SEVEN TREATISES, Very necessary to be observed in these very bad Days To prevent the Seven last Vials of God's Wrath, that the Seven Angels are to pour down upon the Earth; Revel. xuj. I. The Monstrous Murder of the most righteous King; Paralleled to the Murder of King CHARLES the First. Act. seven. 52. II. The Tragedy of Zimri, that slew his King, that was his Master. 2. Reg. ix. 31. III. God's War with the wicked, Rebels, Murderers, etc. Esay. lvii. 21. iv The lively Picture of these lewd times. Jeremy. xiv. 10. V The four Chiefest Duties of every Christian Man. 1. Peter. two. 17. VI The true Properties, and Prerogatives of the true Saints. John. x. 27. VII. The Chiefest Cause why we should love God. 1. John. iv. 19 Whereunto is annexed The DECLARATION of the just Judgement of GOD 1. Upon our late King's Friends, that neglected him. 2. Upon the King's Enemies, that rebelled, and warred against him. I. The perfidious Scots. II. The bloody Irish. III. The Antichristian Presbyterians, and Parliament, that killed the two Witnesses of Jesus Christ; Moses and Aaron, Magistrates and Ministers. 1. In general upon all the Long Parliament, and especially upon the Rump-Parliament, so termed. 2. In particular, upon many of the most wicked Limbs of the great Antichrist, and the Members of that Parliament. AND The superabundant Grace, and great Mercy of God shown towards this good King, CHARLES the First. I. In his Life. II. In his Death. III. After his Death. 1. In his Honour. 2. In his Children, and Posterity. 3. In all his Friends and loyal Subjects. By Gr. Williams, Ld. Bishop of Ossory. LONDON. Printed for the Author. 1661. The Resolution of the Author. By the Grace of God, and the assistance of his blessed Spirit, I will flatter not man. I do fear none, nor any danger, but God. I desire nothing of any man, but Love. I covet no Preferment, but to keep what the blessed King, and my most gracious Master (at the Motion of my ever Honoured Lord, the Earl of Pembroke) hath given me. And, He gave me all that I have, and to lose all for his sake, that gave me all, I never cared. I can have no long time to live, being now full Seventy and four years old. I will speak nothing, to my knowledge, but truth: and, if I perish, I perish; as Qu. Hester said. Let God's will be done. Jehovae Liberatori. GR. OSSORY. TO THE KING'S Most Excellent MAJESTY, And to the now-Convened PARLIAMENT, and all Posterity, The Humble Remonstrance of Gruffith Williams, Lord Bishop of Ossorie. Shows, THAT he is most strictly obliged, and indispensably bound as he is sent a messenger from God to instruct his people, and called by His late Majesty, his most gracious Master, and now most Glorious Martyr, Charles the first, of ever blessed memory, to be the Bishop of Ossorie, to declare, and make Remonstrance unto Your Majesty, to the now-Convened Parliament, and to all Posterity, these few Subsequent things. As, First, that ever since 1625. I lived with my ever-honoured Lord, and Master, the Earl of Pembroke and Mountgomery, for the most part, in His Majesty's house at the Cockpit, about the space of eighteen years together, and about seven years of that time, in His majesty's service; and in that respect I had fit opportunity to observe His Majesty, and to understand the affairs, and Transactions of the Court better than most others of His majesty's Chaplains, that waited only their accustomed Month, and then returned to their residence. And mine Obligations to His late Majesty are so many, and so great, that I cannot with the best of mine endeavours discharge the Dimidium of those duties, that low to the blessed memory of that King; for he gave me all that I had, and all that I have, and had not the late Arch Bishop of Canterbury provided, and commended to His Majesty a far better, and abler man every way then myself, His Majesty intended to make me the Teacher, and Tutor to Your Majesty, as I heard it from His own mouth when my ever Honoured Lord, and Master, the Earl of Pembroke, and Mountgomery, brought me to examine His Son, and my Scholar, the Lord Charles Herbert before His Majesty. And therefore I conceive, that I am more obliged, and bound in Conscience, to declare what I do infallibly know to be truth, to perpetuate the understanding thereof, unto Posterities, and to undeceive the Ignorant, and Simplest sort of people, that know not things aright, but, in hearing the lying reports of most Malicious men, do swallow down the same for truths; then many others of His late majesty's Chaplains. And I call the great God of Heaven, and the Searcher of all hearts to be my witness, that what I do, is neither out of Envy, Hatred, or Malice to any particular man; or to Flatter, and to Insinuate myself into the favour of any one the greatest man living; or for the hope, and expectation, of any benefit, or Preferment in the World; whereas I never did, nor ever intended, to desire any thing of Your Majesty, or of any other, but only to retain, and to enjoy what our late Pious King, and my most gracious Master, hath given me; because that, although I was Plundered in England, and Plundered in Wales, and Sequestered of all my Means both in England, and Wales, and had not left me one penny of any Ecclesiastical Means, nor twenty Pound per annum, in all the World, to maintain myself, and my Servants, of any Temporal Estate; so that I was forced for these twelve last years, and more, to live upon a little Tenement, for which I paid fifty shillings rend to Sir Gr. Williams, and four Pound land by the year of mine own, poorer than poor Curates, with Oaten-Bread, and Barley-bread, and a little Buttermilk, or Glas-Door, and sometimes Water, being not able to keep any drop of Ale, or Beer in my house for these two lustras of years, and more, as all my Neighbours know; and to go attired in very mean Country , and to do many servile works myself, about my House, Garden, and , for want of means to hire labourers; yet for all this my sad condition, lest I should be ensnared, and hindered to discharge my duty, and my tongue entangled with such Birdlime, I resolved to accept of no means, benevolence, or maintenance from the Usurpers, Rebels, and the Robbers of the Church of Christ, and of their brethren, whatsoever they should offer unto me, and how great soever my wants should be; as, being contented, with the Apostle, with any state, or condition, whatsoever, and hoping, that, as the Poet said of Pompey, Non me videre superbum Prospera fatorum; so— Nec fractum adversa videbunt. But what I say herein, I do it only to demonstrate the truth of things, not to those, that knew His Majesty, which were needless, but to those, that knew Him not, and upon misapprehension of His Majesty's action's, related by Malicious Adversaries misunderstood the same, and made a simple conversion of White to Black, and of Good to Evil. For, As I shall answer for what I say, at the Dreadful day of Judgement, I do here profess, that in all mine Observation of what I saw, and what I heard, of the Lords, and Gentlemen of His Court, in so many years, as they know I lived therein, which was, ever since King James died, till the Wars began, I knew neither Lord, nor Knight, nor Gentleman, nor any other man whatsoever, neither have I read in any History, Greek, or Latin, of any Emperor, or King, I will not except Constantine, nor Theodosius, nor St. Edward of Ingland, that was a juster King, a wiser Governor, and a better man, than King Charles, that was so Pious in his Devotions, so just and upright in all His Actions, so sweet in His Disposition, so loving to His Friends, so mild to His Servants, so ready to forgive His Enemies, and so free from all revenge for His greatest wrongs, that when His own Subjects, and Servants, so Undutifully, and Maliciously, Rebelled, and Warred against Him, and bespotted His Innocent Conversation, and pure Life, with most false, and venomous Aspersions, I heard him say, I thank God, I can freely forgive all my Enemies, and I pray God, that God would forgive them: and I dare boldly affirm it, and can justify it, that He was as good a Protestant, if not the best Protestant in all the Christian World, and, I am sure, the best Protestant King, or Prince, that ever England saw; who, when I came unto Him, immediately after Edg-Hill-fight, and said, that whatsoever otherwise, we wanted in our Abilities, yet our Prayers should never be wanting, to beseech the Almighty God, night and day, to bless Him, and to protect Him from all His Adversaries, He answered, that He thanked us for our Prayers, and desired us to continue our Prayers still, as He hoped we would do, for Him; because He suffered all this War, and whatsoever else should betid Him, for our sake, and for the defence of the true Protestant Religion, as it was Established in the Church of England, and for the preservation of the known Laws of these Kingdoms: and all the while I lived in His Court, I never saw the man, Clergy, or Laity, that shown himself so punctually professing the Protestant Religion, and so zealously, and regularly, observing the true service of God, as His gracious Majesty. What other Character I should give to this most excellent Prince, for a loving faithful Husband to His Queen, and for a dear indulgent Father to all His Children, His goodness therein is very very far beyond my ability of Expression; as it is indeed in all the other particulars: so that the praise, and Eulogy, which Homer gave to Achilles, and Ulysses, Virgil to Aenaeas, Xenophon to his Cyrus, Eusebius to Constantine, and Osorius to Emmanuel King of Portugal, I may truly ascribe to Him, or rather what the Prophet Jeremy, and the Son of Sirach saith of the good King Josias, or the Scripture of King David, that he was a man according to God's own heart, so I hope, and believe, that I may say with out mistake, without offence, that King Charles the First was a man according to God's own heart, and though, as Christ non dimidiavit dies suos, so God did soon bring this good King to His death, that He might be soon delivered from the contradictions of Sinners, and soon brought to enjoy the glorious Crown of Eternal life, yet was He most blessed, both in His life, and death, as hereafter I shall more fully show unto you. And therefore I had rather say no more, then to say too too little, as I shall, when I say my best of this most gracious, and now most glorious King, Charles the First. And though he was so good, so gracious, and so pious a King; yet this good, gracious, and incomparably pious Protestant King, the gentlest, meekest, and of the sweetest disposition of all the men I ever saw, was, as you well know, most rebelliously Warred against, most Judas-like sold, most treacherously betrayed, and most maliciously, Barbarously, and, for the spiteful mischievous manner thereof, most Jewishly, and unexpressably Murdered; and many more Noblemen, and Gentlemen, Clergy, and Laity, Murdered in like manner, only for His sake, and for the truth of their Loyalty unto Him, and their Fidelity unto God, as I have Mystically, and yet fully showed in my Book of The great Antichrist revealed, and in these Treatises following. And can any thing so foully defile the Land, and so highly provoke the Wrath, and Indignation of God against his people, as the shedding of so much Innocent Blood? or shall we think, that the just God will rest satisfied, and contented, to have his Wrath appeased (especially, if we consider what he saith to the three sons of Noah, Gen. ix. 5, 6. and of the Bloody sins of Manasses, 2 King. xxiv. 4. and to Ahab for letting Benhadad to escape, 1 King. xx. 42.) when he seethe the precious Blood of so Good, so Gracious, and so Pious a King, His own Vicegerent, and the Blood of so many faithful Christians, Noblemen, Gentlemen, and other loyal Subjects, that have lost their lives, for their constancy in professing the true service of God, the right Faith of Christ, and their duty, and loyalty to their true, and lawful King, left unexpiated, and according to the Law of justice, unrevenged, and unpunished? The truth of God saith, Not so: therefore His now gracious Majesty, lest His filial affection of so good, and so loving a Father, and His anger, and indignation against such monstrous Murderers might seem to transport Him with Passion to be over-partial, too rigid, and too severe, in His censure, against these Murderers, did, most wisely, religiously, and Christianlike transmit the Judgement, and Punishment of these transcendent Malefactors to his Parliament, who, as he knew, had infinitely suffered most unspeakable Detriment, and Damage, as well, though not near the like, nor so much as himself, in the loss of their so good a King. And the late Parliament, that was, The Keepers of the Liberties of Ingland by the Authority of our Parliament (and you may compute, what Number of Arithmetical Letters this name contained) and had very many of the King's Enemies in it (and therefore likely not to do all things so well, as they should do) yet hath it most gallantly, religiously, and justly sentenced many of them to death, and the just God, without Question, doth most propitiously accept, and approve of all those their do, which are just according to his own Precepts. But though herein, they have done very well; yet do you think, that they have done sufficiently well? I will not presume to teach them, that, in State Affairs, are better able to be my Teachers, than I to advise their Wisdoms, what they ought to have done; yet, as I am 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, I must humbly crave leave to set down, what I conceive to be the just Will of God herein; and that is, that all, and every one, that had any hand, or finger in that good King's Death, or in the death of any of those His good Subjects, that were unjustly, and illegally sentenced to death, (I do not speak of them, that were killed in the War; because, as the Poet Lucan saith, Pharsal. lib. 1. Victrix causa Diis placuit, sed victa Catoni. And as the Prophet David saith, The Sword devoureth the one, as well as the other: but of those, that in cold blood, by usu ping Judges, under the Colour of Law, were contrary to the Laws, both of God, and of the Land, most unjustly condemned unto death) should, for that their unjust Proceed, be justly questioned, and legally tried for their former Offence; the same being of so high a Nature, as I shown to you before. But you will say, many of them, as blind Bartimaeus might easily see, that acted very highly against the last King, and, as it is conceived, had their hands deep in his death, were as active, as any others, and most special Instruments, to bring His now Sacred Majesty unto His Right, whereby, they have fully expiated their foul offence, and deserve rather to be well rewarded and honoured, as some say they are, than any ways questioned, as their Adversaries would have them to be. I answer, that His Majesty is wise, as the Angel of God, and knoweth best, what he should best do; and the Policy of State, is far beyond the Sphere of mine Intelligence, and their do therein aught highly to be commended, and deserve not meanly to be rewarded; though, as Will. Summer told King Henry the Eight, that such a Gentleman threatened to kill him, and the King answered, that, if he killed him, he would have him hanged for it; Will. Summer replied, Nay good King, let him be hanged before he kills me, or else, his death will not preserve my life, and his hanging will do me no good: so I heard some say, that they would have had the Enemies of the last King first punished for their Rebellion, and the Murder of Him; and then rewarded for their good Service to His now gracious Majesty, or else, reward them well for their good Service done to our now gracious King, and then question them, and punish them answerable to their Deserts, for their Disloyalty, and Treachery to our late King; as I read it in the Turkish History, and in some other Historians, of some very wise Kings, that did so to the like Offenders; because, we may believe it for a truth, that they, which have proved false, to their own true, just, and lawful Prince, will scarce ever prove faithful to any Prince, nor seem to be, but either for hope, still to reap the fruit of their Subtlety, to turn, when the Wind turns, or for fear to be dashed in Pieces, if they turn not their Sails to escape those Rocks; which they cannot otherwise avoid; and no thanks to such men for any good they do, when they do it perforce, and therefore should be trusted perchance. And it may be, many of the very Murderers, both of the good King, and of his loyal Subjects, have rob, and spoilt, not the Egyptians of their Jewels, but the Israelites, their Brethren, of their Goods, Lands, and Possessions, which they have gotten into their own hands, and thereby became exceeding rich, and enabled themselves to match their Sons, and their Daughters to great Families, and to bestow large Gifts, that do blind the eyes of the wise, on others, to make to themselves Friends of their unrig hteous Mammon, to preserve them from their just deserts, and to pull down the Wrath, and Vengeance of God on others, for this their obstructing of the strait rule of Justice, that teacheth us to do otherwise. Or, if it were not so, many men do wonder, how so many men, as were conceived to have been active, and most of them to have their hands embrued in the good King's Blood, and were likewise guilty of the death of His innocent Subjects, should escape uncensured, and so few of them sentenced, to expiate, and appease the Wrath of God for such horrible, unparallebd, and transcendent Murders: for I knew eight persons executed at Dublin for the Murder of one ordinary Traveller, and is it not strange, that we see no more brought to their Trial for such a Slaughter, as was done upon our good King, and His innocent Subjects, so judicially, and yet so illegally, and altogether unjustly sentenced to death? or shall we think, that no more were guilty, then were condemned? or not rather, that the guilty Murderers, by their Wealth, Subtlety, and Friends, made many others guilty of God's anger, and the pulling down of God's vengeance upon many more, for their excusing, covering, and clearing such abominable Transgressors: for I would have all men to consider duly, how destructive Murder is to mankind, and how odious, and hateful it is to God, above all other sins whatsoever, especially, when an innocent man is judicially, and illegally Murdered, as you may rightly find the truth hereof fully proved in the fifth Chapter of the first Book of The Great Antichrist revealed, and in these Sermons following. And I would the Protectors of the King's Murderers would rightly weigh what the people said to King David, that His life was worth ten thousand of the lives of the common people; and how the Lord punished the whole house, and posterity of Saul, and all the Kingdom of Israel until his wrath was satisfied, for the innocent death of the Gibeonites, that were but a poor contemptible people, but killed without cause; 2. Sam. xxi. and especially, that there be not any more, but two sins, that I can find, in the whole Book of God, that the Lord saith, cannot be pardoned, and obliterated, without their due punishment, and they are, 1. The high Abuse of God's Messengers, and Publishers of his Will. 2. The unjust shedding of innocent Blood. For Of the First the Spirit of God saith, that when the Lord God sent his Messengers unto the Children of Israel, and they mocked the Messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his Prophets, the wrath of the Lord arose against his People, until there was no Remedy; as if he had said, For other sins of these Israelites, some ways, and remedies might have been found out, as Moses, and Aaron, by their prayers, and censers appeased the wrath of God, to turn away the Punishment of them; and David, and Ezra did the like from the Jews: but when they mocked his Messengers, despised his Word, and misused his Prophets, which were the only S●●ve, or Medicine, that could heal their sickened Souls, when they refused, and cast away these Remedies from them, than there was no Remedy in the World for them, to preserve them from their just deserved Punishment; and therefore saith the Text, The Lord brought upon them the King of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the Sword, in th● House of their Sanctuary, and had no Compassion upon young Man, or Maiden, old Man, or him, that stooped for Age; he gave them all into his Hand; for that there was no Remedy. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 15, 16, 17. And of the Second the Spirit of God saith, that the Lord sent against Jehoiakim bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the Children of Ammon, and he sent them against Juda to destroy it, and to remove them out of his sight for the sins of Manasses, and for the innocent blood that he shed, (for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, as the Judges of the Rump-Parliament did fill Ingland) which the Lord would not pardon, 2 Reg. xxiv. 4. as if he had said, though the Lord God might have been persuaded by Prayers, and Tears, and Sacrifices to pardon all other Sins; yet this sin of shedding innocent Blood, especially, when it is judicially shed, the Lord will no ways, nor by any means pardon it, and, though men would fain pardon it, yet God will not pardon it; because God, which is the God of truth, and Truth itself, hath said it: and, that we should not doubt of it, he hath said, Surely, your blood of your Lives will I require; at the hand of every Beast will I require it, and at the hand of man, at the hand of every man's Brother will I require the life of man. And, Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the Image of God made he man, Gen. ix. 5, 6. and see how fully, and how energetically the Lord hath said, and the Scripture hath set down, all these things, against the pardoning of them, that shed innocent blood. And then, these things being duly weighed, as Saint Ambrose said to Theodosius, Quod inconsulto fecisti, consultius revocetur, so I believe, that, if any man hath inconsiderately, either through ignorance, corruption, or partiality caused, or consented to let any Agag to escape, whom the Justice of God hath designed to death, he would assuredly, consultius errorem corrigere, amend His former error, and not let the death of such a King, as was worth ten thousand of us, and the Blood of so many of His loyal Subjects, as were judicially, and unjustly condemned to death, pass away unpunished, and unquestioned, whensoever any of the Authors, or Contrivers of their death should be found out; or at least wise, he would be satisfied, and not blame others, for doing, if they do, what he should have done: It is no matter when; (better late then never) for Nunquam sera est ad Justitiam via, The way to do Justice is never too far, nor the time too late; and God deferreth his Judgements for many years together, when we find Murderers flourishing in all Pomp, and Power a long time, as I have showed it at large in the Tragedy of Zimri; and yet at last, to come to taste of their just deserved Punishment; as Pilate, and Herod, and the rest of the Murderers of Jesus Christ, were not apprehended by God's Justice, some of them in forty years after they had condemned their just, and lawful King; and many more such Murderers you may find in Dr. Beard's Theatre of God's Judgements, and in other Authors to have lain secure, and to have slept in their sins for a long Season, before the hand of Vengeance hath roused them up: and yet after many Ages to pay Death for Death. And therefore, though the Parliament, and Parliaments have passed over, and perhaps pardoned those, whom God saith, he will not pardon; yet I conceive, that whensoever any of them, that had their hands imbrued, or the least finger stained, in our King's Blood, or in the Blood those, His loyal Subjects, that were judicially, unjustly condemned, shall be found out, and made known to be such, they should be brought unto their Trial; especially when we consider, that Justice don● upon such transcendent Malefactors, that do now, as yet (as it is conceived) wallow in those innocent Bloods, that they have spilt, and do jet up and down, most proudly, in the spoils of their Slaughtered, and Beggared Brethren, would, as the Scripture testifieth, purge the Land from the stain of that innocent Blood, which they have so plentifully lost and doth still cry, like Abel's Blood, for Vengeance against them, appease the Wrath of God for our former neglect of doing Justice; increase the King's Revenues, by the Forfeited estates of these Transgressors; satisfy the Friends of those Murdered innocents'; terrify all other Rebellious hearts from such horrible attempts, and all other Judges, from abusing the Laws, and perverting Justice; and be an excellent Example of a just, and unpartial proceeding against Traitors, for the Foreign Kings to applaud it, and for their Subjects to fear it, if ever the like thoughts should enter into their hearts of doing such things, as were done by these Murderers. And truly it hath often grieved me, to hear the vulgar people so generally complaining, that they see divers of the late King's Enemies, and Rebels, that they suspect guilty, some way, of the King's death, so much favoured in the World, and so domineering over others, jetting up and down in Pride, so gloriously trimmed with the spoils of the loyal Subjects, and some of the King's Friends, and faithful Servants, sneaking up and down, wholly dejected, so as if there were an Act of Oblivion passed of the King's Friends, and an Act of Indemnity for His Adversaries. To whom I have often answered that our King is wise, as the Angel of God, and He knoweth best what He hath to do, far better than the best of us all, and they should rather remember what the Psalmist saith; Fret not thyself because of the ungodly, neither be thou Envious because of the wicked doers: for they shall soon be cut down like the Grass, and be withered like unto the green Herb; especially when their Iniquity, their Treasons, and Treacheries, that as yet are hidden from the Eyes of men, shall be found out, and be made apparent unto the World. And therefore, though I say all this, that I said before, as from the strait, unpartial rule of severe Justice; yet, as I am a Bishop of Jesus Christ, and a Messenger of the God of mercy, that takes no delight in the blood of his Brethren, nor desireth the death of any one; I am obliged most humbly, and earnestly to pray, and beseech Your gracious Majesty, to be still gracious, as You have demonstratively shown Yourself to be hitherto, unto these ungracious Offenders; and when the Law of Justice hath decreed their Desert, to stretch forth unto them the right Hand of Mercy, and to do with them, as the Wisdom of the most merciful God shall direct Your Majesty. Secondly, The next thing, that I am bound to declare, and to remonstrate unto Your Majesty, and to all others, is, (lest Your Majesty should be misinformed concerning me, as I understood by Mr. Secretary Nicholas, I have been misrepresented in Your majesty's Court,) most humbly to beseech Your Majesty, to give me leave, to make that Remonstrance to the World, which I hope no man can contradict: as, That I was Your Father's Chaplain, and waited on His Majesty six, or seven years at least, in the Month of December, and when the Wars began, though my ever honoured Lord, and Master, the Earl of Pembroke, and Montgomery was misled, contrary to his children's desire, to adhere unto the Parliament, which fault can no ways be excused, though I could say very much to lessen it; because I knew the Uprightness of that Noble Person, that was hoodwinked by the Subtlety of his Adherents: yet, myself, according to my duty, stuck to his Majesty, and persuaded some of his Children, that were my Scholars, to do the like; and I wrote my first Book against the Parliament, which is entitled, The Grand Rebellion, and, being fetched by a Troop of Soldiers, was carried Prisoner to North-hampton, where the Committee had The Grand Rebellion in their Hands, and had not God most mercifully, and very strangely turned away their eyes, from looking on it, to preserve me, I looked for no other end, then to be utterly ruined; but the Lord preserved me, and delivered me out of their hands: and the next Winter, being in Oxford, I printed my Discovery of Mysteries, or, The Plots of the pretended Parliament, to overthrow both Church, and State; and on that very day, that I was preaching in Saint Mary's before the Parliament, then sitting in Oxford, the Soldiers from Northhampton came, and plundered my house, and all my Householdstuff, and about eight milch Kine, and all that I had in Abthorp, where my Wife, and Children resided, and sequestered my Lands to the use of the Parliament: yet this Breach could not break my Loyalty to my King, or my Heart in my Body; but by the next Winter after, I had written my third Book, entitled The Rights of Kings, and the Wickednesses of the pretended Parliament, etc. And according to my poor Ability, out of the Means I had from Wales, I gave unto His Majesties own Hand every Winter, for three years together, the Testimony of my Loyalty, and Affection, to the uttermost of my Power; and His gracious Majesty did, like a most gracious King, most favourably accept of that Mite, which I offered Him, as Sir Bryan O-Neal, and others do very well know. And when Major General Mytton came, and subdued our Country of Wales, though the Archbishop of York was my singular good Friend, and very earnestly persuaded me to submit unto the Parliament, and, to use his own words, said, that I should far no worse than he did, but should sail in the same Boat, and so sink, or swim, and so be saved, or destroyed together; yet I answered, that I would never trust them, that they would be true to me, that wrote so many Books against them, when they were so false unto their King, that had been so gracious unto them: and therefore I went, and gave ten pound to a Parliament Captain to let me pass into Ireland, by a most desperate Attempt; under the hands, and through the Pikes of mine Enemies, that would have destroyed me, had they but known me: and there how faithfully, and freely I have often preached for Obedience to his Majesty, and against both the Inglish, Scottish, and the Irish Rebels, the most Honourable Duke of Ormond his Grace, and all the rest of the Council at Dublin, can sufficiently testify. And when the most noble Marquis could not possibly preserve Ireland any longer, but was fain to yield it up unto the Parliament, and I had the Benefit of the Articles of Ireland confirmed, and allowed unto me, under the Hands of all the Commissioners, that signed them, I was taken at Sea in my Passage into Wales, and pillaged of all that I had, my Books, Goods, Money, and , to the full value of an Hundred Pounds, and then, coming to the Parliament for to have the performance of the said Articles, one Scot, since executed for a Traitor, demanded, if I wrote not The Grand Rebellion, and the other Books, that I had written against the Parliament, and, I confessing the truth, he asked, if I deserved not rather to have my head cut off, then to have the benefit of any Articles; so I was feign to make mine Address to Sir Thomas Fairfax, who very honourably wrote two Letters (which after I shown them, I got again, and do still keep them, as a memorial of his just, and great favour unto me) one to the Committee of North-hampton, who presently restored me to all the Lands I had in that County; the other to the Committee of Anglesey, who, though they were my near Kinsmen, and some of them descended from the House of Owen Tydder, the Grandfather of Henry the Seventh, as well as myself; yet very unjustly, and unfriendly, they denied to restore me to my Means in that County: so that I was feign to make my second Address to his Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax, who again, as honourably as formerly, wrote to Major General Mytton, to put me into all my Possessions; but, before I could come to General Mytton, Anglesey was revolted from the Parliament, and besieged by Mytton, and the Means of the deanery, that belonged unto me, was Alienated from the Church, and taken quite away, and so ever since I was forced to live upon less means, than twenty pounds per annum, though my ever honoured Lord the Earl of Pembroke, and Mountgomery, offered, to procure me a Living, in Lancashire, worth 400. l. per annum, so I would submit myself to the Parliament, which, with many thanks unto his Lordship for his favour, I utterly refused; and, though other Bishops accepted, and received, each one, 100 pounds a year from Mr. Henry Cromwell, that offered the same very courteously unto me, yet, knowing how unjustly he had power to bestow it, and how I should be fettered if I accepted it, I refused to take it, and resolved to accept of no Salary, Gratuity, gift, or Benevolence from any man to this very day, but to be very well contented with the poor estate, that God had left me; and when as divers Royalists, and other good Christians; seeing my mean estate, and considering my much Sufferings, did offer me, and sent unto me divers sums of moneys, I refused them all, and was feign, before they left sending to me, to desire them publicly in the Pulpit at Dublin, to offer no more of their gifts, and benevolence unto me (for whose love and good will I did most hearty thank them) because I Preached not in expectation of any reward, but resolved to refuse the same, in hope that they would the rather believe the truth of my Doctrine, as I thank God, I saw many of them did, though many others were much offended with me, so that I was forced to leave Dublin, and so fell to my prayers and Studies more, and more, to discover The Great Antichrist, comforting myself herein, that, if I was not mightily mistaken, in all my readings, of the sense and meaning of the Holy Ghost touching the coming of that Antichrist within three years and an half after both the witnesses were slain, that is, the King killed, and all the Bishop's silenced, and suppressed from the execution of their Episcopal Function, which is their Spiritual kill, I should, if I should live so long, see, both Your Majesty Restored, to Your Kingdom, and the Bishop's Elevated, to their former Dignity, as, blessed be God, now both are fully come to pass, according to mine exposition of that Prophecy. And this Prophetical expectation, of the Resurrection, and Restauration of these two witnesses, the King, and the Bishops, according to the true sense and meaning of the Holy Ghost I made known, and shown it to very many, both in Dublin, in Wales, and in London; and though some of them, that saw mine exposition of those Prophecies, that I thus explained, did but laugh at them, and others thought it but a Fancy; yet, blessed be the God of Heaven, that Revealeth secrets unto his Servants, as Daniel saith, we see the truth of mine Explication, in all things accordingly fulfilled, and the confidence, that I had in the assurance of their fulfilling, strengthened me, to be so bold in my Sermon before the Judges of the general Assizes at Conwey, to speak for Your Majesty's Restauration when You were coming towards Worcester, that, Colonel Carter, now Sir John Carter (a man then vehement against Your Majesty, and now loyal to Your Majesty as many others are, that cannot otherwise choose) told me, as soon as ever I had done it, but that he would not seem to be uncivil: he would have pulled me down by the Ears, out of the Pulpit, and the Governor of Beumaresh, Colonel Courtney, was resolved to have clapped me up in Prison; so that I was feign presently to fly away to save myself; and the like boldness, I always used, in all the many Sermons, that I preached at Dublin, as most of that loyal City can bear me witness; so that, sometimes I was forced, to take Sea, and to fly, as I did at Conwey, to escape, as soon as ever I had finished my Sermon. Sic multum terris jactatus & alto. And now being restored to my Bishopric by the great goodness of God, and the happy Restauration of Your Sacred Majesty, I do most humbly crave leave to remonstrate, that as soon as I arrived in Ireland, I went about my Diocese, in my Visitation, from one end to the other, that I might understand the State of the Church, and the Condition of the Country, where I was exceedingly welcomed by all the old Protestants, as they are termed, in every place; and when I had sworn Churchwardens, and Sides-men, or Assistants in every Parish, I gave them some Articles to be inquired after, and a convenient time, to return their Answer into the Court. And when they had answered to those Articles, I found thereby (and by what I saw with mine own eyes in the Country) that the Presbyterians, Anabaptists, Quakers, and the other fanatic Limbs of the Beast, the Members of the Great Antichrist, and the false Prophet that I have so amply deciphered, in my last printed Book of the Antichrist, had suffocated, and suppressed the whole usual, and accustomed Service of God; and as they had done in Ingland, to his dearest Servants, so in Ireland, they had beheaded most of the Churches of Christ within my Diocese, the Roofs of them, both Slates, and Timber, being quite taken off, and converted to their own use, and the Walls of very many of them, thrown down, even to the Ground; and of above an hundred Parishes, I saw not ten Churches standing, nor half so many well repaired; they had as the Prophet saith, so destroyed, all the Houses of God in the Land, as being loath that God, which gave them all they had, should have a House for his Servants, to meet together, to praise his Name. And the great, and famous, most beautiful Cathedral Church of Saint Keney, they have utterly defaced, and ruined, thrown down all the Roof of it, taken away five great, and goodly Bells, broken down all the Windows, and carried away every bit of the Glass, that, they say, was worth, a very great deal; and all the doors of it, that the Hogs might come, and root, and the Dogs gnaw the Bones of the dead; and they broke down a most exquisite Marble Font, (wherein the Christians Children were regenerated) all to pieces, and threw down the many many goodly Marble Monuments, that were therein, and especially, that stately, and costly Monument of the most honourable, and noble Family of the House of Ormond, and divers others, of most rare, and excellent Work, not much inferior (if I be not much mistaken) to most of the best (excepting the King's) that are in Saint Paul's Church, or the Abbey of Westminster: and, when I desired Mr. Connel my Register, to begin to repair some places of that Church, and to set up some Benches, and Forms, to let the people to understand, that we intended, and hoped (though it should cost two thousand pounds) to have all the Church repaired; some of the Anabaptists (as we have good reason to think so) came in the night time, (the Church having no doors) and with Axes, and Hammers, or Hatchets, broke them down, and carried them quite away, and did other unseemly Abuses besides. And for the Preachers, and Ministers of God's word. The Great Antichrist had so filled the Country with his false Prophets, Weavers, and Tailors, and the like Preachers, that there were when I came thither, but three lawfully ordained Ministers, in all the Diocese of Ossory. Mr. Baskervil, Mr. Kearney, and Mr. Deane. The Labourers were so few, though the Harvest was very great, especially, if we hoped to root up those very many stinking Weeds, that the false Prophet hath sowed amongst us; and for the Bishop's House, the Slates, Roof, Timber, Windows, and Doors, all carried quite away, and very much of the very Walls, thrown down, and ruined: Et sic periere ruinae: so that it cost me above thirty pounds already, to fit a Room, or two, for me to lay in. And for the Lands of the Bishop, the best of them are pretended to be Fee-Farmes, and a Trifle reserved to be the Bishop's Rent, scarce worth the looking after; and those pretended Fee-Farms, with most other of the best Lands, contrary to all the directions of Cromwell, that, in all his Commissions, excepted all the Church-Lands, from the Soldier's Lots, were by the Anabaptist's Commissioners, notwithstanding their grand Master's Prohibition, given to the Colonels and Captains for their Arrears, and they do absolutely deny to restore them unto the Church, until they besatisfied with Reprisals, and so the Bishop hath not any thing from them. But if the Bishops be so still kept from their Means, how shall we be able to do our Duties, and to discharge the Service, that we own both to God, to our King, and to the Church of God, when the Soldiers divide our Lands, as formerly they did the Coat of Christ among themselves; and yet Pharaoh-like require of us the full Tale of Bricks, though they take away the Straw wherewith we make them. But the mountainous Lands were only set annually to Tenants, and others, who by reason of their high Rents, and greatness of their Taxes, were feign to leave the same, and the Rents of some, a year, and of others, two years unpaid; and so the Lands in many places, became waste, when no other Tenant durst enter upon them, for fear of the Exchequer Writs, to distrain their Cattle, for the Arrearages of Rents, as they had distrained, upon divers of the under-Tenants of them, that had run away; And for the Lands, and Houses of the Bishop, in, and about Kilkenny, that are a special part of the Bishop's Revenue, the Soldiers took them all, either for their Arrears, or of the State for Rent, into their hands; and the Recusants, being all driven out of the City, the poorer sort of them remained in the Irish Town, and built Cabins, and Cottages upon the Bishop's Lands, and Gardens, and were forced, to pay their Rent unto the Soldiers, that had the said Lands, and Gardens from the State; and when I sent to demand my Rent from those Tenants, the Soldiers presently distrained their Goods; and the poor men running unto me, to complain, and to know what they should do, I willed them to pay their Rents unto the Soldiers, though they were due to me; because, that rather than I would have the faces of these poor men grinded betwixt the Millstones of two pretending Landlords, or that should undertake so many Suits in Law, with so many Swordmen, as do now hold the poor Bishop's Lands, I thought it better to be without my Bishopric, if no other redress could be afforded me. And whereas the Irish Town, that was without Walls, and altogether without the Walls of the City of Kilkenney, did belong to the Bishop of Ossory, as being his Manor of New-Court, and paid a very considerable Rent unto the Bishop, which was a special part of his Revenue, Cromwell finding them Roman Catholics, and involved in that unnatural Rebellion, and Un-Christian Plundering of the Protestants, burned most of their houses, and demolished them to the ground; so that where formerly there were whole streets of goodly houses, and rich Tradesmen inhabiting, and paying, some of them, great Rents, and all of them, some chief Rent, unto the Bishop, the Bishop now hath never a penny, but only some plaits, and patches of waste ground, to tread upon; when as the Poet saith, — Jam seges est ubi Troja fuit: And these few houses, that escaped the Tyrants, and fire, the men, of the 49. years to whom Your Majesty bestowed the City of Kilkenney, with other places, for their Arrears, have seized upon them, and so left nothing, but the name, unto the poor Bishop of Ossory: for under that pretence of having the City of Kilkenny, they do let, and set all the houses that did belong to the Bishop's Manor; and, as it is most true, that ne Hercules contra duos, so, how I should contest with so many men I cannot tell; only this I can tell, that if they do thus take away the Lands of the Churches, and detain them from the right owners, I know not, which is more Sacrilegious, either these fairspoken Royalists, or the foulmouthed Cromwellists, or the Rebellious Papists: because each of them do take them away from the Church, and involve the Churchmen in more troubles, to recover them, than they are like to get by them while they live; such is our miserable condition to deal with these many men; I dare not say, that they are the Limbs of the Beast, but they do the same things, that the Beast did, and if they will take them, and detain them still from the Church, I being full seventy four years old, am not able to contest with so many men of arms, but I do hereby cite them, to appear to answer such things, as I shall allege against them, before Jesus Christ. And whereas Your majesty's gracious pleasure was, most graciously to grant unto every respective Bishop the Fee-Farms, and Leases of the Lands, that are now vested in the Crown by the forfeiture of the Rebels in forty one; save those, that should be restored to their former Possessors, upon the information of his innocence Your Majesty, (being misinformed, as I conceive, as the best, wisest, and justest King may be misinformed, as King David was, in the case of Mepbosheth) hath restored the most rigid, and stiff Roman Catholic, that was always with, if not of, the Supreme Council, and the Pope's Nuncio, at Kilkenny; and, as I am informed, a violent Plunderer of the poor Protestants, and a Captain of Horse among the Rebels, and had taken Lands in Connagh for his Estate in Lemster, unto all the Lands, that he held in the County of Kilkenny, and to the best Lordship, that belonged unto the Bishop of Ossory, and the only Lands, and Lordship of any note, that was held by any of the Roman Catholics, and now vested in the Crown by that Rebellion, in all the Diocese of Ossory; so that this Lordship, called the Upper-Court, and Freshford, being restored unto the former Possessor, the Church of Ossory receiveth not any great benefit by that Your Gracious favour unto the Church; but her Lands, and Revenues herein stand like the Body of the Nightingale, that is vox praetereaque nihil, and that hath much feathers, and little flesh, or, as the Poet saith, Magni nominis umbra; ten pound yearly for that, which is worth near two hundred pound. And therefore Your Petitioner humbly prayeth, that Your Majesty would be graciously pleased to cause, upon this informamation, that those Lands, and Lordship of Upper-Court, shall be restored, according to Your most gracious Grant, unto the Church. And, as Your Petitioner hath already bestowed the whole last years Rend, all that was due to the Bishop, (and more than he received as yet) from the Tenants, for the repairing of the Chancel, and Choir of Saint Keney, and the Bishop's house. (As the Rent of, Captain Joiner 8 l. Captain Mainzor 24 l. Captain Eliot 25 l. Colonel Redman 33 l. Mr. John Graze 29 l. Colonel Dillan 24 l. Mr. Feak 20 l. Lieutenant Col. Wheeler 7 l. Mrs. Bolger 20 l. The Miller 5 l. Which is all the Rent, and Revenue of my Bishopric for the last year, because the Parliament having got our Lands at an easy rate, only for taking it, did in like manner let it as easily, for less than half the worth of it, which made in all an hundred seventy three pounds, whereof your Petitioner laid out for the repairing of the Chancel, and Choir of Saint Keney Church, one hundred, and fifty pounds, and for repairing the Bishop's house, that was all so extreme ruinous, above thirty pounds) So he doth hereby promise, and oblige himself, to God, and to Your Majesty, most faithfully, and freely to dispose of it all, for the reparation of the body of the Cathedral Church of Saint Keney, that Your Majesty may see, Your Petitioner doth not so earnestly prosecute the recovery, and restoring of those Lands, and Lordship of Upper-Court unto the See of Ossorie, for the enriching of himself, that, blessed be God for it, hath enough both for himself, and his, but for the benefit of the House, and Church of God. Or if Your Majesty think not well to continue Your former gracious Grant thereof unto the Church, Your Petitioner humbly prayeth, You would be pleased to further Your Petitioner to recover from Robert She, the former Possessor, to whom it is now restored, the twenty years' Rent, that is unpaid, and is due to your Petitioner, ever since the Rebellion began, and before; and which amounteth to two hundred Pound, beside the forbearance of them: the which, Your Petitioner conceiveth to be most just, and agreeable to all Law, Equity, and Conscience. And for the rest of the Minister's Live, through what fate, or by what means I know not, but through the just Judgement of God, that disposeth all things wisely, so it is, that very many of the poor Protestants, which were rob, and plundered by the Irish Rebels, are not one jot the better, by the subduing of the Rebels, and Displantation of the Roman Catholics; but with the Irish, and like the Irish, do live most poorly, and have as hard a Task to get their own former Estates out of the Soldier's hands, as to pull the Club out of Hercules his hands, as it appeareth by their dealing with myself; when, upon my Petition unto the House of Peers, to be restored unto the Bishop's Lands, that my Predecessor died seized of, I had an order of the Lords unto the Sheriffs, to put me into the Possession of it, which was so totally detained from me, that I had not so much Lands left me about Kilkenny, as would feed a Goose; and when the Sheriffs, according to mine Order, came, to deliver me Possession of it, a Captain of the Long Parliament, that had it given him, as he said, for his Arrears, stood before the Sheriffs, and told them, they should not tread upon his Lands, until he had his Reprisal for it, and because I knew him to be a Member of the House of Commons, I advised the Sheriff; to let him alone, and by no means to entrench upon their Privilege, conceiving, that hereby he hath more affronted the whole House of Lords, in withstanding their Order, than he hath done me, and if they pass by such an Affront, I may far better do it; and if the Soldiers deal thus with me, that am their Bishop, and a Member of the Higher House of Parliament, how hardly, think you, shall the other poor Protestants, and the rest of the Country Gentlemen, that have been these many years kept out of their Estates, get their Lands, and Possessions out of their hands? let Blackwel's Case be for instance. Yet truly I must needs confess, that the Temporal Lords, both of the Roman Religion, and the Protestants, at all times have, and do show themselves most faithful, and loyal to Your Majesty, and both favourable unto our Church, and, without any superciliousness, very friendly with us, that are their Bishops, and most willing to further us to all our Rights, and to grant us any lawful favour, and especially to assist us, to root out those weeds, that disturb us in the Government of God's Church, and the restoring, and setting forward the true Service of God amongst our People. But the Colonels, and Captains, and the rest of the Soldiery, that subdued the Rebels, have the most part of the Kingdom in their Possession, and are very tenacious of what is in their Hands, and do live gallantly, and very fairly; and yet, in many places, the Country is left un-inhabited, and the best parts but thinly peopled, and the ground lying well nigh waste, for the most part, untilled, and ill-stocked, so that the Live, which formerly were worth an hundred pound a piece per annum, are now set for little more than twenty pounds a piece; as mine own Rectory of Rath-Saran, and Rathdowny, that, before the Rebellion, were reputed to be worth above an hundred pounds per an. were set the last year for twenty six pounds, and the Lands of Bishop's-Logh, that my Predecessor did set to his own Son for eighty pounds per annum, was this last year, and before, set to Mr. Feak for twenty pound, and the like; by reason of which slender means, and tenuity of the Live, I found, that the Commissioners for setting the Tithes, and settling Ministers to preach unto the people granted to one Mr. Kearny, that had three Parishes before, 7, or 8. Parishes more, and yet all those scarce able to make him a reasonable Maintenance of an hundred pound per annum; so they granted six to one Mr. Brooks, though he was no lawful ordained Minister; and Mr. Blake had six Parishes given unto him by the Mayor, and Burgesses of Waterford, and all not worth above twenty pounds per annum, as appeareth by his Presentation, and this subsequent Letter unto myself. HONOURED SIR, WE the Mayor, Sheriffs, and Citizens, of the City of WATERFORD, having in our Power, by Charter from King CHARLES the First of ever blessed Memory, and before by his Ancestors, the Presentation of a Minister to the Vicarages of KILL CULLEHENE, RATH-PATRICK, baly GOREN, KILL MAKEVOY, MACKOLLY, and WHITCHURCH, with the Donation thereof, all which amounts to twenty, and one Pounds, or thereabouts, per annum, and having by consent in Council presented RICHARD BLAKE, Clerk, to the same; WE earnestly pray, that if your Lordship have any in your Dispose, that lieth contiguous thereto; that your Lordship would please to favour him therein, and it will thankfully be acknowledged by us, and what you please to command, that is in our Powers, you may freely command, Waterford the 20. th'. November. 1660. Your LORDSHIP'S affectionate Friends, and Servants. DAVIES Mayor. Sam. Brinsmead. Sheriffs. Sam. Brown. Sheriffs. The Cause of which Sterility of Fruit, and Scarcity of Means, and the thinness, or fewness both of Houses, and Inhabitants, I conceive to be, that the Adventurers, and Soldiers have got the most part of the Lands, of the Bishops, and Protestants, that the Irish drove away, and all the Lands of the Rebels, and Roman Catholics, into their own Hands, and are neither willing to part with it, nor able to till it, manure it, and replenish it with Tenants, and Husbandry, as it ought to be. Indeed I do confess, and it is most true, that, if the Irish Rebels, Popish Priests, and Roman Catholics had had their Wids neither Protestant Bishop, nor any other Protestant should ever have had any foot of Land in all the Kingdom of Ireland. And you know what Lex talionis saith to them, but that we ought to be more merciful, and to write our wrongs in the Dust, and not in Marble. And therefore, we are all obliged, as specially to Your Sacred Majesty, that brought our Peace, and Restauration to all, that we have; so Secondly to the Adventurers, that laid out their Moneys, and to the Soldiers, that ventured their Lives, and endured hardship, to restore us unto our Rights. But if they adventured, either life, or money, to drive out the Rebels, and to get both their Lands, and ours, that never offended, unto themselves, as many of the Soldiers do about Kilkenny, than we own them no thanks; and they do no better, then as the Thiefs rob us, so they rob the Thiefs, not for the love of Justice, to make Restitution to the Owners, but to enrich themselves, and how God likes of this keeping the right Owners from their Lands, and Houses, let the Adventurers, Soldiers, and Buyers of them, judge themselves, the Lord will judge it at another Day. All which, and many more Distempers, that might be seen in that unsettled Kingdom, and the Distresses of many unrelieved pillaged Protestants, that are continued, through the unbridled Fury of the Presbyterians, and the blind illimited Zeal of the Anabaptists, Quakers, and other Sectaries, that have swarmed in this place, as appeareth by this Catalogue of them, that were presented by the Churchwardens of one Parish, for their unlawful Conventicles. That is to say, William Burgess of Kilkenny Esquire. Thomas Wilson, Esq Thomas Fox, Gent. Thomas Fonyver, Merchant. John Ball, Merchant. Francis Mitchel, Merchant. Thomas Newman Esq Richard Inwood, Innkeeper. William Hays, Gent. John Beaver, Merchant. Edward Evans, Tanner. William Waters, Taylor. Francis Hamblyn. George Dawson. William Mitchel, Gardiner. Charles Duke, Gent. Thomas Collins, Gent. I thought it my Duty in all Humbleness, and Fidelity, to declare, and remonstrate unto Your Majesty, and to Your most Honourable Parliament, and all others, that desire to be informed herein: leaving it to Your majesty's most wise, and pious Consideration, and their religious Care of God's Service, and Servants, to do, what to Your Majesty seemeth best herein; and most humbly craving Pardon, if, in these things, I have done any thing, that in the least way might offend Your Majesty, whom I so truly honour, and will ever as faithfully serve, as any Subject within Your Kingdoms, not only, as You are my King, but especially as You are the gracious Son of so glorious a Father, as is that blessed King, CHARLES the First, whose Name, and Memory shall ever be like the Composition of the most precious Ointment, that is made by the Art of the Apothecary. So I rest. Your MAJESTY'S most loyal, faithful, and obedient Subject, and Orator, GR. OSSORY. THE FIRST TREATISE. Acts 7.52. Which of the Prophets have not your Fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which shown before of the coming of the Just One, of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers. THE occasion of this our meeting and congregating ourselves together at this time in God's House, is to confess our Great sins, to declare our Sorrows, and to testify our Humiliation; as for all Other our transgressions, so Especially for the high Rebellion, and malicious Deliberate murder, which our Fathers, our Brethren, and the Rest of the people of these Dominions, have committed, against their Own most Pious, Just, and Lawful King, CHARLES the First. And I know not any ways, how to do the same better, then by parelleling the Transcendent murder of our King, with that Unexpressible murder of the King of the Jews, and our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ. For the performance of which Duty, I shall desire you to give Attendauce to the Word of God, which you may find written in Acts 7.52. These Words that I have read unto you, are the Words of the protoMartyr, Saint Stephen; the first Witness, that lost his Life for Preaching the Truth, and testifying the Faith and death of Jesus Christ: And they do contain a three fold Act, or three special steps, descending downwards towards hell, which, with the assistance of God, I intent to handle, not to direct you the way thither, but to divert all men from those dangerous paths, whose ends must be so doleful unto them, without end: And they are, 1. Persecutio Prophetarum; the persecution of the Prophets. Three parts. 2. Occisio Praedicatorum; the kill of the Preachers. 3. Perditio & interfectio justi Regis; the betraying and murdering of a most just, and the most righteous King, the King of the Jews. The three foulest facts that could be acted by any men, and would never have been done by any, but by Jews, or worse than Jews. 1. The wisest amongst the sons of men saith, Surely, that you need not doubt it, Eccles. 7.7. oppression maketh a wise man mad, and therefore likely it maketh simple men and fools more mad; and oppression, which the Grecians call, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, is nothing else but violenta pressura, a violent pressure, and a pinching of their bodies, or a sore pressing upon their estates, and impoverishing them, by Taxes, impositions, and services, more than by the Laws ought to be imposed, or that they be well able to bear. And yet, as the Poet saith, Clamitat ad Coelum— Vox oppressorum, mercesque retenta laborum. This oppression of the poor crieth loud in the ears of God, for vengeance against the oppressors; Psal. 9.9. Prov. 22.23. Amos 5.21. and God promiseth to be a refuge for the oppressed, and He threatneth to punish all the oppressors of the poor; yea, and to spoil the soul of those that spoil them: and therefore, the great men of this world should take heed, that they oppress not the poor, the fatherless, and the widow, that have least shelter to preserve them from oppression. But if Oppression be so heinous a vice, and so loud a crying sin, what shall we think of Persecution? for persecution, that is derived of persequor: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which signifieth, ad extremum usque sequi, to follow and pursue his desire to the uttermost execution, is of a far higher strain, and a close following after the person of any one, to do him some great and apparent mischief, either to take away his Liberty, or to bereave him of his Life, as Cain did to Abel, Gent 4.8. 1 Sam. 13.14. and as Saul persecuted David, and hunted after him, even as a Partridge is hunted upon the mountain from place to place. And thus did the Fathers of these Jews persecute the Prophets: For the better understanding of which point, Three things observable in the 1. part. i.e. The persecution of the Prophets. I humbly beseech you to observe these three things. 1. The persecutors, their Fathers. 2. The persecuted, the Prophets. 3. The extent and generality of their persecution, Quem Prophetarum? 1. 1 The persecutors. The persecutors are said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their fathers; and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dicitur quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, ex se genitos servans, the keeper and preserver of those that are begotten of him; And therefore it is the duty of all Fathers, Filios colere, quasiproprie vitae propaginem, & proprio exemplo optimè regere, tanquam membra, saith Marcilius Ficinus; To love and to delight in his Children, as in the issue and the offspring of his own flesh, and the Continuance of his life; and to guide them and instruct them by his own proper example, as he doth guide the members of his own body. And the Poet very divinely saith, Nil dictu faedum visuque haec limina tangat, Marcil. Fie. l. 3. Ep●st. Intra quae puer est; procul hinc, prooul ite puellae, Lenonum, & cantus pernoctantis parasiti; Maxima debetur puero reverentia: si quid Turpe paras, nec tu pueri contempseris annos, Sed peccature obsistat tibi filius infans. Let no unseemly act or unsavoury speech be seen or heard, where thy Children are, and if thou intendest to do any lewd prank, or to speak any immodest thing; forget not the years of the young Youths, but when thou art about to do it, let the consideration of thy Children refrain thee, that thou mayst not teach them to be evil and wicked by thine example. And it is the duty of Children to love and honour their Fathers, as those that gave them their very being, and all the things wherein they delight; that is, themselves; as Diogenes said to one that he saw despising his Father: And they ought to imitate and to follow their Fathers, in all the good things that they see they do. But who were those Fathers of those Jews, that persecuted the Prophets, that we may understand whom this Martyr meaneth? For they boasted very much, that they were the Children of Abraham, and very proud they were, that they had Abraham to be their Father; because, as the Poet saith, Vera quidem res est, patrem sequitur sua proles, Et leviter sequitur filia matris iter. The Children are, like Apes, apt to imitate, and to follow their Father's ways, whether they be good or bad, and to become like their Fathers both in respect of body and mind; because, as another saith, Scilicet est olion vis rerum in semine certa, Martil. Poet. Et referunt animos singula quaeque patrum; Nec leporem canis Aemathius, timidámve columbam Children commonly like their Parents. Notus hyperboreo falco sub axe create. There is a certain power and strength left by God in the seed of things, and each several thing doth show the nature of his begetter, as the Aemathian Dog begets not a Hare, nor the Northern Hawk a fearful Dove, but, as Horatius saith, Forts creantur fortibus, & bonis Est in juvencis, est in equis, patrum Horat. 4. Carm. 4. Virtus; nec imbecillem feroces Progenerant aequilae columbam. The strong creatures beget strong breed, as we see in Beasts, in Bullocks, and in Horses the strength and stature of their Sires; and the fierce Eagle begeteth not a silly Pigeon. So commonly, good and godly Fathers, have good and gracious Children; and for the most part valiant and heroical men, beget valiant sons; as Jupiter begat Hercules, Aeacus Achilles, and Anchises Aeneas. Rom. 11. 2●. And the Apostle saith that Children are beloved of God, for their Father's sake; and therefore questioniesse, à Principibus nasci praeclarum est, It is a most excellent grace and honour, to be born of honourable parents. And S. James saith, that Abraham was called the friend of God: James 2.23. and God himself giveth this testimony of Abraham, that he knoweth Abraham would command his Children, and his Household after him, Genes. 17.4. that they should keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgement. And therefore it cannot be otherwise, but that this should be a great deal of Honour, and Glory unto the Jews, that they were of the seed of Abraham, and the sons of Israel, who wrestled with God, and would not let him go, until he blessed him. But, though all good Fathers do take special care to make their Children good, and say with the Poet, Hen, hen● ut illud dictitant rectè, probum Patrem ab improbo, non posse nasci filium. Euripides. Disce puer virtutem exme, verumque laborem, Learn to be good, and to serve God by mine example; yet experience showeth, that the best Fathers have not always the best Children; for, as what Euripides saith, is seen commonly true, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉! 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. That a towardly son doth seldom spring from an untoward father; because, as the Proverb is, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, An evil Crow brings forth an evil Egg: and, as Theognis saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; The rose riseth not from shrimps, nor * Mat. 7.16. thorns of thistles. So it is often seen, that a good and a godly father, hath a very lewd and an ungodly son; as, faithful Abraham had a persecuting Ishmael; religious Isaac, had a profane Esau; dutiful David, had an undutiful Absolom; zealous Ezechias, had an Idolatrous Manasses; Children not always like their Parents. and the good Prophet Samuel, had very bad sons; as were the sons of Elimine And the profane Stories do record the like Progenies: For Caius Caligula, the worst of that time, was the son of Germanicus, the best of that Age; and Commodus, that became a lascivious swordplayer, was the son of Mar. Antonius, that was a Sage Philosopher: So Chrysippus was the son of Gabrias the Athenian; Carinus was the son of the Emperor Carus; & Licinius Galienus, was the son of Cornelius Licinius Valerianus, very bad sons of very good fathers. And I believe you may remember some fathers in your own time, that were good men, and very loyal subjects, and their sons proved to be arrant rebels; and some godly Bishops that had sons little better than the Rebels. And therefore it is most true, which Ovid saith, — Non census nec clarum nomen avorum, Ovid. de ponto l. 1. Sed probitas magnos ingeniumque facit. It is not our Progenitors, To be virtuous is more noble, than to be born of Noble Parents. nor the having of Abraham to be our father, that adds any thing to our felicity, or increases our glory, unless we approve ourselves faithful in our calling, and dutiful to our God, as Abraham was, and our good fathers were: Nam genus & proavos & quae non fecimus ipsi, Vix ea nostra voco— The famous deeds, and the worthy exploits of our Ancestors, are none of ours: and, as the Poet saith, Nobilitas sola est atque unica virtus, — Hae nobilis Hector, Alcidesque fuit— It is our own virtues and goodness, and not the virtues of our Fathers that makes us glorious and acceptable, both with God and Men. And therefore, seeing it is the imitation of their father's virtues, and religious carriage, and not their procreation from their father's seed, that makes the children to be both loved and honoured; and that so, their own proper virtues only, and not their Ancestors, makes them glorious: I had rather be, as Juvenal saith, the son of Thyrsites, a base coward, and to imitate the exploits of Achilles, the most valiant Heroick; than to be the son of Achilles, and to behave myself like Thyrsites. And I would choose sooner to be a faithful Jonathan, the son of persecuting Saul, than a rebellious Absolom, the son of godly David. But, as Horace saith, and we have seen it true, that Aetas parentum, pejor avis, Horat. 3. Carm. 6. tulit Nos nequiores, mox daturos Progeniem vitiosiorem. The Progeny is worse than the Progenitors; our Fathers worse than our Grandfathers; and we far worse than our Fathers; and our children like to be worse than we are, a Progeny most vicious, Earipides in Heraclid, generatim bane sententiam ad omnes mortales retulit. when as the offspring still proves worse and worse: and, as Euripides saith, Thou shalt scarce find one son amongst many, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which is not worse than his father: which made a certain poor Widow most earnestly to pray for the long life of her oppressing Landlord that was a most wicked Tyrant, and her grievous persecutor: and being demanded the reason, why she did so zealously pray for him, that never did her any good, The poor woman's prayer for her cruel Landlord. but had heaped upon her very many intolerable wrongs: she answered, It was because she knew his Grandfather; and he was a very bad man, and an unjust Oppressor of his poor Neighbours; and his Son, this man's father, proved worse than he; and This man is far worse than them both; and, if he were dead, I fear his son will be the Devil himself. So these Jews, though they were originally descended from Abraham, the friend of God; yet the posterity of Abraham degenerating, How children degenerate from their Parents. and the Progeny still growing worse than the Progenitors, angering God in the Wilderness forty years together, and killing his Prophets, when they enjoyed the promised Land, S. Stephen tells them they were now the children of Persecutors, and of murderers; and our Saviour saith, John 8.43. They were the children of their father the Devil; because he was a murderer from the beginning. And, as than it happened with the posterity of Abraham, the Jews, to grow worse and worse, from God's friends, to be the Devils children: So I fear it is now with the whole World, and with all the posterity of the first good Christians, to grow worse and worse, and instead of being a faithful people, to become a faithless and a stubborn generation, a generation that setteth not their heart aright, and whose spirit cleaveth not steadfastly unto God: For in the Primitive times, the Christians continued with one accord in the Temple praying and praising God, and had Cor unum & animam unam; Acts 4.32. but in the succeeding times they degenerated, and the love of many did wax cold: and iniquity so far, and so fast incrased, that Linacrus reading the 6. What Linacrus did. and 7. chapters of S. Mat. threw away his Testament, and said, Certè, aut hoc non est Evangelium Christi, aut nos non sumus Christiani; Certainly, either this is not the Gospel of Christ, or we are not Christians, that are so far from doing what he teacheth, and commandeth us to do. But when we find our Fathers to have degenerated from their good Fathers, and, instead of being faithful Christians and good Subjects, to become Rebels and Murderers or Idolaters, and the like; to rob their neighbours, and to resist their King, to renounce their Baptism, and to profane the Chuches, to countenance the wicked here on earth, and to despise the Saints that are in Heaven, as some of our Fathers lately did all these things, and did much more horrid acts than any of these: then ought we not to imitate them, and to walk in the ways of our Fathers, as these Jews did, and, as the Prophet Jeremy saith, have done worse than their Fathers: Jerem. 16.12. for we ought not to observe the Statutes of Omri, nor walk in the ways of Jeroboam, nor do the wickedness that our Fathers did: but we ought to do as the Lord adviseth us by his Prophet Ezechiel, saying unto us as he said unto the Jews; Walk ye not in the Statutes of your Fathers, neither observe their judgements, Ezech. 20.18. nor their ordinances, nor defile yourselves, by walking in their ways, and doing the like wrongs as they have done, or confirming and continuing those injuries, which they acted against their neighbours. But, What, good children ought to do. if they have made any Laws, and given any Judgements, to take away the goods, or the lands and possessions of any man unjustly, be he of what Nation, or of what Religion soever, when he hath done nothing worthy of censure, and much less of disinheriting; as I am sure, and you may be sure of it, they have done to very many in these Dominions, and especially in this Kingdom: Then do not ye justify those do, and make good their judgements, and continue the wrongs and oppressions that they have done, and so sin with your Fathers, and worse than your Fathers, by making yourselves, not only the partakers of their sins, but also the Patrons and Protectors of all their unjust proceed: But do ye confess the iniquities of your Fathers, and say with the Prophet, That they have done amiss, and dealt wickedly; and so do ye show yourselves sorry for their sins, and recede from their unjust do, and rectify what they have done amiss: And if we thus return unto God, Zach. 1 2. Malac. 3.7. than God promiseth that He will return unto us, and he will bless us. But when we have Abraham to our father, and are the sons of Jacob, the children of such fathers, as feared God, and walked in his ways, relieved the poor, and built and beautified Churches, and spent their days in praying, and doing all other pious deeds, and wronging no man, either in word or deed; then ought we not to say, with our new Saints, They were superstitious and ignorant, and walked in darkness, by thinking to merit heaven by their works, What good children ought not to do. and have therefore merited to be sent to hell; which is a most ungodly, and uncharitable censure, of most ungracious children, that delight rather to spit in their father's faces, than to commend and to imitate their Virtues. But we ought to honour the memories of our forefathers, that have most faithfully served God, and procured the blessings of God to those children that will serve God, That God blesseth the good children for their godly father's sake. Gen. 26.24. as they have done; because God loveth, and hath promised to bless the good children that will walk in the ways of their godly fathers, for their father's sake, that had formerly served him, and taught their children to do the like: even as you may see, how the Lord saith unto Isaac; I am the God of Abraham thy father, and I will bless thee, and multiply thy seed, for my servant Abraham's sake. And you may be sure, they are more to be commended, and more accepted of God, that, in the night of ignorance, of blindness, and superstition, have done the good works of the day; as the pious works of building and beautifying God's House, and the charitable works of relieving the poor, and erecting almshouses, than those men, that, in the daylight of knowledge, and such clear preaching of the Gospel as we have had, do the works of darkness, and the very deeds of the Devil: as are, the persecuting of the Prophets. Quia melior est fidelis ignorantia, August. quàm temeraria scientia. 2. 2 Who were persecuted. Having heard of the persecutors, their Fathers; we are now to speak of the persecuted and they were the Prophets: for, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉? Which of the Prophets have not your fathers persecuted? saith this holy Martyr. The Prophets were men sent from God, to declare his will, to teach his people, to bring them unto God; and it was their own desire, that God would reveal his will unto them by men, that were like themselves, and not by Himself, whose Majesty was so glorious and so terrible, that their weakness was not able to endure it: for when God descended upon Mount Sinai, to talk unto his people, and to deliver his Statutes and Ordinances unto them, and all the people saw the thunders and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they all removed and stood afar off; Exod. 20.19. and they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die: for this great fire will consume us, and if we hear the voice of the Lord our God, we shall die: Deut. 5.25, 26, 27. and therefore go thou near unto God, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say, and speak thou unto us, all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, and we will hear it and do it; and the Lord heard the voice of their Words, and yielded to their desire; and, as the Prophet Amos saith, Amos 3.7. he revealeth his will and his secrets unto his servants the Prophets, and he sent them early and late, to reveal the same unto his people; And, as Jehosaphat said unto Juda, and to the Inhabitants of Jerusalem; 2 Chro. 20.20. Esay 7.9. If they believe in the Lord their God, they shall be established; and if they believe his Prophets, they shall prosper; and if they will not believe them, then surely, saith the Prophet Esay, they shall not be established, they cannot be blessed. And therefore, not only, not to believe these men, that are thus, and to this end, sent from God, but also to persecute them, is an offence beyond mine ability of expression: for to render good for evil, and to do good to them that hate us, is charity; and to do as Christ adviseth us; and to render evil for evil, is iniquity: and to do what God forbiddeth us, who saith, Vengeance is mine, and I will repay for the evil that is done; Deut. 32.35. But to render evil for good, and to persecute and destroy them that would preserve us, is a devilish sin, and a degree beyond all ingratitude; which is but the retention and denial of the thanks that we own, and not the reddition and offering the evil that we own not; and should no ways be rendered to any one. And, besides this unkind requital of the great good, that the Prophets and publishers of Gods will do unto the people, with such great evil, as is, the persecuting of them; to persecute the Prophets, and Messengers of God, is a breach and a transgression of a special precept of God; who doth peremptorily say to every one, Touch not mine anointed, and do my Prophets no harm; 1 Chro. 16.22. And how then dares any man to persecute them, which is so high a degree and so large a measure of harm? But here you must observe with some diligence; What Prophets, What Persecution is. and whose Prophets, we must not harm; for the Lord saith not this in general of all Prophets, but do My Prophets no harm; and therefore we must examine what and whose Prophets they were, whom their Fathers persecuted; For the Scripture maketh mention of two sorts of Prophets. 1. The one sort is of false Prophets, That there are two sorts of Prophets. such as were the Prophets of the Groves, and the Prophets of Baal; and of the Beast, that you may read of in the Revelation. 2. The other sort is of the true Prophets, such as were the Prophets of the Lord, and these God owneth, and calleth them, my Prophets; and bids every one to take heed, that they do them no harm; and saith further, that Whosoever toucheth them, toucheth the apple of his eye. Zechary 2.8. And for the first sort, that is, the false Prophets, as the Poet saith, that Saepe sub agnina latet hirtus pelle Lycaon; Subque Catone pio, perfidus ille Nero. The Wolf doth often lurk under the Lambskin: So our Saviour tells us, that these false Prophets will come to us in sheep's clothing, Apoc. 13.11. but inwardly they are ravening Wolves: and the Holy Ghost saith, that the false Prophet, signified by the Beast, that arose out of the Earth, had two horns like a Lamb: that is, although every truth is from God, which is the God of all truth: and truth is truth, as well from Simon Magus, as from Simon Peter; from Plato the Philosopher, as from Paul the Apostle; yet because the Heathens truths are mingled with some errors; and those false Prophets, The very practice of the false Prophets. either have not the Wit, or will not take the Pains, to sift the wheat from the chaff, and the truth from their errors, therefore they will have nothing but the two horns of the Lamb, the Two Testaments, which are the strength, to uphold the Christian Religion, as Cornelius à Lapide, rightly expoundeth them, Corn. à Lapid. in Apoc. c. 13. and yet he spoke like the Dragon; to show unto us the true properties, and practice of your false teachers, to allege nothing but the pure Scripture: the very words of the Old and New Testament; and yet in their Expositions and Apptications of them, to speak the words of the Dragon, that is, falsehoods and lies: As the Dragon did unto Eve, when he told them they should be like gods, Luk. 12: 49. and he made them like Devils; and so the false Prophets, though they pretend to bring down fire from heaven, that is the same fire, which our Saviour saith, he came to bring upon the earth, which is the fiery zeal of God's glory, and fervent charity among neighbours; yet, in very truth, as the Poet saith of Ibis, Tincta Lycambaeo sanguine tela dabunt. Ovid. in Ibin. Their sword is dipped in blood and ●ats the flesh of Innocents', and they will give you poison in a golden cup, and deceive you even with Scripture Phrases; when, as Claudian saith de voluptate Stiliconis. Blanda quidem v●ltu, Claudian. de volupt. l. 2. Stilic. sed qua non tetrior ulla, Interius fucata genas, & amicia dolosis Illecebris— So their Doctrine hath the Countenance of truth, and the shows of a great deal of piety and charity, but you can not see so far, as the further end of their intention, or at least of his intention that sets them on this course; which is, to divide the seamless coat of Christ, to bring sects and divisions into the Church, and to break the two staffs, wherewith the Church of Christ is guided and subsisteth, Beauty and Bands (i.e.) the pure Doctrine: and the discreet Discipline of the Governors of the Church; that these Governors being suppressed, and their discipline destroyed; and the bands, which are the Fences of God's Vine-yard, being broken all to pieces; the wild Boar out of the Forest, and all the Beasts out of the Field, may destroy the Vine-yard at their pleasure, and make the Church of Christ to become the Synagogue of Satan, and the House of God a Den of thiefs. And therefore, when any of these false Prophets should arise, and seek to withdraw God's servants from the Truth and true God, Deut 13.5. 1 Reg. 18.40. the Lord commands his people to put that Prophet to death: and so Elias caused all the Prophets of Baal to be slain, and Jehu did the like; and though our Saviour Christ be not so severe in the New Testament, as God was in the Old Testament, to command us to put the false Prophets to death; yet he doth most seriously advise us to beware of them; Apoc. 22.15. and the Holy Ghost calleth them Dogs, barking dogs, of whom the Apostle biddeth us to beware, lest they by't us: And truly we have the greatest reason in the world, to beware of them; because these false Prophets, that seduce the people, with their smooth Preaching, and with the Words of God, are worse than any other wicked men, that destroy none but themselves, and they bring thousands after them out of the right way, and from the right service of God. And yet, these false Prophets were the only Prophets, whom the Jews magnified; and the true Prophets of God, they persecuted; for Jezabel fed 400. of these false Prophets, at her own Table, which was a pretty company for one woman to maintain; and for Elias which was the true Prophet of the Lord, she swore, that she would be the death of him, as you may see in 1 Reg. 19.2. 1 Reg. 19.2. And the rest of the People of the Jews walked in the same ways. And therefore the Lord saith, Micah 2.11. If a man, walking in the spirit and falsehood, do lie, or walk with the wind, and lie falsely, he shall even be the Prophet of this people. And this hath been the Common course of the world in all ages; For all wicked men, and all worldlings, that would notwithstanding seem to be Religious, and pretend to serve God as well as the best, and rather than the best, will therefore have Preachers and Prophets to instruct them in the way of God as they pretend, but it is indeed to cover and to cloak their Hypocrisy; and therefore their Preachers must be like Jezabels' Prophets; Prophets like themselves, that will Prophesy what they please, and serve what god they please, and with what service they like best. And such Prophets and Preachers, as will do so, to follow their directory, they shall want no preferment, they shall have annuities and pensions, and augmentations, and eat at Jezabels' Table. Thus did the Jews lay down a pattern to magnify the false Prophets; and now the Christians follow them. But how did they deal with the other sort of Prophets, that were the Prophets of the Lord? the Prophet Esay tells you, To the Seers, they said, see not, Esay 30.10. and to the true Prophets they said, Prophecy not to us right things: and because the true Prophets, that the Lord owned to be His Prophets, would not dissemble, and smooth them up, by sowing pillows under their elbows, and prophesying placentia, deceits and pleasing things unto them; therefore, the Holy Ghost tells us, they mocked these Messengers of God, 2 Chr. 36.16. and despised his words, that is, the Words of God, that were spoken to them by his Messengers, and they misused his Prophets, as you may see in 2 Chron. 36.16. And, as S. Stephen saith, they persecuted them from time to time, and from place to place. And thus did the Jews use, or rather abuse, the true Prophets. And have we not seen the like deal in our own time, and the people imitating these Jews to a hair? Persecuting all the Reverend Bishops, and all the grave Preachers, and spoiling them of all their Livelihoods, to make them the very scorn of the World, as we have been above these two Lustra's of years; and yet, in a deep Hypocrisy, to magnify and to advance the false Prophets, and those young novices and Preachers, that commended their ways, and walked after their steps; though now, the tide being turned, the most of them cry Peccavi, and say with the Jews, We have sinned with our Fathers, we have done amiss and dealt wickedly; to let you see, what kind of Prophets they were, and what you should conceive of their extorted confession: but enough of this, that showeth you, what Prophets, and whose Prophets their Fathers persecuted, the true Prophets of the Lord. Yet here is one point more, and that is 3. The Generality of their persecution; for Quem Prophetarum, 3 The Generality of the Persecution. saith the Martyr, Which of the Prophets have not your Fathers persecuted? Can you name any one of God's Prophets, that hath escaped their persecuting hands? And is it not strange, that there is no Bound nor Measure of their malice, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; The Devil is God's ape. but it must extend and reach to all God's Prophets? Surely not: For the Devil is Gods apprend as in many things else, so he would fain imitate God herein. As God would have all the Prophets of Baal destroyed, that there might not be a false Prophet left to seduce his people; so the Devil would have all the Prophets of the Lord destroyed, that there might not be one true Prophet left, to instruct God's people: and therefore he crieth out unto his instruments; Down with them, down with them even to the ground, and let the foundations be cast down, that their building may be quite demolished, like the re-edifying of Jericho, whose builder should be accursed, and should lay the foundation thereof in his First born, Josh. 6.26. and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son, as it happened afterward unto Hiel, the Bethelite. So would the instruments of Satan, deal with all God's Prophets, 1 Reg. 16.24. as Jehu did with the Prophets of Baal, and as it happened to Segub and Abiram, the sons of Hiel after the re-edifying of Jericho. And did not the Long-Parliament take the same course, to root out all the Bishops, all the Hierarchy, and all Episcopal men? all must down, root and branch, and not one of them must be left. Alas, alas, were they all wicked? or did some offend, and must all be condemned for the offence of few? or will they show themselves like the implacable goddess, which, as the Poet saith, — Exurere classem Argiuûm, atque ipsos voluit submergere ponto, Unius ob noxam, & furias Ajacis Oilei. destroyed all the Navy, and drowned all the Argives for one man's fault. This is to condemn the righteous with the wicked; and the Lord saith, the Judges should justify the righteous, Deut. 25.1. and condemn the wicked, and not to condemn the righteous for the wicked, nor with the wicked; for the Poet speaking of some lewd women saith, Parcite paucarum diffundere crimen in omnes, Spectetur meritis quaeque puella suis. Though some be lose and wanton, yet must you not for this, blame those that are honest; so, though some of the Bishops might perhaps be found unworthy of so high a calling, Is that a sufficient argument to destroy them all? Yet such hath been the Devil's Logic to persuade his late Scholars, to make their destruction as universal as Noah's deluge, to take them all away. And so much shall serve for the first point, 2 The kill of the Preachers. i.e. The progression of these persecutors in their wickedness. which is, the persecution of the Prophets: The next point is, 2. Occidio praedicatorum. And that is their progression, and their going forward in their wickedness more and more. As the Sun goeth higher and higher unto the perfect day; so do they go from one sin unto another, & still from the lesser unto the greater: for they have not only persecuted the Prophets, saith this holy Martyr, but they have also slain them which shown before of the coming of the just one, that is, the Preachers of Jesus Christ; wherein you may behold as in a glass, the lively perfect picture of all wicked men, and the innate inseparable condition of all malicious persecutors; that is, to proceed from bad to worse, from one step to another, from one degree of evil to a viler, until at last they fall into the bottomless gulf of all the most horrid wickedness; and, as the Poet saith, Flumina magna vides, parvis de fontibus ort●: Plurima collectis multiplicantur aquis. From a small fountain thou mayst see great floods to arise, and many waters to make great Seas; so from the small seeds of these m●ns ●●●ice, their sins ascend to the top of intolerable mischief, or rather descend to the bottomiesse gulf of their own unavoidable destruction: for so Cain at first was but angry with his brother because the Lord accepted him, and liked better of his sincerity, than of the others hypocrisy; than Acrior ad pugnam redit, & vim suscitat ira, he began to hate and to malign him; after that, malitia excoecavit eum, his malice moved him to persecute him; and last of all, most inhumanely to kill him. So Pharaoh first envied the prosperity of the children of Israel, because he thought, that Fertilior seges est alienis semper in agris, God blessed them, and all that they had, better than he blessed him; then, vim & injuriam intulit, he began to oppress them, by laying hard taxes, and most cruel labours upon them; and then he killed their children, and in all likelihood, would have killed them, if God had not delivered them out of his hands. And the reason of this their progression in wickedness, The reason why the wicked grow from bad to worse. is truly rendered by Seneca, Quia omne scelus majori scelere tuetur, every heinous and most wicked deed, can never subsist and be upheld, but by a more wicked deed: and therefore the Liar will swear and forswear himself to justify his lie, the robber will kill the honest traveller for fear he should accuse him; and the Rebel that riseth to resist, and to war against his King, and the Traitor that betrayeth his King, never thinks himself safe, until he can be the death of his King; so the Heretics maintain their heresies and errors with far greater heresies, and the Presbyterians that oppose and refuse to be directed by their Diocesans, think themselves never satisfied, until they see the Bishops wholly suppressed and destroyed. And so the Jews walked in the same steps, and dealt after the same manner with God's Prophets. And so likewise, ever since, the wicked worldlings deal with the true Preachers of Jesus Christ; for the whole company of God's children knows what 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, great gulf, and a huge distance and difference, (not in nature originally, figmentum unum, when as all men are made from the same lump, but in generality and condition) there is, and hath been ever seen, betwixt the Lay Commonalty, and the learned Clergy of any Land, and how, as Ishmael that was born after the flesh, persecuted his own brother Isaac, that was born after the Spirit; so the Lay-worldlings do ever malign and persecute unto death, all the right spiritual Clergymen. And this persecution we of the Clergy have felt now of late, to the very height, when very very many of the very best of them, that did feed daintily, even with the King's dishes, were, as the Prophet saith, left desolate in the street, and glad to sustain their lives with a little Barley bread, and Glass-door, and they that were clad in Scarlet, were driven to embrace the dunghills, Jerem. 