Old Jacobs Altar Newly Repaired, Title page – Dedication
foreign OLD JACOBS ALTAR newly repaired; OR, THE SAINTS TRIANGLE of Dangers, Deliverances and Duties. perſonal, and National, practically improved in many Particulars, ſeaſonable, and experimental.
BEING, The Anſwer of his own Heart to GOD, for eminent Preſervations; humbly recommended, by way of Teaching, unto all; and, as a ſpecial Remembrancer to the Ranſomed of the Lord, to awaken in them a ſenſe of rich mercy; that they may ſing the Song of Moſes for temporal, and the ſong of the Lamb, for ſpiritual Deliverances; and, to provoke them to Love, and good Works.
By NATANEEL WHITING, Mr. of Arts, and Miniſter of the Goſpel, at Aldwinckle.
Gen. 35.3.
Let us ariſe and go up to Bethel, and I will make there an Altar unto God, who anſwered me in the day of my diſtreſs, and was with me in the way which I went.
And Verſe 7.
He built there an altar, and called the place El-Bethel.
LONDON: Printed by R.T. for Nathaneel Ekins, and are to be ſold at his Shop, at the Signe of the Gunne in S. Paul's Church-yard. 1659.
To the Right Worſhipfull Sr. WILLIAM FLEETWOOD Knight, the Right Honourable Sr. GFORGE FLEETWOOD Baron of Swonholme in SWEADLAND, and Lieutenant General of the King of SWEADLAND's Army there, and to his Excellency CHARLES Lord FLEETWOOD, Lieutenant General of the whole Army in ENGLAND and Scotland, and one of his HIGHNESS Privy-Council.
Noble and Honoured:
I Am taught by the beſt Teacher, the Holy Ghoſt, not to forſake mine own friend, and my fathers friend; the Authority of which advice hath a great influence upon me, being under the direct Aſpect of it, therefore do I own your antient and obliging favours in this publick Addreſs, under this hope; That good wine will taſte never the worſe, becauſe preſented in a wooden cup, nor Truth loſe any of its relliſh, becauſe ſerved up in an earthen diſh.
If any charge blame upon me, becauſe I have not obſerved the Rules of Honour, in the ordering of your names according to your Titles of Honour, and ſtandings in the world, my Reply is this: I pretend not to skill in Herauldry, nor is it my buſineſs to diſpute Titles; I have, therefore, ſet Eliab in the Front, becauſe, I may not give away the Honour of Primogeniture from Manaſſeh, ſeing he hath not with Eſau ſold, nor with Reuben, loſt the excellency of dignity; He ſtill weares, with Zarah, the ſcarlet thread upon his hand, though his younger Brethren have broken forth, and gotten the Precedency: Beſides, though I owe much to your Honours, I am much yours; yet I am more your Brothers; and my Obligations more to him, which I muſt owne; and, I am ſure, ſuch is your Juſtice, that you will not entrench upon the right of other men, much leſs, upon your Elder Brothers: And if your Honours be not offended, why ſhould others?
Again; If any take offence that I preface this Treatiſe with Three Hnourable Names, one of which would have been an honour to a more polite and elaborate Diſcourſe: my Anſwer is this; When I had deſigned this Piece unto the Preſs, I knew none, whoſe Experiences could more fully comment upon the Subject treated on, then your ſelves: Your Preſervations have been many and ſignal, at home, abroad, by land, by water; few perſons have had ſuch remarkable Deliverances, as you have had, and few Families can inſtance in three Brethren, who can give forth narratives of ſuch notable and numerous Eſcapes, as you can give: And therefore, ſeing you have equally ſhared in the marvellous Protections of a good God, I am bold to make this Application to you All; in which I do humbly Remember you of engaging mercies, that the ſence thereof may be awakened in you; that, like that Perſian Monarch, you may often read over your Diaries, gather up your memorable preſervations; own the Lord in them, and by ſuitable actings improve them to his glory: The improvement of Mercies makes them to be Mercies indeed: Then are the appearances of God glorious, when they are viſible, and may be known, and read of all men, in our noble and vigorous actings for God: What life for God was in old Jacob? how did he purge his family, ſet up Religion, erect an Altar at Bethel? and all this, by way of thankfull return to the Lord, who anſwered him in the day of his diſtreſs, and was with him in the way which he went? And how bravely did King David draw up after the Preſidency of that noble Patriarch? when he ſate in his houſe, ſeriouſly reviewing his former frights and flights, his Dangers and Diſtreſſes, his Baniſhments, and Battels, comparing them, with his preſent peace, ſafetie and honour; and conſidered, from what hand he had received all that good, he took up a reſolution to build an houſe for the Lord, that the Arke of his preſence might no longer dwell within curtains: He often looked down upon the cave of Adullam and Engedi, the wilderneſs of Ziph and Maon, his ſtraits at Gath, his dangers at Keilah, his fears at Ziglag, &c. even then, when God had ſet him on high, upon the Throne of Iſrael and Judah; theſe reviews kept his heart in a warm and and lively frame for God. Ah! How little of D…id's ſpirit is to be found in England, even amongſt many, who have largely experienced David's mercies? how ſeldome do many review their hazzards and heartterrours, their tears and fears, dangers, and deliverances? how have the tides of worldly pomp, peace, and pleaſures, waſhed off the Sculpture of perſonal and national mercies? in moſt mens hearts? Oh, 'tis ſad, and ſadly to be lamented! The Lord give you, with Caleb, another ſpirit, that, ſeing he hath given you, not onelyonly a ſafe, but an Honourable ſtanding, after ſuch amazing dangers, with liberal advantages of doing and receiving good, your Honours may follow the Lord fully, you may act up more and more to the Preſidencies propoſed, that you may not move in too narrow Orbes, but ſhew forth largeneſs of heart, according to the largeneſs of Gods mercies towards you; that, like ſtarres of the greater magnitude, you may caſt abroad your warming and prolifick Influences, that all neighbouring, perſons and places may be the better for you, and your ſelves much the better in your ſpirits for God.
