Vox Ducis: OR, AN ALARM FROM THE TRVMpet of God, to every Soldier in jesus Christ. Calling them to Fight the good fight of Faith. In a Sermon at Paul's Cross, Sept. 11. 1631. By john Robinson Preacher of the Word LONDON, Printed by Thomas Harper. 1631. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE, THE LADY ELIZABETH COVENTRY, The most virtuous Consort of the thrice renowned THOMAS, Lord COVENTRY, Baron of Ailsborough, Lord Keeper of the great Seal of England. IT is a received Maxim in war, that if the enemy be once gone forth, as the Philistines judg. 16. were sometimes to destroy, it is not then wisdom any longer for the adverse part to hide his strength wholly in the Garrison; As Christians, we have all some common enemies to fight against; and who then among us is not engaged in the quarrel? For me, I am the weakest of all Gods Worthies, yet in this common cause have I been emboldened to adventure myself and my forces into the field of Christ's Church. Give but the Word of your gracious entertainment, they are all mustered up to wait upon your Honour, and to fight for you against the Dragon and his adherents. Indeed job saith, that when he went out of the gate, the young job 29. 8. men hid themselves. And if the old Captains be abroad, the freshwater Downham his spiritual warfare. Gouge in 6. ad Ephes. soldiers will not dare to show their faces: But yet if we hear the Trumpet of God sounding out of Zion, if the faith of Christ, as here, calling aloud unto us, then if I forget thee, O jerusalem, let my Psal. 137. 5 right hand forget her cunning, and let him that hath a hand, go Exod. 17. 9 up and strike Amalecke. For the Turks say well, that all cannot be Knolls in Hist. Turc. janissaries, well experienced men at Arms, but there is also some good use of their Asapi, of their rude and inexpert rabble, if it be for nothing else but, with their numbers, to blunt the sword of the Adversary. So the Locusts, we know, are a people not strong, besides Pro. 30. 27 this, without a General, yet as Agur observed of them long since, do they go forth by Companies. How much more than if the Lord hath spoken, as in Amos, Who Amos 3. 8. can but prophesy? So if our General bids us charge, who can but show his courage? Then will every woman prove a Deborah, an Amazon, and forgetting her own weakness, arm herself with a masculine valour. In this case, every Mephibosheth, every lame soldier, as he is not well able to fight, so, though he could, yet will not he be willing to fly. In hope then that your Honour will be pleased to be, as job saith of himself, Even feet unto the lame, I do here most humbly commend job 29. 15. him to the safe Banner of your protection, and craving pardon for my entrenching thus fare upon your Noble favour, because I am a Stranger to your knowledge, yet as a perpetual honourer of your virtues, I shall ever desire to rest, Your Honours pressed servant, JOHN ROBINSON. Vox Ducis. 1. TIMOTHY 6. 12. Fight the good fight of faith. AS are the times warlike and martial, agreeing right with our Saviour's Mat. 24 6 prophecy, concerning the latter days, That there shall be wars, and rumours of wars: The father, he shall rise against the son; and the son against the father: So also is my Text. Only here is the difference, that whereas the first is corporal, this second is spiritual. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, Eph 6 12. saith Paul, but against principalities and powers, and spiritual wickednesses: That whereas the fight of the world is of one man against another: this of a Christian is of one and the same man against himself. Et Maior qui se quam qui caetera vincit Impetus: and they are ever the most dangerous enemies, says our Saviour, that are of our own Mat. 10. 36 household. So that my Text, you see, is nothing else, but Vox Ducis, The Captain's voice, whose voice, when he speaks, is dreadful; and whose tongue is like a sharp sword whetted to the combat; or else it may be called, if you please, Tuba Militis, the soldier's Trumpet; but not like that Trumpet that Paul makes mention 1. Cor. 14. of, which gives a doubtful and uncertain sound, for who shall then prepare himself for the combat? But rather like the trumpet of Gideon, that gives certain judg. 7. instructions when we shall begin the fight; and that is, when it is for the Lord and for Gideon. 1. When it is for the Lord, when it is Profide, for the faith, 1. Cor. 4. 13. Vnus enim Dominus, una fides, said the Apostle in another case. 2. When it is for Gideon also, I mean for the good of every true Gideon, of every faithful Christian, and then Pugnemus strenui, it behoves us presently to stretch forth our hands to war, and our fingers to fight. Fight the good fight of faith. In the words you may please to observe these three parts. 1. A martial act, in this word fight. 2. The ground, or cause of this act, which Lipsius calls well, Caput Polit. li. 5. bonae spei, quae ducit ad triumphales illas terras: The Cape of good Hope, that leads us to those fortunate Islands of victory: and this is, the faith of Christ, we must Dimicare profide, strive for the Iud 3. faith. Nullum enim bellum sascipitur à civitate optima, saith Tully, nisi aut profide, aut pro salute. We must not fight, as the Logician De Rep. l. 3. disputes, Pro & Con, De omni themate, upon any cause, upon any occasion; but the ground of it, that must always be the faith of Christ: it must be, Certamen fidei, the fight of faith. 3. The spur to prick us on to this combat, and this is our own good and welfare, which sits in the Text like a King in his Throne; or as the heart in the midst of the body, that so every part may receive an equal influence: for it is Bonum certamen, A good fight. Fight the good fight of faith. First then for the first part, which is the warlike act, in this word Fight. Which though it be but a single word, and this word also but a single syllable, yet Multum habet in se ponderis: that as the wise Wis●. 4. 16 man saith of Enoch, how he did fulfil much in a little time: so may we say of this word, that it doth fulfil a great deal of matter in a little room. Parvum quidem lectu, sed magnum intellectu: for being a term of art belonging properly to the camp of Mars, it doth easily hold out unto us that of job, That Militia est vita hominis super terram: That the life of a Christian is a warfare upon earth. And if you would see job 7. 1. the Metaphor further explained, look into the 1. Corinth. 15. 13. where we have an exhortation of the same Apostle wholly consisting of military terms, Watch ye, saith the Apostle, stand fast in the faith, quit yourselves like men, and be strong. It is the saying of Eliphas, that job 5. 7. we are all borne to labour: and as we are borne to labour, so also to fight, In id nati ut militomus: for these two, me thinks, are like jacob and Esau, that hold one another Genes. 25 26. by the heel. And therefore you may read of the jews at their building of the material temple, that as they Nehe. 4. 17 held a trowel in one hand, so also a sword in the other; the one being the instrument of a labourer, the other of a soldier. And thus you may think it also in the building of the spiritual temple. For think not, saith Christ, that I am come to send peace on the Mat. 10 34 earth, but rather a sword. The confirmation of which truth, we have from the blessed Virgin, who had no sooner bore Christ, Luk. 2. 35. but presently old Simeon tells her that a sword must pass through her soul. And so it is with every gracious Christian, in whom Christ is no sooner form anew by faith, but presently Audita est vox clamantis: A Herald at arms calls unto him after this manner: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Come, let us run on to the conflict Heb. 12. 1. that is set before us: for lo, saith David, how the enemies make a tumult, and consult among Psal. 83. 2. themselves, saying, Come and let us cut them off from being a holy Nation, neither let the name of Israel be had any longer in remembrance. Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalecke, the Philistines with those of Tire, Ashur also is joined to them, and hath helped the children of Lot. Thus when Israel went down to sinful Egypt, we hear then of nothing but peace and whist; but when they begin once to leave Egypt, and go to Canaan, to heaven and happiness, then, In se turbaruunt luxuriosa, then seven several nations, I mean seven deadly sins, are marching forwards to encounter them: for a remembrance whereof perhaps it was, that the Lord commanded them afterwards to keep their feast of Trumpets, because the Levit. 23 Trumpet, we know, Nil nisi bella sonat, sounds nothing else but sad war and destruction; and this hath made that part of Christ's Church, yet remaining on earth, to be well called, Ecclesia militans, the fight Church; because it must fight the good fight of Paul in my text. Fight the good fight of faith. But for the better explaining of this Metaphor, two things I suppose are necessary to be premised. 1. Who is our General, to fight under. 2. Who our enemies to fight against. The first of these alluring us to fight, in hope of reward. The second enforcing, for fear of danger. The first giving us entertainment. The second putting us upon employment. For the first. Our General or Captain, is the Lord jesus Christ, for so he is called in Saint Matth. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: Mat. 2. 6. For out of thee shall come a Captain, etc. The author Heb. 12. 2. and the finisher of our faith, saith the Author to the Hebrews. Deus exercituum, The Lord of hosts, saith the Prophet Isaiah, Isa. 1. 9 whose title is written upon his thigh, saith Saint john. Rex Regum, Revel: 19 16. & Dominus dominantium: He that slew mighty kings, saith David, Sehon king of the Amorites, Psal. 136. 16. and Og the king of Basan. In a word, he that sung that triumphant Paean upon the cross, over death, hell, and Satan; O death, where is thy sting; O grave where 1. Cor. 15. 55. is thy victory? And this is the Captain under whom we must fight: The Lord is this man of war, sings Moses, The Lord is his Exod 15. 3 mame. For the second. Now for our enemies, we present them marching in two ranks. Either Traitors to us, or else Invaders of us. Either Canaanites that dwell among us, or else Arabians that dwell without us. The one in the valleys. The other upon the mountains. Take them either single or combined, every way shall you find them very dangerous: Saul may slay his thousands, and David his 1. Sam. 18. 17. ten thousands, as the damosels sung: But he that slays one of these, doth more than they both; the fight of them being only against carnal, but this against spiritual enemies: Their enemies threatening only death to the body, but these death both to body and soul for ever. That as David hath it, How a thousand years Psal. 90. 4. with God are but as one day: so ma● we say, That a thousand of thos● enemies are not so much regarde● of God, as the kill of one o● these; and one day in this combat, is better than a thousand in the other. Of the first rank is our owns sinful and depraved nature; an● 1 Enemy. enemy doubtless that is much to be feared, because he is De propri● lare, of our own house and family, and they are ever the most dangerous enemies, saith our Saviour: not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Mat. 10. 36. the sin that besets us round about, as the Author to the Hebrews Heb. 12. 1. calls him; but farther, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The sin that Rom. 7. 17. dwells in us. For had an open enemy done this, saith David, than Psal. 55. 12 peradventure I could have hid myself from him, but for the son of our own womb, our joab, our Absalon, our own flesh to be 〈…〉 me our enemy; whither O God 〈…〉 all we flee from this, Cum 〈…〉 emit nos eadem causa quae ex 〈…〉 lit. Lypsi. de Const. una adest in unis aedibus, una Terent. 〈…〉 bitten, una comedit, una dormit: 〈…〉 his rises with us in the morning, 〈◊〉 keeps us company all the day, 〈…〉 d lies down also with us in the 〈…〉 ening. And tell me then if this 〈…〉 e not a dangerous enemy. 2. But though the Traitor be 〈…〉 iefly to be regarded, yet is not ●●erefore the foreigner altogether 〈◊〉 be slighted: for if Absalon be 〈…〉 e only care of David's thoughts, ●he issue of Saul will get thereby 〈…〉 o small advantage. Now our foreign enemies are ●hiefly these two; The world, and ●he devil. And first for the world. And if this be not a fearful adversary, then let all our sens● be called in here to speak, a● which are so many friend's vnt● him in this outward house of o 〈…〉 bodies. It was Bernard's speec● Mundus obsidet me utrinque, 〈◊〉 Medil. 14. per quinque portas, quinque scilic● corporis sensus, sagittis suis me vu 〈…〉 nerat: The eye that looks vpo● it, and beholds nothing but vanity; the care that listens to it, an● hears nothing but folly; th● tongue that speaks of it, an● speaks of leasing; the taste th● relishes it, and delights in luxury the sense that lays hold of it, a●● Ecclus. 33. gives a touch at lust and concupiscence. So that it is a very ha● thing, with our Saviour, to be 〈◊〉 the world, and yet not of it; 〈◊〉 joh. 1 10. & 8. 23. touch this pitch, and yet not to b● defiled. And therefore we read● of our Saviour, that when he pra●ed for his very enemies, yet he ●rayes not for the world, but excludes joh. 17 11. that by name. Non pro 〈…〉 undo rogo, I pray not for the ●orld: and if it were such a dangerous enemy to Christ, then must ●t needs be so also to us, because ●he servant is not above his master. Matth. 10. 24. What the Christians than were slanderously reported of, to be Act. 17. 6. ●roublers of the world, sure I am, ●s true in this sense of the world ●owards them; Mundus enim to●us in maligno positus, saith Saint ●ohn; and therefore can be no little 1. joh. 5. 19 adversary. Now the last, but not lest, enemy of a Christian, is Satan, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The enemy as he is called, Matt. 13. 25. by way of eminency, as if there were no other enemies but he, or at least as if he did only hold all those former wheels in motion; like the primum mobile that carries about the other spheres, Sine me nil potestis facere; They being able to do nothing without him. And therefore is the flesh called Nuntius Satanae: The devil's Nuncio; and the devil himself, Princeps 2 Cor. 12 7 joh. 12. 31. mundi. But is this, think you, all his attendants? who thinks it? For these two are only his chief Minions, and great Favourites. But as for his more remote and common attendants, they are innumerable; For if jehu do but cry, Eoquis mecum, Is there any of my 2. King 9 32. side: as Leah then said of Gad, Behold Gen. 30 11 a company. The time would be too short to tell you of all his hangbies, of Ishmael, and of Cain, of judas, and of Demas, of Himeneus and Philetus, of Epicurus and Novatus, with the rabble, all which have bound themselves with an oath, as they did, neither to eat nor drink until they have killed Paul. Act. 23. And is the life of a Christian then, think you, a life of race, a life of pleasure? This, I know, is Vox populi, but is it not also Vox stultorum? It is doubtless. For, Heu miseri qui bella gerunt, said Lucan. the Poet truly; but alas, it is fare otherwise: for no man knows so well the misery that a soldier endures, but himself only; Every battle, as the Prophet speaks, Isa. 9 5. being with confused noise, and with garments tumbled in blood. The soldier being always, as Paul said of himself, In labours more abundant than any man, in 2 Cor. 11. 23. weariness and painfulness, in watchings and fastings, in cold and nakedness. Believe me, brethren, Non est in terris mollis ad astra via: The way to heaven, it is not strewed with rushes; there go up thither no Carpet Knights, no knights of the post, but only the worthies of Israel, for we are all soldiers here. Et multa tulit miles, sudavit & alget: And the soldier he hath endured many a bitter brunt amidst the press of his enemies, consumed sometimes like jacob, with heat in the day, and with frost in the night; to be sure, either always fight, or else always ready to undertake it; that so at last his enemies may be defeated, and himself crowned with a triumphant Crown of Genes. 