The Lifeguard OF A Loyal Christian, described in A SERMON, PREACHED At Saint Peter's Cornhill, upon Sunday in the afternoon, May 7. 1648.  
BY PAUL KNELL, Master in Arts of Clare-Hall in Cambridge: Sometimes Chaplain to a Regiment of Curiasiers in his Majesty's Army.  ROM. 8.31. 
If God be for us, who can be against us?  
LONDON, Printed in the Year 1648.   

A Prayer for the King.  
O Lord, preserve the Kings most excellent Majesty, our Sovereign Lord Charles, King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, and Supreme Governor in these his Realms, and in all other his Dominions and Countries, over all persons, and in all Causes, as well Ecclesiastical as Temporal. Behold, O God our Defender, and look upon the face of thine Anointed; Lord remember King Charles, and all his troubles, remember him according to the favour that thou bearest unto thy people; O visit him with thy salvation, plead thou his Cause, O Lord, with them that strive with him, and fight thou against them that have so long fought against thee and him; thou that bringest man out of prison, be pleased to bring him thence, deliver him not always over unto the will of his Enemies, but set his feet once more in a large room; send down thine hand from above, deliver him, and take him out of the great waters, from the hand of strange children, keep him as the apple of thine eye, hid him under the shadow of thy wings, from the men of thy hand, O Lord, from the men and from the evil world, let his honour yet be great in thy salvation; glory and great worship do thou lay upon him, set his Dominion also in the Sea, and his right hand in the Floods; as for those his Traitorous Enemies, which would not that he should reign over them, though they have imagined such a device, let them never be able to perform it, but let them all be subdued unto him even in the midst among the King's Enemies; Let us no longer see servants upon horses, and Princes walking as servants upon the earth; but they that now trample upon him, let them kneel before him, let his Enemies lick the dust; comfort him again now after the time that thou hast afflicted him, and for the years wherein he hath seen so much evil, restore him to his Crown on earth, and when thou takest away this, give him a Crown in heaven.  
And let every Loyal Christian say, Amen.   

The Lifeguard OF A Loyal Christian.  ISAIAH 43.2. 
When thou passest thorough the waters, I will be with thee; and thorough the Rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest thorough the fire, thou shalt not be burnt, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.  
QVem miserum video, hominem scio; trouble is the very badge and cognizance of humanity; we are born to it, holy Job saith, as the sparks fly upward; to this end were we borne, and for this cause came we into the world. Or if this be not finite intentionis, yet it is finite executionis, I am sure, if we came not hither a purpose to be troubled, yet without great trouble we cannot get from hence, from the Cradle to the Coffin, being like Ezekiel's roll, full of Lamentatition, and mourning, and woe. There are some indeed (I mean the Traitorous Reformers of our Age) that live wholly at ease in their usurped Possessions, they come in no misfortune like other Folk, neither are they plagued like other men: But these look like the Devils Darlings, or rather like the World's Bastards; though we may be men therefore without trouble, yet without it we cannot be Loyal Subjects, we cannot be good Christians; in the world ye shall have tribulation, were the words of our departing Saviour to his Church. But he told them just before, that in him they should have peace, and he telleth them in effect the selfsame in our Text, That he will deliver them in six troubles; yea, that in seven there shall no evil touch them; that in Famine he will redeem them from death, and in War from the power of the Sword; Let their troubles be external, corporal corrections, let their troubles be internal, spiritual desertions, yet their Joshua, and their jehovah will deliver them out of all; When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and thorough the Rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest thorough the fire, thou shalt not be burnt, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.  
In which words, ye may please to observe with me four parts, the Passenger, the Passage, the Concomitant, and the Consequent. The Passenger is the Church, cum transieris, when thou passest. The Passage is twofold, per aquas & per ignes, through waters, and through fire. The Concomitant or the Convoy, is Almighty God, tibi ad sum, I am or I will be with thee. The Consequent, is the Church's safety, flumina non operient, flamma non incendet, the rivers shall not overflow thee, the flame shall not kindle on thee. And of these parts in order. I begin with the Passenger, which is the Church, cum transieris, when thou passest.  
Had we retained our first integrity, we might easily have stepped to heaven with as great facility as from one room to another, from the parlour of an earthly, to the presence-chamber of an heavenly Paradise. But sin hath placed a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a great gulf between us and heaven; we that were sometimes near, are now afar off; whosoever will hereafter enter into Canaan, he must undergo a tedious passage through the wilderness.  
