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of the first covenant; and God and man parted houfe. But God's heart being full of love to man upon earth, he could not think of a total parting: and therefore, though he broke up family with them for a little, yet he fends his own Son to build him a new houfe, in which he might take up family again with man; for "he rejoiced in the habitable parts of the earth, and his delights were with the fons of men." And accordingly Chrift comes into the world, and lays the foundation of a new houfe, and it is founded in Zion, and he himself is laid as the foundation of the house, "a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a fure foundation." And this is a houfe not for the merit of works, but a houfe of free mercy, Pfal. lxxxix. 3. "I have faid, mercy fhall be built up for ever," &c.

2dly, remark that there is bield in this houfe of mercy that wifdom has built for loft finners of Adam's family: And therefore the doves here are faid to fly into their windows. See what bield there is for a finner here, chafed for his life by law, juftice, and the devil, If. xxxii. 2. " a Man (viz. the Man Chrift Jefus, the Man of God's right-hand, the Master of the houfe) thall be as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempeft; as the fhadow of a great rock in a weary land." O Sirs, by the revelation of Chrift in the church, falvation is placed in Zion, and he bids all the frighted doves "look unto him and be faved, for he is God, and there is none elfe befides him.

3dly, I remark that there is light in the house, that God has provided for his doves. For one great ufe of windows in a houfe is for letting in the light; the church, the houfe of God, is a lightfome houfe, therefore called a valley of vifion. Wherever God fets up a church," the people who fat in darknefs fee great light: and to them who fat in the land of the fhadow of death, light fprings up." The light of the Sun of righteoufnefs fhines in the church; it fhines in the difpenfation of the word, and it fhines in the manifeftation of the Holy Ghoft into the hearts of the inhabitants: and therefore all the, indwellers of the houfe are called the "children of the light, and of the day.'

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4thly, I remark that the windows of this houfe are open; for the doves do not fly into the windows of a houfe that are fhut. O Sirs, God keeps open doors, and open windows in his houfe for all comers. Let a finner come by day or night unto Chrift, he is ay welcome: "Come to me who will, I will in no ways caft out."

5thly, That finners have a claim and title to the Saviour and his falvation, difpenfed in the ordinances of the gofpel: for they are here faid to fly as doves into their windows. O Sirs, we

Shelter or defence.

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tell you, that Chrift is your Chrift! As the angels, when they preached Chrift unto the fhepherds, they faid unto them, Unyou is born a Saviour; not to us, but unto you is he born; he has not taken our nature upon him, but yours: and therefore he belongs to you, that you may believe, and apply, and use him. Hence the church, If. ix. 6. cries, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given," &c.

6thly, That in God's houfe of mercy, or in the church of Chrift, there are a variety of ordinances, wherein the fouls of believers may have accefs to fellowship and communion with him. For it is not here faid in the fingular number, that they fhall fly as doves to their window, but, they fhall fly as doves to their windows.

Now here I will tell you of a few of thefe.windows, by which believers, who are God's doves, do enter upon the wings" of faith, to fellowship and communion with the Lord and thefe windows are of two kinds, either more private and secret, or more open and public.

1. I fay, There are fome more private and fecret windows of the house, by which the doves do enter into fellowship and communion with the Lord, even in the worst times, when the public doors of the fanctuary are shut, that they can have no accefs unto them, either through corruption or perfecution.

(1.) Then, there is the fecret window of meditation. God's doves will enter into his houfe of mercy here, and have fweet fellowship with him, when none of all the world know any. thing about it. David, Pfal. lxiii. when driven into the wil dernefs of Judah, when he was driven into a dry and thirfly land, far from the fanctuary or public ordinances, yet he flees into this privy window, and finds fweet entertainment to his foul, ver. 5—7. “My foul fhall be fatisfied as with marrow and fatnefs, and my mouth fhall praife thee with joyful lips. When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches: becaufe thou haft been my help, there fore in the fhadow of thy wings will I rejoice," &c.

(2.) There is the privy window of fecret prayer whether it be occafional, ejaculatory, or ftated prayer. At this window the believer enters into communion with the Lord, many a time, and is fweetly fed. We find the faints delighting much in this window: No fooner is Paul converted, but immediately it is obferved of him, "Behold he prayeth," Acts ix. 11.; and David, when speaking of God's doves, Pfal. xxiv. 6. calls them the "generation of them that feek the face of Jacob's God.” And David himself frequented this window of fecret prayer much; feven times a day he would been hovering about it; And O, but God loves to hear the voice of his doves in praver!

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Cant. ii. 14. "O my dove that art in the clefts of the rock; in the fecret places of the ftairs, let me fee thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for fweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely!" He invites his doves to come here frequently to this window, and he promises to entertain them, Matth. vii. 7. "Afk and it fhall be given you; seek and ye fhall find; knock and it fhall be opened unto you.

(3.) There is the window of praife, thanksgiving, and finging of pfalms, not only in public, in confort with others, but even in private and fecret, Eph. v. 19. " Be ye filled with the Spirit: Speaking to yourselves in pfalms and hymns and fpiritual fongs, finging and making melody in your heart to the Lord: Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jefus Chrift." O this window of praise is a pleasant window to the believer, efpecially when he has met with the Lord, and has been liberally dealt with there, in private or in public ordinances. Then he is ready to fay with David, Pfal. ciii. 1-4. "Blefs the Lord, O my foul and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Blefs the Lord, O my foul, and forget not all his benefits. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities: who healeth all thy difeafes. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction: who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies."

