Die Jovis 29 Octob. 1646.  
ORdered by the Lords in Parliament Assembled, That Mr. Martial, one of the Assembly of Divines, is hereby Thanked for his great pains taken in his Sermon the last Fast, Preached before the Lords of Parliament, in the Abbey Church Westminster: And he is hereby desired to Print and Publish the same; which is to be Printed only by Authority under his own Hand.  
Joh. Browne Cler. Parliamentorum.   

I do hereby appoint Stephen Bowtell to Print my Sermon.  
Stephen Martial.   

A two-edged sword OUT OF THE mouth OF BABES, TO Execute vengeance upon the Enemy and Avenger.  
Presented in a Sermon to the Right Honourable the House of Lords assembled in Parliament, in the Abbey-Church at Westminster, Octob. 28. 1646. the solemn day of their Monthly FAST.  
By STEPHEN Martial B. D. Minister of God's Word at Finchingfield in Essex.  Esa; 41. 14, 15. fear not thou worm Jacob, thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them to dust. Jer 31. 22. The Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, a Woman shall compass a Man. Revel. 11. 5. If any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies. 
London, Printed by R. Cotes for Stephen Bowtell, at the Bible in Popes-head-alley, 1646.   

TO THE RIGHT honourable THE LORDS Assembled in Parliament.  
Right honourable,  
THis Sermon published by your Order, holds out an instance of what St. Paul preached 1 Cor. 1. 27, 28. God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen; yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are. 
1 Cor. 1. 27, 28.  What Creature so simple, weak, or base as a worm, a creature which no man values, loves, or fears? yet here's a worm beats great mountains to dust, and makes the hills as chaff. What so shiftless and unable to defend itself, or offend an Enemy, as a Babe or Suckling? yet behold here are Babes and Sucklings quelling and destroying the strongest enemies, even the Enemy and Avenger. Your ears have not only heard these things preached, but your eyes do see them fulfilled in this our day: O that these things might persuade your hearts of these Two things; 1 That it is better, more excellent and honourable to be one of Christ's Babes, one of his weak, simple, and despised ones, then to be one of the Zanzummims, the nimrod's, or men of renown of the world. 2 That the greatest support and strength to Families, Cities, or kingdoms, proceeds out of the mouth of these Babes, that their hearts and tongues can do more than an host of Men. The first would make you with Theodosius, rejoice more in being the meanest Christian, then in being the greatest earthly Potentate. The latter would provoke you both to plant the kingdom with faithful Ministers, who are Fathers to beget these Babes unto Christ; and to encourage and cherish the godly party of this Kingdom, who with Mordecai will seek the wealth of the Kingdom, and as so many shields under God, defend this Nation against all its enemies, These Innocents will deliver the island, and it shall be delivered by the pureness of their hands; 
Job 22. 30.  Yea it would provoke you to get such about you, and with David, 
Psal. 101. 6.  make your eyes set upon the faithful of the Land, that they may dwell with you, and serve you, and conclude that you and your Family shall be blessed in them. My Lords, I beseech you let this be your choice, it is the earnest prayer of  
Your honour's most obliged Servant, STEPHEN Martial.   
A SERMON PREACHED Before the Right Honourable House of Lords at their monthly FAST, October 28. 1646.  psalm 8. 2. Out of the mouth of Babes and Sucklings hast thau ordained strength, because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the Enemy and the Avenger. 


Introduction showing the scope and parts of the psalm.  THe 4th. Verse of this psalm, is the key of the whole psalm, What is man that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? And it fully manifests, that the whole scope of this psalm is to glorify God for the singular dignity that God hath put upon Man above all other Creatures; and this dignity or glory of man is exemplified in Two particulars. First,  
That God hath chosen out this creature Man, whose original is from being a Babe and a Suckling to be his Champion, whereby he will quell and destroy all his enemies; that is in this second Verse. The other Branch is,  

2.  That God hath chosen this creature Man to be his Viceroy, his Deputy, to rule and govern all the works of his hands: God hath trusted him so far, as to put all that he hath made under man's feet; and having done these two things for him, made him his Champion to conquer his enemies, and the Master of his house for the governing of his friends; what remains more to be done for him, this is to be a little inferior to God himself; Lord, what is man, that thou art thus mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou shouldest thus visit him? 
Analysis of the Text.  The first of these two, man being chosen to be God's Champion, to still or quiet God's enemies; I have chosen to speak of this day: and in it there are these two things to be handled. First,  

1.  Who it is upon whom this great honour is conferred, described in these words, Babes and Sucklings. Secondly,  

2.  The dignity or honour that is put upon them in the other words, Out of the mouth of these Babes and Sucklings thou hast ordained strength, because of thine enemies, to still the Enemy and the Avenger: And this second Branch hath two remarkable particulars. First,  

1.  The dignity itself which is put upon him, or what the savour is, that he hath received, and that is strength, and such strength as shall quell all God's enemies, the enemy and the avenger.  

