THis Text divides it selfe in­to two generall parts; The first sheweth you, The Re­fuge of a sinner; The second, The mind of a Saint. 1. The Refuge of a Sinner is, when he failes on earth he flies to heaven, [Whom have I in heaven but thee?] 2. The minde of a Saint is, to disprise and undervalue things below in compari­son [Page 2] of the God that is above [There is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee.]

1. The Refuge of a Snner. It is observed in Na­ture, that for all weake creatures God hath provi­ded severall Refuges to runne unto to hide them­selves in times of feare and danger: thus the child runnes to the Parent for Refuge, the Chickens to the Henne, the Conies to the Burrowes; the Foxe to the Earth, and the Sinner to heaven: The eternall God is thy Refuge (saith Moses, Deut. 33. 27.) and his everlasting armes are underneath thee, (as it were) to embrace thee, to hold thee, to keepe thee up from the sinke of sinne, from the pit of perdition, from despaire of Grace, and from a downefall into hell. The Lord will be a refuge for the poore, (saith David, Psal. 9. 9.) even a Refuge in due time of trou­ble: marke that hee saith, A refuge for the poore; that is, for such as are poore in Spirit, though they be not poore in purse, they that are truely sensible of their owne spirituall povertie, of their want of Faith, and want of Grace, and want of true Reli­gion and Vertue: They that are alwayes speaking supplications to God (as Salomon saith, it is the proper language, the naturall Dialect of a poore man to speake supplications, to make his moane, and make knowne his wants to every one that will give him the hearing) they that are alwayes ply­ing of heaven with petitions, God will be a double refuge for such (for so David ingeminates and doubleth the word) A refuge for their bodies, and a refuge for their soules, a refuge for themselves, and a refuge for their children, a refuge while they [Page 3] live, and a refuge when they die, a refuge in the time of wealth, but a present refuge in due time of trouble, for then he never failes. In the Singing Psalmes, it runnes thus, God is protectour of the poore; God is the poore mans protectour, as David was the poore mans Captaine, 1. Sam. 22. 2. Every one that was in distresse, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him and hee became a Cap­taine over them. In like manner whatsoever your distresse be, whatsoever your debts, whatsoever your discontents, gather your selves to heaven, addresse your suits to God, and apply your selves to Christ, and hee hath promised in his holy Gospell. Ioh. 6. 37. Whosoever commeth to mee, be hee poore or rich, non eijciam for as, I will in no wise cast him out.

Oh what an encouragement should this be unto us at all times, especially in the time of neede, when the bucket is broken to goe to the fountaine, when any thing is lost or amisle, seeke to mend it, and make it up in God. As the man of God answe­red Amaziah, 2 Chron. 25. 9. when he tooke care what he should doe for his hundred talents which hee had given away, (saith he) The Lord is able to give thee much more than this; so beleeve it, there is no man so poore, but God is able to make him rich; no man so sicke, but God is able to make him whole; no man so lost and cast downe in the world, but God is able to restore and raise him up: and whosoever hee be that referres himselfe to God, that casts and rolleth himselfe upon his mer­cie, [Page 4] hee shall one day finde that there is a God in Israel, that will doe every▪ man right, and in the end give every man satisfaction. I say (in the end) for our life in this world is but just like a Stage­play, where the matter is not great what part the Player acteth, whether the part of a King, or the part of a clowne, the part of a Prince, or the part of a begger; the maine of all is, what share he shall receive when the play is ended.

In like sort, God hath appointed every severall man his severall part to act in this world; some have a longer part, some a shorter, some act a poore part, some a rich one: now God send us but a share in heaven when wee come to die; and let us act in this life what part soever shall please God to impose upon us: knowing this, that if the worst come that can come, God will be our Lord to pro­tect us, Christ will be our surety to baile us, and heaven shall be our refuge to relieve us.

[Whom have I in heaven but thee?] So much in generall, I come now to particulars, to shew you the mysterie, and the hidden meaning of the Text.

It may be taken in a foure fold sence 1. As an expression of Faith. 2. As an expression of De­votion. 3. As an expression of Love. 4. As an expression of Feare and Reverence to God.

1 If wee take it as an expression of Faith, and Affiance in God, then the meaning is this, Whom have I in heaven but thee to rely upon.

2 Take it as an expression of Devotion and Pie­tie to God, then the meaning is this, Whom have I in heaven but thee to call upon.

[Page 5] 3 Take it as an expression of Love and Affecti­on to God, then the meaning is this, Whom have I in heaven but thee to set my heart upon?

4 Take it as an expression of Feare and Reve­rence to God, then the meaning is this, Whom have I in heaven but thee to fixe mine eyes upon?

Give me leave to strike these severall flints, to give you a touch or two upon these severall accep­tions, and I hope in Christ, that each of them will affoord you a sparke to enlighten the Text, and to kindle the zeale of God in the soules of all that heare it.

