Boo~{ !V. TH'E CHURCH COMPA"RED To A FAMILY, &c. 695 M E T A P H 0 H. P A R A L L E L. meditates, and inftrucb his Fa. Word is preached, and the Sacraments are d\lly ·milv. admi11irlered. XI. A Houfe is fubject r0 go to XI. So rhe Church of God will foon decay, if decay, and therefore i1eeds qfren it be nor often repaired by a wife and careful Di.~ robe repaired. By the Slothful;ujs cipline. of the !ltmds the Houft dropperh through. METAPHOR. l. AN earrbly 1-luufe in which Men dwell, is the Work of Mens Hands. I!. A Houre is built with fuch Materials as arc wirhout Life. III. So:ne Houfes are left defo. late, without lnh,:bitanrs, and fo go to decay, and" length fall. D TSPAR IT Y. I. £UT the Church, or Houfe of God, is caJ1. ed God's Building; the choice preparing of the Matter, !lnd the framing and jointing every Part, as to the Manner, is of God. I I. But this !piritual Houfe conGfts of Believer<, who, though they were once without Life, yer now, are quickened, who are therefore called liv– ing Stones, built up a .fj>iritua! Houfe, J Pet. ii. 3· Ill. But it is impofiible that ever the Houfe of God fhould be without Inhabitants: For the Lord bath choftn Zion, he bath do/ired it for his I!abi– tation. 'This is my Refl for ever, here will I dwell, for I have difired it, Pfal. cxxxii. 13, 14. And as for fantl:ified Ones, they are not Jonly Dwellers in it, but the very Materials of it ; fo that it can never be without them. It being alfo founded upon a Rock, cannot fall: 'The Gates of Hell jhall not prevait again/} it, Matt. xvi. 18. • IV. O ther 1-louf(:s are liable to be deilroyed, either by Fire, or razed by an Enemy, lO thac one Stone may not be left upon another. IV. Bur the Houfe of God hath ftood ever fince it was erected, notwithf\anding the many Plots and De!igns of Satan, and his Inftrumems, by one Means or other, if pofiible, to have deftroyed it, fo as that there might not have appeared fo much .as the Duft or Stones; no, nor fo much as any Sign left in any Parr, or among any l'eople in the vVorld, whether there had been fuch a Building or no. But bleffed for ever be Jeho·vah, that it may yet be faid, Walk abol!t Zion, and go round about her, tell the 'Towers thereof, mark well her Bulwarks, c01!1ider her Palaces; that )'e may tell it to the Generation following : l<or this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our Guide even unto Death, Pfal. xlviii. 12, J 3, 14. I N F E R E N C E S. I. T H I S ca lleth aloud upon all the Members of God's 1-loufe, to ftrive more and more, not only to be a meet Habnatton for God, but to beautify and adom this Houfe by their holy and heavenly Conver!ations. Holinefl b.cometh .thy Houfe, 0 Lord, for ever. . I!. Let all take heed how they defile or deface this Houfc, either by pluckino- out a Stone or • Pin, or touching a Hair of rhe Head of any that are of this Building."' IJI. Let all God's People examine what their Z eal is for God's Houfe, or whether they do truly prize the very Dutt and Stones thereof: THE. CHURCH COMPARED TO A FAMILY OR HOUSHOLD. You have I knowll above all the Families of the Earth, An~ os iii. 2 . 'Ihe liouft of God, whicbisthe Church of the living God, L 'Tim. iii. 15. As we ha·ve Opportunity, let11s do good unta all Men, but efpecia/ly to the Houjhold of Faith, Gal. vi. 1 6. Now therefore ye are no more Strangers and Foreigners, but Fellow-Citizens with the Saints, and of the Houjhold of God, Eph. ii. I 9· A HOUSE in the holy Scriptu re is fometimes pm for the Family or Houjhold, and fomeumes for the Structure or Building itfelf: In both the[e Refpects the Holy Ghoft runs the Parallel, in refpect of the Church. PAHALLEL.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=