4.5. and be clad in rags, and with Joshua, the high Priest, to be clothed with filthy garments, Zechary 3, 3. and so were made the scorn and Table-talk of their neighbours, and blamed that they did not live, and go, according to their degrees and calling; when, as the Proverb is, ultra posse non est esse, none is able to do beyond his ability; and he only that wears the shoe, knoweth where it pincheth him. And as the Jews not only persecuted the Prophets, but also slew the Preachers; so, many of us were slain, some with the sword of these merciless men, and many more with hunger and want, Zechar. 3, 3.1. when their hearts were broken with the extremity of grief; and the weight of those miseries that were laid upon these good men, were far heavier than the pillars could support. And so this persecution thus proceeding, did far exceed all former persecutions beyond Nero's tyranny, and Dioclesian's cruelty: and was of the same kind, but of a higher strain than Julian's stratagems, which was not only to suppress Presbyteros, the Priests, but also to root out Presbyterium, Our late persecution worse than julian's persecution. the very Priesthood of Jesus Christ, and so to extinguish the Christian religion out of the world; for these men imitating him, sought to supress not the then Bishops that perhaps might be found to have offended, though that was never proved; but Episcopacy itself, and the discentive succession thereof, which we received by prayers, and the imposition of hands even from the Apostles time; from those that are yet unborn, and have, I am sure, done neither good nor evil, and yet have received this evil from these men, to have the Calling that they were to enjoy, suppressed; their honours buried, and their undubitable Rights and Means alienated from them, Prohscelus nefandum, quod magnum est & mirum! a most wonderful thing, that wickedness should have no bounds, no stop, no reason, nor moderation in its progression; but like a stone tumbling down a hill, never leave tumbling till it comes to the bottom; or like a right Apollyon, and a blind smiter, that will slay the righteous with the wicked; or rather destroy the righteous, because they will not be wicked. And yet, this is not all, we are not yet come to the height of these persecutors wickedness, Ezek. k. 13 15. or to the depth of their abomination: but, as the Lord saith unto the Prophet Ezechiel, turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations; so from the Lord, I will show to you greater abomination; and the greatest that ever was committed here on earth: For 3. The 〈…〉, the be●●●ving and murderring of the first King: Touching which, three 〈◊〉 are ●●●●trable. They have not only persecuted the Prophets, and slain the Preachers and foreshewers of the coming of Jesus Christ, but they have also, saith our Martyr, betrayed and murdered that just one. For the fuller and more perfect understanding of which point, I shall desire you to observe these three things. 1. What they are, and how they are styled by the holy Ghost that did this deed, Traitors and Murderers. 2. Of whom they are the Traitors and Murderers which is here expressed by that Just One, and we shall find him to be, 1. None of the Plebeians, or common sort of men; but a King, the highest and the chiefest man in all the Kingdom. 2. Not an alien, as were Caesar and Herod; but their own King, originally and lineally descended from the Jews. 3. Not an Usurper, as was Jeroboam, and many others of the Kings of Israel, and Athalia among the Jews, and Rich. the third, and the late Cromwell amongst us; but he was their own lawful King, without question, lawfully descended from the Royal line. 4. Not an unjust or tyrannical King, as were Pharaoh, Dionysius, and Nero; nor yet a lascivious King, as were Sardanapalus, Belshazzar, and Heliogabalus; but a most just, perfect, and pious King: No better King under heaven. 3. Who they were, that the holy Martyr meaneth by these Traitors and Murderers, of their King; and we shall find them to be the Lords and Commons, the People, the Elders, the Scribes, and Pharisees, and the whole Council of the Jews. 1. Part. 1. Their style and denomination which is twofold. ●. Traytorss. They that have put this just King to death are here styled, and shall ever be justly termed Traitors and Murderers. 1. Traitors; that is, to their King: for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which the Holy Ghost useth in this place, and is derived of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which signifies prodo, or trado, from whence the word Traitor cometh, doth properly, and most usually signify, both in profane Authors, and in the Ecclesiastical and Civil writers, the illegal and undutiful demeanour, and the rebellious behaviour of Subjects toward, and against their King: and as the most curious critics, and best searchers of the Scriptures do observe, this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Traitor, is never applied to any King, for any act, be it never so illegal; so foul, so barbarous, or so bloody, that the King commits agains his Subjects. when as we find not one text in all the book of God the holy Bible, (that speaks of many wicked, idolatrous, and tyrannical bloody Kings) where any one of those Princes or Kings, is signified by this word, or called by this name of Traitor. And therefore this word, Traitors, that the Martyr useth, doth sufficiently show, that he meaneth thereby, to prove Christ to be King, and the Traitors that killed him, to be his Subjects, as I shall further declare unto you hereafter. 2. 2 Murders. They are murderers, because he was unlawfully put to death; for otherwise, a lawful Judge may lawfully put a malefactor to death and be no murderer; because God commandeth Idolaters, and sorcerers, and others the like malefactors, to be put to death: and they that legally put such men to death, are never termed murderers: but when the party executed is innocent, and the Judge condemning him not vested with lawful authority, the man, so put to death, is truly said to be murdered, and his executioners murderers. And such was the death of Christ, because he was most innocent, And so was the death of King Charles. and the Judge had neither lawful authority, nor a just cause to condemn him; and therefore they that crucified Christ and put him to death, are rightly termed murderers: and because Christ was a King, as I shown you from the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, traitors: they were no ordinary murderers, of plebeians, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and of the common sort of men; but, that which is the highest, and the worst of all murders, they were the murderers of their King: and therefore the words, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which the Martyr useth to express the death of the foreshewers of the coming of Christ, and the words of the Husbandmen which they said together, of the King's Son, Marc. 12.7. & 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; and the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that comes of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Occido, used here to signify the death of this King, ought properly to be translated, either by killing or slaying, or murdering, as our last Translation renders the Martyr's words most rightly, that they were his murderers. But here, it may be, the Jews will object, and say, That Man, or that King cannot justly be said to be murdered, which is brought to a public Trial, and hath 1. His Charge given him to answer. Three things seeming topalliat and to disprove the murdering of this King, discussed 2. The Witnesses ready to prove the Charge. 3. A Lawful Judge to pronounce sentence against him. And all this was used against Christ, the King of the Jews, (and against Charles the King of England, saith the long Parliament) therefore neither the one nor the other can justly and properly be said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to be murdered; but they are unjustly taxed, and this heavy Crime of murdering them is not justly laid upon them, that brought these Kings to their just deserved deaths: Therefore, to justify their deaths to be murders, and to clear St. Stephen, from this unjust taxation laid upon him by the Jews; we are to examine the three foresaid particulars, how far they can justify the Jews or any others in the like case, from being murderers: 1 The Charge unjust. and first for the Charge that was laid against him, we find the same pretended to be twofold and as I conceive, very like the Charge that was laid against King Charles: So King Charles was charged with the same Crimes. 1. The abridging of their Liberty, and betraying the same unto the Romans: for so they say, If we let this man alone, all the World will run after him, and the Romans will come, and take away our Dominion from us. 2. The corrupting of their Religion, by abolishing their old Rites, and Traditions of the Elders, and teaching new Points of Doctrine, to profane the Sabbath, to communicate with Sinners, to justify their slovenly eating with unwashen hands; and the like looseness and liberties that the precise Pharisees could not endure, he allowed unto his Disciples and follower, in the service of God. This was the pretended Charge that they laid against their King, and against S. Stephen, as you may see Acts 6.13, 14. and that his adversaries laid against our good King. But this pretended Charge was most false, whenas he neither abridged their Liberty, nor corrupted their Religion; but most divinely cleared the same, The Jews murdered Christ; because he was their King. Luc. 23. 2● and purged it from the false glosses of the Scribes and Pharises. But the true cause indeed, whatsoever they pretended, why they killed him, was, because he was their King: for S. Luke saith, that when they led him to Pilate, they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the Nation, and forbidding to give tribute unto Caesar, saying, that he himself is Christ a King: and when Pilate asked them, Shall I crucify your King? (a thing that was never known among the Heathen, that Subjects should desire to crucify their King, and especially, that they should so solemnly and judicially condemn him to death) they answered him flatly, So K. Charles was murdered by his adverfaries, because he was their King, and would have ruled: them as their King: when as they desired to be Kings themselves, and to rule as they did, after they had killed him. We have no King but Caesar, whom notwithstanding, they loved no better than they loved Christ, but hated him in their hearts, as their often rebellions against him do sufficiently testify. And when Pilate, the Judge (and therefore knew best the Charge laid against him) wrote his Title, and fixed it upon his Cross, as showing unto all that saw him, the very cause why they put him to death, which was, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews: They came presently unto Pilate, and desired him to alter the Superscription, and not to say, He was their King, but that he said, He was their King: But Pilate herein, like a resolute Judge, that knew the truth, and their dissembling, answered them stoutly, according to the truth, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, What I have written, I have written. And therefore, this Charge being so unjust, to kill him, because he is their King, whose life they are obliged to defend, with the hazard of their own death; S. Stephen may justly call them murderers. 2. 2 The witnesset are false. Math. 26.59, 60. For the witnesses, it is plainly said, that they sought many; yet found they none; but at last, there came two; they could get no more: and of them two, it is said, 1. That they were false witnesses, and that is apparent, when they add unto his words, and change his meaning: for he said no more, but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Destroy this temple, John 2.19. v. 21. and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in three days I will raise it up: and he spoke this of the temple of his body, as the Evangelist testifieth: but their witnesses avouch, that they heard him saying, Marc. 14.58, 59 I will destroy this Temple, that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands, that is, another material and magnificent Temple, which Christ never meant, and never spoke of it, nor of the temple of his body as they testify; for he said not, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, I will destroy this Temple; but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Do you destroy this temple, and I will raise it up. You shall do the evil, and bring destruction, as you use to do; and I will do the good, and bring resurrection to them that are fallen. 2. Marc. 14.59. It is said, that these false witnesses, which did both add unto his words, and change his meaning, did not agree together; for the one said, he heard him saying, I will destroy this temple, that is made with hands, and within three days, Cap. 14.58. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Math. 26.61. I will build another, made without hands; yet the other could not testify that he said so, but that he said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and build it in three days: and there is a great deal of difference betwixt, I will destroy thee, and, I am able to destroy thee; when I am able to do many things, that I will not do. Even as God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham, but will not raise them: And therefore, seeing these two witnesses cannot agree together, they destroy one another, and must needs be invalid to condemn an innocent man, and much less to condemn their King, that was more innocent than any man. But they were resolved to have done it, whether they had witnesses or no witnesses; for they said among themselves, What need have we of witnesses? Then all of them, Math. 26.65. Marc. 14.63, 64 So K. Charles was condemned without witnesses. Joh. 18.31. Math. 26.4. Marc. 14.1. And was not K. Charles by craft and subtlety brought to his death? as they had formerly resolved, did presently vote him guilty of death; not, as it seems, for the testimony of the witnesses; but because their malice thought him worthy of death. Yet they confess, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, It is not lawful for us, that is, they had no lawful authority, to put any man to death; and, for all that, S. Matthew tells us, they consulted how they might take him by subtlety, and kill him: and S. Mark testifieth as much; that they sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death. And therefore, when Traitors have conspired, and resolved to kill their King, witnesses are but shadows, and the formalities of their proceed are but cloaks to palliate and cover their wickedness, and to blind the eyes of the vulgar people, whom they would persuade to believe, that they do all things right; when they do the greatest wrongs, and do commit such horrid murders, as to murder their own King. 3. For the Judge, our Saviour seemeth tacitly to yield, 3 The Judge was corrupt. that by the permission of God, not his Commission, Pilate through the power of the sword, and according to the Laws of the Conquerors, had power and authority granted unto him to be the Judge both of life and death: but according to the Laws of the Romans, that had then subdued the Jews, and committed this power unto Pilate, none were to be condemned to death, except he were proved guilty of the Crimes that should be laid to his charge. And this Judge ingenuously, and openly confesseth, that although, like a good Judge herein, he had examined the matter throughly, John 18.38. and sifted him and his cause ad amussim, to the uttermost; yet he could find no fault in him worthy of death; and therefore, being desirous to free him, whom he found so innocent, by a fair excuse, and to quit himself from pronouncing so unjust a sentence against a just man, he advised his adversaries, to take their King, and to judge him according to their Law; that is, if they had any Law, to crucify their King, that was so just, and had offended no Law; because the Romans thought such proceed of Subjects against their King, very strange, and therefore had no such Law, neither in their 12. Tables, nor in any of the Acts and Decrees of their Senate, whereby he might justly condemn him, and justly answer it, if he were questioned for it. And herein also, this Judge, by this fine device, shown himself witty, and his counsel honest, as it aimed at a good end, that is, to free the party accused; but afterwards, becoming the Judge of Christ, not by the Roman Law, which, as himself confessed, gave him no authority to condemn any innocent person, but by the importunity of the rebellious Subjects, and malicious enemies against their King, that thirsted after his blood, he forgets his duty, and contrary to his own conscience, So was King Charles condemned to death, to satisfy the Parliament, and the people, that still cried, Justice, Justice. Mar. 15: 15. Luke 23.24. and contrary to the Roman Law, and to all other Laws, he doth most unjustly condemn that Just King to death. And both the Evangelists, S. Mark, and S. Luke tell us, He did it to content the people, and to satisfy the High Priests and the Elders, that had over-persuaded him to become his Judge, and overruled him to adjudge him unto death. And therefore, the Charge, laid against this King being unjust, the witnesses being both false, and disagreeing, and his Judge thus corrupted, and compelled, and so, as it were, newly made by the clamour of the people, condemning him, contrary to the Roman Law, which was then the Law of their Land, to please the people: it is apparent to all the World, as I conceive, that both the Judge, and Witnesses, and all the Complotters, and Contrivers of this King's death, and all the whole Parliament and Council of the Jews, that approved and rejoiced at his death; yea, and all the people that cried to have him put to death, are justly meant by S. Stephen, and by him here rightly termed murderers; because, as I take it, the Law saith, that in murder, there can be no accessary, but all, and every one, that hath any hand in it, are deemed principals. And how far murderers are to be pardoned, I leave it to him that pardoneth all sins, to be determined. But if God will pardon murderers, I wish he would not prefer them to places of Trust and Authority, lest the Wolf lett-go, still continue a Wolf, to vex the Lambs: And as it is said of the Devil, Daemon languebat monachus tunc esse volebat; Daemon convaluit mansit ut ante fuit. 2. 2 Of whom these Traitors were murderers. Having spoken of the style and denomination of these Persecutors of the Prophets, that they were traitors and murderers; we are now to consider of whom they were the traitors and murderers, and the Martyr tells us, it was of that Just One: and I told you, that we find him to be, (1.) 1 Of a King proved. 1. By his Birth. A King: and so proved to be divers ways; as, 1. At his birth, when the Wise men that came from the East, worshipped him as King, while he was in his swaddling clouts; and they are, by the constant course and order of the Church annually, on the twelfth day after the day of his birth, commemorated, and commended for it. 2. 2 By the ministration of his Office. In the ministration of his kingly office, when he entered Jerusalem, as Kings use to do, in a Royal, and a pompous manner, and his disciples, and a great multitude of his followers did him obeisance, and gave him royal honour, as to their King, by cutting down the boughs, and spreading their garments under his feet, and crying, Bl●ssed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord, Luke 19.38. Matth. 21.15. and the children's crying Hosanna, as we use to do, God save the King; and when the chief Priests and Scribes were displeased at this acceptation of him for their King, and bade him to rebuke his disciples for this attempt; Christ told them plainly, that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out, that is, to proclaim him King, and to do him all Royal homage. 3. 3 At his arraignment. At his arraignment, when he was to lay down his soul to be a ransom for our sins, he avouched himself to be a King: for, Pilate demands the question, Art thou a King? and Pilate understood not any kingdom in this question, but of a temporal kingdom, when as, in his conception, to speak of a Spiritual King, or kingdom, was but a vain fancy, and a mere Chimaera; and therefore, ad mentem interrogantis, to satisfy the demand of Pilate, Christ answereth without dissimulation, aequivocation, or mental reservavation, Mark 15.2. that he was a King, Matth. 27.11. or if he did not so, he made no answer unto Pilate, which, as the Evangelist saith, he did. 4. 4 At his death At his death, he had it written upon his Cross, who he was: Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews; so that when they took away his life, they could not deprive him of his right unto his kingdom. 5. 5 At his burial. At his burial, he had his grave sealed, as a King. (2.) 2 ●hey were the murderers of their own King. We find this just one, whereof this Martyr speaketh, to be not only a King, but also the King of these Jews that murdered him; for he was not a King of Egypt that oppressed them, nor the king of Syria that sought to subdue them, but their own King, the King of the Jews; for so the wise men testify, Where is he that is born king of the Jews? And so Pilate the Roman. Deputy testifieth,— Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. (3.) 3 They were the murderers of their own lawful King. This their King was not like Jeroboam the son of Nebat starting aside, and stepping in over the right King's head, nor like Queen Athalia, that usurped the Regal throne, by suppressing the lawful King, but he was their own lawful King lineally descended from King David, both in respect of his Putative Father and his Mother Mary, as both Saint Matthew and Saint Luke do testify, and sufficient reasons may be produced to prove that by hereditary right, which is the ●best and the most undubitable right unto the Crown, he was born the King of the Jews. (4.) 4 They were the murtheres of a just King. And this their King was not like Rehoboam the son of Solomon, that is, a foolish, or at least an undiscreet son of a most sage and a wise Father, but he was the wisdom of God, as saith the Evangelist, that his wise answers to all the subile questions of his adversaries, Luke 11.49. and the malicious objections and remonstrances of his persecurors, satisfied all wise and indifferent men, and stopped the mouths of many of his greatest adversaries, when they admired his worth; though they persecuted his person, John 7.46. and hated him the more, yet were they driven to confess, that never man spoke as he did. Neither was he like Manasses, an Idolatrous and a bloody King, nor yet like Ahab, an unjust tyrannical intruder of himself into his subjects possessions; but he was a most pious, and a religious King, going in his own person unto the Temple, and scourging all prophaners out of God's house; and he was so pitiful, so merciful, and so mild, that, as Cicero saith of Pompey; and the Historians say of Titus the son of Vespasian, that, for his courtesies, was termed deliciae generis humani, never man departed unsatisfied and discontented from them; Mat. 10.13.8. so did this good King never deny the just request of any Petitioner that ever came, or sought unto him: but be went about doing good, healing all that had infirmities, and releasing all that were possessed of the devil. And for his own integrity, and the uprightness of his life; he could not only say with Samuel, Whose Ox have I taken? or whose Ass have I taken? 1 Sam. 2.3. or whom have I defrauded, and I will restore it? but he could justly demand of his greatest adversaries, and the most malicious pryers into his actions, Which if you can rebuke me, or reprove me, of sin? for they that thirsted most after his blood, must needs confess that he was of an incomparable life, in whose mouth was found no guile, and in whose heart was no deceit. So spotless he was in all his actions, that the holy Martyr might justly call this King, that Just One. And yet they say, with Martial, Non amo te, Princeps; nec possum dicere, quare: Hoc tantnm possum dicere; Non amo te. We love the note, O King; but why, we cannot tell thee: But this we can assure thee, that we do not love thee. And therefore, notwithstauding all that I have said, that he was, 1. A King. 2. Their own King. 3. Their lawful king: And 4. A just and pious King, that desired only their good, And thus they murdered King Charles; that was. 1, a King. T. Their own King. 3. Their own lawful King. 4 Their just, wise, and most religious King. the preservation of their Laws, and the maintenance of the true service of God amongst them for the salvation of their souls; yet their love is so little, and their hatred is so great, that they must take away his life, and kill him, and that in the most barbarous manner, and the most odious kind of killing, they must murder him. And he that murders a Christian King commits a fourfold murder, saith our Chronicler Speed. 1. Homicide. 2. Parricide. 3. Christicide. 4. Dei-cide, because the King is God's anointed, and his Vice-gorent here on earth; therefore David killed the Amalekite, because he had killed a King, though that King was most wicked, and none of his own King. 2 Sam. 1.16.16. And you may conceive what a devellish and hellish fact this is, beyond all heathenish abomination, for subjects to murder their own King. For Pilate, that was but a heathen, and a very corrupt Judge, hearing them so fiercely crying out, to have him crucified; and being amazed at such an execrable voice, saith, Shall I crucify your King? As if he had said, Is it possible, John 19.15. that you should desire me, to crucify your King? for Reason and Nature, and the Laws of God, and of all Nations will condemn you for this fact, and detest you for base Traitors, and the bloody murderers of your King. But the old Murderer, that hath been a murderer from the beginning, John 8. hath furnished his Scholars with two strong, but deceitful arguments, to justify the kill of their King. 1. From the Law of Nature. 2. From the word of God. 1. Nature teacheth us to defend our selves; and to kill any one, 1 From the Law of Nature. rather than to suffer ourselves to be killed by him: because every thing in nature is, s●i conservativum; and therefore to study for a self-preservation, is an inbred Law of Nature, Quam non didicimus sed exhausimus ex natura, which we need not learn, when as Nature teacheth the same, saith Cicero. And therefore these Jews do conclude, It is expedient that this King should be killed, lest the Nation, if they let him alone, should be Destroyed: (i.e.) rather than they should Justly perish, he must be Unjustly murdered; this is the reasoning of Flesh and Blood. But to this the Apostle answereth in general, that the Wisdom or the reason of Worldly men is foolishness with God: 1 Cor. 1.20. and chap. 2.14. and, the Natural man receaveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him. And more particularly we say, that the Holy Scripture is the best interpreter of the Law of Nature; and then I desire you, as our Saviour advised the Jews, to search the Scriptures, and go through the whole Book of God; and tell me, if you find not Subjection to our Kings every where enjoined; and Resistance, even against the Worst Kings, every where prohibited? And then show me, where you find the least Print of any Precept, or Counsel given to any Subject, to put their King to death! Or where any Subjects, mentioned in all God's Book, did ever allege any Text of Scripture, or produced any good Example from the Scripture; to warrant, or to excuse such a fact. I am sure, Saul was a Tyrant and a Bloody murderer, a Demoniak and Profaner of God's service; Varighteous and Irreligious, and sought the life of David every way, and in every place; and though he was but the First elected King of the Jews, 1 Sam. 10. and no Heir by Inheritance to the Crown, and was rejected by God's Spirit; and David, by Gods own appointment, was to Succeed him in that Kingdom, 1 Sam. 16.1. & 13. and was anointed by Samuel to be King in his stead; which was very much: Yet this Good Subject, when Saul was put into his Hands, and his servants persuaded him to take the Advantage of that good opportunity, 1 Sam. 24, 24. and to do justice upon that Wicked King, he would by no means be advised by them, nor suffer them to Rise against his King; and when Abishai told him, that God had delivered his enemy (i.e.) Saul, into his hands, and therefore desired; that, if David would not do it himself, he would suffer Him to smite him; David answered, No by no means; 1 Sam. 26.9, 10, 11. and he yields this reason, Who can stretch forth his hand against the Lords anointed and be guiltless? And he addeth, The Lord shall smite him, but God forbidden that I should stretch forth mine hand against him; Nay more than this, when David took the Spear and the cruse of water from saul's bolster, and then went a great way from them, he cried unto Abner, and said, Vers. 16. Wherefore hast thou not kept thy lord the King?— As the Lord liveth, ye are worthy to die, because you have not kept your Master the Lords anointed; Where you see, David sweareth a Great oath, As the Lord liveth, and therefore he jesteth not. They are worthy to die, not they Alone that Kill their King; but they also, that hazard not their own lives, to Protect and preserve the life of their King; be their King never so Wicked. I am sure in David's judgement, this is True Divinity. Yea, more than all this, when Saul had fallen upon his own sword, because he would not fall into the hands of his uncircumcised enemies, and, being in extreme anguish, desired a young Amalekite, that was passing by to rid him out of his pain; and the young man, in favour to him, performing his request; and out of his respect to David, that was to succeed him, he brought the Crown that was upon his head, and the Bracelet that was upon his arm unto David, that the enemies might not have them; and to show, that he took no pleasure in the death of Saul, he came in a very mournful manner, with his Cl●athes rend, and Earth upon his head; and likewise to show his Loyal respect unto David, he fell to the Earth and did Obeisance unto him; and though he was a stranger, and Subject neither to Saul nor to David, therefore owed no service unto either of them; yet, because he took away the Life of David's King, the anointed of God, and his Vicegerent here on earth, David caused one of his young men, 2 Sam. 1. to fall upon the poor Amalekite, and for his mistaken courtesy unto Saul, and unwelcome service unto David, to smite him that he died. So dear was the life of this Wicked King unto this Godly man, that was a man according to Gods own heart, the best subject that ever we read of, and therefore was honoured by God to become the best King that ever Israel had; So that in the Genealogy of Christ the King of Kings, he is preferred before Abraham as S. Matth. 1.1. Matthew sets it down, The book of the Generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. And is it not Strange, that these Jews, that were given so much to read the Scripture, and had them more readily than our Puritans have them, at their finger's end; and could tell how many Affirmative, and how many Negative precepts were in all the Bible, and how many times, every word was therein mentioned; and yet, that they would not now consider that Job saith, Is it fit to say to a King, Thou art wicked? Job 34.18. Psal. 105.15. Eccl. 8.4. Numb. 16. Deut. 33.5. Hos. 1.4. 2 Reg: 21.24. and that God himself saith, Touch not mine anointed; and the wisest amongst the sons of men saith, Where the Word of a King is, there is power; and, Who may say unto him, What dost thou? Or that they could not remember, how fearfully God destroyed those Rebels that risen against Moses, that was a King in Jesuron and destroyed the posterity of Jehu, because he had destroyed his own King Ahab, and stirred the people to slay all them that had slain Amon; though he was a most wicked King. But the truth is, that the Old Serpent, the Prince of darkness teacheth his Scholars to reject the Old light, and now to stand altogether for New lights, new Revelations, and new Divinity; therefore S. Augustine speaks most truly of these Scripturists, that they had the Bible In manibus, but not In cordibus; and they had the truth in Codice, but not in Capite; for now Caiphas, contrary to all the Old Scripture, Joh: 18.14. hath a New Revelation that it is expedient, Pro salute populi, that One man should die for the people; therefore Christ their King must needs be Killed, and all the people cried out for justice, and double their cry, Crucify Him, Crucify Him. Salus Populi doth require it. 2 From the Word of God. 2. To prove it Lawful to put any King to death, Prosalute Populi; he that hath all Scripture ad unguem, can furnish you with a Text of S. Peter, 1 Pet. 2.13. that affirmeth the Kingly office to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, an Humane Ordinance or creature; therefore the people, being the maker of the King, Ob. they may destroy their Own creature, if he fails in the End, for which he was created; To this our True Divines have oftentimes most truly answered. 1. That the Jews held their Royal Government to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 1: Sol. Immediate from God, and to be in force without the Election of Ordination from man; and all other dominions and rule to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Humane Ordinance, because God had determined, and set down the Platform of their Government, which he had not done to other Nations; that, as the Prophet saith, had not the knowledge of his Laws; and therefore S. Peter, writing here to the Jews, tells them, that although the Kingly office should be but, as they held, an Humane Ordinance; and not, as theirs was, a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Divine Rule; yet his Precept was, that they should Submit themselves thereunto for the Lords sake; (i.e.) though the Governors were Heathens, and their Government Heathenish; yet, Obedience, and not Resistance, is due unto them for the Lords sake, by whom All Kings, both Jews and Gentiles, do bear rule. 2. That although the Jurisdiction of Kings for Extent, in some Part, 2 Sol. and in some Degree, might be said to be Humane, from men; yet the power of the Sword, which hath Potestatem vitae & necis, is simply and absolutely Divine, from God. For who can give power over the Life of man, but he that gave life to man? Joh. 19.10. Therefore when Pilate said to Christ, that he had power to Crucify him, and power to Release him; our Saviour answereth directly, Vers. 11. that he could not have This power against him, Except it were given him from above. And so S. Paul plainly saith, that This power of the Sword which is in the King, Rom. 13.1. as Supreme, as S. Peter saith, is from God: and so this is no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, whether you place it in the Jew, or in the Gentile; in the hand of a Godly Constantine, or a Bloody Dioclesian: but it is the Immediate Ordinance of God; and can not issue or flow from man, but from the Living God, that is the Author and hath the Sovereign power both of Life and Death. And therefore, in the Restauration of the World after the flood, God Almighty, 1. Reiterates the Blessing and favour which formerly he had bestowed upon Adam and Eve, Gen. 9.1. in bidding them to Increase and Multiply, and so to produce and continue the Life of man. 2. He confirmeth that Former Sovereignty, which he had granted unto Adam, Vers. 2. & 3. over all the inferior creatures. 3. He establisheth the Civil Government, that was to be Observed amongst all the future Generations of Noah; and therein, as if he now called to mind the Murder of Innocent Abel; to prevent the like, he doth Explicitly, and plainly challenge to himself the Power of punishing the shedding of man's blood to death; Vers. 5. saying, Surely the blood of your lives will I require, at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man, and at the hand of every man's brother, will I require the life of man. Where you see, the Lord three times repeats, I will require it, and prefixeth the word, Surely, that you should not doubt it. And lest any man should think, that God meant to punish that sin Immediately by his Own hand, and not rather by his Substitute, and Viceroy, the Lord addeth, Vers. 6. Who so sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed again, which is the right reading of the words, fuller than the Vulgar Translation, that saith no more, but Quicunque effuderit sanguinem hominis, fundetur sanguis illius: and plainer than the Septuagint, that saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Dr. Maxw. pag. 50. as the Learned Archbishop of Tuam sufficiently proveth. And the words being Thus, as our English Translation rightly hath them; you see the Sovereignty of the punishing the Slayer of man, is immediately invested in God's Deputy, by God himself; that is, in Him, whom God Appointeth to do it, and in none other. For I hope no man will conceive it so, that Any man whatsoever is invested with This power, to shed the blood of him that sheddeth man's blood; because this would be such a Disorder, and produce such confusion, as that nothing could be more destructive, and pernicious to humane kind, and more repugnant to God's Nature, that is the God of Order, as well as of justice. And therefore, as this Sovereign Power of Life and Death doth Principally and Properly belong to God, so God Gives this power, not to the Community, to all, nor to Every one that will, or would have it; but to some Particular Deputy, whom he doth Immediately invest therewith, to punish death with Death. And, as this Sovereign power over life, which is the Head and chiefest part of Civil Government, is Immediately given by God unto his Deputy to be executed; So all the Parts of Governments (when as all are Homogenous, that is, In indivisibili posita, things Indivisible in their nature, such as can no more be distracted and severed, than a Crown can be a Crown, when any part thereof is taken away) they must be in like manner granted to be Immediately from God, and not from Man. 3. Were the Kingly office, an Humane creature, that is, Sol. 3 of man's Ordinance; yet the Person of the King is God's creature: and therefore, were their false Exposition of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, True; yet could they not infer any more from thence, than the dethroning of Him, whom they had exalted; and not the kill of Him, whom God had created. But, Quo jure, quâque injuriâ, let others look, and let him be whose Creature he will; and his Kingly Office be from Whom you will, of God or of men; they are resolved to Kill him. And yet they will, as the Evangelist saith, do it most Subtly; and seem to give him a Fair Trial, that the Vulgar people (which know no more than what is put into their heads, and, as the Centaurs embraced a cloud for Juno, so do they take Shadows for the Substance) might believe he was Justly, and legally condemned, and not, as he was indeed, Maliciously murdered. But Why will they Murder Him, and draw his Innocent blood upon their wicked heads? For they had Him in their Own hands, He was their Prisoner, and they could have Him and hurry Him where they would; from Pilate to Herod, and from Herod to Pilate again. Why might they not have sent Him, and detained Him with S. John the Evangelist, in the Isle of Patmos, or secure his Person still in Prison with S. John Baptist. It may be answered, Nefandum scelus majori scelere adimpletur, Quae scelero pacta est, scelere rumpatur fides, Senec. in Medea. every heinous offence secures itself by a More heinous crime, as Seneca well observeth; as the Thief that Robs for love of money, will often Murder the poor Traveller for fear to be Discovered; and the Lewd woman, that fears to be Shamed for her lewdness, will not fear to Murder her own Child; so the Cevetous desire of having what we have no right unto, Why the wicked never leave persecuting their King, till they kill him. as it worketh a Great care and sedulity how to get it, so it begets a Great fear and jealousy to lose it; therefore seeing there may be an Escape, or reprisal from prison, and a Return from exile, as it was in Henry Bullingbrook, afterwards King Henry the fourth; they that fear to lose their Usurped Possessions, or to feel the Revenge of their Treason and Rebellion, never think themselves Secured, or their usurpation Settled, until their unjust titles be sealed in the blood of the right Owner, and their own Wicked lives secured, in the Unmerited death of their Innocent adversaries. And this is the Reason that these Wicked murderers of their Own King, never left to persecute Him, till they had Killed Him. I should now proceed to the Last point, to discover the Murderers of this Just One, their own Pious and Religious King: but that before I proceed to that point, I hold it requisite, First, Six Special circumstances to be observed. to show unto you these six Special Circumstances about the Murder of this King: which Are most Exactly delivered unto us by the Evangelists, and which very-very circumstances may be Punctually observed in the murder of another King. 1. The base and Spiteful usage of this Good King by all his wicked Adversaries. 2. How causelessly and Unjustly they condemned and executed him. 3. How Mildly, and how Sweetly this King behaved and Demeaned himself towards all his enemies, both at his Judgement, and at his Death. 4. The Speedy execution of his Sentence, when these murderers had Condemned him. 5. The Place of his execution, and the Number of attendants that followed him to That place. 6. The small regard and Inhuman neglect of any Funeral Rites and obsequies at his Burial. And for the first, 1 The base and spiteful usage of the King. our Saviour foreshowing his death unto his twelve Apostles, saith, that he should be delivered unto the chief Priests, and unto the Scribes, and they should condemn him to death, and should deliver him to the Gentiles, Mar. 10.33, 34. and they should mock him, and scourge him, and spit upon him, and should kill him: where you may observe, 1. He is twice betrayed: and 2. He is three manner of ways abused: 1. Mocked; 2. Scourged; and 3. Spit upon. 1. The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Trado, signifieth to deliver up, or to betray, from whence traditor, Two sorts of Traitors that betrayed this King. a traitor, is derived. So, our Saviour being twice delivered up; once by Judas, to the chief Priest and Scribes; and then secondly, by the chief Priests and Elders, and Scribes, and the whole Council, to Pilate; You see there were two sorts of Traitors, that betrayed our Saviour Christ. 1. Judas, that Arch traitor, as being a menial servant, and of his privy council, Psal. 55.12, 13, 14. Math. 26. as the Psalmist noteth; and therefore, to his everlasting infamy, is no less than twelve times termed and proclaimed Traitor in the same Chapter. 2. So was King Charles twice betrayed. 1. To the Parliament. 2. To the Soldiers. A whole pack of Traitors, all that conspired, counselled, and consented, to deliver up this their King to be put to death; close they were, many of them, and would fain seem clear from the last act, which was his Execution, and therefore innocent from his blood, and freed from the high and loud crying Treason: Yet, as close as they were, and because there be no accessaries in Treason, the Holy Ghost finds them out, and ranks them all under the same Crime of Treason, and styles them by the same name of Traitors, or traditors, unto their King. And the base and barbarous usage of this King from his first apprehension, 1 How this King was mocked. So was King Charles mocked in these very particulars following. John 6.15. to the last moment of his execution is punctually observed by the Evangelists; as that 1. They should mock him, which though it be worse than death to a generous mind; as you see Samson chose rather to die, than to suffer himself to be mocked and scoffed at by the Philistines; yet did these traitorous rebels mock, and scoff, and flout at this their King, many ways, and divers times: as 1. They vote to make him a glorious King; that is, if he will be ruled by them, he shall reign over them; Luke 19.38. and because he refused to be this mock-king, they presently vote no more addresses unto him, and cry, Nolumus hunc regnare super nos; We will not have him for our King any longer: and yet, when they hoped he would submit to their desires, they cry, Hosanna, blessed be the King, and we shall have a blessed accommodation, betwixt the King, and the people. Jo. 19.1. But within a very few days after, when their chief Leaders like not this, but vote and declare his death; then they cried out as fiercely, Justice, Luc. 23.21 Justice;. Crucify him, Crucify him. 2. Instead of a Royal train, a Band of the rudest Soldiers must not attend him, So was King Charles led to Westminster-Hall. but must be sent to lead him, not to his Chamber of Presence, but to the common Hall; there, as a Malefactor, and a Traitor to his people, to be tried for his life. 3. Instead of his Royal Robes, he shall have his own garments stripped off, and he shall be clad in a Player's suit, that he may be the more ridiculous unto these Rascals. 4. So they must have K. Charles bend and yield to every thing that they desired. Instead of a Sceptre of Gold, which is the Ensign of Rule, he shall have a Reed put in his hand, to be bowed by every wind of their own will, and to be broken in pieces when they will. This is the Rule, that they like of best. 5. Instead of a Crown of Gold, beset with the Jewels of Royal Prerogatives, befitting a King, they platt a crown of thorns, and prick his brows and his brains, So they loaded K. Charles with all disgraces. with all the disgrace they could lay upon him; and 6. Which a Learned Preacher well observes, they invented and practised a little before, a fine kind of subtle and malicious mockery, upon this their King. For they would have him to believe, that Herod, who would be solely King, was purposely set to kill him; and therefore, Luke 13.31. So persuaded they K. Charles to save himself by retiring to the Isle of Wight. out of a seeming care to his safety, they persuaded him, to get him out of the way, and secretly to departed to some retired place; when as indeed, these very Counsellors were those bloody Herodians that hunted him thus into their net, thereby the more readily to take away his life; which was a treacherous and a bloody Mock: and I wish King Charles had as well understood this Mock, when he believed their false letters, and thereupon conveyed himself to the Isle of Wight, as this King of the Jews understood this malicious plot of these his mocking enemies. 2. S. Mark saith, they should scourge him: severe enough, no doubt of it. 2 Scourged, and despitefully handled. And K. Charles was thus spitefully handled in 8. of the like particulars. Forty stripes, save one, was the Jew's usual manner to lay on him, whom they hated: but whether Pilate, that now scourged him, laid on more or less, the Holy Ghost sets not down, and therefore, I will not presume to determine it. S. Luke adds to what S. Mark saith, they should despitefully entreat and handle him; and so he was indeed, most spitefully used: as 1. When they hunted him, like a partridge, and left him not an house to put his head in. Math. 8.20. Chap 26.55. 2. When they came to take their King, as against a thief, with swords and staves. 3. When they led him by a Band of rude Soldiers as a Traitor, Luc. 23.31. to the common Judgement-hall. 4. When in this Hall, they caused, or countenanced, the scum of the people, and basest of the Soldiers, to call for justice, and to cry, Crucify him, Crucify him. 5. When to so mild a King, (that said none otherwise to his servant, Math. 26 6●. So they beheaded King Charles, where they used the baiting of Bears, and other beasts, in the common-way. that arch-traitor, which betrayed him, but, Friend, wherefore art thou come?) they shall scornfully say to him, The Prisoner, or this fellow. 6. When they carry him out to Golgotha, a place fit to bait beasts, than to execute Kings; there, in a common highway, to lose his life. 7. When, as they go to Golgotha, they cause him, that was whipped and scourged, and wearied in posting of him from place to place, to carry his own heavy cross upon his shoulders. 8. When they, not only numbered him among the wicked, but also crucified him betwixt two thiefs, in the midst of the wicked, as if he had been the chiefest of all wicked men, When the Colonel that brought him to his execution, commanded his Soldiers to shoot any one that p●lled off his h●●, or shown any reverence, or spoke any word, for the honour of the King. 3 How he was spit upon. Joh. 19.29. And thus they bespitted King Charles, with all kind of calumnies. that had none but the wicked on every side of him. 9 When, as now, disrobed of all Royalties, and fastened to an accursed cross, where he was enduring intolerable pains, not one, that loved him, durst speak a word; but his enemies flouted him, and wagged their heads at him, and when he thirsted for our salvation, they filled his mouth with sharp Vinegar, as they did his ears with shameless taunts. 10. When, after he was dead, they would not afford him a place of burial; but he must be laid in another man's Sepulchre. And were not all these, and much more, that might be collected, most spiteful usages of an innocent man, and a glorious King? Yet the Evangelist adds one thing more, that I must not omit, that they would spit upon him, (a note of the thing, that we do most abominate); as it seems, their King was the chiefest thing, that they did most hate and abhor. But a man may be said to be spit upon, figuratively, when his enemies spit out their venom against him, even bitter words. And so Christ their King, was most shamefully spit upon, when by their Declarations and Remonstrances, and other scurrilous Pamplets, they proclaimed him to the World to be a Deceiver of the trust reposed in him, and a Traitor, because he perverted the people, and drew them on to their destruction. So they called him a Samaritane, a Drunkard, a Demoniak, an upholder of Sinners, a breaker of the Sabbath, a Conjurer, and what not? Their tongues were swords that killed his Honour, before they crucified his Person; and they were the poison of Asps, that spat out all these slanderous calumnies upon their King: And this was bad enough, and too much indignity for a King; Yet the Soldiers did not only thus Rhetorically spit upon him, but Grammatically disgorged the scum of their ulcerous lungs, in his glorious face: and it is reported, that a Soldier, going under the name of a Christian, did the like to a most Christian King; which if true, let him repent, lest God should spew him out of his mouth. And though it be the rule of the very Heathens, De mortuis nil nisi bene, We ought to speak nothing but good of the dead; because, as the Poet saith, — Livor post fata quiescit: Yet these beasts, like devils, Saeva sed in manes manibus arma dabant. degenerating from mankind, are not content to kill their King; but will murder him again, and again, after that he is both dead and buried: and that, not only in his Lovers and Followers, whom they are resolved, not to extenuate, but to extirpate; but especially in his fame, his glory, and his honour, which is to all good men, as the savour of the sweetest perfume, that is made by the art of the Apothecary, and which they, like stinking flies, endeavour by all means to corrupt and defame; and to destroy all those that truly preach or publish any truth redounding to his honour: as you may plainly see it in the acts of his Apostles, whom they threatened and terrified for speaking any good of him: Though, as the Poet saith, Tu ne cede malis; sed contrà audentior ito. So, the more these murderers sought to hinder it, the more the glory and goodness of this King was spread abroad, to their indelible shame, throughout all the World, when as the virtues of every just and pious man, are as the palmtrees; the more forcibly they are suppressed, the more gloriously they will be exalted. So you see how spitefully, and how traitorously, and bloodily, and basely, these miscreant Jews have used and abused, killed and murdered, their own King: Now 2. 2 How causelessely they condemned him. John 10.32. You are to consider, how causelessely, and how unjustly, they did all this unto him; for the Prophet in the person of this King, saith, Oderunt me gratis, They hated me indeed, but without a cause: and himself saith unto the Jews, Many good works have I shown you from my father; For which of them do you now go about to kill me? So, in truth, there was great cause to love and honour this good King, that had done so much good unto them; but no cause why they should either hate or abuse, much less to kill or murder this their own King. Yet we find several causes set down by the Evangelists, that moved these Jews to kill their King: and they are of two sorts: 1. Pretended to the people. 2. Real to themselves: And 1. 1 The pretended causes to murder their King. Their pretended cause is specially twofold. 1. Cultus Dei. 2. Salus populi. the usual pretences of all Traitors; and, if they were true, there could not be better: And therefore this fair colour, deceives the buyers of this bad cloth; and these pretences made the people, to commit on Christ, this execrable Fact, to hate and crucify the son of God, their own King: But to proceed to examine these fair colours. 1. As generally the raisers of any people to rebellion, 1 Innovation of Religion. tax their Governors with innovation, or destruction of Religion, because all men, even the superstitious, and licentious, and profane worlding, would fain seem to embrace the true Religion; so these persuade the silly vulgar, that this their King closely and cunningly laboureth to alter and innovate the true service of God, as 1. That he was too lose in observing the Sabbath. 2. Too strict in the reverence to be showed in the material Temple. Mark 2.24. Matth. 21.12. c, 19 The very same things were objected against King Charles. Matth. 5.17. 1. Objection answered. Mark 2.27. 3. Too severe in abridging them the liberty of divorces, and the like. But to this our King answereth first in general, that they do wrong him by this their unjust charge and accusation, because he came not to destroy the Law, or the Prophets, but to fulfil them; and themselves by their false Expositions, and new invented traditions, were the innovators and corrupters, both of the Law and Prophets: and more particularly, 1. For the Sabbath he showeth, that themselves are herein too nice and superstitious, and he no profaner thereof; because the Sabbath was made for man, (i.e.) for the good of man, both for his soul and body: of his soul by serving God, and of his body by those necessary actions, and recreations, that may conduce for the continuance of his health on that day. 2. For the reverence to be observed in the Temple or Church of God, 2 Objection answered. Esay 56.7. he showeth that he was not too strict in driving the buyers and sellers, and all other prophaners thereof out of the same; because God himself saith, even of this material Temple or Church of stones, My house shall be called an house of prayer, for all people; for the Gentiles, as well as for the Jews; but they had profaned the same, by making it a house of Merchandise, and so a den of thiefs, as they do that make it a stable for their horses, or a receptacle for their plundered and stolen goods. And in both these points, our Puritans now are just, as the Jews were then, too much given to profane the Church, and too superstitious to observe the Sabbath. But, 3. For abridging the liberty of divorces, 3 Objection answered. Matth. 5.32. he tells them that he teacheth not otherwise than what was from the beginning, that whosoever putteth away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: but you by forsaking the good old way, and following the traditions of your latter Rabbins, your Assembly of new Divines, have made the Commandments of God of none effect, and teach for Doctrine the Commandments of men; Chap. 15.6. just as they do now, forsake the good old government of the Church, that hath been from the beginning, from Christ his time; and follow the new invented Government, that is forced from the false and wrested Expositions of our upstart Rabbins, that never yet saw the age of a man, since the death of Calvin and Beza, the first Fathers that begat it. 2. As they did thus unjustly tax their King for Innovation, 2 The destruction of the people. And this madded the people against King Charles. John. 11.48. and the alteration of their established Religion; so they have another bait whereby they do as cunningly catch the people, and set them like wild men to join with them, yea to outgo them in their desires, to destroy their King, and that is, Salus populi, the safety and liberty of the people; which they said would be utterly lost, if they did let Him go; and this madded the people against their King; though there was no truth in the charge, nor ground to believe it, but the fears and jealousies of the people, raised only by the malice of their wicked leaders; for how could it be, that either the safety or the liberty of the people, should be any ways impaired by that King, that came to fulfil the Law, and to root out all the false glosses thereof, and was contented to lose not his Kingdom only, but also his own life, for the safety and liberty of his people, as themselves confess; that he must die for the people, (i. e.) for their Laws and Liberties, and so become the Martyr of the Law, and the Saviour of his people. So you see the pretended charge against this King, Jo. 11, 48. that he was a tyrant, by endeavouring to destroy their Laws, and to alter their Religion; and a Traitor to the State by forbidding Tribute unto the Conqueror, whom now they were resolved to honour for their only King, lest they should lose their place and their Nation. 2. 2 The true causes that moved the murderers to kill their Kings The true real causes, that moved these murderers to kill their King, were very many, but especially four. 1. Envy to him. 2. Despair in themselves. 3. Fear to lose. 4. Ambition to be great. For 1. 1 Envy. Joh. 7.47. Mar. 7.37. They perceived, that for his admirable worth, and his divine endowments, when as never man spoke as he did, and that he did all things well, the people loved him, followed him, and adhered to him; then, As the glorious rays of the Sun upon any putrified matter, causeth a stench; so his excellent virtues begat the poysonou●brats of envy and malice in these wicked miscreants; and so Pilate perceived that for envy they had delivered, or rather, as the word signifieth, betrayed him to death. 2. 2 Despair of pardon. When they had by their Declarations and Remonstrances, their calumnies, slanders, and false accusations, sought with all art to render him odious unto his people, and had in all things opposed him to the uttermost of their might; Gen. 4.13. then, as Cain cried out, my sin is greater than can be forgiven; So the guilt of their malice, and the remembrance of their forepast wickedness against him, were of so deep a stain, they they conceived all the water in the Sea could not wash it away; and all the mercy of man could not remit their sin: such is the conscience of all unconscionable sinners; therefore, though this good King could, & would, and did, forgive his enemies, and pray for his persecutors, yet because their hate and sins were so great, that they could not believe it, they thought themselves no ways secured, unless he were killed. 3. 3 Fear to lose what they had gotten. The men were now got into great power, & they had the liberty to be of what Sect and profession they pleased, Scribes, Pharises, or Sadduces, or what you will; and to do what they would: so long as they pleased the Conqueror, no man could contradict them; but if the right King continue King, they saw he would not, and could not, endure such an Anarchy of Government, and a Hodge podge, to remain amongst them; therefore Caiaphas, the second man in power, tells them, it is expedient that he die, for fear of the loss of their places, and this their great power and liberty. 4. 4 Ambition to be great men. Matth. 21.23. M●● 12.7. Luk. 20.9. This King himself, in the parable of the Vineyard, which is faithfully recorded by three Evangelists, sets down, as I conceive it, the main cause & fundamental ground of his death, that is, their ambition & desire to be great, and to hold all power and authority in their own hands; for so the wicked husbandmen say, This is the heir, Venite, come, let us kill him, and then, retinebimus haereditatem ejus, we shall hold his inheritance; His it is we confess, yet then, We shall hold it, because, as S. Mark saith, then certainly, erit nostra, it will be ours, and no man can keep us from it; and indeed this desire of bearing rule, And I would fain know, if these four things were not the very causes that made the Rebels to being King Charles unto death. this covetousness to get what is none of our own, hath been the death of many Kings, of many men: for what made Caracalla slay his brother Geta in his mother's lap, and between her arms, but this inordinate desire to reign? What made Phraharers son of Horodes King of Parthia, kill his own Father, and 29. of his brethren, but the like desire to reign? And what made Abimelech, the bastard son of Gedeon slay 70. of his brethren in one day? and Jehn to slay his Master, even as Zimri had done the like before him? and Absalon attempt to do so to his own Father, but only this ambitious desire of bearing rule. And if you look into the 8. c. of the 5. Book of Camerarius, Camerar. l. 5. c. 8. his historical meditations, you shall find a Catalogue of such wicked murderers, that have been the death of many Kings, that they might reign as kings themselves; and therefore, let the pretences of these murderers of their King be what you will, change of Religion, Arbitrary Government, great Tyranny, or loss of liberty; yet, all these are but forged and feigned to blind the World, and to deceive the people; and the true Cause indeed is this, Haereditas erit nostra. This Profit, is the point that doth the deed. And, as the desire to reign makes the regicides; Cant. 2. so this inheritance of the Church, which is signified by the Vineyard, brought the doctrine of killing, deposing and depriving into the Church of Christ: and it is as truly, Esay. 5. as wittily said by one, that, Quid vultis mihi dare, is the Jews question in this case, &, Omnia haec tabi dabo, is the Devil's answer, to the Church-robber. And such a dialogue betwixt the Devil and the Jew, for the inheritance of the Church is powerful enough, to bring any King, even Christ himself, the King of Kings unto his death; so I do assure myself, and all the World may be assured of it, it is not the calling or the office of the Bishops (or of Deans, & prebend's) which neither they nor their grand Master was ever able to disprove to be Divine, that they so much detest; but it is their Lands and inheritance, that they so greedily gape for; and as this made Naboth to lose his life, so this makes our calling detestable, and this was the cause, the cause 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that brought Charles our King, and one special cause, that brought Christ the King of kings, unto their deaths; because they would not betray the trust, that God reposed in them, nor surrender up, this their rightful Inheritance unto the greedy Usurpers; but shown themselves faithful shepherds that were ready to lay down their lives for their sheep, rather than to betray the laws and liberties of the people, and the happiness that God had determined for their subjects; and for this, as we own to our Saviour Christ ourselves, our souls, and our bodies, to honour him, and serve him, to praise him, and to magnify him for ever, as our only Saviour and preserver from everlasting death and destruction; so this good King, this just, magnanimous King, King Charles (that rather suffered an ignominious death, then to give away the inheritance of the Church) or annul the highest calling in the same, the Calling of the Reverend Bishops, deserves to be everlastingly Loved, indelibly Chronicled, and universally Published like Mary Magdalen, for a faithful Martyr, a true Protector, and a nursing Father unto the Church of Christ; which, here I vow for mine part, ever to do, whensoever opportunity offers itself to do it. But, as I said before, they had their King in their hands, Ob. they had him their Prisoner, so they had his Kingdom in their power and possession already; what needed they therefore to kill him, that they might have that, which they had? For if Ahab had had the Vineyard, questionless Naboth had not died. Saint Mark answereth fully, that they killed the Heir, Sol. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that they might hold it, and continue in it; An answer specially to be observed. for covetousness is a sin of Retention and never thinks of Restitution, and the sin of forcible entrance can not endure to be put out of Possession: thereforelest, if he lived, he might use some means to Regain it; there is no surer way for them to hold in Peace, what they unjustly got by the sword, but by the death of the Just Owner. And the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as I conceive, signifieth not only that we may hold, what we have, but also that we may have more than we hold; as if they should have said, Somewhat we have, while we have him our prisoner, and in our hands, but more we shall get, when we get him dead; for than we shall have all, as much as we can or will desire. Therefore seeing ambition is like the daughters of the Horseleëch, that still crieth more and more, these murderers are like the Whore in the Apocalypse, that having tasted the blood of the Saints, will never give over till she be drunk with blood: so will they never be satisfied with any less than the blood of their King, Apoc 17. & the death of the right Heir, that they may hold what they have, and have whatsoever they desire. So you see the true Causes, why these wicked murderers have put their King to death. Now, 3. 3 The patiented and silent demeanour of this King. Esay. 53. Act. 8.32. When his adversaries most maliciously, illegally and falsely accused him, and laid many things to his charge, contrary to all truth; yet he answered not unto their charge: but this good King, being reviled, reviled not again; and being smitten, smote not again; but as a Lamb before his shearer is dumb, so opened he not his mouth. The Reason, The Reason of not answering to their charge four fold. why he answered not, is not expressed by the Holy Evangelists; therefore we may not curiously pry into that, which is concealed; nor Positively conclude the Reason, that is not revealed unto us. Yet with Modesty, it may be conjectured, that he would not answer. 1. Reason. 1 Lest his wise and satisfactory Answer, might convince Pilate, that was a rational man and seemed to bear no malice against him, and being satisfied, to let him go, freed from the accusation of his enemies: and so the Counsel of God, which he knew, and came to fulfil it, touching the Redemption of mankind by his death, might thereby be frustrated. So far did he prefer our good before his own life: A most gracious King! 2. Reason. 2 He answered them not, lest his answering might have ministered an occasion to these malicious miscreants, to suborn more perjurers to bear false witness against him: so careful was this good King, of the good of his enemies, that they should not heap more vengeance upon themselves, by committing the more sins. 3. Reason. 3 He answered not, because he held that Power, which, at that time, the sword had so unjustly gotten, to be insufficient and unjustifiable, in his case, to try his person, and to condemn Him to death; who, in respect of the Hypostatical union, was Rex universae terrae, and so King of the Romans, as well as of the Jews; therefore he would not answer to that charge, that was so illegally charged against him, coram non Judice, before a Judge, that had no lawful commission to be his Judge; So Bradshaw had no commission to be King Charles his Judge. Or 4. Reason. 4 It may be said, that he answered nothing to the false charge laid against him; because of the illegal power, authority or right, that his enemies had to require it; when as he, being their King, was not to answer for any faci that he had done, to any one of all his Subjects; as the King, that was according to Gods own heart, showeth, when, after he had committed both adultery and murder, he saith to God, Against thee only have I sinned. And therefore, the Jews being Christ his Subjects; and so, having neither right nor authority, Math. 27.11. to lay any charge against Him that was their King: he was altogether silent, in all that concerned the charge laid against him. Mar. 15.2. But for any other question, that Pilate, his servant, and now made his Judge, Luk. 23.3. did ask him, He gave him a full and a sufficient answer, as you may see in all the Evangelists. Or else, Joh. 18.34. & 36. and chap. 19 11. as S. Jerom. comments upon the Evangelists; he spoke nothing, that is, nihil durum, nihil asperum, nothing, that might offend either the Judge, or the Jews. But we find, What this King spoke, not to save his own life, but for others. that neither Jews nor Gentiles, neither High Priest, nor Pilate would condemn this King, before they gave him liberty to speak, and they were ready to hear, what he would or could say for himself. Because the law of the Jews, as Nicodemus, a Counsellor of their law, testifieth, judged no man before it heard him: and it was not the manner of the Romans, Jo. 7.51. Act. 25.16. to deliver any man to die, before he had liberty to answer for himself; as Festus, another Judge of the Romans, confesseth. And yet, such was the injustice shown to Charles our King, which you may remember, by his subject-Judge, that contrary to all Laws both of Heaven and Earth, both of Jews and Gentiles, he would not hear those just Reasons, that he sought to show for himself, against their unjust proceed against him: And therefore no doubt but Annas and Caiphas, and unjust Pilate, will rise in Judgement to condemn that unjust Judge at the last day. But though this good King Christ said nothing to their Charge, to save his own life; yet, at his death, he spoke much, to preserve his enemies from Everlasting death; as when he said, I thirst: that was, not for the blood of his enemies, as they and the Soldiers did for his blood; but it was for the accomplishment of the mystery of theirs, and our salvation, that was to be effected by his death. And especially, when, as Bellar mine observeth, he prayed for his very murderers, that were slaughtering and tormenting him; and said, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do: and some of them are simply ignorant of the wickedness of this fact, being seduced by their false Teachers: and others, though wilfully blind; yet are they ignorant of the consequents of this act, that is, the heavy punishment, that is due to them, and, without great repentance, must light on them, for this wicked deed; therefore, O my Father, I pray thee, revenge not my death, but forgive them for my sake. And this prayer prevailed for Longinus, that thrust him through his side, How mightily the prayer of Christ prevailed with God to forgive his enemies. to become a Convert, if old Tradition may be believed for truth; and for 3000. more at one clap, when S. Peter took off the vail, that shadowed the truth, and shown to the poor seduced people, the horrible wickedness of their malicious leaders; and for many many more, that returned unto him immediately after; and would have prevailed for all, the very worst of his murderers, even for Judas, Annas, and Caiphas; yea, and for the Judges, (the first, and second Pilate) that pronounced the Sentence against their Kings; if they had had the grace, to repent them of their evil deed, and to believe in this their Saviour. 4. Consider, 4 How Speedily they condemned their King. I pray you, how speedily they executed and made an end of him, after he was Condemned; for he was apprehended, but upon Thursday, when-as upon Wednesday at night, he did eat the Pass-over with his Disciples, and tells them, that after two days, was the Feast of the Passover, the greatest feast that they had, Math. 26.2. solemnised in remembrance of their great and wonderful deliverance out of Pharaohs bondage; And yet, they would not suffer him to live, till that Feast was passed; but being taken upon Thursday, he must all that day, and all that night be hurried from Annas to Caiphas, from Caiphas to Pilate, from Pilate to Herod, and from Herod back again to Pilate, and so from place to place; and the very next day, which was Friday, by nine of the clock in the morning, which was their third hour of the day, they fastened him to his Cross, Mar. 15.25. with nails so large, that, being found, they made a helmet, and a bridle for Constantine, as it is reported. And this was a very quick dispatch indeed. King Charle●. I remember another King that was murdered in like manner by his subjects; but, though suddenly enough dispatched out of the way, yet had a little more favour, and a little longer time, before he was beheaded. But why would not these miscreants suffer their King to live one day, Quest. to prepare himself for his death, after he was condemned? They answer, That the next day, after he was adjudged to die, Resp. Why they would not suffer their King to live one day longer. was their Feast day, and the greatest feast in the year: therefore they must not suffer him to pass over that day, nor to die, on that day, for these two special Reasons. 1. Reason. 1 Lest there should be an uproar among the people; because that day, being set apart for an holy meeting, as the Lord commanded it, and, as our Apprentices are permitted upon Shrove-tuesday, Servants had liberty on Holy days, and feast-days. to take their liberty and to go a Shroving where they please; So were their labourers, and servants, under colour of going to the Temple, suffered, on this day, to gad abroad, and to go where they would. And therefore the raskality of the people, and the seduced followers of the Scribes, Pharisees, and Presbyters, cried for Justice, Justice, Crucify him, Crucify him; yet, seeing all the rest of the honest people, that had well observed his meekness, and his sweet carriage amongst them, and had received so much justice, and so many favours from this good King, did exceedingly love him, and said, He did all things we●l, and were ready to venture their lives for him, the Priests and Presbyters durst not venture to delay his execution till that day were passed, lest they should attempt to rescue him, and so to save his life on that day: So you see the subtlety of the crafty foxes, and the greediness of these Bloody-hounds, to take away the life of their good King, and to hinder all others to preserve his life. Reason. 2 2. They would not have him to suffer on their Feast day, lest they should be defiled; John 18.28. a most damnable hypocrisy, that stumble at a straw, and leap over a block; that fear to be defiled on their Holy day, and yet fear not the shedding of innocent blood, the blood of their King, and of the Son of God, on any other day: Just like our hypocritical Saints, that cannot endure to misie the hearing of two Sermons on the Lord's day, and care not to deceive and destroy 200. of their neighbours, if they can do it, upon any other day: And therefore these holy Saints, are none of God's Saints, but do belong to that Angel of darkness, The great hypocrisy of these holy murderers. that can so finely transform himself, as these men do, into an Angel of Light. And so you see how speedily they executed their King, and the main Reasons, why they did so. And this speedy execution of his death, doth exceedingly aggravate the heinousness of the action; for, after they had him in their hands, their feet were swift to shed his blood, and they ended all proceed in few days; their unsatiable thirst for blood, can never suffer these Blood-bounds to rest, until their thirst be quenched. But you will say, He was almost four years amongst them, after he was Baptised, A Question. and began to dress his Vineyard, and to sway the Sceptre of his Dominion; if they were so greedy of his extirpation, Why stayed they all this while, before they executed their intention? I answer, Not because they wanted will, but by reason of some remoras, The Answer, for three Reasons. Luke 22.2. that hindered their desires; and they were especially these three. 1. The love of the people, who, for his justice, innocency, and fair carriage towards all men, and the great good he did to many men, did, for many years, exceedingly love him, and apologise for him; until these subtle Foxes, by their Remonstrances, and Aspersions, had wrought this unstable multitude, that understood nothing right, to a jealous, and a causeless suspicion of this Just King, and a wicked compliance with these unjust murderers. 2. The want of fit opportunity, made that they could not so safely do it, until the people, at the Passeover, were drawn up to the Metropolis, Jerusalem; where, by the Law, they were to convene at this Feast, and whereby you may see how their subtlety made way for their villainy. 3. The factions and oppositions, that were among themselves, and especially betwixt their chief Commanders, Pilate the Roman Commander, and Herod, the head-Ruler of the Jews, stayed their purposes, till these differences were composed, and these two great Opponents, made great Friends; and this, assoon as ever done, they presently do what they intended, and never rest till all be finished. 5. When they had thus devilishly condemned, 5 The Attendants that followed Christ to the place of execution. Math. 27.33. So was King Charles beheaded in the Highway, where they used to bait Bears & Bulls. and thus speedily resolved to kill their King, I pray you mark the place where they carried him to be executed●● and that place where they would have him to be executed, I told you before, was Golgotha; that is to say, A place of a skull, the most infamous place about Jerusalem, where their Malefactors were hanged, and their bones were scattered and gnawn of Dogs: A fit place, think you, for a King to end his life? And then 6. Consider, the attendants, that accompanied this great King to this despicable place of Execution, and we shall find them to be, Either 1. His friends, Or 2. His foes: And 1. Of his friends, I find but very few that durst be seen to follow him, 1 How few of his friends. Joh. 19.26. Chap. 18.15. not any man, that I find recorded, but only one, and that was the Disciple, that our Saviour loved, and that Disciple was known unto the High Priest; and therefore the bolder to follow him, whom he loved. The rest, I presume, loved him well; but they saw the malice of his persecutors was so great, not only against their King, but also against all those that loved him, How cruel the enemies of Christ were to all that loved him. that if they were seen to follow him, or heard to speak a word in his behalf, they had presently been taken for Malignants, and most severely punished, as most heinous Delinquents: And therefore all the rest of his Apostles and Disciples, and all others that loved him, were so mightily terrified, that they durst neither be heard nor seen; So cruel were these Subjects, even unto their King. Some Women indeed, that loved him well, were permitted to be present at his death, their Sex was their only warrant: but these Women, and the rest that knew him, were fain to stand afar off, and durst not come near him; and, it seems, they durst not speak one word, either of him, or to him: but smote their breasts, and returned, Luke. 23.48. But 2. For his foes, we read of enough, that followed him; 2 How many of his foes. a guard of Soldiers, for fear he should be rescued; and the Rulers, that derided him; and the foolish people, that were the flatterers of those lewd Leaders, saying, He saved others, let him save himself if he be Christ the Son of God: Luc. 23.25. and some no doubt, were present, that betrayed him: Such villainy and impudence had covered the foreheads of these monsters of men; yet one of these bloody Soldiers that were the chief actors in the execution of this King, received here the benefit of this King's prayer, and was enlightened by his Spirit to say, Math. 27.54. Truly this was the Son of God. But for the Priests and Presbyters, the Scribes and Rulers of the people; they could bring him to his death, and mocked him upon the Cross, when humanity should have rather taught them to pity him, than to scoff at him; not one of them, notwithstanding all the wonders that were then showed (as the rising of many that were dead, the rending of the vail of the Temple, and the great Earth quake that immediately followed his death) had the grace to confess their sins, and to bewail his death. Nay, they were so far from returning, or repenting them, of their wickedness, that their hearts being hardened harder than Pharaoh's heart, they still proceed in malice; and because any eulogy of him, they thought obloquy unto themselves, and his praise to be their shame, they neither permitted him a Funeral Sermon, nor provided a Tomb, for his burial; and therefore in all likelihood, he had gove without one, had not providence according to Prophesy provided him a Sepulchre from an honourable Counsellor, which had lodged this King, while he was alive, in his heart; and now, being dead, he lays him in his own Grave. But it may be said, That, as S. Peter saith, Ob. Pilate and the children of Israel did but what the hand and counsel of God bade determined before to be done; and therefore this their proceeding against their King, being but a lowly submission, or a dutiful execution of God's providence, it cannot be so offensive unto God. I answer, Sol. 1 1. That God's counsel was secret and unknown unto them, and they had no revelation, nor commandment from God, to do it; therefore they are inexcusable for doing it. 2. Though S. Peter saith, God had determined this to be done; yet he doth not say, that God determined to do it by them, and in that manner, and for that cause as they did it. Therefore, though the counsel of God for the doing of it, had been revealed unto them, yet this can be no excuse unthem, unless God had commanded them to be the actors of it. 3. Though they had known God's mind, and that his mind was, that they should be the actors of this Tragedy; yet Gods end being salus populi, the salvation of all faithful people, and their end being to satisfy their own malice and ambition, to get the inheritance of the Church, and the Kingdom to themselves; the counsel of God to do it, cannot justify them in their wicked deeds. And therefore, all these things rightly weighed, it will appear, that God's counsel was most just in itself, and most gracious for us; and their proceeding most unjust, without warrant, without authority, and will be found at the last Day, with all other like proceed, without excuse; and themselves to be most malicious murderers of their King. And now, as Apelles, or Timantes, having drawn the sad and mournful countenance of the Mourners for Iphigenia, to the uttermost height of his skill; when he came to express the same in Agamemnon, her father, because his art could go no higher than he had gone, and that it could not reach to express her father's grief, he was fain to draw a vail over Agamemnon's face, and to leave it to the consideration of the beholders to conceive how infinite must be the sorrow of her dear father, that so dearly loved her. So I, having painted out the horrible vileness of the murderers of their Just King, to the uttermost of mine art, and not able to show half the damnability thereof, I must put a Curtain before my Tablet, and leave it to your thoughts, to consider, if you can imagine, that it is possible for any Orator to express the unutterable and incomprehensible damnability of this Fact, and the execrable villainy of those Traitors, that have murdered their own just King: And now 3. 3 Part. Who were the murderers of this just King. For the murderers that have killed their Just King, I am to show you, who these Traitors and murderers were; and we find in this Chapter, and the precedent Chapter, that they were the people, and the Elders of the people, the Scribes, and the Priests, and the whole multitude; and the Evangelist adds, the Pharisees, the Sadduces, the Lawyers, and the Rulers of the people. A strange, and a wonderful thing, that so many of several Sects, of several Degrees, and several dispositions, should notwithstanding conspire together, to put to death their own just and lawful King. But you have heard of the Treason, and Murder, and the cruel handling of this King: and you have seen and do know, how our own King hath been likewise used; and all this we can, it may be, patiently hear; but, when Nathan tells David, Thou art the man, and when I tell these Jews de quibus narratur fabula, These and these were the men that did it, and were the Actors in this wicked Tragedy; or if I should name the Actors of the other Tragedy, that our English Jews acted against their own King, I know not how they would wring, and by't, and kick against me: Yet howsoever, I will, as briefly as I can, go over them all, that the Scripture speaks of, that when you find or see any of the Actors of the other later Tragedy and Regicides, like these Murderers of their King, you may dislike them, and specially beware of them: And 1. Because the Pharisees were most powerful, and most numerous; 1 The Pharisees like our zealous, seduced, and hypocritical Saints. I will begin with them that first began to quarrel with their King; and you must know, that they were but of yesterday, a new-sprung Sect, not so much as once mentioned in all the Old Testament, but as soon as ever he peeps out of his shell, he runs away, like the Lapwing out of his nest, and separates himself from the Church, (i.e.) the Congregation of his neighbours, Why the Pharisees separate themselves from all others. for which cause he is termed, Pharisaeus, quasi segregatus; and the reason of his separation is, because he thinks all others profane, carnal, and worldly, and himself with the rest of his Sect, to be the only holy Saints and servants of God. And indeed, we find that they exceeded all the common sort of men in five special things; as, 1. In Tything. 2. In Fasting. 3. In Praying and Preaching. Their Religion. 4. In a fair Language. 5. In sanctifying the Sabbath. For 1. For tithes they will not omit Mint and Cummin, nor any of the least things untythed. 2. For Fasting, they must do it twice in every week. 3. For Praying, they used it often, and made long prayers, Matth. 6.23. and openly not caring who did see them, but rather defirous that all men should take notice, how devout they were in their prayers, and so they were for the preaching the word of God, and they were most diligent to hear Sermons, insomuch, that rather than they would be without the word preached, Matth. 3, they will go to hear John the Baptist. 4. For their fair language, Christ himself tells us, that they being evil, yet speak good things, and so, when they came to entrap him, Matth. 12.24. Their diffimu● lation. they began with fair words, and say, Master; and so in all their carriages, when they meant to play the devil, they spoke like Saints: as, when they laboured what they could, to be the death of Christ; yet they come unto him as if they were his greatest friend, and tell him, that the Herodians are his bitter enemies, and do intent to kill him, and therefore he should do wisely, to convey himself out of their reach. But of every such Pharisee, Cum tibi dicit Ave, tanquam ab hoste Cave. 5. For their observation of the Sabbath, they are so zealous, or rather superstitious, that the Disciples must not pick an ear of corn, and put it in their mouth, to assuage their hunger, nor Christ speak a word to heal a lame, or a blind man on that day, without danger of a Council, to be severely censured; and we read that if a barrel or vessel of wine leakt, and run out on the Sabbath, they would rather suffer the same to be all spilt, then stop it on that day; and Stow writes it in his Chronicle, that one of them dwelling in the Old- Jury in London, happened to fall into a Privy upon the Saturday, which was, and is their Sabbath day, and he refused to be plucked out, because he would not have his neighbour to profane the Sabbath; and his neighbour being a Christian, denied to help him out on the Sunday, which is the Christian Sabbath; saying, If thou art so precise to observe thy Sabbath, I will be as zealous for my Sabbath; and before the Monday, he was stifled with the ill savour of his lodging. So religious were these Saints in their superstition, so fair in their outward holiness of fasting, praying, and hearing Sermons, exceeding all other men, so far as Religion seems to exceed profaneness. But he that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the searcher of all hearts, and seethe the secrets of all thoughts, tells us plainly, they were but mere hypocrites, appearing unto men like silly sheep, but were indeed ravening Wolves, that devoured widows houses, and plundered all their poor neighbours; not leaving to many of them, bread to put into their children's mouths, under the colour of their long prayers, and the pretence of Zeal and Religion; this is the very truth of the matter. How mighty these hypocrites increased in number, in power, and authority. And yet these wicked men, these holy hypocrites by their dissembling, and feigned holiness, grew so great both in number and power, that they soon overspread the whole land, and became as it were the only Oracles of the people and their faction ruled, upon the matter, not only the City of Jerusalem, but almost all the land of Jury, so fare, that as Josephus saith, Herod himself was afraid to displease them, they had so infinitely bewitched the people with the opinion of their knowledge in the Scripture, and their zealous profession, that nothing was thought well done, but what they did, or approved of, as it appeareth by that question unto the Officers, Have any of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? But let such hypocrites go on in their hypocrisy, John 7.48. ●●arth 5.20. and let them be deceived, that will believe them; it is not these outward shows of holiness, and shadows of Religion, that pleaseth God, who is not mocked, as the Apostle speaketh, but requireth truth in the inward parts, as the Psalmist saith, and therefore tells us, and we may believe him, that except our righteousness exceed the righteousness of the hypocrites, that do but deceive the world, and bewitch the simple people, we shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of heaven. 2. 2 The Scribes. The next Sect, that were most sedulous to betray Christ, and to murder their King, were the Scribes, such as were the continual Writers, not of Bills and Bonds, Like our Presbyterians, in dependants, and Lay-Preachers. as our Scriveners do, but of the Holy Scriptures, and therefore they pretended that they alone had the perfect knowledge and understanding of the same, & consequently that they alone were the only people of God, & all the rest no better, or but little better, then castaways; so censorious were these scribbling gnostics. But if you would examine their Exposition, you should find that praeter falsitatem & hypocrisin vihil habent, they were such Interpreters of the Scripture, as Hogs are dressers of Vines; and when they stuff their impertinent discourses with more impertinent Texts of Scripture, 2 pet: 3.16. they do but, as Peter saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, wrist it, and pervert it, and, as the word implies, deal with it, as Shoemakers do with their Leather; stretch it, and tear it ofttimes with their teeth, when it is so, that of itself it cannot reach, to fit their purpose. And truly, the Church of God never wanted such Scribes in every place, Tertullian saith, credunt Scriptures, ut credant adversus Scripturas; they allege Scriptures, to overthrow the Scriptures; and no Scripture shall be believed, but as themselves interpret it, and to give you a taste of their Expositions. 