1 In the first place, wee will take it as an ex­pression of Faith and Affiance in God, according to this meaning, Whom have I in heaven but thee to relie upon; I meane in Augustiâ, in a straight, for while a man prospers in sinne, and wants no earth­ly sustentacula, no friends nor meanes to under­proppe and shore him up, so long hee doth not know what it is to stand in neede of God; but let these proppes and shores be taken from him, these friends and meanes beginne to faile him, and sick­nesse and sorrow come to seaze upon him, the one upon his body, the other upon his soule, hee shall then know (as Naaman said to Elisha) There is no God in all the world, but onely the God of Israel, 2 Reg. 5. 15. if hee had not a God to rely upon, hee were undone for ever. His name (saith Solomon) is a strong tower, the righteous flie unto it and are safe, Prov. 18. 10. Now you know what use there is of a Tower in a Citie that is beleagured with the enemy; when all the out workes are taken, the [Page 6] walls are scaled, the houses left, and all fortifica­tions forsaken and fled from, then the Tower holds out last, and is a Refuge to flie unto in their last ex­tremitie. Such use maist thou make of God in thy greatest straits: if it so fall out that thy out-workes be taken, I meane, thy goods consumed by fire, or lost by sea, or suretiship; or thy walls be scaled, I meane, thy bodies health endangered by a sud­den or a lingring sicknesse; and thy house within, I meane thy heart, left desolate and destitute of in­ward and spirituall comfort, then flie to the Tower, gather upward to heaven, in-soule thy selfe into God, and trie what God will doe for thy soule. There is a pregnant place for this purpose, Esay 50. 11. Who is there among you that feareth the Lord, and yet walketh in darkenesse and hath no light? It is a hard case (you will say) and a sad condition, that a man that feares God, and obeyeth the voyce of his servants, should yet notwithstan­ding walke in darkenesse, and have no light, (that is, live in discomfort and discontent, and have no joy nor pleasure: well, but if it should so happen to such a man, what shall hee doe, what course shall hee take to relieve himselfe at such a time? (Saith the Prophet) Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and let him stay upon his God. Marke the phrase, Innitatur in deo suo, Let him not flit nor flie away in a chafe, if hee have not present remedy, as Ieho­rams messenger did, 2 Reg. 6. ult. saying, Behold this evill is of the Lord, what should I waite for the Lord any longer; but let him rest, and rely, and stay upon his God: as a beggar doth at a rich mans [Page 7] doore, thither he comes, there hee stayes, though hee knowes not whether hee shall have any thing or nothing, but onely hee is sure that there it is to be had. In like sort, get thee to that same Ostium spei Doore of hope, which the Prophet speakes of, Hos. 2. 15. there take up thy stand, there rest thy soule, and say as David did, Lord, there is mercy with thee, and with thee is plenteous redemption: if thou hast not mercy enough to forgive mee, if thou hast not compassion enough to redeeme mee, if thou hast not plenty enough to provide for mee, I am content to goe without it; but I am sure there is no want in thee, whatever there is in me. In a word, If ever thou commest to be in such a straight, that thou knowest not what to doe, if mercy helpe not out, then turne thy selfe to God, as Iehosaphat did, 2 Chron. 20. 12. and say, O Lord, I know not what to doe, but mine eyes are upon thee: First, let thine eyes be upon God for service, (as the eyes of a maide are on the hands of her Mi­stresse;) and then, let thy eyes be upon God for succour, (as the eyes of the Israelites upon the Brazen Serpent;) have thou an eye to God for service, and assure thy selfe, God will have an eye to thee for succour. And so much in briefe for the first sence of the words, I come now to the second, and that is:

2 An expression of Devotion, Whom have I in heaven but thee to call upon? Oh thou that hearest prayer (saith David, Psal. 65. 2.) to thee shall all flesh come: As if hee had said, Thou Lord art that gra­cious Master of Requests, that never didst put by [Page 10] any suppliant that made petition to thee; Thy hea­venly Court, is that gracious Court of Chancery, where never any plaintiffe went away without re­liefe; Thou art that great housholder of the world, that givest food to all flesh, and hast promised that all flesh shall see the salvation of our God; to thee therefore, and to none but thee shall all flesh come; & so do I, a fleshly carnall wretch amongst the rest: Oh let thy mercifull eares be open to the prayer of thy humble servant, and heare mee whensoever I call upon thee; for thy Spirit is Conditor precum, the Enditer of Prayer; and Thou thy selfe art Auditor precum, the hearer of Prayer: it is thy Royalty, it is thy Prerogative, and none else but thou canst heare it to our comfort: the Saints of God, both these on earth, and those in heaven may be helpers in Prayer (as I make no doubt but the yare [...], Co-workers, & Fellow­helpers in prayer to God for us) but an hearer of Prayer there is none but God for certaine; If the Saints in heaven could heare the prayers of those that invocate them upon earth, they would an­swer them, as Iacob answered Rachel, Gen. 30. 2. when shee cried unto him, Give mee children, or else I die, Nunquid ego pro Deo? Am I in Gods stead▪ Cry to God if thou meanest to have children, or a­ny other comfort, and not cry to man that cannot helpe thee. Wee see by experience, let a childe stand crying in the streete, and twentie strangers goe by, they minde it not, they looke not after it; but let the father of the childe come by, and hee turnes him to the cry of his poore child, and takes [Page 11] compassion of him, and stills him; so dealeth our heavenly Father with us; Hee turnes him to the prayer of the poore destitute, and despiseth not their desire: Hee is that good Samaritan spoken of in the Gospell, that takes compassion upon a woun­ded soule, which the strangers of the world passe by and make no force of, and therefore if you marke it, Ioh. 8. 48. when the Iewes said to our Sa­viour, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devill? our blessed Saviour denied that hee had a devill, but hee did not deny that hee was a Samaritan, No, no, O blessed Lord, they spake truer than they were aware of; it is wee that be the wounded Sinners, it is thou that art the mercifull Samaritan that powrest in the wine and oyle of thy heavenly Grace, and healest us againe, when wee are more than halfe dead in our sinnes: to whom then shall wee goe for mercy and reliefe, but to this God of ours, who for our sinnes justly is dis­pleased, and at our prayers mercifully is appeased againe? Call now and see (saith Iob) if there be any that will answer thee, and to which of the Saints wilt thou turne thee? Iob 5. 1. A man that is in distresse of conscience may turne from Saint to Saint, as a doore turnes upon the hinges from side to side, and still remaine in the same estate of misery, and be as farre from any hope of mercy at night as hee was in the morning: but if a man take unto him words, and turne to the Lord and say, (as it is, Hos. 14. 2.) O Lord take away all iniquitie, and receive us graci­ously, he may assure himselfe, that if hee have not his desire granted at the first going to God, let him [Page 12] goe againe and againe, and God will surely grant it, either in the same kinde or a better: Though once going about Ierico did the walls no hurt, yet the going about them againe, and againe made them fall to the ground; though one Cock-crow­ing wrought nothing upon Peter▪ yet the crowing againe and againe melted his heart: so if once cal­ling upon God doe not bring downe mercy from heaven, let not that discourage thee, but call upon him againe and againe; nay, (as David saith) I will call upon God as long as I live, and praise my God while I have any being.

