Imprimatur, July 28. 1643.  
This is licenced, and entered into the Register of the Company of Stationers, according to Order.   

Rex meus est Deus. OR, A SERMON Preached at the Common Place in CHRISTS-CHURCH in the City of Norwich. By G. D. Scatter thou the People that delight in war. Psal. 68 30.  
EX IGNE resurgit virtus  
LONDON. Printed in the year. 1643.   

CIVITATI LONDINENSI Salutem et quietem a jesv CHRISTO humiliter precatur  
G. D.   

Rex meus est Deus OR A SERMON Preached at the Common Place in Christchurch, in the City of Norwich.  Gen. 4. 7. If thou do well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou dost not well, sin lieth at the door, and unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. 
AS there was never any history in the world, comparable to the books of Moses, either for antiquity of time, or for latitude of extent, or for variety of matters most memorable, and none of Moses his works for all respects like this of Gen●sis: so neither is there any particular passage of this book more memorable than the relation of Cains patricide: wherein we have a man killing a man, 
Gen 4. 8.  a bad man a good man, a brother slaying a brother, an elder brother a younger brother, hatred and envy moving action in the one, v●rtue and goodness occasioning passion in the other One of the first riddles that ever was made; the first man that ever was born, 
〈◊〉. 17. 10  killed the first man that ever died.  
Which God foreseeing, who is {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, the only searcher and knower of men's hearts, 
Leo.  Cui pervium omne solidum, apertum omne secretum cui obscura ●larant, muta r●spondent, as Leo wittily. To whom every solid thing is pervious & transparent, every secret thing open and manifest, to whom dark things shine bright, dumb● things speak loud, from whom nothing c●n b● hidden or concealed. I say t●is omniscient power perceiving the malicious intentions of this malevolous wretch against his innocent brother, doth in the words of my text labour to prevent it by dissuading him from committing so horrible a sin by these three arguments,  
The first is argumentum ab utili, 
The text divided.  a reason drawn from profit and comfort in well doing: nonne si bone egeris remissi? If thou ●o well, shalt thou n●t ●e acc●pted? The second is Argumen●um ab iwtili, an argument taken from the unprofitableness of the contrary, doing not well, sicerò non ben eg●r●s, prae foribus est peccatum exe●bans, and if thou dost not well sin lieth at the door. Lastly, here is Argumentum ab●aequo et bono, a reason drawn from right and equity, at ●rga te est appetitus illius, & tu●raees illi And unto these shall be, &c. And these are the measures of your patience and of this time, of them in order, and first of the first argument, 
● Argument.  which is taken from the comfort and profit that ariseth from well d●ing, si be ●egeris if thou do well, shalt not thou be accepted?  
In i● there are two things co●siderabl●: 
The first argument subdivided.  a work and a reward. The work supposed, if thou do well; the reward promised, shalt thou not be accepted? the question putting ●t out of question: of these first jointly and by themselves, and afterwards as they are put together, where I will thew you, how our doing well makes us to be accepted: The first I divide again into these three particulars. First, the work or duty itself, do. 2▪ the manner of performing it well. 3 the person admonished to perform it, Cain, shadowed under the pronoun primitive Thou: first of the work or duty itself, 
do.  do.  
By which is understood the conformity of our whole carriage unto ●ods wi●l revealed in his law: not that we can perform obedience to the Law legally, that is, in that perfection which the law requireth, for in many things we off●nd all, 
James 3. ●.  saith the Apostle: but when I speak of doing the will of God, I mean, that we should conform our sel●es and all our actions according to the rule of the Law, after ●n evangellical manner, that is, we must desire, resolve, and endeavour to perform unto it as perfect obedience as we can: and this doing of the word and fulfilling of the law, almighty God accepteth for his son's sake, who hath in all points and parts perfectly fulfilled the law for all those that believe. 
Without doing, no salvation.  But without this doing of the will of God, there can be no salvation, for as the law saith, 
Luke 11. 28.  do this and live; so Christ in the Gospel pronou●ceth them only blessed that so do: 
Acts 9 6.  therefore this was Saint Paul's first query, 
Acts 16 30.  Lord what wilt thou have me to do? and likewise the poor gaoler, Sirs, what shall I do to be saved?  
Which condemneth the carnal gospelers of these times, 
Solifidians condemned.  that are all for faith, and nothing for works, that believe they shall be saved as soon as the best, 
Iam, 2. 18.  but they have nothing to show for it; but this showing the Apostle will have, 
Matth. 1●. 3●.  Iam. 2. 18. show me thy faith by thy works, for the tree is known by its fruit. Know ye therefore, O ye careless ●●●●ration, you scandalisers of religi●n, you enemies of grace, that faith is operative, working by love; it is not if thou believest well, but if thou dost well, that shall rend●r thee acce●ted before God: for what is the ●ody without the soul, but a dead carcase? such is thy faith without works, according to Saint ●ames; 
James 2. 26.  as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also, 
Revel. 3. 1.  therefore for all your boastings, I may say of you, as he angel said of the Church i●Sard●s, that you have a name that you live, but indeed you are dead.  
Again, 
Idle talkers of religion branded.  if thou do well. This pusheth sore at all ou● idle talkers ●f religion, whither they be those of the clergy, that preach the will of God, but do it not, (like Noah's carpenters building houses for other men, & per●shing themselves,) or whither they be the common-tatlers of the times, 
2 Timothy 3 6.  that go from house to house, prating of religion a great deal more than their sha●e, whose works if you look into, you will take them for Atheists, rather than for Christians: these in stead of making godliness a great gain, according to the Apostle, make a great gain of godliness: 
1 Timothy 6. 6.  
1 Timothy 4. 8.  the first of these (if they be Christ's true disciples) are taught by their Master's example, 
Acts 1. 1.  first to do, and then to tea●h Act. 1. 1 and the latter may be admonished by his sharp rebuke.  
Matth. 
Matth. 12. 34.  12. 34. O generation of vipers, how can ye being evil, speak good things? 
Genesis 27. 12.  how is it that I hear Jacobs' voice, but feel Esau's hands?  
Once more, 
vain hair is conv●nced,  if thou do well, shalt not thou be accepted? what have most of our forward hearers to do with this? who of men and women are become monsters, having all ears but no hands, as if religion were to go no further with them, then aurium tenus, up to the ears: But what saith Saint James (if Apostles may be credited in these days) Be ye doers of the word, 
James 1. 22.  and not hearers only deceiving your own souls: where he doth not condemn hearing, no more do I: but I would have doing besides, 
●. well. James 4 3.  and so would he.  
But as we may ask, and go without, because we ask amiss, so we may do, and not be accepted, because we do amiss therefore my next suit to you is, that you do so, that you may be accepted, that is well; if thou do well, saith God: for he that doth well is of God, saith Saint John in his epistle to his beloved Gaius, 
John 11.  verse 11.  
The Lord here intimates unto Cain, that his own evil doing, and not God's evil judging, is the cause of his rejection: for howsoever he seemed to walk in eq●ipage with his brother, and to offer as devout a sacrifice as he, yet was there something amiss in it, which God (the searcher of the hearts) did see, and therefore did reject him. It was bonis specie, but malum inte●tione, good in apparition, but bad in intention; and God is wont to love adverbs ●etter than adjectives; non refert quam bonum s●d quam bene; he regards not how good the work be, when it is done; 
Three things required to the doing of a work well.  but how well it is performed while it is a doing. Therefore that a work may be done well, there are three things required, first, {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} conformity to the law of God, which is the rule of righteousness, to which every good work, both for matter and manner must accord: 
Bucan. come. loc. de bonis oper●bus. page 331.  {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} and {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} sin and deflection from God's law, 
1 John 31 4.  are terms convertible, so that whatsoever is sin, erreth from the law, and whatsoever strayeth from the law is sin, therefore that a work may be well done, it is required that it do accord with the Law.  
Secondly, fides, faith in the doer, by which his person may please God in Christ, and the word be accepted for the persons sake: for it is otherwise between God and man, than it is between man and man; with us the person is accepted for his gifts, be he black as Vulcan, or deformed as Thersites.  Ditia si attuleris must ra gratus cris. 
Bring a good present in thy hand, and welcome; but it is not so with God, but clean contrary; for he accepts of the gift for the giver, and reckons the work good, because a good man doth it: he first makes the tree good, 
Gregor  and then its fruit; as St. Gregory very clearly, 
Gen. 4. 5.  Deus gratum non hab●t offerent●m propter munus, sed munus propter offerentem▪ thus verse 4. it is said unto Ab●l, and to his ●ffering God gave respect: first unto Abel, then unto his offering, first loving the man in Christ, and then regarding the work for the man. This excellent comfort faith brings with it, that when it hath joined us to Christ, all our deeds are well thought off, 
Rom 14. 23.  but where faith is not, there can nothing be accepted, 
St. Aug. in Psal. 31.  for whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Laudo fructum bo●i operis, sed in fide agnosco radicem, saith St. Augustin, I commend the fruit of a good work, but I account faith to be the root from whence that goodness springs. 
St. Bernard super Cant. ser. 〈◊〉.   
Faith, saith Saint Bernard, is the vine, virtues the branches, good works the cluster of grapes, devotion the wine; to conclude, nec palms fine vite, nec virtus sine fide; the branch cannot subsist without the vine to bear it, nor a virtuous action without faith to breed it.  
