A SERMON AT Paul's Cross, ON BEHALF OF PAUL'S CHURCH, MARCH 26. 1620.  
By the B. of London.  
Both preached and published by his Majesty's commandment.  
LONDON Printed by EDWARD GRIFFIN for ELIZABETH adam's. 1620.   
PSAL. 102. vers. 13, 14. 
13. Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion, for the time to favour her, yea the set time is come.  
14. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.  
THE Verses are two, so are my parts; the one belongeth to God, Thou shalt arise etc. The other to man; For thy servants take pleasure etc. Both these rivers of mercy, the waters that be above the firmament, and the waters beneath, Mercy from heaven, and mercy from earth, run into Zion; there is Collectio aquarum, the subject and sea of misery, and therefore the fitter vessel to receive mercy.  
Mercy doth well to all sorts of men, but especially to the household of Faith, Galat. 6. therefore to Zion above all the parts of the earth: And mercy cometh amiss at no time; but how fair is mercy in a time of need? Vt nubes pluviae tempore siccitatis, 35. Ecclis. as a cloud of rain in the time of drought, therefore, when the time, the set time to have mercy is come. And mercy is a graceful ornament in all sorts of men, especially in those, that are the children of God, Be ye merciful, as your heavenly Father is merciful. Luc. 6. therefore the servants take pleasure etc. But when we have all said or done, the mercy of God is above all his works, and therefore above the mercies of all men and Angels, O let me fall into the hands of God, for his mercy is exceeding great, but let me not fall into the hands of men. 2 Sam. 24. therefore Tu exurgens, Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion.  
All these parcels of my text, when I consider them aright (me thinketh) they walk together, as the beasts and birds that went into the Ark, all by couples.  
First, here is God and his mercy, Tu misereberis; but not without an accent. Tu exurgens, thou shalt arise, and have mercy: that is, it is not a wishing and woulding mercy, but a prevailing, speeding, relieving mercy.  
Secondly, here is Zion, and her misery; for miserable she must needs be, that standeth in need of mercy; but not without an accent. When it is come to that extremity, that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Zion is brought to an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, her composition to resolution, even unto the stones and dust of it.  
Thirdly, here is time, and times opportunity, but not without an accent, of the utmost exigent, pressure and hazard of time, that can be imagined; for it is time, and with an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, echo, resound, again time, and with an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the very set and appointed time is come.  
Lastly, here are the servants of God, and their charity; but not without an accent. For it is such a charity, as bringeth affliction, disquiet, pity into their souls, (which is affectio maerens, a mournful affection) for the misery of Zion. Put them all together. To undergo this work of restauration, 
Act. 3.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, you have the powerfullest agent, 
Tu Exurgens  Thou: and his readiest propension, preparation to it, shalt arise: with his sweetest action, and have mercy: 
Misereb▪  the dearest object, not an unica, a soul, 
Zion.  a saint, but Zion, a Church, a Communion of Saints: in the vrgent'st time, when time, 
Tempus etc.  yea time, the appointed time is come: not only in the wisdom of God, but in the opinion of men: for the servants of God, 
Serui tui  out of their tenderest and softest affections of love and compassion, 
diligunt lap:  to the extremest desolation and dissolution of Zion, 
miserentur pulueris.  even in materiam primam, to the very stones and dust of it, call for comfort.  Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion, for the time etc. 
I begin with the first part, 
1. Part.  which is God's part, and belongeth unto him, Wherein you have his person, Tu, his position, exurgens, his disposition, misereberis, his patient, Zion, the persuasion, quia tempus, and the pressure of that persuasion, statutum tempus.  
Tu. 
Tu. 1.  His person. We begin well, in Dei nomine: My text, and the work of my text, have a blessed beginning. Quod foelix faustumque fit. We begin with God, Christo duce & auspice Christo: and God must begin the work. Ad primam vocem timidas advertimus aures. I crave your religious attention for the first words sake. In the beginning God made heaven and earth: and God must begin to new make Zion, or it will never be. Nisi Dominus aedificaverit, unless the Lord build the house, their labour is but lost that build it. We see the disjointed stones of Zion, like the dismembered parts of Medea's children, and her honour laid in the dust: Out of such weak and beggarly elements, who can repair her again, but he that of the dust of the ground (which is the term of my text) made man, and of the rib of the man, as it were one rafter of the house, built the woman (we are speaking of building) and of the stones by the river's banks, raiseth up children to Abraham? Son of man (God to his Prophet, 37. Ezech.) shall these bones live? Lord thou knowest. Erant sicca vehementer, they were very dry. Yet prophecy: and he prophcied, and the spirit of life entered into them, and they came together bone to his bone. Shall these disjected and deplored stones ever come together again, and shall the dust arise and give thanks to thee, and serve in thy Sanctuary? (they ask the question in scorn Nehem. 4. Nunquid aedificari poterunt lapides ex aceruis pulueris? Shall these stones be built out of the heaps of dust?) Yes, for Tu exurgens misereberis, Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion. It is plainly expressed Zach. 4. Non in exercitu etc. not by an army, nor by strength, but by my spirit, saith the Lord: and they shall bring forth the principal stone, with shouting and crying, Grace, Grace unto it. We have begun happily, bonis auspicijs, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, with the good speed of God. Other foundation can no man lay. And having found out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a wise Master-builder of the work, let us seek out the work itself. To this he cometh addressed and prepared. 
Exurgens. 2.  Exurgens, thou shalt arise, as a Bridegroom (saith the Prophet of the Sun) that cometh out of his bride-chamber, or like a strong man to run his race, Psal. 19 or as one that awaketh out of sleep, or as a Giant refreshed with wine. Psal. 78. After long expectation, till their eyes fail in their heads, and strong exclamation, till their tongues cleave to the roofs of their mouths, up Lord, why sleepest thou? & proud insultation of the enemy, where is now their God? Exurgam, ait Dominus, I will up, saith the Lord, and help the distressed.  