31. 40. glory. But is it enough, think you, to tell you that you are soldiers, and therefore must use your hands to war, and your fingers to fight, unless I teach you also how to fight, that so you may overthrew your enemies? No surely: Ideo enim bellum suscipitur, ut in pace vivatur: for therefore is war undertaken, that you may overthrew your enemies, and live in peace. Give me leave then, that as David 2 Sam. 1. 18. caused the men of judah to be trained up in the art of shooting, so now also to train you up in this art of fight, lest else you fight as him that beats the air, as the Apostle speaks: That as 1 Cor. 9 26. Saint Paul teaches his Corinthians, so to run that they may obtain the prize: so may I teach 1. Cor. 9 24. you, so to fight that ye may obtain the victory: Now for the effecting hereof: Quaedam removenda. Quaedam admovenda. The obstacles to be removed, are either general or special. The general, are all manner of sins whatsoever; the whole body of sin, as the Apostle speaks, Rom. 6. 6 which like Amasa's dead body, is an hindrance to us in the pursuit of our victory. And therefore the Lord charges the Israelites, that when their 2. Sam: 〈◊〉 12. host goes forth to battle, they should abstain from every wicked Deut. 13. 9 thing. And this, it may be, was the reason why David he Psal. 49. 5. calls it, The wickedness of our heels, making sin like a clog of dirt hanging at our heels in the depth of Winter, which doth tardare gressus, hinder us in our march to heaven. And therefore as we are to pray, according to our Saviour's direction, That our flight be not in the winter; so may Mat. 24. 20. we here also, that our fight be not at that time neither, when our feet must needs stick fast in the mire, and cannot move; the Irish bog, and the deep way being both of them enemies as well to fight as to flying. But more especially, be sure that thou remove thy Dalilahs', thy darling sin, that Primogen●tum Diaboli, as Saint john the Evangelist said of Marchon the Heretic, the head of this body, even thy Primum vivens, thy sweetheart sin, which bears rule & dominion over this body, like a King. And therefore it was a good policy of the King of Assyria to his Captains, Fight, saith he, neither against great nor small, 1 King 〈◊〉 31. but only against the king of Israel: Not but that he would have them fight against the whole army, but chief and principally against the King. So though we ought to set ourselves against all that is called sin, yet chief and principally against our master-sinnes. And surely the king being once caught, the rest will easily be subdued; and he that can shake off the principal, will a great deal more easily shake off his dependants and followers. If Holofernes be once slain in his tent, though it be by the hands of a woman, his whole army then, be it never so numerous, will soon be judith 13. brought to nothing. And the shepherd being once struck, the Mat. 26 31 sheep will soon be scattered. Thus we read of the Israelites, that above all their other sins, they insisted chief in the mention of this great wickedness, for so it is called, namely, In ask 1. Sam. 12. 17. ver. 19 of a King. And as many, beloved, as are true Israelites, will do the like. But as for the hypocrite and counterfeit, his only care is to slay some common soldier, as, murder, adultery, and the like, and then he thinks he hath done God good service; But as for the king and ruling sin, that sits in the throne of his heart, this he is resolved to fight for, even to the death. Oh that Ishmael might live, says he, in thy sight: Vivat Rex, Let Gen. 17. 18 the King live, and all is well. For, Rege incolumi mens omnibus una est; Amisso rupere fidem: For if the Virg. king be well, and the ruling sin, then will all other sins bind themselves by an unanimous oath of allegiance unto him; but as jacob said, so he, joseph is gone, and Simeon, and will ye take Benjamin too: so, what? Goe 42. 36. have ye forbidden me to nourish other sins, and will ye take away also my Dalilah, my darling sin, the son of my strength, of my desires? ye shall then bring my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave; for, is not the lean cattles good enough, says Cain, to be sacrificed with the knife of mortification, but God must have Goe 17. 18. the fattest of the flock too? Or is Gen 4. 1 it not great pity, says Saul, that such a goodly Wether as Agag Reg. 22 must be slain? But there is a foolish pity, says the proverb, that destroys a kingdom; and if God cry, Vade & percute Amaleck, yea, though he be the first of the Ex 17. 9 Nations, and the chiefest in the dwellings of Ham, yet then, cursed Nu. 24. 20. is he, says the Prophet, that jer. 48. 10 holds his sword from blood. Let Naaman be never such a goodly 2 Reg. 5. 2. man, yet if he be a Leper, he must then be shut out of the host; Num 5. 2. Act. 10 34. Isa. 30 33. for as God is no respecter of persons, so neither must we. Tophet is prepared of old, says God, even for the king, even for our great and presumptuous transgressions, and therefore this must also be removed. And so much for the hindrances that must be taken away. The furtherances follow. And these may be considered, either in respect of our Captain, or in respect of ourselves, as soldiers under him. In respect of our Captain there be two things required. 1 Obedience to him. 2 Imitation of him. 1 Obedience to his word. 2 Imitation of his practice. And first for the first. As the word of a General is a sufficient warrant to a soldier for the undertaking of any warlike design; And therefore Curtius, Curt. l. 4. speaking of Alexander's soldiers, says, That they were Intenti ad Ducis verbum, immo & ad nutum. So must also the word of Christ our Captain be to us: To the Law and to the Testimony, Isa. 8. 20. says the Scripture. The Law of God that must be a sufficient testimony to us for our obedience unto Christ's; for as Marcus Curio said concerning a disobedient Val. Max. soldier, whom he had put to death, Non opus est Reipublicae eo cive qui parere nescit: so may we, Non opus est Christo eo milite, That Christ hath no need of such a soldier, that knows not how to obey him; since obedience is better than sacrifice. The soldier he 1 Sa. 15. 22 must be to his Captain, as the shadow is to the body, or as that servant in the Comedy was to his master, Ait, aio; Negat, nego. And therefore the Centurion might Teren. well think himself happy in his servants, when he said to one of them, Go, and he goes; to a second, come, and he comes; to a third, do Mat. 8. 9 this, and he doth it. And yet there be Vndercaptains too, that must be obeyed as well as Christ. And these be either Moses or Aaron. The Prince or Priest. The Magistrate or Minister. The one God's deputy in rebus temporalibus; the other in spiritualibus. And therefore Christ gives the jews this charge concerning the Scribes and Pharisees, That whatsoever they bade them do, they Mat. 23. 1. should do. But yet take this caution by the way, only so fare as Christ and they are unum agens, do command one and the same thing, but no further; for else, whether it be better, says Paul, to obey God or man, judge ye: and Act. 4. 19 by this rule, says our Saviour, We cannot serve God and Mammon. And so much for the first requisite, in regard of our Captain, which is obedience, in regard of his word. The second follows, and this is imitation of him, in regard of our practice. As Gideon said to his soldiers, Whatsoever ye see me do, do ye: judg. 7. 17 The same doth Christ to every one of us; and it is the duty of a good soldier, always to follow the steps of his Captain: in which respect, S. john tells us concerning joh. 13. 