alfo forewarneth us of thofe that fay: Lo Chrift is here, Chrift is there, he is in the defarts, he is in the chamber; that we fhould not believe them, nor go out, but rather confide on his promife, that he will be with us, to the end of the world; and where two or three are met together in his name that he will be in the middle of them. Wherefore our dear Lord Chrift hath no need, because he is himself present with them that believe in him, of any Vicegerent, that should on earth ufurp such power, and take fuch honour and glory to himself, as to give indulgence at his pleasure; because all these things belong only to God. When I faw, that they did not much mind this my difcourfe, I let them alone in their opinions, but yet I faw here and there all thefe places, and confidered by myfelf what our Lord Chrift had, by his bitter fufferings and death, by his glorious refurrection and afcenfion, procured us from his Heavenly Father. When the Pilgrims came to one of the above-mention'd places of mount Zion, and had faid their prayers, they went into it, and contemplated it, fell down again before it, and kiffed it with great submiffion and devotion; pull'd out feveral pieces, viz. beads and rofaries turned of the wood of the trees of the mount of Olives, fome wrought points, laces, &c. tied together in bundles, to touch the holy place with it; they alfo knock'd off in fome places (where they might) fome small pieces, to take them along with them as confecrated fanctuaries, to diftribute them among their friends at their return.

All the while that they were thus bufy, I confider'd rather ftanding behind, what our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift had fuffered for us in thefe places, how he had humbled himself, and came down to us miferable finners, to help us, and to extol us that were fall'n, and to make us free of the heavy burthen of our fins; how he was led before the feat of judicature of Caiphas, that we might not be led before the fevere Judg ment-feat of the Almighty God; that he fuffer'd himself to be led captive and bound, to deliver us from the bands of the devil and death, and to fave us from the jaws of hell; and as Efaias faith in his fifty third chapter verf. 5. He was wounded for our tranfgreffions, he was bruifed

for

for our iniquities, the chaftisement of our peace was 6 upon him, and with his ftripes we are heal'd.' But that our dear Lord Chrift was delivered to the high Prieft, and Scribes, &c. for our fakes, and that he was obedient to his Heavenly Father, unto death, even the death of the cross, to deliver us from the curfe of God and eternal death. And to make us certain, that he had procured these his unspeakable benefits and heavenly treasures for us, and that we really should be partakers thereof; before his paffion he did inftitute his holy Supper upon the mount, in the large upper room, wherein he doth not only communicate them to us, but giveth us alfo (if we receive the holy broken bread, and the bleffed cup with true faith according to the inftitution) his real body and blood, to feed us to eternal life; where we then fhall fit with our Lord Christ, and all the elected ones (after this life) as coheirs in the high upper room of his Heavenly Father, at his table, to eat and drink it with him anew. And that we might heartily comfort ourselves with thefe his unfpeakable benefits, he alfo, after his afcenfion, fent us on the day of Pentecoft his Holy Ghoft, the Spirit of Truth, to incline our hearts, to believe fteadfastly all that he hath promised us in his holy Word and Sacraments. So the fending of the Holy Ghost, which was long before predicted by the holy Prophets was fulfill'd on this mount; whereof we read in feveral places of the holy Scripture, viz. Joel ii. 28. And it fhall come to país afterwards that I will pour out my fpirit upon all flefh, &c. For on mount Zion and in Jerufalem, must be a deliverance according to the promise of the Lord.' AndIfaiah ii. 3. Come ye and let us go up to the moun

tain of the Lord, &c. For out of Zion fhall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerufalem.' So that the preaching of Chrift's holy Gofpel, and his kingdom did begin from Zion and Jerufalem, and was afterwards spread abroad by his holy Apoftles throughout the whole world.

Grant then, O our dear Lord Chrift, unto us, thy Holy Ghoft; that he may keep us in the knowledge of thy holy Word, and that he may fo ftrengthen and comfort us in it, that we may freely and without

⚫ any

any fear confefs it before the face of our enemies and 'adverfaries; and if they offend and profecute us, that we may overcome our croffes and perfecutions with patience; that thy honour may be advanced, and our conftancy appear. Grant us also that he may plant these thy graces in our hearts, that we may comfort ourselves with the C hope and expectation of those treasures which thou haft by thy death and paffion merited and purchased for us. So that we may abide in thy Tabernacle, and dwell in thy holy Hill for ever, Amen.' Pfalm xv. 1.

Of the mount Moria and the glorious temple of Solomon.