Thou shalt arise. And we must arise in our thoughts, and not have so gross and earthly a conceit of God, as if he arose indeed, who never sitteth, or lieth down, or giveth any rest to the temples of his head, or as if he returned to his work, which he never intermitteth, Semper agens, semper quietus, saith S. Austin. It were a phrase of speech fitter to be used to Samson sitting in the lap of Delilah, Tu exurge, Up Samson, the Philistines are upon thee; or to jonas sleeping in the bottom of the ship, Quid tu soporate? Up sleeper, call upon thy God; or in scoff and subsannation of some Idoll-god, 
1 Reg. 18.  as Elias of Baal, perhaps he sleepeth, But vivens vidensque, that everliving and allseeing God, whose eyes are never closed up, He neither slumbreth, nor sleepeth, that keepeth Israel, and whose seven eyes go thorough the earth, Zach. 4. Nunquam minûs otiosus, quam cum otiosus, never doing more, than when he seemeth to do nothing at all, cannot in propriety of speech, thus be entreated: But, as himself speaketh, Host 12. (after the Latin) Assimilatus sum in manibus Prophetarum, it hath ever been the manner of Prophets, and the Penmen of the Holy Ghost, to make resemblances and expressions of God, from the fashions of man; who, when he is weary and giveth over his work, sitteth upon a stool, as old Eli, or languidus in cubitum, leaneth upon his arm, or stretcheth himself upon a couch: But, when he intendeth his business to purpose, than he standeth upon his feet, explicateth and displayeth his limbs, and setteth his whole body in a readiness.  
And thus in a parable and some sort doth God; His cessation and pausing to usward for the time from outward and apparent help, carrieth some show of indisposition and otiation in God, as if he were gone to rest, and minded us not. But do we hear of his rising up? We may assure ourselves, the Lord will neglect us no longer, but the work of his providence and care, which hath been thrown aside for the time, will in hand again. To be short, that, that we gain by Exurgens, is this; that the mercy which God intendeth to Zion, is not a mental mercy alone, we wish you good luck; nor only a verbal mercy, Go in peace, help yourselves, Iam: 2. it is a real and effectual mercy, in that God doth arise, that is, advance and exalt himself, and gather his forces about him to exhibit this mercy. And so from his person, Thou, and his position, or provision, shalt arise, we are come to the third, his disposition; which in man is affection & passion, but in God, action. Thou shalt have mercy. 
Misereb.   
Misereberis. We never came at the kernel & marrow of my text till now. This is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the word of comfort: Zion had no hope of recovery, till she heard of the sweet name of mercy. Cruelty pulled her down, exinanite, exinanite, down with her, down with her, even to the ground, and drew the line of vanity over her, Mercy must set her up again. Tu misereberis, is a large theme to preach upon; and I have but my time, yea my set and appointed time, and therefore must march like jehu.  
The heavens are within a span, the earth within a circle, the waters within the fist, the mountains upon the balance, the Sun within tropicks, but what number, or measure, or bounders shall I set to the mercies of God? He that had wisdom as a flood, the Preacher of Preachers, and preached upon that sad text, woeful and disgraceful to the sons of men, Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, how justly and everlastingly might he have preached upon this text, Mercy upon mercy, all is mercy? O mercy, the lady and empress of all the glorious attributes of God, what shall I say of thee? Heaven and earth are full of thy glory: The glorious company of the Prophets praise thee, the goodly fellowship of the Apostles praise thee, the noble army of Martyrs praise thee, the holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge thee. Of all those infinite treasures and riches, which that immensity of the Godhead aboundeth with, what is there to us, worms of the earth, which lie low at his footstool, that we dare approach and clasp in the arms of our souls, and love as our eyes, but mercy alone? His Majesty astonisheth us, his glory beateth us down, his greatness striketh us dead, we adore his omnipotency, admire his wisdom, stand in awe of his justice, fly from his vengeance; in mercy, mercy alone, we taste how gracious and amiable the Lord is. Out of that strong, is this sweet, out of that lion this honeycomb, out of that greatness, this goodness, that is so much sought and pursued by us. I could live and dye in the contemplation of mercy. Blessed be her womb that bore us, and her paps that gave us suck, we live and move and have our being by her. She grew up with us from our youth, and forsaketh us not, when we are gray-headed, she giveth us, our daily bread, and hourly breath; continueth us in life, comforteth us in death, and crowneth us with life in the world to come.  
Two things there are, which, without betraying my text, I may not let pass: the one, the nature and valour of a true, generous, Christian faith, bearing herself so stoutly and resolvedly upon the immutable eternity of God (in the verse before my text, Thou Lord abidest for ever, whereupon my text ensueth) and the yea and amen of his faithful promises, that in a case of greatest extremity, as this was, she standeth not upon terms of uncertainty, si fortè, it may be God will have mercy, at this time maketh not so much as entreaty, Tu miserere, Do thou have mercy; but out of a strong 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, confident, abundant persuasion, that God can no more deny to be merciful to her, then deny himself, she layeth hand fast upon God, and by anticipation before hand, maketh a promise, and saith to herself, Tu miserebere, Thou shalt: as the Sunamite to the Prophet, catching hold on his feet, though Gehezi thrust her away, Vivit Dominus, as the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, I will not let thee go: And, as jacob to the Angel, when he had wrestled the whole night with him, Non dimittam, I will not let thee lose, till I have a blessing from thee.  
The other, the modesty and humility of Faith, bold as a Lion, but meek as a Lamb. Zion had as much to glory in, as any hill in the world. 
Psal. 68  Why hop you so, you high hills? this is the Lords hill. If any other may seem to be confident in the flesh, that is, in earthly prerogatives (may Zion say, as the Apostle, 3. Philip.) much more I. I shall say no more at the present, but as the Psalm saith; 
Psal. 48.  Go about Zion, number her turrets, mark well her bulwarks; Go about the Scripture, number the praises, mark well the privileges of Zion: 
2 Cor. 12.  yet will not Zion rejoice, sue in her infirmities: and the plea of God's Servants, on behalf of Zion, is not, Turetribues, thou shalt requite Zion; quia dignus est, ut hoc illi praestes, Luc. 7. Zion is worthy of favour from thee; but in the language of Canaan, the true Church of God abandoning all merit, and worth in Zion, Tu misereberis, Thou shalt have mercy.  
Their speech bewrayeth them (as they said to Peter) to be of Asdod or Egypt, that bring into the Church of Christ, the name of merit. 
Gen. 11.  That, as those of the old world, to get them a name upon earth, make brick of their own devising, and build them a Babel, a Tower that reacheth up to Heaven; and when they had all done, they had but brick for stone (the Scripture noteth) and slime for mortar, and the end was confusion: So these, to get them a name and opinion, of being more holy than other men, (touch me not, I am of purer mould than thou art) make brick of their own pure naturals, and inherent righteousness, to build up a Babel of merit, that shall gain them the Kingdom of Heaven, and when they have all done, it is but the brick and slime of mortal corruption, and they can prognosticate to themselves no fairer end, than Babel's was. I marvel what region of the world, they can rake into, 
Psal. 136.  to find out merit? for, By his wisdom, he made the Heavens, because his mercy endureth for ever: And laid out the earth above the waters, because his mercy endureth for ever. Give me a thousand, and million more of the actions of God, the amaebaeum and burden to them all must be, because his mercy endureth for ever. And I have read of a Mercy-seat, in the Temple of God; but I never heard of a Stool of merit, but in the Chapel of Antichrist.  