2.  The way and manner how this strength is exercised, that is, by the mouth; Out of the mouth of Babes and Sucklings hast thou ordained strength. For the interpretation of the words, all do agree that Man is the subject here meant, but of what Man, is a great question. 
Interpretation of the Text, what is meant by Babes and Sucklings.  I find the greatest part of Interpreters to agree, that it is meant of the first Adam, Adam in his Creation, who was lifted up above all the rest of the creatures, as Lord and King over them; and so it is nothing, (as they conceive) but the praising of God for the excellency that Man was endued with in the day wherein God created him, or formed him out of the dust of the earth: but whosoever will seriously consult the New Testament, where this psalm is three several times quoted, shall evidently find, that this is meant, 
Esay. 53. 3.  not of Man in his creation, but of Man in his renovation, not of the first Adam, but of the second Adam, of the Lord Christ, primarily I say; who grew up as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground, a poor despicable beginning, made like the sons of Men, partaker of their nature; and secondarily, of his brethren and seed with him, who though they have their original from being Babes and Sucklings, as all other men have, yet they are the prime and the choice of all the sons of Men, and upon them hath the Lord bestowed this great honour, as to ordain strength out of their mouth, to quell all his and their enemies. And that this is the meaning, I shall first demonstrate to you out of the Scripture; 
Matth. 21. 9 15, 16. opened and explained.  Consider the 21 of Matthew, verse 15, 16. there you will find that when our Saviour Christ rode upon an ass into Jerusalem, which was but a little before his passion, God did then inspire the multitude of all Christ's Disciples to own him for their Messiah; and accordingly both by the way as he came into the City, and in the Temple, after he was come into the City, all the Disciples, yea, the very young ones, who had but newly learned to know him, did all sing, Hosanna to the son of David, which was an acclamation taken out of the 118 psalm, verse 25, 26. the words there are, Save now I beseech thee O Lord, O Lord I beseech thee send now prosperity; blessed is be that cometh in the Name of the Lord. This the Scribes and Pharisees did take to be such an intolerable blasphemy, that they should ascribe unto Christ that Divine acclamation which was peculiar to God, that they come to Christ, and ask him, Hearest thou what these say? canst thou being but a man endure this, that Hosanna should be sung unto thee, that the praises and glory due to God, should be attributed to thee who art a man? Yes, (saith Christ) I do hear it; but have not you read, That out of the mouth of Babes and Sucklings thou hast ordained praise, &c. which I confess some Interpreters do conceive to be meant only thus, that now was fulfilled that of the psalm, that Babes should acknowledge him, when Rulers rejected him; but that cannot be all the meaning, for it is clear that the Scribes and Pharisees did intimate, that Christ ought not to permit them them thus to blaspheme; it was blasphemy to ascribe that to him that was peculiar only to God; and Christ alleges this Text as an apology for himself, why he did receive that acclamation, which he might not have done, if the psalm had not acknowledged it to be his due; and had not this been a due acknowledgement of theirs, Christ could not thus have excused them, children may not be allowed to speak blasphemy: But the other Scriptures will yet make it plainer, 
Heb. 2 6, 7, 8.  Heb. 2. v. 6, 7. this psalm is brought to prove, that Jesus Christ as Man hath all things put under him. One in a certain place testified, What is Man that thou art mindful of him? or the son of Man that thou visitedest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the Angels, and crownedst him with honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands, thou hast put all things in subjection under him; and then goes on, We see not all things yet put under Man, but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the Angels for the suffering of death, crowned with honour and glory; though this dignity of having all things put under his feet, is not made good to other men, we see it is made good of Christ. And as plain you'll find this in 1 Cor. 15. ver. 25, 27. there it is said of Jesus Christ, ver. 25. he must reign until be hath put all his enemies under his feet, V. 26. Yea, the great enemy death itself, The last enemy which shall be destroyed is death; and the proof of all this is in verse 27, taken out of this psalm, For he hath put all things under his feet. 
1 Cor. 15. 25, 26, 27.  And these two last Scriptures are so clear, that I find many Learned Interpreters agree that the latter part of this psalm, from the 4 Verse to the end, is meant of Christ, and can be meant of none but Christ; but so must the whole psalm also, for the Prophet speaks of the same Adam, or race of men, throughout the psalm: besides, there is no word in all this psalm, of subduing of enemies, but only in this second verse. Now to this I might add, that some other expressions in this psalm do further clear it, as verse 5. Thou maedest him a little lower than the Angels, so we translate it, but in the Hebrew it is, Thou madest him a little lower than God, 
Phil. 2. 6. 7.  the word is Elohim, which is parallel to that expression of the 2 of the Philippians, Though our Lord was in the form of God, and thought it no robbery to be equal with him, yet he made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, & was made in the likeness of men: And some critics conceive, (though I build not upon it) that there is a further proof out of the very Title of the psalm, 
Psal. 81. Ps. 84.  it is a psalm upon Gittith, the word from whence it is derived, signifies a winepress; and they conceive that this psalm, and the rest which bear this Title, were usually sung vindemiarum, or torcularium tempore, at the time of treading their Winepresses, which was about the feast of Tabernacles, the feast which typified the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. Yea, they note further, that the rest of the psalms upon Gittith, are psalms which relate to the Incarnation of our Saviour. This than I suppose we may take as clear, that by the Babes and Sucklings here meant, are our Lord Christ, and his seed; the second Adam, the seed of the woman: The rest is easy, To these Babes and Sucklings the Lord hath ordained strength, that they shall quell God's enemies, because of thine enemies, and the enemy and the avenger. If it be demanded, who? and what are these enemies? the answer is ready, plainly, if by the Babes and Sucklings be meant the seed of the Woman; 
What is meant by enemies, and the enemy, and avenger.  by enemies, and the enemy and the avenger, can be understood none, but the seed of the Serpent; the one is the Church militant, the other is the Church malignant, Satan and all his children, his. Instruments, and his followers, these are the opposite party; and elsewhere is Satan called the enemy and the avenger, as psalm 44. By reason of the enemy and the avenger all this is come upon us; idest, through the malice and power of the devil and his instruments. But that lie and his seed, are the known and only enemies of God and his Christ, his Church, and his people, is so clear, that it is altogether needless to add any further proof. To these babes and sucklings (saith my Text) the Lord hath given strength: 
What is meant by strength.  Strength, what is that? the Lxx. Interpreters render it, thou hast ordained praise, and so it is quoted in the 21 of Matthew, but the word plainly signifies strength; and as the Learned do observe, it is robur celebrandum, robur laude dignum, eminent strength, praiseworthy strength, glorious strength, such strength as shall still thy enemies; 
What by still or quell.  still, that is the next word, That thou mightest still the enemy; the word that is translated still, is sometimes rendered silentium imponere, to stop their mouths, these Babes shall be able in disputing, to stop the mouths of the adversaries, that they shall cease to blaspheme; but frequently it signifieth, removere, cessare facere, perdere, redigere in nihilum, to remove, destroy, wholly to take away, and because it is here used in reference to enemies, I conceive this latter here to be intended, that these babes and sucklings have received strength to overcome, and wholly to destroy all Gods and their enemies. 
What is meant by mouth  Lastly, for the meaning of this other word mouth, Out of the mouth of babes, &c. the clear meaning is, as shall (Godwilling) sully appear afterward, that all this strength whereby they thus overcome their enemies, proceeds out of their mouth. So then the sum of it all amounts to thus much, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength, because of thy enemies, that thou mightest quell the Enemy and the Avenger; that when Satan the devil had cast Man from that excellency that God had given him at his Creation, even the Lordship and dominion over the creatures, and brought him into spiritual slavery and bondage, and had himself become the Lord of the world, ruling and domineering in the hearts of all: God having a purpose to quell & destroy the power of this adversary, chooses out a Champion, raises up a generation to undertake him, and in his choice did not pitch upon the seed of Angels, who might seem equal matches for the devil and all his followers, but chooses out the Creature, Man, (whose original is from being a babe suckling, an unlikely Creature to cope with such an enemy) and sends his own son to be borne, and to become even a babe and suckling, and so in all, other things like unto men, except their sin, and culls out a certain number of sinful men to join with, and under him, and these hath he endued with such valour and strength, that (how unlikely soever it appear to flesh and blood) they shall tread under feet all the power of Gods and their enemies; and the peculiar way and manner of their fighting and overcoming, is by a force proceeding out of their mouth. The words thus interpreted, do afford two excellent Instructions.  

Doct. 1.  That though it be very unlikely to flesh and blood, to sense and reason; yet Christ and his seed have sufficient strength wholly to rout and destroy all their enemies. The second is,  

Doct. 2.  That all that power and strength which Christ and his followers are endued with, proceeds out of their mouth: Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength to quell thy enemies.   

The first of these hath two Branches:  

1 Doctrine in two branches.  That to sense and reason it is a most unlikely thing, that babes and sucklings should ever quell the enemy and the avenger; that Christ and his followers should ever be able to cope with the adversaries that are engaged against thames.  

