love of Glory, which Devotion blusheth at; from the love of the World, which Faith treadeth under foot; from fear of the Law, when we should have no other law but Piety. That which is born of the flesh, is flesh, saith our Saviour:* 1.62 Nor can the flesh work in us a love to and chearfulness in the things of the Spirit. The flesh perfecteth nothing, contributeth nothing to a good work: Nor doth any thing work kindly till it come to perfection. Perfection and Sincerity work our joy. In Scripture we find even inanimate and sense∣less things said to be glad, when they attain unto and abide in their natu∣ral perfection.a 1.63 The Sun is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoyceth as a strong man to run a race.b 1.64 The little hills rejoyce on every side. The valleys are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they al∣so sing. Prata rident. So Solomon,c 1.65 The light of the righteous rejoyceth, because it shineth clear and continually. The blessed Angels are in a state of perfection; and their motion from place to place, the Schools say, is instantaneous and in a moment, as sudden and quick as their will by which they move. Therefore they are drawn out with wings, Isa 6. and said to go forth like lightning: Which signifieth unto us their alacrity & speed in exe∣cuting all God's commands. Their constant office is to be ready at his beck;

and they ever have the heavenly characters of his will before their eyes, as a Father speaketh. And such also will our activity and chear∣fulness be in devotion and the service of God, if we be thus animated and informed as it were with the love thereof, if our minds be shaped and configured to it, as S. Basil saith. If either the Word, or the Sword, either the power of the truth, or calamity and persecution, hath made it sweet unto us, and stirred up in us an earnest expectation and long∣ing after it, then IBIMUS, We will go; go with chearfulness to the house of mourning, and sit with those who are in the dust; go to that Lazar, and relieve him; to that prisoner, and visit him; to our friends, and counsel them; to our enemies, and reconcile them; with the Jews here, go to the Temple, to the Church, and pray for the Nation,* 1.66 and say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproch; go, and fall down, and worship him; yea, go to the stake, and dy for him.* 1.67 When this fire burneth within us, we shall speak with the tongue, and that with a chearful accent, IBIMUS, We will go into the house of the Lord. And so we are fallen upon our last circumstance.

5. The place of their devotion, the house of the Lord. When a company go to serve the Lord, they must needs go to some place: For how can they serve him together but in a place? Adam and his sons had a place, Gen. 4.3, 4. The Patriarchs had a place, altars, and mountains, and groves. In the wilderness the people of God had a movable Tabernacle. And though Solomon said thata 1.68 God dwel∣leth not in temples made with hands, yetb 1.69 Solomon, that said so, built him an house. And the work was commended by God himself, not onely when it was finished and brought to perfection; but even while it was yet but in design, and was raised no further then in thought: The Lord said unto David,* 1.70 Forasmuch as it was in thine heart to build an house for my name, thou didst well in that it was in thine heart. And when Christ came, he blessed in this house, prayed in it, taught in it, disputed in it; he drove the profaners out of it; he spake by his pre∣sence, by his tongue, by his gesture; he giveth it its name, and in a manner Christneth it,* 1.71 by calling it his house, and the house of prayer. For though he came to strike down the Law, yet he came not to beat down right Reason: Though he did disanull what was fitted but for a time, as Sacrifices, and all that busy and troublesome, that ceremo∣nious and typical Worship; yet he never abolished what common rea∣son will teach us is necessary for all ages. How could he require that men should meet together and worship him, if there were to be no place at all to meet in? Or what needed an express command for that which the very nature of the duty enjoyneth, and necessity it self will bring in; He that enjoyneth publick worship, doth in that com∣mand imply that there must be a certain publick place to meet in. We hear indeed Christ saying to the Jews,* 1.72 Destroy this Temple; but it was to make a window in their breasts, that they might see he knew their very hearts.* 1.73 He bid them do what they meant to do. He spake of the Temple of his body saith the Text: and they did destroy both his body and their own Temple. For they who had nothing more in their mouthes then The Temple of the Lord,* 1.74 set fire on the Temple of the Lord with their own hands, as Josephus relateth. And so their Ceremonies had an end, so their Temple was destroyed; but not to the end that all Churches and places of publick meeting should be for ever buried in its ruines before they were built. That house of the Lord was dissolved indeed; but at the dissolution thereof there was no voice heard that did tell us vve should build no more in any

