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<DATE>2012-11-08</DATE>
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<NAME>Alexis Jakobson</NAME>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>FEARE OF LOSING THE OLD LIGHT.</P>
<P>OR, A SERMON PREACHED IN <HI>EXETER.</HI></P>
<P>BY THOMAS FULLER, <HI>B. D.</HI></P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed by <HI>T. H.</HI> for <HI>Iohn Williams,</HI> at the &s;igne of the Crowne in <HI>Paule</HI> Church-yard. 1646.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD><HI>TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVL Mr.</HI> COOPER, <HI>Mayor of the City of EXETER, and to all the Members of that ancient Corparation.</HI></HEAD>
<P>_WHat the &s;in again&s;t the holy Gho&s;t is in Divinity, the &s;ame Ingratitude is in Morality; an offence unpardonable. It argues a ba&s;e Di&s;po&s;ition in tho&s;e who are glad to receive what others give, but loath to confe&s;&s;e what they Receive.</P>
<P>I mu&s;t acknowledge my engagement unto you to bee great, <HI>Is not Exeter a little one, and my &s;oul &s;hall live?</HI> where I &s;afely anchored in the&s;e tempe&s;tuous times: It is a high advancement in this trouble&s;ome Age, for one with a quiet con&s;cience to be Preferred to Life and Li|berty: It fared better with me; for whil&s;t her Infant Highne&s;&s;e, (on who&s;e Soule and Body God crowd all ble&s;|&s;ings Spirituall and Temporall, till there &s;hall be no roome to receive more) though unable to feed her &s;elfe, fed me, and many more of her &s;ervants: other accommodations were be&s;towed upon me by your liberality.</P>
<PB REF="3">
<P> In expre&s;&s;ion of my gratitude, I pre&s;ent this Sermon unto you, hoping it &s;hall receive the &s;ame entertainement from your eyes, as it formerly found from your eares, and &s;till be read with as much favour, as it was once heard with attention. And then, this widowes mite of mine will be made a tallent by your courteous acceptance there|of.</P>
<P>May the &s;bield of Divine providence, which onely is of proofe again&s;t the fiery arrowes of his &s;hooting, defend you from the noy&s;ome pe&s;tilence, and encompa&s;&s;e you with a wall of Help and Deliverance: yea, may God him|&s;elfe &s;tand watchman at the Gates of your City, to forbid the entrance of any thing that may be prejudiciall unto you, And give full and free admittance to what&s;oever may tend to the advancement of your happine&s;&s;e here and hereafter. So re&s;teth</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your &s;ervant in all Chri&s;tian offices, THOMAS FULLER.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="1" REF="3">
<HEAD>FEARE OF LOSING THE OLD <HI>LIGHT.</HI></HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>REVEL. 2. 5.</BIBL>
<Q>And will remove thy Candle&s;tick out of his place, except thou repent.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P N="1">1. _THis Epi&s;tle was wrote <HI>to the Angel of the Church of Ephe|&s;us,</HI> to him <HI>eminently,</HI> not <HI>ex|clu&s;ively,</HI> to Him <HI>chiefly,</HI> not <HI>only;</HI> to Him, yet &s;o to Him, as a Letter of Publique concernment, directed to the Prolocutor, with intent that He (accor|ding to his office) &s;hould acquaint all the Chri|&s;tian Members of the Ephe&s;ian Church with
<PB N="2" REF="4"> the contents thereof. Yea, the very word <HI>An|gel</HI> imports no le&s;&s;e, &s;ignifying a me&s;&s;enger, imployed by appointment, and intru&s;ted for the benefit of others.</P>
<P N="2">2. Mini&s;ters ought not to monopolize the &s;pirituall intelligence which they have received from God, but to communicate it to others. And the more precious the knowledge is which they have, the greater is their obligation to im|part it. <HI>David</HI> &s;aith, <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 119. 11.</NOTE> <HI>Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not &s;in again&s;t thee;</HI> and yet the &s;ame <HI>David</HI> had <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 40. 10.</NOTE> &s;aid, <HI>I have not hid thy righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e within my heart, I have declared thy faithfulne&s;&s;e and thy &s;alvation.</HI> Mini&s;ters mu&s;t, and mu&s;t not hide Gods word in them|&s;elves; mu&s;t, as faithfull Stewards, mu&s;t not, as crafty Huck&s;ters; mu&s;t, out of carefulne&s;&s;e to ob&s;erve it; mu&s;t not, out of covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e to in|gro&s;&s;e it.</P>
<P N="3">3. The Epi&s;tle con&s;i&s;ts of three principall parts.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. A commendation of the Ephe&s;ians former Piety and Patience.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. A Reproofe of their pre&s;ent back&s;li|ding, that they <HI>had for&s;aken</HI> their <HI>fir&s;t love.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>3. A Threatning of them with future mi&s;ery, in ca&s;e they did not quickly amend.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>Preachers mu&s;t vary their voices interchan|gably