Zion is the object of mercy; Zion, a Mount by nature, 
Zion.  by nature & art together, a Fort; by misprision and error, for the time, a Fort of the jebusites, enemies of God; by conquest and purchase (Mons dextrâ Dei acquisitus) the Fort of David; by accession and improvement of honour, first the Palace, and afterwards the City of the great King; by grace, the Habitation and Mansion of God (God is well known in her palaces;) by type, the figure of the Church, both militant in this world, and triumphant in the world to come. And well might it; for there was tabernaculum, the tabernacle for the Ark of God's strength, and the seat of God's worship, and there the Coenaculum, Conclave of the Apostles of Christ, where they received the first Sacrament of his Body and Blood, were inspired by the Holy Ghost, had the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven delivered unto them, chose Mathias to the Apostleship, gave Orders of Deaconship to S. Stephen and others, and form the first infancy of the Gospel of Christ; So that Zion, by birthright and eldership, carrieth the honour of the Gospel, from all the parts of the earth. Lex è Sione. And it were no Solecism in Divinity, nor any violent strain to the book of God, to say that the Temple of jerusalem stood upon Zion. For, though it was seated upon Moriah, a lower hill; yet, was that Moriah, a part of the daughter of Zion, the issue, as it were, of her womb; because, in dependence and continuance, it grew out of Zion. Zion and jerusalem (join them both together; for, by an easy coalition in Scripture, they may stand for one, (they differ but as mother and daughter, the upper and neither City, 
Es: 31.  Mons Zion & collis eius, a mount and an hillock) for salubrity of air, fertility of ground, munition of place, beauty of building, populousness of inhabitants, (sown with the seed of man and beasts) commodiousness of situation, placed (as they write) in the umbilike and centre of the earth, the miracle of the world, the Metropolis of that land, the Metropolis (saith Hesychius) of all the miracles of God: Gloriosa de te dicuntur Civitas Dei: this City, Sanctuary, jewel, darling of God, princess and paragon of all the places under heaven, became (as the name of Zion importeth) specula and speculum, and such like, the watch tower, beacon, mirror, lookingglass, terror, spectacle, parable, hissing to all the nations in the world, of more stupendious misery, and consequently, (when the light of God's countenance shone upon it again) of more insignious mercy, than the whole earth beside. They are harder than stones and rocks, and viler than the dust, that the accursed serpent licketh up, that hear of the stones and dust of Zion, and are not grieved at them. The bowels of Scythians and Massagetes would be turned within them. A City so sanctified and dignified, possessed (I grant) at the first by the jebusites, and under the name of jebus well near 500 years; but afterwards recovered and held by David, and his line, almost 500 more, the strongest and stateliest pile of building that ever the eyes of the Sun looked upon, more, than the Egyptian spires, or all the Mausolaeas in the world; and then overturned, overturned, overturned, as a man turneth a platter upside down, by the proud Assyrian Monarch; and after the dead winter of that desolation, recovering a fresh spring, at the end of 500 years more, sacked and demolished by the Roman Conqueror; and (to lengthen the story a little farther) after all this, Saevitum in vulnera, 
Cypr.  that they spared not the very ruins and fragments, but broke them down to the ground, and sowed the whole land with salt. And (to bear the rest company) that glorious Temple of Solomon, one of the goodliest limbs of that beautiful body, made for the eyes of God, and Angels, and Men, to contemplate upon, worthy enough to denominate the whole City, as if Hierosolyma had the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; that, in honour whereof they exalted their tongues like trumpets, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, this is the temple of the Lord: and (to say no more of it, than God by his Prophet, Ezech. 24.) Superbia imperij vestri, desiderabile oculorum vestrorum, super quo pavet, anima vestra, the pride of your power, desire of your eyes, and fear of your souls; this temple (I say) in one thousand years, the same month, the same day, twice burnt down to the ground; and after the Mount Moriah, whereon it was built, evened with the plain, and the earth of it thrown down into the valley of jehosaphat, and brook of Kedron; so that sooner or later, foxes ran over the Sanctuary, saith jeremy, Lam: 5. but Jerome goeth farther, there ran not a beast, neither flew there a Fowl over the whole coast of jerusalem, it was so dismal and desolate. And now lastly, abused to be the cage of all unclean birds, Satyrs & Screech-owls to dwell in the parlours of it, I mean Saracens and Infidels: he that can hear or read these things, without moan and compassion, I shall say his bowels are harder than the anvil the Smith smiteth upon: therefore there was reason enough to cry, Tu misereb: Zion, Thou shalt have mercy upon Zion.  
The rather for the reason's sake that followeth, quia tempus miserendi eius, because it is time to have mercy upon her.  
Time yieldeth a strong persuasion; 
quia tempus.  when the time is past, perijt spes nostra, our hope is gone. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; (say they to the Ruler of the Synagogue, 5. Mar.) Thy daughter is dead: the time past. Master, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died (Martha, 11. joh.) now he is dead and buried: the time past. Nos sperabamus, we hoped it had been he that should have redeemed Israel, he is now dead three days sithence (the two Disciples Luc. 24.) the time past. I say it is a strong persuasion that floweth from time: and it is as strongly enforced in my text, nail after nail, driven home to the head. Time and (by apposition) time again, 
Tempus, tempus statutum venit.  and (at the period and full point) appointed time, and time come: that is to say, time and season of time, and season of season: or time, and opportunity, and necessity of opportunity, and extremity of necessity, and the very dregs and settling of extremety: the punctum, the nunc, the moment and indivisibility of time. Tempus faciendi Domino, now or not at all.  
When I see the Spirit of God in the mouths of these suppliants, pressing so strictly and punctually, I say not the circumstance, but the instance, which indeed is the substance of time, instanter, instantius, instantissimè, again and again, and never often enough; time treading upon the heel of time & incandescit eundo, it gathereth strength by going; but that the sickle of time, which cutteth all things, threateneth to clip the wings of my speech, how would I urge unto you in all your weighty affairs, the presentest prensation and pursuit of the very forelock of time? Will you show mercy to Zion, give help to the helpless? Mark not the wind, you shall never sow then, observe not the clouds, you shall never reap. Say to yourselves, It is time, yea time, the appointed time is come. Momenti transitus, anni transitus, aevi transitus est: Once lost, and ever lost. Will you show mercy to your souls, by repenting your sins? Defer not from day to day; Deterior posterior dies, the longer, the worse. Say to yourselves, It is time, yea time, the appointed time is come. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, good is not good, mercy is not mercy, that cometh not in time. But, as a mess of meat set upon a grave, where the dead is no whit the better for it.  