other place. The first Christians, we may be sure, heard no such voice. For assoon as persecution suffered them to move their arms, they were busy in erecting of Oratories, in a plain manner indeed, an∣swerable to their present estate: But when the favour of Princes shined upon them, and their substance encreased, they poured it out plentifully this way, and founded Churches in every place: Nor did they think they could lay too much cost upon them: none counted that wast which was expended about so good a work. They built sumptuous houses for God's worship, and rejoyced; and after-ages applauded it both by their words and practice; they magnified it, and did the like. Such cost hath ever gone under the name of Piety and Devotion, till these later times, when almost all are ready with Judas to condemn Mary Magdelene for pouring forth her ointment.* 1.75 Chur∣ches were 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Houses of the Lord, and so were esteemed; and not Idole Synagogues, not Styes, till Swine entred into them, and defi∣led them, and holp to pull them down. We know God dwelleth not in Temples made with hands,* 1.76 nor can his infinite Majesty be circum∣scribed: we remember, and therefore need not to be told, that Christ said to the woman of Samaria that the hour was coming when men should neither in that mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father,* 1.77 but should worship him in spirit and truth: But this they cannot do toge∣ther, but in some place; and the Spirit, which breatheth upon the Church, will not blow it down, nor the place where they meet who make up a Church. We remember also that S. Paul enjoyneth 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that men pray every where:* 1.78 But those words carry not any such tempest with them as to overthrow the hou∣ses of the Lord. S. Basil, who had as clear an eye and as quick an apprehension as any that age or after-ages have afforded, could spy no such meaning in them. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith he, doth not take-in those places which are deputed to humane and profane uses, but extendeth and dilateth the worship of God, beyond the narrow compass of Jerusalem to every place in the whole world. It is written that all shall be Priests of God; but yet it is not meant that all shall exercise the Priests office. I am ashamed to exercise my self against rotten posts set up by wanton and malicious men, which will fall to the dust, to nothing, of themselves, and to spend my time and pains to beget a good opinion of the house of God in their minds who know not what to think, or what they would have, who fear their own shadow which their ignorance doth cast, and run from a monster of their own begetting, the creation of a troubled, or rather a troublesome spirit, and an idle brain.

God then hath an House; and he calleth it his: Nor can he be guilty of a Misnomer. And if it be God's, then it is holy; not holy as he is holy, but holy because it is his. Why startle we? It is no ill-boding word, that we should be afraid of it. Donatus the Gram∣marian observeth, Si ferrum nominetur in comoedia, transit in tragoe∣diam, that but to name a Sword in a Comedie, is enough to turn it into a Tragedie. I know not whether that word have such force or no: sure I am there is nothing in this word Holy why so much noise and tumult should be raised about it, as if Superstition had crept in, and were installed and inthroned in our Church. The house of God is holy. What need we boggle at it; or what reason is there of fear? when the lowest degree of charity might help us to conclude that it is impossible that he who calleth it so should mean that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. I ask,* 1.79 Is it possible that this should e∣ver enter into the heart of any man who is not out of his wits? I will be

bold to say,* 1.80 that God, who can raise up children unto Abraham out of stones, cannot infuse holiness into stones till they be made children of Abraham. I dare not shorten his hand, or lessen his power; yet I may say, His Power waiteth in a manner upon his Wisedome, and He cannot do what becometh him not, He cannot do what he hath said he never will do. But when Stones are piled together and set apart for his service, he himself calleth it his holy place, because of the rela∣tion it beareth to his service and to holiness, and in respect of the end for which it was set up. Holy, that is, set apart from common use. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.81 common and profane, signifie the same in holy Writ. So the Gentiles were common and profane; and the Jews were holy, that is, culled and taken out from the rest of the world, sanctified and set apart to the Lord. For as holy a people as they were, how ma∣ny of them did embrace that holiness which beautifieth the inward man, and might make them like to the Holy one of Israel? Again, SANCTUM est ab hominum injuria munitum; That which is holy is fenced from the injuries of men and the hand of Sacrilege. Things thus holy God looketh upon as his, with an eye of jealousie: And as he gave charge concerning his Anointed, so he doth concerning his House,* 1.82 Nolite tangere, Touch it not: And he that toucheth it with a profane and sacrilegious hand, toucheth the apple of his eye; and if he repent not of his wickedness, God will one day put him to shame for that low esteem he had of the place where his honour dwelleth.* 1.83 It is the end which maketh it holy; and to hinder it of its end is to profane it, though the pretense be never so specious. What is it then to laugh and jest at this name, that we may pull it down in earnest? Oh trust not to a pretense: And if we lean upon it whilest we deface the house of God, it will fail and deceive us, and our fall will be the greater for our support; we shall fall, and be bruised to pieces; our punishment shall be doubled, and our stripes multiplied; first, for do∣ing that which is evil; and then, for taking in that which is good to make it an abettour and assistant to that which is evil; which is to bring in God pleading for Baal, and to suborn Religion to destroy it self. Oh why do men boast in their shame? What happiness can it be to devour holy things,* 1.84 and then be caught in that snare which will strangle them? To dance in the ruines of the Church, and then sink to hell? Time was, Beloved, when this was counted an holy lan∣guage, and holy men of God and blessed Martyrs of Christ spake it: Then it was not superstition, but great devotion. And no other lan∣guage was heard almost till the dayes of our grandfathers. But then Covetousness under the mask of false Zele (which was rather burning then hot, and carried with it more rage then charity) swallowed up this Devotion in victory, led it in triumph, disgraced and vilified it, and gave it an ill name. Then the Devil shewed himself in the co∣lours of light, and did more mischief then if he had appeared as a roar∣ing Lion. Then the very name of holy was a good argument to beat down a Temple, which must down for this, because it was called so. Before this, There were Holy Means, and they were called so, the Word, Prayer, Sacraments, Ecclesiastical Discipline; and for the applying of these Means to the end for which they were ordained, there were Holy Times when, and Holy Persons by whom they were to be administred; and there were Holy Places too, or else the rest were to no purpose. And holy things S. Paul calleth them 1 Cor. 9.13. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, holy things, out of the holy place. All these are so linked together as a chain, that you cannot sever them: For neither