2.  That though it do appear most unlikely to sense and reason, yet so it is, they have sufficient strength to quell and subdue all their enemies; That it is an unlikely thing to sense and reason, I ground it upon the expression which the holy Ghost hath chosen, Out of the mouth of Babes and Sucklings: 
1 Branch. It's an unlikely thing to sense and reason that Christ and his Church should be able to overcome their enemies.  Christ and his followers are here called babes and sucklings, not only because their original is from being babes, but principally because the Lord would show the disproportion which to reason doth appear between them and their enemies, they are babes, and the other are giants; they are poor sucklings, the other are the enemies of God; yea, the enemy, the great enemy and the avenger: so that little David with his sling did bear more proportion to the giant that was armed in brass, than babes and sucklings can bear unto those whom God calls his professed enemies; and you may observe in the Scripture, the Lord uses to set it out by the most unequal matches that can be found; 
Jer. 31. 22, 23. opened and explained: Proved by the comparison which sets out the unlikelihood of it.  First consider that expression, Jer. 31. 22. How long wilt thou go about, thou backsliding daughter; for the Lord bathe created a new thing in the earth, a woman shall compass a man. God had promised them deliverance, and now he blames them for going about to seek other helps, and would not rest on his word, because they saw no hope or probability of its coming to pass; he tells them this should be no bar to believing, for the Lord will create a new thing, a woman shall compass a man, the church was a weak woman, destitute of arms, of strength, of skill, the enemy from whom they should be delivered, were as a man, yea, a strong man, (so the word signifies) and such was the Babylonian Empire at that time; yet this woman shall compass, i. e. besiege this man, so as to overcome and take him: Now how improbable this was to sense and reason, that a weak woman should be able to do this to an armed man, any man may judge. Consider also that comparison in the 41 of Isaiah, verse 14, 15, 16. when the Lord would set out the opposition betwixt the Church and the Enemies, the Church is called a worm, the enemy is called a mountain, yea, mountains, in the plural number; Fear not thou worm Jacob, I'll make thee my threshing instrument to beat the mountains to dust. Now what proportion is there betwixt a mountain and a worm? one bit of a mountain would kill 10000 worms; but here is one worm to cope against a great many mountains, a most unlikely thing; Psal, 22. ver. 6. Christ compares himself and his people to a worm, I am a worm, and no man, a reproach of men, and despised of the people; 
Psal. 22. 6. 13. 16. 202.  and his and their enemies he compares to fat Bulls of Bashan, to ravening and roaring lions, to mad and fierce dogs: Thus also our Saviour told his Disciples, they were as sheep among wolves, Behold I send you out as sheep among wolves. 
Luke 10 3.  A handful of sheep go to fight with a whole multitude of Wolves, is there any probability to sense or reason, that they should carry the victory? 
Proved 2 by some instances  But it will be yet clearer in a few instances:  
First, take that of the Lord Christ himself, who is the head and captain-general of the Party, when he came into the world to undertake this grand enemy, even the enemy, and the avenger; mark how he appeared, the state of the world than stood thus, the devil and his Angels in all places were worshipped as so many Gods, the Empires and kingdoms of the world were all at the devil's dispose, he was then the God of the world, and ruled in the hearts of all; the Lord's friends lived in one only corner of the world, in the Land of Judea, and they were at that time brought into captivity to the great red Dragon, the Roman Empire, the professed enemy of the God of Heaven, and these were his vassals; Among them cometh Christ as a Champion to undertake this great adversary; and thus he enters the Lists, borne in a stable, wrapped up in rags, bred a poor Carpenter, lives 30 years in the world almost untaken notice of, when he did come to show that he was the Saviour who had undertaken the redemption of his people from their thraldom, they who should have owned him, and joined with him, scorned him, rejected him; none but a few women and children, and fishermen, would so much as acknowledge that he was sent of God, yea, they never leave him till Jews and Romans, (following the counsel of the devil) had agreed together to destroy him, they took him, hung him upon a cross, crucified him, and there let him remain a shame and a reproach, and curse, and laughingstock to all the world, and now was the time he was to fight the field; thus was he accomplished for the warfare, and now was hell let loose upon him: who that should have looked upon Christ at that time, would ever have thought that deliverance should have come by him? would not all have said of him, as some of the sons of Belial did of Saul, and with a great deal of more reason toe, How can this Man ever save us? flesh and blood, I dare say, would have given up the Cause as lost.  
Secondly, take another instance in the first Champions whom Christ sends out in his Name, his Apostles, and the rest of his Disciples, taken out of fisher-boats, and from other the like conditions, and he sends them to reduce the world under his subjection: see what probability there was, that they should ever speed: they go out a Company of weak men, without money in their purse, without a sword by their side, unto a prejudiced world, where all were engaged against them, and thus must they go to subdue the world, and how I pray? by preaching such a Doctrine as was for the greatest part utterly above the capacity of man, ridiculous to man's reason, that they should believe in a crucified God, and appoint them a way of self-denial, plucking out their right eye, and cutting off their right hand, and their right foot, and forsaking all, and taking up a cross, and following a crucified God, and when they had done all, than they should look for that which no man ever saw, a reward in a place where no man ever was that they had heard of, a reward of glory in another world, after they had undergone nothing but misery in this world, and with this Doctrine must they overcome the world. When Mabomet came out, he had a Doctrine that suited man's reason and his lusts. And when Antichrist came, he had a way that would please whatsoever was in a carnal heart, but these must go out with that, against which every man hath as many principles as he hath lusts in his heart. Would ever any man think, that all this project and undertaking would not have fallen presently into the dust? I could go on (but that I have many things to handle) and show you that in all the Churches conflicts it hath been so. When God sent a shepherd to fetch 600000 men out of the land of Egypt, where they were in bondage, how ridiculous an attempt would it appear to flesh and blood? When they were to come out of the Captivity of Babylon; when Athanasius was to undertake the Arian world; when Luther and a few company of friars and monks that came out of their Cells, undertook to destroy the masterpiece of policy that ever the devil had, was there any likelihood to flesh and reason they should carry it? I add further, every particular Saint who is brought home to Christ, is a sufficient proof of this, when grace comes first into their heart, as a spark of fire into a well of water, as a grain of mustardseed cast into a barren ground, a poor weak Creature, who hath only learned to know the way to life, presently assaulted with all the power of the world and hell itself. No man that should look upon it with the eyes of reason, but would conclude, it will never come to any thing.  

The reason why it's so unlikely to sense and reason.  And there is this reason for it, because the principles of sense and reason can behold and view all the power that is against them, the temptations and allurements of the devil, the world and the flesh, are all agreeable to our corrupt nature, and we can discern what strength is in them, the opposition which the wisdom, authority and power which all the kingdoms and men of the world make against the Saints, appear in its full strength, as clearly as the Army sent to take Elisha the Prophet, did unto his servant. 
2 Kings 6 15  But on the part of the Babes and Sucklings, sense and reason sees their weakness, but sees nothing, of their strength, that's no more discerned than the fore-mentioned servant saw the mountains full of Chariots and Horses of fire, before the Lord opened his eyes, that is, a hidden, secret thing can be beheld and known only by the light of faith, and the revelation of God, which they have no understanding of; there is the first. The second Branch is,  

2 Branch. Yet they have strength to do it, and shall do it.  How unlikely soever it appear, yet so it is, they have a strength, whereby they shall and will quell all their enemies, even the enemy and the avenger, the victory is sure enough: For the proof of this, nothing is more clear in the Book of God. First,  

Proved first by many promises that it shall be so.  All the promises are for it, a thousand promises have declared it must be so, The seed of the Woman must break the serpent's head; 
Gen. 3. 15.  I will build my Church, the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 
Matth. 16. 18.  No weapon that is formed against thee shall ever prosper; Every tongue that rises up against thee, in judgement thou shalt condemn; 
Esay 54. 17.  fear not thou worm Jacob, thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them to dust: 
Esay 41. 14.  Arise and thresh O daughter of Zion, and I will make thy born iron, and thy hooves brass, and thou fhalt break in pieces many Nations: 
Micah 4. 13.  I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone, for all people that burden themselves with it, shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it: 
Zach. 12. 3.  God will tread Satan under your feet shortly: 
Rom. 16. 10.  All that is borne of God overcomes the world: 
1 John 5 4  I write unto you little children, because ye have overcome that wicked one: 
1 John 2. 13.  who hath not read abundance of such promises as these are?  

2 By experience it ever hath been so.  And experience hath found it thus, see it in a few examples: First, our Lord Jesus Christ himself at that time, when he appeared so unlikely, as you have heard, than did he break all his enemies, and led captivity captive; and hath hitherto so far prevailed, that all the Empires which have risen against him, the Assyrian, Persian, Greeian, Roman, whether the Roman be considered as Pagan, or Arrian, or Antichristian, Christ hath got the victory over them all, he hath broke them all, no power of devil or world hath not been able to stand against him; this stone cut out of the mountain without hands, hath smitten and broken the great image of Gold and Silver, brass and Iron, 
Dan. 2.  and he must reign till all his enemies are made his footstool. 
Psal. 110.  And not only Christ, but the Fishermen and the rest of their companions that have been spoken of, serve for a second experiment; I will be bold to say it, that Alexander and all the Caesars never conquered so many, as those simple men subdued to Christ in a very little time. In one age their line went into all the corners of the world, the sun did hardly shine upon a place, where they did not set up trophies of their Victories, as unlikely a thing as it was. Yea, all the Saints of God that have lived hitherto, have all found, that whatsoever Tongues or Spirits have risen up against them have been condemned, the woman hath compassed the man, the worm hath destroyed the mountain, and they have at the long run been able with Paul to triumph, not only over poverty, and hunger, and nakedness, and persecution, and such outward troubles, but over Principalities and Powers, 
Rom. 8. 35, 38  and all spiritual wickednesses too, the Devil himself hath been trod under all their feet. 
And shall be so more & more.  And as there hath been experience of it hitherto, so whosoever reads the Scripture will find, that the older the world grows, the more experience there will be of it continually, because now begin the times of Christ and the Churches manifest conquest: hitherto they have carried it, but not so visibly always before the eyes of men; but we expect the days to be at hand, wherein the Saints shall take the kingdom, 
Dan. 7. 18.  and all the kingdoms of the world shall be the Lord Christ's, and he shall reign over them; 
Revel. 11. 15.  and that kingdom that will not serve Christ, shall be destroyed, and they shall with joy and comfort bring all their glory, and confer it upon the head of Christ, and put it into the hands of these Babes: So that the Babes and Sucklings must carry it; 
Reasons of it.  and if you'll have a ground or reason for it, 100 might be added. First,  