15. Christ, that dedit nobis exemplum, that Christ left us an example, that so we might tread in his steps. But it is demanded here, Quousque? Q. how fare the example of Christ our General must lead us, and whether in all things, or no? For answer to which, we must R. know, That there be some things wherein we cannot follow after Christ. Others, wherein we may. Of the first sort are his miraculous works, as namely, his fasting forty days; his walking upon the sea, and others of like nature: Mat. 4. Matth. 14. and he that essays now to do these after Christ, is very like to starve for hunger, or else to be drowned in the depths, as the Egyptians were, who because they saw the Israelites go through the red sea with a miracle accompaniing them, they would therefore needs follow them also, presuming on the like success: Impij autem non sic, says David; for Psal. 1. the text tells us, that when they assayed to do it after them, the sea then closed up her mouth again, and shut up their lives in destruction. Ex. 14. 28. It is then in our imitation of Christ our General, as the Apostle speaks in another case of alms, Not according to that a man hath not, but according to 2. Co. 8. 12 that a man hath. And these be either natural or moral. The natural are such as serve to the preserving of our natural subsistence and being, as to eat, drink, sleep, etc. Now in these we cannot but follow after him, because, in themselves considered, they are neither good nor evil. Only moral duties than are they that we propound here unto ourselves from Christ, by way of pattern and imitation. But there are Vndercaptains here also that must not be despised. And these be the glorious company of all the Prophets, Apostles, and Saints of God, that have been since the world began. And therefore Paul wishes Phil. 3. 17. the Philipians to be followers of him, and to look upon all those that walk so as they have him for an example. But though our General, and Vndercaptains must both be followed, yet not both after one and the same manner. The one as an absolute and perfect pattern. The other only with a quatenus, so fare as they follow Christ and no further. For as man is compounded of a two fold moral principle, either flesh or spirit: So also are his moral actions that flow from him, savouring accordingly, and so become either good or evil. In the one we regard no man's credit whatsoever, but only in the other. The credit of job was good in his patience at one time, job 1. 21. but not so in his impatience and cursing of his birth at another; job 3. 3. therein, dixit insipiens, he spoke job. 2. 10. as his wife did, very foolishly. The practice of David was imitable in 1. Sam. 13. 14. many things, for it was after Gods own heart: But in the matter of Vriah, there we think him to be a man after his own heart, and not after Gods, and therefore dare not follow him. So was Hezekiah 1. King. 15 5. a good man in many things, howbeit in the business to the Ambassadors of the King of Babylon, therein, saith the Text, 2. Chron. 3●. 31. did the Lord leave him to himself; and so do we also. So was Lot also a righteous man, save in Gen. 19 34 the matter of his drunkenness, and he that follows him in this, follows but a staggering guide; and a thousand to one if he ever hit the right way to heaven. So that here that rule of Seneca is good, Quicquid ab illis bene factum est, nostrum ad imitationem; Quicquid male, nostrum ad consolationem. And now, as Vriah said, What, shall my Lord joab, and the 2. Sam. 11. 11. Ark of God lie in the field, and shall I go home to lie with my wife? I will never do it. Or else as Moses spoke to the children of Gad and Reuben, so say I to you, What Numb. 32 6. shall our brethren go forth to war, and will ye, like idle drones, sit still in Gilead, because it is a place fit for pastorage? Apage hanc amentiam! For hear what our Saviour saith of such, Quid statis hic toto die otiosi? For what? Mat. 20. 6 have ye not yet received your hire, your penny, your press-money? O thou evil and slothful servant! Neither say within your Mat. 25. 25 selves, that no man hath hired you, for hear how the Spirit and Reu. vl●. 17 the Bride say, Come: yea how the faith of Christ, and our own welfare also saith it in the Text; come then and let us all go up together, as one man, to fulfil my Text, even to fight this good fight of faith: Fight the good fight of faith. Our Adversaries then, me thinks, do very ill to discard these Captains out of their places, and to set a rabble of lame and blind soldiers in their rooms. Among the first rank we place Ignatius Loiola, the father of their jesuites; they that speak the best 〈◊〉 G 〈…〉 in Flanders. of him, say that he was but a lam● soldier, and it may be he caught his lameness, as Mephib●sheth did his, by falling from his Nurse: 2. Sam 4. 4 Among the second, we plac● Saint Dominicke, Saint Francis and many other of their mor● easy Saints, who if they had strength for execution, yet wanted they sight for direction. And i● may be they lost their sight, as old Toby lost his, by the Swallows Tob. 2. dung of that Papal nest. And think you that the battle will not go well forward with such Leaders? or that if they place after such Captains, they will not fall before their enemies? They will doubtless. For if the blind lead the blind, saith our Saviour, they must needs both fall into the ditch. Mat. 15. And therefore the blind man in the Gospel, that mistook men for trees, you'll say, would have Mar. 8. 24. made but a bad Leader. But the devil himself hath a good answer for these, as he had for those Pythonistes that took upon them to adjure by the name of jesus, jesus Act. 19 15. we know, and Paul, and the Saints of God, but who are ye? And so much for the further ances to make our fight successful in regard of our Captain whom we serve. We come now to those that concern ourselves, as soldiers under him. And these respect, Either the matter of our fight. Or else the manner of it. For the Matter of our fight there is required: 1. Armour to fight in. 2. Weapons to fight withal. For without these two materials, it is impossible that we should ever stand before our enemies. And therefore it was a good policy of the Philistines, for th● keeping under of the Israelites, to let no Smith live among them, whereby any warlike materials 1. Sam. 13. 19 might be procured, as well knowing that without these, they could never effect any great matters; for the want of which, they might well be scoffed at by their enemies, under the name of judaei imbecilles, weak jews, as at the building Nehe. 4. 2. of the Temple. And therefore when it once came to this pass, That there was neither shield nor spear among forty thousand of Israel; then was it a fit time, as Deborah sung, to have war in ●he gates. judge 5 8. For armour then this is the first material that we require in a soldier, who would be victorious. And therefore we read in the Gospel, that when a strong man enters on an house, the first thing Luk. 11. 22. ●e will do, is to take away his armour wherein he trusts. Indeed ●e trust much to our armour in ●he battle, which made Achilles ●hat he would never undertake a combat without his harness; and ●herefore are they called, Arma 〈…〉 b arcendo host, as Varro will ●aue it. But yet is this of no avail neither, unless it be also complete and whole; for so the Apostle wills us, Put on, saith he, the whol● Eph. 6. 17 armour of God: for if we lay ope● at any one part, there will the devil be sure to strike. Quaque patet fera regnat Ery●nis: And for this reason may he● well be called Beelzebub, i. e. th● Prince of flies, because the fly will ever light upon the wounde● place. And yet how many be ther● now adays, that lay one part o● Ma●. 10. 25 other to the devil's blow, fo● want of this complete furniture● and so are easily wounded. As One there is that hath not th● head-piece of Divine wisedom● on, and so lays his head too fair● to receive the devil's stroke. An● thus our grandmother Eve, she● was wounded; Ingenio perijt (h●●miseri) Gen 3. 