Finally there is r●quired, Respectus ad Deum; a good intention and respect to God: for the Pharisee may giv● alms to the poor, and Cain may offer sacrifice to the Lord, and yet both justly rejected, if they propound wrong ends unto their actions, 
St. Aug. cont. Iul. Pelag. lib. 4,  seeking rather to magnify themselves, then to glorify God: This is that, that Saint Augustine tells the Pelagians, non artibus, sed finibus pensantur officia: good works are not to be poised by the art in the well contriving of them, 
Bucanus de bo●is operibus. page 332.  but by the ends for which they were contrived: so Bucanus, non tam artibus quam finibus virtut savi●●is sunt d●sc●rnendae.  
It is not the action, but the end of the action that must distinguish vice from virtue So then whilst Cain facrificed to the true God an offering for substance and matter allowable, yet wanting faith in Christ to give the action a good beginning, and respect to God to direct it to a right end, he did not well and consequently he and his offering justly were rejected.  
Away then with heretical Pelagi●n ●sme, 
Heathen works condemned.  that calls heathen virtues, good works, that thinks Aristides shall be saved for his justice, Xenocrates for his temperance, Fabricius for his abstinence, Socrates for his patience, and so Cain for his sacrifice. And hark how in exclamation they cry out against us. 
Julian. Pelag: a●pud A●g contra Iul. lib. 4.  How is it possible, ut erunt in damnatione sempiterna, in quibus erat vera justitia? that they should be in eternal condemnation, whose works did seem to merit eternal commendation? But we reply with Saint Augustine, quis hac sapiat, nisi desipiat, who will think that such works be good, but he that hath not the wit to think as he should, or he that with Epicurus accounts virtues, but voluptatis a●cillas, servants to attend upon vain pleasure.  
Hear Saint Bernard to Cain, 
Bernard super Cap, ser. 24 〈◊〉  Bene hon●ras deum munere fatido? been placas fidei interfector? dost thou think to honour God well with a stinking oblation, that wants the salt of true faith to season it? And such & no better are all heathen works.  
Yet will not my charity suffer me to give all heathens for damned: 
All heathens not damned.  for I know that God is righteous in all his ways, 
psalm 145. 17.  & that he loveth righteousness; I have heard it also said, 
psalm 〈…〉.  that he reapeth not where he hath not sown & gathereth not, 
Matthew 25. 26,  where he hath not strawed; but requireth of very man according to the talon which he hath given him, 
Genesis 18. 25  more where he hath given more, less where he hath given less, therefore if any of them shall make the best use of their talon, & improve it (according to their power) to the best advantage, 
Isaiah 42. 3.  why may not I think that God (who hath promised that he will not break a brui●ed reed nor quench a smoking flax) will multiply & increase their gifts, according to his promise, 
Matthew 25. 29.  Habenti dabitur, to him that hath; it shall be given & he shall have abundance: & may infuse into them so much knowledge of the Deity in general, & of Christ the second person in particular as may save their souls?  
Away also with Semipelagian Papism, 
Meritorious works condemned.  that c●lls unr●generate actions meritorious deeds; that imagines goodness is showed, & grace purchased Ex op●●e operato; 
Rhemist. annot. in Acts 22. 16,  A term more monstrous in the sense, then bar●arous in the words for what Papist of them all can for outward respects do a better work than Cains? who yet neither showed virtue to God nor merited reward unto himself.  
●ittifull to think how many famous & worthy works they have spoiled in their People by their false doctrine; either erecting them upon false grounds, or directing them unto false ends.  
For when I read (in Bede and others) of so many Churches built, 
Bed. Histor, Gent Aug.  hospitals edified, monasteries erected schools founded, colleges endowed, &c. I cannot sufficiently admire our ancestors devotion: but when I go further and find that these works were done, in remea●um ani ae●●n remissionem peccatorum, i● honorem divae virgins ad promerend●m De●m, &c. for their soul's health, for remission of their sins in honour of our Lady, and to merit heaven, I cannot but lament their teachers ignorance, 
Hypocrites and profane persons condemned.  and do often wish that they had some of our science, we more of their conscience, they our knowledge, we their devotion.  
Finally, 
Bonavent.  away with each hypocrite and profane person: The hypocrite vult bonus esse inordi●ate, he desires to be good without the order, outwardly acting some laudable deed, inwardly respecting some detestable end: and the profane person would have fain have well at death, but he is not willing to do well in life, he is angry at his punishment, but delighteth in his sin. Let both these learn of John the Baptist, 
John 5. 35.  of whom our Saviour saith, that he was Lucerna ardens or lucens, a burning and a shining light. Wicked men do but one of these. The hypocrite will not care much to gliste (like a glowworm) with the false fire of holiness, he is content to shine, but he will not burn with the true zeal of piety and the profane person will not grudge to burn with Balaam, 
Numbers 2●. 10  with the love of heaven, o that he may die the death of the righteous! Yes by all means, but he will not shine with the light of virtue in his life, that men seeing his good works may glorify God: 
Bern. de ser, de Ioh. Baptist.  at lucere parum, ardere vanum, lucere et a●d re perfectum; to shine only is in vain without profit, to burn only is in vain, to no purpose, but to shine and to burn too is perfect.  
Would we then be perfect? let us burn with the true love of God, sacrificing to him what Cain kept to himself, 
Psal. 36. 8.  that is, our hearts, he will cool us, cum potabit é torrente voluptatis: when he shall drench us in the river of his pleasure, let us also shine with the light of grace, so will God add more lustre to us, by making us shine in the light of glory.  
And 〈◊〉 much shall suffice to have spoken of the work, do, with the manner of performing it, 
3.  well: we come now to the person, upon whom it was urged, 
Thou.  Cain, shadowed under the pronoun, thou: If thou dowel. 
Grace offered unto all men.  Thou that hast offered me sacrifice with an hypocritical and deceitful heart; thou that hast conceived against me unjust anger in thy breast, thou that repinest at thy brother's integrity, thou that harbourest in thy heart a bloody resolution to slay the innocent without a cause, and he thy brother, there being but one man more in the world; and he thy father, 
Luke 19 42.  thou that art guilty of all this wickedness, yet, if thou do well, shalt thou not be accepted? A like place to this we have in the 19th of Saint Luke's gospel; where our Saviour Christ coming near he City of Jerusalem, weeping over it, said, If thou hadst known, even thou at least in this thy day the things which belong unto thy p●ace: 
Acts 7. 51▪  thou that hast always been a stiffnecked and rebellious people; thou that killest my Prophets, 
Matthew 23. 37.  and stonest them that are sent unto thee; thou that hast drawn iniquity with cords of vanity, 
Isai. 5. 18.  and sin as it were with a cart-rope, yet, if thou hadst known, even thou.  
How free is the Lord in the dispensation of his grace 〈◊〉 there is no man so abominably wicked, to whom he doth not proffer it: if hypocritical, envious, bloodthirsty Cain will at last do well, he shall be accepted: herein God shows himself to be a God of mercy and compassion, not desiring the death of a sinner, but rather that he turn from his wickedness and live. 
Ezek, 18. 23. 32,  witness those passionate wishes that we hear in scripture coming from him, oh that there were such a heart in them to fear me, 
Deut, 5, 29,  
Isaiah 5. 3,  that it might go well with them! Deut. 5. 29. Witness his mournful exp●stulations, as Esaiah 5. 3. judge I pray you between me and my vineyard, what could I have done more for my vineyard? and turn ye, 
Ezek. 33, 11.  turn ye, why will you die, oh house of Israel? Ezek. 33. 11. witness his melting commiserations of the lamentable condition of foolish men that will not be reclaimed. Oh Jerusal●m, Jerusalem! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, 
Matthew 23. 37,  and you would not? Matthew 23. 37. But now that men will not apprehend the doctrine of salvation, nor accept of grace thus freely offered them, but will go to hell after all this, debemus nos i●orum vitio, non Christi gratia adscribere, we ought to lay the blame upon them, and not upon the grace of Christ. The rain falls upon the stony rocks, as well as upon the fruitful soil, but doth i● pr●duce the same effect from both? No: for the soil is made fruitful, 
Isaiah 55, 10.  but the rocks remain hard and barren as before, is the fault then in the rain? no: but in the rocks, which because of their flinty hardness will not be mollified and made fruitful, God in like manner raineth down the showers of his ordinances upon the wicked as well as upon the righteous, 
Isaiah 27. 3.  the means of salvation are held out to all, if thou, or thou, or any thou in the world, wilt do will, thou shalt be accepted. But the same effect is not produced from all, for some do lay hold upon grace thus freely offered, others again stand out, rebel and will not yield. The believer and unbelieve are like wax and clay before the fire, 
Ier. 5. 2.  the same heat which mollifies the one, hardens the other.  
Let not men therefore cavil at Christ's intention and Go●s election, 
Ezek, 18. 25.  but let them look into their own hearts, and they will tell them, that they are rebels, and live in profane and wicked courses, in neglect of all holy duties, they carry their own sentence, and cause of their damnation in their own breasts. As for God's secret purpose in electing some and rejecting others, it is hid from the world, and therefore that cannot be the rule of our obedience; but look to God's revealed will, look to what is commanded thee in his word, and if thy conscience tell thee that thou hast not accepted of grace being offered thee, nor yielded that obedience unto God that thou oughtest and mightest, hereupon comes thy condemnation to be just and right.  