I am not aſhamed (Right Worſhipfull) to tell the world how ancient and how affectionate a Moecenas you have been to me; that I received many encouragements from you, when I was ſtudent in the Univerſitie; how ready I have alwayes found you, to lay forth your power and Intereſt for me: how freely and ſpeedily you placed me at Aldwinckle, and how much I have found the favour of a Patron, and the affections of a friend (I might go higher) for the ſpace of many yeares; which is much, conſidering what hard meaſure ſome good Miniſters have found from their Patrons, though good men, in theſe times of difference, both upon a civil and Religious account; and indeed, I think it to be ingenious (whatever others think) and well comporting with the ſtanding of a Miniſter (whileſt the jus praeſentandi, by a Law, is veſted in Honourable hands) as to own God in his providential diſpoſure, ſo to acknowledge the favour of man, in that Liberty he obtaines to do his Maſter's work: Sure I am, this was a mercy which ſome godly and gifted Miniſters did long want (whileſt the Epiſcopal Monopoly laſted) and long waited for; yea, after all their waiting, could hardly, without ſnares to their conſcience, obtain.
If my poor Labours have been anſwered with any ſucceſs from heaven, (as I truſt they have,) in my little Congregation; the people have reaſon (which ſome of them have done) to bleſs God, that your choice, and their call had ſo full a concurrence in one perſon: But, though they ſhould be ſilent, I may not, I cannot; I am under ſuch a ſenſe of obligation, that I am preſſed in ſpirit, to make ſome publick payment of my debt unto you, in a miniſteriall way, (which is a Symony, neither ſinfull before God, nor offenſive to good men): Therefore, Dear Sir, I beg your acceptation of this poor Preſent: Give your Miniſter leave, from the preſs, (wanting opportunity by reaſon of your non-reſidency, not his, to ſpeak often unto you from the Pulpit) to minde you of that great deliverance, you received from the Lord in the Thames; how often the ſentence of Death hath been reverſed, when you have been under painfull and languiſhing diſtempers: in what way of Providence God hath looſened you from the noiſe and vanity of a Court; what Reſpects you have from men, good and great; what ſafety you had in the late War; what bleſſings the Lord hath heaped upon you, in a dear Lady, a numerous and hopefull Progeny: and, in what other wayes of mercy the Lord hath appeared graciouſly unto you; O let all theſe have a kindly work upon your ſpirit, to warme your heart more and more towards God, his waies and people: and let them, by way of holy force, fix your heart, Joſhua like, with your houſe to ſerve the Lord, that Jehovah may ſtill cover you with his feathers, in all future hazzards, that you may fill up your dayes in peace, Iob 5.27.and may come to the grave in a full age, like as a ſhock of corne cometh in his ſeaſon.