1. When the Prophet Joel saith, Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Joel 2.28. they will justify their Revelations, and their special inspiration of God's Spirit, when as the Prophet meant it only of the Apostles, and the immediate disciples of our Saviour. 2. When the Prophet Hosea saith, The children of Israel shall remain without King, Hos. 3.4. and without Prince many days, this is a sufficient proof, they shall be independent from all Government, but their own: and therefore, being thus inspired by the lying spirit, they were earnestly set on to kill their King, and to abjure their Prince, that they might still continue Independents, without any regal Government. 3. When Obadiah saith, Thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the Mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter; Obadiah v. 9 Malach. 4.2, 3. and Malachy saith, To you shall arise the Sun of righteousness, and you shall tread down the wicked as ashes under your feet; this is a sufficient warrant to destroy all Malignants, and to root them out of the world, as the enemies of God's people, which they say, are themselves, and none else. 4. Esay 61.6. When the Prophet Esay saith, You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall you boast yourselves; this is a good warrant for them that take all the wealth and possession of their malignant neighbours: they need no more but take them and seize upon them, and never call them to answer, Whether they have offended the Law, and so forfeited their estates, or not. And is the world now free from such Scribes, as do falsify the say of the Apostles, as these Jewish Scribes did the words of the Prophets? No, no; for you may find many writings and Pamphlets of our Scribes, that have most strangely perverted the words of S. Paul, Rom. 13.1, 2, 3. to cast off all Regal power, and to establish the Democratical government, and as peevishiy expounded the words of S. Peter, to prove the lawfulness of deposing, and decollating their Kings; & many more such Scriptures you may find perverted by our new-sprung Scribes, if you cast your eye upon the Pamphlets lying on every Stationer's stall. 3. The next sort of men that betrayed and killed their King, 3 Rulers of the people. were not so much a Sect of seduced Zelots, as a company of great Rulers, Rulers of the people saith the Text, or, as they are termed in their rebellion against Moses, Princes of the Assembly, famous in the Congregation, men of Renown; Numb. 6.2. and these were either the heads of several families, as our Lords and Nobilities are, or else such as in their several countries or cities, by their wealth or authority had gained power over the people, to like or dislike what they pleased, as our Knights of the Shire, or Burgesses for the Parliament, are; and these were very deep in setting forward the Treason and Murder of their King. 4. The Sadduces were another Sect among the Jews, of pestilent doctrine, 4 The Sadduces. denying all Scripture that made against them, and denying the immortality of the soul, and the resurrection of the dead (like Cromwel's Atheistical Commanders) and all punishment for sins after death; therefore being more wicked in their tenets, than the Pharisees, and absurd than the Scribes, it is very like they were more active in the death of their King, than the rest of the forementioned Murderers. 5. 5 Lawyers like the Chair-men of the long Parliament. There were some comprised under some of the former Sects that are termed by the Evangelists, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Lawyers, which as Christ saith, sat in Moses Chair, and so were Chair-men, because of some excellent parts that were thought to be in them, beyond the ordinary sort of men; and these men saith our Saviour have taken away the key of knowledge, (i.e.) the Law; and, instead thereof, they taught the traditions of men, which traditions S. Luke 1.52. Matth. 15.3. Ephes. 2.15. Paul calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which we may properly term Ordinances, as our English Translation renders it; and by these newdevised Ordinances of these Chair●men, they quite spoilt and frustrated the good old Law, both of God, and Man. 6. The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which we translate Elders, or, 6 The Presbyans. as the word properly sounds, Presbyters had a mighty share in the blood of their King; and S. Luke saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 7 The Priests. Matth. 27.1. Mark how the Presbyters are not only called the Elders but the Elders of the people, because the common people only magnify them, and they only endeavour to please the people. the Presbytery were the first that came against him. 7. The Priests joined with these Presbyters to kill their King: for so the Evangelist saith, that when the morning was come, all the chief Priests and Elders of the people took counsel against Jesus so put him to death; and as, then, the Jewish Elders and Priests conspired together against their King; so we find now, the Presbyters or Preaching-Elders and Romish Priests, though their faces are averse, and seem to look divers ways, yet like Sampsons' Foxes they are tied together, by the tails, and both are Anti-Kings, enemies unto Monarchy, and do like Mars his Priests, called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, scatter the fire of Sedition and Rebellion amongst the people, and Sheba-like blow their Trumpets in all places, even in their Pulpits, to stir up the discontented people to take Arms against their King, though he be Christ himself. And therefore if any King would be free from Rebellion, he must banish these Priests and Presbyters from his Dominions. 8. 8 The whole Pa●liament of the Jews conspired together to put Christ, their King to death. Mar. 15.1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: Nemine contradicente. Esay. 1.4. S. Mark saith, that these Priests held a Consultation with the Presbyters or Elders, and Scribes, and the whole Council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate; so here is the whole Parliament of the Jews against their King; who, had they not been Jews, had never done it; but these had formerly forsaken God, and therefore no wonder that they do now betray their King; yet, it might be wondered, that this Council consisting of heterogenial parts, several Sects, as Pharisees and Sadduces, Scribes and Herodians, Priests and Presbyters, whereof most of them differed in many things, and hated each other very much; even as much as Papist and Puritan, Calvinist and Lutheran, do amongst us; yet they can deponere inimicitias, lay aside all differences, and conspire together, to betray to death their Lord and King; and our Saviour himself tells us how, Videlicet, when they saw the Heir, they said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, within themselves, (i. e.) by their wicked thoughts; and then they said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, among themselves, (i. e.) by consultation and publishing their intention one to another, Come, (i. e.) by combination, and making a firm League and Covenant, with an indissolveable oath; that, although we be of sundry sects and different opinions among ourselves; yet, after we have made this Covenant, we need not suspect one another, but we may confide in the Covenanters, and assure ourselves of fidelity to assist one another, to the uttermost, ut occidamus even to kill him; that his Kingdom, and his Vineyard, both Church and Commonwealth, may be our own; and thus, saevis inter se convenit Vrsis, these cruel Bears and savage Beasts do consult and agree together, to put to death the Lords Anointed; Therefore this Counsel, worse than the worst of the Popish counsels, may rightly be termed a Devilish counsel, Psal. 1.1. even the counsel of the ungodly, the way of sinners, and the seat of the scornful: when, as Jacob saith of his sons Simeon and Levi, The instruments of cruelty are in their habitations, and their swords are the weapons of violence; and therefore, O my soul, come not thou into their secret, and let not mine honour be united unto their assembly. But let thy thoughts abhor all their actions; For in their anger they slew a man, and through envy they murdered the best of men, and their own King, even Jesus Christ; and therefore cursed be their anger for it was fierce, and their wrath for it was cruel; and for their malice, let all such murderers be divided in Jacob, and scattered in Israel, and let due vengeance be speedily rendered, to all such abominable Traitors. 9 9 Flattering Courtiers. We read of another Faction, that had their fingers in this Treason, (i. e.) the Herodians, who were a company of flattering Courtiers, and always followed the overruling party: And these were subtle Foxes that made use of Policy without honesty; and therefore Christ, that knew them well enough, Mar. 8.15. (and I would to God King Charles had known his Courtiers also) adviseth us to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the Herodians; (i. e.) the leaven not of bread, but of the doctrine and practices; when as their Doctrines are contagious and infectious; and their practices malicious, treacherous and murderous: ill properties for great Courtiers, that aught to be as well good as great; else are they but a great shame among men, and a great stain, unto all their posterity. 10. 10 The common people for the most part had a hand in his death, by a three fold employment. As salus populi the good of the people and the liberty of the subjects was one main pretended cause, why these murderers killed their King; ne gens pereat, lest, if he lived, the Nation should be destroyed; so the people, upon all occasion, must be ready at hand to serve their turn, and to do the services, wherein these their grand Masters shall employ them; and this employment we find to be three fold. 1. Mar. 14.43. When their King is to be taken, they must be sent armed with swords and staves to apprehend him. 2. They must draw petitions for some base and unworthy thing; as they did, Math. 27.20. when they petitioned that Barrabas a thief and a murderer might be released, and their King crucified. 3. They must come to the Judgment-Hall, or place of Judicature; and, for fear the King should find some favour from him, that knew him innocent; they must with loud voices cry for justice, and double their desires for execution; and all this, saith the Evangelist, was done by the multitude, Math. 27.20. Hosi-anna. as they were persuaded by the Priests and Presbyters; Ah silly people, that even now cry, Hosanna, serva quaeso, Save Lord, and now presently Crucifige; that loved their King, as his enemies confess; and yet join with his enemies to kill their King: and never ask, What hath he done? but this we will do to please them, that set us on the work. Who then but a mad man would repose trust in a multitude of men, and rely upon a broken reed, a reed that wavers with every wind. And not only so, but to show the baseness of these base people (for I know not how to say, their envy, or their malice, that they should malign their King, who had done them good every way, and no harm, to any of them) when Pilate, a heathen Judge and a stranger to the Jews, shall profess him to be a just person, Math. 27.24. and therefore wash his hands from the blood of the innocent man; this giddy multitude of rude people, the generation of vipers, that gnaw out the bowels of their own dams, the brethren of Cain, and the children of their father the Devil, Joh. 8.44. that hath been a murderer from the beginning, do cry out, as vengeance doth require, Math. 27.25: His blood be upon us and upon our children. What? Nefandum scelus, a most fearful thing, when the blood of our own just King, unjustly murdered by so many sorts of men, that had their hands imbrued with his blood, shall like Abel's blood cry to God for vengeance against us, and our children for ever; O let us rather repent, and desire of God, that the blood of this lamb Jesus Christ, may wash away these our bloody sins. And thus I have showed you the chiefest Actors in this bloody Tragedy; all the whole Kingdom of Jury, rebelling against their King, and most Traitorously betraying him to an Ignominious death, save only some few followers of Christ, of whom this King foretold, what should betid them, some of them should be killed, and some persecuted from City to City; for, Math. 23.34. as S. Basil said of Herod 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, his meat was the flesh, and his drink was the blood of men: so these Regicides will never leave a follower of this King; until, like the Whore in the Revelations, Revel. 7.6. they be drunk with the blood of the Saints, and thereby show themselves as they are, 1. Unsatiable, because they never leave till they be drunk. 2. Unmerciful, because they will be drunk with blood; and 3. , because no blood will serve them, but the blood of the Saints, and servants of this King, the witnesses of God's truth. And therefore let all the lovers of this King, look to themselves; because the branches must needs whither, when the root is plucked up. And besides these followers of Christ that loved him, we find some others, that had no hand in killing him; and those were the Samaritans, a people as much hated by the Jews, as Papists are by the Puritans; and though this King conferred upon the Jews, beneficia nimis copiosa, multa & magna, and did nothing at all for these Samaritans, save only to pity them, and hinder the fiery Zealots, the two sons of Zebedee, to destroy them by calling for fire out of Heaven, to consume them; as Elias did the two Captains and their fifties; yet, we do not read, that either they hated the person, or sought the life of this King: no more do I find that any Papist joined with the Parliament of England, and the Conquerors of our King, to put King Charles to death; which I believe will be sufficient witnesses, to rise in judgement to condemn them, that have condemned the King, at the last day. Thus I have passed over all, or most of the acts and scenes of this Tragedy; and I might here end, but that, as the Prophet saith, abyssus abyssum invocat, and one Tragedy requires another, and the destruction of this King and his followers, calls for destruction upon the destroyers, that, like Damocles' sword, hangs by a feeble thread, ready to fall upon their necks; for the Prophet David demands the question, Shall they escape for their wickedness? And he doth immediately answer, The Lord shall destroy both the bloodthirsty and deceitful men; and all these men that I have showed, being most deceitful, and very much thirsting after blood, and that blood, not of the basest people, but of the best of men, their Prophets, their Preachers, and their own most just and pious King; it must needs pull destruction upon their heads. Therefore Christ in the parable of the Vineyard, saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Matth. 21.41. The Lord will miserably destroy them; that is, 1. Them that plotted to take away his inheritance. 2. Them that consulted to take away his life. 3. Them that so unjustly put him to death. 4. Them that abused and wronged his servants, that sought to defend his right. And 5. I fear me, them, that might have helped to protect both their King, and his servants, and did not; for, if any where then surely here, that axiom must hold good Qui non vetat peccare quum potest, ipse peccat, and that too-ill-applied Sentence, so protect rebels & assist murderers, by our seducing brethren, in the 5. of Judges, where Deborah saith, Curse ye Meros', curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof, because they came not to the help of the Lord against the mighty, must needs be applied to them, that had ability to defend their King, and to relieve his oppressed servants; and yet suffered them to be destroyed by these murderers. All these, saith our Saviour shall be destroyed; and so they were; all of them, that repent not, did soon perish. For, 1. Judas the prime Traitor hanged himself, and that without any regard of his grand Masters, who, when they saw his disconsolate soul, and heard his confession of his foul Treason, said no more, but, What is that to us, as if they said, Be hanged, or be damned, we do not care; thou shouldst have looked to that thyself. 2. Pilate, that unjust Judge, not long after the execution of this King, was disgracefully displaced, and exiled his Country, and therefore killed himself in a strange land. 3. Herod died most miserably, being eaten up with worms. 4. Annas and Caiphas were violently killed, as the Stories do report. 5. The Priests and Presbyters, Pharisees and Sadduces, and many others, that were Actors in the murdering of this King, lived, I believe, most of them to see the famous City of Jerusalem besieged, and many of them to see it destroyed, and at least 1100000. of their Countrymen slaughtered, and all the rest, even their Children that were unborn, when they killed their King, either Captivated by their enemies, or scattered, like Vagabonds, over all the face of the earth. And as the several Factions and the different Sects conspired together, and agreed, as one man, to kill their King; So their divisions and differences made way for the Romans to destroy them all; and, which is strange, by this their wicked act, the very things, that they feared, came upon them; for their great Prophet Caiphas tells them, it was expedient that he should die, lest the Nation perish: and by the just Judgement of God, their Nation must perish, because they did so wickedly put their King to death: And so they were resolved to kill him, lest the Romans should invade their Land, and change their laws; and because they did kill him, God sent the Romans to destroy their Country, to change their laws, and to make such havoc of slaughtering them, ut nec locus crucibus, nec cruces corporibus sufficerent. And ever since the murder of their King, they have been hated of all Nations. For Sisibut, King of the Visigothes, and Dagobert the 10th King of France, commanded them on pain of death, to departed out of their Dominions. And Ferdinando and Isabel, King and Queen of Castille, within these sevenscore years, 1500. years after the murdering of their King, handled them very shrewdly, Camerar. l. 5. c. 9 and put an infinite number of them to death. And Emmanuel King of Portugal, did the like. So hateful are they for their regicide, to all good men; and so just is God in all his ways, and so exceedingly hating Rebellion against our Kings, and much more the murdering of our own lawful, just, and pious King, that the same never escapeth the severest punishment that can be imagined; as I shall show it, in the next Treatise. For if he who sheddeth man's blood, though but a poor Beggar, by man shall his blood be shed; then surely, he that sheds his King's blood, cannot escape the severe vengeance of God, who peremptorily saith, Vengeance is mine, and I will revenge, saith the Lord. And you know, what the Apostle saith, It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, who is a consuming fire. And therefore, if any man hath persecuted God's Servants (the Preachers) or conspired to take away the life of his King, the Anointed of the Lord, let him repent, and that quickly, lest God, as He saith to the Church of Pergamos, do quickly come unto him, and fight against him with the sword of his mouth, which is a twoedged sword, that cuts on every side; the soul with the worm of conscience, and the body with most fearful plagues and punishments. For if the blood of Abel, which had no voice while it lived, yet, being dead, cried so loud, here on earth, that it was easily heard in heaven; and it was as fearful as it was loud; for it was for vengeance against his brother: then questionless the innocent blood of a just King, being dead, yet speaketh; and speaketh louder for vengeance against his Subjects than the other did against his brother: which, I fear, without our speedy and deep repentance, will be abundantly poured out upon this sinful generation; for that we have so barbarously murdered our own King in such wicked manner, that I never read the like in any History; nor the Sun, I believe, did ever see the like, since the devilish murder of the King of kings, from which these murderers took their pattern, to proceed in like manner in most particulars; and herein therefore, Licet parvis componere magna, I thought good to parallel the practices of both sorts of murderers, the Jewish, and the English murderers. The murdered, I confess, are far unlike, and will admit of no comparison, the difference and distance betwixt their Persons, being so great, as is betwixt Heaven and Earth, the Creator, and the creature. King Charles being begotten by an earthly father, as all other men are, and subject to like passions as we are: but Jesus Christ, the King of the Jews, was conceived by the Holy Ghost, and free from all sin, and mastering all affections. And King Charles was King but of small Territories: But Jesus Christ was Rex universae terrae; and he was, and is, King of kings, and Lord of lords: King Charles did good, but to many, and hurt but few, if he hurt any; but the King of the Jews, did good to all, and wronged none: and so in all other things, I know, how that the one is finite, and the other infinite, in justice, wisdom, Power, and all other Attributes of excellencies. But, if we look how both these Kings were handled by their Subjects, we shall find the later, not much unlike the former, and King Charles, hated, traduced, mocked, spitefully used, and causelessely killed and murdered. And all this in like manner, though not, in every particular, in like measure, by his own Subjects, as Jesus Christ was, by the wicked Jews. As I hope, I have fully, and sufficiently, and plainly, declared unto you in this Treatise. And therefore, that we ought all of us to confess, lament, and bewail, as in general, all our sins, so more especially, this our great sin of murdering our own King; and to pray to God, night and day, that for the merits of the death and passion of Jesus Christ, the King of the Jews, he would pardon and forgive us our sins, committed in putting to death our own most just and gracious King. Grant this, O dear Father, for thy dear Son Jesus Christ his sake; to whom be glory, etc. THE SECOND TREATISE. 2 Kings 9.31. Had Zimri peace, that slew his Master? THE Doctrine of Obedience, both to God and to our lawful King, and his Magistrates, hath been so fully and so excellently handled, by the Right reverend, and most Worthy and Learned Bishop of Downes, that more need not, and better cannot be said: But seeing the pressing of Obedience will avail little with the Rebellious, if the fear of God's judgements, and the punishments of him that beareth not the Sword in vain, doth not terrify them from disobedience: for, such is the frowardness of man's nature, that he would never fear God, if he thought God consisted all of mercy, and were not as just as He is merciful. Therefore, as you heard, how necessary is obedience, so I intent, by God's help, to show you the just judgement of God, and the punishment of the Rebellious and disobedient, upon the words that you shall find in 2 Kings 9.31. Had Zimri peace, that slew his Master? The last Sermon that I Preached in this City, was on the Day of our Humiliation, for the unnatural Rebellion, and the monstrous Murder of our late most gracious King, Charles the First. And that work, I then told mine Auditors, I knew not how to do it, in any better way, than by paralleling the transcendent murder of Jesus Christ, by those wicked Jews, that crucified him, which was their true and lawful King, with that late unnatural murder that our English-Jews have committed, upon their own just and lawful King, Charles the First: and that parallel I then prosecuted, à capite ad calcem. And this Text, that I have now read unto you, seems to be a Question, demanding, What became of one, and what should become of all others, wicked murderers, that like him, and like the other two sorts of Jews, should kill both their King, and their Master? And the words are a Speech made at the entrance of a brave Conqueror into a famous City, that is, of Jehu into Jezreel. A custom very often used amongst all Nations, to make solemn Speeches at the Inauguration of their Sovereign Kings and Emperors; or when any Noble Person cometh to any famous City; as the University Orator doth it in the Academy, and the Recorder in other Cities. And so Jezabel makes this Speech unto Jehu, assoon as ever he entered into the Gates of Jezreel; Had Zimri peace, that slew his Master? And we do read of two special Zimries in the Book of God; and both of them wicked men. Numb 25. The first you may read of in the 25th of Numbers, where you may see, 1. How that Israel, contrary to the Command of God, joined himself to Baal-Peor, and that one Zimri, a Prince of a chief House among the Simeonites, brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman, named Cozbi, the daughter of Zur, that was Head over a people, and of a chief House in Midian. 2. How that, for this transgression of God's Command, the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, so that he said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the Sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel; And Moses said unto the Judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined to Baal-Peor: And so they did, that there were slain 24. thousand men. 3. How that Phineas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the Priest, according to the Commandment of the Lord, and of Moses, took a Javelin in his hand, and killed both Z●mri and Cozbi; and that the Lord was so well pleased therewith, that he rewarded him with the covenant of an everlasting Priesthood, and stayed the plague from the children of Israel. And the Prophet David saith, that, when the plague was so great among them, Psal. 106.30. than stood up Phinehas, and prayed, and so the plague ceased. And our Presbyterians, that find such fault with our Liturgy, do say, That we corrupt the Text; because, in the Original it is said, That Phinehas stood up and executed judgement, and so the plague ceased. But their carping at this without cause, hath been fully and sufficiently answered, and may be easily and briefly done; because, he both prayed, and executed judgement; for the Text tells you plainly, That the people were weeping before the door of the Congregation, Verse 6 and so praying to God to turn away his anger from them; and Phinehas risen from amongst the Congregation, and killed them; and then the plague ceased. To teach us, that the only sure way to turn away God's anger, and the plagues, that we deserve, is not only to weep and mourn, and be sorry for the wickedness of the people; but we must also execute judgement upon the transgressors: Deut. 13.8. and, as the Lord often sets it down, Thine eye shall not pity them, neither shalt thou conceal them; but thou shalt surely kill them: So shall you put away evil from among you, and turn away the judgements of God from you, which otherwise, must still lie upon you; because sins, and especially great sins, such as are Idolatry, Rebellions, and Murders, and their punishments, are so indiss lubly linked together, that God seldom or never remits the one, without inflicting the other. And therefore, he would not take away the plague from Israel, until judgement was executed upon Zimri and Cozbi. And this was the first Zimri, that we read of, and is not meant here in my Text. 2. 1 Kings 16.9. For the other Zimri, you may read of him, in 1 Kings 16.9. where you may find, 1. How this Zimri conspired against his King, and his Master, and killed him, and slew all the House of Baasha, and left not one, that pisseth against the wall, neither of his kinsfolks, nor of his friends. 2. How that after this murder of their King, and Zimri's possessing the Royal Throne, all Israel was divided, and most miserably embroiled in Civil Wars, when some of them were with Zimri, in Tyrza, others with Tibni, and the rest with Omri. 3. What became of this Zimri, and his conspirators, that have wrought all these Wonders, and most tragical Acts, to kill their King, and all the King's friends; how he went into the Palace of the King's house, and burned the King's house over him, and died; burning himself therein. A just judgement of Almighty God, against such as would conspire to kill their King. And of this Zimri, Jezabel demands the Question, Had Zimri peace? As if she should have said, Is it possible, that either Zimri, or any one of them that conspired with Zimri, and had any hand with him, in the murder of their King and their Master; or that very Kingdom, that fostereth any of those murderers; should have any peace or settlement, or any happiness in the world, until justice and judgement be executed upon such transcendent Malefactors? For, she conceived, that, as the wrath of God and his plagues were not turned away from Israel, until Phinehas stood up and executed judgement upon the other Zimri and Cozbi; so this Zimri, and the Associates of this Zimri, and all the kingdom, that abetted him, should never have peace, nor happiness, so long as judgement was unexecuted upon them: as the example of Achan, and abundance more, doth make it plain, that the executing of justice and judgement upon Idolaters and Murderers, and the like heinous offenders, and not suffering them to live still in pride and prosperity amongst us, is the only thing to procure peace, and to turn away God's anger from any Nation. And therefore Jezabel doth peremptorily demand of Jehu, Had Zimri peace, that slew his Master? Touching which words, I shall humbly desire you to consider these two special things. 1. The Speaker. And 2. The Speech. And And 1. The Speaker is said to be Jezabel, the Wife of Ahab, King of Israel, and the Daughter of Ethbaal, King of the Zidonians; touching whom you may consider these three particulars, 1. That she was a Noble woman. Three things observable in Jezabel. 2. She was a Witty woman. 3. She was a Very-very wicked woman. For 1. She was, as I told you, doubly ennobled, by Birth, and by Marriage; and so she was to be respected; as Jehu, that caused her to be killed, hath himself confessed, that she ought to be honoured and regarded, as she was a King's Daughter. And the very Heathens testify as much; That, à principibus nasci, praeclarum est: It is an excellent thing, to be born of Noble Princes. When with the Poet, we can say, Maecoenas aetavis edite regibus. And therefore Solomon saith, though not altogether Grammatically to be understood, yet literally very true; Blessed art thou, O Land, Eccles. 10.17. when thy King is the Son of Nobles. And, on the other side, Most wretched is that Land, as our Land hath lately been, when a rustic Marius, or a Valerius Armentarius, or a Potter's son, like Dionysius, or any other, of such like mean abstract, shall either by policy, flattery, or subtlety, come to obliterate the Nobility, and to sit in the Throne of Sovereignty: as the very Histories, both of the Greeks and Latins, do afford us store of examples to confirm this truth. As when Maximinus from a Shepherd in Thracia, became an Emperor in Rome; and Dioclesian, that had been a Bondman, and was made free by Aemilianus, a Senator, became in like manner to be the Emperor, he proved to be one of the worst, and the most bloody persecutor of all the Emperors. And the Reason hereof is; because, as the Poet truly faith, Asperius nihil est humili, cùm surgit in altum. Nothing is more cruel, than a mean man raised high; and none is prouder than the Beggar, when he is mounted on his palfrey; he will then ride, you knew where, the Proverb saith. — ut fluvialibus undis Extumuit terrens, fluit acriùs amne Perenni. As the Land-flood swelling high, is ever more violent, than the continual running stream, So, no kingdom can be more miserable, than that, where, as Jotham said, the Bramble shall reign over the Vines, and the Olives; or Abimelech, Judges 9 the son of a Maidservant, and a Subject, shall suppress and destroy all the Royal children of Jerub-baal, that had deserved so well at the hands of Israel. And the examples of Maion, Cleander, and Sejanus, confirm this truth unto us. For this Maion was of mean parentage, whose father was a Shopkeeper, sel●ing Oil; but from that mean degree, William King of Sicily raised him to be Chancellor, and chief Admiral of Sicily, and then enriched him beyond measure, and favoured him above all his Nobles; and he, abusing his wealth and his power, The notable treachery of Maion. was insatiable in his lust, spared no cruelty to surther his own designs, and fell at length into a conceit of a kingdom; and being expert to fain and to dissemble what he pleased, he began to persuade his friends to depose King William, and to defend his ambition by the deposition of King Chilperick, and the choosing of King Pipin, the son of Charles Martel, in his stead; which proved so fortunate to all the Kingdom of France. And Herodian sets down the very like proceed of Cleander, The ambition of Cleander. that was a Phrygian born, and of that rank of men that are used to be sold publicly by the Crier; yet coming to the Emperor's Court, young Commodus takes him for his servant, and raised him to that honour, to be both Captain of the Guard, chief Chamberlain, and General of all his Forces; and then pride and ambition pricked him forward to aspire unto the Empire; Herod. l. 2. and he had dispatched his Master, had not Faxilla, the Sister of Commodus, revealed his plots unto her Brother. The unparallelled pride and ambition of Sejanus. And Valerius Maximus inveighs most bitterly against Sejanus, as Camerarius explains the passage of Valerius, for his aspiring thoughts against Tiberius; which if it had prevailed, would have paralleled, yea and outgone the surprising of Rome by the Gauls, the slaughter of those 300. of one Noble Stock, the Allian day, the Scipio's oppressed in Spain, the Trasimene lake, the Cannae and AEmathian fields swimming in civil blood. And therefore Sextus Aurelius Victor saith, That so far as his wit goes, he finds it most certain, that the basest men, when they have climbed to any height, are of all others, the most proud and ambitious. And Camerarius saith, that experience witnesseth, That commonly those, who from the stock of Tradesmen, or sordid Paisants, rise to places of worth, either by their Wit or Fortune, Who most pernicious to the Commonwealth. are far prouder, and more pernicious to the Commonwealth, than those of a Noble and Ancient Race: So that it was well said of old, Porters bear rule, and the bad are set over the good, I fear lest the floods will sink the Ship; when these base and ignobly-born, sons of the earth, do envy the Nobles, and sit at the stern to rule the roast. For, as Claudian observeth, Nothing is more cruel than a mean man raised high, He striketh at all, while all be fears; let's fury fly, So far as power can: no beasts such fierceness have, Or rage, as hath o'er freeman a domineering slave. But, as the Italian proverb is, Apes, the higher they go, An Italian Proverb. the more they lay open their shame; so it fareth with these insolent fellows, that at last they will be hated of all, and then come to a miserable end, as it happened to this zimri, Sejanus, Maion, Cleander, Perennius, and infinite others of later times, and in our own time. Yet I deny not but some of them, though very seldom, may prove virtuous, as we find many of them that were the sons of Nobles, to degenerate, and like this Jezabel, to become very wicked. 2. This woman Jezabel was a very witty woman; for here her speech is, 3 Jezabel was a witty, and a well educated woman. sententia brevis, very short; but materia uberrima, the matter is so full, and so excellent, that no Sage, no Philosopher, no Orator, nor scarce Prophet, could comprehend more truth, and a more observable Lesson, more briefly, and more plainly, than she doth in these few words, Had Zimri peace that slew his Master? so that the Spirit of God disdains not to record her speech to all posterities, among the rest of the sacred Scripture: And so, to show her wit, when her husband Ahab knew not how to compass Naboths vineyard, she was so apprehensive, that she presently found out a way, though a most wicked way, to make him possessor of all his inheritance: 1 Kings 21.6. Former times bred the daughters in learning. whereby I do collect, that she was both naturally witty, and also probably well educated in learning by her Parents; as it was the custom of former times, and now likewise in many places, for Princes, and Noblemen, to bring up their daughters as well as their sons, in all good literature. And so we find not only this woman, but very many other women, that have been famous both for wit and learning, and many other excellent parts, not much inferior to the worthiest men: as, in the holy Scripture, you may find how subtle Rebecca was to get the blessing of Isaac to her son Jacob; how wittily Rachel could deceive both her father and her Husband, how Deborah was a Prophetess, a Poet, and a Judge, that judged Israel, and how Abigal was so discreet both in her words and actions, that she could appease the raging wrath of a man of war, that was set on fire, Judg. 4. and not without great cause, against her Husband; and how Judith was so valiant, as to cut off the head of Holofernes, as Jahell had been the death of Sisera; and how Solomon, that had most reason to know it best, sets down the wisdom, and the many other excellent parts of a virtuous woman. And if the time & your patience would give me leave to trace the Histories of the Heathens, Greek and Latin, I could tell you how great a Prophet was Cassandra, how discreetly honest was Penelope, and how wisely she deluded all her wooers; what a rare Poet was Sapph, of whom Ovid saith, And she saith, Jam canitur toto nomen in orbe meum. Saph. epist. Phaoni. Camerar. l. 3. cap. 10. Nec plus Alcaeus, consors patriaeque lyraeque, Laudis habet, quamvis grandius ille sonnet. And amongst the letters of Phalaris, there is one written to Peristthenes; wherein it appeareth that some women have not much yielded for greatness of courage, and brave resolutions, to the most valiant men that have been, as Pentesilaea Queen of the Amazons, whereof Virgil saith, Ducit Amazonidum lunatis agmina peltis, Pentesilea furens, mediisque in millibus ardet. And Thomiris Queen of Scythia, that overthrew Cyrus' King of Persia, and cutting off his head, threw it into a tub of blood, saying, Satia te sanguine quem sitisti, cujus insatiabilis s●mper fuisti: And Vaodicea the wife of Prasutagus Queen of the Icenians, that overthrew Petilius Cerealis the Roman Lieutenant, forced Catus Decianus to fly into Gallia, and slew 70. thousand of the Roman soldiers, and being vanquished by Paulinus Suetonius, would rather end her life with Cleopatra Queen of Egypt, then be suffered to be carried for a spectacle in the Roman triumph. And Martial saith of Claudia the wife of Rufus, Claudia coeruleis quum sit Rufina Britannis Edita, Lib. 2. Epig. 54. cur Latiae pectora plebis habet? And that for her learning and wisdom Rome and Athens might well own her for their own, when as she was most skilful both in the Greek and Latin Tongues, and compiled three several Treatises, as Balaeus testifieth, both in Greek and Latin. And what shall I say of Arria, the most loving wife of Cecinna Petus? of Artemisia Queen of Caria; that buried the ashes of her husband Mausolus in her own bowels? But especially of the great wisdom of the mother of King Lemuel; and of Tecla, that wrote over all the Greek Testament with her own hand, and that Copy is now lately translated by Mr. Patrick Young; and of Trasilla, Gorgonia, and the rest of those famous women, that Saint Hierom and Greg. Nazian. do so highly commend both for wisdom and piety? But omitting the wise Sibyls, and all others worthy of perpetual memory; I will add but one, that of this Nation ought never to be forgotten, our late famous Queen Elizabeth, that for above 40. years, could so wisely rule so unruly a people, as we are. And therefore I approve not of the Frenchman's Sal●ick Law, that excludes all women from the Crown of France; for though women be the weaker vessels, yet, as the strongest liquor may be preserved and carried in glass vials, so may we find great experience, and much wisdom, with no small courage and learning in many women; and therefore, as Job saith that he despised not the Counsel of his Maidservant, when he found it worthy to be followed; so ought not men to disesteem the advice, and reject the Counsels of their wives. True it is, that where the wife adviseth ill, her speech is to be rejected, as Job did put off his wife's Counsel, when she persuaded him to curse God and die, with the just term of, a foolish woman; and as Origen addeth, said, Tu facta es deterior Eva in insipientia, sed ego non sum effectus Adam in stultitia, Thou art become worse than Eve in foolishness, but thou shalt not make me like Adam in sottishness. But when the wive's counsel is wholesome, it is fit the man should regard it; for so the Lord saith unto Abraham, Gen. 21.12. 2 Rings 4.50. In all that Sarah shall say unto thee, hear her voice; and the Shunamites husband followed his wife's advice in making provision to entertain the Prophet; and many men would have preserved their credit, their estate, and health, if they would have followed the friendly advice of their wives; therefore we ought not to debar the right and lawful government of wise and discreet women, Prov. 31.1. whom God hath made heirs, and endowed with good parts, both of wit and learning, as well as men; and in that regard, as I approve not the French Salic Law, so I never liked the entailing of inheritances upon the heirs male, when as God, if he had liked it, might as well have given thee sons as daughters, and the Scripture tells us how Job gave inheritances to his three daughters among their brethren, Job 42.15. and so did Caleb to his daughter Achsah. Josh. 15.19. But the Lawyers by this witty trick, would show themselves wiser than God, and prevent by this humane Law, what God intended by his divine grace. And I know they like not this discourse, because the taking off of this entailing of estates, would take off a great deal of their revenues. 3. You may observe in this Jezabel, that as the was Nobly-born, 3 Jezabel was a very wicked woman. well bred, and very witty, so she was also very wicked; for she caused the Elders of Jez●eel to become the wicked murderers of innocent Naboth; she cut off the Prophets of the Lord, and fed 400. 1 King. 21.8. false Prophets at her own Table; and she vowed to be the death of Elias, 1 King 18.4. and made a wicked King to become far more wicked by her continual instigation of him to wickedness; and therefore she was a very wicked woman, vers. 19. and the more enabled to be wicked, because she was so Noble and so Witty; when as there is no wickedness so great and so unavoidable, as armed wickedness, which is invented by Subtilty, perpetrated by Power, and defended by Authority; for, And how enabled to be wicked. as Non nisi ex magnis ingeniis magni errores, Great Heresies never spring from mean Scholars; and great oppressions, could never be acted by petty Landlords or mean Gentlemen; so Jezabel could never have gotten Naboth's Vineyard, if she had not had the wit, to device this plot, and the learning to write these letters; for so the Text saith, 1 King. 21.8. That she wrote letters in Ahabs' name; and the power, as being King Ahabs wife, to seal them with his seal, and send them, as from him, to the Nobles and Elders, to execute her wicked will; neither could she have maintained 400. false Prophets at her own Table, if she had not had the wealth and power for to do it; and so, if Irene had not been an Empress, she had never persuaded a whole Council, to set up the worshipping of Images. And therefore great Scholars ought earnestly to beg, and to pray to God for grace, to sanctify their learning, that they may be retained within the sphere of truth, and not to start aside like Arius, Eutyches, Nestorius, and the like learned Heretics, that thought so well of themselves, that they disdained to walk in the trodden paths of Orthodoxal Divinity, and therefore invented most wicked Heresies, and so, as the Lord saith of proud Babylon, their Wisdom and their knowledge caused them to fall; which hath been the practice of our Presbyterians and Jesuits in these very days. And in like manner, Kings and Princes, Magistrates and Judges, Landlords and Great men, aught to be very careful of their actions, and more careful than any other men, that are of a lower station; because they are more enabled, to do more wickedness. For if a mean man wrong me, I may perchance be able to right myself; but if a Judge decree against me, or a mighty man oppress me, I must with patience be resolved to bear it, or, by struggling, in all likelihood to be much more damnified; And the Devil laboureth more, to get a subtle Scotus, or a learned Origen, to become an Heretic, a powerful Nero to become a Tyrant, and an Assembly of Senators, and a choice Parliament to become Rebels, and to bandy against their King, (as the Senators of Rome conspired the death of Caesar, and the Jewish Sanhedrim the death of Christ; and the grave Judges to become such Judasses' as to sell the Truth; or, like the Judges of Susanna, to condemn the Innocent; and the rich Landlords to turn miserable Oppressors); I say, the Devil laboureth more, and rejoiceth more to have one such, than twenty other poor Snakes, that want the abilities of Wit, Learning, Power, and Authority to become his Instruments of wickedness: And therefore, I say to all such men of good parts and great power, as the Prophet saith, Psal. 2● for the same cause, Be wise now therefore, O ye Kings; be Learned, all ye that are the Judges of the Earth: And do you follow the known common trodden path of truth all you that are good Scholars; And so much for the speaker Jezabel that was a noble, witty, and wicked woman. 2. For the Speech of this wicked-wicked woman, 2 The speech of Jezabel. it is a most Excellent Speech, worthy to be set in Letters of Gold, inter dicta sapientum, among the Aphorisms or Parables of the wise; As I shall make it manifest unto you, when I come to explain the same; In the interim, you may observe, How that many wicked men, and wicked women, Heretics and Tyrants, have had many times some Excellent say, and sometimes most worthy Acts have proceeded from them; As the Papists and Presbyterians have made many good Sermons; and written many Excellent Books and Treatises of Divinity full of Learning, and great Piety; and who better than Bellarmine, his Meditations upon his Gemitus columbae, How many wicked men have said and done many things well. Soliloquies, De ascensione animi in coelum per scalas rerum creatarum, &, Septem verba Christi in cruse. And his Comments upon the Psalms, and the like. And so Ferus, Granatensis, Drexelius, and many more have done the like; and we find divers others that have been great Heretics, to have done so likewise. And in like manner, we do read that many wicked men have done some special Acts of Virtue and Piety; As Herod, that sought the Life of Christ, yet did he, as Josephus relates it, most Magnificently re-edify and beautify the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem; and the other Herod, the husband of Herodias harkened to John Baptist in many things; and Pilate, that condemned Christ to death, did many things exceeding well, as in the strict examination of Christ his Cause, and justifying his Innocency, when he delivered him to be Crucified; and Claudius Lis●as, though he would not release S. Paul from his bands, yet he preserved his Life, and delivered him out of the hands of his enemies; and the unrighteous Judge, that as our Saviour saith, Luk. 18.5. feared not God, neither regarded man; yet, did he once justice to the importunate Widow; and Am. Marcellinus tells us, that even fulian the Apostate, and the bitterest persecutor of the Christians, was adorned with many singular properties, as being an Excellent Scholar, bred in Athens, at the same time, with Greg. Nazian: and writing many Epistles, Orations, and Moral say, and behaving himself most mildly and courteously towards all men but the Christians; and so we read that Vespasian, Titus, Nerva, Trajan, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, and many others of the Roman Emperors, had many good parts in them, and did many singular acts of Virtue, though they were no Christians, but some of them very Evil men, and great persecutors of the Christians; And I could instance in many Tyrants, and other great Oppressors of God's people, and wicked men, even in our own Kingdom, that have done some Acts of Virtue and Piety; And I could name you the men, that have been very Turbulent in God's Church, and misled abundance of the people; and yet have made some good Sermons, and written some good Treatises of Divinity: And what then? Shall we therefore adore them, and follow them in their factions and evil ways; because they do or have done some good? By no means: For, as thou shouldest not drink the Wine, that is mingled with some Po●son, though the Wine be never so good; so it is not safe for thee, to hear that Sermon that leads thee to Sedition, though most of it seems never so Pious, and the Preacher never so Honest; And as one vicious Act, doth not presently give the denomination of a wicked man, to any one; as, to be once drunk with Lot, doth not make a man to be styled a drunkard, as Aristotle truly saith; Quia semel insanivimus omnes; because there is no man living, but he may sometimes fall; So one virtuous Act, doth not make a man Virtuous; one wise word, doth not prove the speaker to be a wise man; and one Act of Piety, whether it be to hear Sermons, or to Fast, or to erect an Hospital, or the like, doth not make a Religious man; But a good man must have the habit of well doing, and a Godly Religious man must have respect unto all God, Commandments, and, as the Apostle saith, By continuance in well doing seek Glory, Honour, and Immortality. And therefore the Judge, that would be deemed a just Judge, must not only once or twice do justice, but he must constantly administer justice unto all; and not only unto equals, as many of them many times will do, but also to the poorest and meanest men, against the Richest and Noblest Persons, wherein the timorous and corrupt covetous Judges often fail; And the Preacher, that desires to be a faithful Minister of Christ, must not only, like those Landlords, that require much and many services from their Tenants, and then bestow a dinner upon them once a year, bestow a Sermon or two upon his Flock, when he comes to receive his Payments, and to set his Tithes; but, as the Apostle saith, he must Preach In season and out of season, Volentibus & Nolentibus, upon all occasions, at all times, in all places, and to all Persons, that will hear him; And not only some of his Sermon must be good, and the rest factious and Seditious; but they must be all Pious, for the edifying of God's people, and peaceable for the quieting of God's Church: Or else one Seditious Sermon may do more evil, than twenty of his best Sermons may do good; but we should all Preach the Doctrine of Charity and Unity, that, as there is but one God, one Faith, one Baptism, one Christ, and one Church, here on earth. So there should be but one and the same Doctrine, and one and the same Discipline in the Church of Christ. And so he that would be accounted a Charitable man, must not only bestow his alms to one or two; but, as the Scripture saith, he ought to do good unto all men, and specially to them that are of the household of Faith; for so the Lord commandeth us, Give alms of thy goods, and never turn thy face from any man, i.e. any man, that wants thy help, and then The face of the Lord shall not be turned away from thee; because, as I said, it is not any one Act of goodness, but a Continuance in well doing, that doth please the Lord, and gives the denomination of a good man. And so you see, how a wicked man, or a wicked woman may have some good speeches, and do some good Acts, and yet be no good man, nor good woman. But now for the substance of this Speech of Jezabel, we may observe therein; 1. Two Persons. 2. Two things. 1. The Persons are Elah the son of Baasha, and Zimry, Captains of half his Charets; a Master and a servant; a King, and a subject that after became a King himself. 2. The things, that are mentioned in this short speech, are 1. Murder, the worst of all the injuries, that can be offered to any man. 2. Peace, the best of all the blessings, that this world can afford unto men. So you see this Text is the Tragedy of two Kings, and Treateth of two of the greatest and rarest things under Heaven; the one Positive, the greatest Evil, that can be done to man, which is murder: The other Privative, the want of the greatest good, that the earth can afford unto men, which is Peace; for so, the Phrase doth not only simply avouch, that Zimri, having slain his Master, could not have Peace; but it doth most forcibly infer, that having done such a wicked Act, it was impossible for him to have peace; because an Interrogation is the most forcible, vehement and significant expression, either of Negatives or Affirmatives that any Orator can use, ascertaining the thing far more Energetically then could be done by any plain and simple assertion. And now, let us, by God's assistance, Treat of these Parties, and Parts in their order. And 1. Elah was the King of Israel, and the son of a King of Israel, 1 Person is Elah. the son of Baasha, that had Reigned 24. years in Tyrza, and himself two years, in the same Kingdom, and in the same City; and therefore in all reason, he should either have been sooner dethroned, or now, to have been continued; especially considering his Title was just, he was no Usurper, and his rule was not Tyrannical: neither do we read of any great misdemeanour of this King; save only that he walked in the ways of his Father, and that he was drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, 1 Kings 16.9. that was his Steward. Where you may observe these two things. 1. 1 Not to follow our father's evil ways. Ezech. 20.18. That we ought not, to walk in the ways of our fathers, when our fathers walk not in the ways of God: but as the Prophet Ezechiel saith, Walk you not in the statutes of your fathers, nor defile yourselves by walking in their ways. And therefore, if your fathers have unjustly taken away the Lands and Possessions of the Church, or of any one else, do not you continue in their ways, and perpetuate the wrongs that they have done; lest God will destroy you, as he destroyed Elah, for walking in the ways of his father: for if your fathers have killed the Prophets, and you garnish their Tombs; if the Usurpers have taken away our lands, and you still detain them, as you do; Which is better, or which worse, to us, judge yourselves? 2. 2 The bitter fruits of sweet drunkenness. You may from hence observe, the fruits of Drunk enness, which hath undone many famous men; as some in their drink, have fallen off from their horses, and so broke their limbs, and some their necks; others fell into the waters, and were drowned; and others into quarrels and were killed. Noah, though a righteous man, yet by his drunkenness discovered his nakedness, and thereby occasioned his son, which he should not have done, to deride his father's folly; and for this his great impiety, to bring an inevitable curse upon himself, Gen. 9.25. and upon all his posterity: a most fearful fruit, all springing from this bitter root of sweet drunkenness. So Lot, being drunk, lay with both his own daughters, of whom sprang those two ungodly Generations, of the Moabites, and the Amonites. And so did Armitus and Ciranippus, the Syracusians, plutarcb. as Plutarch saith l. 2. c. 31. And Alexander the Great, was so addicted to this vice, that many times, in his drink, he slew his dearest friends, as Clitus and others that we read of in Q. Curtius; Valued worth 600. crowns. and making a Supper, on a time for his Captains, he propounded a Crown to him, that could drink most; and one Promochus drank 5. gallons of wine, but died within three days after, and 41. more; and so his Crown did him no credit. Dan. 5.2, 3, 4, 5. And Belshazar, the son of the Great Nabuchadnezzar King of Babylon, drinking and quaffing in the Vessels that his father took from the House of God, espied the hand-writing upon the wall, that his kingdom should be taken from him, and given to the Medes and Persians. And many men, in these days, drink away their Lands, their moneys, their Wits, and all that they have. And therefore most wisely doth the Mother of King Lemuel say, Prov. 31.4. It is not for Kings, O Lemuel, it is not for Kings to drink wine, nor for Princes to drink strong drink. And the son of Syrach saith, Eccles. 31.25. Plin. de viris illust. c. 14. Show not thy valour in wine, for wine hath destroyed many. As here, King Elah was destroyed in his wine. And Pliny the younger saith, that Antiochus was killed at a Banquet, by his own Minions; because he would have forced them to drink beyond their abilities, and against their wills. And S. Augustine writes, that one Cyrillus, a Citizen of Hippo, had an ungracious son, that in the midst of his drunkenness, killed his own mother great with child, and his father that sought to restrain his fury, and would have ravished his sister, Aug. 60.10. Ser. 33. citatur à Beard. p. 491. Euseb. hist. l. 8. c. 16. had not she escaped from him, with many wounds. And Eusebius writeth, that the Emperor Maximinus was so often deeply plunged in drunkenness, that he became many times so mad, that in his drunken madness, he commanded many things to be done, which he greatly repent of, when he became sober again: and no marvel; for temulentia, signifieth a voluntary madness, and wine is termed, temetum, quia tentat mentem, it shaketh the mind, The notable Story of some young Drunkards, out of Athenaeus. Athenaeus l. 2. and destroyeth the senses; as it appeareth by that notable Story, which Athenaeus writeth, of certain young men, that drank so much, that they verily believed, they were sailing in a Galley, and so tossed with the winds, that they threw all things in the Chamber out at the window, as Mariners use to throw their ladings overboard, in a Tempest; whereupon some Captains, seeing the same, came in unto them, and finding them extremely vomiting, asked, What they ailed? who answered, That they were Sea-sick, and the storm forced them, to throw all their goods into the Sea; and because they supposed those Captains to be Tritons, or Sea-gods, they said, That if they would help them at this time, to arrive safe to land, they would honour them for their Saviour's ever after: such madness is in drunkenness. And Gregorius Turonensis saith, that Attila, which was called, The scourge of god, having married a Wife of excellent beauty, and having well carowsed, on his Marriage day, fell at night into so dead a sleep, that lying upon his back, the blood that usually issued at his nostrils, descended into his throat, and strangled him: and so indeed, Drunkenness hath destroyed many more. And yet Elah would not follow the counsel of King lemuel's Mother, which might perhaps, have saved his life; and therefore Zimri takes this occasion, to conspire his death. So I come to the second Person mentioned in this Text, which is Zimri. 2. This Zimri was 1. King Elah's subject. Second person is Zimri. 2. King Elah's servant. 3. A servant in an honourable place. 1. Elah was Zimri's King, and Zimri was Elah's subject; 1 A subject. and the Spirit of God sets down, what honour is due unto our King, Eccles. 8.2. when he counselleth us to keep the King's commandment; or, as the phrase imports, to observe the mouth of the King: and that in regard of the oath of God, i.e. the solemn vow, which thou madest, at thine incorporation into God's Church, to obey all the Precepts of God, whereof this is one, To fear God, and to honour the King; or else the oath of allegiance and fidelity, How straightly. God prohibiteth the subject to offer the least dishonour unto his King. which the subject makes unto his King, in the presence and with the approbation of God, who will most certainly plague all perjurers, that take his Name in vain. And so the same Spirit of God, hath imprisoned and chained up, our very thoughts, words, and works, in the links of the strictest prohibition, that they should no way peep forth to produce the least dishonour unto our King. For 1. He saith, Curse not the King, no not in thy thought; i.e. Eccles. 10.30. Think not any ill, nor to do any evil unto thy King; and therefore the very thought of Treason was adjudged, by the Court of France, to be Treason; and he that confessed unto his Priest, that he once thought to kill the King, but afterwards, repenting him of his intention, he utterly abandoned the execution; yet he was executed for that very thought. 2. The same Spirit saith, Thou shalt not revile the Gods; i. e. the Judges of the Land; nor curse, that is, in S. Paul's phrase, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. speak evil of the Ruler of the people. And 3. The Lord of Hosts gives this peremptory charge to every subject, Touch not mine Anointed, which is the least indignity that may be, Psal. 105.15. 1 Sam. 24.4, 5. and yet may not be done to our King, by any means. And therefore David's heart smote him, when he did but cut off the lap of Saul's garment. And therefore it appears, that Zimri had no fear of God, no regard of his Laws, nor any thought of his favour, when he fostered so vile a thought, and committed so horrible an act, as to kill his King. But is that so transcendent a sin, for a subject to kill his King? Quest. What if the King proves a Tyrant, or an Heretic or else, seeks the ruin of his subjects, may not the subjects then, in such a case, kill such a King? Look into the 9 several Speeches, delivered at a Conference, concerning the power of Parliament, to proceed against their King for misgovernment; and there you shall find many examples of subjects, that have deposed, and killed their Kings, when their Kings, deserved the same: and therefore Zimri may be excused, if King Elah deserved to be killed. I answer, that many Kings indeed, have proved very wicked, Answ. and have justly deserved some severe censure, but from God, not from their subjects; we need not go far for proof hereof: but if we may believe Sir Walter Raleigh, our own King Henry the Eight was bad enough, and might be numbered inter pessimos, being an Adulterer, a Tyrant, and a Sacrilegious King, that neither spared man in his fury, nor woman in his lust; and yet this Kingdom then, had never a Zimri in it, to take away his life for all his wickedness. Bodinus de repub. l. 2. c. 5. Not to resist our King, though he should be a Tyrant. Peter Martyr in 1 Sam c. 26. And Bodin saith, the most learned Divines are of opinion, that it is so far from being lawful, for subjects to kill their King, under colour of Tyranny, that they are expressly forbidden, to speak ill of them. And Peter Martyr saith, that Religious David made no doubt, but that King Saul was a Tyrant, yet he abstained from killing him, when he might most easily do it; because he saw that he could not lawfully do it: and if it was not lawful for him, that was, by God's appointment, and the ministry of God's Prophet Samuel anointed to be King after him; then surely no other man might have done it. Camer. l. 2. c. 10. And Camerarius demands, if there could be a worse Prince than Nero? and yet, saith he, The Apostles, S. Paul, and S. Peter, are so far from advising the Christians to conspire against him, as they command them, to use all obedience to him; and that not for fear only, but also for conscience sake. Chrysost. in Epist. ad Thessaly. And S. chrysostom saith, That Theodosius destroyed Thessalonica, and spared neither Sex nor Age, neither young nor old, man nor woman, but took upon him so much as he listed, to satisfy his own furious will; and yet howsoever, parendum est, obedience must be given him, saith this holy father. And if the King becomes an Idolater, Not to resist our King, though he should be an Idolater. and doth with Manasses command his subjects, to worship Idols; as Hen. 8. commanded the observation of the 6. Articles, wherein they were to adore the Breaden god; yet in this case, no Zimri should presume to kill his King: but the rule of the Apostles ought to be followed, to obey God, rather than man, and not to do what God forbids, though the King command it to be done; yet no ways to take arms against him, but to follow the examples of the Saints and Martyrs of God, supra. rather to suffer death, than to offer any resistance, and whatsoever becomes of our bodies, to possess our souls in patience, saith Camerarius. And though the King should prove a wicked Heretic, yet we must not rise against him, saith the same Author; but with the weapons of prayer, desire of God, to convert him; for so the true Christians followed the Emperor Constantius, Not to resist our King, though he should be an Heretic. that was an Arian, and they followed Julian the Apostata, in his wars and expeditions, though they were never so far; and never intended to rebel against him. And, as the Jews and Christians were of this opinion, that it is not lawful, in any case, for any subject to kill his King; So the Gentiles also seem to be of the same mind; for when the Jews cried, to have our Saviour crucified, Pilate demands of them, Shall I crucify your King? as if he should have said, What? was there ever such a Nation, so wicked, and so abominable before God and all good men, as to desire to crucify their King? Why? this desire seemeth, The Jews confess that no Nation should desire to be the death of their, King. not only strange, and admirable, but also abominable, and so incredible unto me, that you should in good earnest, desire to crucify your King: and it seems by their answer to this question of Pilate, that they rightly apprehended his mind, and did also approve his sense, that for any Nation or People to desire to crucify their King, was most abominable and wicked; and therefore they absolutely deny, that they were his subjects, and say, We have no King but Caesar: For They were not ignorant, how the heathens honoured their Kings, and how the Egyptians, Aubanus de Africa l. 1. p 39 Osor. de instit. regis l. 4. P. 106. whose manners they knew well enough, did bear so much good will and love unto their Kings, that, as Boemus Aubanus saith, Non solum sacerdotibus; sed etiam singulis Aegyptiis major regis quam uxorum filiorumque aut aliorum principum salutis inesset cura: and Osorius saith, Persae quidom aliquid caeleste atque divinum in regibus inesse statuebant; and Q. Curtius tells us, that the Persians had such a divine estimation of their King, and bore so much love unto him, that Alexander could not persuade them, either for fear or reward, to tell him whither their King was gone, or to reveal any of his intentions, or to do any other thing, that might any ways prejudice the life or the affairs of their King; and Herodotus saith, that when Xerxes fled from Greece, in a vessel that was so full of men of war, that it was impossible for him to be saved, without casting some part of them into the Sea; he said unto them, O ye men of Persia, let some among you testify that he hath care of his King, whose safety is in your disposition. Then the Nobility, which accompanied him, having adored him, did cast themselves into the sea, till the vessel was unburthened, and so the King preserved. And Justin tells us, that the Sicilians did bear so great a respect unto the last Will and Testament of Anaxilaus, their deceased King; Justin. l. ●. that they disdained not to obey a slave, whom he had appointed Regent, during the minority of his son. And Plutarch saith, that when certain men came to Tyribastus to have taken him, he defended himself so stoutly, that they were not able to come near him; but when the apprehenders said, They came from the King, Plut. de superstit. he had such a reverend respect unto his Majesty, that he presently laid down his Scimitar, and yielded himself unto them. And for the Examples and Precedents, that those learned Orators do produce, at the conference, to show how divers kingdoms, as England, France, Spain, and many more, have cast off some Kings, whom they disliked: and put to death some others, that had deserved it. I answer, that I have read all the nine Speeches over and over, and am sorry that learned men, which have read so many Histories, both domestic and foreign, should, like the Spider, suck the poisonous examples of those books and allege them for imitation in such transcendent impiety; and I am more sorry, that they should pass at a conference of men, that were chosen of their country for most grave and wise, and did profess themselves most religious, without a supercilious and a plenary answer, which they might very briefly do, and with a less than the tenth part of the pains, these Orators, or Lawyers, if they were such (for divines I am sure they were no●) took to gather those evil examples, to evil ends; for we are to live by Laws and not by Examples; and especially by the Laws of God, or otherwise, you may live as you list, and you may do whatsoever you please; for if a King means to play the Tyrant, That we are to live by Laws, and not by examples. he may have examples enough to justify his Tyranny; if he be an adulterer, he may allege King David, that was a man according to Gods own heart; and 100 more, that did commit adultery; and if thou pleasest to be a drunkard, thou hast the examples of righteous Noah and of Lot, and 1000 more, that may justify thee, for being drunk; or, to be brief, if thou wouldst be an oppressor, or a robber, and a Rebel, and a Traitor, to depose thy King, or to kill him, thou hast a Jeroboam, and a Zimri, and Jehu too, though he had a special warrant for it, and an infinite other examples, that may be produced to shelter thee from blame, for committing the greatest Treason, or any other execrable villainy, if the producing of examples, might serve the turn. But the truth is, whatsoever other men, whatsoever Councils, Kingdoms, or Commonwealths have done, contrary to the will and Laws of God, we ought not to imitate them therein; because their Examples be no excuse for us, that should have recourse to the Law, and to the Testimony, Esay 8.20. as the Prophet speaketh, to direct us, what we ought to do. And therefore no Precedents, no Examples in the world, though you should produce ten thousands of them, can excuse Zimri, nor any other Zimries in the whole Universe, for killing their King; but 2. Here is another relation betwixt Ela and Zimri, 2 A Servant. that should more strictly have tied and engaged Zimri, to be true and faithful unto Elah; for he was his servant, and his menial servant in ordinary, which all other subjects could not be; and this is rightly observed by Jezabel; and therefore she saith not, Had Zimri peace that slew his King? but, Had Zimri peace that slew his Master? And a Master that gives meat, drink, and wages, means and maintenance unto his servant, is loco parentis, instead of a Father unto him, and therefore he should be respected and honoured of his servant, next unto his Father; and we find that many true and faithful servants have done so indeed: I cannot well remember where. for I remember I read it in Appian, that when Scipio had gained Carthage, or some other opulent Town, he gave a strict charge that none of the Citizens, upon pain of death, should hid any of the wealth or treasure of that rich City; yet one of the wealthiest Merchants, having a great store of Gold and inestimable Jewels, hid a great deal thereof, so secretly, that no man could find it, but the Servant that helped him to hid it; and that Servant, like a false Judas, went and revealed it to the General; who making a strict search for the Merchant, another of the Merchant's servants, seeing how his Master, if he were taken, should be condemned to death for that fact, goeth unto Scipio, and protesteth unto him, An excellent story of a most faithful servant. that it was he which did hid that treasure, altogether unknown unto his Master; and therefore desired, that his innocent Master might be freed, and let him lay what punishment he pleased upon himself, that had offended; but the other servant stood stiffly to his former accusation, that it was his Master, and not the Servant, that had hid it; then Scipio would needs find out the Merchant, who being found, confessed the truth, that he himself, with the help of his accuser, had conveyed away that treasure, and that altogether unknown to his other servant, who to preserve his Master, was so ready to sacrifice his own life; whereupon Scipio like a brave Commander, and a Heroic indeed, seeing the fidelity of the one servant, and the treachery of the other; pardons the Master for his faithful servants sake, and puts the accuser to death for his treachery and infidelity; and we read of many other servants that have so dearly loved, and been so truly faithful unto their Masters, that they have hazarded their own lives, to save their Masters; as you may read the servants of King David have done, and as it is recorded, that Mauricius Duke of Saxony, being in a battle thrown to the ground, his servant casting himself upon him, covered him, and so defended him from his enemies, until he was rescued by his friends; and so with his own death, he saved his Master's life. And it is written of Eros servant to Antonius, that when his Master was overcome by Augustus, and would have him to dispatch his life, he drew his sword and killed himself, rather than he would kill his Master: for as a Master, next to his own children, is to respect, provide, & care for his servants above all other friends or kinsfolks whatsoever; according to the saying of the wise man, Hast thou a faithful servant, let him be unto thee as thine own soul; so the servant, next to his Father and Mother, aught to honour, and to preserve his Master before all other men whatsoever. And therefore Zimri can no ways be thought any other, than a most Villainous Traitor, to slay his Master, worse than Ditalcon, and Minuro, that were corrupted by Capio, Appian. p. 112. Of the Roman wars with the Spaniard. 3. A servaut in an honourable setvice. to kill their Master Viriatus, that brave Spaniard, that gave work enough to the Romans eight years together: Especially if we do consider. 3. Qualis servitus, in what manner of service he was under his Master Elah; for though the Romans and many others, used most of their servants, that were their slaves, like dogs, which produced that proverb, Of so many servants, so many enemies; which ever feared, but never loved their Masters, as the Romans found it most true, to their cost, when they made the servile War, that proved so hazardous unto them; Yet, Elah did not so with Zimri, but he preferred him to a very honourable place, and made him Captain of halt his Charrets, and so a Master, to keep many servants under him, as you see all Captains have; The three fold impiety of Zimri. and therefore for a servant to kill such a Master, that had thus advanced his servant, is a note, beyond Elah, and doth exceedingly aggravate the offence of Zimri, and makes it to ascend higher and higher, or rather to descend lower and lower, even to the bottomless pit of hell; To commit murder, as heinous as any murder can be, to kill his King, his Master; and a Master, that was so l●ving, and had so honourably preferred him; which was a three fold cord, to bind him in Obedience, but is soon snapped asunder, by this wicked Traitor, that was a Traitor, just like Judas, of whom the Prophet, in the person of Christ, saith, If it had been an open enemy that had done me this dishonour, I could well have born it, but it was thou, my companion, and mine own familiar friend, my disciple, mine Apostle, my Servant, and my Purse-bearer; and for thee, to betray thy Master, it is a Treason, beyond all Treason; and a murder more execreble than any murder; because that, besides their malice towards their Masters, such servants, as Judas and this Zimri were, do show themselves replenished with ingratitude, to render so much evil to them, that have done so much good to them, which is a monster in nature, and a sin most odious amongst the Heathens, whose proverb was, Ingratum si d●xeris, omnia dixer is; and therefore, though there is no vice in the World, which hath not room and entertainment in some Kingdom or other, as Pride among the Babylonians, Envy among the Jews, Anger among the Thebans, Covetousness among the Tyrians, Gluttony among the Sidonians, Lying among the Cretians, Witchcraft in Thessaly, Magic in Egypt, and other sins so well known, that I need not name them, in Germany, France, England, and Ireland; yet ingratitude is such a sin, that no Country will willingly receive it, nor any man own it, or entertain it into his house; for, though thyself shouldst be as ingrateful to thy neighbour, as Pharaohs butler was to Joseph, Laban to Jacob, Saul to David, Joash to Jehojada, Demetrius to Jonathas, Augustus to Cicero, Carthage to Hannibal, Rome to Scipio, and many more, that either banished or murdered those, that protected and preserved them from ruin; yet, thou canst not abide, that any man should prove ingrateful unto thee; but having so well deserved at his hands, thou wilt cry out, that he is worst then the brute beasts: as we must confess an ingrateful person is indeed, for you see the dog will love his Master, and often venture his life for him, for a piece of bread, and the very Tigers, Bears, and Lions will love those, that keep them and do feed them; and they will show their thankfulnness for the benefits, that they do receive; as it is manifest, by that, which fell to Helpis, the Samian, who, upon a certain Coast of Africa, having drawn out a bone, that stuck in a Lion's throat, was in recompense of that benefit, fed and maintained by the Lion's hunting, so long as his ship lay at anchor on that shore; and that which A. Gellius saith befell to Androdus, a Roman slave, who, being banished out of Rome, and wandering in a Forest, that was full of wild and savage Beasts, met a Lion, that came fawning upon him, and showing unto him his Paw, that was wonderfully sore, and swollen, by reason of a thorn, that was overhead got into it, which the slave pulled out, and so cured the poor distressed Lion, who, in requital of that courtesy, accompanied him out of the Forest, and kept him from the danger of all other Beasts; and afterwards that Lion being taken, and carried to Rome, and the slave, some certain years after, returning to Rome, was apprehended and adjudged to be thrown unto the Lions; and being cast among the Lions, his cured patient, presently knew him, and fawning upon him, Gellius l. 5: c. 14. as congratulating their meeting, he not only did him no hurt, but also preserved him from all the rest, that they durst not touch him; and the reason being known, the slave was pardoned, and the people termed the Lion his host; and him the Lion's Physician; And if brute and savage Beasts were thus grateful for some small benefits, what Beasts are they, that will destroy their best benefactors; and what words can be found fit to express this ingratitude, that goeth beyond all other villainies? For to murder a man is most odious, as I shall anon show unto you; but to murder a King is far more abominable; and such a King as is our Master, and such a Master as useth us not like slaves, but, as our Saviour saith, Hence forth I call you not servants, but I have called you friends, Joh. 15.15. like his companions; is a sin most abominable, and so far transcendent, beyond my capacity to express it, that, as Valerius saith of Sejanus, Valer. M. l. 9 c. 11. He is now in bell, if the Devil will receive so vile a varlet, and can find out torments sufficient for his deserts: so will I say of Zimri, and of all such servants as slay or betray their Masters, I leave them seriously to consider, what they have done, and to abhor themselves in dust and ashes, or to expect that fearful judgement, that hangs over their head. And I do exceedingly honour the honourable House of Commons, and do most Highly commend the Votes and Orders that I understand they have made, concerning those men, that had any hand in the death of our late Pious, Just, and most Gracious King, whereby they have showed themselves to be most Religious towards God, and most Loyal toward their King. So I have done with the persons mentioned in this Text, Elah and Zimri, the Master and his servant. 2. Two Things mentioned in Jezabels' speech. The things, mentioned in this speech are these two, 1. Murder. 2. Peace. 1. Murder, the very worst of all human actions. 2. Peace, the very best of all worldly blessings. And so here is Zimri's fact, and Zimries punishment. 1. His fact is the slaying of his Master which is Murder. 2. His punishment is, to be deprived of all Peace, which is the greatest punishment of all plagues. 1. For his fact, which is murder, before I speak thereof I shall humbly entreat your Honours, and all the rest of these Christian auditors, not to mistake my words, or meaning, in any Application thereof, otherwise than I mean: for in the prosecution of this point, I purpose not to touch upon any of those, that his Majesty hath most graciously pardoned, by an act of Oblivion, for all their former offences; nor upon any of them, that were slain in the war; 2 Sam 11.25. when, as David saith, The sword devoureth one as well as another, but my discourse shall reach no further, than my Text goeth, that is, those that, in cold blood, shall maliciously persecute their neighbours unto death, as Cain did his brother Abel; and Joab, Amasa; and those, that shall treacherously slay their Master, as Zimri did his King, and his Master Elah. And those also that shall deliberately and judicially condemn an Innocent person unto death, as the Judges of Jezreel did Naboth, and the Jewish Sanhedrim condemned their King and our Saviour Christ. And though the Prophet saith, Consolamini populum meum, and the sons of Consolation are commanded to bind up the broken hearted, and to Preach the glad-tidings of the Gospel unto the penitent; yet, there must be Boanerges, sons of Thunder, to sound out the Alarm of God's judgements against transcendent and impenitent malefactors, and to lay the axe to the root of the Tree, to cut down every tree, that beareth not good fruit, and to cast it into the fire. And it is the duty of every faithful Steward, to give to every one, his own portion in due season, that is, mercy to whom mercy belongeth, and judgement to whom judgement appertaineth; and not to give that which is holy unto dogs, or to proclaim peace and pardon to them, to whom the Lord professeth there is no peace; but saith peremptorily, He will not pardon them. And therefore I hope your honourable patience will bear with me, that, as the Prophet David saith, My song shall not be of mercy alone, nor of judgement alone, but of mercy and judgement together; especially upon Zimri, and all such that, like Zimri, will slay both their King, and their Master, which is the first thing mentioned in this Text, that is, Zimri's Murder. And For murder, you may observe, that the same may be committed three manner of ways, 1. With the heart. 2. With the tongue. 3. With the hand. 1. The heart killeth a man four special ways; 1. By desire. 2. By anger. 3. By envy. 4. By hatred. For, 1. The Prophet saith, Psal. 5.6. The Lord abborreth the bloodthirsty and the deceitful man; (i. e.) him, which desireth and longeth for my death; as he that is thirsty desireth drink. 2. Our Saviour saith, Whosoever is angry with his brother, without a cause, Math. 5.22. he shall be in danger of judgement. 3. The Apostle, speaking of the wickedness of the Gentiles, saith, Rom. 1.29. They were full of envy, murder, debate— And the wise man saith, Alius alium per invidiam occidit, One man slayeth another through envy; Sap. 14.4. as Cain through envy slew his brother Abel, and the Jews our Saviour Christ Qui igitur periêre, quia maluerunt invidere quàm credere, who therefore perished, because they had rather to envy him, then to believe in him; Cypr. in Ser. de livore. saith Saint Cyprian. 4. Saint John saith, that, Whosoever hateth his brother is a man slayer; 1 Joh 3.15. Leu. 19.17. and therefore the Lord saith, Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart; for, as he that looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery in his heart; so he that hateth his brother, hath killed him, in his heart. 2. The tongue killeth many men, yea, Plures linguâ quàm gladio periêre, Jam. 3: 6, 7. The tongue hath slain more than the sword; for the tongue is a fire, and a world of wickedness; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison: And the son of Syrach saith, It hath destroyed many, that were at peace; Eccl. 28.13. And the tongue killeth two ways 1. By flattery. 2. By detraction. 1. Saint Augustine saith, that Plus nocet lingua adulatoris quàm gladius persecutoris. And Antisthenes was wont to say, It was better for a man to fall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, among ravens; then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, among flatterers. 2. The Prophet saith, Ezech. 22.8. Viri detractores fuerunt in te ad effundendum sanguinem, In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood; and Job, saying unto his friends, that slandered his integrity; Why do you persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh? doth intimate thereby, that detractors are like cruel Cannibals, that eat men's flesh and drink their blood, Nam qui aliena detractione pascitur, proculdubiò alienis carnibus saturatur; for without doubt, whosoever feeds himself with detraction, doth satisfy himself with man's flesh, saith S. Gregory. And I doubt not but this Zimri, and all other, the like Zimries, that killed their Masters, had killed Elah, in all these ways, before he slew him with his hands; because all these murders, of the heart, and of the tongue, are but steps, stairs, and progesses to the murder of the hand. For first, we begin to distaste, and to dislike a man; then we grow angry with him, for some things that displease us; and, if he hath any virtue in him, or any honourable place or preferment, or any love or good opinion from the people, we will presently envy him, and then hate him; and so hate him more and more; and then the tongue will begin to play his part: and though in presence it will flatter him, whom the heart detesteth, yet in his absence, it will lay loads of scandalous imputations upon his person and upon his actions, Camerar. l. 6. c. 2. even as Absalon did upon the government of King David: and the forecited example of Maion against William King of Sicily; and abundance of such Varlets, that I could relate unto you. And when they have proceeded thus far, to envy his happiness and to hate his person, as Cain hated his brother Abel, and the way is thus made by scandalous aspersions, there wants nothing but the stroke of the hand to effect the tragical murder of the man whom they desire to destroy. So Zimri did, when he found his opportunity, slay his Master Elah: so the servants of King Amon slew their Master. So Phocas did slay his Emperor, and his Master, Mauritius; So Artabanus Captain of the guard, killed his own King and his Master Xerxes, Diodorus l. 11. after he had retired out of Greece; So Brutus and Cassius, with their associates, murdered Julius Caesar. And so you know who murdered their Master, and King, Charles the First. And this is the greatest mischief, that one man can do unto another, to take away his life with bloody hands; for though he take away my goods yet I may get more, as Job did, after all was taken from him; if he cast me into prison, yet at last, with Joseph, I may be set at liberty; and, if I be banished my Country, yet with the Israelits, I may live to return out of Captivity, as Henry Bullingbrook Duke of Lancaster did: but when he hath taken away my life and killed me, there is an end of all hope, and that is an evil that can expect no remedy, and a wound that cannot be cured, nor any ways paralleled by any other mischief. And therefore, Num 35.33. seeing, as the Lord saith, that blood defileth the Land, and the land can not be cleansed of the blood, that is thus shed, but by the blood of him, or them, that have shed it; I will here, (to persuade the bloodthirsty men to quench that thirst, and the Magistrates by no means to neglect to punish that sin: and especially to induce those Magistrates, and all those that transcend the power of the Magistrates, that have, like Zimri, slain their King and their Master; or defiled themselves with the blood of their brethren, to a sad and serious repentance) set down eight special things, that do show unto us the horrible odiousness and haynousness of this sin of murder; and you may find them all set down in lib. 3. cap. 2. of the true Church. p. 385. and in the Great Antichrist revealed, l. 1. p. 81. 1. It is a sin against nature; because every creature loves his life, Et sevis inter se convenit ursis, and the very Devils will not kill one another. 2. It is against reason, which saith, That every man should do unto others, as he would be done unto himself. 3. It is a devilish sin, and a sin of the Devil, who, though he be not termed an Idolater, or Adulterer; yet, he is said to be a Murderer from the beginning, Joh. 8.44. because it was he, that murdered our first Parents; and he taught Cain to kill his brother, and this Zimri to slay his Master. 4. It is a beastly sin, quia ferina rabies est, sanguine & vulnere laetari, it is a point of savage cruelty, to delight ourselves with wounds and blood, saith Seneca. 5. It is not only one, but it is also the first, and the greatest one, of those four crying sins, that are only so called in the Scripture: for the other three, Sodomy, Oppression, and detaining of Servants wages, are but parts and par-, cells of this great crying sin: Because, that in Sodomy, that seed is spilt which might have been the matter of humane flesh and blood; and by the other two, i.e. Oppression, and detaining of the Labourers wages, the life is made to languish and to be shortened by little and little, for want of means; because the life of man, and the means to maintain that life, may like Ens & Bonum, Good and Being, be very well said to be voces convertibiles. And therefore the Wise man saith, The bread of the needy is their life; he that defraudeth him thereof, is a man of blood: but in murder, root and branch, and all the tree is wholly destroyed all at once. 6. It is a sin which produceth such an irregularity, that although the murderers should truly repent, and have their sin pardoned by God, which is but seldom seen; yet they cannot promoveri, be advanced, or proceed on in God's savour, and be so acceptable unto God, as other sinners may be, upon their repentance: as it appeareth plainly, by what the Lord saith to David, that otherwise was a man according to Gods own heart, and had hearty repent him of his murder, Thou shalt not build an House for my Name; 1 Chron. 28.3. because thou hast been a man of War, and hast shed blood. 