Old Jacobs altar newly repaired, or, The saints triangle of dangers, deliverances and duties, personal and national, practically improved in many particulars, seasonable and experimental being the answer of his own heart to God for eminent preservations, humbly recommended by way of teaching unto all ... / by Nathaneel Whiting.

To the Right Worshipfull S^r. WILLIAM FLEETWOOD Knight, the Right Honourable S^r. GFORGE FLEETWOOD Baron of Swonholme in SWEADLAND, and Lieutenant General of the King of SWEADLAND's Army there, and to his Excellency CHARLES Lord FLEETWOOD, Lieutenant General of the whole Army in ENGLAND and Scotland, and one of his HIGHNESS Privy-Council.

Noble and Honoured:

I Am taught by the best Teacher, the Holy Ghost, not to forsake mine own friend, and my fa∣thers friend; the Authority of which advice hath a great in∣fluence upon me, being under the direct Aspect of it, therefore do I own your anti∣ent and obliging favours in this publick Ad∣dress, under this hope; That good wine

will taste never the worse, because presented in a wooden cup, nor Truth lose any of its rellish, because served up in an earthen dish.

If any charge blame upon me, because I have not observed the Rules of Honour, in the ordering of your names according to your Titles of Honour, and standings in the world, my Reply is this: I pretend not to skill in Herauldry, nor is it my business to dispute Titles; I have, therefore, set Eliab in the Front, because, I may not give away the Honour of Primogeniture from Manas∣seh, seing he hath not with Esau sold, nor with Reuben, lost the excellency of dignity; He still weares, with Zarah, the scarlet thread upon his hand, though his younger Brethren have broken forth, and gotten the Precedency: Besides, though I owe much to your Honours, I am much yours; yet I am more your Brothers; and my Obligati∣ons more to him, which I must owne; and, I am sure, such is your Justice, that you will not entrench upon the right of other men, much less, upon your Elder Brothers: And

if your Honours be not offended, why should others?

Again; If any take offence that I preface this Treatise with Three Hnourable Names, one of which would have been an honour to a more polite and elaborate Discourse: my Answer is this; When I had designed this Piece unto the Press, I knew none, whose Experiences could more fully comment up∣on the Subject treated on, then your selves: Your Preservations have been many and signal, at home, abroad, by land, by water; few persons have had such remarkable Deli∣verances, as you have had, and few Families can instance in three Brethren, who can give forth narratives of such notable and nume∣rous Escapes, as you can give: And therefore, seing you have equally shared in the marvel∣lous Protections of a good God, I am bold to make this Application to you All; in which I do humbly Remember you of en∣gaging mercies, that the sence thereof may be awakened in you; that, like that Persian Monarch, you may often read over your Diaries, gather up your memorable preser∣vations;

own the Lord in them, and by suitable actings improve them to his glory: The improvement of Mercies makes them to be Mercies indeed: Then are the appea∣rances of God glorious, when they are vi∣sible, and may be known, and read of all men, in our noble and vigorous actings for God: What life for God was in old Ja∣cob? how did he purge his family, set up Religion, erect an Altar at Bethel? and all this, by way of thankfull return to the Lord, who answered him in the day of his distress, and was with him in the way which he went? And how bravely did King David draw up after the Presidency of that noble Patriarch? when he sate in his house, seriously review∣ing his former frights and flights, his Dan∣gers and Distresses, his Banishments, and Battels, comparing them, with his present peace, safetie and honour; and considered, from what hand he had received all that good, he took up a resolution to build an house for the Lord, that the Arke of his presence might no longer dwell within cur∣tains: He often looked down upon the

cave of Adullam and Engedi, the wilder∣ness of Ziph and Maon, his straits at Gath, his dangers at Keilah, his fears at Ziglag, &c. even then, when God had set him on high, upon the Throne of Israel and Judah; these reviews kept his heart in a warm and and lively frame for God. Ah! How little of D••••id's spirit is to be found in England, even amongst many, who have largely ex∣perienced David's mercies? how seldome do many review their hazzards and heart∣terrours, their tears and fears, dangers, and deliverances? how have the tides of worldly pomp, peace, and pleasures, washed off the Sculpture of personal and national mercies? in most mens hearts? Oh, 'tis sad, and sadly to be lamented! The Lord give you, with Caleb, another spirit, that, seing he hath given you, not onely a safe, but an Honou∣rable standing, after such amazing dangers, with liberal advantages of doing and recei∣ving good, your Honours may follow the Lord fully, you may act up more and more to the Presidencies proposed, that you may not move in too narrow Orbes, but shew