And so I pass from the work supposed, 
Th●● ward pro●●  If thou do w●l; to the reward promised, 
Pareus is loc.  shalt thou not be accepted? the interrogative put for the affirmative. It is well observed by Pareus upon the place, that the word here translated, acc●pted, which is {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} a verbo {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} among other things, signifies to lift up; and so is also turned by some actively, erit tibi elevare, if thou do well, thou needest not go hanging down thy head like a condemned man, but thou Mayest be able to lift up thy countenance in sincerity of conscience as well as thy brother. Of some again passively, erit tibi ●l. vari, if thou do well, thou shalt be promoted and advanced with the blessings of earth i● this life, and with the crown of blessedness when this life is ended. If you join them both together, 
welldoing hath a double acceptance.  you shall find that well-doing hath a double acceptance: the gratulation of conscience within ourselves, and the gratuity of blessedness from almighty God.  
Concerning the first; comfort of conscience is no small reward unto a righteous man, 
1. The comfort of a good conscience.  many men reckon it enough, and solely rest therein. Virtus in seipsâ mercedem habet; a good work carries her reward with her, even the testimony and congratulation of a good conscience: which is a precious jewel, a hidden treasure, our heaven upon earth, our chiefest glory until we come to the kingdom of glory, according to Saint Paul: 
2 Cor. 1. 12,  this is our glory even the testimony of our conscience. Inaestimabile bonum est testimonium bonae & insontis conscienti●…, 
Muscul.  the testimony of a good conscience is an inestimable good thing, 
Est titulus religionis, templum Solomonis, agee benedictionis, hortus delicia●●● aureum reclinatorum, gaudium Angelorum, arca faederis, thesaurus Regis, aula Del, habitaculum Spitus Sancti.  without which no man can be truly merry, and with which no man certainly sad: for what can cast a man down, if conscience be upright? or what can raise a man up, if conscience once deject him? what made Belshazar fall into his melancholy dumps in the midst of his cups and boon companions? why, nothing but an evil conscience is a continual fiend to haunt him? and what made Saint Paul sing psalms at midnight in prison, but a good conscience, a continual feast to cheer him? Finally, 
Hug. lib. 3. de ant. cap. 11. Dan. 5. 6. Act. 16. 25. Prov. 15. 15. Luke 16. 23. 1 Sam. 17, 50. Acts 12. 23.  I demand with a Father, what thou accountest in this life pleasant and comfortable? Mensanè deliciosa? a table furnished with continual delicates? Dives had this, and yet was turned into hell. Bona valetudo corporis? Is it strength and soundness of body? Goliath had this, and yet knocked down with a pebble stone. Ingens gloria? Great magnificence and glory? Herod had this, and yet was eaten up of lice. Divitiarum ●●pia? abundance of wealth and riches? The glutton had this, and foolishly lost his soul. 
Luke 12. 20.  What then? he concludes, nihil aliud jucundum est, quam conscientia proba, et res futurorum certa: nothing, nothing truly comfortable in this world, but a good conscience within ourselves, and a strong confidence in the God of heaven. Had 〈◊〉 at the time of his oblation, but known the benefit of a good conscience, which was in Abel before he suffered his martyrdom, and the wound● of an evil conscience, which were fallen upon himself after he had committed his murder, he would have laboured more earnestly to do well in action, that he might more joyfully have sped well in acceptation.  
And such would be the desire of all men, 
Ber●●an lib. de co●scient.  were conscience valued at his true dignity and worth, excellently Saint Bernard, unicuique est liber propria c●nscientia, & ad hunc librum discutiendum & 'em▪ ●dandum omnes alij inventi sunt; every man's conscience is a book, and to clear and refine this book, all other books are invented and found out. All our reading to ourselves, 
Id.  all our preaching to you, all your and our hearing is jointly for one end, ne dissideat unu quisque a seipso: that no man should be at odds with his own soul. The benefit and comfort whereof were it sufficiently known to many men, and earnestly loved of all men, the shopkeeper would not by making short measure unto others, 
Micah 6. 10, 11.  make himself fall short of heaven; the lawyer would not plead so long against the truth, 
Luke 〈…〉. Isaiah 3. 15. Lev.  till his own conscience pleaded against himself: the extortioner would not grind the face of the poor, till faenus pecu●iae, proves funus animae, his moneys birth, his soul●s death. The Bankrupt would not so often compound with his creditors, till the devil without compounding carries away his soul: finally the whoring drunkard, the roaring swaggerer, and the raving blasphemer, would not dance themselves in jollity into hell as they do, if they were but persuaded that a good conscience were but worth half so much as it is.  
again besides gratulation of conscience, well-doing gets acceptation from God, 
Good works rewarded.  and so it purchaseth reward without, as well as partaketh of comfort within▪ Indeed it hath ever been the devil's policy to make men believe it is in vain to serve God: 
Iob. 21. 15,  in I●b. 21. 15. the wicked will needs make it a question, what profit they should have, if they should serve God?  
A base demand, seeing as one observes, every good man knows, etiam submotâ mercedem, virtuten ips● coronam, ac ornamentum esse; that virtue carrieth her reward in her bosom, and cannot want the comfort that is due unto her: she is both the work and the reward herself: yea, and that in this present life. God's children want not comforta●le blessings, which are (as it were) the first fruits of their full inheritance: 
psalm 37. 25.  God being gracious unto them, dum per res parvas, et in aspectum cadentes majoribus invisibilibusque fidem astruit: whilst by outward things he strengthens their faith for greater and more glorious matters. And they content themselves with his good pleasure, 
Romans 8. 32.  and depend upon him without distrust saying one to another with Saint Paul Rom. 8. 32 He that loved not his own: Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? and to their own souls with Origen, quid de op●bus dubitas, qui herum habes? what dost thou doubt of the inheritance, 
Origen, in Pom. 8,  when thou hast the heir himself bestowed upon thee?  
Yet herein they are discreet too, 
Isidor. Pelus. lib. 1. epist. 4.  for they have learned with Pelusiota, that combatings appertain to this world, comfortings to the other world, here crosses, there crownes. Such is God's wisdom that generally he hath proportioned the work for earth, the wages for heaven: and yet such is his goodness too, 
Sr. Aug. de civit. Dei lib 2, cap. 8.  that here also many go not unrewarded. For saith Augustine, if God should reward no good man in this life it would be thought, these temporal lessings did either belong to God for to give, or to good men to receive: and again, if he should reward every good servant with these outward things, they would be thought the only good, and men would serve him for earthly commodities: and so, non pios nos f●e rei talis servitus, 
S. Aug. ut 〈◊〉  sed cupia●s et avaros, the practice of religion would not make us truly pious, but wickedly covetous, and every man in the world would turn servant unto God, that God might make the wo●ld serve every man's turn.  
Wherefore he takes an excellent course, rewarding some only in Heaven, some both in heaven and in earth, but every man suffic●e●tly, & ultra condignum, beyond all dese●t. His blessings are infinite, some of his children have all of them, but all of his children have some of them, as maketh most for the glory of his name, and the glorification of their souls.  
Why then do we lose by idleness, 
Job 22, 21.  what we might gain by godliness? mark what counsel Eliphaz gives to Job ch. p. 22. ●1. acquaint thyself with God, 
verse 26.  and be a peace, thereby good shall come unto thee▪ Good to thy soul, verse 26. Thou shalt have thy delight in the Almighty, 
verse 29.  and shalt lift up thy face to God. Good to thy body, verse 29 When other men are cast down, thou shalt say, 
verse 24.  I am lift up. Good to thy estate, verse 24: Thou shalt lay up gold as the dust, and the gold of Ophir, as the stones. Let no man be discouraged, 
psalm 58. 〈◊〉.  for verily there is a reward for the righteous, doubtless there is a God that judgeth the earth.  
O then let us all be doing out of hand: art thou a rich man? then be doing, 
St August.  erogae pecuniam et accipccalum: give thy money to the poor, and thou shalt find treasure in heaven. Art thou a magistrate? then be doing, 
Luke 18, 22.  exerce justitiam, ut obtineas misericordiam, do justice to all men, that thou Mayest find mercy to thyself. Art thou a minister? then be doing: sparge sermonem, ut metas vitam. S●w the seed of the word, that thou Mayest reap the harvest of life. And to conclude, who ever we be, let us imitate Abraham, who willingly forsook his earthly country for a City, 
Heb. 11. 10.  whose builder and maker is God. Heb. 11. 10:  
Let us imitate Moses, who left the Court of Egypt, for the Court of Heaven: 
Hebrews 11. 26.  Heb. 11. 26. Let us imitate Christ, who for the glory that was set before him, 
Hebrew. 12. ●.  endured the cross, and despise the shame. Heb. 12. 2. And so I end this point with Saint Paul: 
1 Cor, 15. 58.  1. Cor. 15. 58. Therefore my dear brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. If thou do well, shlat not thou be accepted?  
And so you have the work and the reward severally, now take them both together, 
How good works make us to become accepted.  and see how our doing well makes us to become accepted, which I will unfold in a word: good works do wonderfully please almighty God, and are rewarded by him with the choicest blessings of this life, and with the crown of blessedness when this life is ended; 
Cal. Iust. lib. 3. cap. 15. sect. 3.  non quia ita merentur, sed quia divina benignitas hoc illis ex seipsa pratium statuit: as Calvin, not because they deserve these rewards, but because the goodness of God hath of itself appointed these rewards unto them. 