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This

ITHIN the city near to mount Zion lieth another call'd Moria, divided from it by the valley of Tiropaon, which is now fill'd u up and made even with the top, as I have faid before, that hereabouts is hardly any depth or unevenness to be feen. as well as the other meets with the rivulet or brook of Kidron towards the north, and on both of them the town lieth on the fides or defcent. This is very famous in the holy Scripture, as you read Genefis xxii, That the pious Patriarch Abraham was ready to offer his fon Ifaac on this hill, for a burnt-offering to the Lord; whereon Melchifedec the firft founder and King of the town Salem, and Prieft of the Almighty God, did first build a temple, and therefore named the city Ferufalem. So we read in the fecond book of Chronicles, chap. iii. That on the fame holy mount King Solomon did begin to build a houfe for the Lord, at Jerufalem, many years afterwards. This was formerly very high, furrounded with deep ditches and cliffs, fo that it would make a man giddy to look down from the top into the depth. Wherefore Pompey and Titus took a great deal of pains before they could get upon it, to take and destroy that glorious and well-built temple, which was in the last desolation, as well as before in the first burnt by Nabuchodonofor, demolish'd and razed to the foundations, as Chrift foretold them, Mark xiii, That there

should

'fhould not be left one stone upon another that should C not be thrown down, because they did not acknowledge the gracious time of their vifitation.'

And that all hopes might be taken away from the Jews to return and to build the temple again, to reestablish their worship; Hadrian the Emperor to prevent all, order'd, in the year of Chrift 134, all to be broken down that was left, and to root it up, to demolish all heights, to fill all ditches, to level cliffs, and to make the ground even all over; he did alfo alter the name and religion of the inhabitants, and instead thereof introduced the heathenish idolatry. In the place of the grave of Chrift he built a temple for the idol Jupiter; on mount Calvaria another for the idol Venus; and another at Bethlehem to the idol Adonis; and at laft in the place where formerly in the temple of Solomon did ftand the Sanctum Sanctorum, he erected his own image on a high column for his memory,which was still standing, in Hieronymus's time. The height of this mount cannot be obferved any where else now than without by the fountain Siloah, and in the valley of Benhinnom, and so it did remain defolate to the times of the great Emperor Conftantine.

After that when the Jews undertook to re-build the temple at the charge of Julian the Apoftate, who would make Chrift a liar, the Lord having faid that their house fhould be left unbuilt, a great earthquake (when they had open'd the ground to lay the foundation) did move and thake the whole place to that degree, that every thing was turn'd upfide down, and abundance of Jews did perish in it. But when the Jews did not matter this, but endeavour'd to go on with the work in hand, the next day flames of fire broke out of the ground, and fiery beams ftruck down from Heaven, which deftroy'd more than the earthquake, and burnt all their tools, viz. faws, axes, fhovels, hammers, &c. When the

Jews would not leave their error for all this, the night following fome fmall glittering croffes like ftars fell down upon their cloaths, which they could not wash off the next morning, nor get out by any means; and an earthquake and fuch a violent hurricane came upon it, that it diffipated all their mortar and other materials in

to

to the air, fo that frightened and full of fear, they were forced to confefs, that Chrift, whom their ancestors crucified, was the true and only Lord and God.

Seeing that the temple, together with the mount it tood upon, are razed and defolated, fo that one can hardly now difcern what they have been anciently, every one that goeth by, because the Lord did not favour his own houfe, where his name was fanctify'd, hath reafon to be aftonish'd at it, and to call to mind the strange anger of God against those that leave the Lord their God, and adhere to other gods, ferve and adore them.

Now a-days the Turks have taken poffeffion of this mount, and all the ground whereon Solomon's temple did ftand, and have built a Mahometan Mofque on it; which Homar the third after the great Impofter Mahomet built when he had taken the holy land and the city of Jerufalem. This is not very large nor high, but fine and cover'd with lead, hath a great court-yard about it, paved with white marble, and here and there orange and date-trees are planted in it, which is very pleasant; about the fides thereof are fome high towers and gates, one whereof is vaftly bigger than any of the reft, which is near to their Batzar or exchange, which is very old, high, and hath very good workmanship in it, wherefore the Francifcan Monks fhew it inftead of the gate of Solomon's temple, before which lay the man that was lame from his mother's womb, that begg'd alms from Peter and John, to whom Peter faid: Silver and gold I have nore, but 'fuch as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ ' of Nazareth, rise up and walk.'

At the end of the gate of this yard, as commonly in all their church-porches, hung fome lamps. I could have willingly gone in before them, to fee the rock and fountain, whereof Ezek. in his forty seventh chapter maketh mention, together with the inward building, but because according to their Mahometan laws, all thofe that are not circumcifed are accounted to be unclean, therefore going into their churches is forbid to Chriftians: if any one is catch'd within, he is in danger of his life, or else he must deny his faith, and be made a Mamaluck or Renegado. In this court-yard is still another gate, call'd the Gol den Gate by the Francifcans,but because it ftands juft over against

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