My next addreſs is to you, my Lord, your Honour hath ſeen the work of God, and his wonders in the deep, you have converſed much with people of ſtrange Languages; conteſted with men of fierce and cruel ſpirits: you have been a man of warre from your youth; expert in all the ſtages and ſtratagems of a well-ordered battel, you have long ſerved the Intereſt of a forraign Prince and State, where you have not onelyonly been preſerved, but promoted; God hath not onelyonly given you ſafety, but Honour alſo; and though you was a Stranger in Name, Nation, Language, and ſomething in Religion alſo, yet God bowed the heart of Prince, Nobles, and others, to give you the reſpect your worth had merited; and now, after Twenty years voluntary Exile, or more, God hath brought you back, with Three Sonnes, to your native ſoil, (immediately after the ſtorme of war was blown over it) and that, after an honourable rate: all which are mercies worth your owning, and are as ſilent Monitors from the Lord, unto you. Ah, my Lord, be much and often retired; read over the ſtory of Gods Providences towards you; reckon up your Dangers, and Deliverances, How often the King of terrours hath faced you with a dreadfull look; what bloudy fights God hath ſafeguarded your life in; and how often you have been brought out of the field, when thouſands have been left wounded or dead upon the place; though your Lordſhip hath the courage of a Roman, not to fear death, in the painfulneſs of it, yet you have the ſpirit of a Chriſtian, to fear the conſequences of an immature death, and therefore have cauſe to bleſs God, who hath lengthened out your day of grace, and his patience; hath brought you again into your own Nation; where the White Flagge is held forth, and the unſearchable riches of Chriſt are fully diſplayed in the powerfull, plain, and ſpiritual diſpenſation of the Goſpel.
The Lord grant you to read the meaning of theſe Providences in the light of his own ſpirit, and give your honour a large ſhare in thoſe ſpiritual bleſſings in heavenly places in Chriſt Jeſus: Be like that good Centurion (who was like your Lordſhip, a man of war and Commander in the Roman Army) fear God with all your houſe, Acts 10.1.give much almes to the poor, pray much unto God, and wait much upon the Miniſtry of his faithfull Peters, to whom is committed the word of Reconciliation, fight under the Royal banner of the Lord Jeſus, in his ſpiritual warfare, 1 Tim. 6.12.and fight the good fight of faith, that ſo, you may lay hold upon eternal life.
Laſtly, My Applications are to your excellency; your ſtanding is high in Iſrael, and your name is dear to Gods people: the Lord hath made you great, and the Lord hath made you gracious; without which, all worldly honour is but a ſhell, a ſhadow, a meere vanity, like that of Agrippa, foreign: You ſet out early for heaven; God dealt with your heart betimes: with good Obadiah, You feared the Lord from your youth; which early buddings of grace and holineſs, as they ſpake the intendments of God to uſe you in Honourable Employments, ſo have they rendred you, in regard of your large experiences, and long acquaintance with the Lord, his waies and people, more meet to ſerve the Intereſt of the Lord and his people, in that high truſt you are called unto: I ſhall not report, what perſons of great Honour and Integritie have ſpoken concerning your Pietie and Praierfulneſs: Inventories are not taken untill men be dead: he that is a Jew inwardly, hath his praiſe from God, and therefore exſpects it not from man; but ſhall humbly entreat your Excellency, to conſider, how you went out a young Gentleman, and a raw Souldier into the late warrs, in which your eyes beheld much of God, and your ſpirit taſted much of his Mercy; how he protected your Perſon, and proſpered your warfare; every bullet flew with his Commiſſion, and every weapon was guided by his appointment; ſo that you walked in the midſt of fire and ſmoak, as the Jewiſh worthies did in the furnace, and have had no hurt, at leaſt, neither to limb nor life; nay, the ſmel of a bloudy warr hath hardly paſſed upon you: O the power of an Almighty God! O the ſafety of Gods Noahs in his Ark of Providence, when it ſails upon ſeas of bloud! O the ſecurity of the Saints, who dwel in God, 1 Kings 22, 32.in the ſecret place of the moſt High! Good Jehoſhaphat experienced this, when the Captains of the Chariots of Aram put him in great fear; the Lord hard his cry, and brought him off with ſafetie, when his Confederate was ſlain in the fight: and what return did he make unto the Lord? he acted vigorouſly, 2 Chron. 19.4, 5, &c.not onelyonly, as a prudent, but alſo, as a pious Covernour, in the cauſe both of God and man: Ah, what a bleſſed change would be made in England! how would it be a land of righteouſneſs! and how would the poor of the flock rejoyce in it! if all that had been eminently delivered, and dignified by the Lord, would make ſuch returnes to him, and his people? though your excellency be not upon the Throne, yet you are near unto it; you ſtand in a publick capacity, both Civil and Military, and are eminent in both; and ſo, have great opportunities of doing good; I hope you loſe none, I am ſure, you have improved many: God hath led you to the ſecond Chariot, much in Joſephs way; be ſtill a Joſeph to the houſe of your brethren; let the Iſrael of God be dear unto you; be a covering Cherub over them, and an Advocate for them; they are a conſiderable number in the Land, yea, the moſt conſiderable in the Cenſus of Heaven. It was Job's Honour, Iob 29.25. compared with Verſes 15, 16.when he ſate chief, and dwelt as a King in the midſt of the Army, to comfort the mourners, to be eyes to the blinde, feet to the lame, and a father to the poor, and your Excellency knows, it will be your advantage, Iſa. 59.6, 7, 8.to looſe the bands of wickedneſs, to undoe the heavie burdens, to let the oppreſſed go free, to break every yoke, &c. for then, ſhall your light break forth as the morning, and your health ſhall ſpring up ſpeedily: And your righteouſneſs ſhall go before you, the glory of the Lord ſhall be your Rereward.
