ISRAEL AND ENGLAND paralleled, In a Sermon preached before the honourable society of Grays-inn, upon Sunday in the afternoon, April 16. 1648.  
By PAUL KNELL, Master in Arts of Clare-Hall in Cambridge.  
Sometimes Chaplain to a Regiment of Curiasiers in his Majesty's Army.  
LONDON, Printed in the Year 1648.   

To all those that are friends to Peace, and to King CHARLES.  
SIRS,  
THough Rebels seem to have so much Law and Logic, that none but argumentum Bacillinum, Club-law, will ever nonplus them, yet as the Pulpit and Press have both helped to heighten this Rebellion, so it is fit they should both endeavour the de-throning of it. I know that Apologies are as much in use as Printing, but let no such compliments henceforth come to the press, seeing such lean unpolished notions as these have been persuaded thither. And indeed, should truth & loyalty have no better Advocates than myself, Heresy and Rebellion might well hope to be perpetual. But I know there are many thousands ready to make up my defects; and truly that tongue deserveth to be cut out, that hand to be cut off, that will not now be lifted up in His Majesty's behalf, whose captivity every loyal subject should account his own, remembering him that is in bonds, as bound with him, no friend of his having any hope of liberty, till He can lead him to it; and heavens hasten that happy day. This is the bounden daily prayer of  
Your friend and servant, P. K.   
AMOS. 3.2. 
You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.  
THe first verse plainly showeth us who are meant here in the second, even the children of Israel, and the whole family that came out of Egypt. Neither are these last words to be counted a tautology; for after the revolting of the ten tribes from the house of David, Israel was one Kingdom, judah was another; we'll go no farther back to clear it, than the title of this prophecy, which runneth thus; The words of Amos, which he saw concerning Israel (that is Israel and judah) in the days of Uzziah King of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of joash King of Israel. Now though but ten tribes were revolted from David, yet all twelve tribes were revolted from God, the children of Israel, and the whole family that came out of Egypt.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as Caesar once said to Brutus; will God's children of Israel and judah be such rebels? ingratum si dixeris, etc. so an heathen could conclude, that ingratitude was the abstract and abridgement of all sin, as if it had been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the great offence. And even unreasonable creatures will not be guilty of unthankfulness, the ox knoweth his owner, he will not gore him, and you remember the gratitude of that Roman Lion in the story. Nay to go one step lower, non ingratus ager, that which hath not so much as sense is not unthankful, the earth doth not entomb, or always keep the seed close prisoner, but most thankfully returneth it to the sour with increase. Yet the land of Israel proved a barren common, whereon nothing but weeds, nothing but unthankefullnesse would grow; whereas the inhabitants should not so much as have rendered evil for evil, they continually rewarded God evil for good, he did not faster multiply his benefits upon them then they did their transgressions and rebellions against him. And shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? Yes, seeing fair means will work no good on them, I will try what foul will do, forasmuch as they have forsaken me, and not walked in my judgements, having broken my Statutes, and not kept my commandments, I will therefore visit their offences with the rod, and their sins with scourges. You only have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. In which words any one will say there are two general parts, Commemoratio beneficii, the rehearsing of a former benefit, You only have I known of all the families of the earth, and Comminatio suplicii, the threatening of a future judgement, Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities, And of these with all the brevicy and plainness that I can. But before I come to handle the parts in their order, it will not be amiss to premise some brief explication of the words. First than you only have I known; I thought that God had been ommniscient till now, but the Text seemeth to deny it, in Jury is God known, and God knoweth none but Jury, You only have I known of all the families of the earth. But we must observe that this word, Know, hath divers acceptions in holy Scripture. I shall instance but in three. First, to know, is to behold, to overlook, or to discern. Thus God knoweth the whole world, and all that there in is, he knoweth all the fowls upon the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are in his sight, there is not a word in our tongue, nor a thought in our heart, but he knoweth it altogether, and before we knew it, before we either spoke or thought it. Secondly, to know, is to give approbation, and to allow of. Thus the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, that is, he approveth of it. Psal. 1. ult. As for the ungodly (such as are the reformers of our age) it is not so with them, our Saviour's word to these will be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. I