It is thought, by many learned Scribes, that this Psalm was fitted for the mouths of the jews, in the captivity of Babylon. When the seventy years, mentioned jer. 29. were near their expiration. This time they calculated, and pitched upon exactly, out of the Ephemerideses, and Book of God, that could not deceive them: and therefore, by warrant from him, they pinch thus closely upon the time: Tempus miserendi, tempus etc. They may boldly and safely do it, when God himself hath prefined a time. Otherwise, let no man presume to appoint his times, quae posuit in potestate sua, (they are a part of his royal prerogative, who can cause the Sun to stand still, and double the day, to bring his work to an end) nor tie him to canonical hours, and atoms, and punctilioes of time, tempus, tempus, statutum tempus. It is a sinful temptation. 
judge 8.  Vos qui estis? Who are you, that tempt the Lord? (when they fixed him a time of five days, to relieve the City of Bethulia, else to deliver it up to the enemy) Bind not the counsel of the Lord, he is not as men, that he should be threatened, with much to the like effect. O tarry the Lords leisure, be strong, comfort your hearts, possess your souls in patience, if the vision stay, stay with it, hope even against hope: Nullum tempus occurrit Regi, is the privilege of an earthly King, much more of the King of Kings; who, when he is pleased to help, can do it in ictu oculi, in the twinkling of an eye, and sub ictu gladij, under the dint of the sword, as in the case of Isaac, when manubrium è manu, God so forced the heft of the knife, in the hand of Abraham, that he could not smite.  
I have done with my former part, God's part; the latter, which belongeth to man, 
2 Part.  followeth. Quoniam placuerunt. For thy Servants take pleasure in her stones, etc. It is but a second reason added to the former; that in effect was this: Thou shalt have mercy upon Zion, because the time requireth it. This latter importeth, but thus much: Thou shalt have mercy upon Zion, because thy Servants desire it. It is both subsequent and subordinate to the other; for, the mercy of God in the former, is both the exemplary, and efficient cause of man's mercy in the latter. That is to say, God doth both lead the way, and give grace to man, to extend his mercy. Therefore, where the usual reading is, Tu exurgens, thou shalt arise, and have mercy; Jerome, out of the Hebrew, readeth transitively, Tu suscitans, thou shalt raise up others. He that brought water out of the rock, and honey out of the stone, can wring mercy out of the heart of an enemy. He made all them that led them away captive, to pity them. Man would grow wild, and degenerate from nature, forget that he is a man, become a wolf, a Devil to man; but that God keepeth him in tune.  
Amongst these Servants of God, 
Thy Servants.  they rank in the first place, Cyrus and Darius, Lords over men, but servants to God, and (as a servant is defined by Aristotle) his living Instruments, to do their Masters will. Thus God speaketh to Cyrus, Esa. 44. Thou art my shepherd, and he shall do my desire. He shall say to jerusalem, Thou shalt be built, and to the Temple, thy foundation shall be surely laid. The story is very strange, in the book of Esdras, the first and sixth Chapters especially, and shall be opened amongst other books, at the day of the Lord, against many believers: that a pair of outlandish, and heathen Kings, should not only give leave to the jews, to return to their Country, and build both their City and Temple, and restore them their vessels and jewels, that had been taken from them; but allow the expense of their building, out of their own revenues, and supply them beside, for sacrifice and sweet odours, with a check to all their adversaries, be ye far from thence, and a peremptory decree, that whosoever should alter that sentence, the wood should be pulled down from his house, and he hanged thereupon, and his house made a draught-house. And lastly, a direful imprecation against all Kings and people, that should put their hands to alter, and destroy the house of God in jerusalem. 
Esa. 49.  Erunt Reges nutritij tui, was God's promise, Kings shall be thy nursing fathers: here is much more, Nudaverunt lamiae mammam, Even Dragons draw out their breasts, Lam. 4. when the people and house of God, such milk out of the breasts of Gentiles.  
Others fall lower a degree, to Nehemias and the rest, that were the Princes of the people, and had the chief charge of the work.  
We may knit up the sheet at the four corners, and include in the name of servants, without difference, high and low: there being no soul in the world, that hath given his name unto God, and subscribed with his hand, Ego Domini, Esa. 44. whose spark of religion and piety, is not quite put out; but the dilapidation of any of God's Oratories and Sacraries, his Heavens upon earth, goeth to his heart like swords; nor, can he behold with dry eyes, the destruction, or despite done to his sacred Inheritance. They that can brook it with patience, God shall one day say unto them, by the words of Obadiah, Tu quasi unus ex eyes, thou art one of them.  
The short is: 
Psal. 74.  thine adversaries roar in the midst of thy Congregation, and set up their banners for tokens, and break down the carved work, with axes and hammers. The Atheist accounteth the houses of God, common and prohane, like other houses, maketh laystals and dunghills, where their site was, and turneth them into stables for horses: (the stories of the Church are full, and England is not empty of them) but Serui tui, the poorest servant in the house of God, that heweth wood, and draweth water to the Camp, is better affected.  
Placuerunt seruis tuis lapides, 
Are pleased.  what hear I? take they pleasure in the stones of Zion, are they delighted with it, there, there, thus would we have it? No; but every the least remembrance, representation, remnant of Zion, Relliquiae Danâum atque immitis Achillei, That cometh into their eye, doth them good; as when Dorcas was dead, Acts 9 they showed the garment and coats, that she had made, to move affection: the sight of the very crumbs, that fell from the temple of jerusalem, is a kind of refreshing, and giveth contentment unto them. A man is pleased with the picture of a dead friend, sith he hath no better, sic vultus, sic ora ferebat, thus he looked. Their affection liveth not▪ dieth not with the fortune of Zion, They loved her in prosperity, they love her even in misery, We wept, when we remembered thee, o Zion: and, if I forget jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. And so did the Ancients, that had lived to see the beauty of the former temple, and saw the unlike foundation of the new— simulataque magnis Pergamon, Weep in remembrance of it. 
Esdr. 3.   
They take not pleasure in the stones, for what they are, but for what they have been, sometimes the chosen materials, and now the disjected and dislocated members of those glorious edifices quorum pars una, whereof they had been a part in their younger and flourishing days. And to speak plainly, they delight more in the stones and shards, the very shadow and ghost of Zion (if I may so say) then in the standing houses, stateliest palaces, and whole body of Babylon. Her dust is better unto them, than their gold, and every the meanest stone, that was but a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord, lay but under the threshold of it, is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to them, a precious stone, far beyond the Sapphires and Diamonds of Babylon. Thus did that great Constantine kiss the eye of Paphnutius, 
Euseb.  which the tyrant had caused to be digged out. He took not pleasure in the wound and deformity of it cui lumen ademptum, but because it had been the orb and circle of that eye, which stood in the head of so glorious a Confessor, as Paphnutius was. The later word of my text maketh all clear. 