6. ipsa suo. A second, he lies open at the eyes, by not putting before them jobs covenant; and so Achan job 31. 1. perished, vidit, perijt: He saw a wedge of gold, saith the Text, Ios. 7. 21. Vidensque concupivit, & concupis cens abstulit. A third, he looks not to his hands, to hold them up to God in prayer. And so Moses was in fault; Mosis manus erant graves, saith the Text, and thus Amaleck, you Exo. 17. 12 know, had almost got the victory. And last of all (for I have here a large field to march in) another looks not to the foot of his affections, as Solomon advices him, but hath Transitum pedis, a hole Prou. 4. 26. there for the devil to enter. And so was Achilles foiled and slain. Our Christian armour therefore must be complete and whole, Put on the whole armour of God. But what is armour to fight in, unless we have also weapons to fight withal. Look but into Saint Paul's Armoury, and there you shall find Eph. 6. 12 enough to furnish you. Some for defence of thyself. Some for offence of others. For defence, thou hast these four to cover the four chief parts of thy body. As, For thy joins, thou hast the Girdle of truth. For thy breast and heart, the shield of faith. For thy head, the Helmet of salvation: and For thy feet, the shoes of peace to cover them from cold and harms, as it is written: Quam speciosi pedes praedicantis pacem. Isa. 52 7. But for offence, thou hast only one, to wit, The word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit, To note that we must be Tardi ad percutiendum, receiving four blows, rather than giving one. But if the faith of Christ lies once at the stake, as it doth at this time in the Text, then Vade & percute Amaleck, then let him that hath Exo. 17. 9 no sword, saith Christ, go sell his garment and buy one: Then draw thy sword Peter out of thy sheath, and make it drunk in the blood Luk. 21. 36 of thine opposers. For it may as well be said of Mat. 26. this weapon in general, as of Goliahs' sword in particular; 1. Sam. 21. 9 Non est huic simile, That there is no offensive weapon like to this. Indeed David mentions a bow as well as a sword. 2. Sam. 1. 18 But yet this is only useful for those enemies that are afar off, and therefore are less to be feared; But if once those spiritual Philistines of ours be come upon, as they were sometimes on Samson judg. 16. to destroy, than Gladius Domini, must be Gladius Gideonis, jud. 7. 10. Then must the sword of the Lord be the sword of Gideon. I mean of every true faithful Christian And therefore as the ancient Romans did worship Victory for a Goddess, so did the Alani also, saith Marcellinus, worship the sword for a God, as the chief means to attain the victory: for the word of God, says the Apostle, is quick and powerful, yea, Heb. 4. 12. sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, of the joints and marrow. And these are our weapons to fight withal, of which we may say as Christ did of Peter's two swords, satis est, here are enough to furnish a Christian soldier. Luc. 22. 38 Where then are those Popish weapons of the Church of Rome, viz. their Cross, their Holy water, their consecrated Oil, and the like. Surely, as the Apostle Rom. 3. 27. says of works, so may we say of them, they are excluded: but by what law? by the law of faith: Our faith will not admit them, our Religion will not bear them: and why? silent ikter arma leges; because the law of God, which is regula fidei, the rule of our faith, and our law of arms, makes no mention of them, and no marvel, for as the Apostle said in another case, The Law is spiritual, but I am carnal: so say I, the Law of Rom. 7. 14 God speaks only of spiritual weapons, but are not these carnal? they are doubtless; and think we then that they are not pitiful scare crows to put to flight a spiritual adversary? Alas, we may say of them, as the Prophet doth of the Egyptian horses, They are flesh, and not spirit, Isa. 31. 3. sarcasmi Diaboli, as Chemnitius well calls them, even gugawes to make the Devil laugh; so that God hath given them up to strong delusions, because they being without law in these things, yet will needs be a law to themselves; Rom. 3. 14. and therefore we may well fear, that as the Prophet spoke of the Egyptians, so it may be said of them also, That both they and their weapons shall go both together into hell; for he that sits in Eze. 32. 17 hell, shall laugh at these weapons, Satan shall have these weapons job. 41. 17. 29. in derision. But enough concerning the matter of our fight. The manner follows. And to make this good there be three special things required in it, which like those three mighties of David will break through an host of enemies, and bring 1 Sam. 23. from thence the water of life. The first of these is Wisdom, and therefore Paul who was miles veteranus, an old beaten soldier, advices his Ephesians to walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as Eph. 5. 15. wise. So we must also fight circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise: it must not be like the cockbrained march of jehu, concerning whom the Scripture says, that 1 Reg 9 20 he marched furiously. I place wisdom in the first place, because the Wise man, he tells us, that it is the principal thing. And Pro. 4. 7. again, comparing it in another place with wisdom, he tells us in plain terms that of the Poet, Est acri potior bello prudentia dextra. Eccl. 9 18. That wisdom is better than strength. From whence it came to pass, says Plutarch, that the old Spartan, if he conquered his enemy by force, he did then offer only a Cock, but if by wisdom, he did then offer an Ox, as a greater sacrifice than the former. But Aristotle he goes yet further, and will have it to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the only virtue and captain of a ruler. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, says he in the second of his Politics, which was the reason why David was elected of Saul, to be the chief over his men of war, because he behaved himself wisely, 1 Sa. 18. 5. says the Text. And indeed, as want of wisdom and discretion is a great want in any calling, so most specially in the military, in as much as our life stands always there upon a most tickle point, that if a fool turn soldier, it may well be feared, that he will either hold his weapon flat way; and so wound himself, or else mistake his friend instead of his adversary. But for such, me thinks, a School of Defence were better, wherein to learn skill, than a field to put it in practice, because wrath carries such to valour, and not knowledge, and therefore in fight do they seek rather to perish, then to vanquish. But it is here demanded wherein this military wisdom of a Christian soldier doth consist. In answer to which, I will refer it to three chief members of the body. 1 To the feet, they must be held in with order, that so they do not range out of their proper place, according to that of Solomon, A wise man will order his steps, but the foolish, he goes out Pro. 19 3. of his own rank, and perverts his way. And so we must fight orderly: all of us must set our feet in battle array, and continue there in our standing, like the Northern army, concerning whom we read, that they should run like mighty men, and climb the walls jocl 2. like men of war, that they should march every one in his way, and not break their ranks. The Philosopher could say that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; that Arist. Polit. lib. 2. order was the mother and preserver of all things; for which cause the Apostle will have all things to be done in order, for God, says the same Apostle, is the God of order, and not of confusion. As for 1 Co. 14. 40 disorder, that dwells only in hell, the place of all misery; and therefore Babel is made a type of it, which signifies nothing but confusion. Gen. 11. 