Merit condemned.  As for the word merit, it is irksome in the ears of every humble minded man.  
For if we be not able to think a good thought as of ourselves (as the Apostle avoucheth) then how can we do good deeds, 
2 Cor. 3. 5.  and merit by them? 
Genesis 6. 5.  And for the works that we do perform (alas) they cannot merit, because, though they be good in their own nature, yet they sail in some necessary circumstance that is required, as when we do them not after that manner, or with that mind, or to that end, that the law requireth.  
But say we could do, bonum bene, good works well, yet how few are they in number in respect of our evil works? and can we hope that some few good works can make satisfaction for so many evil works that we have done, and compensation for so many good works that we have left undone?  
Besides what congruity is there between grace and merit, that works should merit through grace? gratia non est ulla mod●, si 〈◊〉 ●it gratuita omni mode, 
St. Aug. ep. 106. ad Bon.  saith Saint Augustine, it is not grace any way, if it be not gratis every way: 
Romans 11. 16. Cum deus coronat merita nostra nihil aliud coronat quam dona sua. St Aug. epist-105. ad Sextum praesb Luke 17. 10.  so the Apostle reasoneth, Rom. 11. 6. if it be by grace, than it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace; but if it be of works, than it is no more of grace, otherwise work is no more work. But why should we not as well dread the punishments we have deserved by our evil deeds, as well as look for a reward for our good deeds? especially considering that our perfection is but imperfection, and that when we have done all that we can, we are but unprofitable servants; 
1 Cor. 2. 9  and the reward which God out of his free grace is willing to bestow upon us, is so great, as the eye hath not seen, nor the care heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive; 
Romans 8, 18.  
2 Cor. 4. 17.  and who knows not the analogy of merit and reward, that the one must not exceed the other?  
But yet as I would not have you Nullifidians, boasting of your wor●s without true faith, so neither would I have you Solifidians or carnal gospelers, making brags of your faith, having no works to show for't: for though we cannot be saved by them, 
Phil. 2. 5.  as the meritorious cause, yet can we not be saved without them, 
Whereby we are justified, and shall be saved.  they being the necessary effects of our faith. Would we then all be saved? let us all to work, and that betimes too, for, paenitentia sera rarò vera: late repentance will be repented oft: and having once well begun, let us with Abraham continue our sacrifice of well doing to the evening of our days, that so having been faith to the death, 
Reve. 2. ●  we may receive the crown of life: for it is not if thou wilt do well hereafter, nor if thou hast done well heretofore, but if thou do well, if thou hast begun to do well already, and if thou resolvest to do well to the end.  
If thou do well, 
2 Argument,  shalt thou not be accepted? That's the first argument. The second follows, which is argumentum ab inutili, a r●ason drawn from the unprofitableness of the contrary doing not well. And if thou dost not well, sin lieth at the door. That is, thy not doing well attaints thee with sin, and thy guilt of sin attaches thee with punishment.  
Herein two things likewise are considerable, 
Two things considerable.  a supposition and a position: the supposition, if thou dost not well: the position, sin lieth at the door.  
Concerning the first, God intimates unto Cain, (as Parcus notes upon the place) that inter justitiam & peccatum non datur medium, 
Parcus ad. lo●▪  between righteousness and sin there is no middle thing, but whatsoever is well done, is righteous, and whatsoever is not well done, is unrighteous. there is no indifferency at all between them. He that is 〈◊〉 with me, 
Matth. 12. 30.  is against me, (saith Christ) and he that gathereth not together, scattereth abroad: There be two main opposites, God and the devil: two contrary places of reward, heaven and h●ll: two ways to come thither, the broad way and the narrow way; two distinctions of men's actions, 
St, Hierom.  good and bad: and as Saint J●rome said of the broad any narrow way: Omne quod loquimur, omne quod agimus, aut de latâ, as● de angustâ utâ est: all that we say, and all that we do, looks upon one or tother; so it is true of the quality of men's actions, they all favour of God or of the devil, they all tend ●ither to heave● or hell, and are all for ment and worth to be repu●ed well done, or ill done.  
Bellarmine's mincing of sins, to be Non contra legem, but Pr●ter legem, cannot prove either that that which is not well done, should be accounted a good action, or that that which is an evil action, should deserve no punishment. Take we heed then by all means of linsey-wolsey actions, of works part good part bad, of obedience by halves; for God is a jealous God, he will have all the action for himse●fe and all the affection to himself: he reckons every thing bad, that errs in su●stance, and he accounts nothing good, tha● fails in circumstance; only his goodness will pardon the infirmity of our flesh, if our wills endeavour conformity to his spirit. Again●, by this saying▪ If thou do well; God gives us some insight into sin, and the nature of it: It is not a thing positive, but privative, not the substance of any thing present, 
St. August. de B●at. To. 1.  but the privation of a duty absent: Cain did ill because he did n●t well. Nequitia is ne quicquam, saith Saint Augustine, and nought and nought are both one. Adultery the privation of chastity, drunkenness the absence of sobriety, covetousness the nothing of liberality; all evil the want of good. Had Cain come with an honest heart, and an upright hand, he had done well; these were absent, he did ill, so his sacrifice was nought, his obedience nought.  
Beware th●refore my beloved, of all things beware of sin: there is no undoing of ourselves, to the not doing of our duties: if we do well, we are sure to be somewhat, but sin brings us from all things to nothing, and undoes us in punishment, 
Et vincit essentia nihillum.  who left virtue undone in practice: Manifestum est, quia peccatum nihil est, et nihil fiunt homines cum peccant It is clear (saith he again) sin is a nothing, 
St●● 〈◊〉 de vera relig, cap. 12.  and such as commit sin, 
Id. in Ioh. Tract. 1  bring themselves to nothing, they that make nothing of sin, sin shall make nothing of them. Wherefore I beseech you, as we desire a being, let us ache heed of being sinners, there is no well being, but with God; nor no well-doing but in the will of God: God is Eu● entium, the best being himself, and to be like God, is the best being for man: do well then, and be all this, but do not well, and thou art undone for ever. For, if thou dost not well; sin lieth at the door: that's the Position, following the Supposition, Peccatum prae foribus, sin lieth at the door.  
I find it three ways expounded, 
1 Lyra ad loc.  first, saith Lyra, no● erit occultum, sed mox patebit scelus tuum; if thou do not well, thy wickedness is presently found out by God, it can no more be hid from his eyes, than that which is thrown out of doors, can be concealed from the eyes of men. And herein is Cain stung to the heart, for he might suppose, that all his livour and ill meaning to his brother; all his choler and ill mind towards God, might be palliated with some other outward work of religion, with another opus operatum, a second sacrifice or so: but God detects him in his lewd thoughts, and tells him there is no starting from him. 
Ezek. 8. 9  He that found out the idolatry of a stone wall, Ezek. 8. 9 can find out also the conspiracy of a stony heart, whatsoever hath been spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light, and whatsoever hath been whispered in the ear in secret, shall be preached upon the house top openly; not a deed, not a word, not a thought that shall escape the all-seeing eye of God. 
psalm 147. 4.  For he that calleth the stars by their names, he that telleth all our steps; 
Job 14. 16.  he that counteth the sparrows, and reckons the hairs upon our heads, 
Matth. 10. 29, 30.  he that pntteth all our tears into his bottle, he that knoweth the cattle upon 1000 
psalm 56. 8.  hills, he that writeth all our members in a book, 
psalm 50. 16.  long before we were borne, nothing can be done so secretly, but he will bring it to light, 
psalm 230, 16.  for he is like the Sun, whose going forth is from the end of the heaven, 
psalm 19 6.  and his circuit unto the ends of it, and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.  
How t●ue this is, 
Saint Bernard.  Nonnullos d●●uere non verba, sed verbera, it is Saint Bernard's phrase in another case, some men have learned, not from the ministers word, but from the magistrates sword: what strange conspiracies have been hatched against our State and kingdom? even subter viscera terra, as low as hell itself, and yet have flown out of doors, and lie like the Levites wife, 
Iud. 19 27.  dead upon the threshold, brought to their end, before their end; and seen of all men before they were felt of any. Thus the sinner meets with Jeremiah's saws, 
Ier. 2. 19  Ier●m. 2. 19 Thine own wickedness shalt correct thee, 
Numbers 32, 33.  and his conscience for ever after checks him as Moses doth the Rubenites, Numbers 32. be sure that your sin will find you out. For if thou dost not well, Peccatum pra foribus, Sin 〈◊〉, &c.  