Plutarke reports of the men of Athens, that when their citie was visited and long punished, as our citie of London (God helpe us) is and hath beene, with a dangerous and contagious sicknesse, they had recourse to the Oracle of Apollo, to know what they should doe to be rid of their mortalitie; the Oracle answered (as Oracles usually did) in a doubtfull way, If they would be freed of the sick­nesse, they must Duplare Aram, double the Altar: This they understood to be meant in a literall sence, and thereupon went about to compasse the Altar, and to take the just proportion of it, to make it twice as bigge as it was before: but the meaning of the Oracle was mysticall; they should double the Altar, that is, double their sacrifices and obla­tions upon the Altar. In like manner, the best re­medy that I can prescribe from God unto you, to be eased of this affliction, and to be rid of this mortalitie, is to double the Altar, I meane, to double your devotions, and your spirituall sacrifi­ces [Page 13] to Almightie God; to pray twice as much, to serve God twice as often, and twice as well as ever you did before: and beleeve it, if there be a­ny meanes under heaven to drive away this Plague from the earth, this will doe it. Let every man therefore in the feare of God, buckle to his owne taske, and goe in hand with his owne cure, and a­rise, and call upon his owne God, professing and acknowledging (as David did here) Whom have I in heaven, but thee O God to call upon? And so I come to the third intention and meaning of my Text, which is;

3 An expression of Love and Affection to God, Whom have I in heaven but thee to set my heart upon? The Lord & giver of life, who loadeth us daily with benefits, even the God of our salvation, who giveth all things richly to enjoy; desireth no other Boone, nor other Recompence for all his mercies, but one­ly this, that wee love him with our hearts. My Sonne give me thy heart. Alas Lord, (may some poore Christian say) Oh that I had such an heart as were fit to be given to thee, that were but a fit token to be given and presented to so holy, so hea­venly a God, that it were but [...], worthy in any measure of thy gracious acceptation, but I feare I have it not. The Scripture speakes of three sorts of hearts. First, the best sort. Secondly, the worst sort. Thirdly, the middle sort. 1. The best sort are cleane hearts, pure hearts, hearts that be without any guile, according to the Heart of God (as Davids was said to be,) these be fitting hearts to be given to the Lord, but alas, wee have [Page 14] them not to give. 2. The worst sort, are hard and stony hearts, proud and malicious hearts, hearts that burne like an Oven (as the Prophet Hosea speaks) with the fire of lust and hell, too many such hearts there be in the world, but it is a venture whether God will owne them if wee should offer to give them. 3. Then there are a middle sort of hearts which are, A broken and a contrite heart, a dutifull and a thankefull heart, an honest and a true heart, a tender and a loving heart (though full of imperfections otherwise;) God send us but such hearts as these, and no doubt hee will accept them. It was an humble request of good S. Augustine, Ecce cor meum, Deus meus, ecce cor meum, Behold my heart, O my God, behold my heart, what an evill, what a naughty one it is; and thou that madest it, in thy good time mend it, and make it such a one as thou wouldest have it. Bone Domine (saith devout Saint Bernard) amo te quantum possum, non quantum de­beo; da plus amoris, & plus amabo. O my good Lord, I love thee as much as I am able, though not halfe so much as I ought, give mee but more love, and I will love thee more. Oh knit my heart unto thee (saith David, Psal. 86. 11.) that I may love and dread thy Name: Vni cor meum, (as it is in the Hebrew) Vnite it and make it one with thee: As if hee had prayed, and said; Lord, breake and dissolve the vnlawfull contract that is betwixt my soule and my sinnes, or betwixt my heart and the world, and tie it to thy selfe in an undissolvably union, that it may be pre­served with thy heavenly grace, and cantinue thine for ever. There is no one thing that doth so alienate [Page 15] a mans heart from God, as to set it upon the world: therefore the holy Ghost gives a speciall injuncti­on; If riches increase set not your heart upon them, Psal. 62. 10. The increase of riches is no wayes culpable, nor worthy of blame (for it is the blessing of God upon our good endeavours,) but it is Positio cordis, the setting on of the heart upon them, (as the Bee sets on her sting) with the greatest strength of our affections: the rockes that are in the sea, of themselves doe the shippes no harme, but it is the rushing of the shippes against the rocke that splits them: when it fares with a man, as did with the Israelites, 2 Sam. 15. 6. when their hearts went af­ter Absalom, they fell from David their true King; so when a mans heart shall goe after the world that he falls from God; this is disloyalty to the King of Kings. In a word, let it be our constant resolution, and the truth of our Religion, that though we must of necessity somtimes set our minds upon the world for the dispatch of our present businesse, yet let us doe it evermore with such an abstraction, such a mentall reservation, that our hearts be not taken off from God. For thats the third intention & meaning of the words, Whom have I in heaven but thee to set my heart upon? I come now to the last, which is in­deede the most needfull, and most agreeable to this present time, and that is;

4 An expression of Feare and Réverence to God, Whom have I in heaven but thee to fixe my eyes upon? Timor figens oculos, &c. what a man feares, hee will be sure to have a continuall eye upon; and certainely, men had never more cause to have a continuall eye upon God then now; whether wee [Page 16] consider it as a time of Mercy in one kind, or a time of Iudgement in another. In one kinde, there never was a more mercifull Time, more Gracious, a more plentifull yeare knowne since the memory of man: This is the yeare that God hath crowned with his goodnesse (as David speakes, Psal. 65. 11.) other yeares before this, (God hee knowes) were but poore, hungry, and beggerly yeares, [...], next doore to famine, but this is a Royall, a Princely, a Kingly yeare, a yeare that weares the Crowne, both for greatnesse and goodnesse too, (Thou crownest the yeare with thy goodnesse:) Iudge you then whether this be not a sitting time to feare God, and his goodnesse, (as the Prophet speakes, Hosea 3. 5. In the later dayes they shall feare the Lord and his goodnesse;) Oh that this Prophecie might be fulfilled, that wee had grace to make good that Promise of God, and to make it appeare that God meant it of us in these later dayes: Oh that God would frame our hearts to feare him and his goodnesse, that wee may never come to feele him and his vengeance. There is mercy with thee (saith David) that thou maist be feared; the meaning is, the more mercifull God hath beene to us, the more fearefull should wee be of him, and the more afraid of any breaches betwixt us and our God. I remember it is recorded of Ionahs Mariners, that when the danger was past, the sea was calme and all was quiet, Then (saith the Text) the men feared the Lord exceedingly, Ionah 1. 16. And why then? one would have thought they should have growne jocant, and merry, and feared nothing, where they saw nothing to be feared; Oh but they could not [Page 17] tell whether God would not send such another storme, such another Tempest, such another Iudgement upon them; therefore they thought it their best and safest way to feare him then, yea to feare him exceedingly.