7. It is a sin, which seemeth by the punishment thereof, to be greater, at least wise, in some respects, than any other sin whatsoever, except only the sin against the Holy Ghost; for when Cain slew his brother, the Lord said unto him, The voice of thy brother's blood cryeth unto me; that is, Vox sanguin●m. The voice of the bloods, which thou hast spilt, i. e. of all the blood, that should have sprung from Abel, to have replenished the earth, if thou hadst not spilt it, doth require, that I should take vengeance of thee; and therefore, Thou art cursed from the earth. And this curse was so great, and of so large extent, that it reached to the very earth, that bore him up: and therefore the Lord addeth, When thou tillest the ground, it shall not benceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive, and a vagaboud shalt thou be in the earth. Gen. 4.11.12. Which seems to be a far heavier sentence inflicted upon him for killing his brother, than that which was imposed upon Adam, for offending Gods own Majesty; though there was a strait command, and prohibition given to Adam, that he should not eat of the forbidden Tree, and as yet, no Precept given, to forbid the shedding of man's blood. For, 1. He doth not say to Adam, Thou art cursed for thy sin; but, How cain's punishment seems heavier than Adam's. Cursed is the ground for thy sake; but unto Cain, he saith, Thou art cursed from the ground: As if he had said, The curse shall not fall unto the ground, but it shall light upon thine own head. 2. He doth not say to Adam, When thou tillest the ground, it shall not yield her strength unto thee; but, Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to thee: That is, naturally, and of itself, the earth, which if thou hadst not sinned, would of itself, have brought thee all pleasant fruits; shall now bring thee nothing else but weeds. But unto Cain he saith, When thou tillest the ground, and manurest it, and usest all the art and skill that thou canst to make it fruitful; yet it shall not yield her strength unto thee. So that the sterility, and the unfruitfulness of a well-tilled and manured ground, is the punishment of Guin's murder, and an additional curse, to that, which was formerly imposed upon Adam. 3. He doth not say to Adam, that he should have no restingplace upon the earth; but, that he should eat his bread in the sweat of his face, Gen. 3.2. until he should return to the earth. But unto Cain he saith, A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. And therefore Cain, that knew well enough his father's censure before; and now hearing his own sentence so far exceeding it, cried out, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Gen. 4.12. Why the punishment of cain's sin seems greater than Adam's punishment. And no marvel, that the punishment of this sin seems greater than the punishment of Adam's; for in nature, let Reason show you, who doth offend you most, he that disobeyeth your voice, and breaks your command, or he that seeks to take away your life? And in Adam's sin, and in all other sins, there seems to me, a leaving of the Being of God, to be a God; as in the great sin of Idolatry, though we make an Idol, a thing that hath no being in the world, to be our god, and fall down to worship that no-Being, with that worship that belongs to the true God; yet we do not thereby seek to annihilate the Being of the True God; we rob him of his Honour, but take not away his Life; we leave him still to Be, though we serve him not. But in murdering, or killing of a man, we do what lieth in us, to destroy, and bring to nothing, the very Essence or Being of God; because we deface the Image of God; God himself being invisible, and in nothing of all the things that God made, so plainly seen to us, as in the face of Man. And therefore of all creatures, Man alone is principally said to be the Image of God, and in that respect chief to be respected and cherished, and not to be murdered or killed: Because in the Image of God made he Man; and therefore he that killeth man, doth his very best to kill God; because he destroyeth his Image, when he can see nothing of God, but his Image. And if, as our adversaries do say, the service, done to a dead image, which is no ways commanded by God to be done, doth presently redound ad prototypon, to the thing, or person represented by the image; then how much surer are we, that the defacing of God's living-Image, which God doth so straightly prohibit to be done, is a disgracing of God himself, and all the contempts done to this Image, do presently redound to God that is represented, without all question, in this Image. And the City of Thessalonica, besides many others, can well testify, how severely the Emperors punished the abusing of their Images, when they deemed all the dishonour, that was done against their Images, to be Treasons against themselves. 8. And lastly, this kill of a man, not only defaceth the Image of God, but also robbeth God of his Temple, which is Sacrilege; and makes none account of, but trampleth under feet, that which God did so highly esteem, and purchased at so high a rate, as with his own blood. And, in a word, it is so odious, so heinous, and so horrible a sin every way, as it is impossible for me to express the vileness and the heinousness of this sin of Manslaughter, or the malicious kill of a man. And therefore, to show how odious this sin is in the sight of God, immediately after the Flood, the great Commandment, and the only Commandment that he gave to all the sons of Noah was, to abstain from shedding of man's blood: and he doth so pathetically and with such terrible threaten express the punishment of the Transgressor's, saying; Surely, that you need not doubt it, your blood of your lives will I require; yea, at the hand of every beast will I require it; See Exod. 21.28. and though they be void of reason and understanding of what they do, yet will I not hold them guiltless if they shed man's blood. And therefore, much rather, and much sooner, at the hand of man, and at the hand of every man's brother, Gen. 9.5, 6. See Numb. 35.31, 33. Levit. 24.17. Math. 26.52. will I require the life of man; and to that end, he did appoint Kings, that they should ordain Magistrates under them, that whosoever sheddeth man's blood, by man should his blood be shed. And the reason why God is so severe against Man-slayers, is here rendered; for that in the Image of God made he man: and so whosoever killeth a man, except it be whom the Law killeth, destroyeth the Image of God; and God cannot endure to have his own lively Image, which no painter, but Himself hath made, to be defaced. And therefore, in Numbers, 35.31. the Lord saith, Ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a Murderer, which is guilty of death, but he shall be surely put to death. And the reason is rendered verse 33. And truly I do not find any sius, I will not say, that are irremissible, but that are so difficult, so hard, and so seldom remitted, as these two, Videlicet 1. The abuse of God's Messengers: and 2. The shedding of Innocent blood; For, Of the first it is said, that when the Jews mocked the Messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his Prophets, 2 Chro. 36.16. the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, until there was no remedy. Of the second it is said, 2 Kings 24.4. that the Lord sent Bands of the Chaldees to revenge the Innocent blood that Manasses had shed, which the Lord would not pardon. Also, when God gave his Laws unto us on Mount Sinai, the first Commandment, of all that doth concern men, after the duty that we own to our Parents, that bring us into the World, and bring us up, and feed us when we cannot feed ourselves, is, Thou shalt not kill. And truly in these respects, I, for my own part, do so far hate the kill of any man, except it be to save mine own life, from him that would maliciously take it from me, that I had rather do any servile work for a penny a day, Greg. & habetur 23. q. 8. si in mortem. than receive the greatest Salary, Honour, and Preferment, for killing of men. And I think S. Gregory not far from my mind, when he said, Si in mortem Longobardorum me miscere voluissem, hodie Longobardorum gens nec regem nec ducem baberet; sed quia Deum timeo, in mortem cujus●ibe● hominis me miscere formido: For he that feareth God, will be afraid to be the death of any man, and will study by all means, — vacuas caedis habere manus. Ovid. de art l. 1. to keep his hands clean from blood. And if it be so unnatural, so unreasonable, so devilish, so beastly, so heinous, and every way so inexplicable and so detestable in the sight of God, and all good men, to kill and murder a man; I would fain know, what tongue, what eloquence, what Orator, though he had the tongue of men and Angels, can express the haynousness of a subject's killing his own King, and a servant's killing his own kind and loving Master, as Zimri did his King and his Master Elah, 2 Sam. 18.3: and some others did such a King as was worth ten thousand of his subjects? And therefore, well and wisely might Jezabel demand; Had Zimri peace, that slew his Master? But the wit of man is so crafty, that it thinks to find a way to effect his own end, and yet to evade the hand, and escape the judgement of God, when they keep their own hands free from blood, but will notwithstanding prosecute the innocent person whom they hate, either judicially, as the Jews did Christ, by their high court of Parliament, that pronounced judgement against him, for a malefactor, which may and aught to be put to death by the Law of God; or else secretly by others, their assassins', whom they procure to be their instruments, to bring whom they hate to his untimely death, either by poison, as Alexander was by Thessalus, and Sir Thomas Overbury by Sir Jervase Eloway; or by some other secret contrivance, as King David plotted the death of Urias; and then, as the Harlot commits Adultery, and wipes her mouth, and is clean; so they will bring Christ and his servants to their death; and then, with Pilate, they will wash their hands clean, from their blood. Truly, methinks these are very fine shifts for murderers and malefactors to free themselves from blame, if they could as well blind the eyes of the Allseeing God, as they do many times deceive simple men, that think those Judges to be just, that have most unjustly beheaded innocence itself; And those murderers to be innocent, that have killed their neighbours by the hands of their assassins'. But though David's hands were far from that fact, & free from the blood of Urias, that was slain by the sword of the enemy; yet God tells him he was the murderer, & his wit shall not serve his turn, to wipe away his punishment; & though it was the High Court of Justice that condemned Naboth unto death, yet the Prophet tells Ahab that God will condemn him and his posterity for it; for, as the devil (saith S. Aug.) is said to be a murderer, non gladio armatus, non ferro accinctus; sed quia ad hominem veniendo, & verbum seminando occidit eum; Aug. super Johan. not because he killeth him with weapons, but because he destroyeth man by wicked counsels, and by setting on others to destroy him; so are they murderers that take away the life of man by any of these ways; and therefore proculdubiò decipiuntur, saith the same Father, they are far deceived that think them only to be murderers, which lay violent hands upon their neighbours; Idem & habet●r, de poenit. dist. 1. periculosè. The heinousness of a judicial murder. and not them also, per quorum consilium & fraudem & hortationem homines extinguuntur, by whose wicked counsels and procurements, men are brought unto their death. And if any other murder be odious and wicked, The heinousness of a judicial murder. then certainly this judiciary murder, whereby the innocent person is condemned to death, as Naboth was by the High Court of Jezreel; and Christ by the Parliament at Jerusalem, must needs be most transcendently abominable and wicked above all other kind of murders whatsoever; for that this is not a single, simple murder, but it is morbus complicatus, a twisted, de-compound, maltiplied sin, of many branches; so that neither cain's malicious kill of his brother Abel, nor Joabs' traitorous murdering of Amasa, nor David's crafty killing of Urias, nor Brutus and Cassius his conspiring the death of Caesar, nor any other kind of murder, is near comparably so heinous, and so abominable as this, which uno ictu, by one single sentence, doth cast an infinite number of persons into sin, and binds them all together to be liable to the severe judgement of God; for hereby, 1. 1 In the place. The Seat of Judgement is made the stool of wick ednesse, the throne of Satan, and the shambles and slaughter-house of innocent blood, to do the greatest wrong, where I should expect the greatest right. 2. 2 The persons, Witnesses, Jury, Judge. Jerem. 5.7. The persons here offending are many persons, the witnesses forsworn and perjured, the Jury corrupted, and the Judge a devil, that is a liar and a murderer from the beginning: and doth hereby wrong 1. The innocent person that is condemned. 2. The place that is abused. 3. All good people that are scandalised and offended with this unjust proceeding. 4. All Lightheaded, credulous people, that hold and believe that innocent condemned person to be a malefactor justly punished; and 5. God himself, that is first cast out of his throne, and the devil placed in his stead. 2. He is made a liar, to pronounce a false sentence. 3. A murderer, to kill an innocent man, and so lastly a very devil; for he that doth all this, can be none other than the devil; and the Judge stands here loco Dei, as God's Vicegerent, in God's stead; and God himself saith, dixi Dei estis, and commands us to reverence and honour them as Gods; and therefore this judiciary condemning of the innocent unto death, doth as much as lieth in man, make the just God, to seem to be an unjust devil; And it were a less sin to un-god him, then to make the just God seem to be so unjust a Judge; for, as Plutarch saith, Satius est nullos Deos credere, quàm Deos noxios. And may not God much better say to such offenders, as he doth in like case unto the Jews, only for swearing by them that are no gods; and assembling themselves, in the harlot's houses: How shall I pardon them for this? As if the heinousness of this sin of judiciary murder, went beyond the understanding of the omniscient, and All-knowing God, to find out a way, and the means to pardon it; especially, if we consider 1. The persons condemned. For 2. The Courts condemning them. For 1. The more considerable, eminent, and excellent, the person condemned is, in respect of his calling, as are Kings, Priests, and Prophets; and the more innocent, upright, and religious he is in respect of his life and conversation, the more odious, and the more abominable is the sin. 2. The more eminent and high the Court is that condemneth the innocent, the more transcendent is the offence. And You may more that this Judicial murder may be done, either 1. By an inferior Court of Justice, as the Judges of Jezreel condemned Naboth. 2. By the High Court of justice, the highest Court of the kingdom, and the Synopsis of the whole Nation; as Christ was by the Sanhedrim of the Jews. And I cannot remember in all the book of God, of any that were thus judiciarily condemned, but only two. 1. The subject Naboth, by the personal procurement and command of his King, Ahab; and 2. The King Christ Jesus, by his subjects, and the National malice of the Jews. And what became of these murderers? how did God pardon them? Elias telleth Ahab the King, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood, and the blood of Jezabel; and God will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall; and him that is shut up, and left in Israel: and so Jehu caused the Rulers of Jezreel, the same town, and perhaps the same Judges, that condemned Naboth, to cut off the heads of 70. of Ahabs' children; and when he came to Samaria, he slew all that remained unto Ahab, until he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the Lord. And how the Jews have been destroyed by Titus, and afterwards by Adrian, and ever since persecuted and plagued in all Countries, and by all Nations for killing their King, the time would be too short, and my papers too scant for me, to relate. And therefore if any King or Kingdom, Nation or City, be guilty of such a judiciary murder, as was the subject Naboth, or the King Christ Jesus; Let them assure themselves, the heavy wrath of God, like a thick cloud, hangs over their heads, and is ready to pour down most terrible showers of vengeance upon them, if they do not most speedily repent: as I shall by and by more fully show unto you. But whether Zimri did kill his Master with his own hands, But we are sure Zimri did not judicially condemn Elab to death, yet he had no peace's and what peace shall they have which shall judicially condemn an innocent person unto death? which is so compounded a murder, and far more abominable than any other sin: 1 King 16.29. Acts 25.16. or by some others of his confederates, (for it is said that he conspired, and so plotted, with other companions against him) or whether he alone did murder him, I cannot tell: but because he was the primum mobile, the first and chief setter on of this murder, it is here only ascribed unto him. But afore we do absolutely condemn Zimri for Elah's death, we ought to hear what he can say for himself, and not as some Judges, that will hear no reason, but condemn the innocent against all reason: for as it was not the manner of them to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have licence to answer for himself, concerning the crime laid against him; so, it may be, Zimri will show some good reason, why he killed his Master. And I doubt not but he had learned Absalon's lesson, that it was for the ill government of Elah, & propter bonum Reipublicae, for the good of the people, that they might be better governed, and much eased of many burdens, and relieved of their grievances; To which, I say, that you must understand all Traitors and wicked actors to be just like unto Watermen, that row one way, and look another way: so they pretend one thing, and intent another thing; Thus Zimri pretended to amend the Government to ease the people, to reform the Laws, and rectify their Religion; but his intention and his chiefest aim was, to make himself great, to get his Master's place, and to become a King himself, which was first in his intention, though last in the execution; otherwise, if his principal aim had been, as he pretended, the public good, he would have turned and changed the Kingdom of Israel into a Commonwealth, or else he would have made either Omri or Tibni whom the people loved, and not himself, whom they hated, to be their King; sed menrita est iniquitas sibi, but wickedesse, though not always, yet sometimes bewrayeth itself; as the action of Zimri, to make himself a King, discovered his prime intention, and the chiefest occasion that moved him to slay his Master, to be, his Ambition and desire of bearing rule. And indeed, this Ambition and desire of bearing rule, hath so strangely bewitched the minds of many men; Camer. l. 5. c. 8. that, as Camerarius saith, it is almost incredible to believe, and most strange to consider, what inordinate desire men have to reign, and to rule as Kings; what villainies they have committed, to become Kings, What horrible things have been done by those that were ambitious of bearing rule. & what execrable things they have done, to continue Kings; for Amurath the third, caused five of his younger brethren to be strangled in his presence; & Ishmael the second, son to Te●mas King of Persia, did put to death so many of his brethren as he could lay hold on, and all the Princes that he suspected to have any desire to his Kingdom; that so they might reign and rule without fear. And Solyman, mistrusting his own son Mustapha, when he returned victorious from the Persian war, and was received with such general applause, caused him presently to be strangled, and a Proclamation to be made throughout all the Army, that there must be but one God in heaven, and one Emperor (i.e.) Himself, here on earth; and Camerarius saith, that this is a perpetual custom in the race of the Ottomans, and among the Turkish Souldan's, to put all, that pretend succession, unto death; Neither is it only a Turkish custom, but it is also the practice of all such as are bewitched with such inordinate desire to rule as Kings, to do the like; For Plutarch writeth that Diotarus having many sons, and desirous that only one of them should reign, slew all the rest with his own hands; and Justin saith that Horodes King of the Parthians, killed his own Father, and after that massacred all his brethren, that he might reign and rule alone; and the sacred story showeth, that the very people of God, the sons of Israel, were not free, but pestered with this disease, Judges 9 as Abimeleck, the son of Gedeon, slew seventy of his brethren in one day, and played many other tragical parts, that he might make himself a King. 2 Sam. 15.16. And the furious ambition of young Absalon, did set him on fire to seek to end his Father's days, and to play the Parricide, that he might reign in his Father's place; and so Zimri, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, he delayed not the time, but presently slew all the house of Baasha, 2 King. 16.11. as Baasha had formerly done to all the posterity of Jeroboam; he left him not one that pisseth against a wall, neither of his kinsfolks, nor of his friends. And not to go from home for Examples, Did not Henry the fourth put by Richard the second his own King, and Cosen-German, that he himself might be the King? and did not Richard the 3d. cause the true King & his brother's chidrens, his own Nephews, the sons of Edward the fourth, that were but children, and never offended him, to be done to death, that he might wear the Crown himself? And my papers would fail me, if I should set down all the examples, that I could produce of this nature; for there is not any thing so sacred, which the great men of this world, that desire to be made greater, will not dare to violate, and spare neither King, father, brether, nor friend, to bring themselves to their desired advancement, to be the rulers of the people, and to have the power both of our lives and goods in their own hands: as the proof is plainly seen in the foresaid examples, and especially in Antoninus Caracalla, who, when he had most unnaturally and barbarously slain his own brother Geta, even in his mother's lap, and between her arms; and being counselled by some friends, to Canonize him among the Heroes, and to place him with the Deastri, to mitigate the thought of so execrable a fact; answered like a vile Caitiff, Sat divus, modò non sit vivus, Let him be a god among the dead, so he be not alive among men; So great an enemy is the inordinate desire of reigning and ruling, to all piety and right; saith Camerarius, l. 5. c. 8. And for Zimri's pretence, to rectify the government, to ease the people, to establish the true service of God, which King Elah, and his Father Baasha had permitted to be continued, as Jeroboam had corrupted it, and to fulfil the Words of the Lord, which he spoke by Jehu the son of Hanani: 1 King. 16.2. I say these things were least in his thoughts, and were but mere pretences and shadows, to hid and cover his malice unto his King, and his ambitious desire of bearing rule; for he being a subject and a servant unto King Elah, what warrant had he, or what command from God, to kill his King? Jeroboam was the master piece of Idolatry, and the ringleader of them that made Israel to sin; and yet, I would fain know, where God gives leave to his subjects to kill him, for this intolerable impiety? But when God setteth up Kings, if they prove wicked, to corrupt his service, and to destroy his servants: he can raise other Kings to punish them; as he did Pharaoh King of Egypt; and Nabuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, to chastise and to remove the evil Kings of Judah; or he can take them away by death, or by twenty other ways, that we know not of, without making their own subjects to become perjurers, and rebels against their King; but ambition and impatience are the two hands, that pull down Kings out of their Thrones. 1. Impatience in the subjects, that can not tarry God's leisure to relieve them. 2. Ambition in those, that desire the Crown, and are bewitched with the inordinate desire of bearing rule. Other things are but pretences; these only are the causes, that move subjects and servants to kill their Kings, whom they think do misgovern them, or Tyrannize over them. 2. Having seen the hatred and malice of Zimri towards Elah, The second thing meant oned, which is, Peace. his Treason against his King, his ingratitude to his Master, and his most horrible sin of Murder, in slaying his King and his Master. We are now come to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and the second thing, mentioned in this speech of Jezabel, and that is, Peace, Had Zimri peace? which is a question, what reward he had, or rather what punishment he suffered, for that tragical exploit to kill his Master? Had he peace for his pains? And peace, as I told you is the best, and the most excellent of all earthly blessings; and it is called by the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which signifieth quiet, sweet, gracious; and by the Latins pax, quasi pacata, (i.e.) calm, gentle, courteous; for so the Apostle meaneth, when he saith, that Rahab received the Spies with peace; that is, courteously. Heb. 11.31. But you must understand, that this blessed peace is two fold; 1. Perfect. And Peace two fold. 2. Imperfect. And 1. The perfect peace is not here to be found on earth, 1 Perfect. but among the blessed Saints in Heaven, where is pax super pacem, Perm. Serm. 23. de verb. Psal. & pax quae exsuperat omnem sensum, Peace upon peace, and peace which passeth all understanding, peace that shall have no end; but will put an end to all our labours. And this peace was not meant here by Jezabel, she knew not what belongs to this peace. 2. The other peace, which Jezabol meaneth, 2 Imperfect and this is threefold. is that which may be obtained here on earth; and that peace is three fold, 1. With God. 2. With our selves. 3. With our neighbours. The first peace is with God; for our Forefather sinning against God, 1 With God. and eating the sour grapes, hath set all our teeth on edge, Esay 1.24. and made us all enemies unto God, as the Apostle showeth; and God saith, He will be avenged of his enemies: and therefore there is no way for us to be delivered out of his hands, unless we be reconciled, to be at peace with him; And at peace with God we cannot be, but by faith in Jesus Christ, who became peace, to them that were a far off, Eph. 2.17. and to them that were near, (i. e.) both to the Jews and to the Gentiles, as S. Jerom expoundeth it. The second peace is with ourselves; 2 With ourselves. for after we became enemies unto God, posuit nos nobis ipsis graves, God did not only arm all his creatures against us, but he hath set enmity within ourselves, and raiseth such rebellions, wars, and troubles in our own thoughts and consciences that we can never be at rest, until we find ourselves at peace with God; but when we believe, that our peace is made with God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who hath paid our debts, and satisfied God for our fins, than our minds are quieted, and our consciences are at peace; and, as our Saviour saith, let not your hearts be troubled, neither fear, for I have overcome the world; so nothing in the world, troubles them, that believe; they are at peace with God. The third peace is with men, 3 With our neighbours. that are without us, and are our neighbours; for sin hath set all the world together by the ears, Non hospes ab hospite tutus— But they that are at peace with God, do obey the precepts and counsel of God, to follow peace with all men, and to do good to all men; and these be the three kinds of peace, that are had in this life, and are the greatest blessings in this world. And this last kind of peace, (i. e.) peace and concord among men, which is the more general and the more sensible than the other kinds of peace; was ever esteemed both of the Jews and Gentiles to be the greatest happiness that men can enjoy under heaven; Et quia contraria juxta so posita magis elucescunt, As the horror of the night, commends the brightness of the day; so the miseries of war do show the benefits of this peace: I will make this point plain unto you. And war is called by the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, because of the abundance of blood that is shed in war; and by Divines it is termed flagellum Dei, the scourge of God; and God hath many scourges, as poverty, sickness, imprisonment, but especially these three Grand Scourges, 1. Three special scourges of God. Famine, 2. Pestilence, 3. Sword. Whereof war is the worst of all, comprehends them all, and brings them all upon us, and therefore Homer saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He is an unsociable and a most wicked man, that will bring war, which is the most deadly thing unto the people; for then, as Virgil saith, — Non ullus aratro Dignus honour,— There is no regard of husbandry. Sed multae scelerum facies— Et curvaerigidum falces conflantur in ensem. And as Tibullus saith, The plough Shares are turned to Swords, Tunc caedes hominum generi, tunc praelia natae, Tunc breviter dirae mortis aperta via est. And you see how in the time of war, the poor infants, that never offended, do perish upon their mother's breasts, and many times in the womb, before they see the light; the goodly houses, the stately Palaces, the pleasant gardens, that are like paradises, the fruitful trees that have been some hundreds of years, before they came to this perfection, are all burnt, destroyed, and demolished in a moment; the poor are starved in the streets, the fruitful land is become a wilderness; and, as Learned Vives, writing to King Henry the eighth, saith, No Commonwealth, is more unstable, then that which is most exercised with war, as we see how often the Athenians came to their last gasp, when as, à Persis exustae, à Lacedemoniis oppressae, à Philippo fractae, ab altero Philippo afflictae, à Mithridate occisae & à Sylla propedum deletae; And warlike Rome was taken by Tatius, besieged by Porsenna, burnt by the Gauls, terrified by Pyrrhus, shaken by Hannibal, and at last torn in pieces by her own weapons. And the like lamentable events have happened to this our own Kingdom, in the time of the Baron's war, and that civil dissension betwixt the two houses of York and Lancaster, wherein were slain, as Daniel sets down. And now lately in our own days, we have seen the sad effects thereof. And these things do sufficiently show what a bl●ssed thing is peace and concord among men, when, as the Poet saith, Omnia pace vigent & pacis tempore florent. And Xenophon saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; peace is the greatest good that can happen unto men, and war the greatest evil; and Ignatius saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: nothing in this world is better than peace; because, as Sallust saith, Pace minima crescunt; bello, maxima dilabuntur, the least things do prosper in peace, and the best and greatest things perish in war. And therefore the Jews, before all other things, wished peace; and it was their salutation, Pax vobis; so Christ himself used it, and left it as his last Legacy unto his Church: so S. Paul in every Epistle, wisheth peace to them he writes unto; and so did our Church continually pray, Give peace in our time, O Lord, until the Devil destroyed the same by war; And our fanatic Sectaries began to deprave our Pious Liturgy, and to trample the same under feet; How thankful therefore ought we be to God for sending our King, that brought us peace, and that so peaceably without shedding a drop of blood? And so you see the kinds, and the excellent benefits of each kind of peace. Now Jezabel would fain know of Jehu, what he thought of Zimri, 1 Murderers and wicked transgressors can have no peace with God. that slew his King, and his Master, whether he had all, or any one of these kinds of peace; had he peace with God, had he peace with himself, or had he peace with his neighbours? And her belief was, that he had neither of those kinds of peace; Et qui tacet consentire videtur; and Jehu, by his silence, seems to consent unto her, for he answereth never a word to her demand; But the Prophet Esay gives a full resolution to her question from the mouth of God, There is no peace to the wicked, saith my God; and his God, was no lying God, none of the gods of the Gentiles, that by their oracles gave, either lying answers or doubtful resolutions unto their Prophets, Esay. 48 22. & 57.21. such as the demandants could not tell what to make of them, as the oracle of Apollo did to Croesus and to the Lacedæmonians when they sent unto it; But his God was the God of truth, and even truth itself; and therefore we may believe it, that there is no peace to the wicked; that is, no kind of peace, neither peace with God, nor peace with men, nor peace with themselves. And Jezabel had sufficiently, and clearly, and unanswerably proved Zimri to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, transcendently wicked, because he had killed his King, that was his Master: and therefore Zimri could not possibly come to have any peace, or any kind of peace; but he must need be in a most wretched case and lamentable condition, to have a perpetual war with God, with men, and with himself. And therefore well might he cry out with Aeneas, — O terque quaterque beati, Queis ante or a patrum contigit oppetere; For 1. 1 Cor. 10.22. We may, with the words of the Apostle, ask of Zimri, Is be stronger than God? And he may remember how soon the Lord destroyed those hundred-handed Giants, that, as the Poets feign, threw the Thessalian Mountains, Olympus, Pelion, and Ossa, one upon another, that they might scale the walls of Heaven. Or who did ever strive with God, and did prevail? for He, and He alone, is properly said to be the Lord of Hosts; that hath both 1. A Celestial; and Army: and so, 2. A Terrestrial Army: and so, 1. 1 God hath his Celestial Army. Gen. 7.19. By his Airy-Souldiers he destroyed the old World, when he opened the windows of Heaven, and reigned 40. days and 40. nights upon them, until the waters had swept all the enemies of God away. So, He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone, and the Amorites with hailstones; and the very Stars in their order, Chap. 19.24. Josh. 10.11. Judg. 5.20. did fight against Sisera. And besides, the glorious Angels are not only instruments of God's mercies towards the godly, but they are also the executioners of his justice against the wicked: and therefore an Angel slew all the firstborn of Egypt, Exod. 12.29. 2 Kings 19 35. and slew an hundred eighty and five thousand, in the Host of Senacherib. And at the last Day, the Angels shall gather the wicked, and bind them up like faggots, for everlasting fire. And 2. 2 God hath his Terrestrial Army. God hath his Terrestrial Army: as, the Sea drowned Pharaoh, and the earth covered Corah, Dathan, and Abiram; yea, the frogs, flies, lice, and rats, will fight for God, and destroy the wicked; as Antiochus and Herod, were eaten up with worms; Munster, in his Cosmogr. anno 940. and Hatto, Bishop of Mentz, was still followed till he was devoured of rats. And, as Deborah saith, Those creatures are accursed that fight not with the Lord against the wicked. What think you then will be the end, and the success of this War with God? It must needs be most lamentable to the wicked; for God is a consuming fire, and it is a fearful thing to fall into the bands of the living God; if his wrath be kindled, yea but a little, blessed are all they that put their trust in him; and w● be to them that offend him. When as we find, how he destroyed some with thunderbolts, and lightning, as the Emperor Carus: others with fire from Heaven, as the two Captains with their fifties in the time of Elias; 2 Kings 1.10, & 12. and never any malefactor escaped out of his hands; but when the Magistrate, that should revenge the innocent blood, neglects the same, He will execute vengeance with his own hands; as it is observed in the History of France, that since the year of Christ, 1560. of a hundred murderers, that escaped punishment from the hands of men, not ten of them escaped the revenging hand of God: As you may read it in the Theatre of God's Judgements. Mr. Beard p. 288. 2. King-killers, and murderers can have no peace 2. As the wicked, especially the bloodthirsty murderers, have no peace with God, so they can have no peace, but a continual War, and a perpetual fight and slaughter among men; Nam ut mali semper persecuti sunt bones, it a & boni semper persecuti sunt malos: high per justam disciplinam, illi per injustam superbiam; and he that, like Ishmael, will have his hand against every man, shall have every man's hand against him. Therefore Zimri, after he had become a Traitor to his King, and had slain his Master, was so prosecuted by the true and honest subjects of King Elah, and so straightly besieged in Tyrza, that he burned the Royal Palace, and himself therein; for the justice of God doth require, that as he gave the Law, so he should have his Law observed, i.e. That he which sheddeth man's blood, should have his blood shed by man. For the fuller clearing of which point, I pray you look what the Lord saith in Numbers 35.31. and the reason that is rendered verse 33. for that blood defileth the Land. And I might here make you a whole Volume, to set forth the declaration of the just judgement of God upon such Traitors and Transgressor's of this Law, as Zimri was, both of former times, and of these later years: And You know what the Law saith, An eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, Exod. 2.23, 24. Math. 7.2. life for life. And you hear how the Prophets threaten, that spoilers shall be spoilt: and that our Saviour saith, With what measure you meet, it shall be measured to you again. And that the Holy Ghost saith, He that leadeth into captivity, shall go into captivity, and he that killeth with the sword, shall die by the sword; which is lex talionis, the law of retaliation, and is the justest law in the World; and said to be the justice which the Poetsfaign Radamanthus executeth in Hell, by punishing every offender according to his demerit. And Adonibezec said, As I have done, so God hath requited me, Judg. 1.6, 7. and hath executed the very same punishment upon me, as I had done upon others. And Justin writes, that Gryphus King of Egypt, had a poisoned cup offered him by his own Mother, who formerly had betrayed Demetrius into the hands of his enemies, and had caused one of her own sons to be killed, that she herself might reign; but Gryphus being forewarned of the mischief, caused her to drink that potion, which she had brewed for him. And Benzo reporteth of Attibalipa, a mighty King of Peru, how the Spaniards having taken him prisoner, and agreed with him, that for two millions of Gold he should be ransomed; yet after the receipt of the Gold, did most perfidiously put him to death: but it so fell out, saith mine Author, Berzo in his History of the New World. l. 3. c. 5. that by the just judgement of God, all they that were consenting to his death, came to a most wretched and a miserable end. So Aelian setteth down, how Archelaus, King of Macedon, had a Minion named Cratenas, Elian l. 1. that affecting the Kingdom, murdered his Master; but not many days after, he was betrayed and murdered himself. And Melancthon showeth, how Arius Axer slew Numerianus, M●lancthon Chron. l. 3. that he mi●ht attain unto the Empire; but the Praetorian Soldiers, understanding the matter, rejected Axer, and chose Dioclesian for their Emperor, that laid hold of Axer, and put him to death, as he well deserved, for his disloyalty. And further, the same Melancthon showeth, how young Gordian, the Emperor, was teacherously slain by Philip Arabs, whom Gordian had promoted to great honour; but the justice of God served him with the same sauce, when his own Soldiers conspired against him, and Decius caused him to be slain. So Domitian was killed by Stephan, that was the Steward of his house, and he was slain for his pains in the time of Nerva. Casaubon animadver: in S●eton. l. And the Learned Casaubon hath observed, that Brutus and Cassius, and all the rest of the Conspirators against Julius Caesar, were never free from War, but still followed by Angustus and Antonius, until they slew themselves, with the same Paniards wherewith they had stabbed Caesar. But to what end should I tell you of any more such Stories out of profane Authors, that are so full of the like examples? when the boly Scripture does sufficiently testify, by the examples that are therein set down, that such murderers of their Lords and Masters, never had any peace among men; but were still molested with wars, hatred, and troubles, until they were destroyed. For Jozachar the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad, the son of Shomer, that slew their King, 2 Kings 12.23. Chap. 14.5. And I think he did very well in it, as I would have done. 2 Kings 15.14. 2 Kings 15.30. and their Master Joash, were so bated by the people, that the Kingdom was confirmed to Amazia, that slew these murderers, who had slain his father. So Shallum, the Son of Jabesh slew his King Zacharia, and reigned in his stead; but he was therefore himself slain by Menahem the son of Gadi, within one month after he had slain his Master. So Peka the son of Remalia, conspired against his King and his Master Pekahiah the son of Menahem, and slew him: and Hoshea, the son of Ela, made a conspiracy against him, and slew him, even as he had killed his King; which verified the old Proverb, 2 Kings 21.23, 24. Proditoris proditor, He became a Traitor of a Traitor. So the servants of King Amon, that slew their Master, the Lord stirred up the people of the Land to revenge his death, and to kill all them that had conspired against their King, i.e. the common people. And so bear, to name no more, Zimri, that slew his King and his Master, that was a Drunkard, hath no rest, nor peace, but is begirt and brought to that extremity, as to throw himself into the fire to be burned; a very just, but a very fearful death. And therefore, let no Zimri, nor any that are of Zimri's mind, King-killers and the Murderers of their Masters, ever think, that they can have either peace or rest, or any happiness, but envy, hatred, and wars, or some mischief or other, to follow them at their heels, until they be destroyed, as they have destroyed their Masters. For the Scriptures must be fulfilled, that wickedness shall never prosper, and the murderers of their Kings can have no peace, nor any good success while they live; for having committed such horrible Facts, they can have no Associates, Patrons, or Protectors, but such vile Varlets as themselves; and therefore these they must entertain, and these they must advance and protect. And remember what King Boco said to the Senate of Rome, What King Boco said to the people of Rome. Woe to that Realm, where all are such, as neither the good, among the evil, nor the evil among the good are known: Woe to that Realm which is an entertainer of all fools, and a destroyer of all Sages. woe to that Realm where the good are fearful to do good, and the evil too bold to do evil. woe to that Realm, where the patiented are despised, and the seditious are commended. woe to that Realm, which destroyeth those that watch for the good, The Dial of Princes, pag. 393. and crowneth those which watch to do evil. woe to that Realm, where the poor are suffered to be proud, and the rich tyrants. woe to that Realm, where all do know the evil, and no man doth follow the good. woe to that Realm, where so many evil vices are openly committed, which in another Country dare not secretly be mentioned. woe to that Realm, where all think that which is evil, and all speak that which they think; and finally, where all men do what they list: in such, and so unfortunate a Realm, where the people are so wicked, let every good man beware, that he be no inhabitant; for, in a short time, there must happen there, either the ire of the gods, or the fury of men, to the depopulation of the good, or the destruction of the bad; when as nothing can betid the people in such a Kingdom, but Oppressions, and Taxes, murmur, distractions, and dissensions, until the fire be kindled among them, to consume and to destroy one another. But if the personal shedding of the innocent blood be thus heinous, and so severely punished, what shall we say to National shedding of such Blood, as was shed in these Kingdoms that was so infinitely more abominable than the other? But, as Doctor Turner, when he was terrae filius in the University, said to his Opponent, Thinkest thou with terrible words, to terrify terrible Turner? So these monsters of men, that dare to kill both Kings and their Masters, and then to suppress the good, and to advance the wicked, to silence the wise, and to magnify fools, will say, these things are but shadows and bugbears to frighten Babes, and poor-spirited men, that have neither the courage of Heroics, nor the knowledge of Scriptures; for they can tell us well enough, that although some King-killers have been punished like Zimri, for slaying their Masters, yet à particulari non est syllogizari, we must not conclude a General Rule from particular examples; for Baasha slew his King and his Master Nadab, and yet he reigned 24. years, and died peaceably in his bed. And Jehu killed Joram, his King and his Master, and yet he reigned 28. years, and prospered, and died peaceably in his bed: And Menahem slew Shallum his King, and reigned 10. years, and died peaceably in his bed; and so did many more that are recorded in profane Authors; and the ambitious hunters after Kingdoms persuade themselves that they may speed with the best, and not perish with the worst fortune. And so likewise those Commonwealths and Kingdoms that have killed their Kings, which they conceived to be wicked, In the third speech at the Conference of Parliament. pag. 15. Eutrop. l. 1. did not only escape free from punishment, but were prosperous, and had good success, and were the instruments of much good unto the people. As it fared with the Senate of Rome, which as Halicar. l. 1. saith, killed and cut in pieces their King Romulus; and afterwards expelled Tarquin, and judicially sentenced N●ro to death, as some do write; (and is the only sentence for death, that I have read in any history; though, for deprivation, not so;) which sentence notwithstanding was never executed; yet was it decreed, and, as those and the like Senators do allege, the Commonwealth prospered after it. I answer, that una hirundo non facit ver, and though Balaams' ass once spoke, shall we think that all other asses shall be able to speak? So one or two examples in particular, are of no force in the general: but the truth is, that G●ds judgements are unsearchable, his ways are in the Seas, his paths in the great waters, and his footsteps are not known; yet this we may know for certain, that although a sinner do evil an hundred times, and God prolong his days, yet it shall be well with them that fear the Lord; but it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, but be shall be like a shadow, because he feareth not before God; and so the Prophet David testifieth at large, and Job did the like before him. And we may know also, that although Jehu and some others, that had special Commissions from God, to fulfil his will, prospered, and escaped the hand of judgement, for their zeal to God's service, and their repentance for their transgression; Psal. 37.9.10. yet is it a most certam truth, that murderers, King-killers, and all other like wicked malefactors, shall never escape unpunished; and yet God doth not always punish them in like manner: Either in respect 1. Of the time, or Either in respect 2. Of the punishment, or Either in respect 3. Of the persons,— for 1. In respect of the time, he reserveth the punishment of some, though they be never so wicked, for the next life, and suffereth them to prosper all their days in this world, as he did the rich glutton, what evil soever he did; and this both holy Job, and the good King David, do sufficiently prove; and examples enough might be produced of most wicked tyrants, and murderers, and the like malefactors that escaped the hand of God in this life; but how they escaped the next, I cannot tell, themselves by this time know; and this future punishment, is the heaviest punishment in the world, and the prosperity of such malefactors, is the worst, and the unhappiest prosperity that can be. Others he punisheth in this life; and yet those, not all alike, in respect of the time of their punishment; but some presently, as Achan, Cosbi, Corah, Dathan, and Abiram; Nadah and Abihu, Ananias and Saphira, and the like; others have some time given them, to see if in that time they will confess their sins, repent them of their wickedness, amend their lives, and make satisfaction to the parties wronged; Zimri 7. days. so Zimri, had 7. days given him before he was punished. Shallum that slew Zacharia, had one month given him. Otho that caused Galba to be slain, had leave to reign four months before he suffered for his murder; Otho 4. months. Vitel. 8. mon. Phil. Arabs 5. years. Decius 2. years. Niceph. l. 18. c 58. Phocas 8. years. 2 Kings. 15. Peka 20. years. and Vitellius that was the destruction of Otho, had 8 months before Vespasian brought him to death; Philip Arabs that slew young Gordian, had 5. years given him, before Decius' revenged the death of Gordian; and Decius that was the death of Philip reigned 2. years, before he was punished for the death of Philip: Phocas had 8. years after he killed his Master Mauricius, before he had his punishment; and Peka reigned 2. years after he killed Pekahiah, before Hoshea revenged the death of Pekahiah; so the Prophet tells the Nintvites they should have 40. days, before they should be destroyed; the children of Israel 40. years in the wilderness; and Jerusalem was not destroyed in 40 years after they had crucified Christ; the Son bearing with them just so long as his Father bore with them in the wilderness; the old world had 120 years given them to repent, before they were destroyed; and the wickedness of the Amorites remained well-nigh 400. years before it was revenged, having continued from the wand'ring of the Israelites in the wilderness, even till the days of King Saul. And therefore let no man wonder, that we see not adulteries, oppressions and murders presently punished; neither should we think, that because they prosper, bear rule, and reign in a flourishing stare for some years, they shall therefore flourish for ever, and never be punished; because the Lord is flow to anger, and cometh to punish on leaden feet, using much patience towards the most wicked reprobates; to see, if his long sufferance can lead them to repentance. But if they be such as the wise man speaketh of, that, Because sentence against an evil work [treason, Eccles. 8.11. or murder, or the like] is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil; Te peccare sinit, siquidem divina potestas Temporis ad spatium parcit quandoque nocenti: Sed gravius tandem tormentum rector Olympi Injungit, torquetque magis delicta nocentum. Obadiah v. 15.16. Exod. 1.22. & 15.5. then will God recompense the slowness of his coming with severity of vengeance, and smite then home with iron-hands: for this law is irrevocably enacted in heaven, that murders, adulteries, oppressions, perjuries, and other such wickednesses, shall not always prosper, but shall undoubtedly be punished, though the times and the manner, are not by us to be known. 2. For the punishment of malefactors, it is 1. Sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and they shall suffer the same strokes, and receive the same measure as they have measured unto others: As thou hast done, it shall it be done unto thee. Even as Pharaoh drowned all the male-childrens of the israelites in the waters of Nilus; so was He, and all his Host drowned in the red Sea; and as the sword of Agag had made many women childless; so did the sword of Samuel make agag's mother childless among women; and as all the foresaid examples, that have proved Traitors, and have killed their Kings, have been killed themselves, just as the Lord had said, Whosoever sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. 2. Sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, they shall suffer some punishment, that shall be somewhat like to the sin, 2 Chron. 12.5. that they have committed; for so the Lord saith, You have forsaken me, and therefore I have also left you, and so it happened to Solomon, that, as he divided God's service betwixt God and the Idols, so God divided his Kingdom betwixt Rehoboam his son, and Jeroboam his servant. And this likeness of the punishment hath a reference, sometimes 1. To the Subject, 2. To the Place, 3. To the Time, of our sinning; for 1. 1 Kings c. 11. etc. 12. As Adam sinned in eating the forbidden fruit, so his punishment shall be, to eat the fruit of the ground, in the sweat of his face: and Hezechias for showing his Treasure, was punished with the loss of his treasure: 2 King 20. as many other men, for being proud of their wealth, do lose their wealth, some one way and some another. 2. The Lord saith, that, 2 In respect of the place. 1 King. 21.20. In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine; which came to pass accordingly, you may see in 1 King. 22 38. 3. Sometimes the punishment hath reference to the time of our sinning, 3 In respect of the punishment. as the spies that searched the land of Canaan 40 days, and sinned by their false report, were punished by wandering in the wilderness 40 years; and it is observed, that Pompey was killed by Septimius and Achillas, as upon the same day, wherein, he had formerly triumphed for the spoil of Jerusalem: and the Jews had their City utterly destroyed by Titus, at the same time of the year, and, as some think, on the same day of the month wherein they had crucified our Saviour Christ. 3. In respect of the persons sinning and punished, we are to observe, 3 The persons sinning. 2 King. 14.6. that although the Lord saith, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers, but every man shall be put to death for his own sin, and the soul that sinneth, that soul shall die; and God will not have them say, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge. Yet, it is most certain, that many times, the wickedness of the fathers is remembered in their posterity; and the punishment of that wickedness, is oftentimes delated, and after a sort both deferred, and, in part, transferred, as well to the children, and to the children's children of them, that walk in the same steps and follow the same courses, as their fathers did, and sometimes upon the very innocent Infants, as upon the wicked fathers, that are murderers, and malefactors themselves. For so the Lord saith, that for the sin of Jeroboam, therefore (behold, and mark it well) I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, 1 King. 14.10, 11. and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, asa man taketh away dung till it be all gone. And so, Baasha the son of Ahijab smote all the house of Jeroboam, 1 King. 15.29. he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, 1 King. 16.3, 4. according to the Word of the Lord; and the Lord threatneth the very same punishment, and the rooting out of all his posterity to Baasha, 1 King. 16.11, 12. that killed his King Nadab, and did other evils in the sight of the Lord; and this, Zimri the servant of Elab, brought to pass according as the Lord had threatened; and the very like punishment happened to all the posterity of Ahab even for Naboths murder, and other sins of Ahab; 2 King. 9.9. and c. 10.17. and too many more murderers and wicked men, that by their sins and desire to reign, and unjust preferring of their children, have pulled down vengeance upon themselves, and rooted out all their posterity. And for Romulus, Tarqvinius and Nero, I say neither of them were either good or honest; and yet the holy Scripture doth not allow the kill or sentencing of them to death; and the proof of the senate's killing Romulus, or sentencing Nero to death, is not Authentical; nor the examples by any means to be followed, when they are so apparently contrary, to the practice and precepts of the holy Apostles; and the success which followed Nero's death, proved so lamentable, Corn. Tacit. l. 20. & 21. as the Tragical butchering of three of their succeeding Emperors, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, that had been three most famous Captains, and had done very worthy exploits for their Country. And therefore, whosoever thinketh by murder and slaughter to usurp another man's Kingdom, Inheritance, or Possession, and thereby to raise his house, and to advance his children, as Zimri, Baasha, Shallum, and others thought to do, or thereby to benefit the Commonwealth, as they pretend to do, he deceives himself; because this is the only way to bring wars and troubles unto himself, and to the Commonwealth, and a curse at least, if not a rooting out of his posterity; while the innocent blood, that he hath shed, or caused to be shed, doth continually cry to God for vengeance against him or them that did it: And so you see that neither Zimri, nor any other killer of his King, and of his Master, or of any other man, can have any peace, either with God or with men. 3. 3 King-killers and murderers and the like wicked men, can have no peace with themselves. The murderer and wicked man can have no peace with himself, nor any rest, or quietness in his own thoughts and conscience; for, as Lipsius saith, Cognatum, immo innatum, est omni sceleri sceleris supplicium, Sin bears its own punishment always on his back; they are so inseparably knit together, that the one cannot be committed, but the other will be inflicted; because, as S. Augustine saith, Jossit Dominus, & ita est, ut animus inordinatus sit sibi ipsi paena; Lipsius' de constantia l. 2. c. 13. the Lord hath ordained it, and it is so, that a wicked disordinate mind, should be a punishment unto itself; for, as God said unto Cain, so it is with us; if we do ill, sin lieth at the door, that is, the reward of sin, Gen 4.7. or the punishment due for that sin, is always at hand, like a wild Beast, to dog us, and to by't us, wheresoever we go; and the conscience of sin, especially of these bloody sins, beareth forth such bitter fruit, as that nothing in the world can be more grievous, or more miserable to a mortal man; for, as Menander saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The conscience is as a god to all men, to be a witness of our debts, a judge of our deeds, and a tormentor of all our transgressions: and the wise man saith, The spirit of a man will bear his infirmities, that is, all the sad calamities and misfortunes, that may happen unto him, a brave mind and a Heroic spirit will bear them all; but a wounded spirit who can bear? For, as the Poet saith, Strangulat inclusus dolour, Ovid. Trist. l. 5. atque exaestuat intùs. And the Examples that might be brought hereof are infinite, beyond number; I will name to you but a few. Oedipus that bloody incestuous King of Thebes, is said to be led to Athens by his daughter Antigona, (i.e.) to be doggd up and down by his own conscience, and to be buried in the Temple of Erinnys, (i.e.) to be overwhelmed with sorrows, and perturbations for his lewd forepast life; and his wife and mother Jocasta, in like manner, strangled herself, saith Sophocles. And Procopius writes that Theodoric King of the Goths, after he had most unjustly put to death Symmachus and Boetius, two noble Senators of Rome; his own thoughts and conscience did so molest him, that, as he was at Supper, with many friends about him, and a Fish his head of great bigness, being set on the table, his imagination conceited, It was the head of Symmachus, that with angry eyes, grinned upon him, whereby he was so oppressed with fear and trembling, that he suddenly risen from the table, and could never afterwards be comforted; but his conscience did continually so torment him, that he pined away most miserably, till he died. And Polydore Virgil saith, Polydor. l. 25. that Richard the third of this Kingdom, after he had slain his two Nephews, had the like tormenting conscience, till he was slain by Hen. 7. at Bosworth Field. And we read that Tiberius, after he had been the death of very many that he hated, was so vexed with such grievous torments of his wounded spirit, that he desired all the gods rather to destroy him all at once, then to suffer him thus to pine away with the continual sting and stripes of a tormented conscience; wherein the just God dealt with him, as he had done to many others, to suffer many deaths, before he put them to death, as the subtle Fox was wont to say; and Nero the monster of men, when he had most unthankfully put to death his own Master, and Tutor, Seneca; and most unnaturally caused his own natural Mother to be killed, with many others of the faithful servants of Christ; he was so grievously vexed in conscience, that he could not be comforted by any means: but thought in his mind, that he did always see his Mother's Ghost, still crying for vengeance against him. And to pass over those infinite examples that might be produced of this kind; I will only allege that one of Apollodorus the Tyrant, who dreamt, that he was flayed by the Scythians, and that his heart, thrown by them into a boiling Cauldron, should say unto him, I am the cause of all this thy miseries myself; so the heart and conscience of every malefactor, especially the shedders of innocent blood, will perpetually tell them, where they are, and what they must expect; and howsoever, they may put on a seeming countenance of peace, and a quiet mind of no disturbance, yet indeed, they are but like the glow-worm, that in a dark night, makes a fiery show, but being pressed, you shall find nothing in him, but cold moisture; for the worm of conscience, doth always gnaw their wretched souls within them, when their faces seem to smile without. But, it may be, some will object that, all sinners have not such unquiet minds, and all murderers and King-killers have not, as we see, wounded spirits. I answer, that some indeed are of such brazen faces, that they can laugh their sins out of countenance, and smile, with the fool, when they go to the gallows; but lassure myself, their hearts bleed, when their faces counterfeit smiles, and they are like Dives, that saw Lazarus a far off in Abraham's bosom, but was himself tormented in Hell; for the heart and soul may be sorrowful, when the face and countenance may seem cheerful. And it is a thousand to one but it is so with all murderers, and the like heinous transgressors; for that it is impossible, that such men should ever want furies, so long as they have themselves: or if they could find a way, to run away from themselves, and to cause their souls to forsake their bodies, as Saul, Zimri, Achitophel, and Judas did; yet their consciences will not fly away from their souls, nor their sins from their consciences; but let a murderer, King-killer, or Master-killer, or any other man-killer; fly, ab agro in ●ivitatem, à publico ad domum, à domo in cubiculum, from the field into the City, from the City into his house, and from the house into his bed, and thence like those impatient fishes, that leap out of the frying pan into the fire; from the private hell of their own breasts, into the public hell of damned souls; yet, Ecce hostem inveniet à quo confugerat, behold, there he shall find the enemy, whom he feared, that is, a tormenting conscience, joined to the burning flame, for their worm dieth not, saith our Saviour. Or if, it may be, that this Vermis Conscientiae, this tormenting spirit, and wounds of conscience, do not vex and affright these wicked men; then must you remember that, as Saint Bernard saith, there are four kinds of consciences, 1. A good, but not a quiet, 2. Both a good, and a quiet, 3. A quiet, but not a good, 4. Neither a good, nor a quiet, Conscience. But of these, I shall further speak, in the next Treatise. So you see the resolution of Jezabels' question; Had Zimri peace? And what application will you make of it? but to demand, Shall they have peace, that have most butcherly massacred their brethren? and especially they that have most maliciously, and in the highest degree of wickedness, judicially murdered the best of all Christian Princes, and their own most just and pious King? or shall we suffer them to jet up and down in pride, and pardon those shedders of innocent blood, whom the Lord will not pardon? That I should delight in any man's blood, God forbidden. Yet; If there be any Zimri living still in peace, either by the favour of friends, or the ignorance of his fact, I say, Nunquam sera est ad justitiam via: And, as Saint Ambrose said to Theodos. in a case of blood also; Quod inconsultò factum est, consultius revocetur, If any thing be done inconsiderately, let us more advisedly amend it; and it is no disparagement to us: quia secundae cogitationes sunt saniores. And if you desire peace, let Justice be done, and Judgement be executed; and than you shall have peace, because righteousness and peace have kissed each other, or otherwise, where righteousness is not, but unrighteous men flourishing, and the transgressors walking still in pride, and unjustly detaining what they have most unjustly possessed; we may preach of mercy and pardon, and of charity and peace, but I fear that peace will not long continue, if Justice and Judgement go not along with it, because there is no peace to the wicked, saith our God; and the cry of the oppressed still calleth for vengeance against them, but righteousness exalteth a Nation, and just judgements do prevent and preserve us from the judgements of God. THE THIRD TREATISE. Esay 57.21. There is no peace to the wicked, saith my God: In which words you may Observe 1. A Proclamation. 2. The Proclaimer. WE do read that Aristotle (the Schoolmaster of Alexander the Great, and the Prince of Philosophers, 1 The Proclamation. so much admired for his Logical wit) hath been characterized by Scholars, in three especial Epithets, as 1. That he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. a lover of Vniversalities, and to deal in Generals. 3 Excellent properties in Aristot●es 2. That he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a great lover of Method. 3. That he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a subtle searcher out of causes. And these three exquisite points, we find here expressed in this short sentence of our Prophet; for 1. The Proclamation is general, No peace, to no wicked man, in no place, at no time. 2. Here is the Cause of it fully and plainly expressed, the wickedness of men. 3. The Method is clear without ambiguity; There is no peace to the wicked, saith my God. First then I say, the Proclamation is general, and therefore more grievous; The generality of the Proclamation: for you must understand that there is, 1. Nulla pax, no peace. 2. Nullo loco, in no place. 3. Nullo tempore, at no time. 4. Nulli impio, to no wicked man. And Peace is the most excellent of all earthly blessings; so the Jews thought; and so the Fathers of the Church have ever taught; for, as the Poet saith, Omnia pace vigent, & pacis tempore florent. And therefore Virgil saith, Pacem nos poscimus omnes. And yet the Lord saith, There is no peace to the wicked; no peace, or not any kind of peace; for we do read of a threefold peace, whereof each one is exceeding good, and is desired by all, but not one of them is obtained by the wicked: Peace is threefold. as, 1. Peace with men. For 2. Peace with God. For 3. Peace with ourselves. For 1 Wicked men are neither Peacemakers, 1 The wicked have no peace with men Math. 5.9. nor Peace-takers: Our Saviour saith, Blessed are the Peacemakers; but wicked men are so far from making peace, and reconciling neighbours, that they are rather like a pair of bellows, to blow the coals of contention, and to set them further together by the ears; and if any be at odds with them, then, as the Prophet saith, when we speak unto them of peace, they make themselves ready to battle; and, as it was with King Charles, and some others, the more he sought and laboured for peace, and accommodation, the more averse were they from all reasonable conditions: so it is with all wicked men, the more we desire to live peaceably among them, the more will they prepare for war, and make themselves ready for battle. But for the war, that both we and they should make, they are farthest from it; Tertul. l. ad Martyrs. for, though we all desire peace; yet, as Tertullian saich, Pax nostre, bellum est contra Satanam; Our peace consisteth, and is obtained, by our war against Satan: and we shall never have peace, unless we do, as Christ did, and as the Church of Christ must do; that is, to suffer in this war, and to overcome, in medio inimicorum: even as the Jews did, when they were re-edifying the Temple, Neliem. 4.17. and building up the City of God; they wrought with one hand, and held their weapon in the other: For, we have enemies enough on every side; as Satan on the one side, the world before us, the wicked behind us, and our own carnal lusts within us; Contra quos viriliter pugnare, est pacem consequi; To fight against these, is to obtain the true peace. Yet the wicked, the worldlings, and the hypocrites, will never fight against any of these their enemies; but think to escape all dangers, in that they are Neuters, and do hold of neither side. But that can never be; for the godly will never cohere with the wicked; neither can the wicked indeed, agree among themselves: Esay 9.21. & chap. 19.2. & 21.2. but Ephraim will be against Manasses, and Manasses against Ephraim; an Egyptian against an Egyptian, a transgressor against a transgressor; and Proditoris proditor, one sray tor will betray another. As you may observe it now, amongst many of our great Commanders, and our late King's enemies. Less peace is betwixt them, than betwixt the ●rute beasts; for of the little Bees, S. Ambrose saith that, aegrotante una lamentantur omnes. Ambros. H●xam. l. 6. c. 4. And we say, that Saevis inter se convenit Vrsis; and the sheep can live in amity without the least hurt, of the one to the other. Yea the Lions, the Hogs, and the Dogs, qui mori pro dominis parati sunt, which for a crust of bread, are ready to die for their Masters, can love their kind, and live in unity among themselves, and do good service unto man, and show themselves kind and courteous unto him; as the Ravens brought food unto Elias; and the hungry Lions did no hurt unto Daniel, when he was thrown into their Den, to be devoured by them. And yet wicked men will plunder, rob, fight, wound, and kill one another. Wherefore the holy Martyr, Cyprian. in serm. de oratione Dom. S. Cyprian, cryeth out, O detestandam humanae malitiae crudelitatem; aves pascunt, ferae parcunt, homines saeviunt! O the most hateful cruelty of humane malice; the fowls of the air do feed us, and the wild beasts do spare us, and serve us, and men that are of our own flesh and blood, perhaps our kindred, or our brethren, will destroy us, and prove Wolves and Lions one to another. And so, as our Prophet saith, The wicked have no peace with men; but are lawing one with another, and our fight, and our warring, makes this point plain enough, that we are a wicked generation; because there is no peace amongst us. 2. As the wicked have no peace with men, 2 The wicked have no peace with God. Esay 1.24. Aug. Confess. l. 10. c. 43. so they have less peace with God; for he professeth that they are his enemies, saying, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies: and whereas Christ came down from Heaven, to be our peace, and to become the Mediator between the mortal sinner, and the immortal God, and so to make our peace with God; And, as the Apostle saith, to be peace, as well to them that were afar off, as to them that were nigh; that is, as S. Hierom expoundeth it, Hierom. in loc. Ephes. 2.17. as well to us that were Gentiles (and so, far from the Covenant of Grace) as to the Jews, that were the children of Abraham, to whom the Covenant was made, that he would be his God, and the God of his seed. Gen. 17.17. But Christ is no Christ to the wicked; for if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, the same is none of his: and the Spirit of Christ flieth from deceit, and dwelleth not in the body that is subject unto sin. And Christ tells us plainly, that if we be his sheep, and would have him to be our Christ, our Mediator, and our peace, than we must h●ar his voice, and follow him; that is, John 10.27. to be as he is, meek and lowly in heart, loving one another, and ready to lay down their lives, the one for the other, even as he laid down his life for us all. But the wicked will neither hear his voice, to believe it, and to obey it, nor follow him in any grace or goodness: but as the Jews followed him to Mount Calvary, to crucify him, and to take away the life of his members, and true followers; as now you may see they do, in every place. And therefore, as Linacrus, reading the Sermon of Christ in the Mount, set down in the 5th 6th and 7th Chapters of S. Math. and considering the wicked lives, oppressions, and wrongs, that were practised among the people in every place, by all degrees of men, he threw away the Book, and cried out, Certè aut hoc non est Evangelium Christi, aut nos nonsumus Christiani: Either this is not the Gospel of Christ, or we be no Christians. So I, seeing how wickedly men do live, and do proceed in their wicked ways, from bad to worse, from worse to worst of all, must needs conclude, they neither have, nor can have any peace with God; for, there is no peace to the wicked, saith my God: and especially so long as they do thus continue wicked. 3. As the wicked will have no peace with men, 3 The wicked have no peace with themselves. Bernard. l. de conscient. sect. 2. fol. 1784. That there are four kinds of consciences. 1. The good, yet not quiet conscience. and can have no peace with God; so they have no peace with themselves; that is, no quiet minds, nor peace of conscience. Where not with standing you must observe, that, as S. Bernard saith, there is a fourfold conscience: as 1. A good, but not quiet. 2. A quiet, but not good. 3. Both good and quiet. 4. Neither good nor quiet. Whereof the first, that is the good conscience, but not quiet; and the third, that is, the good and quiet conscience, do both belong unto the godly, and the true servants of Jesus Christ, that have made their peace with God; and yet may they sometimes be troubled with many doubts and fears for some offences and infirmities, which, their consciences tell them, have offended God. And though these doubts and fears may disturb their consciences, The fears of the godly produce very good effects. and abate their joy, and lessen their assurance of God's love, and their peace with God for a time: yet will they bring no great damage unto them; but rather produce very good effects and fruits of grace, as, to make them sorry for those offences, that are past, and do now trouble them; and to be more careful to prevent the like to come. But, 2. They that have a good conscience, and a quiet one, have, 2 The good quiet conscience. Ho●atius. Greg. super Ezeck. hom. 6. as Solomon saith, a continual feast, and a Heaven upon Earth: And the very Heathen can tell us, that Murus aheneus esto, nil conscire sibi. And therefore, S. Gregory saith, Quid poterit obesse, si omnes derogent, & sola conscientia defendat? What hurt is it to us, though all men blame us, if our conscience doth defend us? Aug. count. lit. petil. For, malam conscientiam laudantis praeconium non sanat, ita nec bonam vulnerat conv tium: As all the praise in the world cannot heal a bad conscience; so all the aspersions and dispraise can no ways wound a good conscience. But, as these two kinds of consciences do appertain unto the godly, so the other two appertain unto the wicked: that is, 1. A bad conscience, and yet quiet, which is a seared conscience, that tells them the truth, like Cassandra, and shows them what evils they have done, and what they are like to suffer for it; but they like the careless Trojans, will give no ear thereunto. And this conscience is like that sickness, that takes away from the patiented, all the sense of his sickness, which is therefore the more dangerous, because it is insensible, and we cannot persuade the sick man, Aug. confess. l. 1. c. 13. which is ready to die, that he is sick at all. And quid potest esse miserius misero, non miserante seipsum? What can be more miserable, than a miserable man, Bern. Epist. 2. not understanding his own miseries? And therefore, S. Bernard tells his friend, that, Ideò dolet charitas mea, quòd cum sis dolendus, non doleas; & inde magis miseretur, quod cum miser sis, miserabilis tamen non es; And S. Hierom saith, in like manner, to Sabinian, Hoc ego plango, quod te non plangis. This do I bewail in thee, that thou dost not bewail thyself. For, as our Saviour saith, when a strong man armed keeps his house, the things that he possesseth are in peace; So are these wicked men in peace and quiet, while the strong man Satan keeps their hearts, as his house, to reside in; but this secret peace with Satan is but an open war with God: Hierom ad He liodorum de vita eromit: and as S. Hierom saith, Tranquillitas ista tempestas est. This calm, is a cruel storm. And nothing can be more miserable, than these senseless sinners, that perceive not their miserable condition. But, as Josephus saith, The wickedest men in Jer●s●lem, that were the destruction of the City, professed themselves to be the only Zelots: So these wicked men think themselves the only Saints of God, walking towards Heaven, when as their wicked deeds do show, they ride post to Hell: And as the Lord tells Cain; If thou dost ill, sin lieth at the door. So will their sins lie at the door, and like wild beasts dog them, wheresoever they go, and perhaps awaken them at the last, to let them see their miserable condition. And then 2. 2 The bad tormenting conscience. Their tormenting consciences will be a hell upon earth here unto them; for, as the godly have the joy of a good conscience, as the earnest of the heavenly happiness: So the wicked have this vermis conscientiae, the vexation of a tormenting conscience, as the earnest of hell-torments wheresoever they are. Isidor. l. 2. soliloq. And, as Isidorus saith, Nulla poena gravior, quam poena conscientiae, quiae nunquam securus est reus animus: for, as Solomon saith, The spirit of a man can bear his infirmities; but a wounded spirit, who can bear? And Lucan saith, Lucan. pharsal. l. 7. that a wicked man doth Nocte dieque suum gestare in pectore testem; And that Hunc omnes gladii, quos aut Pharsalia vid it Aut ultrix visura dies stringente Senatu, Illa nocte premunt; bunc infera monstra flagellant. And as Ovid saith, Ovid. de ponto. lib. 1. Impia perpetuos curarum pectora morsus Fine quibus nullo conficiantur, habent. Nec prius himentem stimuli, quam vita relinquet: Quique dolet, citius quam dolor ipse, cadet. And Pictorius, in his Epigrams, saith Istud habet damni vitium inter caetera, quod mens Palpitat assiduo flagitiosa metu. Semper enim velsi non deprendatur, in ipso Seize deprendi p●sse putat scelere. Deque suo, alterius quoties de crimine sermo est, Cogitat, & credit se magis esse reum; Inque dies timor hinc crescit— And S. Augustine renders to us the reason of all this, saying, Jussisti Domine, & ita est, ut animus inordinatus sit sibi ipsi poena; And, as the Poet saith, Heu quantum misero poenae mens conscia donat! For we do read how Theodoricus, being troubled in his conscience, imagined that he saw, as he sat at Supper, the visage of Symmachus, Procopius lanquet. Chron. fol. 146. whom he had unjustly slain, in a fishes-head; and after that he could never rest quiet, nor be comforted by any means, but pined away most miserably. And Sleidan writes, how Crescentius, Sleidan come. l. 23. in fine. the Pope's Vicegerent in the Council of Trent, being conscious of many ill carriages in that Council, saw the Devil, in the likeness of a black dog. And Polydore Virgil writes of Richard the Third, that after he had caused his two Nephews, the sons of Edward the Fourth, to be secretly murdered, he could never have any rest or quiet mind whi●e ne lived; but would be still starting, and clapping his hand on his Dagger. And, to be brief, so it is with all wicked men; that either they have a seared conscience, void of all sense; or, if it awakes, a tormenting conscience, that vexeth and plagueth them continually. For, my Text is most true, that there is no peace to the wicked, neither with men, nor with God, nor with themselves. And therefore, howsoever they deem us for their enemies, yet in very deed, they are the greatest enemies, that can be found on earth, unto themselves. 2. As there is no peace to the wicked, so they have no peace in no place; 2 The wicked have no peace in no place. but, as S. Augustine saith, Fugiet ab agro in civitatem, à publico in domum, à domo in cubiculum, & à cubiculo in lectum; ecce hostem suum invenit, à quo confugerat, seipsum scilicet, à quo fugiturus est. 3. They have no peace, ullo tempore, at any time; but, 3 The wicked have no peace at no time. as I said before out of Lucan; the wicked do Nocte dieque suum gestare in pectore testem. both night and day, early and late, bear in their bosom, a relator, that doth accuse them, and a witness that doth testify against them, the great and horrible wick edness that they have done, and a Judge that doth continually condemn them. And therefore, the Text saith not, non erat pax, nor non erit pax; but, non est pax: and in the Original, the Text is set down indefinitely, without a verb, as naming no time; that, assoon as ever we have sinned, we might fear God's judgements presently, and expect our punishment instantly, and at all times thereafter. Because, as Lipsius saith, Cognatum, imme innatum, Lipsius do constantial. 2. c. 13. omni sceleri est sceleris supplicium; And S. Paul saith, The wages of sin is death, to show, that as the work is present, so the payment must be present, nec aufertur, nec defertur; it shall neither be remitted, nor deferred: But as the Lord commandeth, not to detain the labourer's wages until the morning, but presently to pay him, assoon as ever he hath done his work, before the Sun goeth down; So, when the sinner hath done the sin, the punishment lieth at the door waiting for him. So you see, here is no peace, in no place, at no time, after the wickedness is done, and the sin is oncè committed. And 4. 4 There is no pea●e to no wicked man. To make the generality of the sentence full, there is no peace, to no wicked man; that is, not to any man that is wicked; for with God there is no respect of persons: but if Coniah the Prince do sin, though he were as the signet upon my right hand, I will cut him off, saith the Lord. The Jews were Gods own peculiar people, of whom the Prophet saith, You only have I chosen of all the Nations of the earth; yet when they became wicked, God cast them off, and scattered them among all the Nations of the earth. And therefore, whether thou be'st Jew or Gentile, Prince or peasant, young or old, rich or poor, if thou wilt walk in thy wickedness, presume not of any prerogative, to exempt thee from God's judgement; for the Lord hath said it, and he will perform it, There is no peace to no wicked man, let him be whom you will. But here, Object. it may be, some will object, that we are all wicked,— ergo, pax nulli. I answer, Sol. That indeed we are all wicked, and there is none that doth good, no not one; but, that we are not all alike wicked: for 1. There are divers kinds of wicked men. 2. There are divers differences betwixt the wickednesses of wicked men: as 1. There are some that commit wickedness through ignorance, others of knowledge; and some that commit wickedness, through weakness and infirmity, and others do offend of malicious wickedness. And so there are some wicked men less heinous than others, both in the sight of God, and men. And there are others more odious, and more transcendently wicked: and, I conceive, that the Prophet principally meaneth, Those high abominable sinners, have not, nor can have any peace: such as are, Murderers, Regicides, Rebels, Traitors, Idolaters, Adulterers, and the like wicked men; and especially if you consider, 2. That there is a threefold difference betwixt the sins and wickedness of the godly that are wicked men, and the sins and wickedness of the other abominable wicked sinners; whereof the Prophet speaketh; as 1. Before they sin. 2. When they sin. 3. After they sin. For, 1. 1 Difference. The godly purpose not to offend God, but do intent to serve him, and to keep his Commandments; but the wicked do imagine mischief upon their beds, their feet are swift to shed blood, and they resolve to proceed from one wickedness to another: And, as Seneca saith, Scelera sua sceleribus tueri; To protect and hedge about their wickedness, with greater wickedness; as their lies with perjuries, their malice with murder, and their disobedience with rebellion, treachery, and treasons. 2. 2 Difference. The godly, when they do sin, they do it with a great deal of reluctancy; and, as the Apostle saith, the evil that they would not do, and what they hate, that they do, by reason of the frailty and weakness of their flesh, and the greatness of their temptation. But the wicked sin with greediness, and do rejoice in the works of their hands, and make a sport of their sins. 3. 3 Difference. When the sin is committed, the godly are sorry for it, and do repent them of it, and resolve to do so no more: and therefore do pray to God, to forgive them, what is past, and to give them his grace to preserve them from the like; but the wicked never repent them of any wickedness that they do, nor pray to God for grace, to amend them; but think they do God good service, when they persecute the righteous, and destroy his servants. And therefore the godly endeavouring to be at peace with all men, they are for their part in peace with all men; Ephes. 4.3. and being justified by the faith which they have in Christ Jesus, they have peace towards God; and having peace with God, and so leading a godly life, they have peace with themselves, which is the peace of conscience, which is a Paradise of pleasure, as S. Aug. Aug: super Genes. terms it, and as the Poet saith, — Audebit dicere, Horat. Pentheu Rector Thebarum, quid me perferre patique Indignum coges?— But the wicked, whose hands are like Ismaels' hands, against all men, His thought seethe his punishment and his fear overwhelms him with miseries. shall have all men's hands against them: and being without fear in offending God, and without any true faith in Christ, they shall have God for their professed enemy; and so being at war with God, and thirsting after wickedness, they have no rest, nor peace; but Supplicium exercent curae: Statius l. 3. Thebaidos. tunc plurima versat Pessimusin dubiis augur, timor. And so there is no peace to no wicked man, especially to these transcendent and resolved irrepentant wicked men, Sed bella, horrida bella; wars, wars, and rumours of wars. And these our wars, and preparations for war, our fightings, and our plundering, our oppressions and insupportable taxations, and especially this our unnatural rebellion against our own just and pious King, and above other horrible wickedness, the barbarous murdering of so just, so innocent, and so godly a King, do sufficiently show that we are a wicked generation; and, as this our Prophet saith, a sinful nation, a nation laden with iniquity, corrupt children, and the seed of evil doers; that have wholly forsaken the laws of our God. And this our wickedness, vice versa, doth as apparently show, that there is no peace intended for us; and that we do but expect peace in vain, until we fully intent to forsake our sins; because our sins and wickednesses, our unjustice toward men, and our profaneness in God's service, have made, and will make, a separation betwixt us and God; and, how can we hope for peace among men, when God proclaimeth war against us? Quia conscientia mala bene sperare non potest. Because a conscience guilty of such wickedness, Aug. in Ps. 32. as the men of this Nation have committed, knows not how to hope for any good. 2. This showeth that our sins and wickedness is the cause of all our miseries, our sickness, our wants, our wars, and of all our troubles; Prov. 14.4. for man suffereth for his sins, and, as Solomon saith, Miseros facit populos peccatum. It is our sins that make us miserable, and therefore, if we would be freed from troubles, eased of our burdens, delivered from these wars, and healed from our diseases, let us forsake our sins, and then God will turn all these evils from us. 2. Having heard the particulars of this general Proclamation, 2 The proclaimers of this truth. 1. The Prophet. we are now to consider of the Proclaimers; and they are two, 1. The Prophet, as God's Herald, and his messenger. 2. God himself, who is the chief sender forth of this Proclamation; for there is no peace. 1. The Prophets, Apostles, and Preachers of God's word, are God's Heralds to declare his will, and to proclaim his Messages unto the people; and, as one saith very well, they are God's mouth, in preaching to the people, and therefore they say, Os Domini locutum est, the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it; and they are the people's mouth, in praying for them, unto God, even as Mediators betwixt God and the people; as Moses saith unto the Israelites, I stood between the Lord and you, Matth. 23.2.3. to show unto you the word of the Lord. Which should be a warning to us, that, as the Apostle saith, If any man speak, he should speak the words of God; And It should teach the people to esteem of their Preachers, as of the Ministers of Christ, and as Legati à latere, the Ambassadors of Christ, and the dispensers of the manifold mysteries of God; and it should likewise move them to hear our words, not as the words of men, but, as the words of the true Preachers are indeed, the words of God: Therefore Christ saith to his Disciples, that while the Scribes and Pharisees do sit in Moses chair, and so teach the doctrine that Moses taught, all whatsoever they bid you observe, Aug. advers. lit. Petil. l. 2. c. 6. that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: Dicunt enim quae Dei sunt, & faciunt quae sua sunt: for they say the words of God, while they teach the Doctrine of Moses; but they do the works of their own Wills, when they do what Moses forbids them, saith Saint Aug. And that should persuade the people, to hear the Preachers words with more reverence, and to believe them with less doubting. 2. 2 God himhelf. As the Prophet is God's Herald and Ambassador to proclaim God's will, so God himself is the chief Author of this Proclamation, and the principal proclaimer of this war against the wicked; for there is no peace to the wicked, Psal. 62.2. saith my God. And God hath spoken it once and twice, and the Prophet heard the same; That power belongeth unto God; and he hath said it once and twice, that there is no peace to the wicked; as you see here in this Text, Aug. ad Pollent. l. 2. c. 4. and in c. 48.22. Et verba toties inculcata vera sunt, viva sunt, planae sunt; therefore we may be sure, we need not doubt it; there is no peace unto the wicked, because God, which proclaims this war, is able to make it good against them, because he is, as he is styled, the Lord of Hosts; And his Host is both 1. Celestial. And 1 Part of God's Host threefold. 2. Terrestrial. And 3. Infernal. And 1. 1 Regiment of God's Army, Aietie. His Celestial Host is threefold. 1. Airy. And 2. Starry. And 3. Glorious. And By the first, he drowned and destroyed the world, for the Windows of heaven were opened, Gen 7. c. 19 24 Josh. 10. — and by the same Host he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone, and the Ammorites with hailstones; and we see great winds destroyed many on the Seas, and great frosts do devour many on earth; Psal. 147.17. for if God sends forth his Ice like morsels, the Prophet demands, Who is able to abide his frost? The second part of his Host is the starry heaven, 2 Regiment starry. that is called Caelum, quasi caelatum, engraven, and enamelled with such glorious aspects. And this Host, as it speaks for God, and declares the glory of God, as the Psalmist saith, so they fight for God, Psal. 19.1. as the stars in their order did fight against Sisera, and the Sun stood still at Gibeon, and the Moon in the valley of Aialon, to assist Joshua to overthrow God's enemies. Josh. 5.20. c. 10.13. 3. Regiment glorious, which is threefold. The third, and most powerful part of God's Host, which is most glorious, resideth in the Empyreal heaven, and they are 1. Saints. And 2. Angels. And 1. 1 The Saints blessed souls. Raynold. de Idol. l. 2. c. 1. The Saints and blessed souls departed, saith Raynold, De sua faelicitate securi, de nostra salute solliciti sunt; and without question, they do pray for the Church in General against the wicked: and their prayers are very available. 2. The Holy Angels are instruments of God's love and mercy, 2 The Holy Angels. Act. 5.19. to help the faithful servants of Christ; as you may see, how the Angel helped Tobias, and brought the Apostles out of prison: and they are the executioners of God's justice against the wicked; as you may find, how an Angel slew all the firstborn in Egypt; and an Angel of the Lord went out, Exod. 12.19. and smote in the Camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, Behold, they were all dead Corpse: 2 King. 49.35. And if one Angel was able to slay so many, what cannot millions of Angels do? And we read, what a glorious King was Herod, and how he was magnified by the people, as a god, and not as man; but, because he gave not the glory unto God, the Angel of the Lord smote him, Act. 12.23. so that he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost; and our Saviour testifieth unto us, Math. 24.31. what service, the Angels shall do to God, and for his servants at the last day. 2. God's terrestrial Host is both 2 Part of God's Host, two fold. 1. The Sea. 2. The Land. And all that are contained therein: and you know, 1. How the Sea drowned Pharaoh, and all his mighty Army, and drowned many thousands since; and you cannot forget 2. How the Earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up Corah and his companions. So the frogs, flies, and worms do fight for God, Num. 16.32. against the wicked; and, as the Prophet saith, The stone shall cry out of the wall, Ps. 106.17. and the beam out of the timber shall answer it, Woe to him that buildeth his house with blood; Hab. 2.11. and so all the parts of the earth shall fight against the wicked. 