Secondly, Pe●catum pra foribus, Si●●● lieth at the door, that is, 〈◊〉 fits in the Conscience, and there judgeth and condemneth the m●●●factour: for this is the property of sin, Con●utere illum apud quem fuerit, to beat upon the heart of him that hatcheth it; as it did to David, whose heart smotehim, after he had numbered the people. When the sin hears iniquity reproved, his Conscience is read●● to tell him, 
2 Sam. 24, 10  Tu es h●mo● when he hears judgement denounced, his Conscience makes him with F. lix to tremble. 
2 Sam. 12. 7.  Obst●p●it 〈◊〉 amisso nomine, 
Acts 24, 25. Arator,  saith Arator: Felix lost his felicity when he lo●t his innocency, he grew contrary to his name, when his Conscience was different in itself. Sin hath many vengeances, but 
— Prima est hac uli●o quod so  
Iudice, 
Iuven. Sat.  nemo nocens absolvitur.  This is the first, that no man escapes the darts of an angry Conscience: Yea, 
Menander.  {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, saith Menander. Conscience is a God, and keeps his Domesticum Tribuna; within us, and impossible it is to escape his censure, 
Gerard. Med.  since the plaintiff, the Judge, the witness, the prison, the punishment, the Executioner is all one.  
This is that {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, 
S. Chrysostom Gerard. Med.  as Saint Chrysostom●, calls it, that incorrupted Judge, qui nec flecti potest precibus nec corrumpi 〈◊〉; as Gerhard; who will neither be won by entreaties, nor corrupted with gifts: This is that Insepulta, sepu●tura, a Grave ever open, he that stumbleth at it, 
L●ctanti us Insti. 6, 24,  doth irrecoverably fall into it; Quid prodest non habere Conscium l●ab●●nti Conscientiam? No book to be secret from the view of men, so long as conscience is privy to it less; like a Sergeant, or Catchpole, it sits at our doors, and never parts with the sinner; till he parts with his sin.  
But most of all, Pecc tum prae foribus, we shall find sin at the door, when we are going out at the door, at the time of death, or going out of the world: For God herein alludes to the nature of some mastiff or wild beast; lying at the door of a man's house, who as soon as ever a man's foot is over the threshold to go forth, it fires in his face to pluck out his throat. So Conscience in wicked men like a bandog, barks at them all the while they are in the house of this life, but when at death they go out of the Clay houses of their bodies, than it furiously sets upon them, tears out the throat of their souls, and makes a full end of them.  
Thirdly, and lastly, Peccatum prae foribus, sin lieth at the 〈◊〉, that is, li●nes punishment is at the door, hard at hand; ready to overtake him that sinneth: sin and his punishment (except they be severed by found Repentance) go still together▪ Gognatum 〈◊〉 inuatum est omni sceleri sceleris supplicium; sins punishment is homebred nay inbred with it: As in the clear sunshine, the dark shadow followeth the body, so in the sweet pleasure of evil lad punishment accompanieth sin; if thou commit the one, God will not omit the other; If thou do the one, thou shalt suffer the other. Therefore the Chaldee paraphrast turns it thus, 
Chal. Bat.  Si non bene egeris, peccat 〈◊〉 tuum in diew judicij servatum erit: If thou dost not well, thy sin is reserved till the day of judgement; thou mayest shut it out at the door of thy mind, but it will fit at the door of God's memory, to procure just vengeance on thee. As the Poet said of perjury, I may say of all other sins, 
Pers.  It may tarry long.  Sera tamen tacitis paena venit pedibus. 
Val. Max.  
Slow footing it makes, but sure footing it takes; and then as Val: Maximus saith, Tardetatem supplicij gravitate compensat, it will make amends for the long time of delay, with the heaviness of the punishment when it cometh: for though God hath leaden feet, he hath Iron hands, though he cometh very slowly, yet he payeth surely.  
And thus it was with Cain, he lived long after this, he built Cities, married Wives, begat Children, invented Arts, as if nothing did trouble him, but all this while, he had with in him a feared Conscience, a trembling heart, a guilty look, sin lay at the door, and at last threw him out of house and home, 
psalm 50, 22.  and so the end of sins pleasure, was the beginning of hell-torments: Consider this all ye that forget God, lest he tear you in pieces, while there be none to help. Sin is a bad Tenant, it casts out the landlord: If you please yourselves in sin, God will displease you in punishment, His judgements are ever just, and vengeance will come, when it is due.  
Serious consideration herein may do much good; whilst we consider that divine punishment argues human transgression: we may safely conclude from a punishment to an offence, Posito uno, po●itur et alterum: Who can enumerate your gross enormities and crimes now reigning among us? How doth rebellion (which is as the sin of witchcraft) get a head, 
1 Samuel 15, 23.  whilst authority and Dominion is trodden underfoot▪ How doth schism and Faction prevail and increase, whilst order and decency is set at nought ● How is Religion made with many, the mask of villainy! How is the ministry contemned, and our Message disgracefully accepted! How have the Holy Scriptures lost their due authority; and cannot be believed by many of Us! But above all, How by our unhallowed lives, do we tread under feet the precious blood of JESUS CHRIST!. When the city of Oth● was burned, one yields this as a presaging cause of it, that a little before a Priest at mass, spilled a Chalice of Consecrated Wine, which that credulous age thought to have been the very blood of Christ: Our kingdom hath not been burned, nor (I trust) ever shall till that great day of fire, when the earth, and the Elements and the Heavens, and all shall burn; and yet how is the blood of Christ spilled upon the ground, and trodden under foot by our profane courses! But what though our Houses escape the fire, if our bodies do not? No marvel if some have Ignem in ossibus, the fire of loathsomeness in their bones, when they have kindled I gnem in Carne, the fire of Lust in their flesh: No wonder that our blood boyles with the heat of fevers and burning Agues, when the fervour of drunkenness and distemperature hath blown the coals. No marvel if all the plagues concomitating a civil war do fall upon us, when out filthy lusts within us, 
1 Peter 2, 12.  which war against the soul are so predominant. 
S. Cypt. ad D●●tr.  Quid mirum in generis humani crescere jamiram Deicum creseat quotidi●, quod puniatur? What marvel (saith Saint Cyprian) to see the judgements of God every day increase, when our sins which call for them do increase more than they? Our pride increaseth, our hypocrisy increaseth, our prophannes increaseth, our rebellion increaseth, our atheism increaseth. Is it a wonder then that the Pox should increase, that the Plague should increase, that our divisions should increase, that wars and rumours of wars should increase also! Be wise therefore (my Beloved) and sin no more lost worse things befall us take away the cause, 
John. 5. 14.  if you would have the effect to cease, and remove sin from your doors, if you would have God withhold punishment from your souls.  
And so much for the second point.  
The third remains, which is Argumentum, ab aquo & bono, a reason taken from right and equity, unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And here it did become me to crave your patience a little longer, (the time being already past) did I not know the subject I have in hand commanded it, For behold, my heart hath i●dighted a good matter, 
psalm 45. 1.  and I will speak of the things that I have made touching the KING: 
psalm 105, 15.  And I would to God that none would touch him worse.  

Unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him:  
WHich words are meant of Abel's subjection to Cain, and of Cains supremacy over Abel. God that he might restrain Cain from a further evil, doth comfort him with this present good, that neither his own wickedness could deprive him of his dominion, nor his brother's righteousness free him from subjection; but Ab●ls desire must be subject unto Cain as the Elder, and Cain by Authority rule over Abel as the younger. So that here two things are delivered.  
One, 
2 Things delivered.  That the firstborn hath the condition of a superior: The other, That the younger hath the state of an inferior, and both must keep their own.  
Concerning the first, 
1 Primo geniture.  Primo geniture, even by the Law of Nature, and by the Law of God, hath a twofold privilege, Regni & Sacerdotij; of outward rule and command as a King, of inward direction and guidance as a Priest. 
Genesis 49, 3.  Thus Jacob intimates in Reuben, Gen. 49. Reuben my first borne, &c. Thou hadst the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of Power: The excellency of Dignity, that is the order of priesthood in the Church; The excellency of Power, that is the state of sovereignty in the commonwealth.  
Now because every house is a little city, as every city is a great house, therefore the first borne was a petty King over his brethren, and as a Bishop or Priest to the whole family.  
And for this cause God appointed the firstborn, 
Deut. 21, 17.  Duplicem haereditatem, a double portion of inheritance, answerable (as it were) to his double dignity and preferment. Cain then being Elder than Abel, was his superior by birth, and in this superiority was promised to continue, albeit by sin he might seem to have lost it.  
From this point much might be observed, and I could be large in it, but I neither desire to offend you, nor do I delight to weary myself: May it please you briefly to observe with me these three points.  
First that superiority of on man over another is the very ordinance and appointment of almighty God; 
Three points.  so that by him the greatest is set to rule, the lesser appointed to obey, even by him (I say) that made them both, for as neither the soul alone nor body alone can make a man; so neither the sovereign alone nor the subjects alone can make a commonwealth; whereall will rule there is no rule, and where none doth rule, there is all misrule. Therefore hath God ordained an order and chiefly in all things: The blessed Angels know their thrones and the Saints their seats. The Heavens have their orbs, and on st●r differeth from another star in glory. 
1 Cor. 15, 41.  The Planets have their plac●s, and the Elements theirs: 
Prov. 19, 12.  look among the creatures, and you shall find the Lion to have the preeminence among the beasts, 
Proverbs 20, 2.  the Eagle among the fowls, 
Job 39, 27.  the Whale among the Fishes, among the Serpents, the basilisk; there's a bell-wether in the flock, there's a captain among the Cranes, a governor among the Pismires, a master Bee in the Hive, and the grasshoppers go out in bands, and shall we admit of no Order among reasonable men? 
Irenaeus.  Cujus jussu ●●mines nascuntur, hujus jussu Reges constituuntur, It was Divinity in Irenaeus his time. He that made men, made Kings, and to them he gave a superiotity over o● her men: 
Romans 13. 1.  The powers that are, saith Saint Paul, are ordained of God.  