never knew you, that is, I never liked your do. Luke. 13.27. Thirdly, and lastly, to Know, is to bless, to pity, or show mercy to. And the phrase seemeth to be borrowed from a custom among men, who seldom show any kindness; but to persons that they know, Ig●●ti nulla cupid●, a stranger can scarce get any thing, but ill words; David's servants were strangers to Nabal, and therefore the churl would give them nothing, Shall I take my bread, saith he, and my water, and my flesh, and give it unto men whom I know not whence they be? 1. Sam. 25.11. No, few or none will relieve any but only such as are well known to them. And to this custom God seemeth to allude here in our text. You only have I Known, that is. I have blessed you only, on you have I multiplied my favours, and loving kindnesses, on you only, or at least chief of all the families of the earth. And in this sense is the word known used Psal. 31.7. I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy, for thou hast considered my trouble, et cognovisti, and hast known my soul in adversities, thou hast known, that is, thou hast pitied, thou hast had compassion on my soul, Cognoscere est miserari, so Agellius expoundeth the place. And Solomon hath a passage that may be referred to this purpose, Pro. 12.10 A righteous man regardeth the life of his beasts. Novit justus, so, it is in the Latin version, a righteous man knoweth, but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, so it is in the Septuagint, a righteous man is merciful to the lives of his beasts. If now we put the Latin and Greek together, we shall find that to know, is to show mercy to. In which sense the word is likewise used here in our text, You only have I known of all the families of the earth.  
But if the Commemoration must be so construed, why followeth there a Commination? because God had been so good to Israel, is it therefore that he threatneth them? this seemeth somewhat strange. But if we take middle and both ends, this will soon be reconciled; You only have I known of all the families of the earth, we must halt here a while, Desunt nonnulla, there seemeth to be somewhat wanting, but it cometh in at the end of the verse, we may paraphrase therefore upon the Text after this manner, the words are in effect, as if Almighty God should have said, I have nourished and brought up children, and (like our pretended Parliament) they have rebelled against me, destruction and unhappiness is in their way, and the way of peace have they not known; I have known them, but they have not known me, the ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib, but Israel doth not know, my people doth ●ot consider, I threaten them not for the good I have ●one to them, but for the notorious evil they have done ●o me; You only have I known of all the families of ●he earth, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. Idcirco therefore. Sin is the causa impulsiva, that which moveth and as it were, compelleth Almighty God to punish. The Prophet Jeremy putteth the question, Lam. 3.39. Wherefore doth a living man complain? and he giveth an answer to it before the verse be out, A man for the punishment of his fins, that is, a man is punished for his sins and therefore our old translation readeth it thus, Let him murmur at his own sins, this, this is the only cause of all his sufferings idcirco therefore. Therefore I. Shall there be evil in the City, and the Lord hath not done it? Amos 3.6. Siracides telleth us indeed of spirits that are created for vengeance, and these evil spirits many times lay on sore strokes; but they have God's commission, at least permission for what they do, they do this to pacify the wrath of him that made them Ecclus. 39.28. As all punishment is for sin, so it is from God. But how can this consist with his goodness? Yes, the very next particle will show us, for he speaketh not in the present, but the future tense, he giveth Israel warning of his intention, before he proceedeth to execution, that, if they had any grace, they might repent and so prevent the judgement threatened; and he threatneth them but after a mild & gentle manner, he threatened not to ruin and consume them, but only to visit and correct them; You only have I known of all the Families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. And so much for the coherence and explication of the words. It is now high time to come nearer to the parts. I begin therefore with the first; which is Commemoratio beneficii, the rehearsing of a former benefit; You ●●ely have I known of all the Families of the earth. There are many other Scriptures very like this Text, I will give you but one or two, the first shall be Deut. 4.8. What Nation is there so great, saith Moses, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for? The second shall be Psal. 147. ult. He hath not dealt so with any Nation. And that we may know how well God dealt with the people of Israel, we may observe, that he bestowed upon them two sorts of blessings, Privative and Positive ones. I begin with the first, God's privative blessings. The children of Israel were for a long time bound Apprentices in Egypt, where they were grievously oppressed by Pharaoh and his Taskmasters, who compelled them not only to make Brick, but, it