can there be Holiness without fit means, nor Means administred with∣out fit Persons, nor Persons do their office but in a fit Place. Holiness indeed is properly inherent in none but God, Angels, and Men; in God, essentially; in the blessed Spirits and Men, by participation, as far as their nature is capable. The Scripture is holy, because it breatheth and conveyeth holiness; The Sacraments are holy, because they help to promote it; Some Times are holy, because they occa∣sion it; the Sabbath it self is holy onely in respect of its end, the pra∣ctice of holiness; Discipline is holy, as being the way to restore it; Some Persons are holy, because they are the helpers of our joy;* 1.85 which is a beam of Holiness: Then also some Places must be holy, I will not say, and yet the wisest have said it, because sensible helps to stir up devotion and to better our best actions; for we are so spiritual, so elevated, so Seraphical, that we need no such helps, and we are bold to profess it; but here we meet together for holiness sake, as a congrega∣tion or Church holy to the Lord; here holiness is breathed into us, and here we receive it; here we assemble as so many copies of holiness, and one transcribeth from another: here God is present, you will say, with men, and, if with the men, in the place; here he speaketh to us, and here we speak to him; here he delivereth his oracles, and here we receive them; here he proclaimeth his Law, and here we promise obedience; here he wooeth and beseecheth us, and here we kneel and importune him; here he promiseth, and we rejoyce; here he threatneth, and we tremble; here he speaketh as a Father, and we bless him; here he thun∣dereth, and we bow before him, even God in his holy place. Wherefore if we loved holiness, we should love the house of God for its ends sake; if we loved holiness, we should love any thing that doth perfect it, yea that doth but promote, but begin it, any means, time, person, place that is ministerial to it; we should love all these for holiness, that is, for the Lord's, sake; and not strain at a gnat, that we may swallow a ca∣mel; not question a name, or attribute, or title, that we may devour the thing; not raise a tempest in a bason, where there is so little water; nor contend about that which yieldeth so little matter of strife. Oppugnat Christum, qui illi stultè favet: An indiscreet defense of Christ and his glory doth dishonour him. For whilest we thus look towards his glo∣ry (for it is but a look) we lose it in that look; whilest we thus contend for it where there is no cause, the blow we give in defense of it beateth it to the ground. Beloved, all storms may be slumbred, all tempests calmed by these two words, DOMUS DOMINI, It is the house of the Lord.

And if it be the house of the Lord, then it should be honoured as his house; not honoured as he himself is, for it is not capable of such ho∣nour, but honoured because it is his; honoured, as we bless the poor, and give him an alms, for the Lord's sake. Honoured, you will say; what, adorned and beautified? A stout question to be put! Yes cer∣tainly, so far honour it as to make it the more useful for that end for which it was erected, and adorn it as far as the rules of decency and the nature of the place will permit. For quod docet, ferè prodest, as the Oratour saith; That which is decent, not onely presenteth a grace and beauty, which may take our eye and please it, but carrieth also its profit along with it, and is advantageous to the work we have to do. God did never yet tell us that it is his delight to dwell beg∣gerly; nor should it be ours to serve him so. In the Prophet Ma∣lachi he complaineth of Israel's unkindness,* 1.86 that though he was their Father, yet they honoured him not; and though he was their Master, yet