3. God's infernal Host, are the very Devils and damned spirits, 3 Part of God's Host. that can do nothing without God's leave, and must do all that he commands them; For so we read that an Evil spirit from the Lord troubled Saul, 1 Sam. 16.14. and vexed him for his wickedness. And so they will do to all wicked men, vex them and plague them for their wickedness. And so you see, how it is impossible for any transcendent wicked man, Murderer, Rebel, Idolater, or the like, to have any peace, either with himself, or his neighbour, or especially with God; that is so powerful a God, so able to destroy all his wicked enemies; And therefore let all such wicked men repent, and all others take heed of being wicked; because, my God, which is the true God, and the God of truth, proclaims this truth unto the world, that, There is no peace unto the wicked. THE FOURTH TREATISE. Jer. 14.10. Thus saith the Lord unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the Lord doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins. WHAT our Saviour saith of the Prophecy of Esaias, Esay. 61.1. This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears: which was a very joyful fulfilling of it indeed; Luk. 4.21. so I am afraid, I may say of this Prophecy of Jeremy, that in these days, you may see this Scripture fulfilled amongst us; because this Text seems to me to be, The lively picture of these lewd times. Which must needs be a sad fulfilling of it to all good men. The Principal points to be considered are these four, Four Points to be considered. 1. A Message, thus, or this, which followeth. 2. The Author, or sender of the message, the Lord. 3. To whom it was sent, unto this people. 4. The Messenger by whom it was sent or showed, viz. 1. The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah. Touching which points, as Christ saith in another case, so I will do herein; begin with the last and so proceed unto the first. And 1. I told you, the Messenger, 1 Point the Messenger. by whom this message was sent unto this people, is the Prophet Jeremy; and he was, 1. A Man, and no Angel. 1 The Messenger was a man like themselves. 2. A Jew, and no Gentile. 3. A Lover, and no hater of this people. And yet for all this, we find that he was mightily hated, and exceedingly persecuted by them. 1. When God delivered his Laws upon Mount Sinai, he was pleased to be his own messenger, Exod. 20.1. to write them with his own hands, and to utter them with his own mouth; Heb. 12.29. but our God being a consuming fire, as the Apostle saith, and if he doth but touch the mountains, they shall smoak, saith the Psalmist; therefore his descending to deliver that Law, was so terrible that Moses himself said, Heb. 12.21. I do exceedingly fear and quake; And they, that saw the Mount burning, and the blackness, darkness, and tempests, and heard the sound of a Trumpet, and the voice of the words, entreated, That the word should not be spoken to them any more; Vers. 19 that is, by God himself; because they were not able to endure the great and glorious Majesty of the deliverer. And yet in very deed, God being an Infinite incomprehensible spirit, that hath neither hands to handle, Gal. 3.19. Heb. 2.2. nor mouth to speak, this delivery of the Law was ordained by Angels, and the Word spoken by Angels was steadfast, saith the Apostle; And therefore, it being above our Capacity, to understand the Language of the Angels, The Language of the Angels we know not what it is. which the great Angelical Doctor, the best of all the Schoolmen, could not yet determine, what it is; and it being likewise beyond the ability of our weakness, to endure the sight of those Celestial spirits; God was pleased, out of his great goodness, to condescend unto the infirmities, and to yield unto the request of this people, and to send his messages unto us, by such as dwell amongst us (i. e.) men like our selves; that we need, neither to fear their faces, nor to shun their presence. So that now, The Hearers condition safer than the Preachers condition. Galat. 4.16. as S. Augustine speaketh, Tutior est conditio audientis quàm dicentis, the hearers are in a safer condition, than the speaker; and the fear is only of the Teacher's side, who must now take heed what he saith, and is oftentimes become your enemy for saying the truth, as S. Paul showeth, when as you may freely hear, whatsoever is spoken, without fear, as you do many times without faith, when our words, though never so true, shall yet be received but as Cassandra's Prophecies, that were ever true, but never regarded; Esay 53: 1. so that, we may justly cry out with the Prophet, Who hath believed our report? 2. 2 He was their own Countryman. Act. 19.24, 25. This Messenger, that God now sent unto the Jews, was himself a Jew, and no Gentile, no Grecian, no Barbarian; and it is natural for all men to love those of their own Country; Even as we see Craftsmen, love those of the same Trade, as you may find in Act. 18.3. Therefore, that they might the more readily embrace him; the Lord saith, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise unto you of your brethren, like unto me, in countenance, in favour, in faithfulness, and in all meekness and gentleness, Him shall you hear in all things: Deut. 18.15. and you ought the more readily to hear him, and the more undoubtedly to believe him, and to love him, because he is of your brethren: for, though the Schools have determined, that there is no love in hell, nor charity among the damned; yet, for his own sake, Dives seems to have a care of his brethren, Luk. 16.28. that they should not come into that place of torment: Act. 22.2. and though the Jews hated Saint Paul, yet when they heard that he spoke unto them, in the Hebrew Tongue, which was their own native Language, they kept the more silence. And for this cause, the sooner to gain favour, and to win the more goodwill, Act. 22.25. this prudent Apostle tells the Roman Captain, that he was a freeborn Citizen of Rome; Act. 23.6. That men of the same Country should love one another. and he tells the Jews he was a Jew, and a Pharisee, of the tribe of Benjamin; and so accordingly, when the men of Israel were angry with the men of Juda for receiving David, and conducting of him home again to his Throne, after he was driven out of his Royal City, by the rebellion of Absalon; the men of Juda answered most justly, that they had very good reason so to do, not only because he was their King; but also, because he was near of kin unto them, and of their own Tribe, the Tribe of Judah; 2 Sam. 19.42. therefore why should they not receive him, and love him, that was of their own Country, and of their own flesh and blood? Which showeth unto us, what a shame it is, for a Prophet to be without honour, among his own Countrymen, and in his own Country, where he should be honoured most of all? And what an abominable thing it is, for a Prince, or a Prophet, to be treacherously betrayed and sold into the hands of their enemies, by their own Countrymen, and their own familiar friends? But as our Saviour Christ, coming amongst his own, as the Evangelist saith, and his own receiving him not, but slandering, persecuting and betraying him unto death, saith, If a stranger had done me this dishonour, I could well have born it; but I think very much, that I should be thus used by my Countrymen, and by mine own familiar friends. So this holy Prophet, going not to the Persians, and preaching not to the Grecians, but to the Jews, his own native Countrymen, and his own kindred, could not choose but be exceedingly troubled, to be so used as he was amongst them. For that it is a greater shame, and a more intolerable sin, for the servants of God to be persecuted and rejected by their own Countrymen, and those that profess and seem to serve the same God, and to believe in the same Saviour as they do, than if they were expelled and deprived of their means, or persecuted unto death, in any other Country, where they should be but like Ionas among the Ninivites, mere strangers. Yet thus was Jeremy used, and thus are we. 3. This our Prophet, was not only a Jew, preaching unto the Jews: 3 He was a dear lover of them. for so many a man, as Catiline among the Romans, Vortigern among the Britain's, Speed, l. 7. c. 4. and Simon, Jason, and others among the Jews, and some others nearer home, have betrayed their own Country, 2 Machab. 4. & the trust that their Country reposed in them: but he was a faithful Patriot, a hearty lover, and no hater of his people. Tertullian noteth, how dearly Moses loved this Nation of the Israelites, when rather than God should destroy them, he earnestly requested, that his own name might be blotted out of the Book of Life. S. Paul showeth the like love unto the Jews, when he saith, he could wish himself accursed from Christ, Rom. 9.3. for his brethren and kinsmen according to the flesh. And this our Prophet showeth no less love unto them than the other, as you may easily see, by this his Prophecy, and his Preaching to them, and his Lamentation for them. Yet all the love of these men, and put all together, was not comparable to the love of Christ, who gave himself for them, and prayed for them, when they Crucified him. And therefore, well might he say, Greater love than this hath no man, John 15.13. that a man lay down his life for his friends; which none of all the Prophets, nor of the Apostles, nor of the Martyrs, that died all for themselves, and suffered death for their own sins, did lay down their life for others; as our Saviour Christ did, lay down his life, not for himself, but for his enemies: and yet they loved them very much, and very dear, as I shown to you before. And so must all the Messengers of Christ, and Preachers of God's Word, How the Ministers, and Preachers of God's Word, should love their people. imitate these holy men, to love God's people; for that the people can hardly reap any good from them, whom they perceive not to love them: but as we suspect the gifts of an enemy, to be as the Belt of Ajax was to Hector, and Hector's Sword to him in like sort, the death of each other; So we does esteem and regard not the words of them that love us not. But you see how the true Prophets and Servants of God loved this people, and laboured all that ever they could for the good of the people, to bring them unto God, and to turn away God's anger from them. And what reward did this people render to these, and to the rest of God's Messengers and Teachers, for all the love that they shown unto them, and the pains they had undertaken for them? The very Heathen tells us, that Amor amoris magnes, & durus est qui amorem non rependit; Love is a Loadstone to draw love again: and if we will do nothing else, yet we can do no less, than love them that do so dearly love us: The very publicans and sinners do the same. Yet behold, The ingratitude of the Jews. O Heavens, and wonder, O Earth, at this ungrateful people, who rendered to God's Messengers evil for good, and instead of loving them, stoned them. For they murmured against Moses, rebelled against David, persecuted Elias, beheaded John the Baptist, and, as our Saviour saith, they killed the Prophets, Luke 13.34. and stoned them that were sent unto them. And it is no strange thing, for us, to find many men, walking in the same ways, and treading in the same steps, as these Jews have done; but it were very strange that we should be used any better than those better Messengers, that were sent before us. Luke 10.3. For our Saviour tells us, with an Ecce, Behold, and consider it well, I send you forth as lambs into the midst of wolves. And you know the Fable, how the silly lamb, procul infrà bibens, for drinking far enough below the wolf, was notwithstanding torn all to pieces, by that cruel wolf, upon pretence, that he stopped the current, which was impossible for him to do. 2. 2 The parties to whom this Message was sent. The Parties, to whom the Message was sent, are showed in these words, this people; and that is, the people of the Jews, that were then flos florum, & medulla mundi, the choicest, and the noblest, of all the people of the world; for, You only have I known; that is, acknowledged for mine own people, Amos 3.2. and mine own peculiar inheritance, of all the families of the earth, saith the Lord. And God shown his great love towards them, by the wonderful works that he had done for them. For, as the Prophet saith, He eased their shoulders from their burdens, Psal. and their hands from making the pots; and he delivered them out of that Egyptian-bondage, and from the tyranny of cruel Pharaoh. The great favours of God unto the Jews. Then he gave them such Laws, so holy, and so just, as neither Solon nor Lycurgus, nor any other Nation of the World had the like. And he fed them in the Wilderness, 40. years together, with Manna, that was the bread of Heaven, and the Angel's food: and after that, he thrust out 7. other Nations, to make room for them, and he gave them the labours of the people in possession, and planted them in Canaan, which was a Land that flowed with milk and honey; and there he hedged them about (as we were of late hedged here) with all kind of blessings; beneficia nimis copiosa, most ample benefits: And, as the Schools say, Privativa & positiva; for they had plenty in peace, and victory in war: and, what was it not, that this people had not? And yet this people, this peculiar people of God, must hear this hard Message; and they must undergo this sharp censure. For, as the Lord saith of Coniah, Jeremy 22.24. were he as the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck him thence, and give him into the hands of those that seek his life. So will he do with this people, and with any other, when they do prevaricate and offend him. He will cut them off, and cast them from him, were they formerly never so precious in his sight; How God dealeth with his dearest children, when they depart from his service. for, no privilege, no prerogative, no former piety, can prevail with God, to prevent his judgements; when, with this people, they love to wander, and refrain not their feet from their evil ways: But, as these, his dearly beloved people, the Jews, were cast off when they did cast off the true service of God; and as those seven Churches of Asia, Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, that were planted by the Apostles, and watered with the blood of Martyrs, had their Candlesticks removed, and themselves delivered up, to groan under the Turkish tyranny, and to have the blasphemous Alcoran of that accursed false Prophet Mahomet, for their Bible, instead of the Glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ; and all this, because they had forsaken their First-love to the true service of their God: So will the just and jealous God do with any other Church or people, that seems never so dear unto him, when they are so wavering, and so ready to wander, with this people, from the true service of God, and to forsake their first-love, with those Asiatic Churches, and to derogate from the first faith that they have received. And as the Jews protestation, that they did all for the worship of God, and therefore cried, The Temple of the Lord, Jer. 7.4. three times reiterated in the same Chapter, could not preserve them from this just judgement: So the pretence of erecting a Gospel-discipline, and the gathering of pure Churches out of Christ his Church, contrary to the Doctrine of the true Church, will hardly serve the turn, to turn away God's anger from us, when, upon these, and the like pretended shows of sanctity more than ordinary, we love to wander from the old way of God's true Worship. 3. The Person, that is the sender of this Message, is the Lord; for, 3 The Person that is the sender of this Message. thus saith the Lord unto this people; and that is, the Lord which professeth himself to be, slow to anger, and abundant in goodness, and in truth, and that his mercy endureth for ever, and is like the boundless and the bottomless Ocean, that cannot be drawn dry. Yet here this gracious God doth, as it were, disrobe himself of his mercy, and lay aside his loving kindness, and put on judgement as a garment, that he might render vengeance to them that abuse his patience, and prefer their own humours, before his holy Worship; and like the Scribes and Pharisees, persuade themselves, and the world, that they are the only Saints, when Christ knows, they are the only hypocrites, and so the vilest in God's sight, of all other sinners whatsoever; as it appeareth by those many woes, that Christ denounceth against these holy hypocrites, more than against all the Publicans and Sinners; which, though they be open and apparent offenders, yet are they sooner converted, and brought to Christ, and shall sooner obtain mercy at the hands of God, than these outward Saints, that inwardly are Devils; That, as our Saviour saith, do come unto you in sheeps-clothing, with fair speeches, and nothing but Scripture-phrases in their mouths; but inwardly they are ravening wolves, and devour the poor, the fatherless, and the widows, under these holy shows. But here, as we know, the Lord is merciful in his judgements, and, Ezra 9.13. as Ezra saith, punisheth us less than our iniquities deserve, and is also just in his mercies, because he is, righteous in all his works, and holy in all his ways. So, we must remember, and we may assure ourselves, the Judge of all the earth will do right, and will not destroy the righteous with the wicked. Gen. 18: 25. And therefore, you must understand, 1. Cui bonus, to whom the Lord showeth himself merciful and gracious. 2. Cui justus, to whom he will show himself angry and just. For, To whom God showeth himself merciful, and to whom just. As Christ saith, that we must not give the children's bread unto dogs, nor a Scorpion to those children, that call for Fish, nor a Stone to them that desire Bread; but we must give to every one his own portion, and that in due season; that is, mercy and favour to the godly, and to pardon the penitent sinner: and so in like manner, indignation and wrath, and the heavy judgement of God upon the oppressors of their brethren, and upon those that offend of malicious wickedness; and that, with this people here spoken of, do love to wander out of the right way of God's service, to worship him after the new Mode, and direction of the false Prophets. And this may serve for an exceeding comfort unto the godly, and constant worshippers of God, that the Lord is so gracious and so just, How God preserveth his servants in the midst of judgements. as not to to destroy the righteous with the wicked: But, as he preserved Noah, when all the World perished; and delivered Lot out of Sodom, when he reigned fire and brimstone upon it, and upon the other Cities; So when a thousand shall fall besides thee, and ten thousands on thy right hand, yet will he give his Angels charge over thee, Ps. 91.11. and they shall keep thee in all thy ways, that thou hurt not thy foot against a stone. Or if it be, as it sometimes happeneth, that the good and godly men, living among the wicked, do partake of some punishments and afflictions with the wicked, The different effects of God's punishments upon the godly and upon the wicked. as the good and bad sailing in the same Ship; must be liable to the same Tempest; yet, the same troubles, crosses and afflictions, whether they be Plague, Famine, War, or the like, do not proceed from God, either in the same manner, or for the same end, against the godly as they do against the wicked; for they are but his fatherly chastisements unto his children, but they are the signal testimonies of his wrath and fury against the wicked; and therefore, they drive the Godly to repentance and amendment of life, or do translate them to everlasting happiness; but they fill the wicked with rage and fury, and drive them with despair, from one sin to another, until they descend to eternal torments. 4. 4 The message comprehendeth two things. The message that God sendeth unto this people, containeth two special things, 1. The do, of this people. 2. The doom, of this people. 1. 1 The do of this people. In their do, you may observe these four particulars. 1. Their Errors, and transgressions; they wandered. 2. Four things wherein are considerable. Their Love of Errors; they loved to wander. 3. The Manner of their wandering, thus; that is, from one sin to another, from one error to another, from bad to worse, from worse to worst of all. 4. Their Greediness to proceed without any stop or stay in their wicked ways: They refrained not their feet. 1. 1 Their wandering. Diligrunt evagari, saith Tremelius; And a vagrant is he, that knoweth not where he is, nor whither he goeth; diligunt errare, saith the vulgar Latin, they love to err. And, Errare est extra viam ire, to wander is to walk or to run out of the way; and I take the word wandering here in the largest sense, What M. Calvin takes their wandering to be. and not restrain it, as M. Calvin doth, to one particular sin, which he understands to be their wavering minds, and unconstancy in God's service: now serving him after the old manner, set down by Moses, and prescribed by God himself; and by and by serving him after the new fashion, devised by the false Prophets: now serving him in his Temple, and consecrated house dedicated for his worship; and presently serving him in Chambers, in the Groves, and under every green Tree. But I conceive, that the Prophet means, according to Tremelius translation, that they erred from the right service of God, and from the performance of their duties unto their neighbours, and so strayed, like lost sheep without a shepherd, The Law of God is the way wherein we ought to walk. both from the way of piety, and from the rules of equity: and the further they go on, the harder it is for them to return to the right way: for you must know, that the way, wherein we ought to walk, is the Law of God, even as the Prophet David showeth, saying, Blessed are they that are undefiled in the way, Psal. 119.1. that walk in the Law of the Lord, and not in the way of sinners, which is the transgression and aberration from the right way, that is, the Law of the Lord. And this people, The Jews and ourselves, like the Egyptians, and why. the Jews, were, as we are for the most part of us, like unto the Egyptians that received the most plentiful benefits of the river Nilus; and yet they knew not the fountain from whence it sprang; so did they reap all the favours of God, his Oracles, his Prophets, and his blessings, more than any other Nation of the World; and yet they neither knew God, nor the will of God; Hos. 4.1. Vide Esay. 1.3. for, as the Prophet Hosea saith, There was neither truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the Land; and therefore, they wandered indeed, and wandered far out of the way. But you will say, it is very strange, that the Jews of all other people, should be ignorant, either of God or of the law of God, when, as the Apostle saith, Unto them were committed the Oracles of God; and, Rom 3.2. & chap. 9.4. Psal. 76.1. What great means the jews had to understand & learn the true service of God. Amos 3.7. as the Prophet saith, In Jury is God known and his name is great in Israel; and he gave unto them, Priests and Levits, Scribes and Pharisees, that should continually expound his Laws, both to them, and to their children for ever; and when they failed to do their duties, he raised up his Prophets to direct them to the right way, and to show them, how they should both worship God, and love their neighbour; and, as the Prophet Amos saith, Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he reveileth his secrets unto his servants the Prophets; and therefore, How could this people be ignorant of God, or wander out of his ways? To this, the Prophet answereth, in the next point; and showeth the true cause of their wandering, and of all their deviation and starting aside from the right service of God; for 2. He saith, They loved to wander; therefore what wonder is it, Where the Jews erred. that they should err, and go out of the right way, when they loved, desired, and were well pleased to go out of it? but it is strange, and a great deal more strange, for men to love to err, than it is to err; For humanum est errare, God alone is truth, and every man a liar, the best of us all is subject unto error: when as ever since the fall of Adam, there were four things, Four things imposed on Adam, and on all his seed, for his transgression. saith Beda, most justly imposed upon all his seed for his unjust transgression; 1. Ignorance. 2. Impotence. 3. Concupiscence. 4. Malice. For the healing of which four maladies, the second Adam was made unto us, as the Apostle saith, 1. Wisdom. 2. Righteousness. 3. Sanctification. 1 Cor. 1.20. 4. Redemption. Therefore, seeing ignorance is incident unto all men; and every man is born blind, every one may well say with the Eunuch, How can I understand without a Teacher, or, Act. 8.31. how can I walk in the right way without a guide? But for a man to put out the light, or for a blind man to refuse a guide, and for an ignorant man to refuse knowledge, this is the condemnation, whereof our Saviour speaketh, That light is come into the world, Joh. 3.19. and men love darkness more than light. And yet this was the Epidemical disease of this people, and it hath continued among all Nations to this very day; for, as the Scripture testifieth of the ungodly, Noluerunt intelligere ut bene agerent, but they say to God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways! So it is true of too too many; they will not understand the truth, that they might do right; they will not hear the true Preachers: Job. 21.14. 2 Chr. 18.7. but as the King of Israel would not hear Micaiah, but hated him; so will not many men harken to the true Prophets, but they will do, as Ahab said he did to Micaiah, hate them; and as the Jews dealt with the teachers of Gods true worship, that is, stone the Prophets and kill them that were sent unto them; as Samuel was rejected, Esay sawed in pieces, Jeremy thrown to a filthy dungeon, Zachary the son of Jeh●ida was stoned with stones, even in the court of the House of the Lord; Micheas thrown down by Joram to break his neck, because he rebuked him for the sins of his fathers; Amos killed with a club, Ezechiel slain, Urias the son of Semeiah for Prophesying against Jerusalem was killed by Joakim; Jer. 26.23 Elias. persecuted and threatened to be killed by Jezabel; and the spirit of God demandeth of the Jews, Act. 7.52. Which of the Prophets had not their fathers persecuted? Even so do many men in many places, and in most countries', use the true Preachers and teachers of Gods true worship, and the repairers of their errors, in these very days; and if the true Preachers say, with this Prophet, Jer. 6.16. Ask for the old paths, where is the good way and walk therein, and you shall find rest for your souls. I am afraid, our people will answer with the words of this people, and say, We will not walk therein. But to proceed, to show unto you the do of this people; the Prophet tells us, they have not only rejected the true Prophets, and refused the bright shining light of the truth, and right service of God, offered unto them by the legitimate messengers of God; but, as our Prophet speaketh, they have committed two evils, 1. Jer. 32.33. & chap. 7.25. They have forsaken the Fountain of living waters. 2. They have hewed them out Cisterns, even broken Cisterns, that can hold no water. And these two evils do commonly go together: to silence and deprive the old and true Preachers, and to advance and magnify the young novices, that are fit to be taught then to teach; yea, to forsake God, and then to adore the Calf; to throw away the service of the Lord, and then to set up the service of Baal; to persecute the true Prophets, and then to magnify the false teachers; 400 of them must be royally fed on Jezabels' table, when she would not entertain one true Prophet. 1 King. 18.19. And when, as the Prophet saith, corruit in platea veritas, truth is fallen, and shall be trodden down, as mire in the streets; then lies and falsehoods, errors and heresies, and all blasphemies shall be generally apprehended, and the broachers thereof, not worthy the name of Preachers, shall be liberally maintained, as they were by Queen Jezabel, and are now by our Parliament-governours' in every place. Therefore, though the Prophet saith, It was a wonderful and a horrible thing, Jer. 5.30. that the Prophets should Prophecy falsely; yet, I think it was a greater wonder for the people to love to have it so, to hire them so dearly, and maintain them so bountifully, for Prophesying falsely, and teaching lies unto them: For, if Ahab and Jezabel had not magnified, and so bountifully maintained those false Prophets, and the people had not loved to hear them Prophesying lies and falsehoods unto them; it is like enough, they would not have been so ready to broach so many errors, and heresies unto them. But what wonder is it for men to wander, when they love to wander; and to err, when they desire to err, for, as Theognis saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. So we may as truly say, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. For, as another saith, Quisquis amat ranam, ranam putat esse Dianam. He that loves a Blackamoor thinks her to be as fair as Venus; he that loves an Idol, makes it his good god; and he that loves lies, errors, and heresies, embraceth them for divine verities. But is it not a wonderful, and a horrible thing, that men endued with reason and understanding, and men that pretend and seem to be wise and religious, should notwithstanding be so brutish and sottish, as to love to wander, and love to be deceived and guided out of the service of God, to follow after the vain fancies of the false Prophets? Yet you see our Prophet tells us, it is so with this people, Why the people love to follow their false teachers, rather than the true Preachers. and you shall find it so with many more: for as the wicked love the world, better than the godly do love the Lord; so the Schismatic and Heretic, the Quaker, the Anabaptist, the Presbyterians, the Independants, and the Papists, are more ready to maintain, and more affectionate in their love to the false teachers, than the true Protestants are, to relieve the true and faithful Preachers. And the reason hereof is twofold. 1. Because the false Prophets are more sedulous to gain Proselytes, Reason. 1 then the true Preachers are to make Christians; for so our Saviour tells us, that while the husbandman slept, the envious man sowed tares; Matth. 13.25. and while the faithful disciples slumbered, the traitor Judas was very watchful, and ran from Christ to the high Priests, and from them back again into the garden, and never rested until he had finished his intended treason, and delivered the King of heaven into the hands of his own sinful subjects, to be crucified. And the second reason of this their more eager desire, Reason. 2 and more earnest love to error, then love to truth, is; because, as our Saviour saith, The children of this world are wiser in their generation, than the children of light: For though, as our Prophet saith, This people were foolish and sottish children, that had no understanding to do good, yet they were wise to do evil; Je. 4.22. And so are all the children of this world; and that makes them more secret in their plots, more studious in their do, and more subtle in all their actions, then are the children of God: and when they have done any foul fact, and committed some great offence, then, as the Tragedian saith, Scelera sceleribus tuenda, their horrible acts are upheld by far more horrible projects; and as thiefs, to conceal their robberies, do commit murder; and liars, to justify their lies, will forswear themselves; so will all wicked men uphold, and maintain their wickedesse by greater wickedness: and as Medea saith, Quae scelere pacta est, scelere rumpatur fides, the covenant which they have wickedly made, they will as wickedly break, and the faith which they have deceitfully given, they will as readily frustrate. And thus, as Demodicus said of the Milesians, that they were no fools, but they did the very same things that fools did; so the wicked politicians, and the hypocritical Saints of this world, they are no Jews, but they do the very same things that those Jews did; they wander and err from the truth, because they love to wander. And I would to God we would take as much pains to go to heaven, as they do to run to hell; and that we would as zealously love the true service of God, as they love to wander from this right worship of God. 3. For the manner of their do, it is set down in the word, thus, 3 The manner of their do or after this sort; and it is likewise employed in this word, wanders; for he that wanders, stands not still; but still goeth on from the thickets unto the briers, and from the briers unto the bogs; and so from one error unto another. So you see we are here in a wilderness, where this people went astray, and I must follow them with the best Method I can to declare unto you their wand'ring courses: but as Moses sets down only their principal stations; and not every step, that they made in the wilderness of Sinai; so will I follow his example, and show you only their principal aberrations in the wilderness of sin: and because their sin is morbus complicatus, a twisted and a decompound wickedness, containing many several branches; I will rank them into these three heads. 1. Their aberrations, principally consisted in three things. Their abuse of God's service. 2. Their rebellion against their Governors. 3. Their injuries unto their neighbours. The which threefold sin, is circulus diaboli, the very circle of the devil, wherein he driveth the wicked to run their round. 1. 1 The abuse of God's service. Their abuse of God's service was in their idolatry and idolatrous worship of God; for so the Prophet saith, According to the number of thy Cities, were thy gods, O Juda, and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem, Jer. 11.13. have ye set up altars to that shameful thing. Where you may observe, That, as there is but one God, so this God should be served in every City, and in every street of every city: and, as God is the same in every place, That the same God should have the same worship in all places. in every city, and in every street of the city; so should his service be the same in every place. And to that end, the Lord gave unto his people the same Law, the same Sacraments, and the same Gospel, that the same God might have the same worship in all places, and that his people might believe the same faith, use the same prayer, receive the same Sacraments, and do the same public service unto God in every City, and in every place; that so they might attain unto the same end, which is the kingdom of heaven. And therefore the Reverend Bishops, and Governors of God's Church, were so careful herein, to preserve the unity of the Church, and the uniformity of God's service, that they prescribed the same prayers, the same Psalms, The set form of prayers and service of God, justified 1. By the people of God. the same Chapters, and the same Service, to be used in all Churches, that all the world might know, we worship the same God; And to justify this their practice, of a set form of Prayers and Service of God, they have 1. The Precept of God himself, saying unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, saying, On this wise, ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The Lord bless thee, and keep thee; the Lord make his face to shine upon thee, Numb. 6.22. and be gracious unto thee; the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace; and so likewise he prescribeth unto them the very prayer that they should make, and the very words that they should use, both as they went forth, and as they returned home from Battle; for when the Ark set forward, Moses said, Rise up, O Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate thee, flee before thee; And when the Ark rested, Numb. 10.35. he said, Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel: and the Prophet David useth the very same prayer, and the same words saying, Let God arise, Psal. 68.1. and let his enemies be scattered; let them also that hate him, flee before him. 2. 2 By the Precept of Christ. Luke 12.2. They have the Precept of Christ himself, that biddeth us to use that prayer which he taught us saying, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, etc. 3. 3 By the practice of the godly people in the Old Testament. They have the practice of the godly people of the Old Testament, as you may see the very words that they were to use in God's service, when they offered their first fruits, and the very prayer that they were to make in Deut. 26. from the third verse to the tenth, and verse 13. And so the very words that the Priests were to use unto the people when they came nigh unto the battle; as you may see in Deut. 20.3. And the godly King Hezechias made certain Psalms, after his recovery from his sickness; and saith, We will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord; Esay 38.20. and when he reform the service of God, that the people had neglected, and the wicked Kings had corrupted, he prescribed a set form of God's worship, and commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord; not as every simple Priest, 2 Chro. 29 30. or silly Levite pleased, but with the words of David and Asaph the Seer. And Mr. Selden in his Notes upon Eutychius showeth, Selden in Eutych. pag. 41. dist. ad pagin. 25. that since Ezra's time, when after their return from Babylon, the true Service of God was restored, the Jews constantly used a set form of God's worship in all their Synagogues; every Synagogue using the same Service. 4. They have the practice of all the Saints under the New Testament: 4 By the practice of all the Saints, under the New Testament. Luke 11.1. Matth, 26.44. Psal. 22.1. as 1. Of John Baptist that taught his disciples a Set form of serving God, and a set form of Prayer. 2 Of Christ himself, that used the same form of prayer, and repeated the same words three times together, and commanded us to do the like; and when he was upon the Cross, he used the very words of the Psalmist, changing only the Hebrew phrase into the Syriack Dialect. 3. Of the Primitive Church, as the Lyturgy of Saint James, Saint Basil, S. Chrysostom, and the short Form of serving God, which Saint Peter left at Rome, and the other, which Saint Mark left at Alexandria, do sufficiently testify 4, Of the whole Catholic Church, as it appeareth out of Cassander, and other Writers of the Lyturgica. And Therefore the religious Emperor Constantine, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Euseb. de vità Const. l. 4 c 17. rendered Set Forms of prayers unto the Christians, saith Eusebius; and his Nobles used 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Prayers that the Emperor liked; and they were all brought 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to pray the same prayer; yea he prescribed a Set Form of Service for his soldiers, Idem l. 4. c. 20. as the same Eusebius testifieth. And Saint August. saith, that Sursum corda, lift up your hearts, are words ab ipsis Apostolorum temporibus petita, used in the Church of Christ even from the very times of the Apostles, and are agreeable to the Constitutions of the Apostles. L. 8. c. 16. 5. They have the practice of the Heathens that were so wise herein, 5 By the practice of the heathens. Plato de legibus. l. 7. Alexand, ab● Alexand. l. 4. c. 17. Why the Gentiles used the same set prayers in their service. as to use the same Service to every false god, as both Plato and Alexander ab Alexandro, do bear witness; and they caused their prayers to be read out of a Book. 1. That so the people might learn to repeat the same Prayers with the Priest, when the same Prayers are constantly used in God's service, which they shall never be able to do, when they shall have a new Prayer, and a new Service upon every new day. 2. Their Prayers were prescribed and read, lest the simple and ignorant Priest should ask of God any evil thing, that should not be asked; and 3. Ne quid preposterè dicatur, their Petitions were set down, in verbis conceptis, as we use to send messages to great persons, in these, and these very words, lest we should offend either in the matter, or in the manner; in the thing requested, or in the words wherein we have requested it. Out of all which you may perceive how necessary it was for the Governors of God's Church, to see that the same God should have the same Service; and that very Service which himself prescribeth, and not what new Prayers and new worship, in what Form, and under what words soever, every ignorant Priest should extemporarily pour forth to the Almighty God: For if we ought to be very careful to keep our feet, when we go to the house of God, Eccles. 5.1. then how much more careful aught we to be, to keep our mouths, and look to our words, which we come to speak in the presence of God. And yet you hear what our Prophet saith of this people, that according to the number of their Cities, were their gods; and, according to their streets, so were their altars, that is, new gods, and a new Service of God, in every City, and in every street; go to this street, and to this Church, and you shall have such Prayers, and such Chapters, and such a Service used unto the people; but go to that other street, and to that other Synagogue of Jerusalem, and you shall have another Altar set up, another Sacrifice, and another Service, as if they served another god. Such was the deplorable condition of the Jews; and I only wish, it may not so be amongst us. 2. 2 How this people rebelled, and always resisted their Kings, & their subordinate Magistrates. Their Rebellion against their Governors, is the second branch of their deviation; and this did ever accompany their abuse of God's service; for, the King, that is the Supreme Governor under God, is Custos utrinsque tabulae, The keeper of God Laws, and to have a care that God should be rightly served; therefore, they that will serve God, as they list, will never obey their King, nor submit themselves to his under-Governours as they ought; for while the highest wheel of the Clock is put out of temper, and thrust out of place, all the rest must be disordered. And therefore, as this people were most prone to Idolatry, and most greedily desirous of changes, and new forms of God's Service; So were they most frequent in their disobedience unto their lawful Governors; as you may see how often they murmured against Moses, against the sons of Gedeon, against Samuel, and David, and Solomon, and Rehoboam, and almost against all the rest of the succeeding Kings, even to Zedechias, that governed them at this time, when our Prophet lived; and was so terrified, and domineered over by his Nobles and Princes, that he could do just nothing, either for the Service of God, or the protection of God's Servants. For they said, We have no King, because we fear not the Lord, what then should a King do to us? Just as I told you, Hos. 10.3. No regard to God's service, and to obey his Precepts, no obedience to their King, and his under-Magistrates. And yet, Chap. 8. v. 4. if you look but two Chapters before, the Prophet tells us, the Lord saith, They have set up Kings, but not by me; and they have made Princes, and I knew it not: as now we have done, set up those for Kings, that God never set up. Where you may observe, what the Lord utterly disliketh in this people, and what they principally desired; for he blames them for rejecting the Monarchical Government, Chap. 10.3. and saying, We have no King, or, What shall we do with a King, or a Monarch? We cannot endure that any one man should rule and govern us. Chap. 8.4. And then you see how (Chapter 8.4.) he blames them a great deal more, for affecting the Aristocratical Government, and making many Kings and Princes to govern the people; which is the greatest plague that can happen to any people; and which none but the Tribe of Issachar would suffer to rule over them. And therefore I say, these Dominions are herein infinitely obliged to his Highness the Lord Protector, for dissolving, and disabling those many Kings and Princes, that tyrannised, or were such Tyrants over us, and reducing our Government again, to be as it is, most acceptable unto God, and most excellent among men, Monarchical, under the Rule of one supreme Governor. And we should all be doubly obliged to his Highness, if God should put it into his heart, and he submit himself to Gods will, for his own honour, which he might gain thereby, and for the tranquillity and happiness of all the people of these Kingdoms, to bring, and settle our Government, which I believe he might easily do, in the right Line, and on the right Heir, which God and Nature have designed for it. For, When God hath designed a King, to be the Governor over his people, as he did Moses and David, over the Israelites, and other Kings successively over his people, how odious and how abominable is disobedience to any of those Kings in the fight of God, you may easily perceive, if you mark how God seems to be more angry with the contestation and rebellion of Corah and his confederates against Moses, and of Absolom against David, and of this people against Z●dechia, than he was for the Idolatry and impiety they committed against himself; for if you weigh the haynousness of the sin by the severity of the punishment, which is the only balance that we can judge by, you shall find, that Absoloms' rebellion against his King, 2 Sam. 18.14. that was his Governor, was more severely punished, than his Idolatry, 2 Sam. 18.18. or any other his impiety against God. And lest you should deny Absolom to have committed any idolatry, by that Pillar which he reared in the King's dale, you may see, that the first and greatest Idolatry of the Israelites, when they worshipped their golden Calf, was punished, but with the death of about 3000. men; Exod. 32.28. and yet when they disobeyed Moses, and rebelled against him, and it was but a privative rebellion, no taking up of arms, no plotting of his death, but the very embryo of a rebellion, and the beginning of disobedience, Numb. 16.49. We will not come at thee; there died in the plague, fourteen thousand and seven hundred men; besides them that died about the matter of Corah, How severely God punisheth the rebellious, and disobedient people. which were no less than two hundred and fifty men. For God having appointed the Emperor or King, to be the Sovereign Magistrate, and commanded him to be the Governor of his people, and to have a special care of his Worship, and to be the Defender of the Faith of Christ, What can this Governor do, to uphold the Faith, and to hinder the service of God to fail and to fall to the ground, when the people disobey him, and refuse to be ruled by him, and spurn against him? as our people have done against our King. And therefore, though this disobedience to the Magistrate, and rebellion against our King, that is Chief Governor, in itself, if you consider the object of either sin, is not equivalent, nor so heinous, as Idolatry; yet, Why God is so angry with them that rebel against their Kings. because Government is sustentaculum, the prop and stay of the true Religion, and disobedience, against our lawful Governors, hath always produced the corruption of God's true Service, as you may see in the rebellion of Jeroboam, who no sooner fell from his obedience to his King, but he presently fell from his duty to his God, and corrupted his Service with gross Idolatry; Therefore is God so extremely angry, and doth so severely punish the rebellion and disobedience of the people, as here, because Zedechia was not suffered by these stubborn and disobedient people, to follow the advice of this our Prophet; therefore they were all delivered into seventy years' Captivity. And as the Lord is extreme angry with those rebellious people, that disobey and labour to displace the Kings and Governors that he sets over them; So he showeth abundance of his love and kindness to them, that submit themselves to his ordinance, and behave themselves dutifully and loyally towards those Kings whatsoever they be, that God placeth over them; as you may see it in the whole course and Story of King David and Saul: for as he was the most dutiful and most faithful subject, that ever we read of; so God was pleased to raise him to be the best King that ever reigned over Israel; for, his King, and his Governor was Saul, the very first of that Order among the Jews; and he was an hypocrite, a persecutor, a murderer, a tyrant, and a mad man; yet when David, whose life he thirsted after, had him at his mercy, and could as easily have taken off his head, as to cut off the lap of his garment, he said, The Lord forbidden, 1 Sam. 24.6. that I should do this thing unto my Master, the Lords Anointed, to stretch forth my hand against him; and his heart smote him, because he had cut off his skirt. And when he had him again in the like trap, he said unto Abner, Art not thou a valiant man, and who is like thee in Israel? wherefore then hast thou not kept thy Lord the King? this thing is not good, that thou hast done; As the Lord liveth, you are worthy to die, because you have not kept your Master, the Lords Anointed, and his oath; As the Lord liveth, showeth, 1 Sam. 26.16. that he spoke it in good earnest, and jested not. And if they be worthy to die, that defend not, and protect not, such a wicked King, especially in going about so vile an action, as the murdering of so good a man, and so dutiful a subject as David was; then what shall become of them, and what are they worthy of, that murmur, and grudge, and plot against the life of such a ●ood King, as maintained peace and justice amongst his people, and offered no special injury to any particular man of us all? Surely, if I had the wisdom of Solomon, and the eloquence of Demosthenes, I were not able to express the odiousness of their sin, that conspired against the person, and proceed of such a King, as is inoffensive before God, and all good men. But to go on to show unto you, how faithful this good subject was to this bad King, when the young man, that was an Amalekite, and none of Saul or David's subjects, came of his own accord, to bring tidings unto David of saul's death, and of the good service, that he thought he had done unto Saul, at his own request, to put him out of his pain; David presently caused him to be put to death; 2 Sam. 1.15. because he durst presume to offer any violence, though that violence seemed to be a favour, unto the Ruler of the people, whom we are straightly forbidden to revile, Exod. 22.28. or to speak evil of him. So dutiful and so loyal, a subject was David, to so evil a Governor, and so wicked a King as Saul. And this his loyalty and fidelity unto Saul, was one of the chiefest virtues that we find commendable in him, before God had, according to his fidelity to his King, raised him to the Rule and Government of his people. And I wish that all, and every one of us, would strive and study to imitate this good man in our obedience, fidelity, and loyalty, to our King and Governors, that God hath placed over us. But here, it may be, some troubled and discontented spirit will say; I could willingly yield all due respect and obedience unto our Kings and Governors, could I be satisfied, that God appointed them to be the Kings and Governors of his people; Jeremy 23.21. but as the Lord saith of the false Prophets, They run and I sent them not; So he saith, They have set up Kings, but not by me, Hosea 8.4. and they have made Princes, and I knew it not: And, should we be obedient and faithful to such Kings and Governors, that ambitiously set up themselves, and are not righteously set up by God? To these men, that stumble at this block, I answer, 1. That the Prophet speaketh there, as I shown to you before, not of any Sovereign Monarch, but of the Aristocratical government of many men, that will all be as Kings and Princes, ruling and domineering over the people; for so you see, the Prophet speaks in the plural number, of many Kings, that in all the whole Scripture, you shall never find, to be either appointed or approved by God to be the Governors of his people; for indeed those many Kings and Governors of equal authority, are none of God's Governors, neither are they set up by God, nor, as I find, approved by God, in any place of all the Scripture: But as God is One, and the only Monarch of all the World; so he ever appoints one Monarch only, to be his Deputy, to govern the people or nation that he committeth under his charge. 2. I say, that this Monarch and Governor, whom God raiseth to govern his people, attaineth unto his Throne and right of Government, even by the ordination of God, divers ways: as 1. Sometimes by Birth, which is the most usual, best, and surest way, and most agreeable to Gods will. 2. Sometimes by Choice, and the election of the people; as Herodotus saith, the Medes chose Deioces, to be their King; and the Princes of Germany, now choose their Emperor, and they commonly choose him that is by Birth the eldest son of the deceased King. 3. Sometimes by the power of the Sword, as God gave the Monarchy of the Medes unto Cyrus, and the Kingdom of Darius, and of many others unto Alexander, and the Empire of the Romans unto Augustus; and many other Kingdoms unto others, that had no other right unto their Dominions, but what they purchased with the edge of their Sword. Which right, though it be nothing else but Usurpation and Intrusion, in these ambitious hunters after rule and dominion; yet notwithstanding, it must needs be a very good right, as the same cometh from the just God, who is the God of war, and giveth the victory unto Kings, when as the Poet saith, — Victrix causa diis placuit. And he having the right and power Paramount, to translate the rule, and transfer the dominion of his people to whom he will; he hath oftentimes, for their sins, thrown down the mighty from their seat, and translated the government of his people unto others; whom some ways he thought fit to effect his Divine will; as, he did give the Kingdom of Saul unto David, and of Belshazzers unto Cyrus, and the like. 4. Sometimes by the wit wisdom and policy either of themselves or of their friends, as Darius, by the policy of his horsekeeper, Justin. l. 1. versus finem. attained to the Kingdom of Persia, as Justin writeth. 5. Sometimes by the Sword or Policy, and by the choice and election of the people together: as David, 2 Sam. 2.4. & chap. 4.1. both by warring against Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and by the choice and election of the men of Judah, attained to the government of the Kingdom of Israel; and so many others, when either by their wisdom or valour they prevailed against their opposers, were elected and confirmed by the people, as were William the Conqueror, and Henry the 7. in this Kingdom. And which way soever of these ways, or any other way, the Lord God setteth up a Prince to rule and govern his people, or suffereth the God of this world to set up an Usurper, and a wicked Tyrant, to domineer over them; it is not safe nor wisdom for the people, so long as that Usurper hath the commanding power, and the generality of the people weak and unarmed, tumultuously and undiscreetly to disobey such commands as may, without offending God, be lawfully performed; but as the high Priest Jehoida, and the people in the time of Athalia, did most patiently endure that Usurpation, until, in a fit opportunity, God gave them strength and power to shake off that yoke, so should we and all other people do in the like case; and not to stir, before a fit time, to undo ourselves, and to do no good. And therefore, as our Saviour Christ, when the young man came unto him, and said, Bid my brother to divide the inheritance betwixt him and me: Answered, Who made me a Judge, of these temporal things, or a divider over you? Luk. 12.14. for mine office and calling is, to save your souls, and not to divide your lands; So should every one of us say, in such desperate times as these, Who hath made me a Judge to determine, whom God hath been pleased to make the governor of his people, or to inquire what interest the governor hath, or by what means he came to that interest, in his government? For my duty is, not to rebel, but in all things, to study to be quiet; And our lawyers say, this Doctrine is agreeable to the laws of our Land: that say, Possessio Coronae tollit omnes defectus, and requireth all obedience unto the present powerful governor; and they tell you, how an Act of Parliament confirmed this truth in Henry the 7, for the adherents of Richard the 3. And in such a case, and at such times, of a powerful Usurpation; it seems, that our good God will excuse us, for our passive, unwi●●ing and inoffensive obedience, when we cannot possibly do otherwise. 1. Because the Prophet tells us plainly, that the most high God, beareth rule over the Kingdom of men, and he appoineth over it, whomsoever be pleaseth; Dan. 4.14. and he placeth them over it, which way soever he pleaseth, unknowen, and perhaps unlikely in our eyes, and it may be, unjust in our judgement; yet, most just to him and in his sight; because his ways are not as our ways, nor his thoughts as our thoughts; but his ways are in the Seas, his paths in the great waters, and his footsteps are not known. 2. Because Christ himself, by his own example hath taught us to yield this obedience to our governors; whosoever they be, and whatsoever they be, good or bad, and which waysoever they came into their government; by the true and lawful right of Succession, or the unjust and powerful Usurpation; For when the Jews, that thought the Romans, especially Tiberius that was but the second Emperor, after that Julius Caesar took the government from the Senate, had no right in the Kingdom of Jury, came unto him, and asked, If it was lawful to pay tribute unto Caesar; he doth not say, He was an Alien, and Usurper, and a Tyrant, the which things as I conceive, were all true; but leaving him as he was, and no ways meddling with his right or interest, Math. 22.21. he bids them Give unto Caesar, what was Caesar's, and to God, what was Gods. So when he stood to be judged before Pilate, and before Herod, he said to neither of them, that they had no right unto their government, nor any lawful Authority over him; but he tells Pilate, that He could have no power at all, except it were given him from above; whereby he showeth that Pilat's power, Joh. 19.11. over the Jews, by whomsoever, or by what means soever he came to it among men, was notwithstanding a power given to him, and a government committed to him, by God. 3. Because the Apostles of our Saviour Christ, and the Fathers of the primitive Church, did all of them teach the same Doctrine of such obedience, as I shown, unto the present powerful governors, & never intimated unto the people, that they should either foolishly revolt or simply conspire against the powerful present Ruler, be he what he will, either Tyrant, or Usurper; for, though Nero was such a monster of men, as that infamous libel publicly written of him, doth declare, Quis neget Aeneae magna de stirpe Neronem? Sustulit hic matrem, sustulit ille patrem. Who can deny, of great AEnea our Nero sprang to be That rid his Mother of her life, as Sire from fire did he? Yet S. Paul never questioning what he was, good or bad, nor by what right he came to be the Emperor, to go vern all the Provinces, by the subtlety of Agrippina, as the Historians testify; but considering that, as Daniel saith, God placeth whom he will, and which ways he will, and for what time he will, upon the Throne of Supreme Majesty, He exhorteth every soul therefore cordially, and not hypocritically, to be subject to the highest power; and he showeth the reason why they should do so, videlicet because there is no power but from God; Rom. 13.1. 1 Pet. 2.13. and the powers that are, are ordained by God; and S. Peter confirmeth the same Doctrine. And so, according to this example of Christ, and these instructions of his Holy Apostles, all the Martyrs, and all the Holy Fathers of the primitive Church, never resisted, but were always dutiful and obedient in all things, so far as the Law of God gave them leave, to the worst, the most Tyrannical, and greatest Usurpers, of all the Emperors, as well as to the best; they never examined what they were, nor how they came unto their government, but whom they found to possess the Imperial Robes, to have the Crown on his head, and the Sceptre and Sword in his hand; to him they readily yielded their inoffensive obedience, and served him in his wars against his enemies, as they did unto Nero, Domitian, Decius, Dioclesian, Julian, Phocas, and others; whereof some were unlawful, some unjust, and some ungodly and most wicked Usurping Emperors. For they wisely considered, that if the war was unjust; yet, as S. Augustine saith, Aug. contra Manich. Reum facit regem iniquitas imperandi, & innocentem militem ostendit ordo serviend; the iniquity of commanding makes the commander guilty, and the order or duty of serving showeth the Soldier to be innocent; because that being commanded, he may not refuse, and he must not resist, nor lift up his hand against his Governor, but tolerate whatsoever is inflicted upon him, unless he can by a fair and lawful means prevent it; because it is far better to be a Martyr, than a Traitor; and, as the Prophet saith, Obedience is better than Sacrifice, and Rebellion it is as the sin of Witchcraft. And if the Apostles and Martyrs, and the Primitive Christians were thus dutiful, obedient and loyal subjects, to such Tyrants and Usurpers, and Persecutors, as the aforesaid wicked Governors were; how much more dutiful, and obedient, (and thankful to God for him) ought we to have been to such a loving, mild, and godly Christian King, as wronged none of us, but did preserve peace in these dominions, and upheld Justice and Judgement among us, until that Antichristian long-Parliament rebelled against him? And so the premises being well considered, to the boiling spirits of discontented persons, that distaste all meats, that suit not with their palates, and have not the patience to tarry God's leisure, and to espic a convenient opportunity to do the work that is just, and aught to be done in its due time; but will inconsiderately, and unseasonably, like Brutus and Cassius, attempt to do good service vuto the Commonwealth, by taking the usurper out of the way; I say their intention is very good, and their desire most laudable: yet, lest with Brutus and Cassius, they disturb the Common wealth, and lose their own wealth, and destroy themselves by their unseasonable prosecution of their commendable design; I would advise them, and all of their mind, in all places where such Usurpations are maintained, to follow the example of Jehoiada, to watch their opportunity, and then to do it throughly, and not to fail; which, as I conceive, is both a just, and a wholesome counsel. But this people, whereof this our Prophet speaketh, murmured, and spurned, and, like our Parliament, rebelled and kicked, not against an Usurper (which had been commendable in them) but against their own lawful king, which was most displeasing unto God. And therefore these Jews, and all that imitate these Jews, are here justly threatened to be rejected and cast off by God, for their stubborness, 1 Sam. 15.22. disobedience, and rebellion against their lawful King For, as Samuel saith, that obedience is more acceptable to God then sacrifice; so I say, that obedience to our lawful King and his Magistrates, is the best thing that we can do to procure the peace and tranquillity of the Commonwealth. 3. The last branch of their wand'ring from the right way, 3 Branch of their wand'ring threefold. was their injuries and oppressions against their neighbours, and this was threefold. 1. The robbing of their goods. 6 Robbing their neighbour's of their good. Jerem. 22.17. 2. The imprisoning of their persons. 3. The taking away of their lives. 1. The Prophet tells us, the heart of this people was for covetousness, and for oppression, and for violence; they builded their houses by unrighteousness, and their chambers by wrong; C. eode. v, 13. they used their neighbour's service without wages, and gave him not for his work; and this they did, saith the Prophet, that they might build them wide houses, or stately Palaces, V 13. with large chambers, and great windows, cieled with Cedar, and painted with Vermilion; They cared not what wrongs they did to others, so they might get it unto themselves; they had no regard to justice, as you may see it in the 15. and 16. verses; but whatsoever they did to enrich themselves, and from whomsoever they took it, it must be reputed just, and none dare speak against it. And yet the Prophet tells us, that as a Cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceits; Jer. 5.27. and therefore they are become great, and waxed rich; yea, they are waxen fat and shine, and do overpasse the deeds of the wicked. And, Amos 8.6. as the Prophet Amos saith, they bought the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes: So greedy was this people to scrape together the wealth of this world, and had no regard to equity, honesty, or good conscience. And which is more wonderful, from the least of them even to the greatest of them, every one is given to covetousness, and from the Prophet even to the Priest, Jerem. 6.13. Esay 56.1. every one dealeth falsely; and the Prophet Esay calleth them greedy dogs, that could never have enough. And whether any such covetousness and oppression be amongst our men, and especially amongst our Levites in these days, let them that are oppressed with overheavie Taxes, Customs, Excise, etc. judge. I leave it to you that have best experience of these times, to determine; and I will not be the accuser of my brethren; as some Duns Scotus of them, have been of me, though to no purpose. But whether it was the love of Justice to punish us for our sins, or covetousness, to enrich themselves, and their associates, that made our Grandees of late years, to take away the reward of our labours, even of all our labours, from our very youth to our decrepit age; I leave it to the Judge of all the world to detetmine: for they have done it, and he knoweth best, why they did it; only we profess it to all the world, that our consciences cannot tell us of any thing that we have done, to deserve to be deprived of it; And therefore we presume to pray to God, though we tax them not, that the woe which the Prophet denounceth against this people, Jerem. 22.13. for their covetousness, and injustice, may not light upon any of them, that took away the bread out of our mouths, and our children's, and left many of the most painful labourers in God's Vine-yard, to dig, or beg, or starve. 2. 2 Imprisoning their persons. Jerem 5.26. This people laid wait, as he that setteth snares to catch men, (i.e.) they had spies in every corner; and if they found any that spoke any thing against them, or against their covetousness, or injustice, though it were never so true; then, as they did with Jeremy, they would throw him into the dungeon; so Herod did with John Baptist, and with S. Peter, and with the rest of God's Servants, that reproved their injustice, and spoke the truth to them. And do I say, that any of our men in these dayes did so, or doth the like? But, as when the Sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, in the days of Job, Satan came also among them; so I fear, that when the children of God do now come to present themselves in his Church, Satan hath some of his Emissaries amongst them, that come as the Scribes and Pharisees came to hear Christ, not to be instructed by him, that they might be saved, but to catch at some things in his words, that they might accuse him. 3. 3 Taking away their lives Jer. 19.4. c. 22.17. Jer. 2.34. They filled Jerusalem with the blood of innocents', and that which was a great deal worse, even the worst of all, In their skirts was found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents'; which I take to be not only an Hebraism, but also to show unto us, how they sought to destroy both the bodies and the souls of men; and that is, as I conceive, by forcing them, for fear of being undone, and to have all their livelihood taken from them, to forswear themselves, as the Prophet Hosea showeth; they have spoken words, swearing falsely, Hosea 10.4. in making a Covenant; and, shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? For, though they pretended this, out of zeal to God's service; to compel men to such a Form of God's worship, and to profess such and such a Religion, as they conceived best, or else to deprive them of their possessions; yet I find the best Divines protesting, that this is contrary to Gods will, that would have faith wrought in us, by preaching, and not by fight, and Religion settled in us by persuasion, and not by compulsion. For, as Lipsius saith, Lipsius' polit. l. 4. c. 4. The greatest thing that any Prince is able to bring to pass, by his terror, is, to make that he, who doth most of all seem to be obedient, doth in outward show consent, but never in his heart; for as, Lactantius demandeth, Who can compel me, either to believe what I list not, Lactant. l. 5. c. 14. Faith, and Religion, not to be forced. Eccles. hist. l. or not to believe what I will? And therefore, constraint bringeth dissimulation, and not Religion, and maketh Hypocrites, and not Saints, when the constrained persons do worship the power of the constrainer, and not his God: which made King Theodorick to say, That he could not command Religion, because no man could be enforced, to believe against his will: and there is nothing more free than Religion, which the mind no sooner withstandeth, but forthwith it vanisheth, and is no more Religion; saith Lactantius. quò suprà. Hosea. 10.4. And yet these Jews, whereof the Prophet Hosea speaketh, sought with all rigour, to compel men to swear unto their wicked covenant; and thereby, saith our Prophet, Their skirts were filled with the blood of the souls of the poor innocents'; when, to save their estates, they believed their faith, and became such hypocrites before God, for fear of men, as made them most liable to God's heavy judgements; which must needs be no small offence in this people, and in all those, that imitate them herein. But let this wickedness, and the sin of this people, be what it will, it proceeded all from the Assembly of their Divines, and false Prophets; The Assembly of their Divines, the chiefest cause of their wickedness. Jer. 23.13.14, For they caused my people Israel to err, and they strengthened the hands of the evil doers, that none doth return from his wickedness, saith the Prophet. For indeed, we that are the Teachers of the people, are just like Jeremy's Figs, They that were good, were very good, and they that were bad, were very bad: So are we, either the best, or the worst of men; and we either bring men to Christ, or send them to the Antichrist; either make them Saints, or make them Seditious and Heretics; and through our pride, covetousness, and ambition, we lead them, like fools as they are that follow falsehood, into all mischief. And therefore from the King to the peasant, from the highest to the lowest, all men ought to be wary whom they affect, and choose to be their Teachers; For it is most true, that, as the Prophet saith, Like Priest, like people; unless it be, as S. Bernard saith, That now, the Priest is worse than the people. For we know, the Arian Bishops made Constantius an Arian Emperor; and the false Prophets, made Ahab and Jezabel so zealously affected to the service of Baal. So the Anabaptistical Priests, make their followers Anabaptists, and the popish Priests make Papists. And therefore all great men, Kings, Princes, and Governors, aught to have a special care, to choose Orthodoxal men to be their Chaplains, and all men ought to have the like care, to follow the Doctrine of the true Preachers, and to be as willing to hear the Orthodox and true Preachers, as the Heterodox and false Prophets. For if Ahab and Jezabel, would have harkened to Micaiah as well as they did to the Prophets of Baal, it is very likely Baal had not been so much worshipped, nor the true Service of God so much neglected. But S. Gregory l. 4. Epist. 38. saith most truly, Rex superbiae prope est, &, quod dici nefas, sacerdotum ei praeparatur exercitus. And herein this City, and this Kingdom, is now very happy, that God hath sent them so Religious, and so Noble a King, as doth favour and countenance the true Protestants, and is not apt, to believe the aspersions, that the false brethren are so ready to cast upon them. But to proceed, to show to you, how this great wickedness of the people proceeded from the Priests; our Prophet saith, That from the Prophets of Jerusalem (which was in Judea, as London in England, and Dublin in Ireland, Lishon in Portugal, and Paris in France, the chiefest City of the Kingdom) is profaneness gone forth into all the land; Jer. 23.25. that is, they of the Head-City were the cause that all the other Cities of the whole Kingdom do so prephanely, The Head-City is the Leader of all the other 〈◊〉 of the Kingdom. and so irreverently serve the Lord. And therefore the Prophets of the Metropolis, aught to be very careful and circumspect, what example they give to other Cities. And this our Prophet further showeth, How this great mischief, of profaneness, covetousness, injustice, and all other wickedness, happened to become so general among this people; and that was, When the unity of the Clergy, and uniformity of God's service, was divided into many Sects, and different sorts of serving God; Jer. 12.10. for, many Pastors have destroyed my vineyard, saith the Prophet: not because they were many, had they been all of one mind; but because they were of many different minds; as were the Scribes Pharisees, Sadduces, Herodians, Esseni, and many other inferior Sects among the Jews; as now Presbyterians, Independants, Anabaptists, Papists, Quakers, Dippers, and many Sects and Factions are among us: when the Church of God that should be, tanquam Acies ordinata, like a wellordered Army, as Solomon saith, (i.e.) governed by the General, and his subordinate Officers, and not be commanded by a multitude of unequal, and all dissenting Commanders, shall be instructed by a company of disagreeing Preachers; whereof most of them shall be like Jeroboam's Priests, and each one of them an Independent, to command in Chief, to gather a Church for himself, whereof no man else shall have any interest from them; and then only God's pleasant portion as the Prophet calleth the Church, Jer. 12.10. Chap. 4.26. becomes a desolate wilderness, that brings nothing but thorns and briers, errors, heresies, and all wickedness. And therefore questionless, great is the account that these Prophets have to answer for, at the last Day; not only for their own sins, which they never look into, but do reprove others for their covetousness, and are more covetous themselves; and do most eagerly inveigh against the pride, hatred, and malice of the people, and never look into their own pride, nor consider of their own fouler faults, but especially for those sins also, which either by their evil example, or their false Doctrine, they are the cause thereof in the people. But will you hear what the Lord saith of this assembly of false Prophets, or these many Pastors, that by their discord, and dissenting from their Governors, Jeremy 23.21. Chap. 27.14. Chap. 29.8. Chap. 12.6. Chap. 14.14. destroy the Church. I have not sent these Prophets, yet they run; therefore thus saith the Lord, Harken not unto them; and though they speak fair words, yet believe them not. And so Moses, and our Saviour Christ do give the same counsel unto us, that we should neither believe them, nor hearken unto the smooth words of the false Prophets; for if the people did not love to hear them, and so love to be deceived by them, they would not be so ready to prophesy lies, errors, and falsehoods unto them. And therefore I could wish, the people would follow the counsel of Christ, and our Prophet, not to hearken unto the Sermons of those Prophets, that God professeth, he hath not sent them. And so you have heard, 1. How this people wandered. And now resteth, 2. How they loved to wander. And now resteth, 3. The manner of their wandering. And now resteth, 4. 4 Their haste or greediness to proceed in their wickedness. The last thing considerable in the do of this people is, their haste and greediness to preceded in their wicked ways; for they refrained not their feet; but as the Prophet David saith, Their feet were swift to shed blood, and they would have no delays in their deal, but cried out with the Poet, — semper nocuit differre paratis. Lucan. Nothing is so dangerous in great affairs, as to lie linger about the matter; therefore our Saviour saith to Judas, Quod facis, fac citò: and when he bade his disciples go to Preach the Gospel, he bids them to salute no man by the way, not that he disliked and prohibited civil respects, and courteous salutations, as, Good morrow, God be with you, or, God speed you, and the like: But that they should not stay complementing, and neglect the great and weighty business that they were sent about, to Preach the Gospel of God. And so the wicked, having a greater desire to do evil, than the godly have to do good, do make all the haste they can, to bring their work to pass, and to effect all their projects: and they are very active, and very nimble in all their actions; I remember Horace speaks of Lucilius that, — in hora saepe ducentos Horatius Serm. l. 1. p. 212. magnum, versus dictabat, stans pede in uno; He would pour out two hundred verses in an hour; but in his book De arte Poetica, he reprehendeth the verse, — quod non Idem de arte; Poet. p. 369. Multa dies & multa litura coercuit, atque Perfectum decies non castigavit ad unguem. which had not taken up many days, and undergon a ten fold correction, Our new Preachers can pour forth their sermons as fast as Lucilius his verses. before it came to be perfect. For you know the old proverb, Canis festinans caecos parit catulos, the hasty bitch bringeth forth blind whelps: and it is the soft fire that maketh the sweet malt; and therefore, as the faithful Christian, Qui crediderit, non festinabit, will not presently believe all that he heareth, when, as Solomon saith, Sultus credit omni verb●, he is a fool that believes every word he heareth: but the wise Christian, with the noble men of Beroea, will examine and search what things are true, Act. 17.11. and what are not; so the wise and careful Preacher cannot pour forth his Sermons as fast as Lucilius could do his verses, or as our Enthusiasts, that speak all by the spirit, which teacheth them in illa hora, in that instant, what they should say: so that they do far exceed those, whereof Bosquierus speaketh, Septennes pueri concionantur in Ordine Francisci: quarta naufragii tabula, in dominica post Pentecost. pag. 241. that at seven years old, What children could do in the order of S. Francis. they could Preach in the order of S. Francis; but the true Preachers think, they ought to be more careful to correct, and weigh every word of their Sermons, before they Preach them than the Poet ought to correct his Verses, when as the Prophet flatly pronounceth, Cursed is he that doth the work of the Lord negligently: for the negligent Preachers, make negligent hearers; and that must needs be negligence when they do so hastily pour forth, quicquid in buccam venerit, what comes first into their mouth. And yet, as the children of Israel would not stay for Moses, his coming down from the mount, though he was all that while preparing and providing good laws, and instructions for them, but they must presently change their good God for a golden Calf, and as Jeroboam after his revolt from the house of David, and his dislike to the true service of God, in the Temple of Solomon, must presently frame a new Religion; So must all Innovators and all other transgressors speedily, without any consultation, either with God or good men, overthrew what they dislike, and establish what they please; as in former times, I will not say of late, we have had most woeful experience of this hasty ruinating of the Orthodox Doctrine, and erecting the heterodox; and the sudden plucking down, in an hour, what had stood one hundred years; and the sudden setting up of things, like J●nah's gourd, which perhaps should fall under the like fate, as being but the emblem of such fiery Prophets. But the words are yet more Emphatical than this making haste to proceed in their evil do; The wicked cannot endure to be hindered to destroy themselves. because they not only made haste, speedily to finish all their evil-begun work; but, They refrained not their feet, saith the Prophet, that is, they could not endure any remora, or any means that might hinder their own hasty destruction: but, as Jeroboam was enraged against the man of God, and Ahab against Elias, because they sought to preserve them from ruin; so were this people mad against Jeromy, and cast him into the dungeon, and adjudged him to be put to death; because he sought to stop them in their Peg●sine race unto their own destruction. And therefore, seeing they were so impatient to be reproved, and so violent against them that sought their preservation, there was no means used to prevent and hinder their evil deeds, and the progress of their transgressions; for, as our Prophet showeth, 1 Their Prophets and Preachers flattered them, 1 Their Preachers were flatterers. and reproved not their wicked ways; but they sowed pillows under their elbows, & so, strengthened them in their wickedness. And those other Prophets, that did not flatter them, yet were they silent for fear of them, following the counsel of the Poet, Dum furor in cursu est, currenti cede furori: Difficiles aditus impetus omnis habet. To give place unto their fury, to prevent their own calamity. Which notwithstanding was but to escape the smoke and fall into the fire; but to avoid man's anger by not reproving them, and to be liable to God's wrath, for not reproving them. 2. 2 Their judges were corrupt. The Judges and Magistrates did not execute the laws against them; for though the Lord commandeth them, to execute true judgement, and show mercy and compassion every man to his brother, Zech. 7.9. and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, nor the stranger, nor the poor; yet, as our Prophet testisieth, Jer. 5 28. they judged not the cause of the fatherless, and the right of the needy did they not judge; and the Prophet Esay saith, Their Princes were rebellious, and companions of thiefs; every one loved gifts, and followed after rewards, and judged not the fatherless, neither did the cause of the widow, come unto them; Ezay 1.23. but they suffered oppressions, robberies, and murders to go unpunished: and so the Laws lay as dead; because the execution of the law, is the life of the law; and I fear not, I care not, to be condemned by the Law, so I be freed by the Judge, and saved from the Execution of the Law. And this twofold remisseness, and double error of the Magistrates, and Minislers, did exceedingly multiply the sins of the people; and as highly provoke the wrath of God, The sin of one man doth often bring a plague upon many. not only against the offenders, but also against the whole Nation, and especially against those that were so slack, in the punishing of these offences and performance of their duties; For if you search the Scriptures, you shall find, that the sin of one man, which is left unpunished, brings a plague upon many, and the execution of justice upon a transgressor, doth avert God's judgement from a multitude: As when Achan sinned, Josh. 7.21. 1 Chr. 2.7. Numb. 25.8. all Israel was troubled, and he was called the troubler of Israel; who transgressed in the thing accursed. And when Zimri and Cozbi offended, the whole people suffered, so that twenty four thousand of them died; but when that Phineas executed judgement, than the plague ceased, Psal. 106.11. saith the Text; and when Achan suffered, the wrath of God was pacified. And therefore Moses very often, Numb. 35.31. and in many places exhorteth the children of Israel, that whensoever any man committed Idolatry, or Murder, or Sodomy, or any other heinous crime, Deut. 17.12. they should take no satisfaction for his offence, but the transgressor should be put to death: The not punishing of transgressors encourageth others to transgress. their eye should not spare him, neither should they have pity upon him; so should they turn away evil from Israel. For it is most certain, as the wise man saith, that because sentence, or judgement, against an evil work is not speedily executed, but deferred, though not pardoned, yet the heart of the children of men is altogether, or fully, set in them to do evil; and it is the greatest encouragement that can be for wicked men, to proceed on, in their wickedness, Eccl. 8.12. to see other wicked persons pardoned and not punished. And I pray God, the judgements of God, as sicknesses, death, wars, and the like, may not proceed on us for our not proceeding to the execution of justice, against Profane oppressors, the King's murderers, and other like wicked offenders, the murderers of the King's Loyal subjects. For we know how Saul spared Agag, that was destined by God for his wickedness to be put to death; and how, for sparing him, he lost both his life and his Kingdom, and had all his posterity rooted out; and we know how the israelites spared the Canaanites, whom God commanded to be slain, and how for sparing them, they became thorns in their eyes, and briers unto their sides; And I beseech you to consider what the Prophet saith unto Ahab, Thus saith the Lord, because thou hast let go out of thy hand, and so pardoned, a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, that is, to death, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people, for his people. 1 King. 20.42. So hateful it is to God, that we should pardon such transgressors, as he will not pardon. And it is no wonder, that God should thus deal with them, that thus spare the transgressors; for as he, Qui non prohibet peccare cum possit, jubet; which doth not hinder a man to sin, when he can hinder him, spurs him on to sin, saith Seneca; so, Qui justificat impium, he that justifieth the wicked, and spareth a transgressor whom he ought and can punish, is partaker of his transgression; and is as abominable before God, as he is, Prov. 17.15. that condemneth the innocent: saith Solomon. And these are the two chiefest sorts of evil, The two things that God chief hateth in the do of men towards other men. that the Lord hateth in the do of men towards men; that is, 1. To oppress, condemn, and wrong the good and godly men. 2. To promote, justify, and free the wicked men, and suffer them to flourish, notwithstanding all their bloody sins and transgressions. And against these evils, we the Preachers of God's Word, are enjoined still to denounce the judgements of God; and if we tell not the people of their faults, and reprove them not for these do, they shall die in their sins, and their blood shall be required at our hands; as the Lord saith unto his Prophet: And therefore as S. Clement saith, Nos quod vobis expedire novimus, Clement. recognit. l. 1. tacere non possumus, We cannot, but we must tell the people of their do, and the more abominable we see their do, the more bound are we to cry aloud and spare not, to cry against their wickedness. And so much for the do of this people. 2. In the doom, and due desert of this people for their do, 2 The doom and judgement of this people for their wickedness. you may observe these three things. 1. Their renunciation, The Lord doth not accept them. 2. Their compensation, or reward; which is two fold: 1. Privative, in the discussion of their deeds, He will remember their iniquity. 2. Positive, which is an infliction of punishment, He will visit their sins. 3. The time of their judgement, which is very near, for he will now remember their iniquities, and visit their sins. 1. 1 Their Renunciation. The not accepting of them is a most fearful judgement against them, and one of the heaviest conditions that can be incident to any man; for when the Lord doth not accept the person of any one, the actions of that person, whatsoever they be, can never be acceptable unto God; for so the Scripture testifieth, that the Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering; No work is acceptable, when the person is not accepted. that is, the Lord seeing Abel to be just and honest, he accepted and approved of his work: but to Cain and his offering, he had no respect; that is, seeing he was but an hypocrite, and his service was rather to deceive men, then to please God, the Lord had no regard to any thing that he did, nor respected any offering that he brought unto him. So he tells the Jews, that their incense and their sacrifices, their burnt-offerings, and the fat of sed beasts, Esay 1.13. were an abomination unto him; because the doers thereof were abominable and wicked: All the best deeds of the wicked, are abominable before God. which is a very fearful thing, that the very prayers and preaching, the fasting, and the Alms-deeds, and all other things, that hypocrites, oppressors, and unjust men do to please God, are most hateful in God's sight. And if it be a lamentable thing that God refuseth their prayers, and hateth the zeal of the hypocrites, and abhorreth their pretences to do Him service, O then, how doleful a thing is it, when God not only refuseth their service, but also renounceth their persons? For, as, non datur vacuum in natura, there can be no vacuity or emptiness in Nature, but when one body passeth away, another presently supplieth the place; so man cannot be without a Master: but when God refuseth him, the devil presently seizeth upon him; M●n cannot be without a Master. as you may see in Judas, who no sooner parted with Christ, but he was immediately possessed by Satan; And this is the first part of the Tragedy of this people, that for their abuse of God's service, their disobedience unto their Governors, and the wrongs they did unto their neighbours, one to another, the Lord doth not accept them, but gives them a Writ, De justa abdicatione, and a bill of divorcement, that he will be their God no longer, and they shall be no longer his people. And if this were all, it were bad enough, but here is somewhat more: For, 2. 2 The remuneration, or reward of their wickedness, twofold. 1 The denial of his reward. Here is the reward of their wander, and the wages of their iniquity expressed unto us: and that in a double form. 1. He will remember their iniquity. And 2. He will visit their sins. And The first of these I call a Privative punishment, because the Lord intimateth hereby the denial of his reward, that is, the reward that he would have given them, if they would have faithfully served him; for, as he saith unto those hypocrites, that fasted and prayed, and gave alms, and pretended to be the only Saints, that so they might be seen, and be so taken of men, for the only true servers of God, Matth. 6. 