<PB N="3" REF="4"> u&s;ing frownes, &s;miles, &s;words, &s;alves, cor|dials, corra&s;ives as occa&s;ion is offered. If <HI>all the Body</HI> of our Sermons be Prai&s;ing, where is reproving? if all be Reproving, where is Com|forting? Phy&s;itians advi&s;e Nur&s;es, not alwayes to give the &s;ame receit to their Infants &s;ick of the wormes, but rather to make u&s;e of &s;everall Medicines, le&s;t otherwi&s;e, the Wormes accu|&s;tomed to the con&s;tant taking of the &s;ame thing, by degrees turne that Phy&s;ick into their food, and &s;o are encrea&s;ed, by what was intended for their de&s;truction. It is wi&s;dome in Mini&s;ters to try all wayes, to work on the hearts of their Hearers, full of ill Humours, and who&s;e Cor|rupt Nature, if ever u&s;ed to one Receit, will im|prove their badne&s;&s;e upon it, and bee the more confirmed by what was pre&s;cribed to confute them.</P>
<P N="4">4. See here, no Church in this world can be free from all Faults. Even Ephe&s;us, the be&s;t of the Seven, had &s;omewhat ami&s;&s;e in it. As long as there be &s;pots in the Moone, it is vaine to expect any thing Spotle&s;&s;e under it. The earne&s;t of Perfection (which is Sincerity) may be re|ceived in this life, but the full Payment thereof mu&s;t be expected in another. Such as Fancy a Po&s;&s;ibility of a Perfect Church here, mu&s;t not onely mold a New forme, but make a new mat|ter, cau&s;e frailty to be firme, folly to bee wi&s;e, fle&s;h to be Spirit, Men to be Angels, Saints be|ing
<PB N="4" REF="5"> too little in this Life, as full of their Infirmi|ties. Witne&s;&s;e the Church of Ephe&s;us: For though <HI>He that was,</HI> prai&s;eth them for what they had bin, yet <HI>He that is</HI> reproveth them for what they were, and <HI>He that is to come,</HI> threat|neth them with what they &s;hall be. <HI>And will re|move thy Candle&s;tick out of his Place, except thou repent.</HI></P>
<P N="5">5. <HI>I will &s;ing</HI> (&s;aith <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 101. 1.</NOTE> <HI>David) of Mercy, and Iudgement.</HI> Of the&s;e two, <HI>Iudgement</HI> the mo&s;t &s;olemne, <HI>Mercy</HI> the mo&s;t plea&s;ing Mu&s;ick. Be|hold them both in the Text. Judgment pro|nounced in the Commination; <HI>And I will re|move thy Candle&s;tick out of his place.</HI> Mercy pro|mi&s;ed in the Condition, <HI>except thou repent.</HI> Yea, the Text con&s;i&s;ts wholly of Mercy, and Mercy, there being Mercy in the very Commination; God, not &s;urpri&s;ing this Church with &s;udden De&s;truction, but in &s;ome manner arming it a|gain&s;t him&s;elfe, by forewarning it. Satan never barks before he bites, never tels before hee tempts, becau&s;e he de&s;ires and endeavours the ruine of mankinde. But God who intends their Amendment, not confu&s;ion, alwayes warnes before He wounds, that &s;o by tendering them the Opportunity of a &s;ea&s;onable Submi&s;&s;ion, they may prevent the mi&s;ery of their finall de|&s;truction. <HI>And I will remove the Candle&s;tick out of his Place, &amp;c.</HI> By <HI>Candle&s;tick</HI> is meant not the dull and dead Candle&s;tick, but it quickned and
<PB N="5" REF="5"> enlivened with a Candle, namely the <HI>Word of God.</HI> Which amoun<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">eth to this effect, that God would Un-church <HI>Ephe&s;us,</HI> and deprive it of the Benefit of the Go&s;pel, which enlighteneth mens Soules in their wayes to heaven. In the Commination three Doctrines are ob&s;ervable, whereof this the fir&s;t.</P>
<P N="6">6. I. Doct. God alone is the manager of the motions of the Candle of the Go&s;pel. <HI>Hee that cau&s;eth it to</HI> <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Amos 4. 7.</NOTE> <HI>raine upon one City, and cau&s;eth it not to raine upon another City, one piece was rai|ned upon, and the Piece whereupon it rained not withered:</HI> He it is that vouch&s;afed the Go&s;pell unto <HI>unrepenting Corazin and Beth&s;aida</HI> <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Mat. 11. 21, 22.</NOTE>, and denyed it to Tyre and Sidon, be&s;towed it on unthankfull Capernaum, and withheld it from Sodom, which would have made better u&s;e thereof; God alone it was that forbad Paul to <HI>preach the word in</HI> <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Acts 16. 6.</NOTE> <HI>A&s;ia,</HI> yea, when he <HI>a&s;&s;ailed to goe into Bithinia, the</HI> <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Acts 16. 7.</NOTE> <HI>Spirit &s;uffered him not,</HI> but he was diverted with a Vi&s;ion, <HI>Come over in|to Macedonia, and help Vs.</HI></P>
<P N="7">7. Nor can any other Rea&s;on bee rendred hereof, &s;ave onely the <HI>Councell of his</HI> <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 1. 5.</NOTE> <HI>Will.</HI> This appeareth plainely in the People of the Jews. <HI>The Lord did not &s;et his love upon</HI> <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Deut. 7 7.</NOTE> <HI>you, nor cho&s;e you&punc; becau&s;e ye were more in number then any Peo|ple (for yee were the lea&s;t of all People) but, Becau&s;e the Lord loved you &amp;c.</HI> Fewe&s;t of all People, being &s;oone &s;ummed up in Abraham and Sarah,
<PB N="6" REF="6"> no more then two Cyphers in point of Procrea|tion, without a Miracle. And as their number was incon&s;iderable, &s;o their Nature was intol|lerable, for when they wandred 40. yeares in the wilderne&s;&s;e, their intricate windings in their Progre&s;&s;e &s;eemed &s;trait in compari&s;on of their crooked Conditions, and their wayes towards God, were more indirect, then their walking on Earth. Yea, in every outward re&s;pect; &s;ome of their neighbouring Nations did &s;urpa&s;&s;e them. The Aegyptians excelled them in Wit, the Phae|niceans exceeded them in wealth, the Edomites in Antiquity, the Per&s;ians in Indu&s;try, the Ara|bians in Activity, the Syrians in Cunning, the A&s;&s;yrians in command, the Phili&s;tims in &s;trength, and the Anakims in &s;tature, notwith|&s;tanding all which, the Lord loved the Jews be|fore and above them all, <HI>even &s;o Father becau&s;e it plea&s;eth thee.</HI></P>