Pity.  Miserentur pulueris, they so take pleasure in the stones, that they pity the dust of Zion: and where there is pity, which maketh miserum cor, a woeful heart; there can be no pleasure. Complacentia in the first part, but displicentia in the last.  
Some read placuerunt lapides, take pleasure; some diligunt, love: both cometh to one; for Amor is complacentia, Love is a contentment. It is affectus unionis, desireth union; as the hearts of jonathan and David were knit together: Currit per desi derium, requiescit per gaudium, saith S. Austin. Desire maketh it run, and delight maketh it rest. Thus far is Complacentia, all is well. Soror amoris dulcedo. Love and delight go together. But is there any danger of losing what I love? I fear; do I lose it indeed? I grieve; doth any hinder me? There is anger: is any a corrival? There is jealousy: doth any violate or wrong it? There is revenge: doth any mishap or miscarriage betid it? There is pity: In amore haec insunt omnia: and then it cometh to pass, that cor meum sicut cera liquescens, mine heart in the midst of me is like melting wax. 
Saluianus in Epist.  Saluianus rightly fitteth me; Amor, quid te appellem nescio: bonum an malum, dulce an asperum, suave an injucundum? Ita enim utroque plenus es, ut utrumque esse videaris. Love I know not how to term thee, good or evil, sweet or sour, pleasant or unpleasant. For thou art so full of both, that thou seemest to be both of them.  
In sum, where there is love, there, upon any misfortune, will be pity; and where there is pity, plus quam afficit, facit, it puleth not in the bosom alone, and spendeth itself in affection, but breaketh forth into action, and will lend an helping hand. I have done with my text: Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her etc.  
I come not on a common message unto you; 
Application.  nor is my Sermon a Sermon of course. I may say, as Act. 15. Moses hath them that preach him in your City of old time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, every Sabbath day, out of this chair: Moses or Christ, Law or Gospel without fail. You may see there is more than so, by discerning the face of the sky. When ever did your Sun, since his first arising amongst you, stand still in your Gibeon? the person (I mean) of your King, vouchsafe to be a part of your auditory in this place, (with that glorious star that followeth the Sun, and the whole host of our heavenly firmament about him; with so many thousands of souls beside, seeking the face of their Ruler, as I say not but in a triumph or show where they come to gaze, or along the streets in trsine and succession, there have been more, but in a garland and ring of an auditory couched together, never have more been seen) till this day? A part of your auditory, did I say? Yea, and a principal part of my simple oratory, such as it is: He laid my foundation for me, and set me my pattern (as God did Moses in the Mount) to work by.  
The truth is, my text was not taken but given me, though not by a voice from heaven, as that of S. Augustine's, Tolle lege, tolle lege; yet by a voice from earth, that is next to heaven. So that with allusion to the place, and some easy alteration, I may say, as Christ unto Peter, joh. ult. When thou wert young, thou went'st at thy pleasure, and girdedst thyself, but now thou art old, an other shall gird thee: So had my manner ever been aforetime, to open the volume of this Book, and go through the fields of the old and new Testament, plucking and rubbing such ears of corn therein as I best liked, making choice (I mean) of my text, and buckling myself to my task, at mine own discretion; but now I am girt and tied to a Scripture by him, who as he hath most right to command, so best skill to direct and appoint the best service I can.  
It is not a twelvemonth sithence (it wanteth but a fortnight of it) that in the greatest assembly and confluence, for number & state (since that of that ever-admired 88, when the honour was done to this Land, that the Lord sold jabin and his strength into the hands of a woman, and that woman, than whom mayor non surrexit, a greater never arose (to us) amongst all our daughters of men, called up herself and her people to a solemn and public thanksgiving, 
judg. 5.  Up Deborah, arise and sing, I myself will sing, (She did it at the Church door, as also did our gracious Sovereign) up Barak: and they offered their joint sacrifice of praise to God, upon this the most eminent and conspicuous Altar of the Kingdom) I say, not a twelvemonth sithence, that I recommended unto you, and we both unto God, the case of our absent and sick Sovereign, the incense of our prayers and praises, like a sweet perfume, ascending and pressing thick into heaven for his recovery at that time.  
Then was the subject of my speech a Zion, a mount, excelsis excelsior, a fort, the fortress and bulwark of this Island, a temple, but of an other kind, (destroy this temple, said Christ, he meant it of his body, and) I mean the body of the King, a building not made with hands, but shaped of flesh and blood; nor so mortally sunk and fallen down to the stones and dust, as this Zion was, but with the long siege & strong impression and assault of as furious, tyrannous, and predominating a sickness, as ever was, that merciless Monarch against Zion, which had amassed together the forces of many diseases into one, so battered and shaken, that it was high time to cry to him, that hath the keys of life and death, Tempus miserendi eius, it is time to have mercy upon him, yea the appointed time is come. We cried, tanquam anima una, as if there had been but one soul amongst us all, and God heard us from heaven, and I trust that Zion, of whom I speak, who is now come to pay his vows in the midst of his people, will never forget it.  
I am now to speak unto you, from Him, and in His name, of an other Zion, (nearer by far then that in judaea, we are under the bower of it) a literal and artificial Zion, a Temple without life and motion, yet of a sickly and crazy constitution, sick of age itself, and with many aches in her joints, together with a lingering consumption, that hath long lain in her bowels, the timber in the beams whereof cryeth, I perish, and the stone in the walls answereth no less, and part is already moultered away to stones, part to dust: and (that which is more) symbolising with that other Zion, not only in her fates and casualties, but in the very returns and revolutions of those fates. After her first building (which was 600 after Christ) about 500 years, salted with fire, sacrificed to the anger of God, with no small part of the City; and being raised as a Phoenix out of those first ashes, betwixt 4 and 500 more (twice in a thousand years) touched with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, from an invisible hand, a Coal from the Altar of God, that was never blown, which wholly consumed the crest and vertical point, the top and top-gallant of it, and so scorched and defaced the rest, that ever since that day, it hath remained valetudinary & infirm, rather peeced out with an ordinary kind of physic of but needful reparation, then restored to the sound plight it had before time.  