Oh, that wee Christians had the grace to learne this lesson of these Heathens, namely, To feare God for his goodnesse: so that if God should be pleased (as I trust hee will) to stay his hand, to cease the sicknesse, to cause his revenging Angell to passe over us, and to send a gracious raine upon his Inheritance, now that tis weary and even spent with Drought; shall wee feare God the lesse for this, and care the lesse for his favour? God forbid: for why? Wee doe not know, but God may send such another Plague, such another Drought, such another Iudgement upon us, and doe us more harme than ever hee did us good: And therefore, while wee are well, and enjoy our peace, and live under mercy, let us with feare and reverence looke up to God, and say, Whom have I in heaven but thee to fixe mine eyes upon.

2 Againe, secondly, looke upon the judgements that be abroad in the world; those dolefull Epide­micall diseases that have over-spread both Citie and Country, so that as it was once in Egypt, There was not an house where there was not one dead, Exod. 12. so it is now in England, scarce an house where there is not one sicke; nay, by credible and lamen­table report, in many Parishes, there are scarce found folkes enough to attend the sicke, nor la­bourers to be gotten to Inne the Harvest. Oh, con­sider [Page 18] this, and see, how God hath watched upon the evill (as the Prophet Daniel speaketh, Dan. 9. 14.) Vigilavit Dominus super malum, The Lord hath even watched upon the evill to bring it upon us, and hath picked out a Time of mercy to punish us in. And shall wee not feare God for all this? As that good Theefe said to his fellow, Luke 23. 40. [...]? Dost not thou feare God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? Thou that art condemned, thou that art upon the Crosse, thou that art under such a judgement as well as I; Dost not thou feare God? Dost not thou make conscience of thy words and wayes? What a gracelesse wretch art thou? Yet see, a wicked man will be a wretch, though hee should goe to hell presently; and what a misery it is, that they that have most cause, should have least grace to feare God, We read, 2 Sam. 6. 9. When David saw the fall of Vzzah, how God strooke him dead on the sudden, with his owne immediate hand, and that (to our thinking) for a well-meant errour, that could not savour of any malicious wickednesse; the Text saith, That David feared the Lord that day: not but that David feared the Lord before, but he never feared him so much as hee did that day, when he saw such a visable te­stimony of Gods displeasure upon one of his owne servants. How many Vzzahs have we seene the fall of? How many men of Note, men of Worth, and men [...] have wee knowne and heard of to be [...] [...]owne and laid low by the hand of, God? And we unworthy wretches, remaine yet escaped, as it is this day. Let us not be like Ionathans Boy, [Page 19] 1 Sam. 20. that saw the arrowes and observed how they fell, some beyond David, and some fell short of him, but he did not know the mystery and the meaning of them that they were to foretell a dan­ger hard at hand. In like sort, wee cannot but see and observe the Arrowes of God, I meane, those mortall diseases that are shot from the bow of hea­ven, and sticke in the sides of the sonnes of men; wee see how God shootes sometimes beyond us, and hits our betters, sometimes short of us, and hits our inferiours; sometimes on the right side, & hits our friends; sometimes on the left, and hits our enemies; and all these (like Ionathans arrowes) to warne us, not to wound us. Oh therefore if ever we meane to feare God, let us feare him now; and with one accord lift up our eyes to heaven and say, Whom have I in heaven but thee, to stand in feare of. And so much shall serve to be spoken for the foure first expressions and meanings of the Text, God prosper that which followeth.

And now that I have given you thus much light into the Text (I trust, to your content and satisfa­ction:) Give mee leave to open another casement, and let you see it in another kinde, and present it to you in another manner; perhaps not lesse profita­ble▪ I am sure no lesse painefull to me than that you have already heard. Let mee intreate you there­fore with patience to give attention to two things more which naturally arise out of the Text. 1. The Honour of God, Th [...] hee is in heaven. 2. The Tenure of the go [...], [...] though he be in heaven, yet they have him here on earth, [Whom have I in heaven but thee?]

[Page 20] 1 The honour of God, That he is in heaven. There is none like the God of Ieshurun (saith Moses, Deut. 33. 26.) that is, the God of righteous and honest-hearted people (for thats the originall meaning of the word) Who rides upon the heavens in thy helpe. Marke how hee sets out God. 1. By his Majestic, that hee rides upon the heavens. 2. By his Mercy, that it is not for his owne ends, but for thine, In [...] auxilium tui, for thy helpe. Though hee rides upon the heavens in a stately magnificent equipage, as it beseemeth so great a Majestie as is the Lord; yet it is wholly for thy good; to give the spheares to governe the Planets, to regulate the celestiall Orbes; to see that the Sunne, Moone, and Starres, keepe their appointed seasons, and performe the daily and nightly taskes that hee hath set them; and all this is, for thy helpe. So that if thou be a right Ieshurun, (i.) a righteous and an honest-hearted man to God, thou maist assure thy selfe, That God rides upon the hea­vens in thy helpe; Thine (I say) in particular, as if hee studied no bodies welfare but thine, and had none else to helpe but thee. The time will not suf­fer me to expatiate and enlarge this Point, which paradventure is of greater consequence than you are aware of. I will therefore glide it over (for this once) and fall immediatly upon that which is the very Medulla, the Pith and Marrow of my Text, namely, The tenure of the godly; which is, That though God be in heaven, yet they have him here upon earth; [Whom have I in heaven but thee.]