<P N="8">8. And ble&s;&s;ed be God that it is in his power alone, to order the Motions and Stations of the Go&s;pel. <HI>Good &s;ucce&s;&s;e have He with his Honour:</HI> He that hath the mo&s;t might and right holdeth the Candle. It cannot be put into a better Hand. Had &s;ome Envious or Covetous men (&s;uch as our Age affordeth too many) bin imployed in &s;o great a tru&s;t, ab&s;olutely to di&s;po&s;e of the Go&s;pel, when, where, and to whom they plea|&s;ed, O what &s;trange worke would they have made? Our Saviour &s;aid, <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Mark 10. 23.</NOTE> <HI>How hardly &s;hall</HI>
<PB N="7" REF="6"> <HI>they that have Riches enter into the Kingdome of God?</HI> But in this Ca&s;e, how Hardly &s;hould they which want wealth be &s;aved? their Pover|ty being unable to Purcha&s;e Gods Word for them&s;elves, and &s;uch Mi&s;ers charity unlikely freely to be&s;tow it upon them. Such Simonia|call Patrons as Sell &s;o deare their Pre&s;entations to Church-livings, what uncon&s;cionable rates would they &s;et on the Go&s;pel it &s;elfe, if it were in their Power to make merchandi&s;e thereof? But this <HI>marres their Mart,</HI> that the giving of the Go&s;pel to any Place or Per&s;ons, &s;ooner or la|ter, the continuing it longer or &s;horter, the re|moving it, &s;lowly, or &s;uddenly, are all, and eve|ry one, only and ab&s;olutely placed in his power and plea&s;ure, who &s;peakes in my Text, <HI>And I will remove the Candle&s;tick out of his place, except you repent.</HI></P>
<P N="9">9. Come wee now to the &s;econd Doctrine contained in the Commination, which may thus bee propounded. God will not finally ex|tingui&s;h, but onely remove the Candle&s;tick of his word. The Dove will not wholly flye a|way, but onely build her a new Ne&s;t; the Set|ting of the Go&s;pel in one Place, will be the ri|&s;ing thereof in another, what is lo&s;t in a King|dome, will be found in the World; Particular Churches may, the Church cannot fall away. And it is worth our ob&s;erving, that when the word hath beene &s;leighted and neglected by
<PB N="8" REF="7"> &s;ome, immediately it hath bin embraced and honoured by others.</P>
<P N="10">10. Thus the Gaderens <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Luke 8. 37.</NOTE>, <HI>the whole multitude of their countrey be&s;ought Chri&s;t to depart from them.</HI> Strange that this wind &s;hould blow from all parts of the Compa&s;&s;e, that Wanderers &s;hould entreat <HI>the Right Way</HI> to leave them. Sure the Patient is more &s;ick in Minde then Body, that is importunate to &s;end away his Phy&s;itian. Well, their Sute is granted, <HI>ask and ye &s;hall have,</HI> the Go&s;pel is a Gue&s;t which will not &s;tay, where it perceiveth it Selfe not to be welcome. Away goeth our Saviour to the other Side, (oppo&s;ite to the Gadarens in Po&s;ition, and Di&s;po&s;ition) where behold his entertainement, <HI>And it came to pa&s;&s;e that when Ie&s;us was returned, the People gladly received Him, for they were all waiting for him.</HI> Thus Gods word is a Commodity of quick Vent, it will not lye long on the Mer|chants hand for want of Chapmen, but if one will not, another will have it. Another In&s;tance is pre&s;ented us in the Jews, who di&s;pi&s;ed the Preaching of S. Paul at <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Acts 13. 42.</NOTE> Antioch, <HI>And when the Iews were gone out of the Synagogue, the Gentiles be&s;ought that the&s;e words might be preached to them the next Sabboth.</HI> The Leavings, yea the Loathings of the Jews, were the longings of the Gentiles; the ones fragments, the others fea&s;t. They reque&s;ted not the Apo&s;tles to make new Provi&s;ion for them, (con&s;cience de&s;ires not
<PB N="9" REF="7"> what is novell, but what is needfull) but would be plea&s;ed with the Repetition of what He had formerly delivered; and indeed, a Sermon be|ing newly broached, ta&s;teth the be&s;t at the &s;e|cond draught. The Re&s;ult of all is this, Tho&s;e feet of Gods Mini&s;ters, who finding them&s;elves unworthily u&s;ed, do <HI>&s;hake the du&s;t off from them,</HI> (according to Chri&s;ts <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Mat. 10. 14.</NOTE> command) in witne&s;&s;e again&s;t an ungratefull Place. I &s;ay, tho&s;e very &s;elfe-&s;ame Individuall feet, &s;hall el&s;ewhere bee welcomed, as <HI>the</HI> <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Rom. 10. 15.</NOTE> <HI>Beautiful bringers of the Go&s;pel of Peace, and glad tidings of good things.</HI></P>