There are four titles that pertain to the best of Adam's sons, Advenae, Inquilini, Hospites, Peregrini, we are strangers, we are sojourners, we are guests, we are pilgrims; but of all four, the last, me thinks, fitteth our condition best, Peregrini, we are pilgrims, Viatores, we are travellers, Transeuntes, we are passengers, here we have no continuing city, but we seek for one to come. Look upon the Patriarch Abraham, the great grandfather of the Church, and ye shall find him like St. Paul, in journeying often; from Caldea to Charran, from Charran to Canaan, where he journeyed, the Apostle telleth us, as in a strange country, dwelling in Tabernacles with Isaac and jacob; he had there none inheritance, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, saith St. Stephen, no not so much as to set his foot on, to teach him and us all, that we must not set up our staff here, plus ultra, we must go further, we being but Pilgrims on the earth.  
This we know likewise to have been the condition of the Israelites, who wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way, and found no city to dwell in; their own houses were tents, God's house was but a Tabernacle, all portable, to be carried up and down from one place to another; they had neither tenement nor Temple, till they were settled in the land of Canaan, nor have we any certain dwelling place, till we come thither where the Lamb's the Temple. For while we are at home in the body, we are not properly at home, we are but in viâ, in the way that leadeth us to it; we are born from above, and therefore there is our native country; all the while we are on earth, we are, as it were going, a pilgrimage to heaven. And the application of this now may be twofold.  
First, seeing we are but passengers here and pilgrims, this may serve to set spurs to us, and hasten us toward our country. For no passenger would willingly tarry long upon the way, but maketh all the haste he can to get him home. So let us think it our greatest punishment (next to this Rebellious Reformation) that we are constrained to dwell with Mesech, to have our habitation among the tents of Kedar, and therefore wish, with holy David, To have the wings of a Dove, that so we might fly home to heaven, and be at rest.  
Secondly, though here we are but passengers, yet seeing heaven is our home, this may comfort us amidst all our plunderings and persecutions, all our necessities and distresses. For let a passenger meet with never so bad entertainment by the way, yet he will not greatly murmur at it; I have better at home, he will say, and it will not be long, I hope, ere I get thither. So, brethren, as long as there are quarters taken up for us in heaven, if we have any Christian courage, let us not faint by the way, be our usage never so course, be our passage never so perilous;  
Which leadeth me from the first part of the Text, the Passenger, the Church; to the second, which is her Passage, and this I find to be twofold, per aquas, & per ignes, thorough waters, and thorough fire. Her first passage is per aquas, when thou passest thorough the waters. Which waters have sundry acceptions in holy Scripture: the literal is first in nature, and must be so in order. And Hugo Cardinalis will have an Alleotheta here, one tense put for another, transieris, for transibas, when thou passest, or shalt pass, instead of when thou passedst, or didst pass, alluding to the passage of Noah in the deluge, or rather to that of Israel thorough the Red Sea. But whether this, or no, be the meaning, these example's suit well with the Text; and of the same nature we have some other in holy writ, the example of Moses, of Elijah and Elisha, of the Disciples, of Saint Paul; I shall anon touch upon these in their proper place, I shall here only show you the several acceptions of these waters, the literal I have briefly pointed at already.  
Secondly, by waters we may understand the enemies of the Church. So they are expressed by holy David, Psal. 88.17. They came round about me daily like water, and compassed me together on every side. And Psal. 144.7. he prayeth after this manner, Send down thine hand from above, deliver me, and take me out of the great waters, from the hand of strange Children. And Revel. 17.15. the Angel expounding the vision of the great whore, which sat upon many waters, telleth Saint John in express words; The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, they are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.  
Thirdly, by waters we may understand heresies, and doctrine of devils, (which are too common, since we had neither King nor Bishop.) So Aretius and others expound that, Revel. 12.15. where we read that the Serpent cast out of his mouth, water as a flood, after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.  
Fourthly, and lastly, by waters we may understand the abyss of desperation. So we may construe that of the Psalmist, Psal. 69. The waters are come in even unto my soul, verse 1. I am come into deep waters, verse 2. Let not the water-flood drown me, ver. 16.  
The Churches second passage is per ignes, when thou walkest thorough the fire. Which is first literally to be taken, and we have examples of some in Scripture that found a safe passage thorough this fire, as Lot, and Isaac, and the Israelites, and the three Children.  