Fides Deum individuat, (saith a Father) True [Page 21] Faith impropriates and singles out God to a mans selfe, as Thomas did our Saviour, Ioh. 20. when he said, My Lord, and my God, as if he had beene no bodies Lord, no bodies God but onely his. One saith well, that all the comfort of Divinitie lieth in these possessive names of Mine, and Thine: Li-Atta, Thou art mine (saith God, Esay 43. 1.) which two words the Iewes were wont to write, as a Mot­to upon their Rings, as being the summe and sub­stance of the whole Covenant, comprehending all the Promises of mercy and salvation in it. Now when God shall say unto a soule, Thou art mine, and the soule shall answer to God and say, I am thine; This mutuall Stipulation, this mutuall A­vouchment betwixt God and a good soule; this makes up the match (as it were) and confirmes the covenant, and gives a man boldnesse towards God, that hee is not afraid to claime an interest in God, and say, as David did, [Whom have I in hea­ven but thee?] For marke it, one that is an hypo­crite, that beares no true faith to God, dares not make any application of God to himselfe, but speakes of him, as of one that concernes others and not himselfe. Pray to your God for me (saith Pharoah to Moses and Aaron, Exod. 10. 17.) and so Darius, Dan. 6. 26. calleth him Daniels God, not his God: Their consciences told them that they were not the Lords, and therefore they durst not seeme to speake as if the Lord were theirs, nor claime any interest or propriety in him; Quid nobis & tibi (said the divells to Christ) What have we to doe with thee Iesus thou Sonne of God? They that will have no­thing [Page 22] to doë with God as his servants, can have but small hope that God will have any thing to doe with them as their Saviour, or that God will ever owne them as his children, that would never ho­nour him as a Father. The first time that ever wee read that God was called the God of one man more than of another, was Gen. 9. 26. when Shem had acted that dutifull part towards his despised Father in covering his nakednesse: then Noah breakes out into this Divine Benediction, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem. This (I say) was the first time that ever God was appropriated to one man more than to another: And it may serve for an e­verlasting encouragement to all that have Parents living, to shew their utmost respect and duty to them, because the first that ever God owned was a dutifull child. Afterward, God enlarged him­selfe to more (as you may read, Exod. 3▪ 6.) where he proclaimes himselfe to be, The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, & the God of Iacob: Now Abraham was a faithfull man, The father of the faithfull: Isaac was a quiet man, that walked with God in private and made no noise in the world: Iacob was a prayerfull, a powerfull man with God, one that wrestled with him for a blessing; put these three together, and they intimate unto us, that there are three sorts of men that have the Lord for their God. 1. Hee is the God of Abraham, that is, the God of all Faithfull men. 2. Hee is the God of Isaac, that is, the God of all quiet men. 3. He is the God of Iacob, that is, The God of all devout men. So that, if thou beest either a faithfull man, [Page 23] as Abraham; or a quiet man, as Isaac, or a devoute man as Iacob, Thou maist be bold without pre­sumption to make application of God to thy selfe, to challenge him as thy owne, and to say as David did, Whom have I in heaven but thee?

More particularly, Though God be in heaven, yet his faithfull servants may be truely said to have him here on earth, in foure respects. 1. To have him in Possession. 2. To have him in Partner­shippe. 3. To have him in Remembrance. 4. To have him in Regard.

1. To have God in Possession two severall wayes: first, Inwardly in their hearts, God is in you of a truth (saith the Apostle) 1 Cor. 14. 25. Salvum sit verbum Domini (as Saint Bernard speakes), God save that good word, and send us to know the truth aud to finde the comfort of it: but how should wee be sure that God is in us? Answer, As by the sparkes that arise out of an heape of Ashes, wee know for certaine that there is fire within; so by the good motions, good prayers, and good de­sires that arise, as so many heavenly sparkes out of the heart and soule, wee may know for certaine there is God within us. Hee is [...], The God in the bosome, as Lazarus was said to be in the bosome of Abraham, and Iohn in the bosome of Iesus, and Iesus in the bosome of his Father; so is God the father in the bosome of every child of his upon earth; there hee dwells, and there he makes his abode. Doe but observe two phrases of those two great Apostles, Saint Iohn, and Saint Paul; in the one, we are said to dwell in God, 1 Iohn. 4. 16. [Page 24] He that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God; Hee is (as it were) Gods Inmate, Gods Inhabitant, and in that sence, God may be said, to have us in possessi­on. In the other God is said to dwell in us, 2 Cor. 6. 16. Ye are the temples of the living God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walke in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people; and in this sence God is our Inmate, our Inhabi­tant, and wee may be truely said to have him in possession: now where there is this mutuall coha­bitation, this mutuall dwelling one within ano­ther, that wee dwell in God, and God dwells in us; that we have possession of God in one kind, and God hath possession of us in another kinde; cer­tainely this Tenure can never be broken, this Pos­session can never be lost, wee and our God shall never part, but after we have lived and loved, and dwelt together on earth, wee shall live, and love, and dwell together in heaven.