For this Zion is my coming; to which I ran not of myself, I durst not presume so far; but was sent, as the Baptist before the face of his Master, the voice of a Crier, only to prepare the way, the marrow of persuasion is behind. Or, as Gehezi, the servant of Eliah, 
2 Reg. 4.  who was sent before, with the staff of the Prophet, to lay upon the dead child, but could not recover life in him; it is not the staff, the reed in my hand, the strength of my tongue, that can put life into this dead body. But, when my Master himself shall come, and stretch his body upon the body, afford his own bodily presence, and set himself to the work, lay his eyes upon the eyes, view the lantern and windows, and his hands upon the hands, mark the pillars and pinnacles, and make it his princely care, that every several decayed part, may receive some comfort: and lastly, apply his eyes to your eyes, and (that which is more) his mouth to your ears, which cannot resist the power of his wise & religious charm, then if the Child neese not, if the Church go not up, there is little hope.  
I would to God you would look with your own eyes, they are the truest witnesses. The eye that beholdeth these ruins, and adjureth not the heart, to yield some help, what metal is it made of? 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; See you all these? What stones, what buildings? mark them well; They were, at the first, in the Heptarchy of this Land, the work of a King of Kent. (That other at the Westend? & this, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, much about a time.) And, after their first combustion (I told you) founded anew, and brought forwards amain, for twenty years' space, by Mauritius Bishop of London; in that amplitude and dimension, wherein you now see them, (for he was immodicus animi, of a large heart, and therefore intended a large work) and twenty years more continued by Beaumor, that next succeeded him. That, as they of their Temple, forty and six years was this temple in building. Io. 2. So may we say of this, it was in building forty years, during the sitting of two Bishops, yet far from finishing. divers Bishops of this See (that indeed had a sea to our ditch) in process of time, some enlarged it with building, some enriched it with revenue, some with treasure and stocks of money, some with privileges, some with one thing, some with another: and it was not the least good of him, that bought in the houses round about, and laid out this (Campus Martius, shall I say?) Campus pacificus, wherein you have so large and commodious a room, to hear the tidings of peace. Now, I ask again, Do you see all these? What stones, what buildings now? Lapides clamant, the very stones cry out after you; out of the mouths, of these infant and speechless creatures, hath God ordained strength; there can be no stronger eloquence, to affect the mind, than what floweth into the eye, from the fissures & maimnes, which every corner of the Church yieldeth. When the body of slaughtered Asahel, 
2 Sam. 2.  was left in the highway side, there was not a man, which came by, but stayed. When jacob had the sight of the bloody coat of joseph, 
Gen. 37.  he mourned, and would go down into the grave after him, would not be comforted. The showing of Caesar's bloody robe in the marketplace, set them all in a tumult. I show you the outward weeds, and, as it were, the tattered rags & relics of a wounded, bleeding, dying Church, falling so fast to a plain anatomy, & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that if to the malice of time, which devoureth his children, I mean, all temporal things, and that vivi comburium, burning of it in the life and livelihood thereof, which hath set so many brands of disgrace upon the whole face of it, you add the neglect of a few years more, even Saul amongst the Prophets, every one of meanest capacity and foresight, may be able to divine, Non relinquetur lapis super lapidem, not a stone shall be left standing upon a stone; but all will down: which that Deus tutelaris, Protector and Patron of this noble City of yours, forbid. You might then change the name of your City, and call it, as the wife of Phineas called her son, 
1 Sam. 4.  when the Ark was taken, where is the glory? It is a fire in my bones, and I cannot suppress it, to speak a little of the honour and happiness of this Island, whether for nature or grace. They called Sicily the barn of Rome; and Egypt, for the fatness of Nilus, the barn of the world. Is there a barn, a Canaan in Europe, if this Island be not? I know how proudly they write of Italy (for there, if any where, is the chair of pride, and throne of Satan himself) Quod far conferam Campano? quod triticum Appulo? quod vinum Falerno? quod oleum Venafro? nun arboribus consita, ut tota pomarium videatur? What corn, or wheat, or wine, or oil, like to that in Italy? doth it not all throughout, look like an Orchard? They may do well to match it with Eden, the Garden of the Lord,— Non equidem invideo. I dare not be proud of our Country (I am sure it is too good for us.) There is a worm at the root of the gourd, sin at the doors, that can mar all in an instant. But standing and stated, as it is, for all the most natural and necessary commodities, of raiment and nourishment (& habentes alimenta & quibus tegamur, 
1 Tim. 6.  saith the Apostle, let us be content) I may term it (within herself) the very Signet and Benjamin of God's right hand, no Country beyond it. And what we want from abroad, God hath made us a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters, to bring it in, Esa. 43. And yet after all this, may she say, Dedisti laetitiam in cord meo. Thou hast put more gladness in my heart, than their corn and wine can possibly give them. For we have a golden candlestick, a glorious Church, wherein the light of the Gospel shineth (which is the true Nilus of all our happiness, and they want it abroad) and she, as a Sanctuary and City of refuge, openeth her lap, to receive foreign Churches. Neither have we a King, like that new King in Egypt, that knew not joseph; but one that walketh in the steps of her beautiful feet that trod before him, and is a Nutritius, a tender Nursing-Father to the Church; not only our own, but those that sojourn amongst us. These things laid together, was there ever Island in the world (as Herodotus telleth us) that had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to name, by reason of the fairness and goodness of it? Let her resign, and bow to ours.  
You may think it a digression; but to this end I speak it. If England be the ring of Europe, your City is the gem. If England the body, your City the eye; if England the eye, your City the apple of it. Here is the Synopsis, and Sum of the whole Kingdom. Here the distillation, and spirits of all the goodness it hath. Here the Chamber of our British Empire. Here the Emporium, principal Mart of all foreign commodities, & Staple of homebred. Here the Garrison, and Strength of the Land, the Magazine and Storehouse of the best of God's blessings. Here (if in any place) are the wooden walls, and gates of iron. With you is the Tagus and Pactolus, the river that runneth with gold. You have the body of the King, the morning & midday influence of that glorious Sun; others parts have but the evening. His houses of mansion and station are round about you. You, of all others, are nearest the heart, for care and protection Here hath the Lord ordained a lantern for his Anointed. Here are the thrones of David, for judgement; and the chair of Moses, for instruction. O fortunati nimium: You have the finest flower of the wheat, and purest blood of the grape, that is, the choice of his blessed Word, hath God given unto you, and great is the company of the Preachers. And what shall I say more? Dies deficeret. The day would forsake me, to speak of all. Doth any City on the earth bear her head high, for any one singular felicity?— Tendimus in Latium. I am once more in Italy. Dites Venetiae (say they) ingens Mediolanum, superba Genoa, nobilis Neapolis, rich Venice, great Milan, proud Genoa, noble Naples, and— Roma caput mundi; Rome the head of the world.— Contingat mea Roma mihi, say I, give me London in England, which is as a Load-star to lead all the rest.  