Secondly, by fire we are to understand persecution and affliction, according to that of the Psalmist, Psalm 66. Thou laidest trouble upon our loins, ingressi sumus per ignem, we went thorough the sire. And St. Peter useth the same Metaphor, Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you. 1 Pet. 4.12.  
The result then of all, is briefly this, That it is the portion of the Church to pass thorough fire and water, it is her destiny to suffer persecution and affliction.  
Noah's Ark was a notable representation of the Church, that was tossed upon the waves in the general inundation, so is this in the world's troubled sea which cannot rest. The disciples ship, in the Gospel, was another figure of the Church, that was covered with waves, almost overwhelmed with a raging tempest; so this is filled with the scornful reproof of the wealthy, the deep waters of the proud are ready to run even over her soul. The Church is a Ship, the World is the Sea; a sea of glass mingled with fire, Revel. 15.2. Of glass, there is the brittle and inconstant condition of the world; mingled with fire, here are the troubles of the Church, St. Peter's fiery trial. Troubled, alas! she is, and so hath ever been. Look upon Jacob, look upon Joseph, upon David, upon the Son of David. The time would fail me to tell you of Prophets and Apostles, of the Martyrs, Confessors, and other holy men of God, how they passed thorough the waters, how they walked thorough the fire; how they had trial of cruel mockings and scourge; yea, moreover also of bonds and imprisonment; how they were stoned, as S. Stephen, how they were sawn asunder, as the Prophet Isaiah; how they were slain with the sword, as the Apostle St. Paul; how they were beheaded, as St. John Baptist; Strafford and Canterbury; how they were hanged, as Tomkins, Chaloner, yeoman's, Bourchiar, Burleigh, and others; how they wandered about in deserts and mountains, and in dens, and caves of the earth, in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. Thus we see, that all which will be Loyal to God and the King, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Till our Saviour came into the Ship, the Sea was calm and quiet, but when he was once aboard, there straightway arose a mighty tempest. So long then as thou art without Christ, or without God in this world, the devil will make fair weather round about thee, but when once Christ Jesus is, as it were, come aboard thy soul, then will Satan raise a storm to try if he can make shipwreck of thy faith; when thou hast listed thyself a Soldier to fight under thy Saviour's and thy Sovereign's Banner, then look for a whole shower of fiery arrows from the wicked one, for the messenger of Satan to buffet thee, with St. Paul, both by inward temptations, and outward tribulations, by private suggestions, and public persecutions, the Devil will strive to split thee against the rock of desperation. But take this for thy comfort, that although thou art dangerously tossed, yet thou shalt not be cast away, for even he that upholdeth the heaven is thine upholder. Which leadeth me from the second part of the Text, the Church's passage thorough fire and water, to the third, which is the concomitant, or the convoy, Almighty God, Tibi adsum, I am, or I will be with thee.  
I that am the great Creator of Heaven and Earth; I that fill all places, and am contained in none; I that am about thy path, and about thy bed, and spy out all thy ways, tibi adsum, I am, I will be with thee.  
But what need then is there of this promise? For we may say it without blasphemy, that God must still be with us; it being as impossible for him to deny his omnipresence, as to deny himself, he can sooner separate heat from fire, he did that in Nebuchadnezars Furnace; he can sooner separate light from the Sun, he did this at our Saviour's expiration; the Creator can better do any thing, than divorce or divide his presence from his Creatures, for herein not only our bene esse, but our very esse doth consist, should he subtract his presence from us, we must return into our first nothing. He is not far therefore from every one of us, as St. Paul told the Athenians; nay, he is nearer to us, than we are unto ourselves, tibi adsum, I am, I will be with thee.  
But ye know there is a twofold presence of Almighty God. First, his general presence, which is his universal power and providence, whereby he governeth and disposeth all things, both in heaven and earth, and under the earth, according to that of the Psalmist, Psal. 139. If I climb up into heaven, thou art there, if I go down to hell, thou art there also. If I take the wings of the morning, and remain in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there also shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.  