forth largeness of heart, according to the largeness of Gods mercies towards you; that, like starres of the greater magnitude, you may cast abroad your warming and pro∣lifick Influences, that all neighbouring, per∣sons and places may be the better for you, and your selves much the better in your spirits for God.

I am not ashamed (Right Worshipfull) to tell the world how ancient and how affe∣ctionate a Moecenas you have been to me; that I received many encouragements from you, when I was student in the Universitie; how ready I have alwayes found you, to lay forth your power and Interest for me: how freely and speedily you placed me at Ald∣winckle, and how much I have found the favour of a Patron, and the affections of a friend (I might go higher) for the space of many yeares; which is much, considering what hard measure some good Ministers have found from their Patrons, though good men, in these times of difference, both upon a civil and Religious account; and indeed, I think it to be ingenious (whatever others

think) and well comporting with the stand∣ing of a Minister (whilest the jus praesen∣tandi, by a Law, is vested in Honourable hands) as to own God in his providential disposure, so to acknowledge the favour of man, in that Liberty he obtaines to do his Master's work: Sure I am, this was a mercy which some godly and gifted Ministers did long want (whilest the Episcopal Monopoly lasted) and long waited for; yea, after all their waiting, could hard∣ly, without snares to their conscience, obtain.

If my poor Labours have been answered with any success from heaven, (as I trust they have,) in my little Congregation; the people have reason (which some of them have done) to bless God, that your choice, and their call had so full a concurrence in one person: But, though they should be silent, I may not, I cannot; I am under such a sense of obligation, that I am pressed in spirit, to make some publick payment of my debt unto you, in a ministeriall way, (which is a Symony, neither sinfull before

God, nor offensive to good men): There∣fore, Dear Sir, I beg your acceptation of this poor Present: Give your Minister leave, from the press, (wanting opportunity by reason of your non-residency, not his, to speak often unto you from the Pulpit) to minde you of that great deliverance, you received from the Lord in the Thames; how often the sentence of Death hath been reversed, when you have been under painfull and languishing distempers: in what way of Providence God hath loosened you from the noise and vanity of a Court; what Respects you have from men, good and great; what safety you had in the late War; what blessings the Lord hath heaped upon you, in a dear Lady, a numerous and hope∣full Progeny: and, in what other wayes of mercy the Lord hath appeared graciously unto you; O let all these have a kindly work upon your spirit, to warme your heart more and more towards God, his waies and people: and let them, by way of holy force, fix your heart, Joshua like, with your house to serve the Lord, that Jehovah may still

cover you with his feathers, in all future hazzards, that you may fill up your dayes in peace, and may come to the grave in a full age, like as a shock of corne cometh in his season.

My next address is to you, my Lord, your Honour hath seen the work of God, and his wonders in the deep, you have conversed much with people of strange Languages; contested with men of fierce and cruel spi∣rits: you have been a man of warre from your youth; expert in all the stages and stra∣tagems of a well-ordered battel, you have long served the Interest of a forraign Prince and State, where you have not onely been preserved, but promoted; God hath not onely given you safety, but Honour also; and though you was a Stranger in Name, Nation, Language, and something in Re∣ligion also, yet God bowed the heart of Prince, Nobles, and others, to give you the respect your worth had merited; and now, after Twenty years voluntary Exile, or more, God hath brought you back, with Three Sonnes, to your native soil, (immediately