Freedome from Oppreſſion is a choice merciemercy, and owned to be ſuch by the poor, whoſe fleſh hath been torn by that iron tooth; but 'tis more eminentlie ſuch, upon a ſpiritual account, and ſo owned by the Lords people, whoſe ſoules have mourned, and whoſe Conſciences have bled under former Impoſitions: a light burthen weighs heavy, when 'tis laid on weak ſhoulders, and a little yoke preſſeth hard upon tender necks: Tenderneſs of ſpirit, when drawn forth unto right Objects, is a fruit of Electing Grace, Col. 3.12.a precious Cement to ſtrengthen Communion of Saints, and paſt all peradventure, of rare uſe, and real neceſſity, that Chriſtians of known integrity, and of different perſwaſions, in leſſer matters, may not be impoſed upon, but protected. The Goſpel ſpirit is a healing ſpirit, a ſpirit of love and tenderneſs. Jeſus Chriſt will own thoſe perſons in an honourable way, who carries his lambs in their boſomes, that they may not become a prey to the Foxes; and gently lead thoſe that are big with young, according to the right method, and not beyond the bounds of Goſpel-tenderneſs: but 'tis not the minde of Chriſt, that ſeducing Jeſabel ſhould be ſuffered, — and 'tis gravel in the teeth, yea, as a ſword in the bones, of many gracious ones, to hear men of undermining Principles, as to truth, and of debauched practiſes, as to holineſs, make uſe of names, honourable before God, and precious with good men, as a ſhelter to themſelves and blaſphemies: Cities of Refuge for ſuch offenders, are not ſet apart by God in his Iſrael, nor is his Temple to be a Sanctuary for ſuch Delinquents. Zech. 13.2.The Lord cauſe the falſe Prophet and the unclean Spirit to paſs out of the Land, and ſhip them away to the Land of Shinar; ſuperadde this to his many mercies; that he may turn to us a pure Language, that we may ſerve him with one conſent, Zeph. 3.9.and that we may with one minde and one mouth, glorifie God, Rom. 15.6.even the Father of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt. The Lord make your excellency eminently inſtrumental to repair Zions breaches, and bleſs you out of Zion, with peace and joy in your own ſpirit, Heb. 12.22, 23.and when you ſhall have ſerved out your own generation according to his will, receive you up into heavenly Jeruſalem, amongſt the ſpirits of juſt men made perfect.
I ſhall ſhut up this Addreſs (Dear and Honoured) with this one Requeſt, that you will accept the humble tender of real Reſpects in this ſmal bundle of goats hair; was it better, I know no perſons in the world, that can lay a fuller Challenge unto it, then you can; nor to whom I ſhould more readily offer it, then unto your ſelves: If in the peruſal of this Treatiſe, you ſhall finde one ſpark to encreaſe your warmth of ſpirit for heaven and holineſs, own the Lord in it, and let me be but a poor ſheard, in which the coal is brought from the hearth; If any paſſage in it takes your ſoules aſide, and gives them a review of your Dangers and Deliverances, offering any hint to direct or incite you to thoſe Duties, which the Lord calls for from his ranſomed ones, I have my end; my Exſpectations terminate in Gods glory, and your ſpiritual good and growth. The Lord make you progreſſive in Greatneſs, but more in Grace, that Religion, in the life, and ſpirit, and power, may be cheriſhed in your hearts, and houſes, that your practiſes may be a Paraphraſe upon Pſalm 101. your families may be Eccleſia, Aula, Schola, as was the family of George Prince of Anhalt, or like Cyrus his Court, where, if a man choſe blind-fold, he could not miſs of a good man; or like the Family of your Noble Parents, where many were Proſelited to the Faith, and ſome now alive, do own that Providence, as happy, which planted them under their roof; That your children may keep up ſincere Profeſſion in your name and race, and that the Lord, who hath often delivered you out of the mouth of the Lion, would deliver you out of every evil work, and would preſerve you unto his heavenly kingdome, that you may be preſented faultleſs before the preſence of his glory, with exceeding joy, is the hearty Prayer of
Your Worſhips, Honours, and Excellencies humble and devoted Servant, in the Lords work, and for his honour, NATH. WHITING.