1.  It is God's only design, the only great project that the Lord hath laid from eternity, that the Babes and Sucklings should carry the day against all their enemies; it is the masterpiece of his contrivement, wherein he will not endure to be disappointed. And then secondly,  

2.  His heart is with them, his love is set upon them, they are his children, the apple of his eye, they are written upon the palms of his hands, they are continually in his sight, he loves them as he loves himself.  

3.  Thirdly, and his power is with them, his Almighty power, that power which can as easily make a World, as it can uphold a straws all that power is engaged, that no man shall ever be able to prevail against them. These, and many more such reasons as these are, have been so frequently set before this Honourable Assembly, in the times of your greatest extremities, to uphold your hearts, that I shall not need to say any more, neither in truth do I know what to add to that which hath been spoken by other men. I come therefore to a short application of both the branches, and among many excellent Uses we might make of the first, That it is an unlikely thing to sense and reason, that Christ and his Church should be able to conquer their enemies, I shall observe only this one,  
To teach you all not to wonder, why the wisest men, and 
use of the first branch, not to wonder though so few wise men own the church's cause.  greatest men of the world, the most politic and wary men of the world, in all ages have, and do most of them reject the cause of Christ and his Church, seldom willing to venture themselves for it: ●ou know Paul observed it in his days, 1 Cor. 1. 26. Brethren, you see your calling, not many noble, not many wise men after the flesh, not many learned, and all ages have proved it so. And when multitudes followed Christ himself, the Pharisees demanded, do any of the Rulers, or of the Pharisees believe on him? John 7. 48. And Jerome observed in his days, that when one Paulinus a brave young noble man embraced Christian Religion, there was more wondering at it, than if a Mule had cast a foal: now this lesson may fully instruct you in the reason of it, so far as any of their principles are able to make up a judgement, the cause of the Church is a lost cause, Christ and his Saints are but like David against Goliath, they are but worms against a mountain, and what wise man would ever engage himself in such a foolish and unlikely business? who that hath understanding would put his fortune into a Ship that he thinks will sink in the Sea, which will dash against the next rock, or be split with the next wave? Indeed when the Church is smiled upon, and countenanced by Kings and Princes, it's no marvel though wise, rich, and great men do join with it; but when wars and persecutions are raised against it, which hath mostwhat been the church's lot hitherto, wonder not though wise men withdraw from it, when they can see nothing but ruin attend them who take with this side; and this is the very reason of their withdrawing, and this also abundantly satisfies me in our present trouble, wherein we have had so many Lords, so many Gentlemen, so many Learned men, so many great and rich men to have deserted the Cause that the Parliament was engaged in. I solemnly profess, I rather wonder that any wise man, if not sanctified, hath stayed, that any Man not guided by the Spirit of God, should venture himself in a Cause that appeared so desperate as this Cause of Christ hath done to the eyes of flesh and blood. I justly call it the Cause of Christ and his Church, because it's apparent that the Parliaments engaging themselves for reformation of Religion, as well as preserving civil Liberties, hath provoked most of these enemies against them. Therefore let this satisfy you abundantly, when the multitude of the world generally go against the Cause of Christ, they think it folly to own it, because they look upon it as a lost Cause. But the other Branch affords many excellent Uses: One is,  

Uses of the second branch, Consolation to whom; who join with the cause of Christ and his Church  This may hold up and content the heart and spirit of every one that hath given up his name to Christ and his Cause, entered his name into Christ's muster-book, is enroled amongst the soldiers of the lamb; I know flesh and blood, sense and reason, thinks we have the worser end of the staff, but let such know, what days soever may come, he shall never have cause to repent that he engaged himself on this side, the victory is sure enough: some men in these conflicts of ours, have solemnly protested, that their plot was only to be on the safest side, that they might be sure to stand, whosoever fall. In the name of God, I promise it to every one that hath undertook with Christ, in the Cause of his Church, they shall succeed well. They used to say in Rome, in Germanieus his days, Salvus Germanicus, salva Roma, salva omnia, Germanicus is well, and the City is well, and all is well: I say it with better confidence, Christ is well, his Church is well, their Cause is good, a succeeding Cause, a prosperous Cause, and all shall be well, the worm must beat the mountain to dust, the Woman must compass the man. It may for a while seem to go very hard with the Church, but the end will be comfortable; it was of old said of the Romans, they were sometimes praelio victo nunquam bello, they lost many a battle, but in the conclusion they conquered every Nation which warred against them: This most undoubtedly is the fate of the Church, & might hold us up in all our present difficulties: I know many of you are yet at your wit's end, and wonder what will be the end and event of these things; the pillars of the Earth, the pillars of the Land, the pillars of Truth as well as of Peace, are shaken, ready to fall; we are woefully divided into minutula srustula, and the young child of Reformation in danger to be swallowed up, a Hydra, a Dragon watcheth for it, a malignant party on the one hand, Blasphemies, heresies, and divisions on the other hand; but there is a Spirit working will subdue all, the zeal of the Lord will bring all well to pass, therefore hold up your Spirits and fear nothing, I cannot but commend unto you that excellent speech of Luther to Melancthon, when the Protestants were in a very low estate, when Melancthon was afraid, Come (saith Luther) to him, let the Pholips, let the Bishops, let the Turks, and the devil himself do his worst against us, nos filii regni sumus, we are the children of the kingdom, Dominus prope adest, the Lord is at hand, we are engaged with Christ, whom they have crucified and spit upon, we must carry the day from them: So I say to thee, fear thou nothing, the bark wherein thou art may be tossed, it will never be split, troubles may come, the present may continue, new ones may come, but nothing shall come, but such as that Christ contrives purposely, that things may appear difficult to us, that his glory may be the more in his carrying us through them all, and in the name of Christ, I promise you the event shall be successful.  

2 Use of consolation to every particular Saint.  And as this is comfortable in reference to the whole Church, so it is wonderfully comfortable to every particular soul that fears the Lord Christ, and may uphold them in all their temptations and afflictions, crosses and desertions. I am persuaded many a soul who hears me this day, wonder how they shall subsist one week longer, their spiritual pressures, temptations, desertions, are so strong, another finds their outward afflictions so intolerable, and their pressures more and more breaking in, so that they are ready every moment to sink under their burden, and know not what will become of them; ready every day to conclude as David did in his haste and fear, I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul, I shall never hold out, I shall never be able to stand against these impetuous assaults; but cheer up thy heart, if there be any thing of Christ in thee, though it be but as smoking flax, it shall never be quenched, though but as a bruised reed, it shall never be broken, though it be but a babe and suckling, thou shall quell all thy enemies. I tell thee, I know it, that all the power of hell is engaged against thee, because thou art for Christ, whether there be any power of hell in thy heart, in thy lust, or in thy family, in thy father, in thy husband, in thy mother, in thy brethren, or about thee, all will be against thee; but as this power is against thee, so I assure thee, all the power in Heaven is engaged for thee, all the power that the God of Heaven hath, all his Attributes are for thee, and therefore do thou conclude, though thou art a worm, a woman, &c. the worm shall thresh the mountain, the woman shall compass the man, the lamb shall overcome the wolf, and what is said in the 17 of the Revelations, of all the Kings of the earth, that they should set against the Virgin Company, who follow the Lamb, but the lamb should overcome them, for he is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and those that are with him, who are called, and chosen, and faithful, the like is true of every soul who is a follower of the Lord Christ, they must overcome, and by the help of the Lord tread all their enemies under their feet.  