(4.) There is the private window of reading the fcriptures. This Chrift has recommended to his doves, and to all men, John v. 39. "Search the fcriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which teflify of me." Many a fweet meal the believer gets, in reading of the word of God, either alone, or in family worthip: In this ordinance of God, the Ethiopian eunuch found the Meffiah. When the Spirit of the Lord glances into the heart of the believer by any truth or doctrine, or history of the word, he can, in that cafe, fay, that the word of God is "better unto him than gold, yea, than much fine gold, fweeter alfo than honey, and the honeycomb;" as David declares from his experience, Pfal. xix.: and Jer. xv. 16. "Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart."

(5.) There is the private window of perfonal or family fafting and humiliation has been much owned of the Lord. This we find recommended by Chrift unto his friends and followers, Matth. vi. 17. 18. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wafh thy face, that thou appear not un to men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in fecret: And thy Father which feeth in fecret fhall reward thee openly."

(6.) There is the private window of Chriftian communion

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and fellowship for conference, and prayer, and mutual edification. This has been much owned of the Lord; and God's doves we find in fcripture affembling them felves together after this manner frequently, in dark, cloudy, and evil days of general defection, Mal. iii. 16. When men were calling the proud happy, and robbing God, and fpoiling his houfe, it is faid, "Then they that feared the Lord fpake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened, and heard it; and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name." Thus you fee fome private windows, &c.

2. There are some of them more open and public windows of God's houfe, unto which God's doves ufe to refort in great flocks and companies, which are fometimes called the gates of Zion, or the courts of the great King, where his fubjects pay him a public tribute of worship before the world.

(1.) Then, There is the large and open window of preaching the everlasting gofpel, calculate for gathering doves unto God's houfe of mercy: "Go ye into all the world (fays Chrift), and preach the gofpel to every creature." Apoftles, prophets, evangelifts, paftors, and teachers, they are all fet a-work to open this window, and to invite and call finners to come flocking into Chrift by it. By this ordinance of preaching of the gofpel, the found of the voice of Chrift is gone to the uttermost ends of the earth; and what are all minifters but the voice (of Chrift) crying in the wildernefs of this world, to fly into him for fafety from the wrath that is to come. Wildom (Prov. ix. 3-5.) "crieth in the tops of the highest places, Whofo is fimple, let him turn in hither: As for him that wanteth understanding, the faith to him, Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled," &c. Sirs, there is a goodly company of fouls gathered at prefent to this window of gofpel preaching. O that all this multitude would rife like a cloud, and fly like doves into Chrift, through the window of a preached gofpel! We read of three thousand fouls added to the church by one fermon, Acts ii. 41. The refidue of the Spirit is with Chrift; and if there would come the rushing of the mighty wind of the Spirit among this company, there would be a pleasant flight of a cloud of fouls to the bleffed Mediator.

(2.) There is the public window of baptifm, that initiating ordinance, which fignifies and feals our ingrafting into Chrift, and our partaking of the benefits of the new covenant, and our engagement to be the Lord's *.' Sirs, ye are all entered into God's outer houfe by this window. O do not stay VOL. III: there,

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See Affembly's Shorter Catechifm, Queft. "What is Baptifm?"

there, but fly in a little further, even into the chambers of prefence. The outward feal of God's covenant gives you a right to take hold of the covenant, and of Chrift the covenant Head; and I may fay to you (who have come in at this window of the vifible church), what Paul fays concerning the Jews, Rom. ix. 4. "To you belongs the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the fervice of God, and the promises ;" and therefore take care that you do not forfake your own mercy; never reft until you get the baptifm of the Spirit, as well as the baptism of water, by which ye shall be "fealed unto the day of redemption."

(3.) There is the public window of the facrament of the Lord's fupper, where there is a feast provided for the friends, the doves of Chrift, This is the window which we are met here to open for all, who by faith have taken a flight to Chrift, offered and prefented to them, either in the word read or preached; and therefore we call to all the Lord's doves, "Come and eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved." Here, at this ordinance of the fupper, there is meat indeed, and drink indeed, provided, even the flesh and blood of IMMANUEL, God-man, all the bleflings of the everlafting covenant. You fee the inftitution of this ordinance, 1 Cor. xi. 23. &c.

(4.) I might tell you of the window of public prayer, wherein the minifters offer up the joint prayers of the church, or God's people unto the Lord; he being God's mouth unto them in preaching, and their mouth unto God in prayer.

(5) The window of public praife and thanksgiving, when all God's doves join together in offering up the tribute of thanksgiving to him with one mouth, and with one voice and confent, which is an emblem of the work of the triumphant company in glory, who are continually warbling forth the praifes of the Redeemer in high hallelujahs, every one crying, Worthy is the Lamb that was flain."

(6.) There is the window of public fafting and humiliation before the Lord, for public fins, and perfonal failings and backflidings. Thus we find God's doves frequently employed, efpecially when there has been grievous provocations in a church, and figns of the Lord's anger and difpleasure gone forth. Joel. ii. 15-17. "Blow the trumpet in Zion, fanctify a faft, call a folem affembly. Gather the people: fanctify the congregation: affemble the elders: gather the children, and thofe that fuck the breaft: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her clofet. Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them fay, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach," &c.

Thus

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