2 Secondly, as they have an inward possession of God in their hearts, so they possesse him also outwardly in their Estates, in their Rents, and in all their Revenues; for they have God in all these, & the influence of his blessing gives them good of all that they enjoy. This is the difference that I ob­serve betwixt the blessings of Iacob and Esau, Gen. 27. The one had God with his blessing, the other had his blessing without God. When Isaac blessed Iacob, ver. 28. Thus hee said, God give thee of the dew of heaven, & the fatnesse of the earth, &c. After­terwards, when Esau came and begged a blessing al­so, He gives him in a manner the very same blessing [Page 25] that hee gave to Iacob, but that hee makes no men­tion of God in it; but onely said, ver. 39. Thy por­tion shall be the fatnesse of the earth, and the dew of heaven from above: The very same blessing, onely with this difference: That God was in at the one, but out at the other. Now looke what an eye is without sight, or a well without water, or a body without a soule; the very same is a portion without God. There is a Tradition of Thomas Aquinas, that the Lord should call unto him from heaven, and say▪ Quid tibi dabo Thoma? Thomas, what shall I give thee for all the good service thou hast done me? His answer was, Teipsum Domine, Give me thy selfe, O Lord, and I desire no other gift, let mee have but thee, I aske no more. This is not much different, that divine ejaculation of a pious soule: Lord, let mee live out of the world with thee, but let me not live in the world without thee. In a word, this is the happinesse and the blessed priviledge of a good and faithfull servant to God, though his estate and possessions be but meane and small, he possesseth his God which makes amends for all. And this is the first way whereby they may be said to have God, though hee be in heaven, that is, Habere in possessione, to have him in possession; As if David had said, Whom have I in possession but thee?

2 The next is, To have him in Partnershippe; and that two wayes:

1. To take our part against our adversaries, as you see, Num. 12. 8. How God tooke Moses part against Aaron and Myriam, when they murmured and rebelled against him; How were you not afraid [Page 26] (saith God) to speake against my servant, against Moses: that is, to speake against any servant of mine, though never so despicable and poore; but to speake against my chiefest and choisest servant, against Moses, who is faithfull in all my house; Quomodo non timuistis? How durst you be so bold: how were you not afraid to doe it? knowing that it concernes the honour of my truth to take their part. And as it followeth after, when God had taken his part in word, hee tooke h s part in deede, and did him more right, and wrought him more revenge than Moses himselfe was willing he should have done. Thus if thou be on Gods side, God will surely be on thy side: if thou take Gods part a­gainst those that dishonour him, and abuse his bles­sed Name, God will undoubtedly take thy part a­gainst those that dishonour thee, and seeke to doe thee evill; yea, paradventure God will worke thee a further revenge than thou art aware of; that is, if any disease or any sicknesse be upon thee, God will take it off, and lay it upon them that hate thee: Tis his Promise, Deut. 7. 15. So that thy af­fliction shall goe from thee to thy enemy, as the leprosie of Naaman went from him to Gehazi. And this is one benefit thou shalt reape by having God in partnershippe.

2. God will beare a part in all thy adversities, Esay 63. 9. In all our afflictions, he is afflicted: Iust as a Tutour that maintaines a Scholler in the Vni­versitie at his owne charge, if hee punish that Scholler in his purse, hee punisheth himselfe; so dealeth the Lord with us; it is an affliction to God [Page 27] to afflictus; and there is no affliction that falls upon us, but God himselfe beares a part of it. As in all his commands, Quod jubet, juvat, what he bids us to doe, he helpes us to doe; so in all his chastise­ments, what hee makes us to beare, he helpes us to beare; as Simon helped our Saviour to beare his Crosse. Hence it is, That his yoake is easie, and his burthen light, Mat. 11. Whether it be meant of Iugum praecepti, the yoake of his Commandment, or Iugum crucis, the yoake of his Chastisement; both may be said to be easie and light, because wee beare but with one shoulder, and God beares with the other; for it is said, 1 Chron. 15. 26. God helped the Levites to beare the Arke: The Arke of it selfe was no great burthen to beare, and yet as light as it was, God was faine to helpe them to beare it; without the helpe of God, the lightest burthen is unsupportable; for it is said of Iudah, Deut. 33. 7. His own hands shall be sufficient for him, Si tu Dominus, If thou Lord do helpe him against his enemies. no mans owne hands, no mans owne en­deavours can be sufficient for him, either for his defence, or for his maintenance, unlesse the God of heaven put to his helping hand. We read, 1 Sam. 7. 12. That Samuel pitched a stone, and called it Eben-ezer, The stone of helpe, and his reason was, Hitherto God hath helped us: Now marke the po­sture and situation of this stone; He pitched it (saith the Text) betweene Mizpeh and Shen: Mizpeh sig­nifieth sight or wisedome; Shen signifieth a Tooth, or strength: So the meaning is, that neither a mans wisedome can helpe him on the one side, nor his [Page 28] strength helpe him on the other side, unlesse Eben-ezer, The helpe of God come in betweene them. It was only God in the Bush that kept the fire from burning; so it is God in affliction that keepes the heart from despairing. Hence it is, that the most precious blessing that Iacob could invent for his deare sonne Ioseph was this, That the good will of him that dwelt in the Bush might be upon him, Deut. 33. 16▪ for then hee knew, though he should meete with many Thornes, and many piercing cares and crosses in the world, yet the good▪ will of him that dwelt in the Bush, would be a shelter and a shield against them all. Let no man therefore mis­interpret Gods corrections, nor mistake the mea­ning of his chastisements, for there may be Bene­placitum in Rubo, as well as in Regno: Though a man be (as it were) in a bush of thornes, that is, perplexed on every side with cares and crosses; yet the good-will of God may be no lesse upon him in this Bush, than if he were in a pleasant Arbour, in the most delightfull condition that the earth can afford. I will say it once againe, If God beare a man good-will, though hee should dwell in a very Bush (i.) in the very midst among his enemies, yet may he lay him downe in peace, and take his rest; for why? There is one with him that will take his part against all his adversaries, and beare a part in all his adversities; And this is the second privi­ledge of all faithfull soules, that they have Deum in participationem, God in partnershippe. As if David had said, Whom have I in partnershippe but thee?