3 use, exhortation to all, to have nothing to do against these Babes & Sucklings.  Secondly, because how unlikely soever the thing be, the Babes and Sucklings must queil all their enemies; let me teach you all this point of wisdom, never have any thing to do against the Lord Christ, or any of his children; beware how thou have thy hand in any contrivement against any of those that are the lamb's followers: I cannot give it you better, then in an expression of Solomons, in proverbs 24. 15, 16. to a wicked man; Lay not maite, O thou wiched man, against the babitation of the righteous, spoil not his resting place; For the righteous falls seven times a day, riseth agains; but the wicked fall into mischief: 
Prov. 24. 15, 16  I take the plain meaning to be this, Solomon tells wicked men, he knows they cannot but be like themselves, plotting and contriving mischief against those that fear God, and possibly it is, that through their contrivements they may cause the people of God oftentimes to fall, to fall into afflictions, under many crosses, but let them fall never so often, they will be like the cork, thrust it under the water, you cannot keep it under the water, it will rise again, so shall it be with godly men, they will get out of their troubles: but when the wicked falls, he falls to the purpose, he will fall into mischief, and never rise again, God will deal with them as he did with Moab, in the 16 of Isaiah, we have heard of the pride of Moab, (he is very proud) even of his haughtiness and his pride, and his wrath, but his lies shall not be so; therefore shall Moab howl for Moab. 
isaiah 16. 6, 7.  Moab thought to make my children mourn and howl, but I'll make Moab howl for himself: So thou Mayst think to carry on a plot or design against Religion, against the servants of God, either their Cause in general, or some particular person of them, but forbear it, as Gamaliel said to them, forbear these men, middle not with them, lest ye be found fighters against God; 
Act. 5. 38.  they may fall into trouble, but God will bring them out. I conclude this with that speech of David, Psal. 37. The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth, the Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth that his day is coming. 
Psal. 37. 12, 13  This is the first Lesson, now I proceed to the second.  
Which is the manner how these Babes and Sucklings do exercise this their great strength, Out of the mouth of Babes and Sucklings; You know that every creature which God hath endued with any strength, hath a peculiar way of bringing out its strength'; the lion's strength lies in his jaws, the bear in his paws, the Eagle in her talons, a Man by his arms, the Bull by his horns, the Scorpions have their power in their tail'; thus every creature that hath any notable strength, hath some eminent way to exercise it: Now would you know which way do these Babes and Sucklings, exercise their strength, it is out of their Mouth, Out of the mouth of Babes and Sucklings. The Lesson I propound to handle from it, is this,  
That the peculiar way, whereby Christ and all his seed do 
Doct. 2. The strength whereby the Babes & Sucklings do overcome their Enemies, proceeds out of their mouth. Thus Christ himself.  overcome their enemies, is by a power that comes out of their mouth: That's the peculiar way of fighting, power comes out of their mouth: For the truth of it, see it, First, in Christ himself, when it was prophesied of him in the 11 of Isaiah, v. 4. how he should reign and rule over all Nations, the Spirit of God lays it down thus, He shall smite the Earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. 
Esay 11. 4.  It was a rod of his mouth, and the breath of his lips, that's the staff of his power, that which is called in the 110 psalm, the rod of his strength, 
Psal. 110. 2.  is in this 11 of Isaiah called the rod of his mouth, so also in the 19 of the Revelations, v. 15. where he is brought on horseback, fighting his battle in the field, and destroying all his enemies; it is said, Out of his mouth came a two edged sword, that with it he should smite the Nations; and if you read his story while he was upon earth, you may observe that all in a manner which he did, came out of his mouth; sometimes by a word of command, thus his miracles were wrought, be healed, be opened, be cleansed, &c. sometimes by preaching, converting some, convincing others; sometimes by prayer, that is one reason, as some think, why he is called {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, the Word of God; because all that he did was by a word. Secondly,  

2. Thus also all the Saints overcome.  See it likewise in his servants, all the servants of Christ; these Babes and Sucklings that are his brethren and his seed, they all overcome by a power that comes out of their mouth; And to clear this, consider first some passages of psalm 68 a Psalm, which I confess deserves to be more fully cleared, than a short Sermon will allow, being so full to this purpose, the whole psalm being a full declaration of the way and manner how Christ and his followers do overcome all their enemies; The first verse of the psalm is, Let God arise, and his enemies be scattered; and the close of the psalm is, God hath given strength to his people, blessed be God, that is the drift of it, to give glory to God for the strength he hath given to his son, and the followers of his son to subdue all their enemies, and how is this performed? to say nothing of Christ himself, you may see the way of his Saints overcoming, notably described, ver. 18. Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive, thou hast received gifts for men; even for the bellious also, that the Lord God may dwell amongst them: 
Psal. 68 18.  When Christ ascended, than he gave such gifts to his children and servants, that by them they should be so far able to tame the most rebellious that the Lord God might dwell among them, set up his throne and habitation in the midst of them; what these gifts were, the Apostle tells you expressly in the 4 of the Ephesians; When he ascended up on high, he gave some to be Apostles, some Prophets, some Evangelists, some Pastors, and Teachers, 
Ephes. 4. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.  these were the gifts which were poured out upon the day of Pent●cost, all which were represented by the similitude of cloven Tongues, 
Acts 2. 3.  whereby the Lord would teach you, that all the gifts which Christ hath poured out upon his Church, there is nothing so lively a resemblance of them all as the Tongue: out of the mouth by the tongue, comes all the power that the Saints have; 
Rev. 11. 5 6. explained.  you'll find it as plain, if you look into the 11 of the Revelations, ver. 5, 6. where the two Witnesses of Christ their manner of overcoming is described. These two Witnesses are by the best Interpreters judged to be the small number of true believers, who followed Christ all the time of the Antichristian apostasy, against these all the world fights, for the space of twelve hundred and sixty years, these two Witnesses ever cartyed the victory, and there are they compared to Moses and Aaron, to Elias and Elisha, to Joshna and Zerubbabel, so that look what Moses and Aaron did in their time of Israel's coming out of Egypt, what Elias and Elisha in the time of that apostasy, and Joshua and Zerubbabel in the time of that Reformation, these two witnesses should do the same; but how? even as Moses, Aaron, Elias, and the rest overcame all enemies and difficulties, by a power proceeding out of their mouth, as appears in their stories; so do these, these can smite the earth with plagues, these can turn waters into blood, these can shut and open heaven, these can destroy their enemies, who would hurt them; but all this proceeds out of their mouth out of their mouth comes fire that destroys their enemies, all is done by their mouth; 
Rev. 12. 11. explained.  and in the 12 of the Revelations, verse 11. you may there read a great battle described, that is fought between the Saints, Christ and his Saints, and the great red Dragon, but Michael and his Angels overcome the Dragon and his Angels; at the 11 Verse it's said, They (that is, the Saints) overcame the Dragon by the blood of the lamb; that was the meritorious cause, but the instrumental cause was the word of their testimony; They overcame him by the blood of the lamb, and the word of their testimony; but you will be better satisfied after I have opened unto you,  

Qu.  Wherein lies the power which proceeds out of their mouth, what is it? or what doth their mouth?  

