544 The,Feail ofTabernacl es high. lyfolemnifcdby the Lewes. Time a preti- ous Jewell. Leuit,a 3. Num. ag. Why infti- tuted. Ltuú.23.43. Pride inciden toMan. Goodmen areventrare. Vpon theMonday after therewas no man that deferued more to bee beloued. In regard of the time , for the.World hath not any one thing of fo great price ,as is Time,FiI confersea Tempo, MyfénnepreferaeTime ; fo laithEcclefiaffi- cue. Pretious things ought charilytobeekept andconferued, whereof none is more pretious than Time. Senecawriting toLucilwa, fayth, Whocanton high- lyefteerne of Time; Who cangiue it the price that is due vnro it ! All things elfeare Alien* , They are not ours ; only Time is ours : it is a Treafure that properly belongeth vnto vs , which wee may beftow as wee will our (clues. Now in the lullandgreat day of the Feafl, ere. This was one of the famou- left Feafts that the Iewes had ; they folemnifed the fame on the fifteenth of September,and it did laft feuendayes. Of the Ceremoniesand Sacrificesofthis Feaft, Leaiticuc;Numbers,and*Thud in his Bookeof Antigaitiec maketh menti- on. All thefe feuen dayes theHebrewes linedin the field,andin Cabbins coue- red with boughes, in remembranceofthat time that. God ledthem through the Deferrin Tents and Tabernacles : and therefore it was called the Feaft ofTa- bernacles, Thatyourpoflcritie may know, thatI have made the Childrenoflfraelto dwcl in Booths when i brought them oat of theland of .iEgypt ; God pretending therein, Thatwhen the children of Ifraell fhould fee themfelues feared in fo populousa citicas Ierufalem,ffrengthnedwith fuchftrongwalls, and filchproud and ftate- ly Towers,that theydid flrikea feareand terrour intoDamafcus,and all the hea- then round about thein;fortifiedwith fomany fcuerall fortsof Armes,illuflrated with theTemple,whichwas oneofthe myracles of theworld ; thememory of their forepaffed miferiemight melt thevain-glorie oftheir prefent profperitie. For the forgettingofour fait riling,caufeth commonly pride and arrogancie your wifer fort of men, when they fee themfelues raifed to the higheft round of Fortunes wheele, theyalwayes let before their eyes their bare beginning. Amongft chofe other Veffells ofgoldand filuer on his Court-Cupboord , the Emperour intermixed forceofearth, in memoriallthat hewas raifed from bee- ing a Potter,to the honourof being anEmperour. Amos didneuer forget that hehad bina heardfman,though Godhad exalted him tobea Prophet; Armen- tariwsego jam. Dauidneuer denied that hehad bin a Sheepheard. Sinnerswhen theycome tobe Saints, they are neuer unmindful oft hemiferable effare oftheir finnes ; worumprimsw egofism,Whereof I amthe chiefefi, faith Saint Paul. For a manto bepuffedwith the flare of a new fortune, and to forget his former bate andmean effare, is a thing proper to bale,ingratefull, and foolifh perlons : and this forgetfulneffe caufeth him tofall into difcurtefies,inciuilitie,pride, and bad bchauiour. If any miSithin!, let himcomewitt me. Some fay, That hecalleth vnto all that arc rhirflie,as clíewhcrc hecalledto all that werewearie andheauie laden with theburthenof their finnes. Others, That he calleth vnto chofe that thirft af- ter Heauen ; and fo putreth it downe .conditionally : For albeit all doe thirft after happineffe in the generali, yet thofe that attaine to this true happi- neffeby a liuely Faith , are few. Things are by fo much the more rare , by howmuch they are the more precious; as wee fee in Gold, Peaks, and Precious Stones, in Cloathes of Tiffue, Lawne, Silke, Scarlet, and de- licacie ofDyet. Amongft this number, wee Lift Good men , which are verse rare, and verse pretious : luvenal termes them, The Monflers ofthe World , and he drawes hiscomparifon froma Mule great with Fole. Cicero faith , That it isa rarer thing : for,to fee a Mule bring forth a Foale, is venie frequent
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=