after the storme of war was blown over it) and that, after an honourable rate: all which are mercies worth your owning, and are as silent Monitors from the Lord, unto you. Ah, my Lord, be much and often retired; read over the story of Gods Providences towards you; reckon up your Dangers, and Deliverances, How often the King of ter∣rours hath faced you with a dreadfull look; what bloudy fights God hath safeguarded your life in; and how often you have been brought out of the field, when thousands have been left wounded or dead upon the place; though your Lordship hath the cou∣rage of a Roman, not to fear death, in the painfulness of it, yet you have the spirit of a Christian, to fear the consequences of an immature death, and therefore have cause to bless God, who hath lengthened out your day of grace, and his patience; hath brought you again into your own Nation; where the White Flagge is held forth, and the unsearchable riches of Christ are fully displayed in the powerfull, plain, and spiri∣tual dispensation of the Gospel.

The Lord grant you to read the meaning of these Providences in the light of his own spirit, and give your honour a large share in those spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: Be like that good Centurion (who was like your Lordship, a man of war and Commander in the Roman Army) fear God with all your house, give much almes to the poor, pray much unto God, and wait much upon the Ministry of his faithfull Peters, to whom is committed the word of Reconciliation, fight under the Royal banner of the Lord Jesus, in his spi∣ritual warfare, and fight the good fight of faith, that so, you may lay hold upon eternal life.

Lastly, My Applications are to your ex∣cellency; your standing is high in Israel, and your name is dear to Gods people: the Lord hath made you great, and the Lord hath made you gracious; without which, all worldly honour is but a shell, a shadow, a meere vanity, like that of Agrippa, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉: You set out early for heaven; God dealt with your heart betimes: with good

Obadiah, You feared the Lord from your youth; which early buddings of grace and holiness, as they spake the intendments of God to use you in Honourable Employ∣ments, so have they rendred you, in regard of your large experiences, and long acquain∣tance with the Lord, his waies and people, more meet to serve the Interest of the Lord and his people, in that high trust you are called unto: I shall not report, what per∣sons of great Honour and Integritie have spoken concerning your Pietie and Praier∣fulness: Inventories are not taken untill men be dead: he that is a Jew inwardly, hath his praise from God, and therefore exspects it not from man; but shall humbly entreat your Excellency, to consider, how you went out a young Gentleman, and a raw Souldier into the late warrs, in which your eyes beheld much of God, and your spirit tasted much of his Mercy; how he protected your Person, and prospered your warfare; every bullet flew with his Com∣mission, and every weapon was guided by his appointment; so that you walked in the

midst of fire and smoak, as the Jewish wor∣thies did in the furnace, and have had no hurt, at least, neither to limb nor life; nay, the smel of a bloudy warr hath hardly passed up∣on you: O the power of an Almighty God! O the safety of Gods Noahs in his Ark of Providence, when it sails upon seas of bloud! O the security of the Saints, who dwel in God, in the secret place of the most High! Good Je∣hoshaphat experienced this, when the Captains of the Chariots of Aram put him in great fear; the Lord hard his cry, and brought him off with safetie, when his Confederate was slain in the fight: and what return did he make unto the Lord? he acted vigorously, not onely, as a prudent, but also, as a pious Covernour, in the cause both of God and man: Ah, what a blessed change would be made in England! how would it be a land of righteousness! and how would the poor of the flock rejoyce in it! if all that had been eminently delivered, and dignified by the Lord, would make such returnes to him, and his people? though your excellency be not upon the Throne, yet you are near unto

it; you stand in a publick capacity, both Civil and Military, and are eminent in both; and so, have great opportunities of doing good; I hope you lose none, I am sure, you have improved many: God hath led you to the second Chariot, much in Josephs way; be still a Joseph to the house of your bre∣thren; let the Israel of God be dear unto you; be a covering Cherub over them, and an Advocate for them; they are a conside∣rable number in the Land, yea, the most considerable in the Census of Heaven. It was Job's Honour, when he sate chief, and dwelt as a King in the midst of the Army, to com∣fort the mourners, to be eyes to the blinde, feet to the lame, and a father to the poor, and your Excellency knows, it will be your advantage, to loose the bands of wickedness, to undoe the heavie burdens, to let the op∣pressed go free, to break every yoke, &c. for then, shall your light break forth as the morning, and your health shall spring up speedily: And your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your Rereward.