Resp. 5 Things proceeding our of these mouths of Babes and Sucklings whereby they overcome.  Possibly I shall not be able to name every particular branch, but there are five things that are most clear, which all are the fruit of the mouth, and by them in all ages, these babes and sucklings have overcome the enemy and the avenger. First, 

1. Preaching.  
2. Confessing, or professing the Name, Truth, and Cause of God and his Christ.  
3. Praising, singing out praise, and psalms, and hymns to God.  
4. Praying. And,  
5. Covenanting.    
You shall see how by all these the Saints from time to time have carried the victory, First,  

1. By Preaching.  Preaching; when Christ sent his Apostles out to go conquer the world, what was their apparatus? what was their furniture? their instruments of war? it was only thus, It's, predicate, go out into the world and Preach: 
Mat. 28. 19, 20.  And when he sent out the Lxx Disciples, Luke 10. as lambs among wolves, without sword, or money, or scrip, this was the great weapon he furnished them withal, Preach unto them; and by that time they had been a little trying the power of this weapon, they had led captivity captive, and return with great spoils; and tell their Master, Lord, (say they) the very Devils are subject to us. True (saith Christ) I saw Satan falling like lightning down from heaven, by preaching they could shoot the stars down from heaven, and fetch the devil out of his Throne: It were an endless task for me to recount unto you, what preaching hath done; what strong Castles have been demolished by preaching; how many thousand enemies have been made friends by preaching; how many kingdoms have been subdued by preaching; how many thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand, have been taken out of the roaring lion's den by preaching; how before Paul's death the preaching of the Word had gone into all the earth, and unto the ends of the world, 
Rom. 10 18.  
Psal. 19  and rent in pieces the kingdom of the Devil. This, this is Christ's Arms, this is the power of God to salvation, a thousand tongues are not able to set forth the excellency and efficacy of it; this is the great Monster queller, which is able to batter down all the strong bolds of Satan, 
2 Cor. 10. 4, 5.  2 Cor. 10. 4, 5. which can cast down every high thing which exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ: In a word, preaching is that whereby Christ destroys the very kingdom of Antichrist, though it is the devil's masterpiece laid the deepest in policy, and founded not only in States but in men's consciences, yet Christ destroys it by the Word of his mouth, that is, the preaching of the Gospel in the mouths of his Ministers. Preaching is one, and Secondly,  

2. By confessing and professing the Truth.  Confessing is another; Preaching, though it belong to the whole Church, as a gift given to them for their good, yet it is to be exercised but by the Officers of it, it's given to all, not to be exercised by all; but all the rest of these ways of overcoming are to be exercised by all these babes, whether in office or not, whether men or women, old or young, learned or simple, and confessing or professing the truth is one of them, one of the things which proceed out of the mouth, whereby the Saints overcome their enemies, I'll give you but one text for it, the Lord Christ tells his Disciples, 
Luke 21. 15.  Luke 21. 12. what usage they should find in the world, That they should be carried before Kings and Princes for his sake, this might be looked upon as a terrible thing to them who had been brought up among rude and common people, to be brought before Kings and High Courts, whose splendour and majesty would dash them out of countenance and amaze them, so that they would not be able to speak, and whose wisdom, understanding and subtlety was like to be such, as would quickly put them to silence; but fear not this, saith Christ, why? I will give you a mouth, I will give you a mouth (that is his promise,) that none of your adversaries shall be able to stand before it; that mouth is nothing but a bold confession of the truth and cause of God: a notable instance hereof we have Acts 4. 13. the council or Synedrion had called the Apostles before them, and demanded by what authority, or by what Name they had done this? they presently made a bold Confession of the Lord Jesus, and saith the Text, When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvailed, 
Acts 4 13.  yea, they could say nothing; and whosoever hath but read the stories of the Church may find that the Confessions which the Saints, yea sometimes women and children have made, have repressed the enraged adversaries, have sometimes won, the hearts of them, yea, have converted thousands: that is a second weapon out of the mouth. Thirdly,  

3. Singing of psalms.  Singing of psalms, though this you would think the unlikelyest of all, yet the Scripture is plain for it; in the 149 psalm, 
Ps. 149. 4, 5, 6, &c.  there you have a promise, vers. 4. God will beautisie them with salvation, yea, such salvation, that they shall execute vengeance upon the heathen, bind their Kings in chains, and their Nobles with fetters; this glory have all God's Saints. How shall this be done? Let (saith the Prophet) them sing aloud, let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two edged sword in their hand: whatever be meant by a two edged sword, plain it is, that the high praises of God in their mouth is one of their weapons: And in Psalm. 68 the place before mentioned, about vers. 22, 23. &c. you have a description of God's terrible march before his people, the very fight whereof was dreadful to his enemies; They have seen thy goings, O God, even the goings of my God, my King in the Sanctuary; and how was it? you have it verse 25. The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after, among them were the Damosels playing with timbrels, all singing Hallelujah, bless ye the Lord in the Congregations, even the Lord from the fountain of Israel. 
Psal. 68 23, 24, 25.  And you have an instance of it in 2 Chron. 20. when the children of Edom and Moab, and Mount Seir came against Jehoshaphat, when he & his people went against them, they went singing of psalms; and it's said, vers. 22. When they began to lift up their voice, and to sing praise to God on High; the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come out against Jehoshaphat, and they were smitten, and they destroyed one another. 
2 Chron. 20. 22  Many other instances there are in the ecclesiastical story, of the strength which God's people have found in singing of psalms; there is one famous one, of the Protestants in Mountaban in France, who when they (being besieged) were compelled to fight in their own defence, always went out to fight singing of psalms, and grew so terrible to the besiegers, that in the end, as soon as they heard their singing voice lifted up within the town, before the Portcullis was drawn up, or the gates were opened, their hearts would fail them, and they used to cry out, They come, they come, and even fled away for fear, This is a third weapon out of the mouth; but then there is a fourth which is superexcellent in many respects beyond all, like Goliah's sword, there is none to that, that is,  

4. Prayer.  Prayer: The wonders which the Prayers of God's people have wrought, no time is sufficient to tell: Prayer uses to fetch in all things they need, it removes all evils which lie upon them; Prayer is the key of Heaven, the conqueror of God himself, the scourge of Satan, the out-gate from all distresses; you find, psalm 107. five sorts of men in misery: 1 Wanderers out of their way. 2 Troubled and brought low with sickness. 3 Prisoners. 4 Tossed at sea with tempests. 5 Oppressed by enemies: but Prayer is a medieamentum eatholicum, a remedy for all these; then 
Psal. 107. 6, 13, 19, 28.  They cry unto the Lord in their trouble, & he delivers them out of their distress; This Solomon begged, 
1 Kings 8. per totum.  1 Kings 8. When thy people go to war, when they are oppressed with their enemies, &c. if they humble themselves and pray, hear thou in Heaven and deliver them; and God promised Chap. 9 3. that it should be so; 
1 Kings 9 3.  and this innumerable multitudes of God's people in all ages have found to be so; when Moses hands are lift up in prayer, Amalek is routed; 
Exod. 17. 10.  when Samuel prays, the Philistines are disconifited; 
1 Sam. 7. 9  when David prays, his enemies flee, When I pray, my enemies are turned back; this I know, (said he) for God is with me. 
Psal. 56. 9, 11.  The time forbids me to tell of the thundering Bands of God's servants, and what their prayers have done: but in a word I am assured, that what the Apostle saith, Heb. 11. 32, 33. of the power of faith, The time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, of Barak, Samson, Jephthah, &c. who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight Armies of aliens, &c. 
Heb. 11. 33.  hath all been made good of Prayer: Prayer hath done as much as all this; yea, it hath made the sun stand still, the Rivers run back, what is it that Prayer hath not been able to do? Never did these Babes and Sucklings in the time of their distress, seek God by Prayer in vain. This is a fourth weapon out of the mouth. Fifthly,  