<P N="11">II. And here it will bee neither improper nor unprofitable, to ob&s;erve &s;ome Pa&s;&s;ages con|cerning the Motions and Po&s;tures of the Can|dle&s;tick in my Text. And fir&s;t, we may take no|tice, that the Per&s;ecution gave the Occa&s;ion to the &s;peedy propagatio~ of the Go&s;pel. Had Satan bin contented to &s;uffer the Saints to dwel peace|ably in Jeru&s;alem, probably Chri&s;tianity had not made its Progre&s;&s;e &s;o fa&s;t, and &s;o far into the world. But it was Death to Him to &s;ee Good Men live in quiet, and therefore his malice mu|&s;tered all his might to di&s;per&s;e <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Acts 8. 1.</NOTE> them, after the martyrdome of <HI>Stephen,</HI> whereby hee &s;cattered the fire of the Go&s;pel in&s;tead of quenching it. Infant Chri&s;tianity, like infant <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Luke 2. 52.</NOTE> Chri&s;t, <HI>encrea|&s;ed in &s;tature, and in favour with God and Man.</HI> Yea, it is uncertaine, whether Martyrs which did dye, or Confe&s;&s;ors who did flye, contribu|ted
<PB N="10" REF="8"> more to the advance of Religion, the former by their patient &s;uffering confirming more, and laying the Truth the thicker, the latter by their Painfull preaching converting more, and &s;prea|ding the Truth the broader. Thus the Devill did the Church an ill office, and God made it a good turne. Wee will pay our thanks where they are due, not to his malice who intended it to our mi&s;chiefe, but to his &s;trength, wi&s;dome, and goodne&s;&s;e who di&s;po&s;ed it for our hap|pine&s;&s;e.</P>
<P N="12">12. Secondly, wee hitherto cannot finde a Countrey, from which the Go&s;pel did totally depart, to which it ever afterwards returned. The <HI>white</HI> <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Revel. 6. 2.</NOTE> <HI>hor&s;e</HI> in the Revelation, (which ge|nerally is interpreted the word of God) <HI>went forth conquering, and to conquer. Went forth,</HI> &s;till in a Progre&s;&s;ive not Retrograde motion, like the Sun in the Firmament, which <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 19. 5.</NOTE> <HI>commeth forth as a Bridegroome out of his chamber, and rejoyceth as a Giant to run his cour&s;e,</HI> his retreating ten De|grees on the Diall of <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">King. 20. 11.</NOTE> Ahaz, being extraordi|nary and miraculous. Wherefore &s;eeing it &s;eems not to &s;tand with the State of the Go&s;pel, to goe away <HI>animo revertendi,</HI> it will bee our wi&s;e&s;t cour&s;e, carefully to retaine, what wee have no Pre&s;ident to recover.</P>
<P N="13">13. Thirdly, Chri&s;tendome is <HI>a Zoar,</HI> a little one, in compari&s;on of the Pagan part of the world. Call for a Map, as our Saviour did for
<PB N="11" REF="8"> <HI>a Penny,</HI> and &s;ee how &s;mall a circuit thereof hath the Image and &s;uper&s;cription of Chri&s;t upon it. Thus it is meet, that all the Earth be|ing Gods <HI>Demeanes,</HI> his Private Garden &s;hould bee le&s;&s;e then his common grounds about it. There was a place in the city of Jeru&s;alem, cal|led <HI>the Daughter of Zion,</HI> &s;o named, &s;aith an <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Adricomius Theatro. Ter. Sanct. p 152. numb. 26.</NOTE> Au|thor, becau&s;e it was a parcell of buildings, which branched or i&s;&s;ued out of old Zion, as a Colo|ny thereof, and &s;urely pretty it was to behold this Babe in the arme of her Mother. But, oh that I might but live to &s;ee a Daughter of Chri&s;ten|dome borne! I meane a Plantation of Piety a|mong&s;t the Pagans, a Copy like our Originall, (&s;ave onely that it be not written with &s;uch red Inke) in matter of doctrines, and knowledge of Religion.</P>
<P N="14">14. Fourthly, Chri&s;tianity hath beene the&s;e la&s;t hundreds of yeares, little effectuall in con|verting of Heathen. For, be it reported to Seri|ous Con&s;ideration, whether tho&s;e Indians, ra|ther watered then bapti&s;ed, driven into the Church, as the <HI>money changers out</HI> <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">John 2&punc; 15.</NOTE> <HI>of the Tem|ple,</HI> de&s;erve to be accounted &s;olid Chri&s;tians. Abate the&s;e, and then we &s;hall finde &s;mall im|pre&s;&s;ion and Improvement of the Go&s;pel in the&s;e latter Ages on Pagani&s;me. I have not heard of many fi&s;h (under&s;tand me in a my&s;ticall meaning) caught in <HI>New England,</HI> and yet I have not beene deafe to li&s;&s;en, nor they I beleeve
<PB N="12" REF="9"> dumb to tell of their Achievements in that kind. I &s;peake not this, (God knoweth my heart) to the di&s;grace of any <HI>Labourers</HI> there, being bet|ter taught, then to condemne mens endeavours by the &s;ucce&s;&s;e; and am &s;o &s;en&s;ible, how poore|ly our Mini&s;tery prevaileth here at home, on profe&s;&s;ed Chri&s;tians, that I have little cau&s;e, and le&s;&s;e comfort, to cen&s;ure their Preaching, for not taking effect upon Pagans. Onely I &s;peake this, to the intent that we all &s;hould enter into a &s;trict Scrutiny in our owne &s;oules; what may be the Rea&s;on, of this unu&s;uall barrenne&s;&s;e of our Chri&s;tian Religion. Surely it is no infirmi|ty in the Doctrine it &s;elfe, di&s;abled with Age, like <HI>Naomi</HI> that could have <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Ruth 1. 11.</NOTE> <HI>no more Sons in her wombe:</HI> the fault is not in the Religion, but in the Profe&s;&s;ors of it, that of late wee have beene more unhappy in killing of Chri&s;tians, then hap|py in converting of Pagans.</P>
<P N="15">15. La&s;tly, from Jeru&s;alem (whence the Go&s;pel fir&s;t &s;tarted) this Candle&s;tick is ob&s;er|ved to have a favourable inclination to verge more and more We&s;tward. This putteth us in &s;ome hopes of America, in Gods due time; God knows what good effects to them our &s;ad war may produce, &s;ome may be frighted there|with over into tho&s;e Parts (being more willing to endure American, then Engli&s;h <HI>Savages)</HI> or out of curio&s;ity to &s;ee, nece&s;&s;ity to live, frugali|ty to gaine, may carry Religion over with them,