9 But order must be on earth, as in other things, so more especially in fight Nam cum miles Centurioni, Centurio Tribuno obsequitur, says Tacitus, facile fit aditus ad Annal, l 1. victoriam. But è contra, nothing sooner loses the field, then when men go out of their orders and ranks, out of their places and callings, as when the master goes on foot, and the servant gets up into the saddle, which was one of Solomon's Eccls 10. 7 evils that he saw under the Sun, when one goes up to the front, that should come behind in the rear; Vsque adeo turbatur agris. Virg, Eclog By this means doth confusion march into the army, and after it destruction. And indeed all now will be Captains to teach others, when as the Apostle says, they have more need to be taught themselves, Heb. 5. 12. or else they will have none of the Crown, no, nor fight one stroke in the combat. That as it was said of the Egyptians, that all of them would be Priests, so of these times; Moses wish is now Aegypti Sacerdotos omnes. Nu. 11 29 well nigh fulfilled, Omnes erimus Caesares, all of us would fain be Captains; oh that I were a King, says Absalon. 2 Sa. 15. 4. Regis ad exemplum totus componitur orbis. Aut Caesar, aut nullus. But Absalon must first learn what it is to be a subject, for, Non nosti longas Regibus esse manus? For dost thou not know that Kings must have long hands to guide the reines of government? And yet now will every Cobbler find fault with the face of the picture, when his art reaches no higher than the foot: as Luther said, Vnusquisque habet in se Pa●am; But doth not he take too much upon him, O ye sons of Levi, datur vobis seire. Nunquid enim & Saul inter 1 Sa. 10. 11 Prophetas? well, if he be, Spiritus illum invasit malus, & prophetabat; 1 Sa. 18. 10. an evil and disordered spirit hath put him into orders, and behold he prophecies; Quis autem 1 Sa. 10. 12 pater, as they said of Saul? for is he not the son of Kish, who went about to seek his father's Asses, and how then do we hear these things of him? Proh pudor, Quis, Cui? as it was said of Arsacius, an unlearned Bishop, that succeeded Origen. Every cursed bramble now will take upon him to be a Prince among judg. 9 15 the trees, as in jothams' parable, and the son of the Thistle must needs match with the Cedars 2 Kin. 14. 9 daughter. For will not this wood, says he, serve as well to make some throne for a king, as some plash for a hedge? Are not all the people holy, says Corah? Nu. 16 3. Are not Abanah and Pharphar, rivers of Damascus, says Naaman 2 Reg 5 1● to Elisha, as good to wash, in as the river of jordan? So are not we, say they, as fit to be made Captains as other men? No, says Elisha, it must be jordan, and no other river; the virtue of healing is annexed by God only to that river, and the King he can only co●e this overflowing evil. As for others, nemo te conduxit ad hoc opus, this is enough, that no man hath hired them to this work. M 〈…〉. Et nasci à principibus fortuitum est. And every one cannot be borne to this dignity; how then can ye expect wages for it, since every one shall receive his wages 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, according to his work. Rather be ordered by your Captains, & quo in loco es constitutus, ibi astes, and fight in that part of the battle wherein they have placed thee; for as Christ said to his Disciples in another case, non vestrum est scire mysteria regni; so say I, scire tuum nihil est. Mat. 13. 11 Alas, you are more brute than any men, as Hagar said of himself, neither is there any knowledge touching these affairs Pro 30 2 lodging in you. Wherefore as Christ said to Peter, so say I, quid hoc ad te? Aliud plectrum, aliud Sceptrun, joh. 21 23. as Stratonicus the Musician told Ptolemy; or as Basil said to the Emperor's Steward, who laboured to pervert Scripture for the strengthening of the Arian heresy, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is thy part, says he, to look to the Emperor's kitchen stuff, and not to trouble thy head about the knotty places of Scripture. Vobis hoc non datur; for as the twelve Apostles said, Is it meet to leave the word of God and serve tables? Acts 6. 2. so may we say on the contrary, is it meet, think you, to leave tables, and come presently to dispense the word? no surely; for there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a great gulf of difference betwixt these two, Luc. 16. 26 so that those idle drones that would pass from hence to them, cannot, neither again can those threadbare & pragmatical tradesmen that would from thence to us: indeed some Enthusiasts of late days have not been afraid to pass this latter gulf; but who so bold, says the proverb, as blind Bayard; Partus enim indicavit patrem, for their uncouth births have showed their breeding, and their roving discourses have laid them open what they were, well enough, viz. straggling sheep, disordered men, and wand'ring stars, as jude speaks, for when ver. 12. the Text hath called for brick, these men have come with straw in their hands, like those builders of Babel and confusion, at quis haec Gen 11. requisivit? and when that hath called for tile, they have come with stubble, and have given thereby this witness of themselves, I am no Prophet, but a husbandman, for man taught me Zac. 13. 14 to be so from my youth, so said Zachary, you know, who had an immediate call from heaven to that sacred office; and if they can show the same patent, they may pass freely. At da mihi talem, as Bernard said of young Timothy, & ego cibabo auro, & potabo halsamo. No, no, immediate calls are now past, so are extraordinary signs, and he that seeks now for such a sign, is but an adulterous generation, saith our Saviour, but no Luk 11. 29 sign shall be given him, save only this, Go sow, and then reap, 2. King 19 29. plant vineyards, and then eat the fruit thereof. All members, saith the Apostle, have not one and the same office: Rom 12. 4. but God hath made some Prophets, some Apostles, others Evangelists, etc. so say I, all that sight in the battle, have not one and the same rank, but some are Captains, others Colonels, others Sergeants, and others again common Soldiers, and such as do attend upon the baggage. Are 1. Cor. 12. 19 all Prophets, are all Apostles, are all Teachers, are all Captains, are all Colonels, are all Sergeants? If all were the eye, then where were the hearing? So if all were Captains, then where were the Colonels? or if all were these, where then were the common soldier and attender on the baggage? But God hath appointed, as to every member in the body, so to every soldier in the field his right place, his proper Vbi, that so there may be no schism in the body, no disorder in the Campe. He shall keep thee in all thy ways, saith David: Every man Psal. 91. 11 than hath his proper rank, his calling, his way; and God hath said to him in his entrance into it, as in Isaiah, This is thy way, walk Isa. 33. 21. in it, and thou shalt find rest to thy soul. But if thou once presume to departed out of it, without licence from thy Captain, thou hast then no promise of protection at all. And therefore the devil, saith learned junius, was but a bad Sophister, in alleging to Christ, God's promise for preservation, without annexing unto it the Mat. 4. Psal. 91. condition of walking in his ways: It being nothing else, saith he, but Fallacia Divisionis, a fallacy of division, in separating those things that must be joined; The way of God and his protection in it, being as nearly linked together, as mercy and truth that kiss each other. For as Bernard well glosses the place, He keeps us, In vijs, non in praecipitijs, in our ways, and not in our downfalls: So that if Christ had thrown himself down, he had then been quite out of God's way, and so out of all promise of his protection, For, Extra viam nulla securitas: for out of the way is nothing but error, nothing but danger. And therefore the Lord threatens the jews, that because they did not know his way, but went out of those bounds that he had set them, therefore a Lion out of the jer. 5. 6. forest should slay them, and a wolf of the evenings should devour them. Indeed the sluggard saith, Leo est in via, That there is a Lion in the way, but how foolishly? Pro. 22. 