5. Covenanting.  Covenanting, is another, and for that you have abundance of evidence in all the ages of the Church, from the days of Moses go on to Joshua, and the Judges, and Asa, and Jehoshaphat, and Hezekiah, and Josiah, and Ezra, and Nehemiah, all these in their great extremities, (when nothing did prosper, but all went contrary to them) used to renew their Covenants with God, entered into Oath and Covenant with him, and God ever prospered them after it. The stories of these things are so fully known, that I shall not need to insist upon them. 
Reason of all this, when they are made so, mighty in working.  If now you ask the reason of all this, why should this power of the Mouth, Praying, and Preaching, and Confessing, and Covenanting, and Singing be thus mighty in operation, whence grow these Samsons locks. I answer, many excellent Reasons might be given for every one of them, but I will go no further than my Text, which I know will satisfy you: My Text saith, Out of the Mouth of Babes and Sucklings thou hast ordained strength, or thou hast founded strength, so the Hebrew word signifies, constituted, made, appointed; and that word when it is applied to God, ordinarily signified one of these two things; sometimes his counsel, or what his Decree hath appointed, but most commonly it signifies his making or creating a thing. The Lord by wisdom founded the Earth, Prov. 3. 10. the same word that is in my Text; so also Psal. 102. 25. Thou Lord from the beginning hast founded the earth; and Psal. 104. 5. Thou hast founded the earth, or, laid the foundation of the earth; so that this is God's appointment and his creation, God hath decreed it shall be so, and the Lord hath created it, and therefore it is so; and truly you must resolve all other things into the same reason, Why hath the lion that strength in his jaw? God hath founded it there; why hath the Bull that strength in his horn? why hath Man such strength in his arms? why the Serpent in his sting? God hath founded it: Philosophers will carry you on from reason to reason, and show how these arise out of their compositions and natures; but when all is done, it must be resolved into this, God hath appointed it, and made it so and so, God hath founded this strength in them, and thus to be exercised by them. And now I should think this Lesson were very fit for application, did I not know it necessary to remove one great stumbling block out of the way, which when I have done in a few words, I shall endeavour to set it home in 2 or 3 Uses.  

Ob. All this by some is used as an argument against our defensive arms.  All this which I have said of the arms of Christians, is by some retorted upon ourselves against our present war, as if we held not ourselves within the bounds of Christianity for say they, If these be all the weapons and strength whereby the Saints do overcome, why do you use any other means to overcome your enemies? why rest you not contented with this? either these are not all, or you are not Christians, not true to your own Principles; Indeed (say they) the time hath been when such a Sermon as this was owned as Divinity, in the time of the Fathers, when preces & lachrymae, prayers and tears, were all the weapons which the Church did use; but now when you have spoke all these things of the power of Preaching, and Praying, and Confessing, and Covenanting, you are glad to betake yourselves to arms, to see what they will do, to help these out, whence it's apparent you dare not rest in these as sufficient helps; and so they throw this as a stumbling block in our way; but this is easily removed. I answer therefore,  

Resp. 1.  First, that many of those who object this against us, do it only, that thereby they might the better spoil us, as Julian the Apostate, when he would expose Christians to all manner of injuries, and discourage them from seeking or using any lawful way to right themselves against any spoil or wrong, he endeavoured to tie their hands by their own Principles of Religion; and would scoffingly tell them, that Christianity taught them, If any man struck them on one ear, they must turn the other; and that if any man did take their coat, they must let him have their cloak also. Howsoever, I know this answers not the Objection I therefore answer, Secondly,  

2.  we acknowledge, that as we are Christians (in that capacity) we use no other weapons than these I have told you of, these only are proper and peculiar to us as we are Christians; but the weapons which we enjoy as we are Christians, do not deprive us of those that we enjoy in the capacity of Men; look whatsoever belongs to us in the capacity of Men, or in the capacity of Subjects, or of Freemen, Christianity doth not take them away, but superaddes these unto them. I say therefore, that we have all the same means of defence against unjust violence, that are common to us with other men, as we are Men, and we have the same means of defence, as we are Freemen, which other Freemen have; and we challenge in this no more than we might lawfully use, if we were Papists or Turks, if we were Pagans, Jews, or Indians: we challenge not this to belong to christianity, as peculiar to it, we have learned that by the law of Nature and Nations, men may defend themselves against unjust violence; if the Turks should invade a country of Christians, they will tell him, that as they are Christians, their Praying, and Professing, and Singing, and Covenanting, these spiritual weapons out of their Mouth will quell them; but as they are Men, they have a liberty to defend themselves against him, & vim vi repellere; or if a Christian man were travailing upon the highway, & a Thief should demand of him, how as he is a Christian, he defends himself from his enemies; he would tell him by Faith, by Prayer, by the Word of God, by weapons out of his Mouth; but if the thief assault him, to take his life or his purse, as he is a man, he will use his sword, and his Christianity will sanctify this use of his sword to him. The like instances might be given in other things which concern Christianity. If any man demand, how live you as a Christian? I would answer, by faith, by every word that comes out of God's mouth; but yet as we are Men, we must eat our bread by the sweat of our brows, and as we are Christians our Christianity sanctifies these other means of life unto us, it takes them not away from us: So when unjust violence is offered to us, contrary to the laws of the Land, look what defence is lawful by our laws, Christianity deprives us not of that, it sanctifies that, and we have all these which I have spoken to boot: And so is it in our present business, when the Parliament (the highest Court of Judicature, the Court where all controversies between the King and his Subjects receive their final judgement and determination) were proceeding to reform abules, and call some grand Delinquents and Incendiaries to a legal trial, a force was raised to protect these Offenders, and consequently to compel the Parliament to desist from their work: (and let once the authority of Parliaments be overthrown, we are an enslaved and conquered people;) thereupon the Parliament, the representative body of the kingdom, takes arms to defend themselves, and to bring in these evil doers to condign punishment; this (say we) we do according to the fundamental laws of the kingdom, and were the kingdom and Parliament Papists or Protestants, Christians or Heathens, the case is the same as to the matter of the war, the laws of the Land warranting this just defence; now our being Christians, and true believers, deprives us not of this defence which we enjoy as Englishmen, but superaddes these five things which I have spoken of, to sanctify our other lawful means of defence, and to make them the more effectual; and blessed be the name of God, we have found it by experience. Now I proceed to apply the Doctrine for our good.  

use 1. Exhortation to take notice of the comfortable experience we have had of this, in our present troubles.  Is this the great power whereby Christians do overcome their enemies, a power that comes out of their Mouth? O how good is it for us to take notice, how God hath made all this good to us in our experience, in the great conflicts and deliverances which we have lately had? we must thankfully acknowledge, God hath raised us up Counsellors who have done their part, and Commanders and soldiers that have done their part too; the mouth of the Sword hath done its part, but (I say) the sword of the Mouth hath done more: we may say of the mouth of the Sword, as it is said of Saul, that he had slain his Thousands, but the sword of the Mouth hath slain its ten Thousands. We in our extremities have sought God, Prayed to him, Covenanted with him, Humbled ourselves before him, owned his Truth, and professed it; and God hath carried all our affairs so, that when oftentimes our wise councillors have failed, and our Armies have failed, and all other helps have come in, and have told us, that we are like to be ruined, the Babes and Sucklings never failed to carry it in the times of our extremities: And I have begged it from God, and said it in this place, and cannot but say it again, I would think it a wonderful glory to God, to have it truly Written and Recorded, how in all our extremities, the power that hath come out of the Mouth of Babes and Sucklings hath saved us from utter ruin: Our adversaries have laughed at these things, and esteemed all the weapons of our Mouth to be but wind, but God hath made them such a wind as hath scattered them. And (Right Honourable and Beloved) it becomes us well to observe it, and to stand amazed, and say with the Psalmist here, Lord, what is Man, that thou shouldest be thus mindful of him? O Lord our God, how excellent is thy Name in all the world?  