should seem by the story, they would have had them make straw too. From which intolerable servitude God set them free at last, he eased their shoulders from the burden, and their hands were delivered from making of Pots, He brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness, and gave them the Lands of the Heathen, and they took the labours of the people in possession. As for Pharaoh and his host they were overwhelmed in the red Sea, they sunk down to the bottom as a stone. After this, God made good his word to Joshua, not suffering a man to stand before him all the days of his life. And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah, and of David, what marvelous deliverances God wrought for his people, discomfiting their enemies both by those Worthies and by other Champions; the Sun, Psal. 19 is compared to a strong Champion, and rather than Israel shall be worsted, insensible Champions shall fight for them, the Sun shall stand still in the midst of heaven, the Stars in their courses shall fight against Sisera; so mightily did God deliver his people, even the sons of Jacob and Joseph: You only have I known of all the Families of the earth. And as God bestowed many Privative blessings upon Israel, so many Positive blessings too. And these were of two sorts, Temporal and Spiritual. I begin with the first, God's temporal blessings, which are recorded Is. 5.1, 2. My beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill; and he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest Vine, and built a Tower in the midst of it, and also made a Winepress therein. It will be no digression to touch briefly upon each of these particulars; the situation of the Vineyard meeteth us first, which was in clive uberrimo, in a very fruitful hill. The hill of Zion was a fair place, and the joy of the whole earth. Israel had a goodly heritage, Canaan flowed with milk and honey. And the fruitfulness of it is described at large Deut. 8.7, 8, 9 Next to the fruitful situation, Gods fencing of the Vineyard followeth. He made a wall above it, saith the Margin, and Mat. 21. it is said he hedged it round about. And you know that an hedge secureth for two uses; for distinction, and for conservation. Israel was hedged about both ways; for distinction they had the Law, by this they were discerned from other Nations. What Nation is there so great, saith Moses, that hath Statutes and judgements so righteous, as all this Law which I set before you this day? Deut. 4.8. Other Nations dwelled, as it were, in a Champion Country, without any hedge, without a Law, but Israel was enclosed, and hereby distinguished from all other people, God dealt not so well with any other Nation, neither had the Heathen knowledge of his Laws. And as Israel had an hedge for distinction, so they had another hedge for conservation; which was the providence of God, and the protection of his Angels; The hills, saith the Psalmist, stand about Jerusalem, even so standeth the Lord round about his people from this time forth for ever more.  
In the next place, God gathered the stones out of his vineyard, whereby we are to understand the wicked Nations, according to that of the Psalmist, Psal. 80.8. Thou hast brought a Vine out of Egypt; expuleras gentes, thou hast cast out the heathen; God gave away their land for an heritage, even for an heritage unto Israel his people; that is the next thing presented to us, he planted it with the choicest Vine, the Vineyard of the Lord of hosts was the house of Israel, and the men of Judah were his pleasant Plant. The next observable is, God's building of a Tower in his Vineyard, and Turris, authoritas est Sacerdotalis, saith Aretius, the Tower in God's Vineyard, is the office and authority of God's Ministers; for as watchmen from a Tower overlooking all the coast, give notice when any corporal enemies are approaching; so God's Ministers who are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the watchmen of his Church, these give her warning of her ghostly enemies; so that neither the Boor of the wood can waste her, nor yet the wild Beast of the field devour her. In the last place, God made a winepress in his Vineyard; and by this some understand the discipline of the judicial law, whereby the juice of good living was to be, as it were, pressed out of the people. But to explain all this in three words, by the fence, by the Tower, by the winepress, by all this care and cost bestowed upon the Vineyard, there is signified Gods abundant love toward his people Israel, so that he could not possibly do any else for them, having done more for them already, then for all the world besides; You only have I known of all the families of the earth: And as God bestowed upon Israel many temporal, so many spiritual blessings, which are mentioned by the Apostle, Rom. 9.4, 5. where speaking of the Israelites, he telleth us, that to them pertained the adoption, and the glory, and the Covenant, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; theirs were the Fathers, and of them, as concerning the flesh, Christ came. It will not be amiss likewise to examine briefly these particulars: and first, to the Israelites pertained the adoption, they were culled out of all nations to be Gods peculiar people: the quotations to this purpose, are almost innumerable, I shall cite but only one, which is Isa. 43.1. Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that form thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. Called thee by thy name? nay, I have thee by mine own name, so it is 2 Chron. 7.14. my people, which are called by my name. And Dan. 9.19. Thy city saith the Prophet, and thy people are called by thy name. Whence we may observe, that there was a twofold relation between God and I●rael, of father and children and of husband and wife: first, they were related as father and children: children bear their father's name: God therefore calling Israel by his own name, this showeth, that he was their father, they his children: And the Prophet in their name, testifieth as much, Isa. 63.16. Doubtless thou, O Lord, art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not. Secondly, God was related to Israel as an husband to his wife; the wife beareth her husband's name, it hath been thus ever since Isaiahs' time I am sure, for God threatened by him to send a sword upon Judah and Jerusalem, which should make so great a slaughter and dearth of men, than seven women should take hold of, or should come a wooing to one man, saying, We will find ourselves meat and , we will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel, only let us be called by thy name, Isa. 4.1. Called by thy name? what do the women mean by this? why the very next words will show us, which are, to take away our reproach: a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is, barrenness was a reproach among the Jews; let us be therefore called by thy name, to take away our reproach; that is, let us be married to thee, be thou our husband: God then calling the people of Israel by his own name, this showeth that he was, as it were, their husband, they his wife: and God maketh them a promise of marriage in one place, where the Banes, as it were, are asked twice betwixt them in one verse, Hos. 2.19. I will betrothe thee unto me for over, yea I will betrothe thee unto m● in righteousness and in judgement, etc. And in another place, the match seemeth to be consummated, for God speaketh in the present tense, I am married unto you, saith the Lord, Jer. 3.14. God was to the Israelites both a father and an husband, as a father he nurtured them, as an husband he nourished them; never did any one hate his own flesh: God therefore must needs be loving unto Israel, they being, as it were, bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh, they were his Spouse, they were his sons, to them pertained the adoption; and the glory, saith the Apostle, that is next, which glory some would have to be a consequent of their adoption, and indeed to be Gods own people was no small dignity: But this glory may be taken rather for the glorious presence of God amongst them, which he manifested most especially from off the Mercy-seat, that was upon the ark, and therefore when the Israelites had lost the ark, Phinehas his wife concluded, that they had lost the glory too; the glory, saith she, is departed from Israel, for the ark of God is taken, 1 Sam. 4. ult. And as the adoption and the glory pertained to Israel, so the Covenants too; for the covenant that God made with Abraham runneth thus, Gen. 17.7. I will establish my Covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an everlasting Covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.  
The next privilege that Israel had, was the giving of the Law; that is, the moral Law was given to them, and almighty God himself was their Lawgiver: The Promises were theirs too; the promise of long life here, and of eternal life hereafter, of the life that now is, and of that which is to come; to Abraham and his seed were these promises made, Gal. 3.16.  
And as the Promises were theirs, so theirs also were the fathers, that is, the Promises were made as well to their fathers as to them, according to that of Saint Peter, Acts 3.25. Ye are the children of the Prophets, and of the Covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed. In thy seed, that is, in Christ, who was the Israelites own Countryman, which is their last prerogative recorded by the Apostle, of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came.  
Thus you have seen how God loaded the Israelites with blessings, with privative and positive, with temporal and spiritual; You only have I known of all the families of the Earth. And now Israel, as MOSES once said, Deut. 10.12. What doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul? But alas, the God of Israel is here forced to complain, that notwithstanding all the cost he had bestowed upon his Vineyard, whem he expected grapes from it, it brought forth wild grapes; notwithstanding those many benefits he had bestowed upon his people, they continually rewarded him evil for good; they thought not of his hand, nor of the day when had delivered them from the hand of the enemy, how he wrought his miracles in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan; neither destroyed they the heathen, but learned their works; for they shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons, and of their daughters, whom they offered unto the Idols of Canaan, and the land was defiled with blood.  