2. they have their reward; that is, habent mercedem suam, sed amiserunt meam, they have the reward which they aimed at, the applause of men; but they lost that which I intended to bestow on them, that is, eternal life: so here, when he saith, that he will remember their iniquity, he plainly inferreth, they shall have none of those good things, which he prepared for those that truly serve him, though they seem not so among men. And what a fearful note of God's hatred against these men is this, that he will remember their iniquity? For the first argument that our Church heretofore used to invite sinners to repentance, and to return to God, is, that whensoever a sinner doth repent him of his sins, from the bottom of his heart, the Lord hath promised, to put out all his wickedness out of his remembrance; and howsoever the late wise Reformers of God's service, have now cast off that godly course, yet was it the first request, that the true Protestant testant Church made to God in their Liturgy, saying; 〈…〉 stateq●ther our Church makes to God. Remember not Lord our offences, nor the offences of our forefathers, neither take thou vengeance on our sias; because vengeance must then presently light upon us, when our sins are called into God's remembrance, and the Lord saith unto us, as he doth unto the Israelites; Are not these things laid in store with me, Deut. 32.34. and sealed up among my treasures? And therefore, as for God to remember his holy Covenant that he made with Noah, and with Abraham, and with all his faithful servants, that he will be merciful to them that fear him, and blot their sins out of his remembrance, is the greatest comfort of the godly; The good thief's prayer. Luke 23.42. N●hem. 13.14. which made the good Thief to say no more to Christ, but, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom. And N h●miah for all the good service that he did to God's Church, to say no more to God, but, Remember me, O my God, concerning this; so the Lords threatening, that He will remember the iniquity of the wicked, should be ● mighty terror unto them; for this is the inference that the Prophet Amos maketh of this doctrine, when, after he had told the Jews, that the Lord had sworn by the excellency of Jacob, saying, Amos 8.7, 8. Surely I will never forget any of their works; he presently addeth, Shall not the Land tremble for this, and every one mourn, that dwelleth therein? And so I conclude this point against the prephaners of God's service, and the oppressors of their neighbours, as Nehemiah doth in the like case; saying, Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the Priest hood, and instead of the true Prophets, and Reverend Fathers of the Church, Nehem. ult. 29, and Reverend Fathers of the Church, have with Jeroboam entertained Priests without Orders, and Prophets without learning, which have caused the people to wander out of the way, and of whom the Lord professeth, They run, but he sent them not. 2. The Lord saith, that he will visit their sins, 2 The inflicting their punishment. and a visitation is either for the consolation of the distressed; as when Zachary saith, God hath visited and redeemed his people: or for the correction of the delinquents, as here, when the Lord saith, he will visit their sins; that is, to punish them for their transgressions; for as God is most merciful, in retributione Bonorum, Great sins and offence never escape unpunished. in blessing them that serve him, so he is most just, in punitione Malorum, in the punishment of evil doers; and you shall seldom or never find that profane men, and great sinners, did escape their just deserved punishment, without great repentance; nor so, many times, for that part of their punishment, which concerned this present life. And therefore, when this people listened to the false Prophets, and rejected the right way of God's service, tanght them by the true Prophets, and rebelled by their disobedience against their King, and his under-Governours, and then oppressed, rob, and killed their quiet, poor, and feeble neighbours; the Lord saith unto this our Prophet, Pray not for this people, for their good; for, though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be towards this people, but I will cast them out of my sight, Jer. 15.1, 23, 4. &c, 19.7. such as are for death, to death, and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity; and I will appoint over them four kinds, or four families, saith the Lord. 1. The Sword to slay. 2 King. 24.25. Chap. per totum 2 Chron. 36. per totum. 2. The Dogs to tear. 3. The Fowls of the heaven; and 4. The Beasts of the earth, to devour, and destroy. And all this happened unto them, according to the Prediction of the Prophet; and that, because they have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, as saith the Prophet. And shall we think that people, which exceeds them in all transgressions, shall be freed from all punishment? It is an old Rule, and a good counsel, quorum vitia imitamur eorum exitum perhorrescamus, That we should be afraid of their end and punishment, whose ways and vices we do follow and imitate; because the same way, will ever bring men to the same end; and the like sins, without repentance, can expect none other than the like punishment. And I beseech you mark, what the Lord saith to the King of Babylon, and to the King of Egypt, and to all the Kings of all other Nations; Lo, I begin to bring evil on the City that is called by my Name, Jer. 25.29. and should you be utterly unpunished? 1 Pet. 4.17. You shall not be unpunished. And consider what S. Peter saith, The time is come, that judgement must begin at the house of God; and if it begin at us, What shall be the end of them that obey not the Gospel of God? And therefore, if this people, the Jews, that knew not the Gospel of Christ, that had not such knowledge of God, as we have, and at whose hands God required not such piety, and so much charity of one towards another, as he doth at our hands, were thus severely punished, for their profane serving of God, their disobedience to their lawful Governors, and their injuries, oppressions, and wrongs, done to their poor neighbours, and their persecuting of the true Prophets; What shall we think of those Nations that profess Christianity, and yet do exceed this people in all kind of the like impiety, iniquity, and wickedness? Shall they escape unpunished? No, no, they shall be sure of punishment, unless they do speedily repent, and restore the King to his Right, the Bishops to their Offices, the Service of God as it was formerly used, and make satisfaction to their poor neighbours, whom they have so causelessely, and so abundantly wronged: Because it cannot stand with the Justice of God, to suffer such transcendent sinners to go unrepented, and so unpunished. And therefore the expectation of peace, and prosperity to the unrepentant transgressors, is but just like the persuasion of the false Prophets, in the time of this our Prophet; for they still cried Peace, peace, unto this people, when the Prophet Jeremy protested from the Lord, there could be no peace to such wicked sinners as they were: For though they might think — quòd illos Defendit numerus junctaeque umbone phalanges; Juvenal. satire. 2. their strength and number, with their wealth and wit, is able to preserve them from all dysaster; yet as Jehu answered Joram, when he demanded, Is it peace? What peace, so long as the whoredom of thy mother Jezabel, and her witchcrafts are so many? 2 Kings 9.22. So say the true Prophets unto the wicked, What peace or happiness can you look for, so long as you continue profaning Gods Service, keeping out your King, suppressing your Bishops, and abusing your neighbours? Prov. 11.29. For, as Solomon saith, Though hand join in hand, yet the wicked shall not go unpunished, if you still continue to do these things. 4. 4 Time when the punishment shall light upon th●s people. Now presently. When this punishment shall light upon them, it is expressly set down in the word, Now; I will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins. And this now, showeth the time present; not only because, as the Philosopher saith, There is no time, but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that which is present; but especially, because, as the Divines say, all times are present with God, apud quem nec prius est, nec posterius, in whose sight nothing is afore or after another, as the Schools rightly say, but the things that are to come, are as present with him, as if they were already past. Yet the punishment of our sins in respect of the time, God heareth not, and relieveth not, his servants always alike. quoad nos, is not always the same, nor alike; but as God doth sometimes presently relieve his distressed children, and sometimes deferreth his aid, and maketh as though he heareth not their cries, that he might try their faith and their patience, and their constancy in his service, Et ut diu desiderata dulciùs obtineantur, and that being for a long time desired, they may seem the sweeter when they are obtained; and sometimes heareth them not at all, but lets them die in their wants and miseries, as he did to poor Lazarus, So the punishment of the wicked is not always alike. for reasons, best known, unto himself; so the punishment of the wicked, which God imposeth upon them in this life, is, Aut serò aut citius, sometimes presently inflicted, and sometimes for a long time delayed; For as he dealt with Nabuchadnezzar, while the word was in his mouth, he was Metamorphosed from man to beast; so he dealt with the Israelits, Psal. 78.31. while the meat was in their mouths, The heavy wrath of God came upon them, and smote down the chosen men that were in Israel; so he did with Zimri and Cozbi, with Corah, Dathan and Abiram, with Vzzah, Ananias and Saphira, and with abundance more, that we read of in Profane Histories, which for their sins were suddenly destroyed, and their punishment was not delayed, that others by their example, might be afraid to offend God, lest his wrath should as suddenly consume them, as it had done the others, before they had any time to cry for pardon. Yet sometimes he beareth long before he seems to be angry, as the punishment of the Ninivits was to be deferred forty days, which forty days were extended to forty years, before Ninivy felt the smart; and of the israelites the Lord saith, Forty years was I grieved with this Generation; and to the old world he gave one hundred and twenty years to repent, before he punished them; and to the Amorits 400 years; and, which is more to be admired, that the punishment of such a transcendent sin should be so long deferred, The Jews, that murdered their King the son of God, remained full forty years, before Jerusalem was destroyed; and the death of Candaules, slain by Gyges, was not punished until the days of Croesus, which was four Generations after; as Herodotus saith, out of the mouth of the oracle; as the Prophet saith the like of Jehu, for the slaughter that he committed: so the Murderers of King Charles, and of his Loyal subjects, may perhaps escape for some time, and yet their punishment may come at last, and it may be with them as it was with Joab for the murder of Amasa and Abner. So wonderful is the long suffering, and the patience of our God, which he useth as the Apostle showeth, that he might lead them, by that great patience, unto repentance; or, if they repent not, that they might be without excuse, and that, as Lactantius saith, the long sufferance of God in expecting their amendment, might be recompensed with the severity of vengeance in their punishment; for the offenders must not think, that because their payment is deferred, therefore it shall be lessened, or that the Lord hath forgotten it, because they think not of it; but, as the longer you keep the Usurer's money, the more interest he expecteth, and the more debt is on your score; and the higher you lift up your hand, the heavier the blow will fall; so the longer God beareth with the wicked transgressors of his laws before their punishment cometh, the sorer and the severer will be their punishment, when it cometh. The deferring of Gods help no argument of God's hate. And therefore the long deferring of God's aid, and help to relieve his distressed servants, and their often over-throws in their just defence, is no argument, that God hath forsaken them, and will not help them, no more than he forsook holy Job, when he seemed, to leave him destitute of all help, or the ten Tribes, when they fought, and were twice beaten by the Tribe of Benjamin; and the long flourishing of the wicked, their good successes in all their bad causes, The long prosperity of the wicked, no argument of God's special love. Job 21.13. their prevailing against the righteous, and their freedom of all punishment in this life: but especially the deferring of their punishment, is no token of God's love unto them, or especially of his acceptance of them; no more than it was to Dives, that, without any rubs, ran all his race in pleasure; or to them whereof Job speaketh, that spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave, because God dealeth with the wicked herein, as Claudian saith he did with Ruffinus, — Tolluntur in altum lapsu graviore ruant— God lifteth them up, and, they abusing that favour, he casteth them down and destroyeth them. But the Prophet David seems to tell us the very set time, The very time. when God most commonly useth both to help and to relieve those that serve him, and to punish and destroy those that profane his service, and continue in their wickedness under the Hypocritical show of holiness: for he saith, that the Lord is Deus in opportunitatibus, a God in the needful time of trouble; that is, as a holy Father expounds it, Tum incipit auxilium divinum, 1 When God helpeth his servants. cum desinit auxilium humanum; God will then help us, when we cannot help our selves; and when we are, as Moses was, at the red sea, betwixt two huge Mountains, and the raging sea before him, and Pharaohs mighty host behind him, ready to be destroyed, either drowned in the waters, or slain by the sword, or break their necks if they assayed to climb those rocky Mountains; or as the disciples of Christ were in the ship ready to perish, as themselves confess. When they see no hope of any human help, then will God show himself, and send them help, out of his holy place, as he did to Job to restore his health, when all his friends could not ease his pain; and delivered Daniel out of the Lion's den, when the King himself could not free him from it; And so will he do to all them that serve him, and put their trust in him, send them deliverance, when man seethe no hope of assistance; as he doth many times raise the sick, when the Physician giveth him over. And the reason of this manner of his proceeding, Why God deferreth. and the long deferring of his help, is, to teach us with Moses, Gideon, Daniel, Job. Ionas, and the rest of God's servants, to ascribe all the glory of our wonderful, and extraordinary deliverances to God, and not to our selves, nor to any other creature, but to God: Psal. 115.1. and so to say with the psalmist, Not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name give the praise. And for the time, 2 When he punisheth the wicked. when God usually punisheth the transgressors of his Laws, the same Prophet saith, When the ungodly are green as the grass, and when all the workers of wickedness do flourish, then shall they be destroyed for ever; Psal. 92 7. that is, when they have brought all their projects to their own wished ends, subdued their adversaries, trampled the just & harmless men under feet, and perhaps, with Ahab, killed and taken possession too, of poor Naboth's Vineyard; and, with the rich man in the Gospel, pulled down their old barns and cottages, and builded large Palaces; filled their coffers, and laid up store for many years, and now thought to eat, drink and be merry; then suddenly, when they look not for it, will the Lord awake as a Giant out of sleep, and will smite his enemies upon the cheek bone, and put them to perpetual shame, and say unto them, as he did, to that fool in the Gospel, This night shall they fetch away your souls from you, and your lives shall pay for the lives of them that you have murdered; and then, Who shall have those treasures, that you have so unjustly scraped together, and those possessions that you have so wrongfully plucked and detained from the right owners? And you yourselves might have observed within these few lustras many famous men, that have been suddenly taken away from those great treasures and possessions, which they had suddenly attained unto. And therefore, let not the righteous, that rightly serveth God, fret himself because of the ungodly, neither let him be envious against the evil-doers, when he seethe them in such prosperity; for, when God seethe the time, Psal: 37.1.2. they shall soon be cut down, like the grass, and be withered even as the green herb; But, as the Poet saith, — animum servate secundis. And as the Prophet saith, Let them that serve God, put their trust in the Lord, and tarry the Lord's leisure, and pray with the words of our rejected Liturgy, O God make speed to save us, O Lord make haste to help us: And in his good time, he will deliver us, out of all our troubles. Amen. THE FIFTH TREATISE. 1 Pet. 2.17. Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the King. IT is an old received Rule, consented unto by all, and contradicted by none, that all the Commandments of God, are 1. Brevia. 2. Levia. 3. Vtilia. That is, 1. Few and short. 2. Leight and easy. 3. Sweet and profitable. For, 1. They are not many, like our Laws, or the precepts of the Alcoran, or the Pope's Canons, that are multiplied above number; for these are but ten in all: But two, but one. Ten saith Moses. Two saith Christ. One saith S. Paul; and all say the truth; For the Ten Precepts of Moses contain nothing else but, First our duty to God; And Secondly our duty towards our Neighbours; as our Saviour saith: And both these duties are comprised in this one act and affection of Love; as S. Math. 22.37. John. 15.12. 1 Cor. 13. Rom. 12.10. Paul saith. For thy duty to God is, to love him with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind: and if you love me, keep my Commandments, saith our Saviour Christ, and my Commandment is, That ye love one another. And love worketh no ill to his neighbour, saith S. Paul; therefore is love the fulfilling of the Law. So all the Commands that God gives unto us, is but one word, one syllable, Love. So he gave to Adam but one Precept, to abstain from one Tree; and therefore you need not burden your memories, nor take the pains to learn the Art of Memory, for fear you should forget it; God hath thus provided to prevent this excuse, That the multitude of Precepts have caused you to forget your duties. And as God, so all good and wise men, imitating God herein, have given short Precepts, and brief Rules unto their Scholars, which we call Aphorisms, or Dicta sapientum, The words of the wise; as the seven wise men of Greece left seven brief Sentences unto their Followers: For, Dicta septem sapientum. 1. Cleobulus said, Keep the mean. 2. Chilon said, Know thyself. 3. Periander used to say, Restrain wrath. 4. Pittacus said, Nothing too much. 5. Solon's wise saying was, Remember the end. 6. Bias was wont to say, The wicked are many. 7. Thales' saying was, Flee suretyship. And Solomon useth the same Method of teaching men, in his Proverbs, and Book of the Preacher, which is, Eclesiastes. And so doth S. Peter here, in this first Epistle to the dispersed Jews. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. His Sentences are very short, but exceeding pithy; Inest quoque gratia parvis: and abundance of worth may lie in a little thing; as you see a little Diamond is of a great value. And therefore as Democharis saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Ne despice parva; 'Slight not the smallest things. Nam verbum sapienti sat est, A word is enough to the wise: And the longest Sermons do little or no good to the wicked. 2. 2 The Commandments of God very easy and light. Math. 11.30. 1 Joh. 5.3. Psal. 119. As the Commandments of God are short, so they are leight and easy; for, my yoke is easy, and my burden leight, saith our Saviour; And Mandata ejus gravia non sunt, saith S. John, His Commandments are not grievous; but they are so leight and so easy, that the Prophet David saith, I will run the way of thy Commandments. And S. Paul saith, he can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth him. And our God is not so tyrannical, as to give such Commandments as are impossible to be observed, especially in the outward acts, and the inward also, if we consider the aid and assistance of God's Spirit, that Christ giveth to them that seek it. And therefore, if our hearts be endued with grace, and we desire the Spirit of Christ, we need not murmur, and lie down with Balaam's Ass, for the great weight that is upon our backs, or complain of the heavy yoke that Christ hath laid upon our necks, and say with those drones in the Gospel, Durus est hic sermo; Love makes all labours easy. This is a hard saying, Who is able to endure it? For if Leander did so much for the love of Hero, and Pyramus for Thisbe; then certainly, the Commandments of God are leight and sweet enough to every one, that loveth God; Da amantem, & sentit quid dico; And if you bring me one that truly loveth God, he will confess this truth, saith S. Augustine. Even as the Prophet David doth Psal. 119. And such are all the Precepts of this our Apostle, you may observe them without pain, without loss, without abating your strength, and without wasting your wealth. And 3. 3 The common dments of God bring great profit to them that keep them. (Psal. 119.) They are not so leight, and so easy in themselves, as they are beneficial and profitable to those that observe them; for, Great is the reward of those that keep thy Laws, O God, saith the Prophet David, and Moses setteth down the many- many blessings of the Israelites, if they would observe God's Commandments. And so these short Sentences of S. Peter, and these leight Precepts of our Apostle have abundance of wisdom in them, and do bring an infinite deal of commodity and profit, unto the true observers thereof. And therefore, if nothing else, yet the benefits of keeping Gods Commandments, should persuade us all, to be ready to hear, and willing to obey, these Precepts of the Apostle, which he delivereth from the Spirit of God; for we are naturally given to love our own profit. And, as the Poet saith, Et reditus jam quisque suos amat, & sibi quid sit Vtile sollicitis computat articulis. Every man respecteth his own advantage, and loveth his own benefit; And I do assure you, there is nothing in the world, that any of you all can do, and let him do what he can, that shall bring him more profit, than the right observance of these few Precepts. Honour all men, etc. Wherein you see, there are four special Precepts. And these four Precepts are like unto the four Rivers of Eden, that watered the Garden of Paradise, to make the same both profitable and pleasant. The 1. concerneth all men, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; Honour all men. The 2. concerneth all Christian men. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Love the Brotherhood. The 3. belongs to God, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Fear God. The 4. belongs to the King, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Honour the King. That is, Honour all men in general; Love all Christian men, more especially than any others; Fear God above all things; And Honour your King next to God. And if you do these few things, these easy things, you shall never fail, but you shall be for ever happy. The first Precept is, Honour all men: touching which, two things are to be observed, 1. The Act. 2. The Extent. And 1. this word Honour, doth properly signify that reverence and respect, which we own, and do render to any one, for any cause. And because there are many things for which we yield and exhibit honour, What is meant by Honour. it followeth that this word Honour doth not signify the same thing in all places; But pro diversitate diversae materiae, diversa significat; it signifieth divers things, according to the diversity of the subject matter: As, Among profane Authors it is taken many ways. 1. Sometimes for the beauty, and comeliness of any thing; as where the Poet saith, Frigidus & sylvis Aquilo decussit honorem. The cold Northern wind, shook off all the honour, that is, all the beauty and grace of the Wood 2. Sometimes it is used for that Observance and worship, that we yield unto our Superiors, for the good that we receive from them; as when the Poet saith, Semper honore meo, semper celebrabere donis. I will always worship, or serve, and respect you. 3. Sometimes it is taken for the reward, that is given for any thing; as where it is said, Ipsis praecipuè ductoribus addit honores. And specially, he rewarded the Captains and Commanders. And 4. Sometimes it is put for the Rites and Ceremonies of our Funerals; as where Virgil saith, Cernit ibi maestos & mortis honore earentes. Virgil. Aeneid. 6. And there he beheld them sad, that wanted the due Rites and honour of their Burials; which now, many Worthy men do want, among our new Prognostics. So in the holy Scripture, it is likewise taken several ways. As 1. Sometimes for esteem and worth, as where the Apostle saith, Those Ceremonies, Touch not, Taste not, Handle not, are not in any honour; Colos. 2.23. that is, of any worth. 2. Sometimes for an honest care, and provision for one; as where S. Peter saith, That the Husband should give honour to the wife; that is, to care and provide for her, as for the weaker vessel. 1 Pet. 3.7. 3. Rom. 13.7. Sometimes it is put for that reverence, worship, and service, which is due to our governor's and magistrates, as where S. Paul saith, render to all their deuce, honour to whom honour belongeth; that is, render to every one that honour which is due to him, and is not due to another; and so it is taken here, in the last Precept, Honour the King, that is, with such an honour, as is due to the King, and is not due to all others; because all men are not to be honoured alike; and to have the like honour, as well the one as the other: otherwise the King, or the Father; the Pastor, or the Master is to have no more honour, than a beggar; and therefore, when the Apostle saith, Honour all men, he doth not mean, 1 Tim. 5.17. that all men should be honoured alike, when the Apostle tells us, The Elders that rule well are worthy of double honour. And 4. Sometimes this word Honour, signifieth any kind of duty, reverence, obedience, relief, & quaelibet charitatis officia, and all other offices of love and charity; Rom. 12.10. as where the Apostle saith, Be kindly affectionated one to another, with brotherly love, in honour preferring one another. And so here, 1 We are to help all that are in need of our help. honour all men, signifieth esteem, love, aid, and help all men that have need of help, so far forth as you are able to help them; comfort those that mourn, relieve those that want, instruct them that are ignorant, and so help all that are in need of your help; for, as Boetius saith, Omne hominum genus in terris, Simili surgit abortu; Vnus enim rerum pater est, Boetius de cons. l. 3. Vnus cuncta ministrat; Ille dedit Phaebo radios. Dedit & cornua lunae. God at first made but one man, and all the generation of men proceeded from that one man, to teach us what unity and love ought to be among all men. Cicero de office. l. 1. Quia homines hominum causa generati sunt, ut ipsi, inter se, alii aliis prodesse possent; because men are born, not for themselves, but for men's sake, that they might help and benefit one another among themselves; and even Nature itself teacheth this, saith the Orator, homo homini, quicunque sit, ob eam ipsam causam tantum, Idem. l. 3. quòd homo sit, consultum velit; that a man should not be strange to any man, but should help him, and further him in any thing that he can, only for this cause, though there were none other, that he is a man, that is, Lactant. divin. instit. l. 6. c. 10. of the same nature as himself is; and therefore Lactantius saith, that Lucretius erred not, when he said, Denique caelesti sumus omnes semine oriundi, Omnibus ille idem Pater est; That we are all sprung from the same celestial seed, and are all brethren, that have the same God, the same Father of us all; Et ita conjunctiores animis quàm corporibus, and so more nearly allied in respect of our minds and souls, then of the form and shape of our bodies: And this was the ground of Jobs respect unto his servants, Job 31.13. saying; Did not he that made me in the womb, make him? And this is the argument the Prophet useth against the deceitfulness of men one towards another, saying, Have we not all one Father, hath not God created us? And why then do we deal treacherously every one against his brother? Mal. 2.20. Yea, rob and kill his brother. And therefore Lactantius concludeth, that those men are to be deemed, pro belluis immanibus, qui contra jus humanitatis homines spoliant & exterminant; no better than brute beasts, or savage creatures, which contrary to the rules of nature, and the rights of humanity, do spoil, and rob, and root men, their brethren by creation, out of house and home. And if nature teacheth this, and mere men, that had no more knowledge but what the light of nature taught them, do thus persuade us to this duty; what wonder is it, that grace and the children of God, much more, should teach us to love, honour, help, and esteem well of all men; for the more universal our love and our kindness is to our brethren, the more conformable we shall be to God, who loveth all men, as they are his creatures, and doth good to all men, by making his Sun to shine upon the good, and upon the bad, and sending rain upon the just, and upon the unjust; and so, they that imitate God, in loving all men, and doing all the good they can unto all men, do hereby show themselves to be the children of their Father, which is in heaven; as our Saviour saith, Matth. 5.45. And therefore seeing we are all brethren, Aug. & habetur 24. q. corripiuntur. and the same God is the father of us, Sic affici debemus charitatis affectu, ut omnes velimus salvos fieri; we ought so charitably to affect all men, as not to separate ourselves from them, and to exclude them from our Churches or societies, but to wish the health and salvation of all men, and to do our best help and furtherance to save and to relieve every man; which is, as the Apostle saith, To honour all men. And this our love, honour, and esteem of all men, The love and honour that we own to all men. 2 ways to be considered. must be especially considered, 1. In respect of the manner of it, for 2. In respect of the matter of it, for 1. It must be showed really and truly from the heart, without Hypocrisy, and not as worldlings and wicked men do, that, 1 In respect of the manner of it. as the Poet saith, — front politi Astutam vapido servant sub pectore vulpem; That is, in the Prophet's words, do speak friendly unto their brethren, and imagine mischief in their hearts; like Joab, that said to Amasa, Is it peace my brother? and while the tongue thus anointed him with oil, the hand stabbed him to the heart: for we should love our neighbours, as ourselves; that is, as truly and in as true a manner, though not in as great a measure as we love ourselves: yea, this is the commandment, that I give unto you, Joh. 13.34. How Christ hath loved us. ut diligatis invicem sicut ego dilexi vos; that ye love one another, even as I have loved you; And how hath Christ loved us? 1. It was Amore vehementi, non mediocri, with no small nor mean love, but with the greatest affection that could be; Joh. 15.13. Rom. 5.10. for greater love than this hath no man, that a man should give his life for his friend, saith our Saviour; and he gave his life for his enemies, saith the Apostle. 2. It was Amore vero, non ficto; with a true sincere love, and not with a seeming affection, and a dissembling heart. And 3. It was Amore perseveranti, non finienti, with a continual and lasting love, for whom he loved, he loved unto the end; and not for a short space. And therefore our love to one another should be great, true, and lasting love; and not like the worldlings love, that seems fair and full, while we are in prosperity, but will fall away like water, when we fall into adversity: and so verify the Poets saying, Donec eris faelix multos numerabis amicos, Nullus ad amissas ibit amicus opes. 2. This true honour and unfeigned love, 2 In respect of the matter of it, which is two fold. that we own and are enjoined to show and render unto all men, in respect of the matter consisteth in two things. 1. No ways to hurt, or wrong them. 2. Every way to assist and to help them. 1. 1 No ways to hurt them. He that offereth injury unto his neighbour, or doth wrong to any man, An injury what it is. doth contrary to the rules of nature, saith Cicero; Et injuria est verbo vel facto cum a●iquo injustè agere; and an injury is to deal unjustly with any one, either in word or deed, saith Isidorus; and you know, that, besides the breach of nature's law, such a one, as either of these ways wrongs his neighbour, breaketh the commandment of the Almighty God, who doth expressly forbid us, to defraud or oppress, or any ways to wrong one another, or the stranger, that is amongst us; as you may see it in Moses and Jeremy fully expressed; for Moses saith, Thou shalt not steal, nor deal falsely nor defraud thy neighbour; and the wages, of him that is hired, shall not abide with thee all night until the morning; Leu. 19.11.13. and the Prophet Jeremy saith, Thus saith the Lord, Execute ye judgement and righteousness, and deliver the spoilt out of the hand of the oppress r, Jer. 22.3. and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood; for the very heathen Poet can tell you, that Quaelibet extinctos injuria suscitat ignes, Ovid. l. 3. de arte amandi. Wrong and injuries stir up striffes', and do kindle the flames of unquenchable fire; and though, as Aristotle saith, Melius est injuriam pati, quàm alteri nocere, it is better to suffer wrong, then to hurt another, and, as the Comic saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. That man is to be deemed most excellent, which knoweth how to suffer most injuries; yet because the frailty of flesh and blood is such, that, as the proverb goeth, Scribit in marmore laesus, they that register benefits and good turns done unto them in the sands, will engrave all wrongs and injuries done to them in marble, never to be blotted out of memory; and Solomon tells us, Eccl. 7.7. that oppression maketh a wise man mad: and if wise men can so hardly brook to be oppressed, then surely fools and simple men will be stark mad to see themselves injured, and will be ready to be revenged upon every advantage. And therefore we ought to take great heed, that we do no injustice, nor offer any wrong to any man; because dealing righteously one with another, is the mother and preservative of love amongst neighbours, Esay 32.17. and of peace amongst all men; Injustice and wrongs the cause of all mischief. for, as the Prophet saith, The works of righteousness shall be peace, and the effects of righteousness, quietness, and assurance for ever. Whereas injustice, oppression and wrongs, are the causes of Laws, Murders, Wars, and all Mischiefs And yet I demand, if any thing in the world be now so common, and so public as wrongs, injuries and oppressions? Especially of them, whom, we ought most of all to honour and to love: for though S. Paul bids us, to esteem our Governors and our Teachers that are over us, 1 Thes. 5.13. How fairly Pharaoh dealt with the Priest. Gen. 47.22. and do admonish us, very highly in love, for their works sake, and the very heathens did no less; for when Pharaoh bought all the Lands of the Egyptians, throughout the whole Kingdom of Egypt, he bought not the Lands of the Priests, but assigned a portion of corn, to sustain them, so that they needed not to sell their lands; And A●taxerxes, King of Persia, certified to all his Officers, in all Provinces, that touching any of the Priests, Levits, Singers, Porters, Nethinims, or Ministers of the House of God; Ezra. 7.55.24. it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute or custom upon them; and Jezabel, that painted harlot, could have so much show of piety, as to feed four hundred Prophets at her own table; yet now, What Bishops lands are not sold, and taken from them? What Priest or Church man is free from taxes and contribution, and not more heavily taxed than any others? And therefore, if any Jew, Pagan, or Infidel were demanded, Whom he thought to be the more religious, and the better lover of God, either Pharaoh that preserved the Priests-lands, or they of the long Parliament that took away and sold the Bishop's lands? Either Artaxerxes, that freed all the Churchmen from all taxes, and Jezabel that fed so many Prophets at her own Table; or they that now over-load the poor Ministers with such unreasonable contributions, as they are scarce able, to provide bread for their own Table? What answer would he make, think you? or, whom would he think the better Saints, and most acceptable unto God? Judge you, that are the Parliament men. But, letting these men, thus dealt withal, in their patience, to possess their souls; some man, that is moved to see oppression, and the oppressors flourishing, and to behold villainies committed, and no justice executed, will say, perhaps, Should not the Magistrate the King punish their villainies, and revenge the wrongs of God's servants? or, Have not some of them, you speak of, neglected their duties, and others committed strange outrages? and should these be loved and helped, and not rather stripped of their estates, and punished in their persons? as these men are. To this I answer. 1. That, for the Magistrates punishing, in due measure, both the Omission of just duties, or the Commission of unjust offences in all men, of what calling, quality, or condition soever they be, the law of God commands it, every Commonwealth requires it, and no wise man speaks against it. And if the Magistrate neglects it, as Saul neglected the punishment of Agag, or cannot do it, for some just reasons, that do hinder him: as Zedekia, for the Rebellion of his Lords and Commons, had not the power, to do justice; and to hinder the wrong and indignities that were offered to the Prophet Jeremy; and as our good King for the same reasons, cannot hinder the wrongs of God's Messengers, and others of God's servants, Collos. 3.25. than I say with S. Paul, He that doth wrong, shall receive for the wrong that he hath done, and there is no respect of persons with God; Deut. 32.35. et deinceps. for the Lord hath said it, and he will perform it, Mea est ultio & ego retribuam; To me belongeth vengeance and recompense; and their foot, that is, the foot of the oppressors and wrong-doers, shall slide in due time, that is, when God shall see the time fit; for the Lord shall judge his people, and he will judge righteously, and then he will repent himself for his servants, when he seethe that their power is gone, and that there is none shut up or left, but, as it were, all beggared and destroyed by their oppressors; and he shall say, where are their gods, their rock, that is, the Saints, which did eat the fat of the sacrifices, and drink the wine of the offerings, and so got all the best of all the land unto themselves; let those gods, and those holy saints, in whom they trusted, rise up and help these Tyrannical oppressors of my servants. For I, even I am he, and there is no god with me, that kill and make alive, that do wound and heal, that is, my servants; for it is I, that have wounded them and killed them for offending me, otherwise, you that are their enemies, could never hurt them, and I will heal them and make them alive again; and I will avenge the blood and wrongs of my servants, Vers. 43. for I lift up my hand to heaven and say, I live for ever, and I will whet my glittering sword, and my hand shall take hold on judgement, Deut. 32. from the 35. vers. to the 44. v. I will render vengeance to mine adversaries, and the oppressors of my servants, and be merciful unto my people. In all which excellent expression of God's just judgements, you may plainly see, both the relief and deliverance of Gods corrected and dejected servants, and the punishment of their proud and flourishing oppressors; And our Saviour Christ, Luke 18.7. in like manner saith, Shall not God avenge his own Elect, that cry day and night unto him, though he beareth long with them? Yes, I tell you, that he will avenge them speedily. And though, as Plutarch saith, There be certain Rivers that do suddenly hid themselves under ground, as the River Nigar doth in the Abissins' Country, Abbats pag. 184. yet eò perferuntur q●ò tendunt, they go thither where they intended; So, though the wrath of God against wicked oppressors, and other transgressors of his Laws, lieth hid for a time, and his judgements seem to be forgotten; yet, in extremas calamitates aufert aliquando nocentes, He will at sometime or other, punish them severely enough with iron hands, though he comes on leaden feet: as he did the Amalekites, for the wrongs that their forefathers did to the Israelites four hundred years before. And therefore, seeing God Almighty challengeth vengeance, was a peculiar right, and properly belonging to himself, and promiseth that he will avenge the blood, and all the wrongs, injuries, and oppressions of his servants; I say with Moses, Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people. Levit. 19.18. And with Solomon, Say not thou, I will recompense evil, but wait on the Lord, and he shall save thee, Prov. 20.22. And as our Saviour saith, Resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. Math. 5.39. Or, if you cannot do this, yet as S. Paul saith, See that none of you render evil for evil, or revenge wrong with wrong: For as the son of Sirach saith, He that revengeth, 1 Thes. 5.15. shall find vengeance from the Lord, and he will surely keep his sins in remembrance. And therefore the only way for us, is, to follow the counsel of the son of Sir ache; Ecclus. 28. Forgive thy neighbour the hurt that he hath done unto thee; so shall thy sins also be forgiven thee when thou prayest; for otherwise, That we should be ready and willing to forgive all wrongs done unto us. one man beareth hatred against another, and doth he seek pardon from the Lord? he showeth no mercy to a man which is like himself, and perhaps, not so bad as himself, and doth he ask forgiveness of his own sins? Alas, alas, saith the Heathen man. Si quoties peccant homines, sua fulmina mittat Jupiter, etc. which I may well render in the words of the Prophet, If thou Lord wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss, O Lord, who may abide it? Or as the Apostles demand, Who then can be saved? But the Lord beareth long, and forgiveth much, iniquities, transgression, and sin; Upon what condition God forgiveth our sins. Math. 6.14, 15. and yet he forgiveth nothing, but upon this condition, that we ask forgiveness of our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us; for if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. As you may see it plainly exemplified and showed in the Parable of the unmerciful Steward; And every Talon is 375. l. for, when his Lord forgave him a thousand Talents, and he would not forgive his fellow-servant a hundred pence, his Lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. Math. 18.34. So that he, which remitteth not the offences done unto him, must never hope to have his offences remitted unto him by God, saith our Saviour Christ. Verse 35. And what then shall we do? shall we be like James and John, that when the Samaritans would not receive their Master, would presently have called for fire out of Heaven, to have destroyed them all? Or shall we be like their Master, that, when the Jews, like so many Cannibals, were about him, to ●ear him, and to crucify him, and to lay such loads of abuses and indignities upon him, as the like were never laid on any other man; yet was he so far from being incensed against them, that although the least breath of his mouth could in an instant, have blown them all to be destroyed; yet his only revenge was, Luke 22.34. Father forgive them, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, for they know not what they do. And his servant S. Stephen, imitating him, when he was stoned to death, desired none other revenge; but, kneeling down, Act. 7.60. cried with a loud voice; Lord lay not this sin to their charge. And if, notwithstanding all this that I have said, men will be still transported with the spirit of Revenge, I shall only wish them to remember what Erasmus saith, for a worldly counsel, seeing they refuse the counsel of God, that some remedies are far worse than the disease; yea, so far worse, satius sit oppetere mortem, quàm his aucupari salutem; Better to suffer wrongs, than to repel them, with far greater damage. That it is better to suffer the Patients to die, than to go about to compass their health and recovery, Veluti sugere sanguinem è vulnere recenti gladiatorum morientium; As when we go about to save their lives, by sucking the blood, from the newmade wounds, of the dying Gladiators. And so, saith he, Melius est ferre pacem, etiamsi parum commodam, quàm bellum cum immensis malis suscipere; It is sometimes better to conclude a peace, or accept of peace, though with some disadvantage than to undertake a war, with far greater inconveniencies. As it was better for David to bear a while with the sons of Zervia, than presently with the hazard of his Kingdom, to go about to punish their insolences. And so likewise, Satius est aliquando ferre injuriam, quàm majori incommodo ulcisci; It is sometimes far better for a man to take some wrong, and injuries, than to revenge his wrongs with the suffering of far greater mischiefs. And therefore touching forepast injuries, and wrongs done unto us, I say with Juvenal, — minuti Semper & infirmi est animi exiguique voluptas Juven. l. 5. Sat. 13. Vltio; c●ntinuò sic coll●ge, quòd vindiciâ Nemo magis gaudet quàm foemina— Revenge, is the badge of a Coward, and the argument of a feeble-mind, befitting rather weak women, than any man of a Heroic spirit; especially such as are endued with the Spirit of God, whose Precept is to forgive, and whose language is peace, as the Prophet testifieth, He will speak peace unto his people, and to his Saints, that they turn not again; that is, to revenge, to war, and fight again; but to forget all former injuries, and to honour all men; and therefore not to revenge ourselves upon any man. And according to this Precept of S. Peter, to honour all men; S. Paul to enforce this Duty a little further, Heb. 12.14. and to show the meaning of it somewhat clearer, biddeth us, to follow peace with all men. Wherein you may observe: 1. The large extent of our peace, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, with all men. Two things to be observed. 2. The great desire that we should have, to get peace, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, follow peace, that is, just as the Psalmist saith, Seek peace, and ensue it. 1. It must be with all men; for it were a strange thing, 1 The large extent of our peace with men, and love to men. that men should not live in peace with good men, with Christians, and with the Saints of God; but that, as in Moses time, an Israelite fell out with an Israelite, about the bricks and straws of Egypt. So we, that profess the same Faith, live under the same Head, and dwell in the same Kingdom, or perhaps in the same City, must, for the toys and trifles of this world, go to Law, one with another; or for some mistaken conceits, and different opinions in our Faith, fall out, and war, and rob, and spoil, and kill one another; When as the Apostle bids us, to honour all men, and to follow peace with all men, good or bad, Jews or Gentiles. For as Lot served God, and lived in peace among the Sodomites; and Joseph did the like among the Egyptians; and Daniel likewise, served the true God in Nebuchadnezars Court, and lived peaceably among the Idolatrous Chaldeans: and all the true Saints and servants of Christ, do keep themselves undefiled, in the midst of a crooked, and a froward generation. So should we endeavour to live in peace, and to honour and love, even those, that profess themselves enemies unto peace, and to be of a different Faith and Religion from us; that is, not only the Papists, Puritans, and the like Sectaries; but also with the Jews, Infidels and Pagans, and as the Apostle saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, with all men: Because we are bound to love our enemies, and to do good to them that hate us, and to pray for them that persecute us: And therefore much more bound are we to be at peace with them, and yet not to be corrupted or seduced by them; but still to retain the true Faith, The praise of God's servants is to live holily among the wicked. and to serve our God aright, as we ought to do: otherwise, What thanks to them, that live holily in heaven, among Saints and Angels, where there is no provocation to evil? or to serve God aright, where there is neither Sectary nor Heretic? But the praise of God's servants, is to live among the wicked, and yet not to follow their evil examples, and to be in the midst of Heretics, and all kind of Sectaries, and yet not suffer ourselves to embrace their false opinions, or to approve their wrongserving of God; and yet still to honour them, to love them, and to be at peace with them. And 2. 2 The great desire we should have to peace. That we should not fail in this duty, the Apostle saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; follow after peace. As the Greyhound followeth after the Hare, that he may catch her: So do you follow after peace that you may have it; and that is, not only to accept of peace, when it is offered; but also to purchase peace at any reasonable rate, and upon any reasonable terms. And we have an excellent example of this great desire of peace that should be in us, The most excellent example of Abraham. Rom. 4.13. in Abraham; who though he was told by God Himself, that he should be the Heir of the World, which was a Title and interest good enough, when God gave it him: yet rather than he would strive with his inferior, his Nephew Lot, he was contented cedere de jure, to wave his right, and to let him take his oboice of all the land, what he would, and where he pleased. Gen. 13.8, 9 And the like desire of peace, we find in Pharaoh Necho, King of Egypt, when he sent Ambassadors to Josias, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou King of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house, wherewith I have war; 2 Chron 35.21. for God hath commanded me to make haste; forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not: and so he was destroyed, for refusing to live in peace. And the reason, The reason of this great desire of peace, is twofold. 1. Because war is the greatest of all the plagues of God. why we should love and honour, and thus labour to live in peace with all men, is, because wrongs and injuries, breed hatred, suits and wars; and war will be the death of many men, and God made not death, neither can he endure that any one man, should maliciously destroy another, God making not men, to kill one another. And therefore we find, that the Sentence of Cain's punishment for killing his brother Abel, is far heavier than Adam's punishment for eating of the forbidden fruit: when God said unto Adam, Cursed is the ground for thy sake, and so forth: But to Cain he said, Cursed art thou from the earth; which is a far greater curse than the former, as is the rest of his censure, in very many particulars; whereupon Cain perceiving the heaviness of his Sentence, so far exceeding his father's curse, Gen. 4.13. said, My punishment is greater than I can bear. And after the Flood, the first Precept, and the strictest charge, that God gave to man, was, to prevent and hinder the shedding of man's blood, which, being shed, he would require at the hand of man, and at the hand of every beast, which should be put to death, if they were the death of any man. And the Prophet saith, That God will make inquisition for all the blood that shall be spilt; that is, search and find out them, Murder shall never escape undiscovered. that have been the death of any man; yea, though they should do it never so cunningly and secretly, yet rather than they should escape undiscovered, and so pass unpunished, the Birds of the air, as they did the death of Ibicus, should betray their wickedness, or the very blood that they have spi●t, if there be none other witness, shall with Abel's blood, cry out of the earth for vengeance against them; because bloody men that delight to kill their brethren, are an abomination to the Lord, who, as the Prophet saith, abborreth both the blood thirsty and the deceitful man; for, Psal. 5.6. Quem videris sang●ine ga●d ●te● lupus est, saith S. chrysostom hom. 19 opef. imperfect. And therefore War, which is a Feast celebrated to the honour of Death, and is M●ter omnium malorum, The mother of all miseries, the greatest shedder of blood upon the earth, and the unjustest instrument of death that can be found; when, contrary to all Law, and beyond all Justice, nothing else is to be seen in war, but fire, robberies, treasons, tortures, War the worst of all the plagues of God. and slaughters inflicted, as well upon the innocent, as the nocent; is deemed the worst of all the plagues of God, the most direful, and most destructive unto mankind. For when the Lord with rebukes doth chasten man for sin, and is sore displeased with any Kingdom, he whippeth it with one of these threefold scourges, Plague, Famine, and War; And the first two, Plague and Famine, do but take away the men, and take them so, that most commonly they have time to repent, and to humble themselves under the Mighty hand of God; but the war casteth down houses, burneth Cities, subverteth Castles, The many mischiefs that war bringeth. destroyeth the creatures, and shaketh the very foundation of all earthly happiness: and not only suddenly cutteth off the lives of many thousands, and sometimes Infants and Innocents', from the earth; but also introduceth Famines and Plagues after it, at the heels. And therefore David, when he was necessitated to undergo one of these three scourges, and had the favour to take his choice of them, 2 Sam. 24.14. he would not choose war by any means. And truly, it were a happy thing, that there were neither Soldier nor War, nor cause of any war in all the World; but that the people should beat their swords into Ploughshares, and their Spears. into Pruning-hooks, and that Nation should not lift up a sword against Nation, neither learn war any more, as the Prophet speaketh; Because, Esay 2.4. as one saith, God made Soldiers, the worst of men, as he made the Devils the worst of spirits, to plague the World, and to be the Executioners of his anger and just judgements against his children, when they do offend him; That is, for the generality of them; otherwise, many of them are very just and religious, as the Scripture testifieth. And the very Heathen man could say of the Soldiers, Nulla fides pietasque viris qui castra sequuntur. Lucan. Phars. 2. As War is such a dismal Apollyon, 2 Because peace is the greatest of all earthly blessings. and so furious a destroyer of all mankind, the poison of Religion, and the hated enemy of all creatures; So on the other side, the love of neighbours, and peace among men, is the greatest, the best, and the most excellent of all earthly blessings. And as Ignatius saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, There is nothing in this world better than Peace; for, as the Poet saith, Omnia pace vigent, & pacis tempore florent. All things do prosper in the time of peace. And, as the Prophet saith, Our garners are full and plenteous with all manner of store; our sheep bring forth thousands, and ten thousands in our streets; our oxen are strong to labour, and there is no decay, no l●ading into captivity, and no complaining in our streets; Psal. 144.14. but our houses are repaired, our Cities enlarged, our Fields tilled, and the poor are relieved, which the Soldier's cause to starve, and to die at their doors, which have nothing to help them. And therefore the very heathen man could say, Cicero. Iniquissimam pacem justisfimo bello antefero; that he preferred the worst peace before the best and justest war; and the only outward blessing that comprehended all the other blessings which the Israelites desired, was peace; their only salutation was, Peace be unto you; John 20.19. when Christ arose from the dead, the first word that he spoke to his disciples, was, Peace be unto you; and when he was to leave the world, the chiefest Legacy that he left to his Apostles was, My Peace I give unto you; and so the Apostolical wish to all Saints, in all their Epistles, is, Grace and Peace be unto you; and the most frequent Counsel, & most principal Precept that is given, 2 Cor. 13.11. Colos. 3.15. Phil. 4.7. Luc. 10.3. To love one another, to honour all men, to live in peace with all men, the same thing in effect. Which was Cromwel's, that Arch-souldier's Motto. and is to be earnestly urged, to be observed in all the New Testament by all the Ministers of Christ, is, to love one another, to honour all men, and to live in peace with all men, which are the very same things in effect, though expressed in divers forms; and where this bond of peace is broken, our Saviour saith, Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they shall be termed, and called, the children of God, which is the God of Peace. And what think you then of the soldiers that fight and war, and break the bands of peace, and the golden chain of unity and concord all to pieces, whose children be they, and may they not fear to be accursed? Yes certainly; and therefore they pretend, that Pax quaeritur bello, they make war, to purchase peace. To whom I may justly answer, as Cyneas did to King Pyrrhus, when the wise Orator demanded of him, what he would do when he had conquered Italy, and Sicily, and afric, and Macedon, etc. Pyrrhus' answered, we will then be quiet, and make peace, and eat, drink, and be merry; to whom Cyneas replied, And what letteth us, my good Lord, but that we may do so now, before the shedding of so much blood, as must be spilt in these enterprises? So I say; if you make War, to procure peace, why will you disturb the peace? and not rather now, when men do live in peace, embrace it, and suffer it to continue, before you purchase it with the slaughter of so many men, as must be killed in war? But would you know the reason, All the graces of Christ without the this grace, will avail us nothing. why they are so blessed, that do procure peace, and do embrace it; and why we are so earnestly, so often, and in so various terms solicited by Christ and his Apostles, to observe this duty? Saint Augustine telleth us, it is, because all the graces of Christ, without this grace of loving all men, and living in peace with all men, will avail us nothing at all; Namsicut spiritus humanus nunquam vivificat membra nisi fuerint unita; ita Spiritus sanctus nunquam nos vivificat, nisi sumus in pace conjuncti. For as the Soul and humane spirit doth not quicken and give life unto our members, unless they be joined together; so the Spirit of God will never quicken us, to become members of Christ, unless we be united together with love, and in the bond of peace, as the same Father speaketh; and Saint Paul plentifully proveth the invalidity of all graces, 1 Cor. 13. per totum. without this grace of love and charity towards all men: and what love can be in them that kill their neighbours? And therefore, not only of our peace and reconciliation with God, or the peace and tranquillity of our consciences, but even of this peace among men, Esay 52.7. the Prophet saith, How beautiful are the feet of the Ambassadors of peace? and our Saviour doth so earnestly persuade us to embrace this peace; without which, we can never attain unto any peace with God, or to any quiet mind; for, as Saint John saith, he that loveth not his brother; and I may add, 1 John 4.20. and is not at peace with his neighbour, whom he hath seen; how can he love God, and be at peace with God, whom he hath not seen? And therefore, The piety of our Liturgy and Litany howsoever they that think themselves to be the holy brethren, and yet are the incentives of war, do exclaim against our Liturgy, and cannot endure the Litany, yet our Church doth most piously pray, Give peace in our time, O Lord; and again, That it may please thee, to give unto all 〈…〉 peace, and concord. 〈…〉 the first part of that honour, which we own to all men, that is, to do 〈◊〉 wr●ng, to shed no blood; to hate no man in our heart, to traduce no man with our tongues, and to smite no man with our hands; but to love, and to live in peace with all men. 2. As we are no ways to hurt, or to wrong any man; so we ought, 2 Every way to assist, and help them, that need our help. to the uttermost of our power, to be always ready to relieve, help, and secure every one that is oppressed, and that standeth in need of our help, & nihil est tam egregium, tam liberale, tamque munificum, quàm opem ferre supplicibus, excitare asf●ictos, dare salutem, & homines à periculis liberare; and there is nothing more royal, more liberal, and more munificent, then to help the poor supplicants, and distressed Petitioners, to raise up the afsticted, and to free the oppressed out of the hands of their oppressors, saith the Orator; C●cero Orat. 1. and in his Oration for Ligarius, he saith, Homines ad Deos nulla re propiùs accedunt, quàm salutem hominibus dand●; men can by no way be made more like unto God, than by doing good, and by yielding health and deliverance unto men: Therefore Solomon saith, withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it; and say not unto thy neighbour, Prov. 3.27. & 28. Go and come again, and to morrow I will give it thee, when as thou hast it by thee; because, as Lucian saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Celeres Gratiae dulciores sunt; sin autem tardaveris, omnis gratia vana sit, neque dicatur gratia. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The swiftest graces, or the favours soon done, are the sweetest; and the slow grace loseth all grace, and deserveth small thanks: being like unto him, saith, Seneca, that giveth not his bread to the poor, until it be mouldy, and musty, scarce worth the taking up; but he deserveth most thanks, that doth good unto his neighbour, with most speed; Quia bis dat, qui citò dat; because he doubleth his favour, that hasteneth to do it; and therefore, That the good we do, we should speedily do it. as our Saviour saith to Judas, Quod facis, fac citò, What thou dost, do quickly; so say I to every man, Either do good, and help thy neighbour quickly, or deny him quickly; and keep him not in suspense, which is far worse than the denial; because, as Solomon saith, spes quae defertur affligit animam; the hope that is deferred, afflicteth the soul; and, as the Poet saith, Morsque minus poenae quàm mora mortis habet. The expectation of a delayed death, hath been worse to some, than death itself; so the lingering and long-looking after any good, is more tedious to many men, than the absolute denial of that good. And so I read it in the French History, that when a certain Petitioner besought the King of France for some Office that he desired, in requital of some service that he had done unto the King; and the King told him, He should not have it, A pretty story of one of the Kings of France. he fell down upon his knees, and said, I do most humbly and hearty thank your Majesty for this favour; the King replied, thou mistakest me, for I tell thee, Thou shalt not have it; yes, said the Petitioner, I do so understand your Majesty, and therefore I do thank you, that you have so soon dispatched me, and not done, as one of your Lords did, to delay me a whole twelve months, in hope of a place, and then put me off with a sleeveless excuse; then the King, like a King, seeing him so thankful for his denial, did freely grant him his request. And so, if you intent to do any help to any one, remember what the Poet saith, Tolle moras; semper nocuit differre paratis. Lucan. in Pharsal. l. 1. Delay not your favour, but speedily help him, because your delays destroys your good; and makes it not half so good, and sometimes no good at all unto the receiver: but is as the physic, that is administered to the patiented, that is past recovery, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. But if you would approve yourselves to God, then, as the Apostle saith, to do good, Heb. 13.16. and to communicate, or to distribute unto the poor, as Tremelius Translates it, forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased; and if we do not this, then, as Lactantius saith, Non meremur in periculo liberari, si non succurrimus; nec meremur auxilium, si negamus auxilium; we deserve not to have ourselves freed from dangers, if we do not our best, to help and free them, that are in dangers; neither do we deserve, to be relieved in our wants, if we aid not, and relieve those that are in want, and in need to be relieved. And if we had helped our King, when men risen up against him, we had freed both him, and ourselves from many miseries. And therefore, that God may be merciful unto us, when we are in dangers, and help us when we are in want, we ought to yield our best assistance to deliver them that are in dangers, and to do good, and to help all those men, that are in want; as holy Job professeth that he did, saying, I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to to help him, Job. 29 12. & 17. Chap. 31.17. & 20. and I broke the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth; and then he showeth, how he did not eat his morsels himself alone, but the fatherless did eat with him; and the loins of the poor were covered with his clothing, and warmed with the fleeces of his sheep. And so should we do, hinder the oppressor to wrong the poor, and stop the violent proceeding of the wicked; and then, according to our ability, cloth the naked, feed the hungry, and visit those, that are sick and in prison: But, Ob. if you say, Such and such men are most wicked, and did such and such villainies; as, to kill my children, rob my friends and rebel against their King etc. And therefore, they deserve rather to be suffered to perish for their iniquities, than to be relieved in their necessities. To this we answer, Sol. as Christ teacheth us, that if God should so deal with us, as we deserve, we should all be soon undone; because we have continually provoked him to wrath, and our sins are more in number, than the sands of the sea and heavier in weight, than we are able to bear; and yet God is so good and so gracious towards us, Math. 5.45. that he maketh his Sun to rise on the evil, and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just, and on the unjust. Even so, if we will be the children of our Father, which is in heaven, we must not only love our friends, honour the wealthy, do good unto our brethren, and relieve those that are godly; but we must honour all men, love our enemies, bless them that curse us, do good to them that hate us, pray for them, which despitefully use us, and persecute us; and relieve them which perhaps have rob us: for herein we are not to consider their wickedness but their wants, By relieving the poor, we benefit ourselves more than the poor and so do our best, to relieve their misery, and not to uphold their mischief; and by such courteous and tenderhearted carriage towards these evil men, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the godly men do gratify, and do good unto themselves, as we may interpret the words of the Apostle, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. So that indeed we pleasure not these-poor so much by our giving, Eph. 4.32. as we do benefit ourselves by their receiving of what we give them. And therefore we are to do good unto all men, and to the wicked, though they be never so wicked, that we deprive not ourselves of that good which, for relieving them, we shall receive from God; Quia manus pauperis est gazophylacium Christi, Qui attendit ad attenuatum; faith Tremelius. the hand of the poor is the treasure-house of Christ: and whatsoever we give unto the poor, we lend unto the Lord, and we shall receive it again, in the time of need; and the Prophet David saith, Blessed is he that considereth the poor and needy; Qui prospioit oppresso, saith the vulgar Translation; blessed is he that looketh to the oppressed, The second branch. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. the Lord shall deliver him in the time of trouble; much more blessed shall he be, that helpeth and relieveth the oppressed; and especially those, that have formerly, wronged and oppressed him; he shall be doubly blessed. 1. Because he relieveth his wants. And 2. Because he remitteth his faults, and revengeth not his own wrongs. And so you see how we are to honour, to esteem, and to love all men. 2. As we are to honour all men in general, 2 What love we own to the Brotherhood. so more especially we are to love the Brotherhood in particular: where observe, 1. The Act. 2. The Extent. 1. The Act is love, and love; saith the Schoolman is, Bene velle amato: but that is no more than Amor affectivus: and the Apostle speaks not here, de amore affectivo tantum sed de amore effectivo simul; of the inward affection only, but also of that love, which is declared by the effects, in outward actions; and therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; Arist. Aethic. l. 9 c. 5. To love is to will that, which we esteem good to any one, and, to the uttermost of our power, to procure that good unto him: as Aristotle saith. So that this our love to the brotherhood, comprehendeth 1. An hearty affection, without dissimulation; 1 Joh. 3.18. not only in tongue and in word, but in deed and verity (i. e.) from the heart. 2. An actual performance of all the good, that we can do unto them: as, praying for them, comforting them and administering to their necessities, not only with our purses, but also with our words, with our labours, Crysost. in Ro. 12. ho. 21. and with any thing, that lieth in our power, to stand them in any stead. This is the act, that we are to do; And 2. For the Extent of it, we are to do it most especially, saith the Apostle, to the Brotherhood. Touching which point of Fraternity or Brotherhood, you must observe, that there is a two fold Brotherhood, whereof, you must hate the one and love the other. That there is a two fold fraeternity. As The 1. Is in Evil, and from the Devil. The 2. Is in Good, and from God. For 1. Simeon and Levi were brethren, but it was in the evil, 1 The evil Brotherhood. saith the Scripture: when the instruments of cruelty were in their habitations; and therefore cursed was their brotherhood, G●n. 49.5. & 7.7. and their unity was to be divided in Jacob, and to be scattered in Israel. And so the wicked, at all times, Faciunt unitatem coutra unitatem, do, as S. Augustine saith, unite themselves together against verity, and against the unity that should be among Cristians, Psal. 2.1, 2. which is, the unity of faith and religion; and, as the Prophet David saith, the Heathen do furiously rage's together, How the wicked, like the Scots and the Parliament, do combine and covenant together. and the people do imagine a vain thing; and all take counsel together, and plot against the Lord, and against his anointed: so Pilate and Herod, though at odds among themselves for other things, yet they can be reconciled, and agree together to crucify Christ. And so Solomon tells us, how the Congregation of the ungodly do confederate and Covenant (as now they do) together, to strengthen themselves in their wickedness, saying one to anothe, Come, let us cast our lots together, let us have but one purse, that is, one common treasure amongst us all; Prov. 1.11. & 14. and let us undergo the same fortune, be the same good or bad. And therefore, it is no new thing, for Traitors, Rebels, and Robbers, and other the like wicked men, though of different sects, and several opinions; yet to unite themselves together, and to take oaths and make covenants, confederacies and conspiracies, against the professors of the true Religion, and against those that they are bound, Sallust. Conjurat. Ca●el. X ●●●ph●n. de ascend. Cyri. by former oaths, to obey as it was in the conspiracy of Catiline, which Sallust relateth, and in the confederacy of the Grecians, when they went up with Cyrus the younger, against Artaxerxes, which Zenophon setteth down at large, and the covenant of the holy leaguers of France against their King, and the like. But you must remember, to do, what God commandeth you to do, in such confederacies, saying, My son, walk not thou in the way with them, resrain thy f●ot from their path; Prov. 1.15. for their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood; as you may read in the foresaid Authors, what abundance of innocent blood, those wicked covenants and confederacies have caused to be spilt. And therefore this being not the Brotherhood that you should love, if you love God, and your own souls, you must hate the same, as you do the gates of hell; because that, as the Psalmist saith, in covenanting against right, and against the truth, they are confederates against thee, O God, and against thy servants. And what created power under Heaven, How hard it is to escape the mischief of subtle confederates. is able to untie that knot, and to escape that malice, which villainy, subtlety, and cruelty have combined to bring to pass? Or what man is able to withstand a multitude of united enemies, that have strength and wealth enough, and have covenanted and sworn to fight against him, until they have destroyed him? Surely, when their plots are so subtle, their power so great, their wealth of Gold and Silver so much, and the confederates of sworn brethren so many, it is impossible to prevent their mischief, and to escape out of their hands, if the Lord himself doth not stand, to help his servants, and, as the Prophet saith, if he that dwelleth in heaven laugheth not these covenanters to scorn, if the Lord have them not in derision; yea, if he speaks not to them in his wrath, and vexeth them in his sore displeasure. 2. 2 The good Brotherhood. The other brotherhood is good, among the good, and in good, in faith to God, in obedience to our King and in love towards all men, and this brotherhood is many fold, as specially 1. Is four fold. Natural. 2. Nationall. 3. Political. 4. Spiritual. 1. 1 The natural Brotherhood. Natural brethren, begotten of the same parents, bred in the same house, and after the same manner, should not be like the offspring of Cain, that killed his own, and his only brother Abel; and as Romulus killed his own brother Remus, and Antoninus murdered his brother Geta in his mother's lap; 2 Chr. 21.4. and King Joram slew six of his own natural brethren, the sons of Jehosaphat, J●seph de Ant. l. 14. c. 2. & deinceps. with the sword; when as such miscreants are unworthy to live on earth; neither should they jar, hate, or envy one another as Jacob and Esau did, and jacob's children did their brother Joseph; and as the dissension of Hyrcanus and Aristobulus made way for Herod, an Idumean, to become King of Jury: The great love and humility of Scipio Africanus to his younger brother Lucius Scipio. but they should live like Moses and Aaron, and should love one another, as Plutarch relateth, P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus, and his brother Lucius Scipio did; for notwithstanding he was the African by name, that had overcome Hannibal, and had triumphed over the Carthaginians, and excelled all others, in the praise of Martial discipline, yet of his own good nature, he made himself inferior, and was contented to be Lieutenant to his younger brother, Plutarch. in vitâ Scip. Afr. that his brother might have the honour, of obtaining the Government of that Province from Laelius, that was his fellow Consul: and the like love, or rather more fervent we find to be in Castor and Pollux, for when Castor was slain by Ida, How dear brethren loved one another in former times Pollux. besought Jupiter, that he might impart half his own life unto his brother; which being granted, the Poet saith, Sic fratrem Pollux alterna morte redemit. And these celestial signs, that have their denomination from these brethren, do shine in heaven, Alternis vicibus, by turns, as the Astrologers do observe, in token of that great love of these brethren. And, if the time would give me leave, I could tell you of two Roman Brethren, whereof, the one was in Sertorius Army, and the other in the adverse Party, and of many others, that did so exceedingly love one another in former times, that each of them loved the other as himself: But now Rara est concordia fratrum, in our time, the love of Brethren is waxed cold, and so frozen, that many of them are degenerated and become most unnatural one towards another, that it is even a shame to see it. 2. There is a National Brotherhood, a brotherly love, 2 The National Brotherhood. Exod. 2.11. betwixt those men that are born and bred in the same Country, and are, as it were, sprung from the same Stock; for so Moses is said to have gone to see his Brethren, and spying an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his Brethren, he slew the Egyptian; and when he saw an Hebrew striving with an Hebrew, he said, Sirs, Act. 7.26. you are brethren, Why do ye wrong one to another? And the Lord showeth, that all the children of Israel, though strangers one to another, yet were they Brethren: for he saith, If thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee, than thou shalt relieve him, yea, though he be a stranger, Levit. 25.35, 36.39. Deut. 23.19. or a sojourner, that he may live with thee: And so in many places, the Lord calleth all the Jews, and all the Israelites Brethren. And the very Heathens deemed their Countrymen, that were of the same Nation, to be Brethren, and loved one another, even as Brethren. And the Romans held the Trojans to be their Brethren, because they were descended from them. And Scipio Africanus esteemed better of him that preserved the life of one Roman, his Countryman, than of him that had slain ten of his enemies that were Barbarians. And what a shame is it then, for men, of the same Country, of the same Nation, yea, and of the same kindred, to be set, as the Scripture speaketh, of an Egyptian, against an Egyptian; or, as the Soldiers in Senacheribs Army, when the Angel caused them, to bathe their swords in the blood of each other. Is it not a pitiful thing, to see, an Irish man killing Irishmen, or an Englishman making his sword drunk in the blood of Englishmen. Surely any War is lamentable; and as the Poet saith, — heu miseri, qui bella gerunt. They are wretched men, that do wage War; But of all Wars, Lucan. Pharsal. l. 2. And therefore Claudian saith, Cum Gallica valgo, Praelia jactaret, tacuit Pharsalica Caesar: Namque inter socias acies, cognataque signa. vinci miser m, nunquam vicisse decorum's. Claud de 6. consulat. Honorii. 3. The Political Brotherhood. Summum, Brute, nesas civilia bella fatemur. That is the worst, and most lamentable, when a Kingdom is divided against itself, and the men of the same Nation shall fight and kill one another like enemies, that should love and live together like brethren. And therefore, what pretences soever they have, I know not how those men in our Kingdoms, that to make themselves great, have, and do involve these Nations in their ownblood, will answer for it, Cum surrexerit ad judicandum Deus, When God shall come, and shall make inquisition for all the blood that they have caused to be unjustly spilt. 3. The Political Brotherhood is, when either two or three, or more Friends, or Cities, or Nations, shall covenant and confederate to help, and assist one another, in all just and honest things, against all those that shall seek unjustly to wrong them, and oppress them. And this is a commendable Brotherhood, and aught to be loved, and inviolably to be observed; as it was by Damon, and Pythias, Pylades, and Orestes, and by the Ancient Romans, to all their Colleagues, and Confederates. 4. 4 The Spiritual Christian Brotherhood. The last, best, and chiefest, Brotherhood, is that which is spiritual, and which therefore ought to be preferred, and loved, rather than any other Brotherhood whatsoever. For, as there are degrees and difference in God's love, when, though he loveth all the things that he hath made; yet he loveth Man, better than any of all the things that he made; yea better than he loved the Angels, when he is styled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; but is no where found to be termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. And among men, though he loveth them all, as they are his creatures, and the works of his hands; yet he loveth the godly far better than all the rest, that are wicked; and of all that are godly, he loveth best his wellbeloved Son, in whom he is well pleased: and next to him, he loves them best, We ought to order our love, as God loveth. that are most conformable to the Image of his Son; that is, in goodness, in holiness, and righteousness. So we ought to order our love towards all men, and to each Brotherhood, that they may have the best share in our love, which ought to have the best; and that is, the Brotherhood which is spiritual. For, though the Apostle bids us, to do good unto all men, and so to love each Brotherhood; yet he tells us, that we ought to do it more especially, Galat. 6.10. to them that are of the household of faith; that is, to relieve the good sooner than the bad, a Christian before a Pagan, and a Saint rather than a sinner. And therefore, though we may, and aught, to love each of the foresaid Brotherhoods, that is in good, and especially the Brotherhood of flesh and blood, which nature teacheth every man to do, when they are like Hypocrates Twins, and should have idem velle, and idem nolle; and the Scripture showeth, how good, and joyful a thing it is, for to see such brethren to love one another, and to live together in unity; yet the Brotherhood, whereof the Apostle speaketh, and is to be loved above all other Brotherhoods whatsoever, Christian's ought to love one another, better than natural brethren that are not Christians. is to be understood, de fraternitate Spiritus, of our spiritual Brotherhood, whereby we are regenerated and made all the sons of God, and so Brethren by adoption and grace. For this fraternity of the Spirit unites men more, and tieth them better to love one another, than the fraternity of flesh and blood. Because, as S. Augustine saith, The natural Brotherhood similitudinem corpor is refert, showeth the likeness, and coherence of the body; but this Brotherhood of the Spirit unanimitatem cordis demonstrat, declareth the unity and unanimity of the heart, and that is interdum sibi inimica, sometimes breaking out to deadly hate, as it did betwixt Cyrus the younger, and Artaxerxes. But this is, sine intermissione pacificâ, always remaining in perfect love. And therefore, ut Religio derivatur à religando, as Religion is so termed, because, Religion tieth all that are of the same Religion to love one another. it tieth and knitteth men together by fervent love among themselves, and by a constant faith to God. So we find that men of the same Faith and Religion, have loved, and relieved one another, and stuck together better and firmer, than any other kind of men whatsoever. And so they are here required and commanded to do by the Apostle, Love the Brotherhood, that is, love them especially, and above all others, that are of the same faith and do profess the same Religion of Jesus Christ as you do. For you see, all Heretics, and Sectaries, and the professors of false religions do so; and why should not you, that are true Christians, and do profess the true Religion of Christ, much rather do the same? But here we ought to be very careful, A special Observation. and to take special heed, that we be not too censorious, and too rash judges, to set down the bounds of this Brotherhood, and so straighten the extent, and diminish the number of the Brethren, by our determining, who be those sons of God in Christ, which we may, and aught to love and relieve, rather than the rest of men, which we suppose, we are not to love so well. For you must know, which our precise Saints will not know, that the Brotherhood, which the Apostle meaneth here, Who are here understood by this Brotherhood. and those that S. Paul termeth the household of faith, and, in other places, the Saints of God, is to be understood of all Christians, and doth comprehend all those, that were baptised, and did profess the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And these might then, as they may also now, be easily discerned and distinguished from the rest of the Pagans' and Infidels, that did not believe the Gospel of God: Because the one sort had the Father's name written in their foreheads, when they were baptised, and so received the outward sign and badge of Christianity, Revelat. 14.1. which they professed, and were not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: Rom. 1. And the other sort refused the profession of Christ, and would not embrace the Gospel, and receive the badge of Christianity; but either persecuted the Christians, or at best slighted and rejected the Faith of Christ. But where all men are baptised and do profess to believe the Gospel, and to do service unto Christ, to distinguish the sound branches of the true Vine, and the faithful members of Christ's body, from the rotten boughs, and hypocritical professors, and so to determine, which are the Brother hood, and which not, is such a presumption of men, as can no ways be warranted by the Word of God: for, Conscientiae latebras hominibus scire non permissum est; We cannot search into the hearts of men, and God suffereth not men to know the thoughts of other men, and the secrets that are lurking in their consciences, which is the proper work of God, who only is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Hierom. epist. 5. The searcher of the heart and reins, saith S. Hierom. And therefore, we must confess, that as the Apostle saith, 2 Tim. 2.19. The Lord only knoweth who are his, and can discriminate the lively branches from the rotten boughs, and the truly regenerated Brotherhood, from the solely outward professors of the Faith of Christ. And we can judge no otherwise of any men, than by their fruits; that is, by their actions and outward appearance: We are often deceived by the outward appearance of things. and that appearance, when we judge of inward things by the outward, doth oftentimes deceive us; when as, Multa sunt, quae non videntur; ita multa videntur, quae non sunt, Many things are, which are not seen; so many things are seen to be, which are not: As the falling-Stars, seem to be Stars, and yet are not. And the hypocrites, that like Watermens, do row one way, and look another way, seem to be good Christians, and yet are not: So, many men have the fear of God in their hearts, and do love God, and are the true children of God; though these graces are not seen, but are, as we see the Sun is sometimes, overclouded with those sins that proceed from the frailty of the flesh. And therefore our Saviour bids us, not to judge according to the outward appearance, that is, not to judge of the inward things by the outward; John 7.24. but to judge righteous judgement. But you will say, How can that be? Quest. or how can we judge righteous judgement, if we can judge no further than the outward appearance? or if Interiora non cognoscuntur per exteriora, The inward things may not be known by the outward signs? I answer, That many times indeed, Respon. the inward things do cohere with the outward appearance; as the heat showeth there is a fire, which we see not; but this is not always; and therefore not infallible. And I say, that when our Saviour bids us, to judge righteous judgement, he meaneth not hereby, that we should enter into the hidden things of the heart, How we ought not to judge of our Brethren. or search into the secrets of God, and so positively, and rightly, to determine and judge, as our Gnostick Sectaries seem to do, who are Gods chosen Saints, and who are wicked Reprobates; Who are the Brother hood that are to be loved, and who are the limbs of the Beast, that are to be rejected; which we cannot do: But he meaneth, that we should not judge of inward, hidden, and secret things, by the superficial show of outward things: Or, that we should not judge of the secret intention of the heart, when we see but the outward action of the hand; or, as Saint Augustine saith, he willeth that we should not judge de actionibus mediis quaevel in malo vel in bono animo fieri possunt, of such actions as may proceed, and come either from an evil mind, or from a good heart; or else, de futur is contingentibus, of future things, what may happen to any one, because that in all these things, we may easily be deceived; as we see some man, like unto S. Paul, de quo desperamus, subitò convertitur & fit optimus, of whom we despaired, is suddenly converted, and, as he was, from a persecuting wolf, became a holy Saint; so is this other man from a deboist drunkard, become a devout Christian: and we see other men, like King Saul, and Judas, and Simon Magus; de quibus multum praesumpseramus, defecerunt & facts sunt pessimi; of whom we conceived much good, have suddenly relapsed, and became most wicked; so that, nec timor noster certus est, nec amor, neither our fear of the one, nor our hope of the other, can have any certainty at all. And on the other side, he would have us to strive and study to the uttermost of our power, by the ways and means that are left unto us, to know the truth of outward things, and to search for the understandiug of those things that God hath revealed unto us, Of what thing ●ve may judge. and so, to judge righteous judgement in those things, wherein we are allowed to judge; and that is, de praesentibus externis & apertis, of things present or past, and the things that are manifest and external; as to discern white from black, light from darkness, good from evil, and a sober man from him that is drunk; or a true subject from a false Traitor, and the like; so far as their outward actions do appear. Which may be done without entering into the hearts and thoughts of men, or diving to deep into the secrets of God; for our Saviour tells us, that as the tree is known by his fruit, that is, cujus generis sit, of what kind it is, an apple, or a crab, The words and works of every man do testify wh●t he is. Judg. 12.6. John 10.25. a fig tree, or a thistle, so we may know men by their words, and by their works, whether they be therein good or bad, the blessers of God or the blasphemers of God; for as the damsel said to Saint Peter, Thy speech bewrayeth thee; and the pronouncing of Shiboleth discovered, who was an Israelite, and who not; who a Gileadite, and who an Euphraimite: And our Saviour saith, The works that I do, do bear witness of me; so the words and works of every man else, do sufficiently testify what he is for the present, good or bad. But though I do know by the fruits, of what kind the tree is; yet I know not thereby, whether the tree be rotten at the root, or not: so, though I know by the words and works of men, whether they be therein virtuous, or vicious, Saints, or sinners; yet I cannot judge thereby what kind of hearts they have, good or bad; or what will become of them, for the time to come. For you know what the Prophet saith, Many give good words with their mouths, but curse with their hearts; and the Israelites drew near unto God with their mouths, and honoured him with their lips, but their hearts were fare from him; and therefore, seeing that virtus consistit in actione, virtue consisteth in action, in our works rather than in our words; our Saviour tells us, Matth 7.21. Not he that saith, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven, but he that doth the will of his Father, which is in heaven; and Saint Paul saith directly, Rom. 2.13. Not the hearers of the Law, though you should hear a Sermon every day in the week, but the doers of the Law shall be justified; because our works do more fully, and more certainly show, what we are, rather than our words; for, quid audiam verba, cum videam contraria facta? to what purpose shall I hear good words, Our words like the leaves, and our works like the fruit. while the tongue, like Joab, saith, I● it peace, my brother, and the hand stabs us to the heart? they will avail us nothing, being like the Spider's web, that will make no garment for us, because our words are like the green leaves, that make a fair show upon any tree, and our works are like the solid fruits, whereby we discern the sweetness, and the goodness of the tree. And yet I told you how far we may judge of the fruits, and works of men; so far as 〈◊〉 see, and no further; because we may as easily be deceived by the specious works of the hypocrite, as by the scandalous deeds of the transgressors, which perhaps, for aught we know, may have better hearts towards God, than the others that have far more glorious works, in the sight of men. And therefore I say, that we ought not to make a distinction among Christians, and gather Churches unto ourselves, to be a congregation of Saints separated from the rest of the wicked, as the Apostles gathered Churches from the unbelieving Jews, and the Idolatrous Gentiles. Because all those that are baptised, and are received as the children of the Church, and do profess the Faith of Christ, are comprehended in this Brotherhood, and is not to be rend in pieces, like Jeroboams garment, but aught to be kept entire, like the Coat of Christ, and to be loved and and cherished, as this our Apostle adviseth us. But then, seeing this brotherhood, which we are thus chief to love, is not the brotherhood of society, which reason persuadeth, nor of consanguinity, which nature teacheth, nor of our Election and Adoption to be the Sons of God, which we know not; but of the profession of the faith of Christ and receiving of the signs and badges of Christianity, which are visible to our eyes of flesh, and credible to the judgement of charity; Quest. it is much questioned, and of too many men very unjustly resolved; whether all, that are baptised, and do thus profess the Christian Religion, and are not cut off from the Communion of the Church, for some detected and apparent iniquity, are comprehended in this brotherhood, and are thus specially to be loved. To which our rigid Saints do absolutely deny it, because we see so many Sects, and so many kinds of men, that do thus profess Christianity, and say. They do all believe in Christ, and do wear his badge, and do him service; as Papasts, Puritans, Brownists, Anabaptists, and the like. And therefore, if this be true, that all these are contained, and united within this bond of fraternity, and with a Christian love to be embraced, you will make the way to heaven very broad, and this bond of brotherhood of a very large extent. But I answer, that I must not shut the gate of heaven against those, Sol. to whom Christ hath opened it, nor make the way thither narrower than God hath made it; and therefore I say, that the bond of this Christian fraternity, which we are commanded to retain, and to love all that are comprehended within it, though it be woven, like joseph's coat, Gen. 27.3. with some diversity of thread, and threads of many colours; yet ought it not to be easily broken, and soon cut in sunder; and the mercies of God should not be too narrowly contracted; for why should men be more rigid, then God? or why should any error exclude men from the Churches- Communion, which will not deprive them of eternal salvation? and we find that in the Apostles time, the Corinthians denied the Resurrection of the flesh, which is a principal Article of our Christian faith: and the Galathians erred as foully, in one of the chiefest, and most fundamental points of Christianity, which was the point of our justification so far, that S. Paul tells them, if they be circumcised, as many of them would be; that is, after they had embraced the truth of the Gospel, they were fallen away from grace, and Christ should profit them nothing; and many other foul errors they had amongst them: and yet the holy Apostle, in regard of their profession, to be Christians, and their Christian conversation, to lead a just and an upright life, calleth them Saints,, brethren, his children, and the Churches of God; Chillings p. 220. And so the seven famous Churches of Asia, were infected with many errors, and accused of foul corruptions; and yet the holy Ghost denieth them not to be Christians, and disdaineth not to call them the Churches of God. And therefore I say, though the Papists, and Puritans, Anabaptists, and Brownists, and the like, differ from us that are the true Protestants, in many particular points of our Religion; yet, while they profess to believe in Christ, What are the chiefest points of charity. and to live like Christians, in the fear of God, in true obedience to their King, and in unfeigned love and charity towards their neighbours, which I conceive to be the chiefest points of Christianity, and the parts and parcels of our wedding garment; I say, they are our brethren, and to be deemed our Christian brethren; and we ought to love them, and are obliged to live in peace with them, and to suffer them unwronged to live peaceably with us; and not to do, as, in the madness of their misguided zeal, too too many men are bend on either side, to hate, persecute, rob and murder one another, because they will not be of the same opinion, as we are, or they are of; which is a thing impossible in nature, because Faith cannot be compelled, either to believe what I list not, or not to believe what I list, as Lactantius saith, and it is inconsistent with the very Principle of our profession, that we should rob men, and take away their estates●s because they will not profess the same Faith and Religion that we do; for compulsion may make men hypocrites, but not Saints; and you know the chiefest points of our Christian Religion are, Faith, Hope, and Charity,; and the Apostle tells us, the greatest of these is Charity; because our love and our charity, as they are of a far greater perpetuity, so they should be of a far greater latitude, and extent, than our Faith and Hope can be. And therefore, What we are to hate, and what to love in all Sectaries, and professors of Religion. though my knowledge and my judgement will not suffer me to be of the same Faith, either with the Papists, Puritans, Anabaptists, or the like erroneous Sectaries; but persuadeth me to hate and detest both their Positions and their Practices: yet my Religion teacheth me to love their persons, and in my conversation to live in Peace, and to join the right hand of Christianity with them, and rather desire to exceed them, in all the Offices of love, than any ways to show the least hatred, or do the least injury to any one of them all; and withal, to pray for them, and to use all loving means to bring them to repentance for their errors, and to embrace the truth. This which I profess, is the readiest way to win them: for as the Scripture saith, Prov. 10.12. Hatred stirreth up strife, but love covereth a multitude of sins: and is the readiest way to convert the sinner. And I think, if men did this, and not break the bond of love, nor straighten the extent of this brotherhood, they might the sooner be reduced to embrace the same truth, and to be united in the same faith, because true love is the most attractive thing in the world, and the want of love is the cause, that so much wickedness doth abound, even as our Saviour testifieth. And therefore it is most requisite, that we should be very earnest, and very often to insist upon these points, and to urge these duties, to honour all men, and to love the brotherhood. And so having heard, that no Christian, that is baptised, and professeth the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is to be excluded from this Brotherhood; We are now to consider, wherein the love of this Brotherhood consisteth; and what this Extensive love includeth in it: and upon survey, we shall find it to comprehend 1. An Unfeigned affection of goodwill unto them, without dissimulation, to wish them all happiness and prosperity, not only in words, but even from our very hearts. 