Secondly, there is God's special presence, whereby he is present with his elect only, either to prevent their troubles, or else to comfort and support them; and chief is he with his servants in his Temple, at his public worship, which may easily be explained by an example. The King is, or aught to be, and I trust, shortly will be, by his power in all parts of his Dominion; yet he is said to be there, especially where his Courtiers, where his retinue is. In like manner is the King of Kings by his unbounded power and providence at all times in all places; yet we may know him to be with us, after an especial manner in the Temple, from his retinue of heavenly Courtiers that are there attending on him. For it was not for ornament only, that the walls of Solomon's Temple were carved round about with Cherubims, but also to signify that the holy Angels are ever about us at our public services. And if Angels be there, much more is the King of Saints, tibi adsum, I am, I will be with thee.  
There are three things especially that will continually be with us, the Air, our Conscience, and Almighty God. We may as well be without our being, as without our breath; take but away this from us, and take away us too. The Air leaveth us not till death, our Conscience, this goeth further with us, it remaineth with us after death to all eternity. Do not therefore the least sin, though none be with thee, but thine own Conscience, for this will accompany thee to thy deathbed, nay, this worm will live to eternity. And thy conscience is not more inseparable from thee then Creator, whisper never so softly, he will hear thee, hid thyself never so closely, he will see thee, run away never so swiftly, he will still be at thine elbow, tibi adsum, I am, I will be with thee.  
But I should not speak so much of God's general presence, his special presence is that which I must here insist upon; that presence which he promised the Patriarches and Prophets, that presence which our Saviour promised his Apostles, Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Mat. 28. ult. Always, there is no intermission. To the end of the world, that is, world without end; here is no termination. We may have men for our companions, that will forsake us in distress; or if they stick to us all our life, they must leave us at our death. But if God be our companion, if God be present with us, it is not distress, it is not death shall ever part us; nay, death shall unite us more nearly than ever we were before, we shall always be with God, he will always be with us, tibi adsum, I am, I will be with thee.  
But if God be always thus present with his Church, we may then expostulate here, as Gideon once did with the Angel Judg. 6.13. Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? Why is the blood of his dear servants shed like water on every side? Why suffereth he the Turk and Pope to drink themselves drunk with the blood of Saints, and with the blood of the Martyrs of Jesus?  
I Answer; though seemingly God absent himself from his Church for a season, yet never will he finally forsake her; seemingly, I say, for indeed he absenteth not himself at all, it is but in our apprehension that he is ever from us, if we can but believe it, he is present with us always, tibi adsum, I am, I will be with thee.  
And the application of this now, may be twofold.  
First, here is comfort for all that mourn in Zion, and with good Hezekiah, turn their face to the wall. Let them be cast into prison with Joseph and my Sovereign Lord the King, let them be cast into a dungeon, as Jeremy was, let them be cast into a den, as Daniel was, let them be cast into the water, as Moses was, let them be cast into the fire, as the three Children were, let them go thorough fire and water, famine and sword, never so many dangers, never so great disasters; yet so long as they have God with them, this will sweeten all their pills, in the multitude of the sorrows which they have in their hearts, his comfortable presence will refresh their souls.  
Secondly, seeing God is still with us, this should teach us likewise to be still with him, seeing he vouchsafeth to keep company with us on earth, therefore our conversation should be with him in Heaven. When we are lying down to sleep, to him we should commit our Spirits; when we wake up, like David, we should be present with him. It was jacob's vow, Gen. 28: that if God would be with him, than the Lord should be his God. We need not speak so doubtfully, for God is certainly with those that fear him, not only by his general, but also by his special presence, to direct and protect them, to deliver and to defend them. Which leadeth me from the third part of the Text, the concomitant, Almighty God, to the fourth and last, which is the Church's safety, Flumina non operient, flamma non incendet, the Rivers shall not overflow thee, the flame shall not kindle on thee; when thou passest thorough the waters I will be with thee, and thorough the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest thorough thee fire, thou shalt not be burnt, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Flumina non operient, the rivers shall not overflow thee.  
I propounded four acceptions of these waters, ye shall see that the Church passeth safely thorough them all.  
First, thorough waters, taken in the literal sense. Sin had once so soiled the earth, that God was feign to lay it asoak, it was so foul, that nothing would cleanse it but a flood. There were Giants in sin, as well as in stature, the wickedness of man was great in the earth. And abyssus abyssum, this depth of sin called for as deep a deluge, the floodgates therefore were plucked up, the windows from on high were opened. And what distress of nations was there then with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, & men's hearts failing them for fear? Me thinks I see how abruptly their marriage-feasts are dissolved, what haste they make out adoors, that they may get up into trees, how some climb the tops of mountains, tamen ultra pergere tendunt. But the waters continually following them at heels, when all hope that they should escape drowning was taken away; me thinks I hear them curse the day that ever they were borne, and wish, if it were possible, that they might be metamorphosed into fishes. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, when the flood was brought in upon the world of the ungodly; for though it reigned as if heaven and earth would have come together; though the waters were so grown, as to over-top the highest mountain, yet heavens great Palinurus preserved Noah in this ocean; flumina non operient, the rivers shall not overflow thee.  