In general terms, their sins are set down, Deut. 9.6, 7. but they are more particularly described in the third and fifth chapter of Isaiah: in the third chapter you may see their women's sins, the Prophet bringeth you, as it were, into the Exchange, he showeth you the pride and vanity of their women's dress, he giveth you such an inventory of their toys, as is able to make a very Ca●o change his countenance: In the fifth chapter the Prophet showeth you their men's sins; after the catalogue of God's benefits, he giveth you another catalogue of their sins; at the seventh verse he showeth you their oppression and injustice; I looked for judgement, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry. At the eighth verse, their encroaching covetousness in joining house to house, and field to field, until there was no place, that they might be placed alone in the midst of the earth. At the eleventh and twelfth verses, their drunkenness and riot in rising up early to follow strong drink, and continuing until night, till wine inflamed them, having the Harp and the Viol, the Tabret and Pipe, and wine in their feasts. At the eighteenth and nineteenth verses, their contempt and slighting of God's Word; in defiance of this drawing iniquity with coards of vanity, and sin, as it were, with a cart-rope; saying, let him do his worst, let him make speed and hasten his work that we may see it, and let the counsel of the holy one of Israel draw nigh and come that we may know it. At the twentieth verse, their Hypocrisy, in calling evil good, and good evil; in putting darkness for light, and light for darkness; in putting bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. At the one and twentieth verse, their selfe conceit, being wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight. At the two and twentieth verse, their Pot-valour, in that they were mighty to drink Wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink. At the three and twentieth verse, their bribery and corruption, in justifying the wicked for reward, and in taking away the righteousness of the righteous from him. And shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord; shall not my soul be avenged on such a Nation as this? Yes, the wrath of God was kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance; for three transgressions of Judah and for four, he resolveth that he will not turn away the punishment thereof. And so I am fallen upon the second part of the Text, which is Comminatio supplicii; the threatening of a future judgement; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. You have heard that God bestowed upon Israel two sorts of blessings; both which he threatneth to withdraw for their unthankfulness.  
First, his private blessings; they must expect no more deliverances from him. He brought them forth out of the Iron Furnace, even out of Egypt; but they had so provoked him, that he threatened to bind them Apprentices there the second time. Apprentices? nay worse, he threatened to make Slaves of them, so we read Deutr. 28. ult. The Lord, saith Moses, shall bring thee into Egypt again with Ships, by the way whereof I spoke unto to thee; thou shalt see it no more again; and there shall ye be sold (offer yourselves at least) unto your enemies for Bondmen and Bondwomen, and no man shall buy you. God threatneth to sell his people for nought, and to take no money for them. And whereas the Israelites were wont to have the better of their Enemies, they had so angered the Lord of hosts, that he threatened to give their Enemies the victory, so we read Deutr. 28.25. The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies, thou shalt go out one way against them, and shalt flee seven ways before them, and shall be removed into all the Kingdoms of the earth.  
And I am sure they have been thus dlspersed for many hundred years; they are strangers in all Countries; they have lost both their place and Nation.  
Secondly, God threatneth to withdraw his positive blessings from them: We have a plain Text for this, Isa. 5.5, 6. I will tell thee, saith God, what I will do to my Vineyard; I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down; and I will lay it waste, it shall not be pruned nor digged: I will also command the Clouds, that they rain no more upon it. So true is that of the Psalmist, Psal. 107.34. A fruitful Land maketh he barren, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. For though the Land of Canaan were as the Garden of Eden, yet for the iniquity of the Inhabitants, it shall be turned into a Wilderness; and though the Israelites had the blessings of the right hand, and of the left, yet for their ingratitude and disobedience, God threatneth to withdraw both; You only have I known of all the Families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.  
Therefore I will punish you; You that were my darling, mine own peculiar people; you that were as dear to me as the apple of mine eye; because ye have broken my Commandments and been unmindful of my loving kindness, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.  