2. An Earnest endeavour to procure them all the good that their necessity requireth, so far as it lieth in our power to help them. As 1. To pray for them, that God would bless them, and preserve them from all evil, and save them, even as S. Paul saith, Brethren, Rom. 10.1. my hearts desire and prayer to God for Israel, is, that they might be saved. 2. Most cheerfully to administer to their necessities, in all that lieth in our abilities; for that is the Apostle's meaning, both in his Epistle to the Romans, chap. 12.13. And in this 1 Tim. 6.17, 18. Chrysost. in loc. as S. Chrysostom showeth, saying, Non solum pecuniis, sed & verbis & rebus & corpore & aliis quibuscunque modis, vult nos juvare egenos; the Apostle would have us to help the needy, not only with our purses, but also with our words, in speaking for them, and with our labours, to do them good, and to preserus them from all manner of damage in their estates; yea, Rom. 12.20. without any difference of friends or foes: for so the Apostle bids us, If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink. And so the Lord saith, if thou meet est thine enemy's Ox, or his Ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring him back again to him; Exod. 23.5.6. and if thou seest the Ass of him that hateth thee, lying under his burden, and thou wouldst forbear to help him; thou shalt surely help him, or, leave thy business to help him; O most heavenly and divine love! how happy were we, if we were filled with such love! and how miserable are they, that in stead of doing such friendly offices unto their enemies, as to bring home their straying , will rob their friends, and drive their Christian brethren both from house and home, and leave them neither Ox or Ass? And I remember that I read of Linacrus, how he was reading the fifth, six, and seven chapters of S. Mathew's Gospel, and then pausing a while, he laid the book aside, and cried out, Certain aut hoc non est Evangelium Christi, aut nos non sumus Christiani: So I say to those that rob their Christian brethren, and expel them from their estates, and deprive them of that Means that God hath given them upon what pretence soever; Certainly to do these things are not the commands of God, and they do high'y offend God, in transgressing his commands; or, I do not know, Gal 6.10. Math. 5.44. what it is to transgress his commandments. For S. Paul bids us, to do good unto all, and our Saviour Christ bids us to do good to them that hate us: and I think I am sure, that to rob us, and to deprive us of all that we have, is no good to us, though it may do good to us, as it comes from God, when by our patience, and our prayers for our persecutors, we shall possess our souls, which is a better possession than all that which our enemies do or can take from us. And therefore, let the wicked still do wickedly, let the filthy be filthy still, and let thiefs and robbers rob us still, and if they please take away that little pittance, which is yet left unto us; but let us do as the Apostle bids us, love the Brotherhood, and as our Saviour bids us, love our enemies; and if we hear them swear, or see them drunk, or commit any other foul offences, let us rather, friendly, advise them, to amend, as our brethren, and not censoriously exclude them from our societies, and reject them as reprobates from God's people, as those, that make a separation from us, do with us. The third branch of this Golden Text is, Fear God. Wherein you are to observe, 1. The Act, Fear. 2. The Object, God. 1. Fear, which the Latin call Metus, or Timor, Cicero Tusc. q. l. 4. and in Greek is termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Est opinio vel expectatio mali impendentis, saith the Orator, The opinion or expectation of some evil, hanging over our heads: and it is sprung in us, saith the Philosopher, Per totius caloris ex frigore contractionem ad cor ipsum undique decurrentis utpote ad suam sedem tanquam in regiam vel in arcem; Fear, what it is and how defined. by the irregular contraction of our natural heat, from the other parts of the body unto the heart, as unto the royal Tower; whereby our hearts panting with incessant motion, are succoured, and our blood deprived of that heat, Sap. 17.12. freezeth as it were in the other veins; or, as the wise man saith, Fear is the betraying of that succour which reason affordeth. But for your better understanding of this point, you must know that the object of fear is to be considered, before it can be rightly defined what it is; And it is agreed on all sides, that, Objectum timoris malum, evil is the proper object of all fear, and that must be evil to come, for that which is past we call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, heaviness or sadness; but that which is to come, we call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, fear: for we do always love, and never fear, that which is good, or that which we conceive to be good at least. And the fear of this evil is either, 1. Fear two fold. Human or, 2. Divine. 1. 1 Human. As fear is naturally ingraffed in every Beast, as we see, saith S. Bernard, Bernard. in quad. Epist. that the trembling Sheep doth run away for fear, when the Wolf cometh, Abscondit se columba tremens, accipitre viso; & de caverna mus non audet esuriens exire, ambiente cato; the hungry mouse dares not peep out of her hole, while the Cat walketh by her; so, ever since Adam sinned, this fear of evil is naturally ingraffed by the heart of every man; for I heard thy voice in the garden (saith Adam) and I was afraid; and so ever since we are all afraid: so that the strongest and most assured courage cannot hinder us from shutting our eyes, at the sudden surprise of a flash of lightning, or the withdrawing and turning aside our head, from the sight of a fearful precipice, or to be terrified at any great and unexpected noise; because it is not in our power to resist these first motions, or first fears of evil. And this human fear is the effect of sin, and the object of it is neither God nor good, but want, sickness, dangers, death, or the like bitter fruits, which the tree of knowledge hath produced. And therefore this fear is not to be desired, because, as the Poet saith, Degeneres animos timor arguit— It is an argument of a poor dejected and degenerate mind; and, as Ovid saith, — vires subtrahit ipse timor, It takes away that strength, which we had; and leaves us able to do nothing: and not only so, but as Lucan saith, — multos in summa pericula misit Venturi timor ipse mali, fortissimus ille est Qui promptus metuenda pati— The fear of evil to come, This human fear is a very ill companion for brave Soldiers. hath cast many men to many evils, to many sins, to many dangers: Et stultitia est timore mortis mori; and it is a great deal of folly, or mere foolishness, to die for fear of death; and yet, as the sound of an empty sling doth terrify the birds, so we many times are afraid of the shadow of evil; Seneca Ep. 75. Et non ad actum tantum sed ad streptium excitamur, & inter suspecta male vivitur: infirmus animus, antequam malis opprimatur, queritur; praesumit illa & ante tempus cadit. And what a miserable thing is this, Futuris angi, nec se tormento reservare sed accersere sibi miserias? to be vexed with those things that are to come, and to make ourselves miserable before they come? because the fear of such things makes us the less able to undergo, and to overcome the things that we do fear, as the fear of Flaminius ad Trasimenum, and of Crassus apud Carras, and of Pompey in Thessaly, did greatly further their great losses; because Pessimus in dubiis augur timor, Fear is the worst Prophet that can be in any doubtful thing; Q●ando affectus qui tecum erit contra te dimicat, & tui ipsius adversus te metior pars rebellat; when we carry in our bosom that which fights against us. And therefore the very Heathens dissuaded us from this base and effeminate fear, especially when we go against our enemies. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Euripid. in Meleagro. Fearful men are of none account in the war, but are absent while they are present, which is the cause, saith Cicero, Cicero pro Aul. Caecinna. Quod exercitus maximi saepe pulsi ac fugati sunt terrore ipso, impetuque hostium sine cujusquam non modo morte, verum etiam vulnere; Fear destroyed great Armies. great Armies have been overthrown with this vain fear, not only without the death, but also without the hurt of any man, and therefore reason itself persuadeth us to cast off all fear, and to arm ourselves with courage, when we go against our enemies; for though, as the Comic saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Many evils spring out of rashness: Yet, for'rs juvat audentes, prisci sententia vatis; Claud. ad probinum. And, as old Homer saith, — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Homer Odyss●x. Omnibus in rebus potior vir fortis & audax, Sit licet hospes, & è longinquis venerit oris. The stout courageous man is best in all affairs; when as the timorous man, omnia tuta timet, doth oftentimes fear his own shadow, and there is no receipt against fear. But though fear is an ill companion, & male cuncta ministrat, and ordereth all things very ill; It is sometimes good to fear dangers, and how. yet sometimes this fear of dangers is of an excellent use, especia lie when it is joined with a provident care, to prevent it; for it is a point of great wisdom in doubtful things, to fear the worst, when the best will save itself, & we see many men have been suddenly destroyed, because they feared not the dangers, that were imminent over their heads; whereas he, Qui insidias timet in nullas incidet, nec cito perit ruina qui ruinam timet; quia semper metuendo sapiens vitat malum; & inimicum quamvis humilem, docti est metuere; he that feareth the snare falleth not into the snare, and he that feareth ruin, is not suddenly ruined; because a wise man avoideth evil by fearing it, and a learned man will not be fearless of the hurt that may happen unto him from his meanest enemy, when according to that of the Poet Parva necat morsu spatiosum viper a taurum, A cane non magno saepe tenetur aper. Causa pusilla nocet, sapiensque nocentia vitat. A small thing may do much mischief. Yet this fear of danger, without a care joined with it to prevent the danger, or at least to lessen it, is rather a vexation to be avoided, than a virtue to be embraced. Therefore this fear is only good, as it makes us wary to prevent the evil; as the fear of the Thief, makes the good man of the house watchful to defend his house, saith our Saviour. And as this humane frailty, The humane Fear, hath driven many me● to great sins. and the fear of future dangers hath been the ruin of many a man, and the loss of many great Armies; so, the like fear hath driven many men to great sins. As Pilate, for fear of the people, and of their complaint against him to Caesar, condemned to death, the Lord of Life. Judges, for fear of the rich and powerful men, do many times decree unjust judgement. And the Preachers of God's Word, do sometimes pervert the truth, and preach placentia, for fear of dangers; either loss of Live, or of Liberties: And in many other men, this humane fear is the cause of many inhuman acts. Therefore the holy Ghost prohibiteth this fear in every place; Moses enjoineth Judges to be men of courage. Luke 12. Jerem. 1. Esay 51.7. Ezech. 2.6. Our Saviour bids his Disciples, not to fear them that kill the body, and after that can do no more. And the Lord often commandeth his Prophets, not to fear the faces of men, nor to be afraid of their threaten: As the Prophet Esay saith, Harken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my Law: Fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revile; for the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool. And the Angel biddeth the Church of Smyrna, Revel. 2.10. to fear none of those things that they should suffer; that is, neither poverty, nor sickness, nor reproach, nor imprisonment, nor yet death itself: And the reason why we should not fear these things is set down by the Lord himself, saying, Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that form thee, O Israel, Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine: when thou pass●st through the waters, Esay 43.1, 2. I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee; Rom 8.31. because God is with us, and if he be with us, Who can be against us? N●m quid timet hominem homo in sinu Dei positus? Aug. de verb. Dom. For why should any man, that is in the bosom of God, and upheld there by God's hand, be afraid of any man, or of any thing? Tu de illius sinu noli cadere, & quicquid ibi pass●s fueris ad salutem valebit non ad pernitiem. Do thou continue in God's favour, and thou shalt not need to fear any man's fury. And so you see how the humane fear of all worldly evils, is, as much as we can, to be shunned, and no ways to be embraced: But 2. 2 The Divine fear God the object of this fear, in two respects. The Divine fear is that, which we are commanded here, and in all other places of the holy Scripture, to seek for it, and to embrace it; And though, as I said before, the proper object of fear, is said to be evil; yet God, which is the chiefest Good, may be said to be the object of this fear, in two respects. 1. Respect. 1 As the body feareth the parting of the soul, which is the life of the body; so the soul feareth the departing of God's favour, which is the life of the soul; and that parting of God's favour from us, is the greatest evil that can happen unto us. 2. As a Malefactor feareth the good and just Magistrate, lest he punish him for his evil deeds; so every sinner doth, or should fear God, lest he should render vengeance unto him for his sins. And from these two respects, springeth a twofold kind of Divine fear. 1. The servil-fear, which is a fear of punishment. 2. Filial-fear, which is a fear to lose the love and favour of God, which grieves them more to lose it, than to suffer all the punishment that they can endure. And both these fears are wrought in our hearts by the finger of God's Spirit, when as the wicked neither respect God's love, nor fear his justice; but will notwithstanding all the promises of the Gospel, and all the threaten of the Law, most fearlessely run to all kind of wickeduess. And although the servil-fear hath for its object malum poenae, 1 Of the servil-fear. the evil of punishment, and the filial-fear hath malum culpa, the evil of sin, Q●ia in illo timetur, ne incidatur in tormentum supplicii, August. in isto ne amittatur gratia beneficii; because that by the first, we fear the torments of Hell-fire, and by the second we fear to lose the joys of Heaven; Gregor. in pass. Et quem à prava actione formidata poena prohibet, formidantis animum nulla spiritus libertas tenet; nam si poenam non metueret, culpam proculdubiò perpetraret; And he that abstaineth from evil, only for fear of the punishment, is not refrained by the freedom of God's Spirit; because he would certainly commit the sin, if he were not withheld by the fear of punishment. And so, as S. Augustine saith, Aug. l. 2. cont●a pelag. Qui timore poena non amore justitiae fit bonus, nondum bene fit bonus; nec fit in cord, quod fier● videtur in opere, quando mallet bonnm non facere, si posset impune; He that doth good for fear of the rod more than for the love of goodness, doth not that good so well as he ought to do it; neither is that done in the heart, which seems to be done in the work, when he had rather not do it, if he might leave it undone without punishment. Yet this servil-fear is very good, and very necessary for most men; That the servile fear is good, and how. because that, as the needle draweth the thread after it; so this fear, entering first into the heart, maketh way for the other fear to follow after; and when this keepeth us from the evil, it maketh us by little and little, to fall in love with the good; for as nemo repent fit pessimus, but the sinner falleth into Hell by certain steps and degrees; so we ascend to Heaven per scalas gratiarum, by passing on from faith to faith, and from one grace unto another; that is, from the weaker, still unto the stronger, and from the less perfect, unto that which is more excellent. The Scripture persuadeth us to this servil-fear. Exod. 20.20. And therefore we are persuaded to this fear, both in the Old and New Testaments. As, 1. Moses saith unto the Israelites, God is come to prove you, that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the Prophet Esay saith, Sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself, and let him be your fear, Esay 8.13. and let him be your dread. And the Prophet Jeremy saith, Fear ye not me, saith the Lord? and Will ye not tremble at my presence, Pavor vester & terror vester. Jer. 5.22. which have placed the sand for the bound of the Sea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it, though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prova●l, though they roar, yet can they not pafs over it? 2. Our Saviour saith, Fear not them which kill the body, Math. 10.28. but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell: Which very thing is further amplified, Luke. 2.5. and the Precept reiterated by S. Luke. And S. Paul, saith, Heb. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And therefore the Prophet biddeth us, to kiss the Son lest he be angry, and so we should perish from the right way. And yet, such is the nature, and so great is the sottishness of foolish man, that he will be afraid where no fear is; he will startle at his own shadow, he will suggest fears, and raise jealousies unto himself; as we see the English Rebels have done out of nothing; We fear every vain thing, more than we fear God. for they dreamt they were undone, when they were most happy; and they made the World believe, the King raised War against his Parliament, when we saw, the Parliament caused the King to flee away to save his life: Thus we fear flies, and tremble at the sight of feathers; and the great God, that is a consuming fire, whose voice teareth the Mountains, drieth up the Seas, and shaketh the Wilderness, we are no whit afraid to provoke him every day; for though he chargeth us with a subpaena, as we shall answer it at his dreadful Judgement, To honour all men, to wrong no man, to obey the King, and to do to all men, as we would they should do to us; yet Revenge against our neighbours, Rebellion against our King, Robbing the poor, Killing the innocent, and the like, are things of no more account, than killing flies; So much do we fear our God But against this, every man will say, that he feareth God; and what he doth, he doth it for his service. So the grand Rebels, Corah, Dathan, and Abiram tell Moses, All the Congregation is holy. So that Arch-hypocrite Saul saith, I have performed the Command of the Lord; and when Samuel reproved him, that he had not obeyed the voice of the Lord, he stiffly justifieth himself, 1 Sam. 13.15, 20. and saith; yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me; and if any thing be amiss, it is not I that am to be blamed for it, but the people which took of the spoil; and they took it to none other end, but for the service of God, that they might sacrifice unto him in Gilgal. Even so, all Rebels, and all hypocrites, justify themselves under the sp●cious pretexts of doing all for God's honour, and the good of the Gospel; and if any thing be amiss, it is that, which they cannot help; it is the fault of their unruly followers, which also cannot so much be condemned, because they intent all, for the glory of God, and, by the spoil of the Bishops, and Recusants, to set up a Preaching-Presbytery, which will be a very acceptable sacrifice unto God, and a far better service than now is used. And therefore I do very ill to tax them, that they fear not God. And so the case standeth; Marcus ait, Scaurus negat; I affirm it, and they deny it. But in truth, though it is the property of all hypocrites to cloak their wickedness, under the pretence of bettering things; Yet God likes better of what Himself requireth, than of what these Will-worshippers think to be more honourable for him: And as Samuel was feign to convince Saul by the bleating of the sheep, and the lowing of the oxen; so to prove these Rebels to be void of the fear of God, I must say, Si non creditis oraculis, credit oculis; If you will not believe my words, look into their deeds; for as the Tree is known by the fruits, The two things that the fear of God doth. 1. To suppress sin. Prov. 3. Chap. 15. Chap. 16. so we may know where the fear of God resideth, by the fruits that it bringeth. I will name but only two, that are the inseparable effects of the fear of God. 1. Per timorem Domini declinat omnis à malo; The fear of the Lord expelleth sin, which can no more stand with the fear of God, than light and darkness can agree together, or the Ark and Dagon can stand upon the same Table; for sin is like a deluge, and the fear of God is like the bank of a River, which hindereth sin to overflow in any man; Or, sin is like dross, or stubble, and the fear of God is like the flames of fire; for so the very Pagans depainted fear, like unto love, environed about with fiery-flames; because all fear, as well Divine as Humane, scorcheth and consumeth us, as long as it remains within us: And therefore as the fire consumeth all dross, rectifieth the crooked, and purifieth all Metals; so the fear of God, driveth away all unlawful lusts, cleanseth our hearts, and maketh strait all our ways: For so Joseph saith, he would not wrong his Brethren, because he feared God. And so Job would not injure the fatherless and the widow, because he feared God. Wherefore, if with their tongues the Rebels have used deceit, if their feet are swift to shed blood, and if they have not, and will not know the way of pe●ce, but refuse all the fair offers of a most gracious King, than I may truly conclude, with the Psalmist (and I have S. Paul to justify it) that there is no fear of God before their eyes, let them pretend to do what service they please unto God. 2. Qui timet Deum, facit bona, mandata Dei observat, & nihil negligit; 2 To do all good. Ecclus. chap. 15. Chap. 12. Chap. 7. The fear of God doth all good, saith the son of Sirach: Because as S. Gregory saith, Timere Deum est, nulla mala quae fugienda sunt facere, & nulla quae facienda sunt bona praeterire; The fear of God doth none of those evil things, that are to be shunned; but doth all, and neglecteth none of those good things, that are commanded. And what are those good things, that are commanded, which the fear of God neglecteth not? I answer, They are very many, and yet the fear of God will have a special respect unto them all. As the Prophet David testifieth, I have respect unto all thy Commandments, Psal. 119.6. For he that feareth God, must not do as Agrippa did, almost to become a Christian; or, as Herod did, to hear John gladly, and in many things, to follow his counsel: But as Moses, when Pharaoh yielded the children of Israel should go to sacrifice unto God, so they would leave their behind them, answered, That one hoof should not be left behind: He would not condition to omit the least jot of God's Precept, or to leave the least Command unobeyed. So, he that feareth God, will not purchase peace, nor compass his own desire, though it were with the Israelites to be freed out of bondage, or with David, to gain a Kingdom, with the least transgression of God's Will, or the connivance with the least breach of God's Precepts, or the least alteration in Gods own Ordinances. And therefore if these men fear God, they will prefer his ways before their own, and they will have a special care to all his Precepts. I will only name those that are contained in my Text. Honour all men. Love the Brotherhood; which I have already handled; And, Honour the King. Which I shall, by God's help, treat of by and by, and without which, we cannot be said to fear God; because these are as inseparably joined together to make a Christian-man, as the soul and body are to make a natural man: as you may see in Hos. 10.4. where the people say, We have no King, because we fear not the Lord. Therefore, as S. John saith, He cannot love God, which be hath not seen, that loveth not his neighbour which he seethe. So he cannot be said to fear God, who is the King of kings, that doth not honour the King, who is the Vice Roy, and the Lieutenant of God. And now I demand, how they have performed these things? For if that to rob, pillage, imprison, and kill, be to Honour men, and to love the Brotherhood, and if to rail, slander, rebel, and fight against our Sovereign, be to Honour the King, then do they truly fear God; if otherwise, I may truly conclude with the Psalmist, They are corrupt and become abominable, and there is no fear of God before their eyes. But it may be, they will object, Ob. that they are commanded to love God with all their heart, and with all their soul, and with all their mind: and S. Math. 22.37. 1. John 4.18. John saith, There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear, and he that feareth is not made perfect in love; Therefore these perfect Saints, that r●b their neighbours, kill their brethren, and fight against their King, for the great love they bear to God, and because the King will not suffer them to have what they list, they need not fear God's wrath, nor be afraid of his judgement. I answer, Sol. That some Divines say, the true love of God casteth out the servil-fear, which is only the fear of punishment; but doth not cast out the filial reverence, and the awful fear of losing God's favour. But I think rather, the time is to be distinguished, and not the fear; because the Apostle saith, Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgement; and then addeth, that perfect love casteth out fear. But our love is not, nor cannot be perfect, until the Day of Judgement: We may strive and labour for perfection, but cannot possibly attain unto it, while we are in this vale of misery; otherwise than that which is termed Perfectio viae, and which is indeed but imperfecta perfectio: therefore our love cannot be without fear; as well the fear of his wrath and vengeance, as the fear of losing his love and favour. For, if I lose his favour, I may fear his wrath, and where there is a commission of any sin, there must need be a diminution of love; and where there is an extenuation of love, there must of necessity follow an occasion of fear. But, as it was said of old, that Religio peperit divitias, & filia devoravit matrem; So we may say, That sin bringeth forth the fear of God's judgements, and the fear of God's judgements doth, in all the godly, prevent and cast out sin. And therefore, not only to the wicked, but also to his dearest servants, God doth usually express himself by those titles and epithets, which might work in them, as well a fear of his Majesty, as a love to his goodness; as in lege operandi, in the Decalogue, he saith, I am Jehova, thy God, that we might fear him; and he addeth, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, that we might love him; And in lege precandi, he teacheth us to say, Our Father, that we might love him; and he addeth, which art in Heaven, that we might fear him; And in lege credendi, we are taught to say, I believe in God the Father, that we might love him, and to add, Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth, that we might fear him. And besides all this, we find, that these two Graces, Fear and Love, 1. Are enjoined by the same Law. 2. Do proceed from the same Cause. 3. Do produce the same Effects; And 4. Shall obtain the same Reward. For, 1. Moses, that was faithful in all God's house, saith, And now Israel, What doth the Lord thy God require of thee, Deut. 10.12. but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to love him? Where you see, fear and love, so equally required, that whosoever neglecteth the fearing of him, though he should love him, or omitteth the loving of him, though he should fear him, if he could do the one, and not the other; yet he is a transgressor, and liable to the breach of this Commandment. 2. As none denieth, but mercy should procure love, (therefore Moses, after he had rehearsed the great mercies of God towards the Israelites, Deut. 10.11, 21, 22. Josh 23.9, 11. Psal. 130.4. addeth, Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, And Joshua doth the like) so David, after he had considered his own vileness, saith, With thee there is mercy, therefore shalt thou be feared. Where you see the mercy of God, is the foundation of this fear of God, as well as of the love of God. And as the mercy of God, so the justice of God produceth both ●ffects, the one as well as the other. For, my flesh trembleth for fear of thee, and I am afraid of thy judgements, saith the Prophet; And though justice seems as oil, to continue the burning of this lamp of fear, and as water to quench the fire of love; yet, as lime, which is naturally cold, doth notwithstanding retain a fiery quality, & ex aqua incenditur, ex qua omnis ignis extinguitur, and is inflamed by water, which doth extinguish all fire; So the love of the Saints is kindled by the judgements of God; Therefore the Prophet saith, Seven times a day do I praise thee, because of thy righteous judgements; Psal. 119.164. Psal. 119.52. And again, I remembered thy judgements of old, and have received comfort. 3. As love inflameth the desire to do what is acceptable unto God, so fear hateth to do what is abominable unto him; and as love keepeth his Precepts, so fear loatheth to break his Commandments; and as love mitigateth the sorrow which fear causeth, so fear qualifieth the joy which love produceth. And as S. John saith, God is love; so Jacob calleth him, the fear of his father Isaac. And, as S. Paul saith, Love is the fulfilling of the Law. Gal. 6.2. Eccles. 12. So Solomon saith, The end of all things, is the fear of God, and the keeping of his Commandments. 4. As the mercy of God is showed upon thousands of them that love him, Exod. 20. Luke 1.50. and keep his Commandments; So it is no less upon them that fear him; But, as the Psalmist saith, Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, he shall be mighty upon earth, Gloria & divitae in domo ejus. And as the son of Sirach saith, Timor Domini, gloria, & gloriatio, & laetitia, & corona exultationis: Because as the Prophet saith, Dat haereditatem timentibus nomen suum: Yea, Psal. 61.5: Psal. 145.19. he will fulfil the desire of them that fear him; and look whatsoever they do, it shall prosper. And as eternal life is promised to them that love God; So eternal death shall never seize on them that fear God. And, in brief, whatsoever attendeth the one, becometh a follower of the other; and no marvel, because, that in love fear is included, and in fear love is implied. And while we are in this world, both grow together in the heart of every true Believer: And, as the Poet saith of another kind of love, so I may more truly say of this Divine love, Res est soliciti plena timoris Amor. This love of God is full, not of distrustful, but of careful fear. Quia timentes Deum non erunt incredibles verbo Illius, saith the son of Sirach. Ecclus. 2. But the wicked have neither true fear, nor perfect love. For, though Cain, Esau, and Judas, had a kind of fear; yet was it false, because it wanted love. And though the Pharisees and Simon Magus, had a kind of love, yet was it but counterfeit, because it wanted fear: for if the former had had love, they would have desired favour, and should have obtained grace; and if the other had had fear, they would have aimed at God's glory, and not have sought their own praise, which did work their own confusion. And therefore, well might S. Peter enjoin every Saint that loveth God, to fear God: And as the love of God, so the fear of God, is sometimes put for a part of God's Service, and sometimes for the whole Service of God: and so it is in this place, as in the first of Job; and in Luke 1.50. and in the Psalms in many places: As, where he saith, Come ye children, harken unto me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord; where the fear of God signifieth the whole Worship of God, to honour him, obey him, trust in him, pray unto him, and what duty soever else we own unto him. And thus the fear of God is the rarest Jewel, and the most excellent thing in the World: No riches, no honour, no preferment like unto it. No evil shall happen to them that fear the Lord, but God shall preserve them in temptation, & liberabit eos à malis, Ecclus, 33. saith Siracides. And his mercy is on them that fear him, from generation to generation: but mischief and unhappiness, and all evil, shall continually attend and overtake them, that fear not God, to bring them to shame, beggary, and confusion: as you may see it manifested in the Story of the sons of Israel, who, while they feared God, were replenished with a thousand blessings, preserved from a thousand misfortunes, and delivered out of the Egyptian slavery by a thousand prodigies; the Lord dividing the Sea, to make way for them, and closing the same again, to destroy their enemies. Drawing waters out of the Rocks, to quench their thirst, and feeding them with the food of Angels. But when they did cast off the fear of God, than God sent flying Serpents, and stirred up enemies, and poured down his vengeance upon their heads, still plaguing them more and more, until they should be either quite consumed, or happily reduced, to embrace the fear of God again. And not to search fare for any further precedents, How happy we●e we while we feared, and served God. we may easily perceive, if we be not wilfully blind, how we ourselves, that live in these Kingdoms, while we feared God, and observed his service, were more happy than any of all our Neighbour-Nations, both in regard of those many- many deliverances, that God hath wonderfully wrought for us, far beyond usual favours, both in the days of Queen Elizabeth, and of King James, as that Reverend Bishop Carleton, hath collected and compiled them together, and also in pouring down so many inestimable blessings upon us, b●●a si sua norint Agricolae, had we but the grace to acknowledge them, as I dare confidently affirm it of ourselves, as Moses doth of the Israelites, no Kingdom under heaven had the like; as chief the purest preaching of the Gospel, the most learned Clergy, the gravest, and, I believe, the most uncorrupted Judges, the wisest and the meekest Governors; and, above all, the upholder of all, the best and most pious Protestant King, that ever these Kingdoms enjoyed; O that we were wise, and would consider these things, and would understand these loving kindnesses of the Lord. But when, How miserable did we be come, when we did cast off the fear of God. as Moses said of the Israelites, dilectus meus impinguatus,— we began to surfeit of these great blessings, to loath Manna, and to cast off the fear of God, to deem the highest of God's messengers not worthy to eat with the dogs of our flocks; not fit for any thing, but to be trodden under feet, as mire and clay in the streets, when we make our strength to become the Law of Justice, when we despise Governors, and speak great swelling words against authority; yea, and raise a Rebellion as odious, as I shown our King is pious; than you see, and I pray God you do not still feel what mischiefs and miseries do succeed, and are like to continue in the chiefest of these three Kingdoms; the house of God is made a den of thiefs; the Priests are made out of the basest of the people, the Pulpits are filled with Heresies, Treasons, and Blasphemies; the highest Courts of Justice are turned to be the shops of all oppressions and wrongs, and Gods Anointed is persecuted more than any other; yea, and the whole Kingdom is made the butchery and slaughter-house of the King's best subjects, and Gods most faithful servants, and all this and much more, because there is no fear of God before our eyes. And therefore let not these holy Rebels under the pretence of their great love to God, cast away the fear of God, and let them not think they do him service by persecuting his servants, or that that is Christian Religion, which breaks forth into Rebellion, because they cannot obtain their Petition, but, as Solomon gins his Proverbs with the fear of the Lord, and the beginning of wisdom, and ends his Ecclesiastes with, Fear God, and keep his Commandments; so I say, that we and they should begin and end all that we take in hand with the fear of God, and then all of us shall be blessed, and whatsoever we take in hand, it shall prosper. But as S Gregory saith, Probatio dilectionis exhibitio est operis, and our love to God must be manifested by our love to our neighbours; so our fear of God must be principally proved by that honour which we show unto the King; because, as S. John saith, it is impossible for us to love God, and to hate his Image; so it is impossible that any man should fear God, which doth not honour the King; because the same Spirit that saith, fear God, saith also, honour the King: and therefore S. Peter knowing how inseparably these duties go together, after he had bidden us to fear God, doth immediately add, honour the King, which is the fourth branch of this Text. 4. Honour the King, where I desire you to observe, 4 Branch. 1. Point. and to observe it carefully, when you had never more need to observe it then now. 1. Who is to be honoured. 2. What is the honour that is due unto him. 3. Who are enjoined to honour him. And all these are included in these word, Honour the King. 1. It is the King in the singular number, and not Kings, Homer Iliad. 2. that every man is bound to honour, for one man cannot serve two Masters, much less can he honour two Kings, but he must despise the one, when he cleaves unto the other; And therefore as it was like false Latin, when Lamec said, Harken unto me ye wives of Lame●, so it had been very incongruous for the Apostle to have said to any man, honour thy Kings, because, as the Poet saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Isocrat. in Nicol. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.— Nec multos regnare bonam, Rex unicus esto. And so, not only Isocrates, Lucan. l. 1. after he had disputed much of all sorts of governments concludeth peremptorily 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; that no kind of government is better than the Monarchy; but also, Plato-Aristotle, Plutarch, Herodotus, Philostratus, Cassius, Patricius, Sigonius, and all the wisest men, that have written of Government, have proved Monarchical Government to be the best form agreeable to nature, wherein God founded it, and is the first Government that ever was, most consonant to Gods own Government, and the most universally received throughout the whole world, even from the beginning of the Creation, to this very day; C. 3. p. 20. as I have most fully proved in my Treatise of the Rights of Kings. Therefore Ser●nus writeth, that when Croesus reigned over the Lydians, he would have taken his brother to be his associate in the Government: but one of the wisest Lydians risen up and said, Or all the good things, O King, that are in earth, there is none greater or better than the S●n, without which nothing could be seen, nothing could remain on earth; yet if there were two Suns, periculum immineret ne omnia constagrantia p●ssum irent, we should find the danger, to have all things consumed with too much heat; even so the Lydians do most willingly embrace one King, and most faithfully believe and acknowledge him to be their Saviour and deliverer, duos vero simul tolerare non possunt, but they can no ways endure two at once; and Plutarch saith that Alexander gave the like answer unto Darius, when he sent word, that he should reign with him; saying, nec terram duos Soles, neque A am duos Reges far p●sse; that Asia could no more abide two Kings, than the earth could endure two Suns: because, as Caelius saith, Nulla sancia societas nec fides regni est, Caelius. l. 24. c. 11. Omnisque potestas impatiens consortis erit. And I believe this very Kingdom hath found the difference betwixt two Lords-Justices, and one Lord Lieutenant, even as the Poet saith, — Tu causa malorum Facta tribus Dominis communis Roma, Lucan. l. 1. nec unquam In turbam missi, flor ali● faedera regni. And yet, when God and nature, and Scripture, and all the wise men in the world, and our own reason and experience tells us, it is better for us to honour the King, than Kings; to obey one, than many; when as the wisest of men tells us plainly; that for the transgressions of a Land, many are the Princes thereof; Prov. 28.2. but by a man of understanding, the State shall be prolonged. Shall we be so mad, as to rebel against our King, whom God commandeth us to honour, and choose unto ourselves 400. Kings, which God never appointed over us, and never advised us to obey them? which if you do, I say, it is not vanitas vanitatum, but it is the folly of follies, but and iniquity of all iniquities, and therefore deserveth justly to be punished with the misery of all miseries. Wherefore, I beseech you my brethren, to follow the counsel of the Apostle, and to obey the Precept of God, to honour the King; the King which he hath placed over you; and leave the other Kings, the usurping and imaginary Kings to their own shame; But 2. As we are to honour the King, and not Kings, so we are to consider among other things, 1. Quem, and 2. Qualem, Regem. Both what King, and what manner of King we are bound to honour; for we are to weigh in every King, 1. Modum assumendi. 2. Normam gubernandi. 1. The manner, or the ways, how any King cometh to his Kingdom. 2. The rules by which he governeth, and guideth the people that shall be under his charge. 1. Hos. 8.4. God saith of many Kings, They have reigned, but not by me; As many men do Preach, whom he hath not sent; these are Usurpers, and come to their government without right; And therefore we are not to honour them: because, though they should govern justly, yet, they have unjustly attained unto their government, and I know not where we are commanded, to be voluntarily obedient to Usurpers. Others there are, that do attain unto their Dominions, and yet not all the same way; for 1. Some come by the Sword. 2. Others by the people's choice. 3. Others by the right of their birth And though the last is best and most authentic, yet we may not reject the other two, so far forth as they are from God; for when rightful Kings become with Nimrod, to be unjust Tyrants, God many times, disposeth their Crowns as pleaseth him; as he did the Kingdom of Saul unto David, and Belshazzars unto Cyrus, and the like; and this Right is good, as it proceedeth from God, Who giveth victory unto Kings, when as the Poet saith, — victrix causa Deo placuit. And, as Daniel saith, he removeth Kings, and setteth up Kings, Dan. 2.21. and Job 34.24. And when Kings neglected their duty so far, that the people knew not, that they had any King, or who had any right to be their King; or when the people were so miserably handled by such foes, as invaded them, that they could not tell how to withstand them; then, as Herodotus saith of the Medes, that chose Deioces, (which is the first elective King that I read of) to be their Protector, the people made choice of the chiefest man amongst them to be their King. Or, as we read of Abimeleck, when he, that had no right unto the Crown, would cloak his Usurpation, by the election of the people; this popular choice was held for a good way, to maintain that Usurped Authority. And though I deny not the right of some Elective Kings; because God out of his infinite lenity to our Human frailty, rather than his people should be without Government, doth permit, and it may be approve, the same, when it is orderly done, as he did the Bill of Divorcement unto the Jews; yet, if we should justly weigh the case of Abimeleck, and (as some say) of Jeroboam, who of all the Kings of Israel and Judah, were only made by the suffrage of the people, how unjustly they entered, how wickedly they reigned, and how lamentably the first, that was without question, the creature of the people ended both his life and his reign, it would show unto us, how unsuccessful it is to admit any other makers of our King, than He that is the King of kings. And the time will not permit me to set down, the great and many mischiefs that happened to the children of Israel by these Elective Kings; no less then, at all times to cast off the service of God, and in the end utterly to destroy themselves, when by Salmanazar they were carried Captives unto Assyria, never to return again to this very day. But against all this, the brood of Anabaptists will object, as they do now positively teach, that to be a King, is but an ambitious intrusion into Authority; when as Nimrod rather by humane violence, Gen. 10.8. then by any Divine Ordinance became to be the first King, that ever was in this World, and therefore S. 1 Pet. 2.13. Peter calleth the establishing of Kings to be the ordinance of man. I answer, that the Scripture shall determine this question; for Solomon saith, Harken, O ye Kings, hear ye that Govern the Nations, Sap. 6.1, 2, 3. for power is given unto you by the Lord, and principality by the most high: And S. Paul saith, There is no power but from God, and whosoever resisteth the power, Rom. 13.5. resisteth the Ordinance of God; And Daniel saith to Nabuchadnezzar, O King, thou art the King of kings, for the God of Heaven hath given thee a Kingdom, Dan. 2.37. Power, Strength, and Glory; and the Wisdom of God saith, Prov. 18.15. Esay 45.1. Per me reges regnant; And the Lord saith as much unto Cyrus, and no less to Nabuchadnezzar. And to make the point more plain by Examples: I would demand, Jer. 27.5, 6. whether Moses his government over Israel was by his own intrusion, or by the Ordinance of God? And what shall I say of Saul, when he sought his father Asses, and of David when he fed the flock of Jesse, was it their desire, or God's design, that made them Kings? And you may see how little, Jehu dreamt of a Kingdom, when Elisaeus sent one of the children of the Prophets, To anoint him from the Lord to be King over Israel; 2 King. 9 Therefore S. Augustine saith, Aug. de Civit. Dei. that the greatness of Empires cometh neither by chance nor by destiny; by chance, he understandeth (as he saith) the things that happen beyond our knowledge of their causes, or without any premeditated order of reason, assisting their conception and birth; and by destiny, he understandeth (as the Pagans deemed) what happeneth without the will, either of God or men, by the inevitable necessity of some particular order; (which opinion, is most injurious to God's providence) but we must certainly believe that Kingdoms are constituted and established simply and absolutely by the Divine Providence of God; and in another p●ace he saith that the same true God, which giveth the Kingdom of Heaven; to his children only; giveth the Earthly Kingdoms, both to the good and to the bad as he pleaseth; yet always justly. And for Nimrod I say the words bear no more, than he became mightier than other Kings, or began to Tyrannize more than all the other Kings: And for S. Peter's words, I say he means it only of Elective Kings; Which in another place, I shown more fully than the time will now give me leave, in what sense he calleth them, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Therefore I say, the calling of Kings, is the proper Ordinance of God, as it is fully and most learnedly showed, by a most Reverend Prelate of our Church, lately published and entitled, Sacro-Sancta Regum Majestas. Howsoever (as I said) we condemn not as unlawful, the right of all Elective Kings; yet, we ought to acknowledge how much more bound we are to God; that himself, in a rightful line of succession, hath appointed our Kings to reign over us, so that we need not fear the error of our Election, if there be no error in our submission. 2. As we are to consider quem, whom, so we ought to remember qualem, what manner of King we are commanded to honour; for as the unjust Usurper may govern the people justly, as they do sometimes, and in some places; so they that have just Titles to their Crowns, may prove unjust in their Governments, as too too many, both of the Kings in Israel and Judah, and I fear many other Kings have been; And yet, if they be our lawful Kings, be they what they will, Cruel, Tyrannous, or Idolatrous, or if you will, put all together, I say we are bound to honour them, and no ways to Rebel against them; for if thy Brother, the son of thy Mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, Deut. 13.6. or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend which is as thine own soul, shall entice thee to Idolatry, and to serve strange gods, thine eye shall not spare him, neither shalt thou have any pity upon him: but for the son to rise up against the Father, the wife against her Husband, the servant against his Lord, or the subject against his King; here is not a word, and we are not to do what the Lord doth not command, as Tostat. well observeth upon this place. Therefore though Jeroboam made Israel to sin, by setting up his calves to be adored, N●buchadnezzar commanded all his people, to worship his Golden Image; Ahab, Manasses, Nero, Julian, and the rest of the persecuting Emperors, did most impiously compel their Subjects to Idolatry, and exercised all kinds of cruelty against God's servants; yet, you shall never find, that either the Jews under Jeroboam, or Daniel in Babylon, or Elias, in the time of Ahab, or any Christian, under Julian or the rest of those bloody Tyrants, did ever rebel against any of those wicked Kings; for they all considered the law of God, and I beseech you all to consider it likewise, 1. Exod 22.28. Moses saith, Thou shalt not speak evil of the Ruler of thy people, yea, though he should be evil, yet must thou not speak evil of him; for as thou art to honour thy Father, not so much because he is good, as because he is thy Father; and therefore the son of Noah was accursed because he despised his Father, when his father sinned; so we are to honour our King and to speak no ill of him, though he should be never so ill; for, Is it fit to say to a King, Thou art wicked? And to Princes, Ye are ungodly? Job. 34.18. 2. 2 Not to do the least indignity unto our King. As we are to bridle our tongues, so much more ought we to refrain our hands from offering the least violence unto our King, When the Lord saith peremptorily, Touch not mine anointed; where he doth not say, Non occides or ne perdas, the worst that can be, but ne tangas, the least that may be; neither doth he say Sanctos meos, my holy ones, but Christos meos, my anointed ones, whether they be holy or unboly, good or bad; therefore though Saul was a wicked King, and a heavy persecutor of David without cause, hunting him like a Partridge upon the Mountains, and seeking no less than to take away his life; yet, when the men of David said unto him, Behold the day, of which the Lord said unto thee, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayst do to him, as it shall seem good unto thee; what seemed good unto him? Truly, no ways to hurt him, nor to do the least indignity unto him; for his heart smote him, because he had cut off the skirt of his robe; and therefore he said unto his men, 1 Sam. 24.4, 5, 6, The Lord forbidden that I should do this thing unto my Master, the Lords anointed, to stretch forth my hand against him: And why so? because he is the anointed of the Lord; that is, not because he is a good man but because he is my King. Nay, we are not only forbidden to offer violence, That we are to protect our King with the hazard of our lives. but we are also enjoined to give our best assistance to protect the persons of our most wicked Kings; for David, not only stayed his servants, with the former words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul, but, when Saul lay sleeping within his trench, and David and Abishai took away his spear, and had the power to destroy him; What, saith David unto Abner, Art not thou a Valiant man? And who is like thee in Israel? Wherefore then hast thou not kept thy Lord, the King? This thing is not good that thou hast done: as the Lord liveth, 1 Sam. 15.16. ye are worthy to die, because you have not kept your Master, the Lords anointed; And if this thing is not good, and David jesteth not, but sweareth, As the Lord liveth, they are worthy to die, that preserve not the life of their King, be he never so wicked; then certainly, this thing is not good, and they are more than worthy to die, that not only refuse to assist, but also rise in Arms to persecute, and to take away the life of a most Pious and a Gracious King. So you see the person whom we are to honour, the King, whatsoever he be, good or bad. 2. The Honour, that we are to exhibit unto him is to be considered out of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a word so significant, that it not only comprehendeth all the duty, which we own to our Father, and Mother, but it is also used to express most, if not all, the service of God, when he saith, If I am a father, Malach. 1.5. where is my honour? And therefore, when Ahassuerus asked Haman, What should be done unto the man, Whom the King would honour, he answered, let the Royal apparel be brought, which the King useth to wear, and the Horse, that the King rideth upon, and the Crown Royal, which is set upon his head, and Let him be arrayed therewith, and ride through the streets of the City, and one of the Kings most noble Princes shall Proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man, whom the King delighteth to honour; Hester 6.8, 9 Wherein you see, that by honour this great Favourite understandeth, to devise all the means that may be, to advance one's credit, and to increase his reputation throughout all the World; And though the same word is used in the first sentence, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, yet as in human sciences, The difference betwixt the honour, which we own to all men, and the honour that we to our King. so in the Divine Precepts, they are more or less esteemed, according to the Excellency of their Object; For as that love, which we own to our neighbour, must, without comparison give place to that far greater love which we own to God; so that honour, which we are to exhibit to all men, is far inferior to that which we own unto our King; because his Dignity is elevated above all other men, and therefore to be honoured above all other men. And if you look into the particulars of that honour, which we own unto our Parents, and to our King, you shall find many things included therein; Three things comprehended in the honour that we own to the King. but especially these three things. 1. Reverence. 2. Obedience. 3. Assistance. 1. We own a great deal of Reverence, 1 A Reverend respect of our King. and respect unto the Person of a King; because the King is a man second from God, & Solo Deo minor, and inferior only unto God: Kings being, as the Scripture calleth them, The gods of the Earth; or earthly gods, because they are Gods deputies, and his Viceroys here on earth; and, as they have Potestatem vitae & neois, they are the most lively Image, and representation of God himself. Whereupon Tertullian saith, Deus est solus, in cujus solius potestate sunt Reges, Tertull. in Apolog. à quo sunt secundi; post quem primi, super omnes homines ante omnes Deos; And therefore seeing the reverence that is due to any one, is due according to the Dignity of that one, we ought highly to esteem and Reverence our King, above all other men on earth, and they that have any base thought of their King, must needs be most base in God's sight; The time will not permit me, to show how Reverently the Persians, and the rest of the Heathens esteemed of their Kings, and as it were adored them, as if they had been gods, which I propose not, as a pattern for us to imitate, but allege them as a witness to condemn those that Reverence their King, the clean contrary way, by a most abominable Rebellion against him. 2 Obedience to our King. 2. The next branch of that Honour, which we own unto our King, is Obedience; which is a virtue (as Samuel saith) more acceptable unto God then sacrifice; Quia per victimas aliena caro, per obedientiam propria voluntas mactatur, when, as Damascen saith, Obedientia est voluntatis propriaesu jectio, Obedience is the submitting of our wills to the commands of another; Alexand. de Alexand. l. 1. c. 20. Therefore Cyrus' King of Persia is said to have commended a Soldier, who having drawn forth his sword, to kill his enemy, and hearing the Trumpet calling him away, Prov. 15.28. refrained his blow, and let go his adversary; because he made more account of obeying his military law, Plant. Trin. than he did to take away the life of his enemy. Idem in Sticho. Principib●s In Deut 17.10. Math. 23.2. Rom. 23.1, 2. 2 Thes 3.14. Heb. 13.3. Tit. 3.1. 1 Pet. 2.13. Phil. 2. And Solomon saith, Mens justi meditabitur obedientiam; as the vulgar hath it. And as the son saith in Plautus, Pater adsum, impera quidvis, neque tibi ero in morâ, neque latebrose me abs tuo conspectu occultabo; O Father here I am, bid me do, what you will, I will not refuse it, nor hid myself out of your sight; Quia faciendum est id nobis, quod parentes imperant; because the children ought to do, what their parents command them. So Periander saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Obey thy Prince; and not only the Heathens enjoin us to obey our Princes, but also God himself doth most strictly command us, to obey our King, and those that have the rule over us; as you may see it most plainly in these Scriptures set down in the margin. But the height of all the difficulty consisteth to know how far, and wherein we are to obey our King; for all sides agree that we ought to obey, but how far we are to obey, it is not yet agreed upon by them, that disobey the King. The question would require more than an hourglass to discuss it, but the few sands that are yet unspent, do call upon me, to decide it briefly; Therefore I say, that if you look into the first Chapter of Joshua, you may there find in plain terms, how far you are to obey your King; In all Civil things we are to obey the King, and in all Divine things that God prohibiteth not by his Divine Law; or brieffer, We are to obey our King, as we are to obey our Father, in all things, wherein God doth not flatly and expressly forbid us: for if the King forbids me to do what God commandeth; and I cannot omit it without the breach of God's commandment; Act. 5.27. or commandeth me to do, what God forbiddeth; then the Apostle's rule must always hold, in such cases, that It is better to obey God then man. And yet in this case two special Cautions ought to be observed. 1. That every Private, Illiterate, and Unauthorised man make not himself a judge in Divine things, to determine all particulars what God forbiddeth, and what he commandeth; because, as David saith, the Law of God is exceeding broad, Malach. 2.7. and admits of more explanations and limitations, than every weak head is able to comprehend; and therefore God hath appointed as well Interpreters, as keepers of his Laws; for the Priests lips should, or must, preserve knowledge; And S. chrysostom saith, that Sicut cor sapientiae locus est, ita sacerdotes sunt receptacula sapientiae spiritualis, in Matthew 21. homil. 38. And truly, this hath bred abundance of the children of disobedience, that though Hoc erit artis opus, yet every one will be such a Doctor as to determine the height and depth, the limitations and conditions of every one of God's precepts, they know when, where, and how God commandeth every thing, and this is to be the Judges of God's Precepts. and not the keepers of God's Commandments, to prescribe them, and not obey them? whereas S. Bern. saith, Non attendit verus obediens, quale sit, quod praecipitur, sed hoc solo contentus, quia praecipitur; he that is truly obedient to him, whom God commanded us to obey, never regardeth what it is that is commanded, (so it be not simply and apertly evil) but he considereth, and is therewith satisfied, that it is commanded, and therefore doth it, because, as S Aug. saith, The command of the Superior is a sufficient excuse for the inferior. Mandatum imperantis tollit peccatum obedientis, (i.e.) in all things not apparently forbidden. And therefore, as Julian's Christian-Souldiers, would not sacrifice unto the Idols, which was an apparent evil, at his command; Sed timendo potestatem, contemnebant potestatem, but in fearing the power of God, regarded not the wrath of man; yet when he led them against his enemies, they never questioned, who they were that they went against, nor examined the cause of his war; but they went freely with him, Et subditi erant propter Dominum aeternum etiam Domino temporali; and in all such civil commands they obeyed this wicked King, for his sake, that was the King of kings; and it may be, fought against their own brethren. So did the Jews, that followed Saul against David, and yet we never read that ever they were blamed for it. And so should we do the like, if we would do what God commandeth us: For it is not in the subject's choice, against whom he will fight; but he must be obedient to his King, if he will be obedient unto God; for so the Lord saith, I have made the earth, the man, and the beast, Jerem. 27.5, 6. that are upon the ground by my great power, (therefore certainly, none should deny his Right to dispose of it) and now I have given all these Lands into the hands of Nabuchadnezzar the King of Babylon my servant, (and yet he was both a Heathen, and Idolater, and a mighty Tyrant) and all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son; and it shall come to pass, that the nation and Kingdom which will not serve the same N●buchadnezzar the King of Babylon, and that will not put their necks under the oak of the King of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the Lord, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hands; Therefore harken not ye unto your Prophets, nor to your Divines, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the King of Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you, which he repeateth again, and again, they prophesy a lie unto you, that you should perish. Which very words I may take up against the Rebels of England, Ireland, and Scotland, God gave these Kingdoms unto King Charles, and they cannot deny this, nor deny him to be a good man, and a most religious King; and He hath commanded us, to obey him, and they that will not serve him, he will destroy them by his hand; Therefore believe not your false Teachers, whether they be the Priests and Jesuits of Ireland, or the Brownists and Anabaptists of England; for God hath not sent them, though they multiply their lies in his name; because God hath so straightly commanded us to obey our King in all civil causes, and in all things wherein he giveth not a special charge to do the contrary. And therefore (that which is most worthy to be observed) though God himself, for the sin of Solomon, declared by his Prophet, that he had decreed, to cut off ten parts of the Kingdom from Rehoboam; yet, because the people revolted, not to satisfy God's justi●e, for the sins of Solomon, but out of their own discontents, that he would not ease them of their burdens: for this revolt from a foolish, and an oppressing Prince, they are termed Rebels; 1 Kings 12.19. and, as the Thief, to prevent his discovery, will commit murder, & scelus scelere regitur, and one great mischief will shelter itself under a greater; so their Rebellion corrupted their Religion, and made them fall away from God, to worship Idols, as they had done from their King, to serve a Traitor, which soon brought them to confusion: Because this revolt, as it proceeded from them was most abominable unto God; And therefore, though they were not reduced to Rehoboam, because that may pretend some cause, as oppression; yet this, after a plenary disquisition, can admit of none excuse; and therefore, being abominable above measure, it cannot expect the least favour from God, but they were most severely punished by God; because they transgressed his will, by thus rebelling against their King, contrary to his Commandment. 2. The other Caution is, That if the King commandeth what the Lord forbiddeth, or the contrary, than I may disobey, but I must not resist; for this is the will of God, that where my active obedience cannot take place, my passive obedience must supply it: And though our Kings were as Idolatrous as Manasses, as Tyrannical as Nero, as wicked as Ahab, and as profane as Julian; yet we may not resist, we must not Rebel; which would overthrow the very order of nature, Arnis. de aut●rit. princ c. 3. pag. 68 as Arnisaeus proveth by many examples, and takes away the glory of martyrdom, and makes all the Precepts of the Gospel of none effect. And therefore, when the Christians in Tertullia's time, were more in number, and of greater strength than their enemies; yet being compelled to Idolatry, they rather suffered any persecution, than admitted of any Rebellion against the most wicked of their persecutors. And Ju●tinian faith, Q is est tantae authoritatis, ut nolentem principem possit coarctare? Who hath so much power, as to restrain an unwilling Prince? And yet it is very strange to consider, what new Divinity hath been taught, ex cathedra pestilentiae, out of the chair of our new Assembly, to raise Rebellion against our King; and that which is worse than Rebellion, to refuse the grace of Remission. The Scribes and Pharisees were most wicked hypocrites, and they sat in Moses chair; but they never durst teach such tenets, as now are published and practised in these Kingdoms. And therefore our Saviour saith, Math. 23.3. All that they bid you observe, that observe and do. Indeed, there were some Heretics among them, that in the days of Theudas and Judas Galilaeus, taught, That the Jews were not to pray for the life of the Emperor, because he was but extraneous, an Usurper, and none of their lawful Kings; for which error, Pilate mingled their blood with their sacrifice; but these never durst avouch, they should not pray for their own lawful King; much less, that they might rebel, and take up arms against him, Joseph. Antiq. though he were never so wicked. For they knew, that the holiest men that ever were among the Hebrews, (called Essaei, or Esseni, that is, the true Practisers of the Law of God) maintained, that Sovereign Princes, whatsoever they were, aught to be inviolable to their subjects as they were in most places, among the most barbarous Heathens. And therefore no doubt, but these Jews, and these Gentiles, shall rise in judgement, and condemn our most wicked, and rebellious generation. But you will say, What if my King seek to kill me, for so now the Rebels have ascended to that height of impiety, that they are not ashamed, thus slanderously to tax him, and most falsely to accuse him? Doth not nature itself teach me that common principle, vim vi pellere, and rather kill him, than suffer myself to be killed? To resolve this Question, I demand of thee, What if thy father seek to kill thee, Mayest thou rather kill him, than be killed? First thou must know, That the father, next under God, is the cause of the very Being, 2 The son's obligation to his father, is more than ever he can do to requite it. and the giver of the life of his son; so is not the son of the father. 2. The father, as I proved upon the 5th Commandment, had under the Law of Nature, and for many years after Moses, potestatem vitae & necis; the power of life and death over all his children; and the children, unless they grew very ungracious, and more than unnatural, never durst resist them; otherwise, when God commanded Abraham, Gen. 22.2. to offer up Isaac for a burnt-offering, he might have answered; First, that he had no right to do it. Secondly, that he was old and feeble, and the Lad was young and lusty, (as you see he was better able to carry the wood upon his shoulders, than his father) and therefore he might fear his son would be his death, if he went about to sacrifice him: But Abraham knew that his son was better taught, and that nature shown him, The child should not, with cursed Cham, despise his father, no not in his sin, much less to resist him in his right, And yet the King, to whom the Paternal-right is transferred, is more than any private Father; for he is the public Father of us all, under whom we we may lead a quiet, and a peaceable life in all godliness and honesty, 1 Tim. 2.2. as the Apostle speaketh; and without whom, we can have neither our Estates enjoyed, nor our Persons secured from the violence of the strongest; but that every one shall be exposed to the will of him, that can master him, which was the case of the Jews, when there was no King in Israel; and will be little better with us, if God doth not preserve our King? And therefore men, though they may flee with David, to preserve their lives, yet ought not to offer violence unto their King, though he should prove as wicked as Saul was to David, without cause to seek to take away their lives; then certainly, most wicked are those men that rebel, and fight against a good King; that expendeth his own fortunes, and exposeth his own life to preserve the Estates and Lives of all his loyal subjects; but to proceed. 3. The last branch of that honour which I said was due unto our King, 3 To assist our King. is aid and assistance in all his urgent necessities: which aid we all confess to be due, and yet few of us will believe, or can endure, scarce to hear the truth, how far this aid is to be extended; How far the aid that we own unto our King extendeth. I must tell you what the Scripture saith, that it comprehendeth, 1. Our Estates. For 2. Our Persons. For 1. He that bids us render unto God what is Gods; 1 To the uttermost of our abilities. bids us also render unto Caesar what is Caesar's; and S. Paul tells you, that this tribute is due unto him. Indeed when there is no urgent necessity, it is a great deal seemlier for the Majesty of a King, as Artax. said, to give, then to take by pulling from his subjects; and it is a golden Apothegm of King James unto his Son, where he saith, every not yourself with exactions from your Subjects, but think the riches of your Subjects your best treasure. And so it is generally conceived, that whosoever in the time of peace, overchargeth his subjects with taxations, either for his own Luxury, or to enrich his Favourites, is very unwise, because he that ruleth over men, must be just, 2 Sam. 23.3. ruling in the fear of God; and Justice tells us, he must take nothing from any man, but when necessity requireth. And then the ordinary gloss; and Mr. Calvin also saith, Neque nostrum est vel principibus praescribere, quantum in res singulas impendant, vel eos ad calculum vocare; It is neither our part, to prescribe how much they shall expend, nor to call them to an account for their expenses: that account, must be given to a higher Judge. But we read, that when Saul was anointed, to be King over Israel, Samuel told him he should come to the Plain of Tabor, and there should meet him three men, going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine, and they should salute him, and give him two loaves of bread, which he should receive of their hands; which thing wanted not a mystery, but was an emblem, as Divines make it, of the right of Kings in their necessities: The mystery of the gift of the men that met Saul unfolded. two parts of three, which was a very great proportion; and yet we find that divers of the heathens went much further, when after the coronation of their Kings, most of his subjects, especially the Nobility, and those of any Fortunes, presented unto him a Purse, with a key hanging thereat; by which Hierogly phick they shown, that all their treasure was submitted to his necessities, he might unlock their Store-horse, and put into his Purse, What the heathens did give unto their Kings. whatever pleased him; because they conceived it right, that he which protected all, should have the use of any part of all, when his necessity did require it; and seeing they were bound to expose their persons for him, they saw no reason, they should detain their estates from him; because my life should be dearer unto me, than all my wealth. And if our King had such subjects as these Heathens, I think he needed not to have wanted to supply his necessities. But our Kings are not like Augustus, that taxed all the world as much as he pleased; nor like Charles the fifth, Qui immania tributa populis imperavit, as Oscrius writeth; nor like the Eastern Kings, that impose upon their subjects what they will: but of their special grace and favour have granted such privileges, and made such concessions, limitations, and pactions with their subjects, as cannot be discussed or expressed within my limited time, to set down how far, and to show how well or ill they were concluded; and therefore all that I shall say herein is this, that we ought to consider how far God requireth us to assist our King, and take heed that we fail not, to observe his Commandment; ne rapiat fiscus, quod non capit Christus, lest the Rebel should take all, because we will not part with what is fit, both to defend ourselves, 2 To the hazard of our lives. and to assist our King. 2. If we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren, as Saint John saith, much rather ought we to do it for our King, and I could show you many worthy examples of many Jews and Gentiles, that are made famous throughout all generations; for what they sustained, in the defence of their Kings. You may read, that when David was assailed by a mighty Giant, named Ish●benob, which was of the sons of Rapha, the head of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass, Abishai the son of Servia, with the danger of his own life, ran betwixt him and the King; and for this faithfulness to his Master, 2 Sam. 21.17. God assisted him so, that he killed the Philistine; and it is recorded in our Annals, to his eternal praise, that Sir Hugh Sincler, at the Siege of Bridg-north, seeing an arrow that was shot at his Master King Henry the second, stepped betwixt the shaft and his Sovereign, How freedily subjects ought to assist their King, and not to 〈…〉 till it be too late. and so receiving the arrow into his own body, was therewith shot to death, that he might thereby preserve the life of his King. And as you see how far we are to aid and assist our King to the uttermost of our abilities, with the hazard of our lives; so we ought to consider the time when this assistance is to be yielded unto him; for the School-rule is most sure, Gratia ab officio, quod mora tardat, abest. That aid is not good, when it doth no good; but doth a great deal of ill, because we depended on it, and were disappointed of it. And this hath been the loss of many Armies, and the destruction of many men, that have perished in the expectation of their relief; as the debates and delays of the Carthaginians, to send aid unto Hannibal, lost him Italy; and thereby lost themselves: and many the like examples I could produce to you. Therefore when Metius Suffetius promised aid unto the Romans, and yet deferred the performance, until he could perceive which was most likely to prevail of both parties; the Romans more incensed against him, that thus subtly deceived their expectation then against their enemies, that were in open rebellion, tore him in pieces betwixt wild horses; and the Poet saith to him, that thought it a hard censure; At tu dictis Albane maneres. It was but very just, because he was so false; and the Merozites, for the like faults, were most fearfully cursed by God himself; Judg. 5.23. And therefore Tolle moras: semper nocuit differre paratis. Let them that mean to aid their King, take off delays; for as God loveth a cheerful doer, so he loveth a speedy doer of any good; and therefore he saith, To day if you will hear his voice, hearden not your hearts; and put not off his service till to morrow. But wise Counsellors will tell us, that great bodies do move slowly, and many matters cannot suddenly be concluded; it is true, yet the deferring of such duties, as may be a weakening to one part, and a strengthening to the other; and the delays, that may be purposely protracted, should be as wisely prevented, as they are craftily intended. I am no Statesman, neither will I presume to prescribe Rules for Counsel; but as we daily pray, O God make speed to save us, O Lord make haste to help us, so let us humbly beseech Almighty God, that he would speedily assist and send aid unto our King, and set an end to our vexations, and compose all the differences of these poor distracted Kingdoms; that so we might joyfully serve him, and praise him without end; Per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum, cui Laus, Honour, & Gloria, in secula seculorum, Amen. Jehovae Liberatori. THE SIXTH TREATISE. John 10.27. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. THe blessed Apostle Saint Peter saith, that Jesus Christ, while he lived here on earth, went about, doing good; that is, Acts 10.38. not good to himself; for so all worldlings, and all ambitious men go about continually, to do themselves, that which they conceive to be good; but he went about to do good to all others, as strengthening the feeble, comforting the broken hearted, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; and as Saint Matthew saith, he gave sight to the blind, he cleansed the lepers, and raised the dead; Mat. 11.5. all good deeds indeed: And yet, the doing of all these good deeds to all men that had need of them, and were capable of good, could not move all men to speak good of him, All speak not well of Christ, that did good to all. nor to give him good words, for all the good works that he did unto them; but though some said, he hath done all things well, and he could neither make the lame to walk, nor the blind to see, if God were not with him; yet others, and they were the major part, and the nobler part of the people, the Scribes and the Pharisees said, he was a grand Impostor, a Seducer of the people, a Sabbath-breaker, a drunkard, a glutton, and a wine-bibber, a man possessed of the devil, a friend of Publicans and sinners, Neque enim Jupiter, neque pluens omnibus placet, neque abstinens. Theog. 25. and what not? good God Quid Domini facient, audent cum talia fures? What shall good men do, when such wicked men dare say such things of the Son of God? But you may see, and you ought to consider it, that as Theognis saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; Alius tibi male, alius melius dicet; bonos alius valde vituperat, alius laudat. God himself, that made all things exceeding good, and doth all things exceeding well, cannot please the never satisfied will of all men; but when one would have peace, another would have war, when some desire rain, some others desire to have fair weather; and so one will speak ill of thee, another well, and one will exceedingly dispraise the good, another will as much praise them and commend them. So different are the minds of men. And therefore how is it possible that either I, Go how we will, or do what we will, we shall never please all men. or any man else, either in our Sermons, or in our Prayers, though we preach nothing but truth, and pray as Christ commandeth us to pray, should notwithstanding satisfy all our hearers, but that the Sceptic blameth what the charitable man commendeth; and though our intentions be never so strait, yet their expositions will be found often crooked. And this cannot be helped; neither is he the wisest that otherwise expecteth it, but will endeavour to discharge his duty, by good report and evil report. 2. You may observe, that goodness itself is hated, and truth itself slandered and traduced; for in his mouth was found no guile; but as Saint John saith, he is the way, the truth, and the life; and yet, all that malice can invent, is thought little enough to be laid on him; he must bear in his bosom the reproach of a mighty people, and he must endure the contradictions of a wicked generation. And therefore what wonder is it, if the best King and Governor in the world, were he as mild as Moses, as religious as King David, as upright as Samuel, and as bountiful to God's servants as Nehemiah, or if as worthy Preachers, as ever trod pulpit, were they as faithful as Saint Peter, as loving as Saint John, and as zealous as Saint Paul, should be maligned, traduced and slandered; for, you may assure yourselves, it is no new thing, though a very true thing, for the wicked to deal thus with the good and godly at all times. But among all the subtle arguments, doubtful questions and malicious disputations that the Scribes, Christ's good deeds enraged the wicked Pharisees. and Heredians had with our Saviour Christ, which were very many, and all only for to entrap him in his speech, that they might bring him to his death, and not to beget faith in their own hearts, that they might attainto- eternal life, this conflict in this chapter seemeth to be none of the least: for after he had so miraculously healed the poor man that was born blind, their malice was so enraged, and their rage so furious against him, that they excommunicated the poor fellow, and thrust him out of their Synagogue, for speaking well of him, that had done so much good for him; or, because he would not be so wicked and so malicious as themselves; and then gathering themselves together round about Christ, they began to question him about his office, and very strictly to examine him, whether he was the Christ, the Messiah, or not? And Our Saviour Christ, Christ answereth for the good of the godly. that knew their thoughts better than themselves, intendeth not to satisfy their desire: which was, to receive such an answer whereby they might accuse him, yet for their instruction, that would believe in him, he setteth down an institution or an infallible induction, whereby both their subtle question was fully answered, and his own true servants perfectly expressed and distinguished from them that serve him not, in these words: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Wherein, The means & ways to save us. our Saviour setteth down the means whereby the true Christians are eternally saved, in being called, justified and sanctified, which are the three main steps or degrees, whereby we pass from our natural state of corruption unto the blessed state of grace that brings us to eternal glory. 1. Called, in these words, My sheep hear my voice. 2. Justified, in these words, I know them. 3. Sanctified, in these words, They follow me. 1. Then, the Christians are called to come to Christ, in that he saith, My sheep hear my voice; for, as Adam, after his transgression, never sought for God, until God sought for him, and said, Adam, Where art thou? So all the children of Adam would never come to Christ, if Christ did not call them to come unto him; but as wisdom crieth without, and uttereth her voice in the streets: Prov. 1.20. so doth this wisdom of God, Jesus Christ, cry, Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will ease you; and if he did not cry, and utter forth his voice, his sheep could not hear his voice; but God sendeth forth his voice, yea and that a mighty voice; and as the Prophet David saith, The Lord thundered out of heaven, Psal. 68 33. and the most high uttered his voice. And that, not only as he did once unto the Israelites, God uttereth his voice two ways. when he delivered his laws on mount Sinai, but also to all others, whom he calleth, and uttereth his voice unto them two special ways. 1. To the ears of his people, by the mouths of his Prophets, 1 To our ears. Apostles and Preachers of his holy Word, that do continually call and cry unto them to come to hear his voice, and to obey his Precepts. 2. To the hearts of his servants by the inspiration of his blessed Spirit, 2 To our hearts. which teacheth them to cry abba Father, and persuadeth them to yield obedience to all his heavenly motions. And our Saviour saith, that his sheep or servants will hear his voice, that is, both uttered by his servants, and inspired by his Spirit; and they will neither neglect to hear the preaching of his written Word, nor suffocate, or choke the inspired Word, that is the internal motions of his holy Spirit; but they will most readily and willingly hear both these voices, My sheep hear my voice, howsoever uttered. Three things observable. For the further and the better understanding of which words, you may observe these three things: 1. The denomination, Sheep. 2. Their appropriation, my sheep. 3. Their qualification, hear my voice. 1. By Sheep, here is understood, not those fourfooted silly creatures, The children of God called sheep in a double respect. that by their wool, and lamb, and milk, and their own flesh, are so profitable unto us, and by their simplicity are so easy to be kept, and are the most innocent among all the beasts of the field; but those children of God, and true Christians, that are called and compared unto sheep in a double respect. 1. In respect of Christ, that is, their Pastor or Shepherd. 2. In respect of themselves, that are his flock. 1. Christ is often called in the Scriptures our Shepherd, 1 Grand Shepherd of the sheep. Christ the good Shepherd in two respects. 1. A lawful entrance into his Office. Heb. 5.4. 1. By the testimony of his own conscience. 2. By an outward approbation. and he is set forth unto us in this 10. c. by a double manifestation: 1. Of a lawful entrance into his Office. 2. Of an absolute performance of his Duties. 1. The Apostle saith, No man taketh this honour unto himself, that is, to be the Shepherd over God's flock, and a Priest to teach God's people, but he that is called of God as was Aaron: And how was Aaron called? 1. By God inwardly, by the testimony of his own conscience, that tells him, the Spirit of God calleth him to such an Office. 