they feared him not; and that they despised his name. And when they seemed ignorant wherein they had despised his name,* 1.87 he telleth them, In that they offered polluted bread upon his altar, and in that they said, The table of the Lord is contemptible; in that they offered the blind, and the lame, and the sick, such as they would not have offered to their governour. What if their hearts were upright in them? (By their que∣stions, Wherein have we despised thy name? Wherein have we polluted thee? it seemeth they thought so) yet to think any thing good e∣nough for God, was an high contempt offered to the Majesty of hea∣ven.* 1.88 My son, give me thy heart. It is true: but, my son, give me that too which is fit to be offered to thy Father, thy Master, thy Lord: Esteem not that good enough for me of which thou thy self hast no esteem. All the creatures in the world, from the Gnat to the Elephant, all the things in the world are alike to God; for they are all the works of his hands: but he taketh them upon our account, and expecteth that from us whereon we set the greatest price. For how can our affection be shewn in giving that we care not for, but are as willing to lose as to keep it? That of S. Paul is an universal and eternal rule, and concerneth all the men in the world, from Adam to him who shall stand the last upon the earth,* 1.89 Let all things be done 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, decently. This is it we first look upon: And what decorum can it be that your private houses, where some few meet, should be trim∣med and set out with all advantage, and the house of God, where many hundreds assemble, should be ruinous and sordid, even to the offense of the eye? that you should have a fairer room where you meet to eat then where you meet to pray? that God by dust and ashes should be served in dust and ashes, inter ruta caesa, amongst rub∣bish and lumber? that decencie should be confined to yours, and find no room in the house of God? Yet this is the decorum which those who call themselves Spiritual men would observe, that Luxury should dwell in state, and Devotion in a cottage: In which they shew so little of the Christian that nothing appeareth of the Man. For what man, till he be unmanned by the spirit of delusion and madness, can be so unreasonable? Who can account what is laid out in this kind to be un∣necessary wast, but either a Judas, who would have it in his purse, or such an one as Julian's Treasurer, who thought the vessels of the Church too rich and glorious for the Son of Mary? The Kingly Pro∣phet could not attain to such a speculation; but from his own house he draweth an argument to build and beautifie the Lord's; I dwell, saith he,* 1.90 in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains. This he deemed the most incongruous thing in the world; and there∣fore he would not give sleep to his eyes,* 1.91 nor slumber to his eye-lids, until he found out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Ja∣cob.* 1.92 This argument David's devotion framed, because he loved the beauty of God's house, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. We render it the habitation: Which gi∣veth us thus much to understand,* 1.93 That God doth dwell in the beauty of holiness. I will not shew you the face of Antiquity: For we must ei∣ther fling durt at it, or else hide our own; either censure our fore-fa∣thers too-much devotion, or be ashamed of our own miserable neglect and profaneness. I will not shew you 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the beauty and glory of their Churches, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, most worthy to be looked upon. I will not shew you them raised up to an height unmeasurable, as Eusebius speaketh, more beautiful then their first founders had made them; nor with what joy the Christians then (more devout, I fear, more sincere, nay more zealous then they of after-ages) beheld them in their rich

and better attire. I might repeat many of their penegyrical exsultati∣ons, when it was so; and their sad complaints, when it was other∣wise. Even they did allow it who seemed to speak against it. Vesti∣ant parietes marmorum crustis, faith Hierome; Let them line the walls with marble, and gild them, which feel it not: Non reprehendo, non abnuo; I do not censure it, I am not against it: This is good and lauda∣ble. But better it were the temples of the holy Ghost were made glorious with piety. And indeed in those dayes, when Devotion cryed up the building and beautifying of Churches, and they did much glory in it, yet in time of necessity and persecution they would strip their Churches to cloth their naked, and sell their rich vessels to buy bread for the hun∣gry. Their pious affection to God and Religion made them account such cost very convenient and useful: but they never looked upon it as a matter of absolute necessity, without which Religion would fall to the ground. While they could, they were willing in some measure to take from themselves that they might adde to the splendour of God's house: But when they were in streights, they comforted themselves in this, That God would accept the largeness of their hearts and their zealous affecti∣ons. They well knew necessaria praeferenda esse non necessariis, that those duties which are absolutely necessary are to be preferred before those which have no such binding necessity to commend them. And this is enough; and they that quarrel it say nothing. These are the best arguments till better are brought, and till better are brought we may well rest in these. Call the place appointed for publick worship by the name which God himself hath given it, call it God's house; and count it holy, but for no other reason but because it is his; and then for his sake, for Religions sake, for our own sake give it that honour which is due unto it; fit and prepare it for that end for which it was set up,* 1.94 that so we may meet together and worship the Lord in the beauty of ho∣liness.