The Children of Israel may be a second example, whose preservation was indeed fare stranger than Noah's, for Noah had a Ship, the Israelites had none, which made them think that there was no way in the world with them but drowning, Mars in the rear, and Neptune facing of them, they thought that one of these must needs devour Israel with open mouth. But he that brought light out of darkness, brought safety out of their greatest danger; what they feared would be their destruction, this God made their preservation, for rather than Israel shall miscarry, Jordan shall forget his fluid nature, the floods shall stand upright as an heap, and the depth shall be congealed in the heart of the Sea. God's People need not fear the waters, the waters saw them and were afraid; and therefore run away with might and main, to make way for them. The waters fared as if they had known the Israelites from the Egyptians, drowning the host of Pharaoh, but immuring the host of Israel, flumina non operient, the rivers shall not overflow thee.  
Moses may be a third example to this purpose. There were never two greater Tyrants than Pharaoh and Herod, one drowneth the male Children, the other cutteth their throats. But as Christ escaped from Herod, so from Pharaoh, Moses. His Parents durst not long entertain him in their house, when he was but a quarter old, they shipped him in an Ark of rushes. But how properly may that of the Psalmist be applied to him, Ps. 27.10. When my Father and my Mother forsake me, than the Lord taketh me up. Or rather, indeed the Lady did this, even the King of Egypt's daughter, who named him therefore Moses, Extractus, one drawn out, flumina non operient, the rivers shall not overflow thee.  
And to these examples I may add Elijahs and Elishaes' passage over Jordan, the Disciples with our Saviour in the Ship, and Saint Paul's most dangerous voyage toward Rome; all corroborating and confirming this assertion in our Text, flumina non operient, the rivers shall not overflow thee.  
The Lord sitteth above the water-flood, Psal. 29.9. ye have heard the story of him that wondered why any man would go to Sea, seeing so many die at Sea; and that one replied, he might wonder as well why any man will go to Bed, seeing so many die in their Beds. Dii maris & terrae, may be put into God's Royal title, his way is in the sea, and his paths in the great waters, he that was able without a ship, to walk safely on the Sea, must needs be able to save those that go down to the Sea in Ships, while they are following their vocation, they may be assured of his protection, he will give his Angels charge over them, to keep them in all their ways; the Angel of the water mentioned Revel. 16.5. this Angel shall be their Pilot, and conduct them to their wished haven, flumina non operient, the rivers shall not overflow them.  
Secondly, by waters we understood the enemies of the Church, neither shall these waters overflow her. The Serpent's seed will still be warring with the woman's, the Dragon and his, against Michael and his Angels, the Church of Christ will ever be maligned by the Synagogue of Satan, but though these waters swell, yet they shall not prevail against her. David's enemies were daily in hand to swallow him up; but these waters of the proud had bounds, which they could never pass. Hezekiah was both invaded and besieged by the Assyrians, but how strangely was he preserved from him that had drunk strange waters, and who with the sole of his feet had dried up all the rivers of besieged places! I have not time to show you all the particular preservations of God's people, how he hath saved them still from the reproof of those that would have eaten them up.  
And from this experience of God's former, together with the promises of his future favour, we may draw this application; we may here put on the resolution of holy David, not to fear, though the earth be moved, and though the hills be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof rage and swell, and though the mountains shake at the tempest of the same. Let the heathen never so furiously rage together, and let the people imagine a vain thing (let them think to overthrow the government both of Church and State) let the rulers stand up, and take counsel together against the Lord, and against his Anointed, and against his Church, let Gebal, and Amon, and Amaleck, the Philistines with them that dwell at Tyre, let Gog and Magog, Antichrist and Mahomet, Pope and Turk, nay, let all the Devils in hell be confederate against the Church, yet still she shall be safe, the sons of wickedness shall not hurt her, the gates of hell shall not prevail against her, flumina non operient, the rivers shall not overflow thee.  