[Page 29] 3 The third way of having God, is to have him in Remembrance, and not to deale with Gods Mercies, as Iehu dealt with Iehorams Messengers, to turne them behind our backes when our owne turne is served, to thinke no more of him, nor looke no more after him. God Almighty made an Order concerning the peoples ingresse, and egresse at his Temple, Ezech. 46. 9. That he that came in at the North▪gate, must goe out againe at the South-gate; and hee that came in at the South-gate, must goe out at the North gate; they might in no wise returne by the way of the same gate which they came in at, but goe forth over against it: One gives the Reason of it (and it is a singular good one) Nè propitiatorio terga verterent, cum a templo exirent, least they should turne their backes to the Propitiatory, or Mercy-seat, when they went out of the Temple; for that was a thing that God could not endure, that when they had entrea­ted and obtained mercy, they should goe unman­nerly away, and turne their backes to his Mercy-seat. Intimating unto us, That when God hath shewed himselfe propitious and mercifull unto us, and hath granted us the desires of our hearts, and hath not denied us the requests of our lippes; wee must take heede we doe not turne or backes upon God when our turne is served, as beasts turne their backes to the pond when their thirst is quenched. But as wee doe desire that God should have us in Remembrance in our weakenesse and poverty, so let us have God in remembrance in our wealth and plenty, Deut. 8. 18. Thou shalt remember the [Page 30] Lord thy God, for it is hee that giveth thee power to to get wealth. Marke this you welthy men, and take it as an Item from God to thee in particular, if thou beest a man of wealth, assure thy selfe (as our Saviour said to Pilat in another case) Thou couldst have no power at all to get an estate, to gather wealth, or to make thy selfe a fortune in the world, unlesse it were given thee from above; Thou mightest have beene as poore as hee that begges at thy doore, had not God given thee a power to get wealth under him. This may be al­so a Memorandum to us all (as Pharoahs Butler said) To call to minde our fault this day, I meane, our unmindfulnesse and forgetfulnesse of God; it is not ones mans fault, but all mens fault; and there­fore the most usuall name that is given to a man in the Hebrew tongue, is Enosh, which properly signifieth Oblivion, or forgetfulnesse, as in that place, Psal. 84. Lord, what is man that thou art so mindfull of him: in the Originall, it is, Lord, what is forgetfulnesse, that thou shouldest Remember him. Hence it is that God hath appointed Ministers to be his Remembrancers, (so we are called Esay 62. 6.) Rememorantes Dominum, Ye that be the Lords Remembrancers, keepe not silence (saith the Prophet) give God no rest, &c. Our Office is double: 1. To put God in remembrance of his people by our prayers. 2. To put the people in remembrance of God, by our preaching; or thus. 1. To put God in remembrance of his Mercy. 2. To put the peo­ple in remembrance of their duty. God send us well to discharge both these Offices to God, and [Page 31] to his people, for in these is contained the whole summe and substance of our Ministeriall function: And for your parts and duties, let mee tell you, that you have a double taske as well as wee, and you shall doe well to give heede unto it, for the comfort and discharge of your owne soules in the sight of God. 1. Put your selves in minde of God, as David did, Psal. 63. Have I not remembred thee, in my bed, and thought upon thee when I was waking? as if hee had said, if I have not done so, I am the more to blame, I have the more to answer for, for I am sure it was my part and duty so to doe. 2. And then in the second place, put God in minde of your selves, as the same David, after hee had re­membred God, hee desires God to remember him and all his troubles, Psal. 132. 1. In a word, Let this be thy Method in all thy private devotions. 1. To put thy selfe in remembrance of God. 2. To put God in remembrance of thy selfe: and let it be thy constant practise before thou goest to sleepe, to looke backe into the day thats past, Remember Gods Mercies, and thine owne sins, be thankefull for the one be humbled for the other; and then lie downe in the peace of Iesus Christ. And this is the third way of having God, Habere in memoriâ, To have him in Remembrance; As if David had said, Whom have I in Remembrance, but thee?

4 The fourth, and last way of Having God, is Habere in Reverentiâ, To have him in Regard, and that three wayes. 1. Have Regard to his Power. 2. To his Precepts. 3. To his Presence. A word of each.

1. Have his Power in Regard, Who Regardeth [Page 32] the power of thy wrath (saith David, Psal. 90. 11.) for ever thereafter, as a man feareth, so is thy displea­sure. The meaning is, The more a man feares, the lesse is God displeased with him; and the lesse a man feares the more is God displeased with him; so in both respects, it holds true, Thereafter as a man feareth, so is Gods displeasure: And yet Lord, (saith David (who regardeth the power of thy wrath? Or who dealeth any otherwise with God, then the Frogges in the Fable did with the blocke, which was throwne in to be their King; when hee fell heavie upon them, and made a dreadfull noise in the waters, they were much afraid, and shrunke into their corners; afterwards when they saw him lie still, and let the streame be calme about them, they regarded him no longer, but securely leaped upon him. Even thus doe carnall men deale with God, Regard him no longer, but while hee falls heavie and sore upon them with his judgements; let him but be still, and let them be quiet; they re­gard him no more than the Frogges regarded the blocke. Shall I praise you in this (saith the Apostle) I praise you not. Gods power must be had in Regard. (Thats the first Point.)

2. His Precepts are to be had in Regard; Then shall I not be confounded (saith David, Psal. 119.) When I have Regard or Respect to all thy Commande­ments. As the Centurions servant in the Gospell, if a stranger or another man had bidden him goe and doe such a thing, he might peradventure have gone and done it himselfe; but when his Lord and Master did but speake the word, it was done, be­cause hee had a Respect and a Regard unto him. In [Page 33] like sort; As we doe desire that God should have Regard to our Prayers, let us have Regard to his Precepts. See and observe that place, Esay 45. 11. Where God doth so Regard the prayer of his humble servants, that a Request from us is a Com­mand to him, Praecipite mihi, (they be Gods owne words) Command ye mee. Oh, what a gra­cious God have we, that will abase himselfe to be commanded by his owne Vassalls: so true is that saying of an Ancient; Nulla creatura humilior Deo, There is no creature more humbler than God, as it is said, Iosh. 10. The Sunne stood still at Ioshuahs com­mand, Deo obediente voce hominis, God yeelding and obeying the voyce of man. Now shall God obey the voyce of man, and shall not man obey the voyce of God? Shall God be willing to be at our com­mand, and shall not wee be as willing to be at his command? Shall God have Regard to our Pray­ers, and shall not we have Regard to his Precepts? Ne fiat, This must not be done, for this will not be taken well at our hands. Gods Precepts must be had in Regard. (Thats the second Point.)