<PB N="13" REF="9"> into this Barbarous countrey. Onely God for|bid we &s;hould make &s;o bad a bargaine, as whol|ly to exchange our Go&s;pel for their Gold, our Saviour for their Silver, fetch thence <HI>lignum Vi|tae,</HI> and deprive our &s;elves of the <HI>Tree of life</HI> in liew thereof. May not their planting be our &s;ubplanting, their founding in Chri&s;t our con|fu&s;ion; let them have of our light, not all our light; let their candle bee kindled at ours, ours not removed to them, as God threatned the Ephe&s;ians in my Text, <HI>I will remove thy Candle|&s;tick out of his place, except thou repent.</HI></P>
<P N="16">16. The third and la&s;t Doctrine couched in the Commination is this, God never removes the Go&s;pel from a Nation, untill they or their Ance&s;tors fir&s;t remove them&s;elves from his &s;er|vice. Where the Go&s;pel is given, it is Gods Mercy, not mans Merit, where it is denyed, it is Gods Plea&s;ure, no Injury to man; where it is removed, it is Gods Ju&s;tice, and mans puni&s;h|ment, who hath beene unthankfull for it, and unprofitable under it. Thus the Jews our elder brethren were di&s;inherited for their Infidelity, at this day wandring in all lands, yet having no Land, <HI>&s;ine Rege, Lege, Solo, Salo,</HI> (I had almo&s;t &s;aid <HI>Coelo</HI> too) &s;tumbling at Him that &s;hould &s;tay them, unhappy if they knew their conditi|on, and more unhappy, becau&s;e they are igno|rant of it.</P>
<P N="17">17. <HI>Object.</HI> But this is hard dealing, &s;o
<PB N="14" REF="10"> ju&s;t, that it is unju&s;t, that children for the default of their Parents &s;hall be debarred from the meanes of their Salvation. Will God bani&s;h the &s;ound of a <HI>Proverb</HI> <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Ezek. 18. 3.</NOTE> out of I&s;rael, and pra|cti&s;e the Sen&s;e thereof in his owne proceedings, <HI>&s;etting the childrens teeth on edge,</HI> (even to their <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Mat. 8. 12.</NOTE> <HI>gna&s;hing</HI> in Hell fire) <HI>for the Sowre grapes which their fathers have eaten.</HI></P>
<P N="18">18. <HI>An&s;.</HI> The Day of Judgement wil be the day of the manife&s;tation of the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God, who&s;e actions which now are ju&s;t, &s;hall then appeare &s;o, to the clearing of his wayes, and convincing of others wickedne&s;&s;e. The Damned &s;hall want <HI>a drop of the water</HI> of a co|lourable excu&s;e, <HI>to coole their tongues with,</HI> di&s;|contented with their condition, but &s;atisfied with the cau&s;e thereof, &s;o that they may bla&s;|pheme, but not complaine. Untill then let us be content, <HI>to tarry the Lords lea&s;ure,</HI> &s;u&s;pending our Cen&s;ures, and admiring what we cannot under|&s;tand. <HI>David</HI> &s;aith to God, <HI>Thy way</HI> <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 79. 19.</NOTE> <HI>is in the Sea,</HI> and the &s;en&s;e is the &s;ame though inverted, <HI>There is a Sea in thy way,</HI> and that a bottomle&s;&s;e one, (not like the Adriatick, <HI>Acts</HI> 27. 28 where|in the Marriners &s;ounded, <HI>and found it</HI> 20. <HI>fa|thoms, and when they had gone a little farther, they &s;ounded againe, and found it</HI> 15. <HI>fathoms,)</HI> but in this Ocean the farther we &s;aile the deeper we &s;inke; and therefore let us make what &s;peed to the Shoare, except the Pilot here had more skill,
<PB N="15" REF="10"> or his tackling more &s;trength.</P>
<P N="19">19. Meane time, how carefull ought Pa|rents to be, le&s;t by their wickedne&s;&s;e they wil|fully deprive their Po&s;terity of the Go&s;pel. Here, O let me plead for them who cannot &s;peak for them&s;elves; yea, I know not how to call my Clients, being as yet unnam'd, unborne, unbe|got, I meane &s;uch little little <HI>Levi's,</HI> which as yet lye hid in the <HI>Loynes</HI> of their Grandfathers: Oh let not their Soules be &s;lain before their bo|dies be borne, by wilfull debarring them, by the prophanene&s;&s;e of this pre&s;ent Age, from the fu|ture benefit of Gods word. Let that &s;turdy fa|ther, carele&s;&s;e of him&s;elfe, be conjured into Pie|ty, by that potent charme, <HI>per &s;pem cre&s;centis Iuli.</HI> Who can reade the horrid Hi&s;tory of &s;o many thou&s;and Childrens corp&s;es, drowned (as they &s;ay) in one fi&s;hpond in Italy, by tho&s;e Vo|taries, their mothers, and is not in&s;tantly ready, if the fact be proved, to arraigne, condemne, and execute the Memory of &s;uch Mon&s;trous Mur|derers. What then &s;hall we &s;ay to &s;uch Parents as plunge the Soules of Millions in the Pit of Perdition, &s;acrificing the Spirituall lives of their Sons and Daughters to Devils? &s;o that as they walke on in their wicked wayes, the floore whereon they tread, may bee &s;aid to be paved with &s;laughtered Infants, and that they trample on a Charnel-Hou&s;e of childrens Soules of their owne killing, becau&s;e the candle&s;tick of the
<PB N="16" REF="11"> Word, was removed from them for their fathers offences.</P>