And the observation from hence for our instruction is most obvious; Gods hatred against sin is such, that he will not let it go unpunished in his dearest children. Adam was the masterpiece of all God's workmanship, and highly in favour with him at the first, and yet as soon as ever he had tasted of the forbidden tree, God banished this same Adam out of Paradise. Moses is often styled the servant of God, but indeed he seemeth to have been more, with reverence be it spoken, to have been Gods familiar acquaintance, for Exod. 33.11. the Lord spoke unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh to his friend. Yet as great, and gracious, and familiar as Moses was with God, for one sin of infidelity God fell out with him, as we read Numb. 20. where when the people murmured for water, God bid Moses but only speak to the rock, and it should give forth water: But Moses thought that speaking would not do it; not a word therefore, but a blow, two of them for failing, he smote the rock twice; And for this he had his doom immediately, that he should not enter into the land of promise. He that Prophesied against the Altar at Bethel was God's favourite, a man of God. Yet forasmuch as he disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, in going back to eat and drink with the old Prophet, his carcase must not come to the Sepulchre of his fathers. I shall give you but one example more, which is without example, our Saviour himself, that Lamb without spot, the only righteous person that ever lived upon the earth. Though he were. God's bosom Son, and had not the least sin of his own, only took ours by imputation, yet how harshly did his father handle him, never was there any sorrow like unto his sorrow, wherewith the Lord afflicted him in the day of his fierce anger. And if these things be done in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? Luke 23.31. The righteous shall be recompensed in the earth, much more the wicked and the sinner, Prov. 11. ult. If judgement begin at the house of God, what shall the end be of those men that obey not the Gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 1 Pet. 4.17, 18. If an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile, if this man shall be recompensed, shall be punished in the earth; with whom shall hypocrites have their portion, that are full of deceit and fraud, and under whose tongue is ungodliness and vanity? If a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God, and striveth to eschew evil, if this man shall be recompensed, shall be punished in the earth, what will become of him that hath no fear of God before his eyes, but liveth as if there were no God, committing all uncleanness even with greediness? If a man of a strict life, and a tender conscience must be punished, what will become of the rebellious reformers of our age, whose consciences seem to be feared with an hot iron? If Jerusalem the holy City must be punished, Lord, what will become of London and Westminster, places every whit as sinful as Sodom or Gomorrah? If God go so roughly to work with them he knoweth, oh how will he handle strangers without mittens? if he execute his judgements upon Jury where he was known, oh what fiery indignation will he pour out upon the heathen that have not known him, and upon the Kingdoms that have not called upon his name?  
This teacheth us to flee from sin, as from the face of a Serpent, considering how odious and abominable it is in the sight of God, though Coniah the son of Jeboiakim King of Judah were the signet upon his right hand, yet, for sin God threatened to pluck him thence, Jer. 22.24. The King of England will not pardon wilful murder, though his chiefest favourite should commit it. The King of heaven will let no sin go unpunished, no not in his favourites, in his own people. And he will never connive at sin in us, that threatneth here to punish it so severely in Israel, You only have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore will I punish you for all your iniquities.  
And so I have gone through the parts of the Text; a few words now of Application, and I have done.  
Truly God, saith the Psalmist, is loving unto Isael, and truly he hath been as loving unto us, he hath bestowed many private, and many positive blessings on us. First private, many late deliverances, I will Instance but in three.  
The first was from Popish tyranny and superstition, a tyranny more than Egyptian, an Antichristian tyranny. The damned glutton Luk. 16. desired only a little water for his thirst, But water will not quench this thirst of Babylon, the whore must have blood, till she hath made herself stark drunk with it, no blood of Beasts, it must be blood of Men, no blood of sinners, it must be the blood of Saints, and these Martyrs none of Mahomet's, they must be Martyrs of Jesus. Rev. 17.6. Sad experience of this tyranny we had in Queen Mary's days. Non missura cutem nisi plena cruoris hirudo, the Romish horseleech would not give us over, till she had full gorged herself with our blood. Or indeed it is a question whether she would ever have been satisfied, had we not been strangely delivered from her tyranny, by the Queen of Queens, or rather the King of Kings, You o●ely have I known of all the fam●lies of the earth.  