12. for I am sure that he walked, In via devia, in a cross and by-way, when he met with the disobedient Prophet, and therefore slew him. 1. King. 13. And so much for the first branch of our military wisdom, which was referred to our feet, and this was order to keep them from swerving. The second branch of our wisdom follows, and this shall be referred to our eyes, they must be held open by walking; and so we must fight with a heedy and watchful eye: according to that of Solomon, That a wise man hath Eccl. 2. 14. his eyes in his head, he is ever watchful, and not like those of Laish, that were a careless and judg. 18. 67. drowsy people. And therefore the ancient Romans, in their coins inscribed to Mars the God of war; did usually join a Cock with him, which is the emblem of watchfulness. And good reason we should be watchful. 1. Whether we respect our own disposition; or, 2. The disposition of our adversary. 1. Our own disposition, as now most prone to sleep, and therefore Saint Peter advices us to watch, because the end of all things P. Pet. 4. 7. is at hand. Now as the nearer the day draws to an end, the more apt are men to sleep; So the nearer the day of this world is a drawing to his last period, the more are we inclining to snorting and security; and we have ever good cause to suspect that we are most inclined unto, because Nitimur in vetitum, Rom 7. 19 the evil we should not do, that we do. And therefore we read of Abraham, that when the Sun was going down, a deep Gen. 15. 12. sleep fell upon him; Now if S. john's age was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the last 1. joh. 2. 18. hour of the day, then must this wherein we live, needs be the last minute of that hour. And therefore no marvel if now, with the disciples of Christ, we be so willing Mat. 26. to sleep and take our rest. 2. If we respect the disposition of our adversary, and therefore S. Peter again advices us to watch, 1. Pet. 5. 8. because our adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring Lion, seeking to devour us. 1. He is our adversary, and therefore we must watch, for we must not trust our adversary, saith the son of Sirach, Eccl. 12. 10 because as iron rusts, so is his wickedness. 2. He is a strong adversary, as the Lion is the strongest of all the beasts of the field. For if Pro. 30. 30. the Lion roar, saith Amos, shall Amo● 3. 8. not all the beasts of the field tremble? Etquae potestas comparetur ci, saith job of him, under the job 41 33. Metaphor of a Whale? 3. He is a watchful adversary, as the Lion is said to sleep with his eyes open: for which cause, saith Pierius, did the Egyptian Priests make the Lion a Hieroglyphic of watchfulness: Et vigilat hostis, saith Austen, & tu dormis? virtue & ab hoste probatur. O disdain not to learn that is good, even Ouid. from thy adversary, and be thou as careful for thine own preservation, as the devil is for thy destruction. 4. He is also a painful adversary, for he walks about, saith the Text. The original word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Magnus quidem job 1. 7. Peripateticus, a great Peripatetic, for his walk is, In circuitu, as in job; It is motus circularis, which knows no end, but is still in action, and like the Pharisaical jesuite, will Mat. 13. 15 compass Sea and Land to make a Proselyte. And think we that Satan will do all this to no end and purpose? No surely, he doth it, 5. To this end, namely, to destroy us, to devour us, for his mouth is an open sepulchre, as David speaks of the wicked: Psal 75. 9 and the grave, saith Solomon, is Pro. 30. 16. unsatiable. Now if Saul be a sleep, it is then easy enough for David to take away his 1. Sam. 26 11. spear, and his waterpot from him: For while the Husbandman Mat. 13. 25 slept, saith the Text, than came the enemy and sowed his tares. It is a Proverb in the Netherlands, That when the Spaniard sleeps, the Devil rocks the cradle; Sure I am, that is true in our spiritual warfare also here below, That when we sleep, like jonas, in the cradle jonas 1. of security, that then Satan, Hostis ille Catholicus, that universal enemy of all mankind, is most busy in plotting our destruction: And so job speaks of him, under the Metaphor of a Whale, when he calls him, The king over all the children of pride. And it is easy here also job 41. 34. to make application; all which gives truth to that of the Poet. Invadunt urbem somno vin●que Virg. sepultam. And thus it befell Balthasar, for when his eyes were, in the Poet's phrase, Somno vinoque graves, heavy through wine and sleeping, Darius he enters the gates of the City, standing open for destruction. And so much for the second branch of our Military wisdom, which was referred to the eyes, they must be held open with watchfulness. The third and last follows, which shall be referred to the head, this must be held up by wisdom and discretion (i) we must rightly discern betwixt the head of the body, and other inferior parts, that so if we put any to the hazard, it must be they that are less principal; but as for the head, which like the Tower of David, hath a superintendency above the rest, this must be sure to be warded, according to that of our Saviour, Be wise as serpents. Now the chief wisdom of the Mat 10. 16. Serpent, saith Pliny, consists in this, viz. in saving of his head: so above all, must we be sure to hold Christ jesus, who is Caput & defensor fidei, The head and defender of our faith unwounded, our Captain untouched, to hold the fundamentals of our Religion inviolate, the foundation of holiness unraced; whatsoever become of the hay or stubble that we build upon it, and then Saint Paul tells us, That although we suffer a little loss thereby, yet shall ourselves 1. Cor. 3. 15. be saved. And yet I would not have you think, that we can ever be strict enough, either in our faith or manners, God forbidden, for the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Ephesians, (i) walk accurately, as the best Eph. 5. 15. Expositors render the word; or else straightly, as others: and therefore David tells us that he Psal. 115. held strait all the commandments. But yet, as Solomon doth well distinguish betwixt mirth and madness, so do we here, Eccl. ●. 2. only sanctity from superstition; that, as the proverb hath it, be merry, but wise; so say we, be as zealous as you will, but yet according to wisdom and sobriety; for though a man can never be too zealous, yet he may be sometimes Rom. 12. 3 too superstitious. But alas, there be too many now a days, that do not hold this head, as Paul spoke to the Colossians concerning the worship of Saints and Angels; and we speak this to Col. ●. 18. their shame, especially the Priests and Levites, who hold all that they have, in capite, and this, we say, is the surest hold, for it was Plato's tenet, with some other, that in this member was the seat of life and being. But sure I am, Democritus. that in holding Christ the head of our faith, we shall live for ever, since eternal life is in him, says 1 Io● 5. 12. the Apostle. And so much for the first thing requisite in the manner of our fight, which is wisdom. The second follows, and this is strength and courage, for I do not mean here so much the strength of the hand, as that of the heart, when with Richard the first, we have Ceur de Lion, a S●ow ●n Chron. Lion's heart, that will not be daunted: and therefore Socrates being asked what strength was, answered, that it was motus animae cum corpore, for if strength be deficient, alas what shall become of wisdom; it shall be, me thinks, like a child that is come to the birth, but for want of strength, cannot be delivered, as Hezekiah spoke in Isa. 37. 