<P N="20">20. See a &s;ad &s;pectacle hereof, in the Church of Ephe&s;us, to which God at this Day hath done, what hee threatned in the Text. Indeed, &s;ome hundreds of years after the writing of this Epi&s;tle, Ephe&s;us &s;till continued the Staple of Religion and learning, where &s;ome Generall Coun&s;els were celebrated. Till at la&s;t, growing notoriou&s;ly erronious in doctrine, and vicious in Manners, it is at the pre&s;ent reduced to a mi|&s;erable condition, &s;hrunke almo&s;t invi&s;ible in our Moderne Maps, &s;ave that &s;ome charitable Geographers, in reverence of what &s;hee hath beene, allow her a bare remembrance in their larger De&s;criptions. The few Chri&s;tians there|in, and thereabout, grow contented va&s;&s;ailes to the Turke, and the &s;ounde&s;t of them are infected in the Point of the Progre&s;&s;ion of the holy Spi|rit, with many other grievous errours. Gene|rally in tho&s;e Parts, God hath permitted his Arke to fall downe before Dagon, the Alchoran hath bani&s;hed the Bible, the Candle of the word is put out, and in the roome thereof the Moone of Mahomet is ri&s;en, who&s;e Light is wor&s;e then darkene&s;&s;e it Selfe. All which had beene &s;ea&s;onably prevented, if the Ephe&s;ians had beene but as carefull to take, as God was kinde to tender the Caution in my Text. <HI>And will remove the Candle&s;tick out of his Place, except you repent.</HI></P>
<P N="21"><PB N="17" REF="11"> 21. Now for application, to leave Ephe|&s;us and come to England: Know then in the fir&s;t place, our Land hath equalled Ephe&s;us in favours received. No Iland in the world &s;o farre di&s;tant from Jeru&s;alem, &s;aw the Light of the Go&s;pel &s;o &s;oone; yea, it was morning here, when it was midnight in Germany, <HI>the la&s;t, was fir&s;t,</HI> our Countrey placed in the <HI>Rere of the world,</HI> marched one of the formo&s;t in receiving the Chri&s;tian Religion. And &s;ince the Word was here once planted, hitherto it was never totally lo&s;t, but &s;till grew among&s;t the barren Mountaines in <HI>Wales;</HI> as Piety hath ever an ambition to keepe company with Pover|ty. Yea, here Religion hath enjoyed her &s;elfe as purely and plentifully, as in any other place, and though often &s;ick of &s;everall Super&s;titions, yet the&s;e were not the Peculiar Di&s;ea&s;es of Eng|land, but the Epidemicall Infections of tho&s;e Ages.</P>
<P N="22">22. Secondly, England (what by her &s;innes, which have cau&s;ed this war, and which this war hath cau&s;ed,) hath equalled Ephe&s;us in faults committed. In one particular hath ex|ceeded Her. For, the holy Spirit commendeth Ephe&s;us in the next ver&s;e, <HI>for hating the Nico|laitans, whom he al&s;o hated.</HI> The&s;e Nicolai|tans were &s;o called, from <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Acts 6. 5.</NOTE> Nicolas one of the
<PB N="18" REF="12"> &s;even Deacons, who (as Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall Hi&s;tory reporteth) having a Beautifull wife, and being taxed for being cau&s;ele&s;ly Jealous of Her, to confute his Accu&s;ers, pro&s;tituted his wife to the uncha&s;te embraces of any, thereby to wipe off the A&s;per&s;ion of Jealou&s;ie. So then, tho&s;e who evidence their oppo&s;ition to any Er|ror in Judgement, or demon&s;trate their di|&s;tance from any vice in practi&s;e, with &s;uch vio|lence and furious indi&s;cretion, that they fall into the oppo&s;ite error, or reele into the con|trary Vice, are mo&s;t truly and properly, though not Literall, &s;pirituall Nicolaitans. And in this Sen&s;e, how many wee have of this Sect in our Kingdome, not hated, but favoured, and fo|&s;tered, I am grieved to thinke, and unable to number.</P>
<P N="23">23. But now the third Parallel I dare not &s;peake, and I dare not conceale. Yet, why &s;hould I not &s;peake it? In Spaine, great re|wards are given to &s;uch, as fir&s;t are the me&s;&s;en|gers of Bad newes, provided they doe not di&s;per&s;e it to the Di&s;advantage of the publick, but impart it onely to the State, which may mend ill accidents before they become wor&s;e. Sure then, though I de&s;ire no favour, I de&s;erve no frowne, if from the &s;implicity of my heart, without &s;ini&s;ter intents, I &s;hew the danger
<PB N="19" REF="12"> likely to cea&s;e on us, if not providently diver|ted by &s;peedy repentance. Plainely tis this, I feare we &s;hall be like Ephe&s;us in future puni&s;h|ment, and that the <HI>candle&s;tick will be removed out of his place.</HI></P>
<P N="24">24. <HI>Objection.</HI> There is no danger of the departure of the Light which now daily en|crea&s;eth. Preaching now a dayes is like Silver in the reigne of <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">1 King. 10. 21.</NOTE> Solomon, &s;o plentifull <HI>that it was nothing accounted of.</HI> The Go&s;pel former|ly going afoote, now rides on hor&s;ebacke. Wherefore concerning the removing of the Word, you fancy cau&s;le&s;&s;e feares, then fear your cau&s;le&s;&s;e fancies, it now &s;hineth brighter then ever before.</P>
<P N="25">25. <HI>An&s;w.</HI> As all is not Gold that gli&s;ters, &s;o all is not light that &s;hines, for Glowormes and rotten wood &s;hine in the darke. Firebrands al&s;o doe more harme with their Smoake, then good with their Light; and &s;uch are many In|cendiaries, which without either authority of calling, or ability of learning invade the Mini|&s;teriall function. Who&s;e Sermons con&s;i&s;t one|ly of two good Sentences, the fir&s;t, as contai|ning the Text, and the la&s;t, which mu&s;t bee al|lowed good in this re&s;pect, becau&s;e it puts an end to a tedious and impertinent di&s;cour&s;e.