A second deliverance was from the Spanish Armado in the year 1588. Which Fleet had it prevailed, our Thames had been named Tiber, Romish superstition had invaded us once more, and then by the waters of Babylon we might have sat down and wept, as often as we remembered this our Zion. But God broke the ships of the sea through the East wind, You only have I known of all the families of the earth.  
A third deliverance was from that horrid Powder-treason, Novemb. 5. 1605. which was carried on with so great secrecy, that it made the man of sin insult— Teque his, ait, eripe flammis, who is that God that shall deliver them out of my hands? But he that dwelleth in heaven laugheth the Bishop of Rome to scorn, and plucked us as it had been firebrands out of the burning, You only have I known of all the families of the earth.  
And as God has befriended us by his private, so by his positive blessings, answerable to those which he bestowed upon his Vineyard. And first we may compare with Israel for a fruitful situation, being neither under the torrid nor the frozen Zone, neither burned away with parching heat, nor benumbed away with pinching cold, but seated in a temperate climate & afertile soil; our folds are full of sheep our valleys stand so thick with corn that we may laugh and sing. God hath also fenced us about, like the Israelites in the red sea with a wall of water, the waters are as a wall unto us on our right hand, and on our left. But especially God hath fenced us by his protection, salvation hath the Lord appointed for walls and bulwarks. He hath likewise gathered the stones out from us, he hath cast out the Romish rabble, and hath planted our Land with the choicest Religion, that of Protestants. And he hath builded a Tower among us, he hath set up Episcopal authority. Some think this Tower too high, and would feign have it quite demolished, down with it, down with it, say they, even to the ground. But these are an Assembly of birds that would feign build in others nests; there are Presbyterian Levellers as well as Independent; but let them both do what they can, I hope I shall never see the day wherein these Towers fall. God hath made, as it were, a winepress among us too, no Nation under heaven hath better Laws than we, many of them or these seven years have been cast into a deep sleep, but I trust that within few months they will be wakened. And that in telling you of one blessing more I may show you all the rest, God hath set over us a prudent, and most pious Prince, a King for His faith and life unspotted from the world, a Patron and a Pattern of good men and goodness, a maintainer of His Country's Laws, and, however Rebellion hath traduced Him, a zealous professor and Defender of the Christian Faith. O fortunatos nimium, bona si sua nôrint, Augligenas! Happy Nation we to be in such a case, happy Nation we to have the Lord for our God, to have him as kind and good to us, as he ever was to Israel, You only have I known of all the families of the earth. And now, England, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul? But here God may as justly complain of us as he did of Israel, that when he looked for grapes from us, we have brought forth wild grapes, there is not a sin Isa. 5. charged upon Israel, but we stand guilty of it. I have not time to arraign all the sins that reign among us, the time would fail me to reckon up the oaths and imprecations. Our sins therefore being as many, nay, more, I doubt, than those of Israel; of two things one we must either plead more privilege to sin than they had, which I am sure we cannot, or else without great mercy we must look yet for greater judgements, at least to have God so threaten us, as here he threatens the people of Israel, You only have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for your iniquities. I will punish You. You that have seven years sat in Council, been in Covenant for, yet armed yourselves against, and have at last most traitorously imprisoned the Lords Anointed, you that have turned judgement to wormwood, you that have turned our still waters into blood, you that have turned the King's house, nay, the house of God into a den of thiefs, you that imagine wickedness and practise it you that have set yourselves in no good way, you that dare do any thing, but justice, you that dare rob your Sovereign, nay, even God himself, you that are made up of cozenage and contradictions, you that have no Religion but rapine and Rebellion, you that are against Papists in practice, though ye will not own that name, you that neither fear God, nor honour the King, you that would beggar all that refuse to be such Rebels as yourselves, you that, with Herod, are deeply died in blood of Innocents', that make no more of cutting off a man's, then of cutting off a dog's neck, you that have filled the grave with bodies, and hell with souls, therefore I will punish you for your iniquities.  