Again, observe from hence that sometimes a wicked man is appointed to rule, and a good man sit under to obey, here in Cain the King is wicked, in Abel, the Subject good. So it was in the Primitive Church, the Christians were good subjects, but Nero, Domi●ian Julia● bad Princes.  
But observe in the third place, that it is not the wickedness of the Prince, that can deprive him of his temporal jurisdiction, nor the goodness of the subject that can exempt him from his allegiance; Both are clear in Cain and Abel, to whom is promised continuance of their states, each his own place, after most unlike merits and deserts.  
This David knew of Saul, a bloody, Bu●cherly barbarous Prince that so eagerly hunted after his life to take it, 
● Samuel 24, 1●  yet he (not a private man, but one appointed and anointed by God to reign in his stead) was so far from hurting him, when God had delivered him into his hands in the Cave, that his heart smote him when he had but cut off the skirt of his garment; 
1 Samuel 24, 5. Verse 10.  and the reason he gives for it is because he was the Lord's anointed.  
What should I speak of Nebuc● aduezzar King of Assyria, who wasted all Palestina plundered Jerusalem, 
Isaiah 12, 29.  put out the eyes of the King, slew his Sons, 
Jeremiah ●9, 6, 7 ● King's 24.  burned the Temple; took away the holy vessels, and defiled all places with rape ●uine and blood, and yet for all this his unmatched cruelty and impiety, 
Jeremiah▪ 29, 7.  the Prophets, Jeremy and 〈◊〉, wrote to those Captive Jews, 
Bar. 1. 12.  whom he after his glut of butchery had led into Chald●a, to pray for the prosperity life of him, and his son Belsta●r, that their days might be upon the Earth as the days of Heaven: and the Prophet 〈◊〉, 
Eze●iel 17, 15, 16, 18.  doth both blame and threaten Zede●iah, for his disloyalty in revolting from him (though a heathenish tyrant) whose homager and tributary he was.  
What of Saint Paul, and Saint P●●er, who lived, wrote their Epistles, and died Martyrs under the reign of bloody, Heathenish, and atheistical persecutors? Yet saith one of them, Let every soul be subject to the Higher powers (not everybody, 
Romans 13, 1, 2  but every soul, our subjection must not be forced, 
1 Peter 2. 17.  but be free and voluntary, coming from the soul) And the other Submity 〈◊〉 selv●s to every Ordinance of man for the Lords s●ke; to the King as supreme.  
I could abound both with examples and testimonies taken out of the Word of God, if those holy writings were of any credit in these ●●yes. I am sure the Christians in the Primitive Church learned from them, that the Tyra●●ie, Atheism, and profaneness of their Princes, was not a sufficient cause for them to thrust them out of their Empire, yea (Remembering Saint Paul's precept) even to resist, 
Tertul. Apollo,  being offended; and therefore they spent their time (according to Tertullian) in praying for them, that God would give them, Imperium 〈…〉 prolixam donium securam exercitus fortes; A safe Empire, a long life, 
Bellarm. de pot.  a quiet house, a valiant army: and this they did not out of fe●re, because they wanted strength, 
Pap. lib. 5. c. 7.  (away with that devilish gloss) but merely out of Conscience because they knew their subjection to be God's Ordinance: 
Romans 13, 1.  For the government is not man's but Gods, it is not Earthly, but Heavenly, and Kings are in a manner deified while they are upon the earth: and that by God's own Vote too, Dixi Diiestis, 
psalm 82. 6.  I have said ye are God▪ (saith he) and a● of you are children of the m●st High▪ Gods, in ●itle, though not equal in power, God hath given them His Name, though not His Nature, and upon the Earth they serve in God's stead; as may appear by that of the Queen of Sheba, 
2 Chron. 9 8.  to King Solomon: Blessed be the L●rd thy God▪ which delighted in there, to set thee upon His Throne, that thou mayest be King, for the Lord thy God. Their kingdoms are given them by God, the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, 
Daniel 4, 32.  and giveth it to whomsoever he will, 
Job 36, 7●  Dan. 4. Their Thrones are appointed them by God, Reges co●●ocat in soli●; he placeth Kings upon the Throne, he doth establish them for ever, and they are exalted. Job 36. By God they sway their 〈◊〉, and do justice, 
Prov. 8. 15.  by me Kings reign, and Princes decree justice. Pro. 8. Their crowns are set upon their heads by God, 
psalm 21, 3.  Thou settest a grown of pure Gold upon his head. 
2 Samuel 12. 7.  Psal. 21. They are anointed by God; I anointed thee King over Israel. 2. Sam. 12. Their kingdom is God's, their throne is God's, their sceptre is God's, their crown is God's, their anointing Gods, and their royal persons adorned with all these are so divine and sacred, 
2 Samuel 14. 17.  that they themselves are the angels of God, and 〈◊〉 of the most high. 
psalm 105. 15.  And therefore hath God given a special charge concerning them, Nolite tangere Christos meos, touch not mine anointed; It is not, ne tangite, but nolite tangere: we must be so far from doing it that we must not have so much as the least will or inclination to go about it. N●lite ta●gere. Yea, say he be a tyrant for manners, and a heathen for religion, all is one, he is Christus domini, the Lord's Christ then whom none is greater than Christus dominus, the Lord Christ himself, he must not be touched. And as from God he receives his power, so for the good or bad administration thereof he is to be acco●●table only unto God, and not unto any mortal creature.  
And for this cause were Kings anointed with oil to signify their supremacy, 
The King's supremacy.  for the oil will still be uppermost: and for this end (it may be) God would have the first king he set over Israel, to be higher by the head and shoulders than all the people, 
2 Samuel 10. 23.  for the head being the place of policy, the shoulders of strength and power, do show that no policy nor power should be above him. He may justly claim the commendation of John Baptist, for surely among them that are borne of women there hath not risen a greater. 
Matthew 11. 11.  And therefore Kings are called higher powers, 
Romans 13. 1.  the Heads of the tribes, the children of the most high: a Deo pri●●us, post Deum secundus, reckon not God and the King is the first, but count God and he is the second. 
psalm 8●. 6  Nothing in all created nature is more great, more excellent; not the high-priest, for he is his servant, as Abimelech confessed unto Saul, 
1 Samuel ●2, 15  1. Sam. 22. not Saint Paul that great and glorious Doctor of the Gentiles, forstanding at Caesar's judgement-seat, he confessed that there he ought to be judged, and to submit himself to his censure, 
Acts 25. 10.  Act. 25, Nay, not Christ himself, as he was man, for he gave tribute unto Caesar, 
Matthew 22. 10.  and denied not but that the power of Pilate was given him from above. 
John 19 11.  In a word, who knows not that this is one of his royal titles, supreme judge over all persons, and in all causes, over all persons, be they who they will be, be they who they can be, 
Ecclesiast. 8. 4.  who may say unto him, what dost thou Ecclesiastes 8. 4 who of the Priests? who of the Peerees? who of the People? who but He that put him in authority Almighty God?  
And as he is supreme judge over all persons so in all causes whatsoever; defend the preservation of your liberties, of your estates, of your lives, nay, of religion itself: He is supreme in all causes; the cause cannot be so just as to deprive him of his supreme power.  
I could multiply proofs out of Scripture to confirm this truth, take one for all, 
Mat. 26. 5●.  which may stand as one in a third place of arithmetic for a 100 they are the words of our Saviour Christ, Mat. 26. when he was betrayed into the hands of the Jews; behold one of them that were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high-priest, and smote off his ear: (what cause could be more just then to defend the person of our most blessed Saviour? yet see how he was rebuked for his pains:) Then said Jesus unto him, put up again thy sword into its place, for all th●y that take the sword, shall perish with the sword: how so? why, 
Mat. 22. 20.  because it was drawn without the consent of the Magistrate, to whom Christ himself did acknowledge subjection: so than this was the doctrine of the Prophets, 
Ioh, 19 11.  of the Apostles, of the Primitive Christians, yea, of Christ himself, therefore for my own part, till there be a new bible made, or all these places razed out of the old one, I am resolved (by the help of God) to live and die in this opinion.  
But what say the Jesuites to all this? their divinity is, that it is not lawful for Christians Tolerare Regem infidelem aut haereticum: 
Bell de Rom Potif. lib, cap 7.  to suffer a King that is an infidel or heretic to live, 
Jesuits traitors  but to take him away with all speed, and heresy (we all do know) hath a large extent with them, if he do but cross the Pope, any thing will serve to make him an heretic, and then he must down. 
Smalmeron in Rom, 13, disp, 4.  And if you tell them of Saint Paul and Saint Peter, that these were of another mind, Salmeran very mannerly tells you again, Blanditur Paulús imperatoribus, sic●t & Petrus in priore suâ epistolà, and Peter and Paul be both a couple of clawbacks, they do nothing else in those their sayings then flatter and cog with the Emperors that then reigned; but St. Peter nor St. Paul need not care what such men say, it is well known their tongue is no slander, for they would be as ready to say as much of Christ himself if he stand in their way.  