<PB N="20" REF="13"> Notwith&s;tanding all pretended new lights, and plenty of preaching. I per&s;i&s;t in my former Su|&s;picion. Yet am I not &s;o much affrighted with all the Prodigies reported to have appeared in the Ayre, as with the portentous Sins which I dayly behold committed on the Earth. And this I &s;ay. God commonly moves the candle before he removes it. The light &s;eemes &s;icke and faint before it dyes. In Mines, before a dampe commeth, candles begin to burne blew, as by in&s;tinct mourning their owne funerall be|fore hand. Some &s;uch &s;ad &s;ymptomes di&s;cover them&s;elves in our Candle, in the preaching of the word, if &s;eriou&s;ly con&s;idered.</P>
<P N="26">26. Fir&s;t, it is an ill &s;igne that &s;o many wantonly play with the Word. When chil|dren begin to try Conclu&s;ions with a Candle, &s;porting them&s;elves <HI>at in and out with it,</HI> their Parents u&s;e to take it from them, leaving them to doe pennance in the Darke, for their wan|tonne&s;&s;e. I am afraid God will &s;erve us in like manner: &s;o many have dallied with the Scri|pture, producing it for the maintenance of their up&s;tart mon&s;trous Opinions. Secondly, &s;o many Theeves in the Candle, &s;uch variety of Sects and Schi&s;mes, which wa&s;t and mi&s;pend the light, is another ill boding Symptome. Yet whil&s;t others wonder that they are &s;o many, I
<PB N="21" REF="13"> wonder they be no more; for untill a good Peace be &s;etled, which God Speed, and whil&s;t the great <HI>Bond of Di&s;cipline is broken,</HI> every &s;tick in the Fagot will be ab&s;olute and &s;et up for it &s;elfe. La&s;tly, if the wax be taken away from the candle, (as in many places it is, and Tithes denied for the Mini&s;ters maintenance) the light mu&s;t decay; the five fooli&s;h <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Mat. 25. 8.</NOTE> Vir|gins having &s;o much wi&s;dome, as to know that their Lamps could not burne when they wan|ted oyle, except any doe thinke Mini&s;ters may be like the miraculous <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Exod. 3. 2.</NOTE> Bu&s;h, which did burne and not con&s;ume, that &s;o they may alwayes worke, and yet never wa&s;t. Put the&s;e together, (and others I could in&s;tance in) and though Mi|ni&s;ters, Gods Doves, delight not to be Ravens to croake Funerals, though they Gods fixed Stars, would not be Comets pre&s;aging &s;ad E|vents, though the&s;e <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 5. 20.</NOTE> Amba&s;&s;adours, <HI>praying you to be reconciled to God,</HI> are loath to bee He|raulds to proclaime war: Yet be the&s;e things &s;eriou&s;ly con&s;idered, and may they not amount to make us <HI>Iealous</HI> over England <HI>with a godly jealou&s;ie,</HI> what for the future will become of us? And this I will boldly adde, that an awfull feare of lo&s;ing the Candle&s;tick is the be&s;t Hope we have to keepe it.</P>
<P N="27">27. But I fore&s;ee a Po&s;terne Doore ready to
<PB N="22" REF="14"> be opened, that e&s;caping thorow it my Audi|tors may decline what&s;oever this Day I have delivered. Some will &s;ay, what Jo&s;iah was <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> Cron. 34. 28.</NOTE> promi&s;ed, we pre&s;ume on, <HI>the Evill will not come in our Dayes.</HI> The Go&s;pel will la&s;t my life in the Land, and if we are not to care for to morrow, much le&s;&s;e will wee carke for the Day after our Death. Be&s;ides, if a generall Judgement &s;hould come in my Time, I &s;hall beare but my &s;hare, and &s;hift as well as ano|ther.</P>
<P N="28">28. Well, Beloved tis true, this inconveni|ence attends all generall di&s;cour&s;es, (&s;uch as this Dayes Sermon is) that as <HI>filius populi</HI> hath no father, &s;o publique reproofes are &s;eldome particularly applyed by any to them&s;elves. But, that I may catch &s;ome fi&s;h, I mu&s;t weave my net clo&s;er, and draw the threds thereof neerer together. Bee it granted what we hope, and thou believe&s;t, that the light of the Go&s;pel will la&s;t thy life, yet how long or little time thy life will la&s;t, there is the Que&s;tion. Nor will it be any violence to my Text, in a &s;econdary Sen&s;e, to expound this <HI>Candle,</HI> of the Life of every man, which how long &s;ince it hath beene kindled we know, but how &s;oone it may bee quenched God knows. Some wares in England, are u&s;ually &s;et to &s;ale <HI>by the candle;</HI> that chap|man
<PB N="23" REF="14"> carrieth them, who giveth the mo&s;t before the candle is burnt out. Such is all our conditi|on at this time; Heaven now is to be had, Hap|pine&s;&s;e to be purcha&s;ed, <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Prov. 23. 23.</NOTE> <HI>Buy the truth, and &s;ell it not,</HI> lo&s;e not a good bargaine, bid boun|tifully, be not body wi&s;e, and &s;oule-fooli&s;h; the candle weares, the candle wa&s;ts, ca&s;ualty may, &s;ickne&s;&s;e will, Age mu&s;t extingui&s;h it. If once the light be out it is too late, there is <HI>no worke,</HI> <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;. 9. 10.</NOTE> <HI>nor devi&s;e, nor knowledge, nor wi&s;dome in the grave, whither thou goe&s;t.</HI></P>