use 2. Exhortation to maintain those Forces for time to come.  Secondly, because this is the great way of our conquering our enemies, I beseech you (I principally speak to your Lordships, and to those that are interested in being the great council of the kingdom) take care that this Magazine of the Mouth, the powers that come out of the Mouth of Babes and Sucklings may be preserved and recruited, and not any ways disbanded; It is now a great dispute among you that are wise Statesmen, what we should do with our Armies? whether (there being no visible enemy in the Field) it would not be fittest to disband our present Armies? A dispute I have nothing to do with; but this I have to do with, and make bold to tell you, whatsoever you do with other Armies, you must not disband the Forces of the Babes and Sucklings, out of whose Mouth comes your strongest help. You are far from having your work done as yet, Ireland is in a sad condition, England is woefully unsettled, terrible divisions are found everywhere; look to it, that you have a force about you; what other Forces are needful, I leave to your wisdoms, but sure I am these Babes and Sucklings, are the Triarii, the Veterani, the old soldiers, the lifeguard of England, disband them once and you are lost. Therefore for the Lord's sake, see that this power that my Text drives at, may have all the encouragement that may be: 
To this end be careful of two things.  And to this end, your Lordships must be careful of these Two things. First,  

1.  To give all the assistance possible, that these soldiers may be encouraged and multiplied in all parts of the Land, I mean, that the Gospel may spread, the Preaching of the Gospel, that Saints might be won, and that the Church might be enlarged, be settled in peace, that there might be freedom to seek God, and to serve him according to his will; and know you for certain, that every soul which shall be won to Christ, be it the soul of a woman, or of an old man that stoops for age, or of a child, yet every soul won to Christ, and so numbered among these Babes and Sucklings will be as stout a soldier as ever you did employ, and will in your extremity do more than all the experienced Captains that tread on English ground, because God is with these, and these must carry it; the power of heaven is engaged with them, therefore for the Lord's sake further Religion, the propagation and settling of it; you are wise, and can think of the ways which have been often set before you, God Almighty bless you in it, and ever let these parties be dear in your eyes, who have such interest in Heaven, let them be owned as the soldiers who will never fail you, though others may and will. The other thing I humbly advise is this,  

2.  That you would always carry this in your wise thoughts, never to engage in any cause, wherein you should not be accompanied with the power that comes out of the mouths of these Babes and Sucklings: you have found, (though it may be carnal eyes see it not) that the prayers and tears of God's people, and their cleaving to God, and their interest in your Cause, hath been the greatest means under heaven to keep your Lordships to be a Parliament House to this day; and the Lord keep you, that whatsoever business you have, what contest or war soever you may have, that your Cause be such, that these Babes and Sucklings be not constrained to withdraw from your assistance; my meaning is, that the Cause be ever good, and such a Cause as God will own, and as God calls you to; hitherto your Cause hath been manifest, and your way hath been clear; the Lord keep you, that you and the Babes and Sucklings of my Text may live and die together, and then we are well enough; but when ever you engage against them, or without them, you will be worsted.  

3. Exhortation to all these Babes and Sucklings to use their power against Christand their enemies.  2. To the rest; who is there among you that belongs to this party who are of Christ's number, I beseech you give us your help, come all of you and help the Lord against his enemies, help in the great work that now is in hand; do not say you can contribute nothing, it may be some of you have no Money or Lands, no wisdom or authority: I am sure thou hast that which God's people may receive benefit by, Christ hath given thee a mouth, which is a quiver full of choice arrows; thou canst profess Christ's truth, thou canst sing his praises, thou canst call him Abba father, thou canst be one of his remembrancers, thou canst pray for the peace of Zion, thou canst say, Our Father which art in heaven, let thy kingdom come; and little dost thou know what great things thou Mayst do, in thy Closet, in thy Chamber, in the Fields at thy work; no tongue can utter what admirable help thou Mayst give; thou Mayst reach Rome and Spain, and Ireland, succour the one, and destroy the other: O for the Lord's sake lay out your strength to the utmost; come out (I say) and help the Lord all that are able; Solomon saith, he that in a famine withholds corn, the people will curse him; what will thy condition be, if thou withholdest thy help in the needful time of trouble; you know Mordecai's speech to Hester, Who knows but thou camest to the kingdom for such a time as this? I say to thee without any if or and, I know thou art endued with all this strength, for such a time as this, O therefore fill thy mouth with praises, with confessions, with prayers, and with whatever else may quell the Lords and thy enemies, even the enemy and the avenger.  

2 Rules how to use this power of the mouth, so as to make it effectual.  But take this in, thou must be careful so to use this power, that it may take and speed, think not that every one that pretends to pray, or pretends to Covenant, or profess God's name can do it: I could give you abundance of instances, where the Lord hath aborninated all these things, & they have been curses to them who have used them, have you not often read of such speeches as these, What hast thou to do to take my Name into thy mouth? when ye make many prayers, I will not hear you; when they pray, I will destroy them with sword, famine, and pestilence; and many other the like, know therefore it's not bare Preaching or Confessing, or Singing, or Praying, that will do any thing, these must be used and done aright; and there are excellent Rules for every one of these, to teach us how to use them, so as to make them effectual, but a Sermon will not bear the handling of them, I shall at the present commend only two directions which are common to them all:  

1.  1 See that that Mouth out of which all this strength must be exercised, be a sanctified Mouth, a Mouth separated to, and engaged in God's Cause only; let it not be the Mouth that St. James speaks of, Out of the same Mouth comes cursing and blessing; 
James 3. 9 10.  let it not be a Mouth that shall sing Hosanna to Christ in the Temple, and crucify him in the Court; that shall sing a psalm to him in the Congregation, and a bawdy Catch in an Alehouse or Tavern; that shall bless his Name in the assembly of his people, and blespheme him in the company of profane ones; that shall talk of Heaven and holiness in one company, and uncleanness and luxury in another, this is a Mouth end a Mouth, a double Mouth, that the Lord takes no more pleasure in, then in a double heart: No, let the Mouth, that is such an excellent instrument as this, and the tongue in it, let it (I say) be for the Lord, and for the Lord only, let it be a sanctified Mouth. And secondly,  

2.  2 That though all this power must be exercised out of the Mouth, yet it must come further than from the Mouth, the Mouth is the instrument, it is the gun if you will, or the sword, but the Mouth it is not the magazine, it is not the store-house; though the tongue is the glory for execution, there must be another thing that must be the fountain: 
A double store-house, whence the Mouth must be supplied with strength.  and therefore this sanctified Mouth must fetchall from another treasury, & there is a double store-house whence it must be furnished. 
1 Christ's Merits.  1 Christ's merit, the meritorious cause of all the conquest, is the blood of the limb; go not thou out in the force of thy prayer, say not, I can pray, I can preach, I have a bold Spirit to confess Christ, and I have taken the Covenant, and will stand to it: God forbid thou shouldest think this can contribute any thing because it is in thee; no, but let the blood of the lamb be the meritorious cause upon which thou reliest, faith in it will make the sling stones, able with David to kill these Goliah's; take this away, and thou canst do nothing. 
2 From a sanctified heart.  2 See that all come out of the good Treasury within, from a sanctified heart; when thy Mouth makes confession, see that it come out of a heart that believeth; if thou sing to God's glory with thy mouth and voice it must be with grace in thy heart; if thou wilt pray, see to it, that it be not lip-labour, or only a company of words or sentences well composed, but let it be the pouring out of the heart, the crying with the heart, with an humble heart, with a believing heart; and so let thy Covenanting bee, thou wilt swear a Covenant, let thy heart stand to it, and hold it out, and maintain it; this is the way to use these Mouth-weapons aright. I should have enlarged my Discourse upon them, but I rather fear I have been burden some already to your patience. Consider what I have said, and the Lord give you understanding in all things: And I shall end.   
FINIS.