3. another case. For as strength without wisdom is wanting in the noble disposition of warlike stratagems, so also is wisdom without strength failing in the due execution of the same: wisdom indeed may serve to guide, but it is strength and courage that must defend ourselves, and offend our enemies. And therefore David being now ready to leave the world, leaves this to his son Solomon, as his last gift and legacy, Be strong, says he, and of a good courage, . and thou shalt prosper: and surely it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a gift worthy of such a giver. As Iphicrates then had it proclaimed to his soldiers before the undertaking of any hard exploit, If any man have left his heart at h●me, ●et him fling down his colours and be gone. Or as Gideon said, If any man be fearful, let judg. 7. 3. him departed; so say I, if there be any white livered Christian among us, who for a term of disgrace, or a little blast of opposition can be content with Peter to deny his colours of Christianity, abeat, pereat, profundat, perdat; away with such Ter. Heaut. a wretch, but withal let him, without repentance, perish eternally. We read of Christ our Captain, that he could endure the Cross, and despise the shame, to run on Heb. 12. 1. the race that was set before him: And let as many of us, says the same Apostle, as would be perfect, look up to jesus the author and finisher of our faith: consider him who broke through such contradictions of sinners, and by him be encouraged to resist unto blood, striving against sin, as the Apostle speaks, and not to verse 4. deny our innocency to the death. Quid enim desperandum Christo Deuce? for what need we fear, having such a Captain, who for our sakes hath led away captivity 〈…〉 ph. 4 8. captive, as the Apostle speaks, and hath crushed in pieces the very head of the maligning world: for be of good comfort, says our Saviour, I have overcome the world; Et licet atrocitèr loquantur, joh. 16. 33 says Tacitus of Vitellius soldiers, minor est tamen apud victos animus. And an enemy, Hist. li● 3. we know, that is once beaten, though he speak big for a time, yet if he come once to strokes, his courage will then quickly faint and quail. Only let that exhortation of the Apostle take place with us, To lift up our hands that Heb. 1● 1. hang down, and our feeble knees; yea, our hearts also that hang down towards our feet, saying with David, I will not fear though ten thousand of enemies do band Psal 3. 6. So a cow and is described, cuius a 〈…〉 mus in pedious. themselves against me, or with Paul send forth that triumphant challenge, What shall be able to separate me from the love of God in Christ? shall tribulation or anguish? etc. No, I am persuaded Rom. 8. 38 that neither life nor death, no nor any thing else shall ever be able to separate me from the love of God in Christ. And then good luck have we with our honour, as David hath it, Ride on because of the word of truth and meekness, and Ps●. 45. 4. our right hands shall teach us terrible things. The camp of Christ will admit of no weakling, of no dastard; and hence it is that S. Paul in his Panoply speaks of no armour atall for our back parts, Eph. 6. 12. but only for those that are before; to show that he would not have us afraid to look our enemies in the face, but to quit ourselves like men, and be strong: and not 1 Co. vlt. 13 to be like those of Ephraim, who turned their backs in the day of Psa. 78. 10. battle: for, shall such a man as I fly, says Nehemiah, I will never Neh. 6. 11. do it. Indeed I must needs confess, that in our earthly warfare we oft times become strong by making ourselves weak, and overcome our enemies, like the Parthian, by flying from them: But in our spiritual warfare it is not thus Resist the Devil, says S. Peter, and then he will flee from 1 Pet. 5. 9 you: but if we fly from him first, thereby hoping for the greater advantage, then acriùs urget hostis, the enemy will come with the greater violence, because we wrestle not, as they do, against flesh and blood, says Paul, but against Eph. 6. 12. principalities and powers, and spiritual wickednesses in high places; and therefore as they can the better descry our purposes, so will they also prevent our practices, as well knowing whereof we are made, and remembering how we be but dust. But enough for the second requisite in the manner of our fight, and this is strength or courage. The third and last follows, which is constancy and perseverance; and this must strike the battle through, & make up of all the former flowers a complete garland of triumph. For as Christ said to the young Mar. 10. 21 man who professed that he had kept all the commandments from his youth; so say I now to you that have used all those other means from the beginning of your days, unum adhuc superest, there is yet one thing wanting to perfection, and this is constancy in them to the end of your days. For as finis doth movere ad pugnandum, so doth it also post pugnandum exhibere coronam, as it doth provoke us to fight at the first, so also doth it reward us for fight at the last; for no man is crowned, says the Apostle, unless 2 Tim. 1. he strive first: and as we are not crowned unless we strive first, so neither unless we strive last, even to the last period of the battle, finis enim coronat opus, for the end is ever that which crownes the action; so says our Saviour to the Minister of the Church of Smyrna, Be faithful to death, and then will I give thee a crown of life. Reu. 2. 10. And this was the reason why God commanded, that upon the outward skirts and end of Aaron's garments there should be Pomegranates of blue silk and purple, because of all other fruits doth the Ex. 28 33. Pomegranate bear most the resemblance of a crown upon it; so that as David hath it, the oil of grace must run down from our heads, even to our beards; and not rest there neither, until it hath touched the end of the combat, the skirts of our clothing: Psa. 133. 2. and therefore it is lamented by the Prophet touching jerusalem, that her filthiness was in her skirts, and her end was worse than 〈◊〉. 1. 9 her beginning. But if any man turn his hands to the plough, says Christ, and look back again, such a one is not fit for the kingdom of 〈◊〉. 9 60. heaven. Neither shall my soul, says God, have pleasure in him. We must not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, for the word is Heb. 10. 38 used by S. Luke, and signifies properly, to shrink back, as cowardly Luk. 18. 1. soldiers do in war, when there is apparent fear of danger, and so it is noted in the margin of your Edward Bibles. It is but an hypocritical trick to enter into the performance of Sir Francis Bacon. In Charles the 8. his expedition, on which some compare them to a flea, soon skiping into a country, & as soon out Heylen. Hist. Gen 15. 11 good duties, as a stranger doth into an Inn, or as the French did sometimes into Italy, as one said of them wittily, only to chalk up their lodgings and be gone; But a true Christian Soldier, he will always deal with his spiritual enemies, as Abraham did with the fowls that lighted upon his sacrifice, never leave driving them away until the evening: he will wrestle with them as earnestly as ever jacob did with the Angel, Gen. 32. 22 even till the day of salvation break, and the shadows of the night flee away: Which if we do, then shall we be truly called, as our father was before us, The Israel of God, because we have fought with our enemies, and prevailed. There now wants nothing but Paul's desire, and then may the Phil. 1. 23 Cupio dissolui, etc. Isa. 40. 1. company be dissolved, and be with Christ. Then speak comfortably to jerusalem, saith the Prophet Isaiah in the person of God, and tell her that her warfare is accomplished: For now shall our righteousness go before us, as the same Isa. 58. 8. Prophet speaks in another place, and the glory of God shall be our reward. In a word, now shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: We have fought a good fight, we have fulfilled our course, we 2. Tim. 4. 8. have run our race, we have continued in the faith, hence forth therefore is laid up for us a Crown of righteousness. Which God give us, for jesus Christ our only Lord and Saviour. FINIS: