A SERMON Preached on the 29th of May 1661.  
THE DAY OF His majesty's BIRTH, AND HAPPY RESTAURATION, After along Exile, to His CROWN and KINGDOM.  
Before His EXCELLENCY WILLIAM Ld MARQVIS of NEWCASTLE. at his House of WELBECK.  
By CLEMENT ELLIS M. A. Household Chaplain to his EXCELLENCY.  
OXFORD, Printed by Henery Hall Printer to the University, for Edward and john Forrest, 1661.   

TO HIS EXCELLENCY WILLIAM Ld MARQVIS OF NEWCASTLE, PRIVY COUNSELLOR TO HIS MAJESTY, etc.  
My most Noble Lord and Patron. May it please your EXCELLENCY,  
THe Duty which I owe, first unto GOD, as his Minister, then to my SOVEREIGN, as his Subject, and in the next place to Your EXCELLENCY, as Your Domestic Chaplain, made the threefold cord whereby I found myself indispensibly obliged, to contribute that little I was able, towards the Solemnity of that memorable and happiest Day, which this poor Kingdom hath in many years beheld. And having, after my weak manner, preached this plain and short Sermon, which had then Your Excellency's approbation, and (I hope) since GOD's pardon for my failings therein; I had very well satisfied myself; as I shall always have great reason to do, when by serving GOD, I can please Your EXCELLENCY. I confess, I then understood no obligation that lay upon me to do, what now I am commanded to do, to preach it over again this Second time to the World; being (I bless GOD for it) yet uninfected with that ambitious itch of making myself known abroad, and loving to be gazed upon, as somebody by the Multitude. 'Tis very fit that they, and only they, should wear great names, who have great merits to support them; and that they alone should be permitted to present their labours to the public eye, whose great abilities, by being so made manifest, may become more instrumental to the public Good: But (My LORD) Your HONOUR seemed very well to understand the extent of that Talon wherewith GOD hath entrusted me, when You presented me to the charge of my little Flock in the Country; but too much to value it, when You committed to me that other of Your Family: being thus entertained and employed, I need not seek abroad for more work or more honour: and therefore (My LORD) that I now expose this rude piece, & my self with it, to the forward censures of all that see it, it is a piece of mere Obedience to Your EXCELLENCIES express, and indeed, importunate Commands: I always resolving, so far as they are Just (and I know they will ever be most exactly so) rather to suffer by them, then to disobey them.  
I have often heard Your EXCELLENCY, and My Lord, (would it signify any thing to say what pleased me) I would say, with much pleasure I have harkened to You, discoursing of that satisfaction You reaped, from that sweet privacy and retirement his MAJESTY is pleased to grant Your LORDSHIP here in the Country, where You live free from the Noise and Cumbrance of Court and City. Indeed, the greatest reward his MAJESTY can possibly recompense Your matchless services withal, is thus to bestow YOURSELF upon YOURSELF; and I know You think it greater happiness to enjoy My LORD MARQVIS of NEW CASTLE at WELBECK, than all the Offices and Honours which your exemplary Loyalty has merited: And there's all the reason in the World for it, that He who hath so Nobly sacrificed the Fairest of his Years, and the Amplest of his Revenues, to the service of his King and Country, should now have leave to Consecrate the remainder to his Health and Quiet. My LORD, could I ever hope to merit of Your EXCELLENCY, I would not yet leave begging a Favour of the same kind; that, as I have an Honourable place in Your Family, so I might live retiredly from all the world besides. But seeing. (My LORD) Your commands lie so heavy upon me, I will endeavour to bear them with the best strength I have, and still encourage myself with this confidence, that it is all one with Your EXCELLENCY to Command and Patronise: And therefore after others have served in their solemn joys, with all becoming State and Magnificence, I hope I may (atleast) obtain a pardon, If I make bold to drop in, in the Rear, and offer too my poor dish of cold water in the name of a Disciple. Many, 'tis true, go before me, and it is very fit they should; Others come with richer clothing, and finer language, and why not? They that wear soft raiment, and they that speak soft words too, are in King's houses. It is the great freedom Your EXCELLENCY is pleased to indulge me, to speak mine own sense in mine own words, fully and freely; and I am so much the servant of my greatest Master, that I greedily embrace all the Liberty can be granted me in this kind. If there be any thing in this short Discourse, disrelishing to the palates of those that read it; it will be enough for me to tell them, it is a Sermon, and therefore not purposely suited to any man's humour: and yet, I will add; it hath passed Your EXCELLENCY'S approbation, and that will be enough to answer whatever may be objected against it. Let men say what they will, I have abundantly satisfied myself, by praying that all, even they that despise it (if it be possible) may be bettered by it; and in taking this opportunity of expressing myself, by this, as by all honest means, I shall always labour to do, My LORD,  
Your EXCELLENCY'S most obedient Servant, and Chaplain CLEM. ELLIS.   
Psal: CXVIII. v: 22, 23, 24. 
v: 22. The stone which the builders refused, is become the Headstone of the Corner.  
23. This is the LORD's doing, and it is marvellous in our Eyes.  
24. This is the day which the LORD hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.  
SHould the great GOD forbear to express his Goodness towards the sinful sons of men, till man begin to understand what is best for himself; we should soon become all as miserable, as at present we are ignorant; we should die in our sins, and drop into Hell, ere we would understand the happiness of an Heaven, or the loveliness of that way which leads unto it. And yet doth our grossest Ignorance fall much short of our perverseness; what now aggravates our guilt, and (without a timely repentance) will add to our torments hereafter, is this, that we so often know what we ought to do, when we yet stubbornly refuse to do what we know to be our duty. So that if our good GOD did delight only there to show Mercy, where he meets with merit, did he not, on the contrary, love to magnify his Goodness, by pitying even those, whose daily business it has been to provoke his justice: Blessings would soon be as rare, as Sins are rife; and Heaven would at last be as empty of men, as Hell is of Saints.  
But (Blessed be our Good GOD!) his mercy endureth for ever. The unnatural sinner ever Kicks and spurns at the yerning bowels of a tenderly compassionate Father; and they only swell the more, and extend the wider towards the miserable wretch; even so wide, till they reach a Miracle; such a miracle as forceth Stupidity itself into wonder and Admiration; yea such a wonder as cannot contain itself, but suddenly breaks forth into a signal joy, and a solemn thanksgiving. This, and more than all this, we read in the Text.  
1. A blessing proffered, no sooner proffered but rejected, and though rejected, yet sent again, and that with advantage. The stone which the builders refused is become the Head stone of the Corner.  
2. This great mercy thus rejected, and thus returning, is (as it ought to be) humbly acknowledged, highly admired. This is the LORD's doing, and it is marvelous in our Eyes.  
3. This great wonder and Humility are seasonably seconded with an Hearty Joy, and Solemn Thangs-giving. This is the day which the LORD hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.  
Thus, the Text wants nothing that's fit: for the day, presenting us with a Wonderful Blessing, an Humble Reception, and a joyful thanksgiving: In all which we shall. briefly consider, first, the History and the Doctrine; next, the Parallel and the Use.  
1. We begin with the great Blessing: concerning which, let us inquire, 1. What it was? 2. To whom it was proffered? 3. What welcome it found?  
1. This Blessing in the Metaphor, is a Stone; in the History, David in the Prophecy, Christ: and whether David; the Type of Christ, or Christ the Seed of David; still we shall find it a Precious Stone, and a great Blessing.  
1. The Stone in the History is David, thatholy King, in whose Royal Person most of the Happiness of the Old, & in whose Heavenly Seed all the Happiness of the New Israel of GOD did consist. David the Author and the Subject of this Gratulatory hymn, an Hymn composed and set for the Solemn Choir of Israel to be sung by them in their joyful commemoration of the happy return of God's Anointed, and their long exiled King: He is the stone. A stone hewn out of the rock, by God's own hand; consecrated with the Holy Oil by God's own Prophet; set apart by God's appointment, to smite down the great Goliath of the Philistines, to dash in pieces the Tyranny of a wicked Saul, to crush to nothing the Enemies of God and of his chosen Israel. A stone fitted and squared to be the foundation, and pillar of his Jerusalem, his Zion; solid and firm, such as the hottest fires of Persecution could not crack; nor all the storms and tempests of Affliction impair; of that weight, and so well fixable, that all the strength and art of Satan and his Instruments could not remove or shake it; but still he stood fast, the Foundation, the Pillar, the sure stay and support of God's Church and People committed to his Charge. He is the stone in the History: which in the Prophecy is.  
2. Christ JESUS our Lord, the everlasting seed of David. The sure rock of our Salvation. So He himself applies the text to himself. Math: 21.) and after him, his Apostle St Peter (1 Pet: 2.) He, who was a stone of stumbling, and a Rock of Offence, to the jew first, and then to the Gentile; is a most sure hold, and a strong Tower of defence to all those that steadfastly believe in him; the firm and everlasting Foundation of the New Jerusalem: the chief cornerstone, In whom all the building fitly framed together, groweth unto an Holy Temple in the Lord. Ephes: 2. 20. & 21. This is the living stone, of which that former was no more but the bare shadow: the stone whereon our Hopes, our Comforts, our present privileges, and our future Inheritance, all are surely founded: the Rock on which, if we be once well bottomed, let the winds blow, and the waves beat, and all these with all the violence they can, yet shall we stand sure and unshaken to all eternity. These be the stones here proffered in the Text, David first and afterwards Christ; and (what I would desire you to note) both these Kings  
A good King is indeed a most precious stone, the most solid foundation of the Church's peace and the Peopl's happiness: remove this stone, and the whole house comes down upon your head; touch but the Lord's anointed, and you disjoint all, the whole Kingdom shatters into confusion; all falls into pieces, and all the wit of man is not able to bind it up again: Proofs and instances of this sad truth we have too many, our own lamentable experience, still fresh in our memories, renders all citations of them at present needless: Hereby we have found, that whosoever wildly bushes at these sacred stones, he only runs his head against an hard Rock, which though he should have the unhappy strength to shake a little, yet he shall be sure withal to dash out his own brains, at lest he must expect to receive such a wound, as cannot easily be healed but he is like to bleed into a too late repentance: He that fights against the powers set up by God, can only beat the skin off his own fingers. It will be therefore our Prudence as well as our duty, not to strike with too much violence upon these holy stones, left like men hammering too boldly on a good flint, we thence produce such a fire as will not again be quenched: Saint Paul dares not warrant so strange a Confidence, when he tells us, (Rom. 13.) They that resist the power shall receive to themselves Damnation. Rather pray we, that we may never come to want such a Stone as God here proffered in the Text. but,  
2. To whom did he proffer it?  
Even to those, who wanted not eyes to see it, nor experience to understand the worth and value of it, nor skill sufficient to make a right use of it. David was proffered, not to the poor rude Israelites, that could not distinguish their right hand from their left, but to the Grandees of Israel, to Saul and his Counsellors; whose business and Profession it was to deal in such Stones. Our Blessed JESUS was proffered, not only to a few blind Gentiles, who had all their knowledge but at the second hand; the wonder had not been great if these had refused what they so little understood; but he was proffered to the Wise men and Rulers of the jews, to the great Maister-builders of that Church, Scribes and Pharisees, Lawyers and Doctors; those that knew the Law, and had read the Prophets, and understood what was foretold, and prefigured concerning him: whose bare acceptance of him, had been precedent and warrant enough for the People's Faith; as appears by that question (john 7, 48.) have any of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? So would they doubtlessly have said, Have any of the Rulers or Pharisees received this stone? If they have, than so will we.  
This is God's method, he so proffers his great Blessings as to leave the refuser without excuse; to those who best could discern the worth of it, and therefore should first in all reason have begun to use it, was this Gift proffered: lest afterwards they should go about to excuse themselves with a Non novimus, we knew is not: The fittest Blessing to the fittest persons, the stone to the builders.  
3. Let's now see, what's its welcome.  
Indeed very course and more strange, considering the persons to whom it was proffered: so foolish were they, or so selfish, or both; they refused it.  
1. David is thrust out from the presence of Saul, banished the Land, driven into Caves and Dens, to lead a sad & melancholy life with Bears and Tigers; or at best, amongst strangers, too frequently more inhuman and barbarous, than those beasts of prey. He is hunted like a silly partridge upon the Mountains, and no means that a cruel and jealous Saul could invent, left unattempted, to rid him of his Kingdom and the world at once.  
2. And in this particular too, was our Blessed JESUS, very truly the Son of David. He is refused of his own People and Nation: rejected by the chief Rulers, and High-priests, with a— No King but Caesar:— Not this man, but Barrabas. Any murderer, rather than the Lord of life; a bloody Tyrant, rather than the God of mercies; away to the Cross with him. This is the very voice of the builders, No stone of God's squaring for our building, out with it amongst the rubbish: Give us rather a Nero, any lump of clay kneeded up in Christian blood: Give us such stones as will admit of no Cement, but what's made of the blood of us and of our Children: that blood which Caesar sheds, be it on the heads of us and ours, but this stone which God would in mercy bestow upon us, be it thrown out into the streets, and trampled under our feet forever. This is the language of these prudent builders.  
Thus, even thus do the builders too often prove the unhappy demolishers, and when they should strengthen, race to the ground the walls of Jerusalem: whilst they lay their own ambition, their Humours, and their Interests, the only Foundations of all their actions; they are sure to refuse that stone, which is sent down from Heaven. Here's the Wisdom of the Wise, this is the Counsel of the Prudent, when they have not God before their Eyes. The stone is refused, which yet in spite of all their little Policies, and petty devices, shall most certainly return the Headstone of the building. Which brings us from the Folly and Baseness of the builders, to the unerring Wisdom, and Constant Goodness, of God Almighty.  
They cast out the stone, God brings it in again, They reject it with scorn, He sets it in with advantage, They refuse it as useless, and unfit for any thing, He restores it the Beauty, the strength of the whole Fabric.  
David, after his long and tedious exile, is called home again, even by those same persons who at first were as ready as any to reject him; with the shouts and acclamations of Israal he is welcomed, and made the Glory of that people, and their bulwark, by whom he had been so much slighted.  
And thus was it with the great Rock of our Salvation, after his numerous and grievous sufferings, hardly ending in a bitter and a shameful death; He rose again, and ascended into Heaven in Glory and Triumph, and is become the Head of the Universal Church, and the only Sanctuary those very Enemies who refused him can confide in.  
God will have his design, let man do his worst; he will make all those in his due time to understand their own folly, who would not when they ought, embrace his Counsel. The stones which He sends are more precious in his eyes then to lie always unreguarded on a Dunghill: David's Palace and Kingdom shall not forever be a Cave and a wilderness; Christ's Crown shall not always be made of Thorns; Those Cruel hammerings, and rougher usages, which the despised stone at present undergoes, shall not break and Crush it, but, on the Contrary, Square and smooth, and polish it, and make it the more serviceable, and fitter for the building; His Enemies at length shall know, that those many torments they barbarously inflicted on him, shall reflect with doubled force upon themselves; and by a seasonable and unexpected restauration they shall be made to acknowledge, that the undeserved exile of their David, was not the punishment of his Sins, but the greatest curse could be laid upon his very Persecutors.  
And here, on the one hand, we may clearly behold, the folly and blindness of worldly men, even of those who would fain be esteemed the wisest and skilfullest builders & repairers of a broken state; on the other hand, the Infinite Wisdom and Providence of God, even in those actions which seem lest considerable to the dim eyes of men. Here we see man's unworthiness and perverseness in slighting and refusing the very choicest of God's blessings, there God's Infinite mercy and unalterable Goodness in redoubling his blessings after they have been refused: In short, here's man's impiety in rejecting the stone which God had designed, and by proffering it, Commended: there's God's Justice in making that despised stone to become at last, all that he intended it for at first, even the Headstone of the Corner.  
2. Thus are we, from the wonderful mercy, come to the cheerful reception thereof. It is received (as so great a blessing ought to be) with an humble acknowledgement of the Author, with an high admiration of the Mercy.  
1. This is the Lord's doing: There King David acknowledgeth, and there he would have all those that join with him, to acknowledge the Divine Author of this great blessing. To the Honour & Glory of his gracious GOD, to the Comfort and justification of the late suffering David, to the shame & confusion of his once insulting persecutors, he utters it aloud— It is the Lord's doing. The Restauration of this Royal person, and in him of Israel's happiness, was a work more peculiarly & properly the Lord's whereby he was wonderfully pleased to exhibit to the world, as it were, under his hand and seal, a most signal testimonial of David's Just and Righteous cause: Most things He brings to pass by such ordinary & common Instruments, and after so plain and easy a manner and method, that, though they be the Lord's doings too, yet the homeliness of the visible Instrument, together with the frequency of such operations, keep us from taking so much notice of them, as we ought to do: But such rare and remarkable passages of providence as this was, cannot go by us without a due observation, a seasonable wonder, and an humble reflection upon the glorious and Omnipotent agent: If David had yet had any visible means left him, of ridding himself out of Danger, and attaining unto that Crown, which was fitted by God for his head, they would have been less apt through the multitude of humane means, to eye the hand of God in his advancement: But that he should be restored even now and thus, whose doing should this be but the LORD's? for  
1. Behold the poor exiled Prince, wandering to and fro, in a rude wilderness, as destitute of all hopes to man's thinking, as of companions: his strength failing him, his lovers and his friends standing aloof from his Soul, many enemies on all sides, and perhaps some few well wishers, but, alas, no helpers:  
2. Behold the sweetness of his generous & Princely Soul, abhorring to be cruel more than desiring to be King: more delighting in Mercy, and contented in his sufferings, and confiding in his GOD, and reverencing a King, though a Saul, a Tyrant, then to revenge himself, when GOD had put the life of his Enemies into his hand.  
3. Behold his Enemies, for multitude innumerable, for malice implacable, for Interest insatiable; no force could subdue, no Reasons persuade, no condescensions mollify, no hopes of a reconciliation or agreement upon terms or articles; so that in the first place to the Glory of the Author we must confess— It was the LORD's doing.  
And again, for the Justifying of David's righteous cause, and for the abatement of his adversaries confidence and boasting, he shows, it was the LORD's doing. Prosperity and Success accompanied with Oppression and Violence, make but a slender argument, for the Honesty and Innocence of a thriving Tyranny: but a sudden promotion out of the dust, by an unexpected hand from Heaven, conducting a poor rejected David, through the fury of his Enemies, into the embraces of his friends, from a Cave to a Throne, may beget a very strong persuasion of a Righteous cause: when the mouth of the fierce Lions are closed by a naked Daniel; when the extreme raging of a fiery Furnace is stilled and cooled at the approach of three fettered Innocents'; when the Bolts fall off, and the doors fly open without a Key or a File, to set the shackled Apostles at Liberty; who will not presently say, that GOD's favour is Sanctuary enough for an Injured Innocence; his purpose to save, armour enough against man's endeavours to destroy; that there is no Policy against Providence, no stratagem against Heaven? Had David by force of arms, with a great Host of men entered the Land, and so made havoc of his Enemies, the residue of them might still have cbeered themselves up with such hopes as these, that seeing there were yet more men in the world, they might yet come to regain all, as they got it a first, or lost it now, by an arm of flesh. But now when they behold the LORD making bare his own arm from Heaven, & showing himself mindful of David in his lowest condition, bringing all the subtle devices of the long prosperous sinner to none effect, & without the help of man, even against all the projects of man, restoring his Anointed to his own: how can they choose, but seeing, be amazed & wonder, be silenced, and condemning themselves and their own Folly, with all humility, at least, with shame and confusion of face acknowledge, that it is the LORD ' s doing? and therefore  
2. Truly Marvellous in our eyes.  
Indeed all the works of GOD, when considered as they ought to be, are wonders, but such works as this was, the more immediate doings of the LORD, are to be acknowledged above measure wonderful: Considering  
1. The rarity of them, such blessings come not every day, the LORD makes a Day for them, and by them. He is not altogether prodigal of his Miracles, but reserveth them for special occasions, and for great Ends: that he may thereby manifest his power in the weakness of his servant David; and his adversary's weakness and folly, in the very height of their policy and Confidence; and the equity of David's cause in the midst of his Enemy's triumph: Ordinarily GOD works by common and known methods, but when such a singular act of Providence, as unusual and new, as true and effectual, discovers itself to our view, must it not be marvellous in our eyes?  
2. Again, when such deliverances are wrought by methods so far above all, both expectations and Inventions of friends; and not only so, but above all fears too and preventions of Enemies: when so many means formerly, in the eyes of man more likely, had proved utterly ineffectual; so many endeavours and projects, in the opinion of most men strong and sure, had been altogether quashed and frustrated; and yet notwithstanding all this, the blessing, when even almost despaired of, comes at last, and that with interest; it must needs be truly marvellous.  
3. Once more, When GOD so works, that man doth not see it, yea even secretly in the hearts of those who do not yet understand it; directing their actions to those very ends which, it may be, they lest intended; strangely, and secretly charming the Disobedient into Duty, the Rebellious into Loyalty: when the promoters of David's exile, are made the main Instruments of his restauration; and all those fretting Shimeys which would still fain curse, can or dare do nothing but bless and congratulate: certainly, This must needs be the LORD's doing, and altogether marvelous in our eyes.  
And as it was the LORD's doing, thus graciously to re-establish, what man had so stubboruly and scornfully rejected; so must it too be acknowledged his doing, to make these foolish men embrace what the second time he proffered them. However without all doubt, it is man's duty in receiving the many and great blessings which GOD of his infinite bounty confers upon him, to look upon them as GOD's doings, not as the rewards & purchases of his own merits and endeavours; & withal to admire therein the Goodness, the Power, the Wisdom and Justice of the Author and Donor; all which if we do but see as clearly as we ought and may, we shall not rest'till we break out into an holy joy and thanksgiving: after such a mercy and such a wonder, 'twere a greater wonder yet, if Israel should not be Glad and Rejoice.  
3. Which is the third branch of the Text. And truly David was never backwards, nor David's followers, to answer God's miracles of Meroy, with holy returns of Praise. Whilst the Blessings of GOD, descend upon the wicked as the dew of Heaven on a dunghill, begetting nothing but a nauceous stench, & unwholesome weeds; when they meet with a David like the same dew upon a good and pleasant Garden, they produce first a fair Springtide of sweet and lovely flowers, and afterwards as full an harvest of sound and wholesome fruits. Good words of Praise, and better works of Righteousness.  
And, as private mercies challenge our private praises, so public and national blessings call for public and Solemn thansgivings▪ when the Crown is restored to David, and David to his People, 'tis very fit that all Israel should keep Holiday: And thus they did, and for this they have a double warrant.  
First, David's command, or (if any will rather have it so) his invitation. He sends forth a General Summons unto all Israel, in the second verse; particularly to the house of Aaron, verse the third, and in short, to all that fear the LORD, at the fourth verse: and all the reason in the world they should comply with his will, who would share in his happiness. And yet behold, a greater authority than David's is here, for—  
Secondly, 'Tis the Day which the LORD hath made. He that made every Day, is pleased to make some days over again and again: and so hath he new-made by some extraordinary mercy or other all those days, which Holy Church has commanded us (in commemoration of the same) to keep Holy: such was this Day, made again, by a new Sun shine of his Special favour overthe Land; a Day by a most glorious mercy, so guilded and dignified, that it were a profaneness to fully it with the low drudgeryes of our common employments: Graced it must be with hearts and countenances as glad and cheerful, as the day itself is bright and glorious.  
There must be gladness in the heart; not only in the mouth and in the clothes: such new-made days are to be celebrated with all inward cheerfulness and alacrity of soul, proceeding from a sweet and pleasing sense of his favour who made them for us: away which that grudging and Irksomeness of spirit, we meet with Amos 8. 5. which is ever crying out, when will the Sabbath be gone, that we may set● forth wheat? except we please ourselves in the observation of these Days, we cannot please the LORD that made them: And as Gladness is required; so is  
2. Rejoicing: a signification of that gladness to the world: an external expression and profession ought always to be the inseparable attendant of that internal affection which GOD delights in; thus were the feasts of old celebrated with shoutings, and soundings of trumpets, and distributing gifts &c: all sober manifestations of Joy become that day, whereon GOD vouchsafes to manifest his Favour: Only men are to take heed, how instead of be glad and rejoice, they read, be drunk and Profane: that were not to sanctify but pollute the Day: David and his Subjects express their joy, by entering into the Gates of Righteousness, into the Courts of GOD's house, provoking mutually each other cheerfully to acknowledge; and heartily to sing aloud to his Honour and Glory, who had done such great things for them, whereof they are glad, with an— O give thanks unto the GOD of all GOD's for his mercy endureth forever.  
We have heard of the Day which the LORD once made for Israel, let us now descend to consider the Day the LORD hath lately made for England: where it would be very easy, would it not be too tedious, almost in every particular to show you, how King David and his Day is paralleled by King CHARLES the Second (to whom God make many long and happy Days) and his Day.  
How much of England's happiness is bound up in the Prudence and Fortune of England's Kings: How long this famous Nation may possibly continue one Body, without one Head, How long those two great sides of this glorious Fabric the Church and State, may stand firm and unshaken, as they ought to be, the beauty, the strength and support of each other, if not well knit together by these Corner-stones: Our ancient flourishing, and out late miserable and never sufficiently deplored condition, when compared together, will too manifestly evidence. We have known what it is to have Kings our Nursing Fathers, and Queens our nursing Mothers: and how happily those two Twins: the Church and Commonwealth did thrive, and grow, and flourish, when fed and cherished at such breasts: and, alas! we have to our sorrow found, what sad Days those were, wherein there was no King in our Israel, days full of nothing but black clouds, raging winds, and fat all storms, in which both God's house and Cesar's were blown down to the ground; all honest and Loyal men driven out of the Land, or dispersed, and scattered, and hurled into the little narrow Corners of the earth, making privacy and poverty their sanctuary: nothing appeared for many years together but the horrid face of Rebellion and confusion; no Religion, no Law, no Justice, no Charity, no Order, nay, nothing but the bare name of that, a mere pretence whereof was craftily imposed upon a deluded multitude as a sufficient warrant for their disobedience, & a sure basis for Anarchy, or what's nearest of Kin to it, a Democracy, indeed nothing but the bare name of Liberty. Was it ever thus, so long as England willingly embraced the Corner-stones which GOD proffered her? and did she ever want such praecious stones, till her State-Architects became altogether as wise as the foolish builders in the text, refusing the stone which GOD had prepared? They rejected a stone such as England never saw before, and therefore could never know how to prise sufficiently, and I would to GOD, that it might truly be said in diminution of their guilt, that through Ignorance they did it! The singular worth and use of that Headstone they first rejected (alas, so altogether brutish were we) nothing could teach us to understand, but the succeeding ruin of three most flourishing Kingdoms. A stone indeed he was so truly precious in himself, and for those many signal excellencies, which never shone brightes to the eye of the Christian world, than (as such true stars and Diamonds use to do) in the darkest night of his persecution; that he was highly and deservedly valued of all that knew him, is still cabinetted up in the hearts and affections of those that loved him, and shall (I doubt not) be found in the first row, in that great day, when GOD shall make up his jewels. And as our Cornerstone, he was so exactly squared, so solidly laid by the great author of all piety and Justice, that nothing but Satan and Envy could find a fault. His Pious reign had left us nothing but a superfluity of happiness to be sick of, and his exemplary Clemency nothing but too much mercy to coplain of, the noted softness and freedom of his nature, gave those rude flints that came against him too great an advantage over him so good a man, and so gracious a King, that his most inveterate enemies had nothing else to fear, hardly to pretend, but that God's house would, by the help of such a stone, in a very short time, become more strong & glorious than their own. Late Posterity may indeed very well believe that God removed this stone so early, as too rich a Pearl to be thrown away upon such unworthy swine; but what faith will be so daring as to believe, that the very Master builders did reject this stone as useless and cumbersome. Oh! that it might be however forgotten in Gath, & silently buried in the streets of Askalon, how that a Christian Nation, an English Subject rejected a King that was as a Saint, & such a Saint as CHARLES' the First. Oh, the desperate tementy of a blinded zeal. The infatiable fury of a cove●ous, Sanctity. The horrible attempts of a malicious hypocrisy. What execrable villainies barbarism may execute when is walk 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the vizard of purity and Reformation! for The LORD ' s Anointed was murdered.  
And, can it be so much as thought, that those very Builders who were called together to make up the breaches, and repair the decays in the walls of Zion, should thus rashly pull out, and dash in pieces in the open street the Cornerstone thereof; and afterwards contrive and labour to fill up its room with such Rubbish as a Commonwealth; or such a rough and unhewen Flint, as that late prodigious Tyrant; which whilst with all their Art and skill they strove to fit and polish, they could never hope to produce anything but a fire to consume at once both the builders and the building? But will it not yet seem more strange and incredble, that even our Spiritual builders too, those that pretended, to be joint labourers with Christ for the aedification of his heavenly kingdom upon earth, should make it their Pulpit and their Lecture trade, to meet out to their auditors such large measure of factions and seditious doctrine each Market day, and like the Jewish High-priests move and incense the People to run raging up and down the streets with a Crucify him, Crucify him, and never cease watching at the doors, with their traitorous Petitions in their hands, till they had obtained their request, the Murder of their King, and the ruin of his Kingdom? And yet such unskilful builders had unfortunate England on all sides set on work, who had a far greater longing to grow rich upon the ruins, then famous by the repairs of Jerusalem.  
Yet, as if this had amounted but to some light matter, and were a thing excusable, or (as they would have it) very commendable: Observe how bravely and resolutely they go on. It had pleased our Indulgent GOD to hew us out a Second most excellent stone, out of the same Royal rock; exactly squared and fitted for the same place, and dignity too: and this again the Builders reject, and throw as far out of their sight as out of their affections, saying within themselves, as those honest servants we know where, This is the Heir, come let us kill him, and the Inheritance shall be ours; thus stoutly resolve they, that neither they themselves who had been so long sools, would ever again grow wise; nor that Church, which they had so Sacrilegiously ruined, glorious.  
But there is no fight against Heaven, the same wise hand which fitted this Second stone is an Omnipotent hand too, and hath fixed it Even that same Royal stone, which (with shame we may speak it) for so many years together had lain in the dust, neglected by the People, Hated by the Builders, beat upon by storms and Tempests; and hath felt the heavy hammers of his implacable Enemies; is now sent home again, more solid and firm for all that Hammering, more sound and undecayed by reason of that long obscurity, more welcome and acceptable, after so long an absence. With whom is restored a lost Justice, a long time smothered amongst numberless Interests and Factions: a lost Liberty, so long shackled by a most intolerable Tyranny and Usurpation; a lost Religion, so long buried in grossest Atheism, only with a fair flourish of hypocrisy, and an inscription of Holiness over her grave: This stone, the Basis of our Laws, the Pillar of our Church the Bulwark of our Peace, and I may truly add, the Landmark of our Estates, for whilst he was removed, no man knew what to call his own, even this stone, uncracked by the blows of his Enemies, unmollified by the flatteries of his false friends, which the builders for so many years have shamefully refused, is now become (Blessed be our good GOD) the Headstone of the Corner.  
And now, Whose doing is this?  
Whose but his who is the great King of Kings, Protector of the Fatherless, Wise, Mighty, and lust, who putteth down one, and lifteth up another, and makes the most prosperous sinners to know themselves to be but men: He alone it is, that could do these mighty things for us, whereof we are Glad, he that hath so strangely turned again the Captivity of Zion, that we seem yet like men that dream: Now we see what that is, whereof our adversaries so boasted themselves, Divine Providence; and in whose power it is, to still the raging of the waves, and in whose hands are the Hearts of the Mighty; and by whom it is that Kings do reign.  
This is a work which the LORD hath all this while reserved to make his own Doing, that all the Earth might see, and be afraid, because there is a reward for the Righteous, there is a GOD that judgeth in the Earth. This cannot be the work of any hand but GOD's: for  
1. If we cast an eye back upon our gracious David whilst under the cloud an Exile: what can we see, but the LORD alone, he had to confide in? How was he round about begirt with miseries? It is hard to say in which he was most unfortunate, his many inhuman Enemies, or his more cowardly friends. They of his own Religion (If they were of any) thought it more prudence to comply with a prosperous Tyrant, then to succour a banished Prince; The sons of Rome grudged him their friendship, who was afraid to share in their slavery: Nay such is the natural sweetness wherewith GOD hath blest our Prince, and such a gracious Prince hath GOD designed for us, that he was afraid to become a King by Conquest, and chose rather to wait for the Affections, then to triumph over the Lives of his rebellious Subjects.  
2. Again, amongst his enemies here at home, we saw nothing could befriend him: A Power seemingly invincible, a malice utterly implacable, a Confidence built upon a long and wonderful success; and yet certainly a conscience full of guilt, and consequently full of jealousies, and therefore most vigilant: Interests espoused in Rebellion, and therefore only to be maintained by Injustice and Cruelty. Besides all these, a Confederacy of Oaches, Covenants, and Engagements, though these ('tis true) made little opposition to any thing but honesty, and Loyalty, being only set up as mere engines of Policy, which might easily be screwed into all postures, to serve the Swearer's Interest Add now unto all this, on the one hand, that grand and Master-craft of hypocrisy, whereby their enemies did their best endeavours to cozen even God himself as well as men into a false beliofe of their integrity and Innocence; and on the other hand the Irreligion & profaneness of pretended friends, whereby too many were throughly persuaded that a King could have no favourite but wickedness, no friend, but the profane: considering this lewd temper of spirit in too many, and a coldness, an indifferency, a cowardice in more, we must needs confess, it was the LORD's doing.  
