while we are here, that church and congregation of the Lord doth most shine, and most send forth the golden rays and pleasant beams of Christianity, that is most in the exercise of the aforementioned virtues. Take away the moon, and the night is doubtful; or, though the moon be in the firmament, if she hath lost her light, the night is not thereby made more comfortable. And thus, I say, it is first with the world, where there is no church to shine, or where there is a church that doth not so shine that others may see and be lighted.

ment.

SPIRITUAL CHARACTER OF THE CHURCH.

She meddleth not with any man's matters but her own; she comes all along by the king's highway; that is, only by the rules that her Lord hath prescribed for her in his testaThe governors of this world need not at all fear a disturbance from her, or a diminution of aught they have. She will not meddle with their fields nor vineyards, neither I will she drink of the water of their wells. Only let her go by the king's highway, and she will not turn to the right hand or to the left, until she has passed all their borders It is a false report that the governors of the nations have received against the city, this new Jerusalem, if they believe according to the tale that is told of her, that she is and has been of old a rebellious city, and destructive to kings, and a diminisher of their revenues. She is not for meddling with any thing that is theirs, from a thread even to a shoe-latchet. Her glory is spiritual and heavenly, and she is satisfied with what is her own. 'Tis true, the kings and nations of this world shall one day bring their glory and honor to this city; but yet not by outward force or compulsion: none shall constrain them but the love of Christ, and the beauty of this city. "The Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising." The light and beauty of this city, these only shall engage their hearts and overcome them.

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Indeed, if any shall, out of mistrust or enmity against this city and her prosperity, bend themselves to disappoint the designs of the eternal God concerning her building and glory, then they must take what follows. Her God in the midst of her is mighty; he will rest in his love, and rejoice over her with singing, and will UNDO all that afflict her. Wherefore, associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye

shall be broken in pieces; for God is with us.

WARNING TO THE PROFESSOR.

He that sins himself out of the church, can find no good in the world; and they that have sinned God out, can find no good in the church. A church that has sinned God away from it, is a sad lump indeed. You, therefore, that are in God's church, take heed of sinning yourselves out thence; also take heed, that while you keep in, you sin nòt God away, for thenceforth no good is there. Yea, woe unto them when I depart from them, saith the Lord.”

CHURCH-ORDER.

It is hard to have all things according to rule in the day of the church's affliction, because of the weakness and fearfulness of some, and because possibly those who have most skill in that matter may for a time be laid up in chains. But when the church has rest and quietness, then as she praises God, so she conceives and brings forth governors and good government and rule among her members. David, a man of blood, could not build the house to the Lord, which peaceable Solomon, that man of rest, afterwards did. When armies are engaged and hot in battle, it is harder to keep them in rank and file than when they have rest and time for discipline.

THE CHURCH IN AFFLICTION.

When the church of God is afflicted, both heaven and hell have their hand therein; but from a differing con

sideration, and to a diverse end. From heaven it comes, that we may remember we have sinned, and that we may be made white and tried; but from hell, that we might sin the more, and that we might despair and be damned.

SATAN'S HOSTILITY TO THE CHURCH.

Satan has tried many ways to be at amity with the church-not because he loves her holiness, but because he hates her welfare. And that he might bring about his enterprise, he sometimes has allured her with the dainty delicacies of this world, the lusts of the flesh and of the eyes, and the pride of life. This being fruitless, he has attempted to entangle and bewitch her with his glorious appearance as an angel of light; and to that end he has made his ministers as the ministers of righteousness, preaching up righteousness, and contending for a divine and holy worship. But this failing also, he has taken in hand at length to fright her into friendship with him, by stirring up the hellish rage of tyrants to frighten and molest her; by finding out strange inventions to torment and afflict her children; by making many bloody examples of her own bowels before her eyes, if by that means he might, at last obtain his purpose. But behold, all has been in vain; there can be no reconciliation. And why, but because God himself maintains the enmity? God hath put enmity between the devil and the woman; between that old serpent called the devil and Satan, and the holy and beloved and espoused wife of Christ.

SECURITY OF THE CHURCH.

Gold is a metal so invincible and unconquerable, that no fire can consume it: it may burn it indeed, and melt it; the dross indeed doth consume and give way to the power of the fire, but the gold remains and holds its ground, yea, it gets ground even of the furnace and fire itself; for the

more it is burned and melted, the more it recovers its color, and the more it shakes off its dross and dishonor.

Just thus it is with the people of God, and hath been so even from the beginning: the more men oppressed them, the more they grew. His church has been now for many hundred years in the king of Babylon's furnace: all which time she hath most gloriously endured and withstood the heat; and at last, when the fire hath done its worst against her, behold, there comes out a city of gold. Wherefore, let her be bold to say, even before she cornes out of the fire, "When I am tried, I shall come forth as gold."

So long as the church endured hardship and affliction, she was greatly preserved from revolts and backslidings; but after she had turned her face from the sun, and had found the plain of Shinar, Genesis 11, that is, the fleshly delights that the pleasures and profits and honors of this world afford, she, forgetting the word and order of God, was content to dwell in the land of Babel.

As the sins of God's people brought them into captivity, so their sins can hold them there; yea, and when the time comes that grace must fetch them out, yet the oxen that draw this cart may stumble, and the way, through roughness, may shake it sorely. However, heaven rules and overrules and by one means and another, as the captivity of Israel did seem to linger, so it came out at the time appointed, in the way that best pleased God, that most profited them, and that most confounded those that were their implacable enemies. This therefore should instruct those that yet dwell where the "woman" sitteth, to quietness and patience.

To quietness; for God rules and has the disposal things. Besides, it is a kind of arraigning of his wisdom, to be discontent at that which at present is upon the wheel. Above all, it displeases him that any should seek, or go

about to revenge their own injuries, or to work their own deliverances; for that is the work of God: nor is he weak, nor has he missed the opportunity; nor does he sleep, but waketh, and waiteth to be gracious.

This also should teach them to be patient, and put them upon bearing what at present they may undergo, patiently Let them wait upon God; patiently let them wait upon men, and patiently let them bear the fruits of their own transgressions; which though they should be none other but a deferring of the mercy wished for, is enough to try, and crack, and break their patience, if a continual supply and a daily increase thereof be not given by the God of heaven.

And before I conclude this, let me add one word more, to wit, to exhort them to look that they may see what God at present may be doing among the Babylonians.

When God had his people into Babylon of old, he presented them with such varieties there as he never showed them in their own country. And is there nothing now to be seen by them that are not yet delivered from that oppression, that may give them occasion to stay themselves and wonder? What, is preservation nothing? What, is baffling and befooling the enemies of God's church nothing? In the Maryan* days here at home, there were such

* Upon the accession of Mary to the throne of England, the sanguinary laws against heretics were revived, and those shocking scenes of cruelty followed which have fixed upon this princess the epithet of Bloody Queen Mary. Her gloomy bigotry caused that two hundred and seventy-seven persons should be committed to the flames, including prelates, private clergymen, laymen of all ranks, women, and even children.

Among the number were archbishop Cranmer, bishops Ridley, Latimer, and Hooper, John Rogers, John Bradford, and John Philpot.

Bishops Latimer and Ridley were burnt together. When they came to the stake, Dr. Ridley embraced Latimer fervently, and bade him be of good heart; he then knelt by the stake, and after earnestly praying together, they had a short private conversation. A lighted fagot was laid at Dr. Ridley's feet, which caused the other to say, "Be of good