And yet for a warning in my way, that revelations puff ye not up, be not high minded, but fear. Art thou better then No? 3. Nahum. that was situate in many waters, and had her rampart and wall from the Sea Aethiopia and Egypt were her helpers, and it was infinite. etc. and yet she was carried away captive. Remember Zion. The pillars of Zion fallen down, are monuments unto us to beware by her falling, Quia in alto posita, in sublime cecidit; she stood high, and fell low. Qui stat, videat ne cadat, is S. Ieromes admonition upon these words. Your silver is not so pure, but it is mixed with dross: your best not so good, but it hath much bad with it. But I lose my way. When I come to reprove sin, I shall sow no pillows. I am now to present before your eyes the glass of your honours. Your City hath been anciently styled Augusta. Caesar had to name Augustus, (saith the story) quia naturâ hominis amplior, because he was more than the nature of man. It may be your City was more than other Cities. I am sure it had not that amplitude and majesty it now hath.  
Not to weary mine eyes with wand'ring and roving after private, but to fix upon public alone, when I behold that forest of masts upon your river for traffic, and that more than miraculous bridge, which is the communis terminus, to join the two banks of that river; your Royal Exchange for Merchants, your Halls for Companies, your gates for defence, your markets for victual, your aqueducts for water, your granaries for provision, your Hospitals for the poor, your Bridewells for the idle, your Chamber for Orphans, and your Churches for holy Assemblies; I cannot deny them to be magnificent works, and your City to deserve the name of an Augustious and majestical City; to cast into the reckoning those of later edition, the beautifying of your fields without, and pitching your Smithfield within, new Gates, new Water-works, and the like, which have been consecrated by you to the days of his Majesty's happy reign: & I hope the cleansing of the River, which is the vena porta to your City, will follow in good time. But after all these, as Christ to the young man in the Gospel, which had done all and more, 
Matth. 19  Vnum tibi deest, si vis perfectus esse, vade, vend: so may I say to you. There is yet one thing wanting unto you, if you will be perfect, perfect this Church: not by parting from all, but somewhat, not to the poor, but to God himself. This Church is your Zion indeed, other are but Synagogues, this your jerusalem the mother to them all, other but daughters brought up at her knees; this the Cathedral, other but Parochial Churches; this the Bethel for the daily and constant service of God, other have their intermissions, this the common to you all, and to this do your Tribes ascend in their greatest solemnities; others appropriated to several Congregations, this the standard in the high road of gaze, others are more retired, this the mirror and mark of strangers, other have but their side looks; finally, this unto you, as S Peter in the Vatican at Rome, S. Marks at Venice, and that of Diana at Ephesus, and this at jerusalem of the jews; or if there be any other of glory and fame in the Christian world, which they most joy in.  
You have opened your hands, and filled with your blessing (a blessing of this kind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
1. Cor. 16.  they are both the Apostles words, 
2. Cor. 9  1. & 2. Corinth.) many Churches both at home and abroad. S. Alban, and a number beside, look with a chearefuller countenance through the oil of your goodness. Your English Colony in Virginia (I named her the little sister that had no breasts) hath drawn from the breasts of this City and Dioecesse a thousand pounds towards her Church. The Churches of Prague & Franckendale, though of an other blood, nothing of kin to you, (the latter, I confess, the maiden and prime suit of Hircius, that in all respects of grace and accomplishment is the prime Lady of Europe, the other a mere stranger at that time, the present condition of things not then suspected nor dreamt of) have both had an offering of a fair eye from this honourable City. 
Gen. 27.  Now (as Esau to his father when jacob had been before him, Nunquid non reseruasti, Num unam tantum?) have you not kept one blessing in store? or had you but one blessing? or have you forgotten the old rule, Charitas à domo sua, that Charity beginneth at her own house? or will you be marked with those the Apostle speaketh of, which provide not for their own? 
1. Tim. 5.  Or will you begin at your own houses indeed, and there build like Xerxes togati, seel your chambers with Cedar, and paint them with Synoper, 22 jerem. that when you have done, you may walk in the terrace of them, and say, Is not this great Babel, which I have built, for the honour of my name? But as for the house of the Lord, with those 1. Agg: Nondum tempus, the time is not yet come. Nunquid tempus vobis est? read forward, it is a fearful place, and stingeth like Scorpions. Ponite corda vestra super vias vestras. Consider it wisely: you eat and are not satisfied, etc. What is the reason? quia domus mea deserta, & unus quisque festinat in domum suam, because mine house lieth desert, and every one maketh haste to build his own house. Or is no man smitten at the heart, as David was, 2. Sam. 7. Behold I dwell in an house of Cedar, but as for the Ark of the Lord, it remaineth in medio pellium, in the midst of curtains: Or these houses of clay, which we bear about us, and are in medio pellium indeed, in the midst of skins, shall we garnish and trim on the outside, like painted sepulchers, whited walls, gilded potsherds, Egyptian temples, that scarce have an Ark, a good soul within them, but some Monkey or Cat or Crocodile, or the like; and that in so garish and strange a fashion, that that which was opprobrious in former days, is prodigious in ours,— juvenes ut foemina compti, a man tricked like a woman; a shame then,— juvenes & foemina tonsi, a woman trimmed like a man, a grace now: Quid androgynus? (saith Tully) what is a man-woman, woman-man? nun fatale monstrum? Shall all this be done, I say, and shall this house of the Lord, the place where his honour dwelleth, drop down by pieces, and leave a memorial against us of senseless indevotion to succeeding ages? O ye the living stones, and reasonable Temples of the Holy Ghost, breath upon the i'll faces of these dead and disfigured ones, even for kindred sake, the spirit of life and refreshing, renew their youth as the Eagles, take off their filthy garments, as they from jehosuah, Zach. 3. and give them a change of raiment; and (as God spoke to his people, Malach. 3. Bring in, that there may be meat in my house, and prove me) bring in, that the house of the Lord may but subsist and stand, and prove him, if he will not open the windows of heaven, and pour down his blessings upon you. Go up to the mountains, Agg: 1. bring wood etc. do but begin the work, lay but a stone of it: shall I ever distrust the providence of that God, that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the beginner and finisher of every good work, that giveth both to will and to do, whose Spirit bloweth where it pleaseth? who when he gave order for the building of his Tabernacle, the charge was no more but this, Every one that is willing, 
Exod. 35.  whose heart eucourageth him; and they brought in so fast, men and women, that the workmen came from their work, and told Moses, there was too much, and a proclamation was made in the Camp to bring no more, Exod. 36. And when stuff was to be provided for building the Temple, David left it at large, Who so is willing to fill his hand, 1. Chron. 29. and both King, Princes, and people offered abundantly and willingly; in so much that David, for himself and them, giveth thanks to the Lord in this form, Who am I, and what is my people, that we should offer thus willingly? and when josias repaired the Temple, 2. Reg. 22. the money is delivered into the hands of the workmen, and no account must be taken of them: why? because they did the work faithfully. And when julian, that broken bow, & graceless Apostata, to elude and falsify the word of our Saviour, Non relinquetur lapis etc. gave them money from his own coffers to build their Temple again, they were so zealous to the work, that they made them mattocks and spades of silver, and the women bestowed their jewels towards the charge, and bare out the rubbel and earth in their bosoms? There is not a soul that feareth God, but the zeal of God's house will even eat it up. Many a truehearted Areunah will offer his land to build the Altar upon, and his oxen for sacrifice, and his plough-timber for fire. The rich, of his superfluity will give the more; the poor, will give a mite even out of his penury. The living will send their goodness into heaven before them; the dying will be careful to take it along with them: and (I persuade myself) there will not be a Will made, but God shall have a legacy, Christ a child's part in it. Even judas himself that hath well thriven by the worst means, will out of remorse of conscience, 
Math. 27.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, cast down his silver in the Temple for the Priests to dispose of.  