And certainly a very wonderful Doing in our eyes. Hopes and expectations all dying, all Projects and endeavours failing, enemies rejoicing, flourishing, triumphing; friends scattered, impoverished, imprisoned, all disponding; the Conquerors sitting down securely, and dividing the spoil, and crying with David's enemies, Ah, so would we have it, persecute and take him, for there is none to deliver him: even than God throws in the Apple of dissension, and in pieces they fall, and a sudden storm from the North scatters them. An Army marches up not knowing whither; all Sects and Factions meet it, and congratulate, and know not for what; Well, the all-knowing God brings all this to an happy Issue; the LORD's Anointed is restored, his dying friends revived, all barking Shimeys silenced, Sectaries and Schismatics confounded, Rome and her Children troubled and amazed. This surely was the LORD's doing, and therefore marvelous in our Eyes.  
What Praises therefore do we now owe unto God for all these his Marvellous works? This is the Day, which God hath thus (as you have heard) remade for England; a bright and clear Sunshine, after black clouds and thick darkness, The Day of our Redemption from a more than Egyptian bondage and slavery; the Day of our freedom from Tyranny and Oppression; the Day wherein our gracious King was at first ushered into the world with a new & miraculous light from Heaven; and the Day wherein he was welcomed into his Kingdom by all the lights of the Nation; Stars of all Magnitudes with all the lustre and Glory they could clothe themselves withal. A Day, by the light whereof we begin to see our late Follies, God grant we may truly repent us of them! And our present happiness, Oh, that we could be heartily thankful for it! A Day, wherein Religion begins to appear again in her own dress, and all those masks and vizors, too freequently worn in the dark night of Ignorance, begin to fall off from her face: All the Night-birds of prey and rapine begin to betake themselves to their Holes: & the doors of God's house are set wide open, that we his servants may freely enter in and worship the God of our Fathers, after the manner of our Fathers, solemnly and decently. 'Twere an endless task, to recount half the blessings of this Day; the sum of all is this, The Anointed of the LORD, whom we feared to have been taken in their nets, is returned in peace.  
Let us therefore be Glad and Rejoice: be Glad inwardly, and Rejoice outwardly, be so glad, that God may accept of our Joy, as an acceptable sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for his great and provident mercy, in having regard unto his holy One: and so rejoice that the world may see we are glad indeed, & acknowledge him the Author of our Happiness. It is most fit, that as the world hath seen us sad, yea, perhaps too sinfully dejected in the Day of our Afflictions; so it should now behold us cheerful and full of joy, but still without sinfulness, in this Day which the LORD hath made.  
Only let us here beware, lest we so rejoice as to forfeit again the ground of our joys: In vain do we observe this Day as a Thanksgiving-day, except we labour to keep every Day of our life henceforward Holiday. It is not enough to say LORD we thank thee, but we are to Sacrifice our Persons and our endeavours to his honour and glory; returning him not only the Calves of our lips, but the Affections of our hearts, and the labours of our hands, and the obedience of the whole man for the abundance of his mercies. Our King, our Church, our Land have all too long groaned under our Sinful rejoy cing, and let us take heed lest all these suffer over again by our confident and presumptuous reassuming of such carnal Joys: Why should it be any longer said, and that with so much colour of truth, that Loyalty and Piety cannot dwell together in the same breast? Why should it be any longer said to our shame, that swearing, & drinking, and deriding Religion, and making a mock of Holiness, are the Principal badges of such as call themselves Royalists? We know who and what they are who have long ago publicly boasted, that they have been the King's best Subjects and Friends, the way to confute them is not to swear they are not so, but to prove by our actions that we indeed are so: and to do this, there's no way left us but to be as sincerely Religious, as they hypocrytically: We may safely give leave to the Covenanter, the Engager, and the rest of a Schismatical people to pretend as high as they can, whilst we are sure we are as much as they can pretend to Let us but once outdo and out live them, 'tis no great matter who out-talks, and out-braves us: but let us by no means give occasion to the enemies of God to Blaspheme; but whilst we endeavour to express our Loyalty in our joy, let our joy be most clearly manifested in our Obedience to His just commands, and in our Conformity to his good example; whose first Proclamation was to condemn and prohibit, and whose whole course of life is to shame all manner of Profaneness and debauchery. Let but our good and righteous actions first stop the mouths of our Enemies, and then our Righteous God will undoubtedly bind their hands, and turn their hearts, and make us all at last charitably and unanimously to join in the Praises of that great God, who hath miraculously restored our Cornerstone, and rebuilt our Jerusalem, and made her once more a City in a fair way to be at unity within herself. He will then make our King a glorious Prince, and us happy Subjects, and all of us at last more happy Saints, when we shall all obtain Crowns and Kingdoms, and be built up together one triumphant Church on our Head Cornerstone Christ JESUS; full of all Gladness, and Rejoicing, and perpetual sing, to the Honour and Glory of him that sitteth upon the everlasting Throne, who is LORD of Lords, and KING of Kings; to whom for his unspeakable mercy to our Gracious King, and to us his Subjects in his happy Restauration, let us ascribe all Honour and Glory, Praise and Thanksgiving now and for ever.  
AMEN.