You likewise of the silly Schismatical Assembly, that, out of mere opposition, preach in Cloaks; you that are no legal Synod, but rather the Synagogue of Satan; you that for a pious Liturgy, would give us a pure piece of nonsense; you that would banish the Lords Prayer, and the Apostles Creed; you that call evil good, and good evil; you that teach for doctrines the commandments of wicked men; you that preach up Rebellion for four shillings a day; you that would be more than Deans or Bishops, though you dislike their Titles; you that are greedy dogs, never thinking ye have enough; you that serve not the Lord Jesus Christ, but your own bellies, Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.  
And you of the Court, for your flattery, and your prodigality; and you of the cowardly City for your disloyalty; you that dare fight against none but your King: and you of the Country for your stupidity and sottishness, in suffering your fellow-subjects so long to enslave you: you of the Clergy likewise for temporising, for fearing the face of man, for not daring to speak truth: You of the Laity for tenebrizing, for your Conventicles: You that are rich, for your Covetousness: You that are poor, for your idleness: You that are men, for your day-sins, gluttony, and drunkenness: You that are women, for your night-sins, chambering and wantonness: All you that are against the King, for forswearing of yourselves: Some of you that are for the King, for swearing; you that swear not, as Joseph did, By the life of your King, but By the life of your God, and By the Prince of life, whom ye swear over once aday from top to toe, as if ye would swear Christ in pieces, or God out of heaven, Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.  
Ye have been told of this sin often, and if I now told you of it rightly, I should tell you weeping, that they who thus mouth their Oaths and their God Damn them, they are no better than the very enemies of the Cross of Christ. Nor are they Enemies to him only, but also traitors to their King & Country, as arrant traitors as those that have imprisoned Him, let them never tell me they are the King's friends, for they are the worst of enemies, because of swearing the land mourneth, Jer. 23.10. And mourn it will a great deal worse, except this, and many other horrid sins be banished. We have seen hitherto, but, as it were, the morning of mourning, the beginning of sorrows, unless we repent, our Land, like Rama, will be filled with bitter mourning, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon, Zech. 12.11. For indeed how can we ever hope to have God bless us, when we are daily at him to damn and confound us? how can we ever hope for peace with men, so long as by oaths and other sins we fight against our God? No, there is no peace to the wicked, their portion is desolation, which though we hope still we outrun, yet in the end it will overtake us, quod differtur, non aufertur, as God hath leaden heels, so he hath iron hands, though he have spared us therefore a long time, yet he will pay us home at last, he will bruise us with a rod of iron, and break us in pieces like a potter's vessel. If a man will not turn, he will bend his bow. Now the farther back we draw the bowstring ere we shoot, the more forcibly the arrow flieth when we shoot; So the longer God delaieth to punish men for sin, the more harshly will he handle them when once he beginneth with them. He hath long begun with us, I know; but, without repentance, he will not make a full end, if we continue in sin, our sufferings shall be of long continuance; if we keep not the laws of God, the Laws of the Land shall still be kept from us, if we will not suffer Christ to reign over us, God will not suffer our Lord the King to reign. To sum up all therefore in one word, let us repent and be converted, or if we do not this for our own sakes, yet let us do it for our poor King's sake, who, in my conscience, hath a long time suffered for our sins. Let not us, brethren, forget God, and he will never forget us, he will speedily remember King Charles, and all his troubles, let us by a new life express our thankfulness for God's former loving kindness, and this will encourage him to confer new benefits upon us, he will be our God, we shall be his people, as he hath been good to us in former, so will he be in after ages, to us and our posterity for evermore. He will turn ours and our Sovereign's captivity as the rivers in the South, he will turn our heaviness into joy, he will take off our sackcloth and gird us with gladness, he will put a new song into our mouth, even a thanksgiving unto our God: though the Prologue have been Tragical, yet the Catastraphe shall be Comical, God will make good to us that promise, Zech. 8.19. The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fift, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth shall be to us joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts. Which God of his infinite mercy vouchsafe to grant unto us, for the mercies of his eternal Son, our blessed Saviour, To whom, with the Father, and holy Ghost, Three persons, one God, be rendered and ascribed, as most due is, all Honour, Glory, Power, Praise, Might, Majesty, Wisdom and Dominion, the residue of this blessed day present, and for ever more world without end. Amen.  
FINIS.