And would you think it? 
schismatics traitors.  There are such another sect in the world, who though they look divers ways, yet like Samson's foxes they hold together by the tail, and carry fire betwixt them to burn up Church and State. Read but over the profane writings of Knox and Bucanan, and you shall find how mightily the devil hath prevailed in the hearts of them who would have been accounted great professors of religion, the●r language is such as wou●d ●care a very atheist, 
●ue. de ju. reg. apud Scot. pa. 70  and 〈◊〉 him swear to abandon all religion: namely, that minister, may excommunicate Princes, and they being by excommunication cast into Hell, are not worthy to enjoy life upon the earth That if Prince's 〈◊〉 against God & his truth, 
Knox in lib, ad Aug ebb Scol. pa. 78. In Hist. ●col. pag. 343. 15 his appeal. pag. 33.  their subjects are free from their oath of allegiance: that God hath appointed the nobility to bridle the inordinate appetite of Princes, and in so doing, they cannot be accounted as resisters of authority. That it is the duty of the nobility to suppress the rage and insolency of Princes; and that the people have power to bestow or take away the crown at their pleasure, having no respect to birthright, to succession, to propinquity of blood at all. You firebrands of strife, you trumpets of sedition, you red horses, whose sitters have taken peace from the earth, you furies of hell, whose voices are lightnings and thunderings, whose breathing is nothing but sword, fire, rages, rebellions, (pardon me if I shake off all respect of civility, 
Apoc, 6, 4,  towards such miscreants) is this orthodox divinity? is this according to Christ and his Apostles? surely the devil dropped poison into their pens to infect all Christian countries with disobedience and disorder, for let them but show me but one place of holy Scripture; (and on● is but a small number, yet let them show me but one) either in the old or new testament, or any one of the ancient fathers, who have let fall so loose a speech, as may be strained to make good their tenets, and ● will be their bondman for ever, therefore were not the spirit of division, (I mean the devil●) been seated in their souls, hay would not so openly opposed the settlings of their cotton brain against the express command of holy Scripture, which forbiddeth so much as resistance under any Prince, though never so heathenish or tyrannical: but as for the word rebellion, the very thought of it was so odious to Christ and his Apostles, that (as Sol●n made no law against parricide, because he thought no man would prove so wicked as to commit such a horrid fact) I do not find it so much as once mentioned throughout the new testament, yet they have got a trick to produce some examples out of the old testament of rebellion, 
Rom, 13, 2, ●.  (which though were ever attended upon with heavy judgements from God) but I would fain know what they can force from thence: will they ●ake over all histories for examples of rebellion? and than argue a facto adjus, and say every thing is lawful that they find hath been done? we must judge facts by law, and not laws by facts: for there hath been no fact so impious, which may not be paralleled by examples, will they justify their gross sacrilege, their ●●●aturall ince●●●, with their frequent adulteries, their notorious lying, their uncharitable judging, 
Joshu, 7, 19 2. Sam. 23. 2 Sam. 11. 4. Act. 5, 4. Mat. 7. ●….  because they have for these examples of Achan, Ammon, David, Ananias and Saphyra, the Scribes and Pharisees? who then hath but half an eye and cannot see how these men's pens have ranged, and their judgements raged beyond all compass, and course of reason or religion?  
But to let go these (as they and the devil would have it) what policy can there be in it for the Subject to oppose or resist the King upon any terms? for what can we expect from thence but murders, outrages, ripes, 
No policy in resisting.  ruin and desolation? for what if the Prince aggrieved be able to make and maintain his party as King John and Henry the third did against their peers? what if some foreign Prince whom it may well concern as well in honour to see the Law of nat●ons observed, as also in policy to break the neck of those proceedings which may form preced●n●s against himself, do come in and side with his brother king, and in the end play the kite with them both? will not this prove a pretty piece of policy? were it not far more safe to take Saint Paul's counsel and be obedient unto Princes, not only for conscience sake, because they are the ministers of God, 
Rom. 13. 5. ver 3 1 Tim. 2. ●.  but for our own sake, because he is so to us for good: it is for our safety and tranquillity that we may lead under them a quiet and peaceable life; 
The Prince is the soul of the body politic.  for the Prince is the very soul of the body poli●ick, and what is the body without it but a confused lump, unformed, senseless, witless, and destitute of all means to maintain or uphold itself, but it is quickened, and moved, and provided for and kept from dissolution only by the soul. Now of the soul there are two principal receptacl●s, 
The King is the head,  although she be totain tot●, et tota in qualibet parte. The head and the heart, such is the king in respect of the body politic, he ●s the head, in which regard we should have him in so high esteem, as we should not only seek his ease and welfare, but even expos● ourselves to any perils for his sake and safety, we should be so far from offering violence unto him, that we should readily receive the strokes and wounds in●ented against him; yea there is no part of us but would willingly endure pain by incision, scarifying, ligature, or issue to remedy his grievances, especi●illy considering how dear and tender all the members are to him: for such is the sympathy and fellowseeling that he hath of the griefs of the whole body, that when the most inferior member suffereth, he suffereth together with it, even as a little wet or cold taken in the remotest part of the body hath forthwith a ready passage to the head. 
The King is the Heart.  again, the king is the heart of the body, which is the well of life, 
Aristot.  the furnace of heat, the sentry of blood, the first thing in man that lives, and the last that dies, and look as the heart sendeth forth sometimes the blood and spirits with a full flush plenteously replenishing all the parts of the body. And otherwhile again, being possessed with a fe●●●… of imminent danger, retireth them home with all speed to his little sconce, to comfort and fortify itself: and judge if this be not sometimes the case of Kings. And whilst you are judging of that, I will pass fairly on to the second point; 
2 Point.  which is, that Abel's innocency did not free him from subjection to his brother. If the superior have his power from God, the inferior aught to obey him for God, no man's virtue that he hath in himself, 
A threefold duty from every subject to his sovereign.  can be a warrant for him to be vicious to another, but who ever is holy and righteous must express it in duties to God and men. Therefore be the subject never so much in the right, and the sovereign in the wrong, yet notwithstanding there is due from every one of them to him a threefold duty: 
1 Honour,  honour to his person; subjection to his calling▪ obedience to his law. First we must honour his person, and that in word and deed; the first consisteth in speaking honourably and reverently of him, he being no other than the derivative, or rather diminutive of Almighty God. 
Exodus 22. 28.  This Moses enjoineth Exod. 22. 28. Thou shalt not revile the Gods, nor curse the rulers of thy pe●ple, no, not so much as in our thoughts, saith Solomon, 
Eccles 10. 20. Numbers 12. 8.  Ecclesiastes 10 And this God takes notice off. Nu. 12. 8. as a special indignity done unto him, wherefore are ye not afraid (saith he to Aaron and Miriam) to speak against my servant, against Moses, not against my servant Moses, but more emphattically, against my servant, against Moses: against my servant, although he were not Moses: against Moses my great serv●nt, seeing he is both my servant, and my servant Moses, wherefore are ye not afraid to speak against him? When this searching and piercing presumption shall get up to this highest step and dare to pry into the King's dispositions, intentions, affections, actions, then is it come to the height of the he●t of Ch●●n, the stubbornness of Esau the peevishness of Shemei, the conspiracy of A●solom, the treachery of Judas, and deserves with them condign punishment. For the heart of a King is unsearchable as the height of heaven, and the depth of the earth saith Solamon it is as well presumptuous, as unpossible to discover it, 
Prov, ●●. 3, Eccles. 8. 4  therefore saith he again, Eccles. 8. who shall say unto him, what dost thou? But what is words without deeds? another sort then of homage i● is that we owe unto our sovereign, is to honour him with our goods, with our estates, yea, (if occasion serves) with our very lives. The children of Belial said, how shall this man save us? and they despised him in their hearts, and brought no gifts to him, 
1 Sam. 10. 27.  1 Sam. 10. 27. if they were the children of Belial that brought the King no gifts, than whose children are they that debar him of that which is his own? 
judges 5.  I have read over the 5th. of judge and have pretty well observed the several passages therein, how God hath in that renowned song of Deborah, provided an honourable commemoration of them who did assist His cause: First the Princes have their place: The Princes of Isachar were with her, 
Verse 3. 15.  vers. 15. And then the governors the great Persons, & officers of State, they have their place, because they ●●●●red themselves willingly in that service, 
Verse 9  vers 9 And after them the merchants that rode upon white asses; and the judges that sat in judgement, vers 10. 
Verse 10.  Yea an unlikelier sort of people than any of these, even they that walked by the way in the same verse. And lastly the whole body of the people, they have their place in this honour, because they offered themselves (and what will he deny, that offereth himself?) and willingly in this service: This was the honourable mention that God afforded them, who did assist Him, but what saith he of those, who for collateral respects prevaricated or withdrew themselves from this employment; he gives them a brand that shou●d stick by them ever after: Reubens' heart was to big to come in The divisions of Reuben were great thoughts of heart vers. 
Verse 16.  16. Ambition of the Hi●hest ●lace, desire of presedency in offices of employment, greatness of heart, & an unwillingness to be under the command of any other do offentimes retard●●en the cause of God: so is there a reproach & increpation laid upon Dan●uer. 
Verse 17.  17. why did Dan remain in the ships? for this they were condemned though the ships were their own; and upon Gilead, that abode beyond Jordan & As●er that continue on the seashore when the cause o● God was in hand; & for this was Meroz cursed, yea cursed bitterly by the angel of the Lord because they came not to the help of the Lord, 
Verse 23.  to the help of the Lord against the mighty. 