Let me apply this to the head of our Church, my Sovereign Lord the King. The floods are risen, as David speaketh, the floods have lift up their voice, the floods lift up their waves. But these floods of ungodly Rebels shall not overflow Him, though the waves of the Sea are mighty, and rage horribly, yet the Lord (that's one good turn) which dwelleth on high is mightier, and he will send down from the high to fetch him, he will take him out of many waters, he will make these Traitors, according to our common phrase, as weak as water, as water spilt upon the ground, which cannot be gathered up, he will still the raging of the Sea, and the noise of his waves, and the madness of the people, he will deliver the King's soul in peace from the battle that hath been so long against him, he will deliver him from the strive of the people, and he will make him the Head of the Heathen; from the waters of strife, he will bring him to the still waters, the fierceness of these men shall turn to his praise, and the fierceness of them he will speedily refrain, flumina non operient, the rivers shall not overflow him.  
I have seen, Solomon said, and so have we, Servants upon Horses, and Princes walking as servants upon the earth: but I hope we shall not much longer see this sight.  
Water is a good servant, but a bad master: God therefore, I trust, will shortly deliver us from the tyranny of an arbitrary Anarchy, from the sovereignty of our fellow-subjects, flumina non operient, the rivers shall not overflow us.  
Thirdly, by Waters we understood heresies and doctrines of Devils; neither shall these waters overflow the Church. The Devil is ever changing God's truth into a lie; if God have said, ye shall; Satan will say, ye shall not die. And God sendeth some such strong delusions, that, as Eve did, they believe a lie, the Dragon's flood of errors quite drowneth them in perdition: but the Church shall not miscarry for all this Dragon-water, the earth (as it is Revel. 12.) shall swallow up the flood: the Earth, that is, the earthly minded, the ungodly of the world, shall swallow up the flood, that is, shall approve of, and entertain these wicked errors. Not a little of this water hath been emptied into the river Tiber, the Church of Rome hath swallowed down a great part of this Dragon's flood. The residue hath been swallowed by Pelagians and Antinomians, Donatists and Novatians, Marcionites and Manichees, Socinians and Arminians, presbyterians and Independents, Brownists and Burtonists, Schismatics and Separatists, Familists and Anabaptists; while we that are right Protestants take in none but living water, drawing the water of truth out of the well of salvation, the flood of error shall never surround or overwhelm us, flumina non operient, the rivers shall not overflow us.  
Fourthly and lastly, by Waters we understood the abyss of desperation; neither shall these waters overflow the Church. One while the Devil telleth men that God is made up of all mercy, another while that his mercy is not so great as their sins: first, he would flatter them into presumption, than he would fright them into desperation: and when he hath brought them to this latter state, than they are apt to drown themselves, like that Lunatic which ofttimes fell into the water, Mat. 17.15. But the Lord (saith S. Peter) knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation. He will not suffer them (saith Saint Paul) to be tempted above that they are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that they may be able to bear it.  
Art thou come therefore into deep waters, so that the floods are running over thee? hath Satan brought thee to the very brink of desperation? why! yet he shall never be able to bring thee any further, if thou belong to Christ; he could not drown the silly Swine without Christ's leave, (and thy Saviour will never licence him to do thee such a mischief) he is but like a Dog in a string, like a Dragon in a chain, so that thou mayest assure thyself he can do thee no hurt without God's special warrant and commission. Though thou walkest therefore through the valley of despair, yet fear no evil, for there is a way to Heaven just by the gates of Hell. It is the nature of clay to damn up the eyes, yet our Saviour put clay upon the blind to make him see. It is the nature of water to put out fire, yet Elijah poured water upon his sacrifice to make it burn. God many times bringeth about his ends by means, which, to our thinking, are quite contrary. As he letteth some therefore (I mean the daring Rebels of our age) soar, with Icarus, upon the wings of presumption, ut lapsu graviore ruant, that their downfall may be the greater, the heat of God's wrath melting them, as wax melteth at the fire, and they precipitating headlong into the sea of desperation: So God suffereth others sometimes to fall into despair, that the depth of misery may invoke the depth of mercy, he throweth them, as it were balls against the ground, to make them bound the higher. When thou thinkest therefore he hath quite left thee, than he is nearest to thee, when thou walkest through the brook of despair, than he will lift up thy head, his rod and his staff shall conduct thee through these Stygian waters, Flumina non operient, the rivers shall not overflow thee.  