For this great and glorious work doth your great and gracious Master come to speak. I have drawn with my coal before him, the colours of life and grace are in his lips, where sceptrum & plectrum, authority and eloquence will kiss each other, and the tongue of a King, like the harp of Amphion, draw stones to the building. It hath ever been the care of religious Princes to build and beautify Churches. Great Constantine, the Noah and father of the new Christian world, after that flood of bloody persecution, in founding the Lateran (than the Constantinian) Church, bore 12 baskets of earth upon his own shoulders: I spare the rest, stories are fraught with them. I received it in a message (amongst other enlargements and persuasions of his Royal spirit) from our religious Constantine, that he would be contented to do a penance, and to fast with bread and water, so this Church might be built. The request is not harsh, cannot be grievous to any, 
2. Reg. 5.  but (as the servants to Naaman their master, If the Prophet had commanded thee a great thing, shouldst thou not have done it? how much more when he saith, wash and be clean?) so when the King shall request no more, but build & repair the Church, and your honour together?  
I say, when the King shall request it. You remember what Paul wrote to Philemon, though I have great authority to command thee that, that is meet, yet out of love I rather entreat, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, being such as I am, I Paul the aged, etc. He that hath the ball in his hand, and commandeth far and wide, yet layeth down (as it were) his Crown, and stoopeth to entreaty, Caetera imperavi vobis, 
Q. Curt.  hoc unum debiturus (as Alexander to his soldiers) commanding in other matters, beholding in this. And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being such as he is. One that hath kept the fire upon your Altar yet burning, (I trust ever shall) I mean, that hath nourished the Gospel of peace, and government of peace, and liberty, plenty, prosperity the daughter of peace, amongst you to this day. One that hath filled you with such hope at home,— Quantus in ore pater radiat? What a Father, what a Son? and such honour abroad, I wish I were worthy to blazon it.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, such a King entreateth, that as these seventeen years of his reign, have been honoured & privileged with more exemplary and spectable works, in your City and Suburbs (I named not the Charter-house) in Country and Universities, where Libraries, Schools, and Lectures, provoke all Christendom to emulation, and some Colleges have been newly founded, every College almost hath cast his old skin with the Serpent, and gotten a new coat, then in so many years twice told (pick them where you will) of any his Predecessors; So the re-building of Paul's, may be the Coronis and Upshot, the Glory, Garland, and Masterpiece to all the rest.  
I am full as the Moon, and must speak to take breath, from the abundance of the heart, my mouth speaketh. A great door and effectual is opened unto me. I never spoke in such an Auditory, never shall again. But if ever I were in the Spirit (I trust God's Spirit is in me, and affecteth me thus to speak) I mean, transported beyond myself, now it is, to have so many thousands of souls within mine eye, so faithful and firm (I persuade myself) to God, his Anointed, the Church, the State, as with their means and assistance, alliance and friends, are able and ready (to build a Church, shall I say? yea, and) to maintain, and fight for the Church, to defeat all adversaries it hath, and debel proud Antichrist himself. Deum in voco testem in animam meam, I speak as I think, I see a cluster and bunch of the grapes of Canaan, the very first & best of the fruits, throughout the whole Kingdom. Now, you on the other side, Behold your King. Ecce Rex vester. Hosanna, Hosanna, save Lord, bless Lord; blessed is he that is come unto you, in the name of the Lord; and blessed, blessed again, that comes in the name of the Lord, and with the Lords errand. Set it, as a seal upon your hearts, that your King is so come unto you. Such comings are not often; but like Ludi Saeculares in Rome, once in an age, once in a Prince's reign, Queen Elizabeth once, and now your Sovereign once. I hope I shall not sin, in wishing that such comings were more often,— Ex visu fit amor. Such a people, in view of their King, and such a King in view of his people, banding their eyes to and fro, the one from the other, would be as the flowing and falling of waters, a reciprocal and interchangeable motion of love betwixt them. I know not what others think; but to me, it seemeth worthy, to add a Rubric more to your Almanac, and make a new Holiday amongst you. The Pope maketh jubilees at his pleasure, why not this a jubilee, a year of extraordinary joy to your City?  
I doubt not; but our Chronicles will make report of this, to future ages. Some will be so happy, to take the pencil in hand (none but Apelles should do it) and describe the honour of this day. But will it almost be believed, that a King should come from his Court to this Cross, where Princes seldom or never come; and that coming to be in state, with a kind of sacred pomp and procession; accompanied with all the fair Flowers of his Field, and the fairest Rose of his own Garden; an holy Congregation to be called; his desires sanctified before hand, with prayer and preaching; and in the hearing of a world of people, to make a request to his Subjects, not for his private, but for the public; not for himself, but for God; not out of reason of state and policy, but of religion and piety; no less fruit of honour and favour, with God and man, accrueing thereby to his people, then to his sacred Majesty? You that see it at the present, and can value and prise it, with all due circumstance and merit, have cause to admire it.  
I cannot conclude in a better time, nor can I make a better conclusion, than a little beneath my Text, from the 18. verse Scribentur haec, (there is your reward) these things (if you do them) shall be written for the generations to come, and the children unborn shall praise the Lord.  
Now the God of peace, 
Hebr. 13.  make you perfect in every good work, through jesus Christ our Lord.  
FINIS.