What I would adde by way of application, I shall defer till the next opportunity.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Eccl
• * 1.2

  Psal. 55.14.
• * 1.3

  Psal. 39.3.
• * 1.4

  v. 4.
• * 1.5

  Psal. ••8.11.
• * 1.6

  Eccles. 4.9.
• * 1.7

  1 Cor. 1.26.
• * 1.8

  Matth. 20.16.
• * 1.9

  Matth 7 14. Luk. 13.23.24
• * 1.10

  v. 4.
• * 1.11

  Judg 7.
• * 1.12

  Luke 12.32.
• * 1.13

  Prov. 14.28.
• a 1.14

  Gen. 24.63.
• b 1.15

  Psal. 6.6.
• c 1.16

  Ion. 2.1.
• d 1.17

  Dan. 6.10.
• d 1.18

  Dan. 6.10.
• e 1.19

  Matth. 6.6.
• f 1.20

  Deut. 6.4. 1 Pet. 5.7.
• * 1.21

  Heb. 2.10.
• * 1.22

  1 Kings 9.10
• * 1.23

  Rev. 7.
• * 1.24

  Matth. 18.20.
• * 1.25

  Hebr. 10.25.
• * 1.26

  Psal. 39.1.
• * 1.27

  Psal. 33.9. Psal. 62.11.
• * 1.28

  Psal. 26.8.
• * 1.29

  Rom. 4.21. Acts 21.11-14.
• * 1.30

  John 4.34.
• * 1.31

  Psal. 57.7.
• a 1.32

  Sam. 4.21, 22. Psal. 78.61.
• b 1.33

  Jer. 7.4.
• c 1.34

  Psal. 44.8.
• * 1.35

  Acts 1.15.
• * 1.36

  1 Cor. 12.8. &c.
• * 1.37

  1 Joh. 4 21.
• * 1.38

  1 Cor. 1.12.
• * 1.39

  Matth. 10.30.
• * 1.40

  John 10.16.
• * 1.41

  Numb. 10.31.
• * 1.42

  •• Cor. 5.5.
• * 1.43

  ••it. 4.8.
• a 1.44

  Isa. 65.5.
• b 1.45

  Rev. 18.7.
• c 1.46

  Isa. 47.8.
• d 1.47

  Luk. 18.11.
• e 1.48

  E••h. 2.14, 15.
• f 1.49

  Psal. 133.1.
• g 1.50

  Joh. 10.30.
• * 1.51

  Psal. 133.1.
• * 1.52

  Isa. 38.1. —22.
• * 1.53

  Luk. 12.19. Esth. 5.10, 11.
• * 1.54

  Hebr 6.5.
• * 1.55

  Colos 2.6, 7.
• * 1.56

  Psal. 119.60.
• * 1.57

  Psal. 104.19.
• * 1.58

  Rom. 12.2. 2 Cor. 5.17.
• * 1.59

  Psal. 42.1.
• * 1.60

  Prov. 7.22.
• * 1.61

  Prov. 7.22.
• * 1.62

  John 3.6.
• a 1.63

  Ps 19.5.
• b 1.64

  Ps. 65.12, ••3
• c 1.65

  Prov. 13.9.
• * 1.66

  Joel 2.17.
• * 1.67

  Psal. 39.3.
• a 1.68

  Acts 7.48. 1 Kings 8.27.
• b 1.69

  Acts 7.47.
• * 1.70

  2 Chron. 6.8.
• * 1.71

  Matth. 21.13.
• * 1.72

  John 2.19.
• * 1.73

  —21.
• * 1.74

  Jer. 7.4.
• * 1.75

  John 12.3-6
• * 1.76

  Acts 7.48. & 17.24.
• * 1.77

  John 4.21, 23.
• * 1.78

  1 Tim. 2.8.
• * 1.79

  Hebr. 12.14.
• * 1.80

  Matth. 3.9.
• * 1.81

  Acts 10.14.
• * 1.82

  Psal. 105.15.
• * 1.83

  Psal. 16 8.
• * 1.84

  Prov. 20.25.
• * 1.85

  2 Cor. 1.24.
• * 1.86

  Mal. 1.6.
• * 1.87

  Mal. 1.7. —8.
• * 1.88

  Prov. 23.26.
• * 1.89

  1 Cor. 14.40.
• * 1.90

  2 Sam. 7.2.
• * 1.91

  Psal. 132.4, 5.
• * 1.92

  Psal. 26.8.
• * 1.93

  Psal. 96.7. & 110.3.
• * 1.94

  Psal. 96.7.