And so ye have the safety of the Church in her former passage, which was per aquas, through the waters. Ye shall see her safety likewise in her latter passage, which is, per ignes, through the fire; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.  
Non combureris, thou shalt not be burnt. The Apostle saith, that faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. It hath therefore been the practice of persecutors in all ages to burn up all the Bible's that they could lay hands on, knowing this to be the ready way for them to destroy the faith of Christ. But how strangely hath the Bible scaped even in the most fiery persecutions, though some part of it may be lost, as the Prophecy of Enoch, and the Book of jasher, yet there is so much left still, as containeth in it all things necessary to salvation; God would never suffer all of it to be made fuel for the fire, non combureris, thou shalt not be burnt.  
Neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. The damned in Hell are ever burning, never burnt. But who can dwell with those everlasting burn? They could with a good will put up that petition, hic ure, hic seca, that God would cut them all in pieces, and then burn them up to very nothing: But should they make many such prayers, there would none of them be heard, they shall not be burnt, the flame shall not kindle on them.  
But to come nearer to the Text. We propounded some examples out of Scripture, of men that passed safely through fire, literally taken.  
The first may be Lot. God usually proportioneth the punishment to the sin. Sodom burned in lust, and was therefore burnt with fire: but though brimstone and fire were reigned upon the Sodomites, yet God delivered Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, non combureris, thou shalt not be burnt.  
The second example may be Isaac, who came very near the fire: Behold the fire and wood; nay, behold he is laid on the Altar upon the wood; yet for all this, God suffered not Abraham to do him any hurt; he made an offer to offer up Isaac, and the will went for the deed, non combureris, thou shalt not be burnt.  
The third example may be the Israelites, in whose company the fire was kindled, there went out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense, Num. 16.35. But though the flame burned up the ungodly mutineers, yet every obedient Israelite escaped, non combureris, thou shalt not be burnt.  
The fourth example may be the three Salamanders in the furnace, Dan. 3. who though they walked through the fire, yet their coats were not changed, nor so much as the smell of fire had passed on them. And this last example is without example, I never heard of any fire-proof before, for fire is of a most devouring and consuming nature, turning all into its own substance that cometh near it; yet the children of the fire, the sparks, hurt not these three children, with the shields of their faith they quenched the violence of fire, when they walked through the fire, they were not burnt, neither did the flame kindle upon them.  
And to these I might add, though somewhat out of order, the example of Abram, whom God brought out of Vr of the Caldees, Gen. 15.7. Now Vr, as Hugo observeth, signifieth fire, the Greek word, from which our English word seemeth to come hath but one letter more: and therefore the Hebrews had a tradition, that because Abram would not worship the fire as the Chaldeans did, he should have been cast into the fire, had not God given him notice of it. But though Vr signify fire, yet the ordinary gloss taketh it, not for a common, but for a proper name, for the name of the Town or Village where Abram dwelled: This example therefore cannot claim kindred of the Text. I might more properly bring in our preservation from the Powder-treason; but this is so beaten a path, that I will not tread it at this time. I will rather here answer a question that may rise from our Text, for is this promise always performed, Thou shalt not be burnt, the flame shall not kindle on thee? what shall we say then to that fiery persecution in Queen mary days, when there were so many Bethels in this Kingdom, so many Cities wherein men's bones were burnt?  
I answer, it is true, that the Church of Christ, this Church in particular hath endured the fiery trial, but as Rex non moritur, so 
* Regina. Psal. 45.  Ecclesia non comburitur, as the King is never buried, so the Church is never burnt; James may die, and so may Charles, (yet God maintain his life) but the King (let Levellers do what they can) never dieth: So Latimer may be burnt, and Cranmer may be burnt, but the Church ●s never burnt; If Pagans should prevail so far (which God forbidden) as to burn up all the Christians; or if Puritan should prevail so far (which heavens hinder) as to burn up all the Protestants, yet I verily believe that out of their very ashes God would raise up a new Phoenix, cinis martyrum should be femen Ecclesiae, the ashes of an old should be the seed of a new Church, she shall not be so burnt as to be quite extinct, neither shall the flame so kindle upon her.  
And the application here of now may be briefly this. Seeing God will not suffer his Church to be finally burnt up by others, this may teach us (as it were) to set on fire ourselves, not with the fire of lust, it is better to marry, than so to burn, nor with the fire of wrath, rather heap coals of fire upon the head of enemies; but let it be with the vestal fire of devotion and affection, let our hearts burn within us with love to God and men; So shall neither the Sun burn us by day, nor the Moon by night, the Lord will preserve us from all evil, it is even he that will keep both our bodies and our souls, when the Elements shall melt with fervent heat, when the Earth and the works therein shall be burnt up, he will preserve and keep us from everlasting fire, and exalt us to his coelum empyreum, his fiery heaven, there forever to behold him whose eyes are as a flame of fire, and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace.  
And so ye have the safety of the Church in her passage through fire literally taken. A word or two of her safety as she passeth through the fire of affliction and persecution, when thou walkest through this fire, thou shalt not be burnt, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. The nature of fire is congregare homogenea, and segregare heterogenea, a Refiner therefore is wont to bring his mine to the fire, and by this means he severeth the silver from the drsse; which is likewise the very practice of Almighty God, it is the Prophet Malachy's similitude word for word, Malac. 3.3. He shall sit as a Refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver. And the sweet Singer of Israel harpeth upon the same string, Psal. 66.10. Thou, O God, hast proved us, thou also hast tried us, like as silver is tried. Non sicut foenum, sed sicut argentum, non in cineres convertisti, sed sordes abluisti, saith Saint Austin, God trieth us not with a consuming, but with a cleansing fire, turneth us not into ashes, only taketh away our sullage and our ashes from us, purely purgeth away our dross, and taketh away all our tin. God purgeth men by affliction, as the Israelites were to purge the spoil of the Midianites, Num. 31.23. Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean. God trieth men by affliction what mettle they are made of; they that endure this fiery trial, they are good gold, they are Gods children; they that endure it not, they are but dross, they are but castawaies. Good men are like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, though they walk through the fiery furnace of affliction, yet they are not burnt up, no not so much as singed: but wicked men are like the Soldiers that bound and cast them in, when they are yet but at the mouth of the fiery furnace, when the fire of affliction but beginneth to seize upon them, it prevaileth against them, and consumeth them in a moment. Good men are, in this, like clay, the fire of affliction strengtheneth and confirmeth them; but wicked men are like wax, as wax melteth at the fire, so do the ungodly perish in the fiery trial; affliction to them, is like the fire that burneth up the wood, and like the flame that consumeth the mountains; God maketh them like a fiery oven in time of his wrath, the Lord destroyeth them in his displeasure, and the fire consumeth them. Affliction maketh wicked men a great deal worse, as water becometh much colder after heating, then ever it would have been, if it had never been heated. As for the righteous, it is not so with them, God burneth them indeed throughly, as the bricks of Babel were; but this is only as a Potter frameth his vessels in the fire, that so they may be vessels unto honour, and for the master's use, though they walk through the fire, yet they are not burnt, neither doth the flame kindle upon them. When Job's Wife heard of all the evil that God had brought upon her Husband, she grew so mad, so outrageous and impatient, that she would feign have persuaded him to make away with himself: What, saith she, all that ever thou hadst taken away from thee? is this the reward thou hast for thine integrity? well, serve God who will, I would serve him no longer, make good the Devils words if thou wilt be ruled by me, do, as he said thou wouldst in such a case, Curse God, and die, Job 2.9. But ye have heard of the patience of Job, saith Saint James, let his Wife therefore say what what she will, he will have none of her counsel, thou talkest like an ass, (saith he) thou speakest like one of the foolish women. And indeed (as he goeth on, and as our Sovereign by his most exemplary patience seemeth to say) shall we receive good at the hand of God, and not receive evil also? shall we receive health, and not sickness; wealth, and not poverty; peace, and not war; honour, and not dishonour; liberty, and not restraint? yes, my brethren, if we be Christians we must endure all. And if we do this, than we may assure ourselves that although we sow in tears, yet we shall reap in joy, though God have suffered Rebels to ride over our heads, though we have gone through fire and water; yet, ere it be long, he will bring us and our Sovereign out into a wealthy place; our light affliction which is but for a moment shall work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, Which God of his infinite mercy vouchsafe to grant us, for the merits of his Christ, our Jesus. To whom, with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, Three Persons, one Immortal, Invisible, Indivisible, only wise 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 evermore world without end. Amen.  
FINIS.