Verse 20.  And therefore for the encouragement of those that did assist him in any proportion, though their assistance was no way competent against so poten● an enemy, God fought himself to, they fought from heaven, the stars in their order fought against Sisera, verse 20. The stars in their order fought, let no man pretend that he fights for God, when he fights out of order, for God will not fight, nor be fought for disorderly.  
The duty that every Subject oweth to his sovereign, is submission to his high place and calling, 
2 Submission.  He being no other than God's lieutenant and Vicegerent upon the Earth: And that not so long as he doth w●ll, and no longer, as some simple people imagine, for what rebellion, what 〈◊〉 hath ever been made, but under some of these pretences? what can a Prince do or leave undone that may not thy malicious or ignorant interpretation forfeit His crown? No, no. God hath better provided for them then so; They do not hold their crowns ad placitum populi, at the people's pleasure, but it was God that set them in their Thrones, and it is God only that can remove them: Le● them so behave themselves as they will answer it before God at the last day, 〈◊〉 our parts there is no shift for us, but we must be subject. And why should we not in this, as well as in other things? we can endure 〈◊〉 patience unseasonable weather, unfruitful years, unwholesome seas●●●, and such other judgements of God, because we know they come from God (for shall there be evil in a Citis, 
Amos. 3. 6.  and the Lord hath 〈…〉) and why should we not as well tolerate the imperfections of Princes? Since they are Ministers sent from God to do his will? If the Lord be 〈◊〉 pleased with us, 
Romans 13. 5. 2 C●●o. 1.  He will set a wise King over us, whom he loveth, 2 〈◊〉 1. If he b●e offended at us, He will remove Him, and set up a worse in his room: For, for the fin●es of the Land, the Kings are changed, Pro. 28. 2. whither they be good or bad, 
Prov. 28. 2.  there is Digitus Dei, the finger of God in it, and therefore not to be resisted nor repined at, but to be endured with patience.  
And yet we want one duty still that we owe unto Our sovereign, and that is Obedience to his laws. 
3. Obedience.  Which though they do not bind the Conscience primario per se, principally and by themselves, bec●●●● he only who can punish the soul; can bind the soul yet they do it per concomitantiam, 
Matthew. 10. 28.  by way of concomitancy, because they depend upon the Law of God, and are agreeable unto it, which primario & per se, doth bind the Conscience.  
It is true indeed a man's Conscience binds him more than the commandment of the Magistrate, because the Conscience hath none directly above it, but God only: yet herein we must distinguish, by putting a diff●●ence between those things that are indifferent in themselves, and those things which are simply forbidden or commanded. In things indifferent we are more bound to follow the command of the Magistrate than our own consciences, but in those things that are good and evil in themselves, we are bound to follow our conscience then the command of the magistrate again there's a general mistake among us whilst we do not distingu●sh between subjection & Obedience; for there may be subjection where there is no obedience: the on is always due; though not the other▪ or if it be it is by distinguishing between active & pas●●e obedience: If the King commands me a thing not lawful, I will not obey Him Faciendo by doing it; but Patiendo● I hope I shall by submitting myself to suffer his pleasure for not doing it:  
This was the very case of the three children Dan. 
Dan. 3. 18.  3. be it known unto thee O King that we will not serve thy Gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up; They refused to yield obedience to his unjust commands faciendo, yet did they acknowledge him to be their King & did willingly submit to suffer any torment that he should be pleased to inflict upon them. 
1 Samuel 8.  This was that which God by the mouth of Samuel told the Israelites before hand: 1. Sam. 8 After he had admonished them what heavy, what open injustice they should endure under some of their kings, he concludeth, & ye shall cry out in that day, because of your King, & the Lord will not hear you; as if he had sa●d, ye shall gr●●an under your burden, but you shall have no power either to shrink from it or shake it off. I but the people of England, are not like the children of Isra●l, they for their disobedience were made slaves unto their governors, 
object, 1.  but we are a free nation, I have laws to be ruled by, let the King say what he will; God be thanked that we can tell now what is lawful, and what not. 
Resp.  It was not so from the beginning, for in the first heroical ages, it is evident the people were not governed by any positive Law, but their Kings did both judge and command by their word, by their will, by their absolute power, 
Sir John Hayward.  without either restraint or direction, but only of the law of nature, but because it grew both troublesome and tedious for all the people to receive their right from one man (as Jethro advised Moses) therefore were laws invented and officers appointed to execute the same under the supreme Magistrate. 
Genesis 18. 18.   
I but our Kings are bound to observe the laws as well as we, 
Object. 2.  They take an Oath at their Coronation to do nothing thereunto repugnant, & if they do, They shall find that there is law for Them as well as for others: which is as if in direct terms they should say thus much: Sir Kings, whilst our heads were under your girdles, we were content to be obedient to your commands, because we had no way to help it, but now we have gotten the wind of you, and made you swear that you will not transgress the laws established, we tell you plainly the case is altered, you hold your crowns merely at our courtesy, and are indeed no other than lieutenants general, we have the power upon your m●sdemeanour to keep you up, or to put you down.  
Profane men! 
Resp▪  Is Christian Religion become a mere policy! doth the word of God change and vary with the times? are God's ordinances alterable according to the wilfulness of the Giddy multitude; was it death in former times to disobey the ruler of the people, and may he now with Actaeon be chased, nay worried by his own hounds? May the Lord's lieutenant, 
John 1. 18.  the Lord's anointed be kept in, or East out of state at the pleasure of his subjects? Is he become of worse condition than the Lord of a manor, than a parish Priest, than a poor schoolmaster, who cannot be thrust out by any under their charge?  
O my soul come not thou into such secrets. 
Gen. ●9. 6.  But what if the king do at his coronation take an oath that he will be are himself regardful of the accomplishment of the laws established? doth he in so doing condit●●● restrain himself or his authority? should he not be King if he did not take that oath? Surely yes, only it is his gracious pleasure to make an honourable promise that he wi●l endeavour to discharge his duty, which promise he it bound to perform by the laws of conscience and state, yet if he do not, his person only is hereby affected, not his authority, the one is tied and bound in honour, the other is in force, though performances fail. The promise of the Prince is free and voluntary, he need not have made it except he had would, yet being made, his duty in performing it is necessary; duty I call it only in respect of God before whom he swore, but to us it was a princely exce●●ency and an act of grace.  
But is not the King then subject to the law as well as others? 
object. 3. Resp.  ●rifler, to the directive part of the law he is, but not to the coactive part of it, as thou wouldst have it: as the law is the rule of justice, and the line by which both Prince and people must be guided, so is the Prince subject thereunto: but as it is an instrument which the Prince useth in ruling of the people, so is the King free and not subject to it.  
I come now to unburden your overwearied patience with a brief conclusion, 
Conclusion.  by way of application to these present times. If a bad Prince must be honoured, submitted to, and obeyed out of conscience, than how much note a good one with all readiness? If it be wicked and bloody tyrant's due, how much more is it required from all men to godly and pious Princes? under whose peaceable and religious government, the gospel of Christ is cherished, learning advanced, factious spirits supprested, wholesome laws enacted, the bond of unity maintained, and our very goods and lives preserved▪  
It was a passionate and pathetical speech that Saint Ambrose h●d u●on the death of Gratian and Val●●tin●an two famous Emperors; Percussa eras, o ecclesia in uná maxi●●●um amitteres Gratianum p●aebuisti alteram maxillam cum Va●entini●●● creptus est, 〈◊〉 ●taque non in unâ sed in utrâque maxi●●● lacrimae tibi sunt: Thou wert smitten, o poor Church on the one cheek when thou lostest Gratian; thou turnedst the other cheek when Valentini●● died, justly therefore hast thou tears not on one but on both thy cheeks: I may say ●t truly of this Chu●ch of England she had a blow on the one cheek when famous Elizabeth died, the suffered on the other check when good king James was taken from us, and just cause had we to have wept with both eyes, had not these wounds been healed by the coming of our most gracious sovereign King Charles, for whom let us give God thanks, and think ourselves as happy in him, as any nation in the world is in their Prince, indeed he is set as a sparkling gem in the ring of this round world not to be paralleled by any or all the princes of the earth for his piety and uprightness towards God, for his temperance and sobriety in himself, for his mercy and clemency to his people.  
Prolong o God the King's life and his years as many generations, 
psalm 61. 6.  give him o Lord the desire of his heart, 
psalm 21. 2.  and deny him not the requests of his lips: prevent him with the blessings of goodness, 
psalm 59 10.  and set a crown of pure gold upon his head, ●ebuke the company of spearmen, 
psalm 21. 3.  the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the People, till every one Submit himself with PIECES of SILVER, 
psalm 68 30.  Scatter thou the people that delight in war. 
1 Samuel 25. 29.  But let the soul of our Lord be bound up in the bundle of life, let his glory be great in thy salvation, 
Prov. 21. 5. 6.  honour and majesty do 〈◊〉 lay upon him, give him everlasting felicity and make him glad with the joy of thy countenance, 
psalm 132. ●18.  as for his enemi●● clothe them with shame, 
psalm 70. 13.  but upon himself let his crown flourish: So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture, 
Revel. 1. 7.  will give thee thanks for ever, we will show forth thy praises to all Generations, even so, Amen.  
FINIS.