3 In the last place, have regard to Gods Pre­sence, and all is finished.

1. In Generall, Consider with thy selfe that God is Omni-present, present in every place, and that thou canst goe no where from his presence; He is about thy bed, and about thy path, and espieth out all thy wayes. And let this be a meanes, (if thou hast any Regard to God) to make thee walke Circumspectly in the world, and (as Saint Iohns phrase is) [...], Convenienter Deo, answera­bly and agreeably to the presence and approba­tion [Page 34] of that God before whom thou walkest. As Seneca advised Nero that cruell Tyrant, so to de­meane himself, Vt facta superi semper cōprobent sua, that the gods above might approve of all his doings; but he like a dogged Atheist made him this wicked answer, Stulte, verebor esse, cum faciam Deus, Thou doting foole, shall I stand thinking, or fearing the Gods, when I goe about my owne designes. I will not apply it, but onely say, as the Apostle doth, Some have not the knowledge of God, I speake this to your shame, 1 Cor. 15. For if men knew what it were to live in the displeasure of an angry God, they would have him in more Regard. For judge your selves, durst men be so bold with God, yea, so impudent, and audacious, as to sinne, God in the very face, if they did regard him? As the Scripture saith of Nimrod, Gen. 10. 9. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: not a Hunter of beasts, but a Hunter of men (i.) a cruell oppressour, that made poore men weary of their lives, and persecuted them to the very death; Such a Hunter he was (and I would to God there were no more of his breede,) and where? Before the Lord, (saith the Text) [...], signifieth before or against the Lord, as it were in despight and defiance to God: Hee was so hard­ned in it, that hee cared not though God stood by and looked upon him; as if a woman should com­mit adultery, Inspect ante marito, her husband stan­ding by, and looking on. To this height of wicked­nesse are some men growne; that as Origen said of Lots daughters, Vereor ne harum castior incestus siat; quam aliquarū pudicitia: I am afraid that their Incest was more modest than somes Innocency. This would [Page 35] never be, if men had God in any Regard; thē very thought of his unavoidable presence would de­taine, and deterre them from it.

2. But to conclude; If men have little or no Re­gard to the generall presence of God abroad in the world; yet I trust, when they come into Gods speciall Presence, into his Presence-Chamber, in­to the Sanctuary, and House of Prayer, they will shew it there or no where. Wee see by daily expe­rience; The King may looke out of a window, and see his subjects goe by him too and fro upon their owne occasions, and shew him no respect, nor no regard; and why? Because though hee sees them, yet they see not him, nor imagine that hee is so nigh them; but let these men come into his Cham­ber of Presence, or have any Petition to present unto him; then they doe their Homage, then they bow their knees, and glad if they can be so accep­ted. Thus doth God looke downe from Heaven, and from his Throne, beholdes all the dwellers upon earth; we goe on our wayes and minde him not, because though hee sees us, we see not him: but when wee come into his Basilica, his owne House, his owne Palace (for so are Churches cal­led, specially the greater & Mother-Churches, are the Palaces of the King of Heaven) and come to preferre our Prayers and Petitions to him; if wee doe not then serve him, and observe him with the greatest Reverence, the greatest Regard that our soules and bodies can expresse, How can wee hope to be accepted of him. When we come into the Pre­sence of the Lord, (saith David) into the Presence of the Lord of the whole earth; what then? Why [Page 36] then worship him, In decore sanctitatis, in the beauty of holinesse (as the phrase is, Psal. 110. 3. Oh that same holinesse is a beautifull thing, if a man had it; a thing that makes a man comely and lovely, ami­able and acceptable to God and his holy Angells; but if a man have it not, but comes to God in his sinnes, as the Prodigall came to his Father in his ragges, will the Lord accept him? Nay, will hee endure him in his presence? Yes certainely, if hee come in a penitent and an humble way; for though the sonne have no clothing to cover his shame, yet the Father hath enough in his Ward-Robe to bestead him, and to beautifie him too: Proferte stolam (saith he to his Ministers, Luke 15. 22.) Bring forth the best Robe, and put it on him, & put a Ring on his hand, and shooes on his feete, and so make him comely and cleane againe. This will our heaven­ly Father deale with his repenting children; Hee will take away from them the rotten rags of their old sinnes, and cloth them a new with his heavenly Grace, and (as the Prophet speakes) will give them beauty for ashes, and the garment of gladnesse for the spirit of heavinesse, Esay 61. 3. Wee read in the Revelation of Saint Iohn of two women; one re­presenting the false Church, the Whore of Baby­lon; the other representing the true Church, which is the Mother of us all. Now marke the difference of their cloathing. She that represented the whore of Babylon, Rev. 17. 4. Was arraied (saith the Text) in purple, and scarlet, and decked with Gold, and Pearles, and precious stones. Here was a goodly and a beautifull aray, but they were all terrena, all transitorie, all earthly ornaments; there was no­thing [Page 37] at all of heaven in them: now marke the cloathing of the true Church, Revel. 12. 1. the text saith, There appeared a wonder in heaven, a wo­man cloathed with the Sunne, and the moone under her feete, and upon her head a crowne of twelve Starres: here was nothing at all of earth in this cloathing, but all heavenly. And this, oh this is the beauty of holinesse, a celestiall, a heavenly habite. Now (as they prayed in the Gospell, when our Saviour spake of the Manna that came downe from heaven) Lord evermore give us this bread; so let us pray to God in this behalfe, Lord evermore give us this cloathing; Lord cloath us with thy grace from heaven while we live, and cloath us upon with thy glory in heaven when we dye. And that for Iesus Christ his sake, to whom with thee O Fa­ther, and the blessed Spirit, be given and ascribed all honour, prayse, and glory; be done and performed all service, obedience, and from this time forth for ever­more.