<P N="29">29. I &s;hould now come to the Condition, <HI>except thou repent.</HI> But it is high time for me at this pre&s;ent to leave preaching, and more then high time for us all to begin practi&s;ing of this point of repentance. <HI>Let us rend our hearts, and not our garments, and turne to the Lord our God.</HI> The melting of marble, &s;o that it become fufill or runnable, is recounted one of tho&s;e My&s;teries, which are lo&s;t in our Age, though formerly knowne to, and performed by the Ancients. But, O let us labour that the Art of melting &s;to|ny Hearts, (&s;uch as ours are by Nature and cu&s;tome of &s;inning) be never lo&s;t or forgotten, but kept in ure, and put in daylie practi&s;e. That &s;o the Candle&s;tick may remaine among&s;t us, not onely 50. dayes, the time pre&s;cribed for <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Jonah 3. 4.</NOTE> Niniveh's Repentance, or 15. yeares, the lea&s;e
<PB N="24" REF="15"> of <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">2 King. 20. 6.</NOTE> Hezekiahs health re&s;tored, or terme of our life outright, a gift granted to good <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">2 Ch<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">. 34. 28.</NOTE> Jo|&s;iah, or for an hundred and twenty yeares, &s;o long was allotted for the <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Gen. 6. 3.</NOTE> amendement of the old world, or for foure generations &s;ucce&s;|&s;ively, which Lea&s;e of Lives on the Throne of I&s;rael, was be&s;towed on <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">2 King. 10. 30.</NOTE> Jehu, but &s;o long as the <HI>Gnolam</HI> the Eternity of this world &s;hall la&s;t, as long <HI>as the</HI> <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 72. 7.</NOTE> <HI>Moone endureth in heaven.</HI></P>
<P N="30">30. Men naturally decline Death, and the Quick at the day of Judgement de&s;ire, <HI>not to bee</HI> <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Cor. 5. 4.</NOTE> <HI>uncloathed, but cloathed upon that mortality may bee &s;wallowed up of Life.</HI> The &s;ame is our re|que&s;t, that there may bee no interruption or intermi&s;&s;ion of our Light, that it may bee not put out, but tooke up, not de&s;troyed, but de|voured in the tran&s;cendent Splendor of Glo|ry. Then it will be no thrift <HI>to burne Day, and there &s;hall bee no night there, and they need no</HI> <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Revel. 22. 5.</NOTE> <HI>candle,</HI> no u&s;e of preaching, Sermons &s;hall cea&s;e, and God alone &s;hall bee the Text, the Hallelujahs of Angels and Saints the Comment upon it.</P>
<P N="31">31. And now I am to take my finall farewell of this famous City of Exeter. I have &s;uffered from &s;ome, for &s;aying &s;eve|rall
<PB N="25" REF="15"> times, that I thought this or this would bee my la&s;t Sermon, when afterwards I have preached againe. Yet I hope the Gue&s;ts are not hurt, if I bring them in a cour&s;e more then I promi&s;ed, or they expect. Such would have forborne their cen&s;ures, had they con&s;ulted with the Epi&s;tle to the Romans. In the 15. Chapter, ver&s;e 33. the Apo&s;tle &s;eemes to clo&s;e and conclude his Di&s;cour&s;e, <HI>Now the God of Peace bee with you all, Amen.</HI> And yet pre&s;ently he beginneth afre&s;h, and continueth his Epi&s;tle a whole Chapter longer. Yea, in the &s;ixteenth Chapter, ver&s;e 20. S. <HI>Paul</HI> takes a &s;econd &s;olemne <HI>vale, The grace of our Lord Ie|&s;us Chri&s;t be with you all, Amen:</HI> and notwith|&s;tanding &s;till he &s;pins out his matter three ver|&s;es farther, till that full and finall Period, ver&s;e 27. To God onely wi&s;e bee glory, thorow <HI>Ie&s;us Chri&s;t for ever, Amen.</HI> Thus, <HI>loath to Depart,</HI> is the tune of all loving friends; The &s;ame I may pleade for my Selfe, &s;o often ta|king my farewell, wherein if any were decei|ved, none I am &s;ure were injured.</P>
<P>Now this is all, The Rabbins have a conceit, that Manna reli&s;hed &s;o to the pallats of the Jews, ju&s;t as the eater thereof did fancy or de&s;ire. Con&s;ult with your &s;elves, and wi&s;h your owne &s;pirituall and temporall conveni|encies,
<PB N="26" REF="16"> wi&s;h what you will, for Body, Soule, both, You, Yours, your Private, the Publique; confine not your happine&s;&s;e with too narrow mea&s;ure of your owne making. And my con|&s;tant Prayer to God &s;hall be, that he would be plea&s;ed to be to you all in Generall, each one in particular, that very thing, which You for your owne Good doe mo&s;t de&s;ire.</P>
<CLOSER>Amen.</CLOSER>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