Freedome from Oppression is a choice mercie, and owned to be such by the poor, whose flesh hath been torn by that iron tooth; but 'tis more eminentlie such, upon a spiritual account, and so owned by the Lords people, whose soules have mourned, and whose Consciences have bled under for∣mer Impositions: a light burthen weighs heavy, when 'tis laid on weak shoulders, and a little yoke presseth hard upon tender necks: Tenderness of spirit, when drawn forth un∣to right Objects, is a fruit of Electing Grace, a precious Cement to strengthen Communi∣on of Saints, and past all peradventure, of rare use, and real necessity, that Christians of known integrity, and of different per∣swasions, in lesser matters, may not be impo∣sed upon, but protected. The Gospel spirit is a healing spirit, a spirit of love and ten∣derness. Jesus Christ will own those per∣sons in an honourable way, who carries his lambs in their bosomes, that they may not become a prey to the Foxes; and gently lead those that are big with young, according to the right method, and not beyond the

bounds of Gospel-tenderness: but 'tis not the minde of Christ, that seducing Jesabel should be suffered, — and 'tis gravel in the teeth, yea, as a sword in the bones, of many gracious ones, to hear men of undermining Principles, as to truth, and of debauched practises, as to holiness, make use of names, honourable before God, and precious with good men, as a shelter to themselves and blasphemies: Cities of Refuge for such of∣fenders, are not set apart by God in his Israel, nor is his Temple to be a Sanctuary for such Delinquents. The Lord cause the false Pro∣phet and the unclean Spirit to pass out of the Land, and ship them away to the Land of Shinar; superadde this to his many mercies; that he may turn to us a pure Language, that we may serve him with one consent, and that we may with one minde and one mouth, glori∣fie God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord make your excellency eminently instrumental to repair Zions breaches, and bless you out of Zion, with peace and joy in your own spirit, and when you shall have served out your own genera∣tion

according to his will, receive you up into heavenly Jerusalem, amongst the spirits of just men made perfect.

I shall shut up this Address (Dear and Honoured) with this one Request, that you will accept the humble tender of real Re∣spects in this smal bundle of goats hair; was it better, I know no persons in the world, that can lay a fuller Challenge unto it, then you can; nor to whom I should more readily offer it, then unto your selves: If in the per∣usal of this Treatise, you shall finde one spark to encrease your warmth of spirit for heaven and holiness, own the Lord in it, and let me be but a poor sheard, in which the coal is brought from the hearth; If any passage in it takes your soules aside, and gives them a review of your Dangers and Deliverances, offering any hint to direct or incite you to those Duties, which the Lord calls for from his ransomed ones, I have my end; my Ex∣spectations terminate in Gods glory, and your spiritual good and growth. The Lord make you progressive in Greatness, but more in Grace, that Religion, in the life, and spirit,

and power, may be cherished in your hearts, and houses, that your practises may be a Pa∣raphrase upon Psalm 101. your families may be Ecclesia, Aula, Schola, as was the family of George Prince of Anhalt, or like Cyrus his Court, where, if a man chose blind-fold, he could not miss of a good man; or like the Family of your Noble Parents, where many were Proselited to the Faith, and some now alive, do own that Providence, as happy, which planted them under their roof; That your children may keep up sincere Professi∣on in your name and race, and that the Lord, who hath often delivered you out of the mouth of the Lion, would deliver you out of every evil work, and would preserve you unto his heavenly kingdome, that you may be presented faultless before the presence of his glory, with exceeding joy, is the hearty Prayer of

Your Worships, Honours, and Excellencies humble and devoted Servant, in the Lords work, and for his honour, NATH. WHITING.

Notes

• Iob 5.27.
• Acts 10.1.
• 1 Tim. 6.12.
• 1 Kings 22, 32.
• 2 Chron. 19.4, 5, &c.
• Iob 29.25. compared with Verses 15, 16.
• Isa. 59.6, 7, 8.
• Col. 3.12.
• Zech. 13.2.
• Zeph. 3.9.
• Rom. 15.6.
• Heb. 12.22, 23.