2. Because a man is not to believe his own private spirit, that many times deceiveth us, therefore God would have Aaron to take his commission and his ordination from Moses, as you may see, Exod. 28.1. and as the Lord had formerly said unto Moses, that he should be instead of God unto Aaron, to call him unto the Priest's office: And, as no man taketh, or should take this office upon him, but he, that is as well outwardly approved by such as are lawfully authorized to approve him, Exod. 4.16. as inwardly called by the restifying spirit of his own conscience; so also Christ saith the Apostle, glorified not himself, to be made an high Priest, and to become the great Shepherd of God's flock, Heb. 5.5. etc. 17.21. but he that said unto him, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee, and hath sworn, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedech. And therefore, if no man, no not Christ himself, taketh this holy office upon him, but he that is lawfully called, by such as have lawful authority to call him: I wonder how any man dares to intrude himself into the Ministry, without any mission from Christ, or commission from such as are lawfully authorized by Christ to admit them. You know what our Saviour saith, As my father sent me, so send I you; and they that were his Apostles never went until he sent them; for there must be an Ite, go ye, Mat. 28.19. & Mar. 16.15. John 10.1. before Predicate, preach ye; and you see what our Saviour saith here, Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber; that is, he that is not lawfully called, and comes not the right way into the Ministry, to be the shepherd of God's flock, the same is none of God's Ministers, Jer. 23.21. & 14.14. but is a thief and a robber, stealing to himself, what of right belongs to another. And yet I fear, we have now too many of whom the Lord may say, as he doth by the Prophet Jeremy, I have not sent these Prophets, yet they ran; I have not spoken unto them, yet they prophesied; for we are not only to consider, whether they be called and approved to be the Ministers of Christ, but we must likewise consider, by whom they are called and approved; for as idem est non esse, & non apparere, so, it is all one, to be not called, and not approved, as to be called and approved, by such as have no right nor authority to call and approve them; as when a company of thiefs and robbers gives power and authority to a man to be Justice of the Peace, or a Judge of Assize, we say his power and authority is null, and of no validity; so they that give orders and approve of Priests, and have no right, no power nor authority to give orders, and to allow them, do just nothing in the just way, and their orders is worth nothing. But you will say, this may be true of the Lay-preachers; but those that are ordained by the Presbyterians, and approved by an assembly of Presbyters, cannot be denied to be lawfully called, and to enter in by the door into the sheepfold. I answer, that I will not, at this time, discuss who gave them this power and authority to ordain Priests: but I say, that I dare not, I cannot approve and justify their authority: let them answer for it that presume to do it. I have showed you their error in my discovery of the great Antichrist. So you see how this grand Shepherd did lawfully enter into his office, and how all his under-Shepherds should imitate him in their lawful entrance, and not intrude themselves, nor be unlawfully admitted into the Ministry. 2. 2 A perfect performance of all the duties of a good Shepherd. Philo Jud. in l. de opificio mundi. The other point here spoken of this great Shepherd, is a perfect and most absolute performance of all the duties of a good Shepherd. Where first of all, you must observe, that Theocritus, Virgil and others, writing of this office of Shepherds, do make three kinds of Pastors or Shepherds; and so doth Philo Judaeus, where he saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Shepherd, Goatesman and Herdsman drive the flocks of sheep, goats and bullocks; and it is observed, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dici, de pastore omnium animalium, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cum relatione tantum ad oves; that the Greeks do call him only that keepeth sheep, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a shepherd; and our Saviour saith not, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, I am the good goatsman, or the good herdsman, John 10.14. but he saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, I am the good Shepherd, that taketh care for his sheep, but not for goats; because the Lord careth for the righteous, but, as the Prophet saith, he scattereth abroad all the ungodly. And seeing that he is a Shepherd, you know what the Poet saith, — Pastorem Tytere pingues Pascere oportet oves; Vagil. Eglog. 6. The Shepherd ought to feed his sheep; for as the old proverb goeth, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Spartam nactus es, hanc orna; every one should look to his own office, as, the learned Divine to preach the Word of God, the Cobbler to mend his shoes, the Countryman to plough his ground, — & curabit prelia Conon; and the King, or whosoever is the chief Magistrate, to provide for war and to conclude peace; which is the only way to keep all things in the right way; because that mittere falcem in alienam messem; for the Coachman with his whip to lash the pulpit, the Tailor with his shears to divide the Word of God, the shepherd with his hook to rule the people, and the unruly people to reign as Kings, is that, which as the Poet saith, — Turbabit fadera mundi, Lucan. phars. l. 1. and is the readiest way to pull all things asunder, & to tear in pieces the whole course of nature, and to subvert all the order of God's creatures, and indeed to reduce the total frame of the creation to a speedy dissolution; whereas, that man is worthy of all praise, as Aelian saith, which meddleth with nothing, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that pertaineth nothing unto him, but looketh only and carefully to his own duty; and he is worthy to be reproved, (as our Saviour checked Saint Peter for his curiosity, to know what John must do) that is a stranger in his own affairs, and busieth himself only with what only belongs unto others. And therefore, not to do myself, what I blame in others, or to extend my discourse beyond my line, to treat of the art of war with Phormio before Hannibal, or to tell you the office of a King or a Judge, when my text tells me I am to treat of a Shepherd, but to keep myself contrary to the common practice, ad idem, to my own proper task; I shall desire you to remember, that the duty of a good Shepherd consisteth chief in these two points. 1. Negatively, what he should not do to his sheep. 2. Affirmatively, what he should do for them. 1. The heathen man could tell us, that boni pastoris est pecus tondere, non deglubere; it is the part of a good Shepherd to fleece his sheep, and not to flay them, that is, The duty of a good Shepherd twofold. 1. Negative what he should not do to his sheep. 1. Not flay the sheep. to clip and shear the wool, and not to cut and tear the skin with the wool; and therefore Christ bids S. Peter feed my sheep, and not feed thy self upon my sheep; which is the property of too too many Shepherds both spiritual and temporal, to seek rather the wealth of their people unto themselves, and not to provide for the health of their souls; but this covetousness is a vice so palpable, which hypocrisy is not, that the people may soon discern it in their Pastor; and being truly discerned, they may fear the same to be rather an hireling, than the true Shepherd, but let them take heed how they judge. John 10. Then the good Shepherd is not to be harsh and rough, but gentle and meek unto his sheep; for the sheep are gentle creatures, and therefore they must be gently used, 2 Not prove too harsh unto them. and gently led, and not forced; for so the Psalmist saith, Duxisti populum sicut oves, non traxisti, God led his people like sheep, and drove them not, like horses; And therefore when Esau would have Jacob to drive his flock so, as to keep him company in his hunting pace; Jacob, that was a skilful sheep-master, answereth him, not so Sir, for it is a tender cattle, that is under my hands, and must be softly driven, Gen. 33. so as they may endure; or if one should over-drive them but one day, they would all die, or be laid up for many days after. Indeed Rehoboam left ten parts of his flock behind him, only for his rough driving of them, and his harsh carriage towards them; for when in a barbarous manner he chased his sheep before him, and told them what yokes he would make for them (a far unmeet occupation for a Prince to be a yoak-maker) they all shrunk from him, and ran away presently, and so clean falsified his Prophecy; for whereas he told them seriously, that his little finger should be as big as his Father's body, it fell out clean contrary: for his whole body proved not so big as his Father's little finger. But the good Shepherd, whether you mean Prince or Priest, will come down amongst his sheep, as the Prophet David showeth, not like ha●l-stones on the house top, but like the dew into a fleece of wool, that is, gently and mildly, without any noise or violence at all; for otherwise the wrangling Shepherd, the contentious Priest, that still falls out with one or other of his parishioners, and turns them, only to satisfy his own humour, as unworthy, from his communion, can never do much good unto his people, but tires them, rather than feeds them. 2. For the affirmative or positive duties of a good Shepherd, 2 Affirmative what he should do to his sheep. they are especially these four. 1. To provide for his sheep sweet and fresh pasture. 2. To foresee and to take care how they should feed in that pasture; that is, when and how much they should eat thereof; for if the sheep be not warily looked unto, in a fresh pasture, instead of being fatted, they may very easily be spoiled, when the eating of too much sweet grass stayeth not in them, but scoureth away all their fatness and soundness from them. 3. To protect and defend them from the fury of their Foes, Wolves, Dogs, Foxes, and the like ravenous Beasts, that do continually seek to disturb and destroy them. 4. To watch over them, lest by their wand'ring they should miscarry and be lost, or otherwise perish out of the way. And in all these respects, besides many others, our Saviour Christ hath approved himself to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that good Shepherd, which excelled all the best Shepherds of the world: For, 1. 1 How Christ performed the negative part of a good Shepherd. Touching the negative duties of a Shepherd, Christ came not to gather wealth with Croesus, nor to enlarge his dominions with Alexander, but to save our souls; and so Saint Paul saith, I seek not yours, but you; and so every faithful Minister of Christ should not so much hunt after the wealth of their flocks, as the health of their souls; though this denieth not, but as the Sheep should yield her fleece unto her Shepherd, so should the people pay all deuce and duties unto their Minister; for, as S. 1 Cor. 9.7. Paul saith, Who feedeth a flock and eateth not of the milk of the flock? And as he came not to enrich himself by his people, so he was no ways harsh and severe unto his people; Num. 12.3. but, as Moses was the meekest man upon earth, and carried the children of Israel in his bosom, as a nursing Father beareth a sucking Child, to use Moses his own words; Num. 11.12. so was Christ meek and lowly in heart, and never denied any that sought unto him, nor failed any man that trusted in him. And so he willeth all his Ministers to be gentle and courteous unto the people; for, as the very heathen saith, — Peragit tranquilla potestas Quod violenta nequit.— We may sooner win men by persuasion then by compulsion, rather by fair means and a sweet language, then by foul means and rough terms: as it appeareth by that parable which Damascen setteth down, of the contestation betwixt the Sun and the Wind, which of them was most powerful to make the traveller cast off his cloak, who the faster the wind blew, the faster he held his cloak about him; but the Sun, with the influence of his first sweet, and then piercing beams made him quickly to cast off both his cloak and his coat. And therefore such a Shepherd of Christ his flock, as the Poet speaks of,— Non pater est Aeacus, that is not the gentle Child of this meek Father, but Te saxum te genuere ferae, such as the churlish and rough hewn Nabal was to David, is fit to drive wild Horses then to lead the harmless sheep; and they do rather chase men, like Nimrod, from the Lord, then win them with S. Paul by all fair means to our Saviour Christ, as you may see, how he seeks to lead the Romans unto Christ, saying, I beseech you brethren, Rom. 12.1. by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God. Which makes me wonder at those rough collectors of Churches out of the Church of Christ, by receiving some and rejecting others into their flock, as if the day of judgement were now come, Mat. 11.28. to separate the sheep from the goats, and to cast off the tares from the wheat, when as our chief Shepherd, and this good Shepherd saith, Come unto me, all ye that are weary and ●eavy laden, and I will ease you. 2. 2 How Christ performed the affirmative part of a good Shepherd. 1. Christ provideth food for his flock. For the affirmative or positive duties of a good Shepherd, what he should do for his sheep, never any came near the goodness of this good Shepherd. For, 1. He provideth for his flock, not only the outward food of their bodies, which he doth for all other living creatures, when as the Prophet saith, He openeth his hands, and filleth all things living with plenteousness; and, as the same Prophet saith, He feedeth the young ravens that call upon him, and the best of us hath not a crumb of bread but what he hath from him; but he hath provided also the spiritual food of their souls, which is the Word of God, and the blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper; for, as our Saviour alleged against Satan, Mat. 4.4. Man liveth not by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God; and the blessed Sacraments are Verba visibilia Evangelii, the visible and palpable words of the Gospel, and are as the celestial manna, the heavenly food that perisheth not, but feedeth us to eternal life, The error of the Messalian Heretics. if we strive to receive the same worthily, as we ought to do; though now we have too too many that are poisoned with the conceit of the Messalian Heretics, that said Baptism and the Lords Supper did neither profit us nor hurt us, but that they which were inspired by God's Spirit, were guided by the revelation of that Spirit, how to behave themselves in all their ways, which is the readiest way to lead them to the infernal spirits; because we are not to be led by the inspiration of any spirit, but by those holy directions which the Spirit of God hath left us in the holy Scriptures: What is meant to be inspired with God's spirit. and when we pray to be inspired with God's Spirit, we mean no otherwise, then that the Spirit of God would guide us to lead our lives, and to do all things, as we are commanded by the same spirit, to do in the word of God, that is left unto us by the Prophets and Apostles of Jesus Christ, to be the only Rule of all our actions. 2. As he provideth thus both our temporal and our spiritual food, 2 Christ ordereth how the food of his should be disposed. so he ordereth and disposeth this food unto his sheep, not according to their sensual appetite, but for the natural good of their bodies, and the spiritual health of their souls, that it may be unto them the savour of life unto life, and not the savour of death unto death. As 1. For their natural food, 1 Their natural food. he would have us with the son of Jakeh to desire neither poverty nor riches, neither too much, nor too little, but to be fed with food convenient, lest if we be too full, we forget the Lord, & grow too proud, as the great rich men commonly be; or if we be too poor, we be driven to steal and to lie, Prov. 30.8, 9 and to take the name of God in vain; And, What should be convenient for every man. because most men are loath to understand what is the mean betwixt too much and too little, and what measure is that that is convenient, S. Paul tells us, That having food and raiment, we should therewith be contented; for the greatest Monarch in the world can have no more; and our Saviour, that best knew what is convenient for every man, bids us prey to God, that he would give us this day our daily bread; that is so much as will serve us for our present necessity, Luke 12.19. and not with that fool in the Gospel, to lay up much goods for many years, when he knew not, that his soul, in that night should be taken from him, and then he could not tell, who should enjoy those things, or how those things should be spent, that he had provided: And 2. For our spiritual food, 2 Their spiritual food. this good Shepherd hath commanded us that are his under-Shepherds, to give unto his sheep their own portion in due season. 1. Their own portion, and that both in quality and quantity: 1 Their own portion. 1. In quality. 1. In Quality, what is most proper for every one; as all meats serve not for every stomach, and every potion serves not for all diseases, so it is with our spiritual food, and the divine physic of our souls, and therefore we are advised to give milk unto the babes, and stronger meat to them that are stronger men in Christ, that is, plain and easy doctrines, to the plain and more ignorant people, and deeper and more polite discourses to the judicious, and those of deeper knowledge; because, as S. Paul saith, we are debtors both to the Greeks and to the Barba●ians, to the wise and to the unwise, and therefore, as Christ biddeth his Apostles, so must we sometimes, launch forth into the deep, both of Divinity and Humanity, and as well of Arts as of Languages. And so we are to give praises to the good, reproofs to the bad, but flatteries unto none, when we ought no more to flatter the sweet and clement, then to fear the cruel tyrant: and in like manner, we are commanded to apply comfors and consolations to the dejected spirits, to pronounce pardon to the penitent sinners, and to thunder out the terrors of God's judgements to none but such as are impenitent and obstinate transgressors. 2. In Quantity, we are to give our sheep neither too much of this spiritual food, 2 In quantity. nor yet too little, for where prophecy faileth the people perish, and the worst famine is the famine, not of corn, wine and oil, but of the famine of God's Word; and therofere the Apostle saith, Woe is me, if I preach not the Gospel, and woe is them that hinder us to preach it, as they have done these many years. And yet, as we are not to give our sheep too little of this spiritual pasture, lest they should want, so they should not have too much, lest they should loathe it; for a man may eat too much of the Honeycomb, saith Solomon, Prov. 25.16. Num. 11.20. and the children of Israel had so much Manna, that they loathed it, and Quails so plentifully, that the flesh came out at their nostrils; and so men may have the Word of God so fully, that they will despise it, or at least neglect it, because, as Solomon saith, Prov. 27.7. the full soul loatheth, or treadeth under foot the honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet, so is the Word of God precious, when it is not so plentiful, and despised when we are full of it. And truly I do believe, Knowledge how more plentiful now then ever it was. the Gospel of Christ and the rest of the holy Scriptures were never since Christ his time so fully, and so generally and so truly published as of late they were in the reign of our late King CHARLES; for you know it is not long since the Word of God was had in our native language, but it was locked up in the Greek and Latin Tongues, which none but a few scholars understood; and since it is vulgarly published, you may consider how many Bible's are now printed to furnish every Apprentice, maid and boy, in comparison of the small number that the best men had in former times; and for Sermons, how rare were they in our father's times, and how generally you may hear them now at all times in most places? and the Angel foretells the Prophet Daniel, it should be thus before the end of the world; for, saith he, Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased, as now it is, I think ten times more than ever it was: Dan. 12.4. And therefore the Prophet saith, The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea, Hab. 2.14. And yet, notwithstanding all the multitude of our Bibles, all the volumes of divine Treatises, all the frequent Sermons that are made, and all the knowledge that is professed, from the learned scribe to the City-tradesman, & the Country ploughman, our Saviour tells us, that when he cometh, Iniquity shall be increased, the love of many shall wax cold, and he shall scarce find faith upon the earth. And if any man demand with Nichodemus, How can these things be? I answer, That the more good wheat we sow in the field of God's Church, the more tares will Satan sow amongst it, and the more we strive to enlarge the true faith, the more errors and heresies will his instruments spread amongst the people; and for knowledge, he knoweth enough, and too much himself, and is very well pleased that all his servants should be knowing men, The Devil would have all to be knowing men. and be as skilful in the Scriptures as he is himself; for, as one crafty knave can do ten times more mischief than ten silly fools, so one learned heretic will broach more errors, and defend and maintain them far better than many meaner scholars can do; and it is a true axiom, that Non nisi ex magnis ingeniis magni errores, the great errors never sprung, and the strange heresies could never have been maintained, but by men of some good parts, and of great knowledge. And therefore I may justly say with S. Augustine, that Melior est fidelis ignorantia, quam temeraria scientia, it were far better for men to be humbly ignorant, then proudly filled, and rashly erring with knowledge; for, as the Apostle saith, Knowledge puffeth up, 1 Cor. 8.1. Esay 47.10. and many times produceth many errors and much evil, even as the Lord saith of Babylon, Thy wisdom and thy knowledge have perverted thee, and caused thee to turn away from the right way. And as the rash, proud and unsanctified knowledge of men doth breed many errors and much evil, so it bringeth no good at all; for, as S. Paul saith, that not the hearers of the law, Rom. 2.13. but the doers of the law shall be justified, so not the knowers of the Scriptures, could they repeat it all at their finger's end, but they that understand it right, apply it as they ought, believe in Christ, and lead their lives according to the Scriptures, shall receive the reward promised in Scripture: otherwise, as he that knoweth his masters will and doth it not; so he that knoweth the Word of God, and is most skilful in the holy Scriptures, and yet neither applies them right, nor believes, nor lives according to the Word of God, is worthy to be beaten with many stripes. And therefore Christ enjoineth us to give unto his sheep their own due portion of knowledge and spiritual food, that may edify them and not destroy them; and that is such a proportion as every one is capable of, and is requisite for him to know. And 2. As we are to give to every one his own due portion of this spiritual food, 2 In due season. both in quality and quantity, so we are to give it them in due season, because, as Solomon saith, there is a time for all things, as a time to speak, and a time to be silent, a time to feast, and a time to fast; a time to preach, and a time to pray, which I fear is now cut shortest of all times, if not persecuted, to hid itself in corners and private Chapels, when as many of our Churches are scarce acquainted with the Lords prayer, the prayer that our Saviour commanded us to use, Horrendum dictu. And as Christ our grand Shepherd hath commanded us to give to every one his own portion in due season, so he hath warned and instructed his sheep, not to take what they list, but to be satisfied with what is given them, and to expect it in the due time, and not to exact it whensoever they please, because God cannot endure that every man should be his own carver and stretch forth his hand with Adam to any forbidden fruit, God would not have men to be their own carvers. when as every one should be contented with what is given him, and should pray to God as Christ hath taught us, saying, Give us this day our daily bread; and therefore when Christ blessed the five Loaves and two Fishes, he did not as many of our new Divines, teach the people now to take what they list of the blessed bread in the Eucharist, but as S. John saith, he distributed them to the Disciples, John 6.11. and the Disciples to them that were set down. But alas, here is our misery, and the iniquity of these times, The misery & the iniquity of these days. that our dispensers shall not dispose this spiritual food, and God himself shall not distribute his own gifts; but, as the Poet saith,— Vivitur ex rapto, what God hath most graciously bestowed upon one man, another will most wickedly snatch it from him: and men must and will have the Word of God expounded, extorted and multiplied, as Christ multiplied his loaves, when, where, how and by whom they list, which is the cause of our calamities, and like, if not prevented, to bring destruction unto the sheep of Christ. And therefore, 3. Christ the good Shepherd doth not only feed his sheep, and bid S. Peter, and in him all us three times to feed his sheep, that is, to feed them three manner of ways. 1. Pascere verbo. 2. Pascere cibo. 3. Pascere exemplo. 1. With the Word of God. 2. With Almsdeeds. 3. With good examples; but he doth also expose himself to all dangers, even to death itself, to save and to protect his sheep from the fury of those that any ways labour to destroy them, even as he saith, I lay down my life for my sheep, therefore he must needs be the good Shepherd, and none can deny him to be a good Shepherd, that layeth down his life for his sheep. And he requireth of us likewise, that are his under-shepherds, that we should undergo all dangers to save and to protect our sheep; and as S. Bernard saith, Custodia civitatis ut sit sufficiens, trifaria est, the guard and safe custody of God's City, and sheep-fold of Christ, if it be sufficient, must be threefold. 1. A Vi tyrannorum. 2. A fraud haereticorum. 3. à Temptationibus daemonum. Three most excellent properties of a good Shepherd. And truly the sheep of Christ had never more need to be protected and defended from this threeheaded Geryon, then now they have: For, 1. In the Primitive Church, though they had Tyrants to oppress them, and Persecutors to destroy them, yet than they were all at unity among themselves, and the seamless coat of Christ was still unrent; and therefore Sanguis martyrum semen ecclesiae, the blood of the Martyrs did fatten the field of God's Church, and made it to bring forth fruits more abundantly. But now the coat of Christ is torn in pieces, far worse than Jeroboams garment that was cut in ten parts, and the Church of God is filled with Sects and Heresies, so that the poor sheep of Christ know neither where the fold is, nor who is the true Shepherd. 2. In the time of the Arians, Novatians, Eutichians, Nestorians and others, the like heresiarchs, though they infested the Church with damnable doctrines, and as that traitorous villain, Turkish Histo. corrupted by Amurath the sixth King of the Turks, poisoned the well of Sfetigrade, that watered the whole City with the carcase of a dead dog; so did they seek to poison the pure fountain of the holy Scriptures, with the stinking carrion of their rotten glosses; yet the Christian Emperors, and the other pious Kings and Princes stretched forth their hands, to assist the care and wisdom of the reverend Prelates, to suppress the Heretics, and to root out all the bitter weeds of false doctrine from God's Church. But now, Psal. 86.14. as the Prophet David saith, O God, Princes have persecuted me without cause, and the assemblies of violent men, naughty men, saith the vulgar, that have not set thee before their eyes, seek after my soul, and after the soul of thine anointed. So I fear the Bishops may now say, That Princes do hate them without a cause, and for seeking to root out the damnable Doctrines of the Sectaries, the assemblies of terrible men, as the Original hath it, that set not God before their eyes, do seek after our souls. And that we might be environed with enemies on all sides, Hell is broken lose, as Edward's, one of their own Presbyterians saith, and Satan is set at liberty, to pour forth, out of the bottomless pit, those locusts that you read of, Rev. 9.3. whose shapes were like horses prepared unto battle, because their whole heart is for war, to imbrue their hands in blood, and to destroy all the true Prelates; and yet their hair were as the hair of women, that is very specious, and lovely to behold, when they pretend nothing but a perfect Gospel-discipline, and a pure Heavenly doctrine, beating down the Antichristian Pope, and the worshipping of Saints, Images, Pictures and all Impieties; but their teeth were as the teeth of Lions, that is, devouring all that ever we have, and all that shall come within their reach, as all the patrimony of the Church and all the fleeces of Christ his Flock, and their tails are like Scorpions, that have their stings in their tails, to make the catastrophe and conclusion of their do very grievous and most lamentable, as I fear it will be found at last, unless God will be so merciful unto us as to help us. And if you would know, whom these locusts might signify, I assure myself they be now the rabble rout of Priests, Jesuits and Friars in the Church of Rome, and the multitude of Presbyterians, Anabaptists, Independents and other sectaries here amongst us, that like Ephraim and Manasses, do conspire together on both sides, to shoot at, and to shoot through the true Protestant Bishops, and to destroy all their Protestant flocks, by making them either superstitious Papists, or wild wandering Sectaries, as bad if not worse than the other. I must tell you my mind without fear. And therefore, 3. The Sheep of Christ and his Under-shepherds being thus environed, with Wolves, Foxes and the like ravenous Beasts, their temptations are greater, and the assaults of Satan are more violent than ever they were; which is the cause that so many men do start aside like a broken bow, and Satan's book is filled with the names of apostatas, that either for the desire and love of preferment, to get a living, or a good Salary from the Usurpers, or else for fear of losing their preferment, and to be deprived of their means, which are the two engines that the Tempter useth against the Shepherds, Ver. 12, & 13. and do, as our Saviour speaks of the hireling, that is, to leave their sheep to the mercy of the Wolves; yea, and to assist the Wolves and the Foxes, the Heretics and Schismatics, 4th. Duty is to watch that our shepherd go not astray. to lead away and drive the poor Sheep into the wilderness and thickest of all errors, to destroy them. And therefore, 4. As Christ came down from Heaven to discharge the fourth duty of a good Shepherd, that is, to watch over his sheep, that they should not wander, or if they do stray, to seek them that are lost, as he testifieth himself, that he came To seek the lost sheep of the house of Israel; so he commandeth us, his under-shepherds, to do the like, and to use all diligence to reduce and regain the wandering sheep to Christ, when they are perverted by the instruments of the Antichrist: and truly, it is a shame for us, as Rusticus Diaconus saith, to see how sedulous they are to seduce the poor people, and to lead the sheep of Christ out of the right way, and with the Scribes and Pharisees to gain Proselytes unto themselves, Nos autem pro veritate frigidiores in venire, and to find us cold in the defence of truth, and to reduce the erroneous unto the right way: which notwithstanding, is too too commonly seen in the world, because, as our Saviour saith, the children of this world are wiser in their generation then the children of light; and we see Judas takes more pains to betray Christ, than his Disciples did to attend their Saviour; for he runs from the garden to the high Priest, How diligent the wicked are, and the godly negligent. and from the high Priest to the garden, and then from the garden in a short space to the gallows; and his Disciples were so careless, that they slumbered and slept, and so do we; and while we sleep, the envious enemy, by these his instruments, soweth the tares of errors and heresies in the field of God's Church. But though we neglect our duties, yet you see that Christ in all the foresaid respects, Christ the only good Shepherd. and in all other respects whatsoever is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the good Shepherd, and indeed the only Shepherd that is simply and absolutely good. For, Though Abel was a good Shepherd, and Jacob was another good Shepherd, Gen. 31.40. so carefully watching over his flock, that in the day the drought consumed him, and the frost by night, and his sleep departed from his eyes; and Moses was such another, Psal. 77.20. of whom the Prophet saith, that God led his people like sheep by the hands of Meses and Aaron; and so David was an excellent Shepherd, that ventured his life to save his sheep; and to pull it out of the Lion's teeth: and when God took him away from the sheepfolds, that he might feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance, the Spirit of God tells us, that he fed them with a faithful and true heart, Psal. 78.73. Esay 44.28. and ruled them prudently with all his power. And of Cyrus the Lord said He is my Shepherd; and Homer calleth Agamemnon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Shepherd of the people; and so not only the Apostles and Bishops, but also Constantine, Theodosius, King James and King Charles, and all other religious Kings and pious Princes, as Nehemiah, the good Lieutenant of Jury under Artaxerxes King of Persia, to whom, if it were not for suspicion of flattery, which is one of the basest of all vices, and the worst kind of Scotization (you may see what Minshaw meaneth by that word) I might truly parallel his Excellency our Lord Lieutenant: The now Duke of Ormond. and many more have been very good Shepherds of God's sheep. Yet they were all, and put them all together, very very far short of this Shepherd in my Text, which is, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that good Shepherd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, transcendently; and which in all the foresaid respects, and in all other respects whatsoever, excelleth all the most excellent Shepherds in the world. And so much shall serve to be spoken at this time, of the good properties of this good Shepherd. 2. As the children of God are termed Sheep, in respect of Christ, 2 God's people are termed Sheep in respect of themselves. Geminianus de exemplis, l. 5. c. 46. 1. In respect of their innocency. 2 Sam. 24.17. which is their chief Shepherd, so they are likewise styled Sheep in respect of the Analogy and resemblances betwixt them and Sheep, which as Geminianus saith, are in these six special points. 1. Innocency of life; for as nature gave the sheep neither horns to hurt, nor claws to scratch, nor teeth to by't, so the children of God do nothing to the hurt of any other; they neither hate their neighbour in their hearts, nor strike him with their hands, nor traduce him with their tongues, nor think any evil or wish any hurt to him in their thoughts; and therefore when David saw the Angel that smote the people in Jerusalem, he said, Lo, I have sinned, but these sheep, what have they done? as if he should have said, these poor men, that are like sheep, so harmless and so innocent, what hurt could they do, either in themselves, or to any others? Et haec vera innocentia est quae nec sibi, nec aliis nocet, and that is the true innocency, saith S. Aug. which hurteth neither himself nor his neighbours. 2. 2 In respect of their patience. They are resembled unto Sheep for their patience, in suffering all kinds of injuries and indignities; for as the Prophet showeth, and God's people findeth it, For thy sake are we killed all the day long, Psal. 44.22. and are counted as sheep appointed to be slain. Where you may see 1. Where observe 1. The Cause. The cause of their sufferings is expressed, not for theft, murder, adultery, or the like wicked acts, but Propter te, for God's cause; for obeying his will, and being loyal to our Superiors, and not treacherous unto our lawful Governors; and so for being faithful in God's service, by publishing the truth, and not carried away with every new form of service, and every wind of false doctrine; this is cause enough to suffer; and this is propter te, for thy sake, O God, which is our only comfort. 2. 2 The Sufferings. Here is the sufferings of God's sheep and servants specified; we are mortified, or killed: And that is, 1. By our selves, in our repentance and contrition for our sins, every day, or, all the day long, that is, throughout our whole life, according as the Apostle saith, we die daily, that is, to sin and for our sin: And then 2. We are killed by others, when, with the rest of the Martyrs, we are, as we have been, not long since, throughout all this Kingdom, rob of our good names, filled with reproach, plundered of our estates, banished from our dwellings, clapped up in prisons, and then led as sheep unto the slaughter. In all which, and in all other sufferings, I know no better remedy than what our Saviour prescribeth to us, in our patience to possess our souls, which may be lost for want of patience, but will be supported and eased, if we will be like sheep, patiented and silent in our sufferings, Quia levius fit patientia, Horatius. quicquid corrigere est nefas, because the more we struggle, when we are in the briers, the more we shall be scratched and entangled, and the less able we shall be to bear our indignities; and the less we murmur, the less will be our sufferings, and the more favours we shall find at the hands of God: and therefore the Poet could say, — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, We ought to suffer patiently whatsoever God layeth upon us: and so the Saints of God do suffer whatsoever is laid upon them, as you may see in the said 44, Psalm, from the 10. v. to the 22. 3. 3 In respect of their obedience. C. 10. v. 4. Damase. l. 3. c. 4 They are resembled to Sheep in respect of their obedience to do the commands of God; for as the Sheep do follow the Shepherd's whistle, and do know his voice, so do the servants of God obey the voice of Christ, listening to his words with their ears; Unde veteres dicebant obaudio pro obedio, embracing it in their souls, Quia obedientia est voluntatis propriae subjectio preceptis Dei, which they are most ready to peform, & to say with him in Plautus, Plaut. trin. Adsum, impera quidvis, neque tibi ero in mora, neque latebrosè me abs tuo conspectu occultabo. For, Aug. in Gen. l. 9 & habetur 33. q. 5. c. est ordo. as S. Aug. truly saith, Est ordo naturalis in hominibus, ut serviat foeminae viris, & filii parentibus; quia in illis haec est justitia, ut majori serviat minor; it is the order of nature among men, that the women should serve the men, children their parents, servants their masters, and subjects their Prince, because it is the rule of justice among them, that the lesser and inferior should serve the greater and superior; Idom. de operibus Monach. and as the same Father saith, Quid iniquius, quam velle sibi obtemperari à minoribus & nolle obtemperare majoribus: What can be more unjust and more unreasonable, then to require obedience of our inferiors, and not to yield it to our superiors? how then can we expect our children and our servants to hear our voice and to obey us, if we obey not God, that is our Master and our Father, and obey not our King that God hath placed over us? And therefore the sheep of Christ, How acceptable obedienae is to God. like tractable sheep, are always ready to obey his commands, and to do his will, as well in the greatest as in the least things, and this their obedience is more acceptable and more pleasing to God, than any sacrifice, because, Greg. in 1. reg. 15. lib. 35. as S. Gregory saith, Per victimas aliena caro, per obedientiam vere propria voluntas mactatur; by sacrifice they killed other beasts, but by our obedience we slay our own proper wills, and submit ourselves to do the will of Christ. 4. They are resembled unto Sheep, 4 In respect of plenty of fruits in respect of their secundity and plenty of all good fruits; for as sheep are the most profitable of all , and do, as the Prophet saith, bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets, and do abound in milk, wool and fleeces of divers colours: so the Saints and servants of God are most fruitful in begetting children unto God, and regenerating them to Christ, and they are most plentiful of milk, even the sincere milk of God's Word, as Saint Peter calleth it, 1 Pet. 2.2. and they do abound with the variety of all virtuous acts, and the examples of all good deeds; when as Job saith, Velleribus ovium mearum calefactus est pauper, Job 38. the poor is warmed with the fleeces of my sheep. And as drink is a great cause of the fecundity and fittening of sheep, Aristot. de gen. animal. as Aristotle saith: for which purpose some give them salt to eat, that they might thirst the more and drink the better; so the drinking of the Water of life, which is the Word of God, doth make the children of God to abound in all good works, even as the Apostle showeth, that the Colossians were fruitful in every good work, Col. 1.10. when they increased in the knowledge of God. 5. They are resembled unto Sheep, in respect of their plain dealing, 5 In respect of their plain dealing and simplicity. and the simplicity of their carriage in all affairs; for as the Sheep is the silliest and simplest of all beasts, and knows neither how to help herself in distress, nor to return to the right way, when she wandereth; and therefore we say, that We have erred and strayed like a lost sheep, that being once gone from her fellows, can never come home again, unless she be sought for by the care and diligence of her Shepherd; even so the servants of God are the simplest of all men in all worldly affairs; so simple, that the world laughs at the simplicity of their carriage, either in their suits at law, or trades of life, or any other worldly business; and our Saviour tells us, that the children of this world are fare wiser in their generation then the children of light. But here you must observe, that there is a twofold simplicity. That there is a twofold simplicity. 1. Simplicity. Mat. 10.16. Job 1.1. ch. 8.20. Wisd. 1.1. Prov. 20.7. 1. The one contrary to deceit, and this is good, commanded to be embraced by Christ himself, Estote sinaplices sicut columbae, and commended in all those that use it; for so the Lord saith Job was, Vir simplex & rectus, a simple and an upright man: and Bildad saith, Deus non projiciet simplicem, God will not cast away the simple; and the wise man bids us, Seek the Lord in simplicity of heart: And Solomon saith, that the just man which walketh in his integrity, in his simplicity, saith the Text, shall leave his childen blessed. 2. The other simplicity is contrary to discretion, 2 Simplicity. and this is reproved & to be avoided; and therefore our Saviour bids us not only to be simple as Doves, but also to be as wise, as discreet, and as subtle as the Serpent, that as our simplicity and uprightness hindereth us to wrong and deceive others, so our discretion and wisdom may preserve us from being wronged and deceived by any other: Hiero. sup. Hos. Quia non multum distat à vitio, aut decipere, aut decipi posse; nam sicut prudentia absque simplicitate malitia est, ita simplicitas absque ratione stultitia est; for as wisdom and understanding without simplicity and uprightness, is malice and wickedness; so uprightness and simplicity without wisdom and discretion is folly and weakness, saith S. Hierom. And therefore we should follow our Saviour's counsel, to join the wisdom of the Serpent to the simplicity of the Dove. But Satan is so spiteful and so prevalent, that he maketh the wicked worldlings to be only careful to get subtlety, and to cast away all uprightness and simplicity; and the children of God being only careful to retain their uprightness and simplicity, The godly men are careless to prevent the snares and dangers of the world. are most commonly careless and negligent of that prudence and discretion which is most requisite for them, while they live amongst the wickeds' and in that respect they are, for their simplicity herein resembled unto sheep, and well they may be so resembled; for, though our enemies are so subtle and so crafty to attain unto their ends, that neither Achitophel nor Machiavelli could go beyond them: yet we see how dull the servants of Christ are, and the servants of our Kingwere, either to preserve themselves or to prevent the stratagems of their adversaries, or to devise any ways to prevail against their enemies; otherwise our late good Shepherd had not been so smitten, and his sheep had not been so scattered, as they are at this present. 6. 6 In respect of the profit and good that is had from them And lastly, they are resembled unto Sheep, in respect of the utility and great benefit that is made of them, and so received from them; for as there is no part nor parcel of the sheep, but it is good for something; as their flesh to feedus, their wool to us, their dung to fatten our ground to enrich us, their entrails to make musical strings to delight us, and their horns and hoofs, as some say, to make perfumes for many uses; so all the thoughts, words and works of God's children are good for something, either the glory of God, or the edifying of their neighbours, or the discharging of their own duties; and so Omnia co-operantur in bonum, all that they do is some ways good, or else will turn to good, as their very sins, when they are confessed and repent of, do make for God's glory, in pardoning them, and do make them the more humble and the more careful to prevent the like fins; whereas the Prophet tells us, that with the ungodly, it is clean contrary; when, not only the words of their mouth are unrighteous and full of deceit, Psal. 37.3. Gen. 6.5. and the thoughts of their hearts are wicked, and only evil continually, but also their very prayers, and the best of all their actions shall be turned into sin. The wicked, to whom they are like. And therefore the wicked that fear not God, and love not men, are no ways like unto sheep, but in respect of their subtlety, to circumvent and to deceive their poor neighbours, they are like Foxes; for malice and anger, they are like Dogs; for their implacable and bloody minds, they are as cruel as the Tigers; for their greedy and covetous affections, they are as ravenous as Wolves; for their high minds and haughty hearts, they are as proud as Peacocks, and for their hypocrisy and dissimulation, they are as deceitful as the Sirens. And so forth, — Forma non omnibus una, Nec diversa tamen.— Though all of them are not like to each one of these, yet every one of them is like to some one of these, and none of them like unto sheep. But my time is too short, and my skill is too scant to show unto you the subtlety, cruelty and other evil qualities of these beasts, and they are without the limits of my Text; and I pray God to keep me and every poor simple sheep without the limits of their reach; and into their counsel let not my soul come: we have felt too much of their weight already: yet by this that I have spoken, you may perceive who belongs unto my Text, and who are the sheep of Christ; not those Foxes that beguile their brethren, nor those Wolves that devour their neighbours, nor yet those that go under the show of Sheep, and destroy their Shepherds, as you see who have now done it; for you perceive, our Saviour tells you, That his sheep will hear the voice of their shepherd, and will follow him. What then shall I say of those cruel beasts, with whom S. Paul fought at Ephesus, and whose brood have ever since fought against, and rob and killed their Shepherds, so that their sheep, which are the faithful Christians, were miserably scattered and shattered, and much troubled for the calamities that befell unto their Shepherds, that have been often times so sorely smitten, that some of them knew not where to find holes to hid their heads, And I speak this by sad experience. nor bread to put into their mouths. Truly I will say nothing of them; but, if any be such persecutors of their Shepherds, I say that, as yet, they are not the sheep of Christ, what they may be hereafter I cannot tell; and for the true sheep of Christ, and his under-shepherds, the Prelates and Preachers of God's Word, and the rest of them, I can give you none other counsel, than what S. Phil. 3.2. Mat. 7.15. The author's counsel to his brethren, the Bishops and Preachers. Paul gives to his Philippians, beware of dogs, and what our Saviour saith to his Disciples, Take heed of them that come unto you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves: and if you be persecuted in one city, then fly into another; and when the enemies have waylaid all cities, then fly to another Kingdom, and know that the same sun shineth, and the same God reigneth in all the Kingdoms of the world But let us, that are Gods Shepherds, especially Bishops, take heed that we be not found like the Bishop of Spalleto, wavering with every wind, or like Ecebolius, that forsook his faith to preserve his living, and lest the service of God to serve the ruling heretics, or like his imitator of Cambridge, Dr. Perne, that in King Henry the Eighth's time was a Catholic, and in Edward the Sixth's time a good Protestant, but in Queen Mary's a rigid Papist, and in Queen Elizabeth's time, if I be not mistaken, a kind of another Protestant; changing still just as the Chameleon, and as the children of Ephraim, that being harnessed and carrying bows, and so able to do God service, yet turned themselves back in the day of battle: for this our good and chief Shepherd doth profess, that whosoever dealeth so, and denieth him before men, that is, sticketh not unto him, to serve him and to defend his Service; him will he deny before his father which is in heaven. And that is a greater loss than the loss of a Living, and a worse doom than all the persecution that can be imposed upon us. But so much shall serve for the denomination of God's servants, that they are styled Sheep, both in respect of Christ, that i● their Shepherd, and in respect of their resemblances unto sheep. 2. The next point that is here to be observed, is their appropriation, 2 Their Appropriation. expressed in the word My sheep; for though they be sheep, and but sheep, and like sheep, yet they are my sheep, and I do own them for my sheep; which is the only comfort of all Christians. For otherwise it were but a small joy, and a sad case for us, to be Sheep for the Dogs to tear us, and the Wolves to eat us, and every one to take our Fleeces from us, unless we had a good Shepherd that is both willing to help us, and able to defend us from all evil: but in these words, My sheep, both our Protection and our Consolation is fully included, and if you observe it well, you may herein find intimated these two special things: 1. The honour and dignity of all good Christians. Two things observable in the words, My sheep. 1. The honour and dignity of good christians. 2. The security and safety of all good Christians. 1. The worldly men stand much upon their Nobility, and indeed, Eprincipibus nasci preclarum est, it is an excellent grace to be born of Nobles, to have Abraham for our Father, and Sarah to be our Mother; and therefore not only the Romans made great account of them that were sprung of the Julian Family, and the like Noble Ancestors, but also the Grecians did the like, Pausan. in Baeoicis. as Pausanias writes of Epaminondas, the most illustrious Captain of the Thebans; and the Jews in like manner boasted much of their Ancestors, Theatr. Zuing. in vita Joseph. as Josephus is very careful in describing the Nobility of his Ancestors, that of his Father's side he was sprung from the Priests, and his Mother from the Asmonaean Princes; and Jehu gives this honour unto Jezabel, that she was a King's daughter. 2 Reg. 9.34. But if we do not imitate our Noble Ancestors in Nobleness, that is in Piety and Virtue; the very Heathens will tell us our springing from them is worth nothing, but rather a shame then a credit unto us, because as Theognis saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Virtue is the great Glory, which never perisheth; and therefore Juvenal saith, as I have showed to you before, in my first Treatise: Malo pater tibi sit Thyrsites, Juven. Sat. 8. dum modo tu sis Aeàcidae similis vulcaniaque arma capessas, Quam te Thyrsitae similem producat Achilles. I commend the son of a Clown, that is virtuous, and carrieth himself nobly, more than the son of a Prince, that is vicious and behave himself, like a Clown: And Codrus Urceolus saith, Sis licet ingenuis clarisque parentibus ortus, Urceolus in Epigrammatibus. Sint tibi divitiae, sit larga & munda supellex, Denique quicquid eris, nisi sit prudentia tecum, Magna quidem dico bestia semper eris. Though thou be'st born of never so noble Parents, and hast never so much Wealth and Lands, and what thou wilt, and hast no Wisdom nor understanding to be virtuous, thou art but a very beast; for so the Prophet saith, Man being in honour and without understanding, is campared to the beasts that perish: and the Poet saith, Ovid de Ponto. Nam genus & proavos & quae non ferimus ipsi, vix ea nostra voco. Hieron. ad Celan. — Non Census nec clarum nomen avorum, Sed probitas magnos ingeniumque facit. And therefore S. Hierom tells Celantia, that Sola apud Deum libertas est non servire peccatis, & summa apud deum nobilitas est clarum esse virtutibus; he is the only Freeman, that serves not sin, and followeth not his own lust; and he is the true Nobleman that is truly virtuous and godly: And Palingenus saith, Nobilitas sola est atque unica virtus: hac nobilis Hector— Alcidesque fuit.— And the Prophet saith, He had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God, that is, to be a Porter, and to have the meanest office that is in the Service of God, then to have the greatest honour in the world, in the Courts and palaces of the ungodly; and the meanest man that serveth God, is more honourable than the greatest Potentate that serveth his own lust; for as Abraham is said to be Pater sanctorum, the Father of the faithful, though he was Filius peccatorum, the offspring of sinners, and the son of Terah, that was an Idolater, because his Father's Idolatry was not able to obscure his Glory; so all the Indignities and Contempts that this world can cast upon the servants of God, can no ways blemish their worth, or diminish their reputation in the sight of God. To serve God truly, is to be truly noble. And therefore I had rather be a sheep of Christ, that is a simple Christian, that deceives no man, and hurreth none, but suffereth much, than to be a Fox of this world to beguile the simple, or a Lion to crush my neighbours all to pieces; for so I be with John Baptist, Magnus coram Domino, great in the sight of the Lord, that is, of good esteem with God, as he is said to be, I shall never greatly care how meanly I shall be accounted of in this world; but as Constantine rejoiced more in that he was Filius Ecclesiae, a Son of the Church and a Member of Christ, then in being Caput imperii, the Emperor of the whole world; so I will be more glad, and take it for a greater Honour to be one of Christ's simple sheep, of what condition soever my Earthly Father be, then to be the Son of the Noblest Father in the world, and to be as the Jews were, and all other our wicked, ungodly, and unrighteous men, though termed Saints, are the children of their Father the Devil. 2. 2 The security and safety of all good Christians. As the servants of God are truly noble in being Christ his Sheep, so being his sheep, they are, and may be, secure, and free from all fear, either 1. Of Injuries, or 2. Of Wants: For, 1. 1 From wrongs the Prophet David saith, The Lord is on my side, therefore I will not fear what man can do unto me, for though the Idol shepherd, whereof Zechary speaketh, and I told you before of his ill properties, Zech. 11. and the Hiveling shepherd, that our Saviour speaketh of, Qui lanas plus quam oves diligunt, which love the Wages better than the Work, and the Fleeces better than the Flock, will fly away, that is, from his Duty, and do any thing that is enjoined him, when the Wolf cometh, that is, when the Devil, or the Tyrant, or the Heretic commandeth any other Service to be observed, or any other Faith to be professed; yet Christ, that is the good Shepherd, as he neither left his sheep nor forsaken them, but gave his life for them, to deliver them from eternal death; What the false shepherds and covetous of timorous Preachers do. so he will strengthen his Under-shepherds, and their sheep, that are his sheep likewise, by his Grace, against all fear, either of want of Necessaries, or loss of Life; so that none of these shall make them fly away from the performance of their Duties, because they know that this their good Shepherd is both able and willing to protect them from all evil. And therefore Terra fremat, regna alta crepent ruat ortus & orcus, Si modo firma fides, nulla ruina nocet. let Tyrants threaten us, and let the world rage against us as much as they will, 1 Tyrant's cannot prevail and let them do as much as they can, take away our Churches, rob us of our Estates, banish us from our dwellings, cast us into prison, and deprive us of our lives, yet if we still continue Christ his sheep, and retain the innocency and simplicity of sheep, and obey the voice of this our good Shepherd, we need not fear the face of any man, nor the rage, strength and malice of any Wolf, but we may comfort ourselves sufficiently with what the Angel saith unto the Church of Smyrna; Revel. 2.10. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer, but be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the Crown of life; and so turn the evils that thine enemies shall do thee, to thine eternal good. And the striving of the Heretics to corrupt the Faith, 2 Heretics cannot prevail and to suppress God's service, and the struggling of the Wolves to devour the Sheep, and to destroy God's servants, is, but as Christ saith to Saul, when he breathed slaughters against the Church, to kick against the pricks; or as the Poet saith, Coelum ipsum petere stulstitia, most foolishly and madly to fight against Heaven it solf, which is a harder task than the twelve Labours of Hercules, or to take the City of Troy, that endured ten years' siege, because this our City is built upon a Rock, and the gate of hell shall never be able to prevail against it; not only, because that being upon a Rock, it can never be undermined, but especially, because as S. Cyprian saith, Cyprianus. Non plus valet ad dejiciendum terrena paena, quam ad erigendum divina tutela: And this good Shepherd, which is the Lamb, that standeth upon Mount Zion to defend it, is more powerful to save it, than the Roaring Lion, which is the Prince of darkness, to destroy it. 2. The same Prophet David saith, The Lord is my Shepherd, 2 From wants. Psal. 23.2. therefore I shall want nothing; he shall feed me in a green pasture, and lead more forth besides the waters of comfort: And in the Prophet Ezekiel this good Shepherd saith, Ezek. 34.14. The best food for God's sheep what it is. I will feed my sheep in a good pasture, and upon the high Mountains of Israel shall their Fold be, there shall they lie in a good Fold, and in a fat Pasture shall they feed upon the Mountains of Israel: where you must observe, that this Fold is the Church of Christ, and the fat Pastures are the Lilies, Violets, and the sweetest of all pleasant flowers, especially the three leaved grass, that as Aristotle saith, is most delight some unto the sheep; for this is the food of the Shepherd, even as he professeth in the Canticles, Cantic. 2. that he feedeth among the Lilies; and that is, as Psellus doth interpret it, where he seethe the graces of Gods holy Spirit, and the virtuous examples of the Saints; these are as meat and drink unto him, and so they are unto his sheep: For as S. Ambrose saith, the Pastures of God's sheep are the blessed Sacraments, the holy Scriptures, heavenly Sermons, pious books, and holy meditations of heavenly things, and especially the three leaved grass, which is the understanding of that great mystery of godliness, that our God, which is but one God in Essence, is distinguished into three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And the waters of comfort, The waters of comfort, what they are. are those plentiful streams of milk and honey of Divine Consolation, wherewith the Spirit of God doth, as it were, inebriate the souls of his servants; for the Church of Christ is the Land of Promise, which floweth with milk and honey, it is the Wilderness where the Lord raineth Manna, the bread of heaven, to satisfy the fouls of his children; it is the Spouse of Christ, whose loves are better than Wine; and it is the House of God, Cantic. 2. whereof the Psalmist speaketh, that the sheep of Christ shall be satisfied with the plenteousness of his house, and he shall give them drink of his pleasure, as out of a River that is always running, Psal. 36.8. and yet never dried up. And Christ being our Shepherd, his sheep shall not only have the spiritual food of their souls, and be satisfied with these heavenly juncates, but they shall have also whatsoever is necessary for the sustentation of their temporal life: For as S. Paul saith, Godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is, 1 Tim. 4.8. and of that which is to come: And our Saviour saith, that if we first seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and so to become the sheep of this good Shepherd; Matth. 6. then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, all the other things that you seek, as food and raiment, shall be given unto you, for your heavenly Father knoweth, that you have need of these things; therefore he that feedeth the young Ravens that call upon him, will much rather feed you that are the sheep of Christ, if you rely upon him: And they shall not only have sufficient for themselves, but also to help and to relieve many others; as the poor, and their children, and their children's children; for the blessing of the Lord, saith Solomon, maketh rich, and a good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children; Prov. 10.22. Prov. 13 22. Psal. 112. v. 2, & 3. job 22.23. for riches and plenteousness are in his house, and his Seed is blessed: And Eliphas the Temanite saith, If thou return to the Almighty, and put away iniquity far from thy Tabernacles, then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks: Yea, the Almighty shall be thy Defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver, even as the Lord blessed Abraham, that he became very rich in , Gen. 13.2. etc. 12.16. in silver and in gold, and had sheep and oxen, and he-asses, and man-servants, and maidservants, and she-asses, and Camels. Or were it so that God did not thus bless us with outward wealth, but suffer the world to frown upon us, and to bring us to some want and poverty, as he did to Job, Lazarus, and others, either for the trial of their faith, patience, and constancy in his service, or for some other causes best known unto himself; yet if we be the sheep of Christ, what need we care or fear any such want, so long as we want not the Wedding Garment, and the spiritual food of our souls, Quia major est suavitas mentis quam ventris; because the garment of righteousness is of more worth, than any Imperial Robe, and the satisfying of our Souls, is a great deal better than the filling of our bodies, whose food, be the same never so dainty, is, compared with the other, nothing but ackorns and husks, and other like vanities, that are as soon done and gone, as they are begun; whereas a good conscience is a continual feast, and the food of our souls, john 6.50. & 54. which our good Shepherd giveth us, never perisheth, but feedeth us to everlasting life, as our Saviour showeth. O than beloved Brethren: What a blessed and a happy thing it is, to be the sheep of Christ? to be thus ennobled with such a Master, thus protected from all evil, and thus satisfied with all good; though therefore the Proverb tells us, and it is very true, if thou make thyself a sheep, the Wolf will eat thee; yet it is far more excellent, and to be chosen rather, to be a sheep of Christ, than a wolf of the world, and to be a Lamb of God, rather than a Lion of the devil, when at the last we shall find it far better, to be devoured, then to devour, and to be spoiled, then to spoil our Neighbours. 3 The duties and properties of Christ his sheep. Two special points. john 10. v. 5. But then 3. If you would be the sheep of Christ, you must be qualified with these two special properties. 1. To hear the Voice of Christ. 2. To refuse the hearing of a stranger's voice. For So our Saviour saith, My sheep hear my voice, but a stranger will they not follow, but will fly from him, because they know not the voice of strangers: So you have 1. What the sheep of Christ must do, to hear the voice of Christ. 2. What they must not do, that is, by no means to hearken and listen to any Sirens voice, that entice them with fair promises, or to be afraid of any thundering voice of Tyrants and Persecutors, that terrify them with foul threaten, to move them to change their Faith, and to leave the right service of God, to follow after the new directions, and the idolatrous superstitions, that are sounded in their ears by the voices of the false Prophets, 1 What they must do. of the Idol Shepherd. 1. In the affirmative part, that tells us, what we that are Christ's sheep are to do: You may observe these two things. 1. 1 The act, to hear. The act, to hear. For my sheep will hear my voice. 2. The object, my voice. For my sheep will hear my voice. 1. S. Paul saith, that faith cometh by hearing; for how can we believe in him of whom we have not heard? Rom. 10.14. and therefore Samuel saith, that to hearken was better than the fat of rams; and this fat of rams, was in the old time, an holy Oblation instituted by God himself, and therefore a most acceptable offering unto God; and yet the Prophet tells us, 1 Sam. 15.22. that to hearken to his voice, was far more acceptable in the sight of God, and it is far more profitable unto man, for such Oblations, when they were offered by wicked hypocrites, Esay 55.3. were abominations unto God: But the Lord saith, Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live. And therefore, seeing that to hear the voice of Christ, is so beneficial to the sheep of Christ, it is no marvel that our Saviour doth so often cry unto us, Luke 8.8. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear; because this hearing of his voice, is not only a special means to beget faith and obedience in us, but it is also the first staff in jacob's Ladder, and the first step that we make towards the Kingdom of heaven: For S. Paul tells us, that whom God hath predestinated, them he hath called, Rom. 8.30. and whom he hath called, those also he hath justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified: So that there is no glorification without we be justified, and no justification without we be called, and in vain are we called, if we do not hearken to the Voice that calleth us; and therefore, ad summum nisi a principio pervenire non potes; thou shalt never be glorified in heaven, except thou dost hear the Voice of Christ on earth; and therefore S. James adviseth us, to be swift to hear, and slow to speak; for which cause, ja. 1.19. Why God hath given us two ears, and but one tongue. that we may do so, God hath given us two ears, and but one tongue, that we might hear much more than we speak; and lest we should speak too much, he hath hedged in out tongues with the strong walls of our teeth, to the end that we should rather by't it, then suffer it to speak too much, but our ears he hath left wide open, to the end we might hear very much, and our hearing many things, cannot so much prejudice us as our speaking may. And yet our Saviour knowing how we fail in the performance of our best actions, That there be four sorts of hearers of Christ his voice. 1. The Heretic and Schismatic. Elephantiasis, what kind of disease. bids us take heed how we hear: And we have great reason to take heed how we hear, for our Saviour Christ, in the Parable of the Sour, showeth, that there be four sorts of men that do hear his Voice, and but one of them do reap any good thereby; the other three much hurt, and no good. As 1. The Heretics and Schismatics that are infected with Elephantiasis, which as the Physicians say, is a very venomous disease, full of poison, because it proceedeth from corrupt blood, that invadeth all the inward and outward parts of the body, and makes it so foul and filthy, that the breath of this Leper is very infectious, and it cleaveth so fast to his bones, and is so fixed in his heart, infecting all his powers and spirits, that his understanding cannot comprehend things aright, especially those things that appertain to the Spirit of God, to be converted thereby: But though this man will hear as well as the best, and press to hear rather than the best, and say that he can never hear too much; yet as all were not Israelites which were of the house and seed of Israel, and as all are not Christians that take upon them the Name of Christ, so all are not the sheep of Christ, that with Christ his sheep, and like Christ his sheep, do hear the voice of Christ; for these Heretics and Schismatics, in a singularity of wit, will hold some false and erroneous points, and they are so obstinate and perverse in their own opinions, that although they have the truth preached unto them, yet, saith Christ, the devil cometh and taketh away the same out of their heart, Luke 8.12. and hinders them to believe it: And though we make the point never so plain and so clear unto them, yet as S. Hierome saith of the Luciferians, Hierom. adversus Lucifer. Solent oculis clausis denegare, qui non credunt factum esse quod nolunt: They will shut their eyes against the truth, and cannot endure to believe that which they would not have to be believed; but as S. Aug. saith of the Donatists, Vident se non habere quid respondeant, putant tamen se habere quid faciant, quid loquantur non inveniunt, tacere tamen non permittuntur, quia malunt perversis vocibus veritati reluctari, quam confessis erroribus paci restitui: Though they see they have not what to answer, yet they know what to do; though they cannot find what they should say, yet they are not suffered to be silent, because they had rather most peevishly and perversely to resist the truth, then by confessing their error, to submit in peace; and so, as the same Father speaketh, Cum eos obmutescere compellat veritas; silere tamen non permittit iniquitas: When the truth would have them to be mute, their iniquity will not permit them to hold their peace. And are not our Sectaries, our new Divines, and our Anabaptists, Our Sectaries just like the old Donatists. that have unsainted the blessed souls that are in heaven, and have trodden the holy Festivals of the Church under foot, and deny to the innocent Babes to be incorporated into Christ, and have turned the true faith and right service of God topsie turvy turvy, such as these Donatists were; judge you that do see, what they do, and how they do hear the voice of Christ; for I am sure we have too too many that do hear his voice, and yet as Job saith, Nolunt intelligere ut bene agerent, they will not understand the truth, that they might do well. 2. 2 The Hypocrites. The next sort of bad hearers are the hypocrites, which for a while will seem to be Saints, and in the end will prove Apostata? and an hypocrite is a Greek word, that was used to signify a Stage-player, who for a time weareth the habit, and carrieth the stile and title of a King, An Hypocrite, what it signifieth. or acteth the part of some valorous Knight, when as indeed he is but a Peasant and a Coward, of no resolution; and being applied to matters of Religion, it signifieth such a one, whose mouth, ears, and face, and all other his outward deportment, do make shows of great piety and Religion, when as really he is nothing of what he seems to be; but as the Watermen do look one way, and row another way, so doth the hypocrite pretend one thing, and aim at another thing; as those Spies that were sent by the chief Priests and Scribes to watch our Saviour Christ, did feign themselves just men, but it was to this end, saith the Evangelist, that they might take hold of his words, Luke 20.20. that so they might deliver him to the power of the Governor. So here is a fair pretence to be just and honest men, and yet a most wicked purpose to entrap and betray our Saviour Christ: And have we no such Spies in these days, that come to hear us, that they might take hold of our words, and pervert our words too, that they might accuse us? Res ipsaloquitur, and I have found them. And therefore seeing such hearers of God's Words have but the shows and shadows of Religion, and no substances, they are fitly compared to those falling stars, which the Philosophers do call assub; for as these in the night time do seem to be truestars in the Firmament, and yet they are nothing else but certain fat exhalations of the earth, which being lifted up through the upper Region of the air, and kindled through the heat and force of the upper Element, which is the fire, do suddenly fall again into nothing: So these hypocritical hearers of God's Words, that are Catones foris, and Neronis intus, as upright as Cato, and as zealous as S. Paul without, and as deceitful as Tiberius, and as cruel as Nero within, do for a while seem to be good Christians in the Church of God; but because the Words that they hear, take no root in their hearts that are canales non conchi, like Sluices and Channels to convey it through them, and not pools or vessels to retain it still within them, when the fire of affliction and persecution, and the fear of losing their honours and preferment cometh, they fall away, saith our Saviour, even as the falling stars, and they are ready to turn with every wind, as you may note in your books the many multitude of Professors, both Clergy and Laity, that have done so since 1641. I pray God it be not laid to their charge. 3. 3 The worldling. The last sort of bad hearers, are those worldly men that would gladly come to the Kingdom of heaven, but they cannot be persuaded to relinquish and forsake the things of this world; but they are so far addicted, and so much in love with the pleasures and vanities of this present life, that as Christ saith, the cares and riches of this world do so choke them, Luke 8.14. 4. The good Christian. that they bring no fruit unto perfection. But the sheep of Christ, with an honest heart, and a simple desire to understand the will of God, and know the truth, that they may believe the one, and obey the other, do hear the voice of Christ. And therefore, as when Moses called the people of God to hear the words and Commandments of God, and told them how the Lord willed them to sanctify themselves the day before, to make clean their apparel, and to keep themselves from their wives, Exod 19.10. & 4. & 15. v. How men should prepare themselves to hear God's Word. that they might with the more purity and sincerity hear his words: So the sheep of Christ, considering that this outward sanctification and preparation of this people to hear God's Word, was but the type and figure of that inward purity and due preparation that they should make, when they come to hear the voice of Christ, do earnestly pray to God, that they may come to hear with a good intent, and not for fashion sake, or with a prejudicated conceit of the Preacher, or an obstinate mind to perfist in their own erroneous Opinion, whatsoever they hear to the contrary, or especially to catch at some things from the Preacher to accuse him, but to be truly edified in the Faith of Christ, and rightly instructed for the true service of God. These be the true sheep, that do rightly hear the voice of the true Shepherd; and all other hearers that do call for preaching, and run after preaching, and seek for singular Preachers of their own Faction, are but wicked or formal hearers of the voice of Christ, and such as the Prophet Esay speaketh of, which follow after the Word, and gather precept upon precept, and word upon word, and line upon line, here a little, Esay 28. & 10.13. and there a little, and are never the better, but fall backward, and grow worse and worse, because these hearers do resemble the Inhabitants that are about the fall of the river Nilus, which is very great, and the fall thereof so exceeding high, The customary hearers like the Inhabitants about the fall of Nilus. Macrobius. and the noise of the fall so violent, and so loud, that at the first it astonisheth the hearers so much, and maketh them in a manner senseless, and to hear nothing else, by reason of the violence of the noise; yet at length, saith Macrobius, when they are accustomed with the noise thereof, and that it becomes habitual to them, it seems as nothing to move them to astonishment, even so is the Word of God to these hearers: At first it seems to quicken and make some impression in them, but the same being so often sounded, and the voice thereof so familiar to them, and so often heard of them, it moveth their hearts no whit at all, but it passeth so smoothly through them, that it maketh no operation within them, which makes the Apostle tell us, 2 Tim. 3.7. that they are ever learning, and so ever hearing, and yet never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 2. Having heard the act which my sheep are to do, that is, 2 The object, my voice. to hear as they ought to hear, attentively, reverently and religiously, to be edified and bettered thereby; we are now to consider the object of this act, what they are to hear, and that is, not the Turks Alcoran, nor the Pope's Traditions, nor the Jewish fables, but my voice, saith Christ. And this voice of Christ doth administer much matter unto us, Christ uttereth his voice three manner of ways. 1. Way. for Christ speaketh unto his sheep three manner of ways. 1. By the inward inspiration of his spirit, which suggesteth good motions into the hearts and heads of his sheep. 2. By his holy Word, that is written unto us by his Prophets and Apostles, 2 Way. to declare his will, that is his Laws, Statutes, and Ordinances, his decrees, promises, and threaten, that we might obey his precepts, believe his promises, and fear his threaten. 3. By the lively voice of his under Shepherds, 3 Way. those Preachers that he continually sendeth to instruct his sheep, and to inform them of the truth and true meaning of his will, that is set down in his written Word. 1. And because there are many spirits, we are not to believe every spirit, 1 john 4.1. but we ought to be very careful, to try the spirits, whether those motions and inspirations of the spirit that we have, be agreeable to the written Word of God, which if they be not, they are the suggestions of the lying spirit, and not the inspiration of God's Spirit. 2. And because the written Word is but the dead letter, a dumb Judge, and full of mysteries and obscurities, Christ sends his servants to explain that written Word, as Councillors do the written Law unto his sheep; or, if it were not so, there was no need of Teachers, but every one that had a Bible, and could read it, could understand the voice of Christ: But Christ knew how necessary it was for his sheep to have Instructors, and explainers of his will; and therefore he sendeth his under-Shepherds continually to sound forth his voice unto them, and he tells us plainly, Luke 10.16. He that heareth them, heareth him. But here, by the voice of Christ, which the preachers are to explain unto the sheep, the question is, whether they ought to allege or cite any other voice, or the voice of any other man, than what is set down by the divine Penmen of the holy Scriptures, in the Canonical books of the Old and New Testament, which are the only writings that are of divine inspiration, and infallibly true, without any commixion of any error: For some will believe nothing, and would have nothing said or alleged, but what is set down directis terminis in the holy Scriptures, that are the only undoubted voice of Christ; therefore they do blame them much, and tax them sore, that cite any other Author, or produce any other proof of any truth, than what is found in the holy Bible. To these men I answer, that as I love their Zeal to God's Word, so I pity their Ignorance of God's Will; for they should know, that as every lie is the voice of the Devil, who is a liar from the beginning, and the Father of all lies, as our Saviour saith, so every one that is of the truth heareth my voice, saith Christ: and as he is Pater luminum, the Father of Lights, so he is Pater veritatum, the Father of Truths, and every truth qua truth, John 8.44. John 18.37. 1 Sam. 10.12. is the Voice of God, and comes from God, as when Saul prophesied, it became a Proverb in Israel, Is Saul also among the Prophets? and when Caiphas the high Priest, that condemned Christ to death, prophesied, that it was expedient for the Jews, That one man should die for the people, that the whole nation perish not; John 11.10. his words were the Truth of God, and they are registered in the holy Scriptures; nay more, when Satan said, I know who thou art, even the holy one of God: And again, Thou art Christ the Son of God: And when Peter said, Thou art Christ the son of the living God. Luke 4.34. & 4●. Utriusque confessionis non neganda sed agnoscenda est veritas, the truth of either of their confession cannot be denied, but must be acknowledged, & aught to be believed for truth, not because either of them hath said it, but because what either of them hath said, is true; otherwise, if we refuse to believe the truth, because the Devil speaks it, his malice is so great, that, to hinder our Faith, he would perchance very often say the truth, that we might not believe i●, which is his aim and desire always, when he doth speak truth; and therefore, Quamvis hic laudatur, iste tamen vituperatur, though S. Peter was commended, yet Satan was reproved for his confession, because he had no command nor commission to speak that truth, and he spoke it to none other end, but that it might not be believed, because he hoped that none would believe the Devil: Galat. 1.8. but S. Paul tells us, That if an angel from heaven should preach to us any other gospel then what was truth, he should be accursed, to teach us, that neither the worthiness nor, the unworthiness of the persons speaking, but the lawful commission and authority of the speaker, the truth of what is spoken, is most chief to be regarded by the hearers; and therefore Christ saith, The Scribes and Pharisees, that were wicked men, and his enemies, do sit in Moses chair; that is, they are lawfully called to teach the people, and to expound the law of God; All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, Mat. 23.2. & 3. that observe and do; but do not ye after their works, because they say and do not. And therefore, though the holy Scriptures primarily, infallibly and perfectly, without error, be the voice of Christ, and the true Word of God, yet this denieth not, but that other Writings, either of holy Faith, witty Poets, and learned Philosophets, or whosoever they be that write the Truth, either Historically or Physically, or Morally, may secondarily be styled the voice of Christ, so far forth as they are the words of truth: otherwise S. Paul would never have cited three Testimonies of the Heathens, to justify the truth of what he delivered, which was like the fact of David to cut off Goliah's head with his own sword, or as the Israelites robbed the Egyptians of their Gold and of their Jewels, when we take what is good out of prophine Authors, as S. Aug. showeth at large: De doct. Chr. l. 2. c. 40. and produceth many excellent points out of their Writings. De civ. dei l. 8. c. 6, 7, 8. And if it were not lawful and useful to quote other Authors, as the Voice of Christ unto the people, it had been but a vain thing, either for the Fathers of old, or for any other learned Divine now to write any thing at all, if their writings bore no credit, or was of no use, either with the Readers or the Hearers of their explications; or shall we think that all the learned Authors, that have written since the Apostles ti●e, were such fools, as to take such pains as they have done to no purpose, which must needs be to no purpose, if no use can be made of them. You will perchance say, yes, they may be read by the Preacher, but not quoted and cited to the hearers; but as Virgil saith, — Hot ego versiculos feei, tulit alter honores. So I say, this is to rob the Bees of their Honey, and to eat that ourselves which we ourselves never gathered; and so, to take the Honour which is due to other men unto ourselves, which is a kind of Thest, and an Injury done unto our deceased brethren, and not so beneficial to the hearers, who ought rather to respect them more than us. But to prove both the lawfulness and the necessity of using the help of as many Authors as we can conveniently read, you know that the holy Scriptures are like a deep well, from whence we cannot draw out the water, without the help of some things to reach it, as the Samaritan woman said to Christ; John 4.11. 2 Pet. 3.16. The difficulty of the Scripture is more fully showed in my book of the Great Antichrist. it is full of Figures and Mysteries, so difficult, that in S. Paul's Epistles S. Peter saith, there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, some things hard to be understood; and in other places much more, and perhaps more difficult, when as the Scriptures do comprehend a Literal or Historical sense, and a Spiritual or a Mystical sense; and the Literal sense is either simple, which consisteth in the propriety of the words, or figurative, whereby the words are transferred from their natuaral signification to another signification, as when Christ saith, I have other sheep that are not of this fold; the meaning is, that besides the people of the Jews, he had other people that were to be brought to the Church of God; Et hujus sensus tot sunt genera quot sunt genera figurarum, saith Bellarm. l. 3. c. 3. very truly. And the spiritual sense is distinguished to be threefold allegorical, tropological and anagogical; and the not understanding in what sense the Scripture is to be interpreted, hath caused many great scholars to err most foully, as Origen doth so allegorise the terrestrial Paradise, that he taketh away the truth of the History, when for the trees he understands the Angels, for the rivers the heavenly virtues, and the coats of skin their humane bodies: and others have as foully erred in taking that literally which ought to be figuratively understood, as Papias, and those that follow him, Just. Martyr, Iren. Tertul. Lactant. and some others do expound the new Jerusalem, and the thousand years that the Saints are said they should reign with Christ, altogether literally, which are figuratively to be understood, as both S. Hierom and S. Ang. testify. And therefore S. Aug. demandeth, how he, that cannot understand Terence without a comment, dares presume to understand the Scripture without a Teacher, when as Quicquid est in scriptures illis, altum & divinum est, all & every thing that is in these holy Scriptures, is very deep and divine: And S. Paul saith, that the letter killeth, that is, the words of the Scriptures literally interpreted, when they ought to be figuratively understood, do bring men into many errors; and indeed, as S. Augustine saith, Hinc omnes haereses, dum scripturae bonae intelliguntur non bene, from hence all Heresies and Errors do arise, when the good Scriptures are misconstrued, and not rightly understood. For it is not enough for us to have the Bible in our hands, and the words of it in our mouths, unless we have also the sense and meaning of it in our heads; Acts 8.21. therefore our Saviour Christ knowing, that, as the Eunuch who had perfectly read the prophecy of Isaiah, yet understood it not without a guide; and as the Jews, Mal. 2.7. that had the Laws of God written upon their doors and the posts of their houses; yet were they to seek the meaning thereof from the mouth of the Priests; so, our having the words of the Scripture at our finger's end, would avail us nothing, unless we understood it, and understand it we could not, unless with the Jews and the Eunuch we were instructed in the true sense and meaning thereof, he sends his Ambassadors, the Bishops and Ministers, as I said before, to instruct his people to understand the sense and meaning of the holy Ghost, and the voice of Christ in such and such words and places of the holy Scripture as are difficult and obscure, and saith, Luke 10.16. He that heareth you heareth me. And of all those that Christ sendeth to explain his Will, and to interpret his Voice, and to give the true sense of his words unto the people, who, I pray you, do ye think can best do it, the preachers that are now living, or those that are dead? Surely the wise men were wont to say, Who are the best Counsellors. Dead Preachers rather to be believed, than the living Preachers, so saith Christ, they have Moses and the Prophets that were all dead. that the best Counsellors are the dead; that is, the counsels and instructions that the dead men have left in their books, because they are no time-servers that fear the Tyrant, or flatter for reward: And truly I am of the same mind for our Preachers and instructors in the Word of God, when I see many men for the love of preferment, and many others for fear of losing their live, doing that service to God, and teaching those documents unto men, which otherwise, I know, they would not do. And therefore if you believe me, or any other living man, that Christ sendeth to instruct you, why should you not rather, or at least as soon believe S. Aug. S. Chrysost. or any other of the holy Fathers that are dead, when we are assured they were sent from God to declare his will unto his people, and who we know were most learned, zealous, and most faithful Ministers of Christ: And so you see what the sheep of Christ must do, to hear his voice from those messengers that Christ sendeth, and hath sent to inform them of it. 2. 2 The negative part, what they must not do. What the must not do, is here likewise set down by Christ; and that is, they must not hear the voice of a stranger, which Christ hath not sent to declare his will, and to explain his meanings, for a stranger's voice, saith Christ, my sheep will not hear, but will fly from him, for that they know not the voice of strangers. Where you must observe, Who is meant by a stranger. that by stranger is not meant, a stranger that cometh unto the people, but a stranger unto Christ, and to the truth of Christ, and true service of God; and because he speaketh here first in the singular number, of a stranger, whose voice Christ's sheep will not hear, but will fly from him; and then in the plural number of strangers, whose voice his sheep know not; for though Tremel. translates it out of the Syriack, Non norunt vocem alieni, yet the Greek Copy hath it, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which Beza translates, Non norunt vocem alienorum; they know not the voice of strangers, as our English translation hath it very right. Therefore I conceive that by the stranger, Whom doth Christ mean by the stranger, and who by the strangers. he meaneth that foolish Idol Shepherd, whereof the Prophet Zachary speaketh, that should come in the time of Christ, to be the type of the great Anti-christ, that should be manifested in our time; and by the other strangers he meaneth, those many Antics that S. John speaks of, the Heretics and false Prophets, that from time to time, and now more than at any other time, jer. 14.14. etc. 23.21. do intrude themselves into the Sacred Function of the Ministry, and as the Prophet Jeremy saith, do run, when Christ hath not sent them, and do speak what he hath not commanded them, but do preach the lying inventions of their own heads, to seduce the sheep of Christ to follow the Anti-christ, and to relinquish the true received worship of the living God. But the true and right sheep of Christ will hear none of these, nor follow after any of them, for they know, that as they which are not lawfully called, or allowed to be the lawful Ministers of God's Word, should not preach, and cannot do it without great offence to God, that may justly say to them, as he doth to the Jews by his Prophet, Quis avobis requisivit hac? Who hath required these things at your hands? So they cannot hear them without the like offence to God, yea, though they should preach the truth, and nothing but the truth unto them; for as Christ reproved Satan, and bade him hold his peace, when he spoke the very truth, that he was the Son of God, because he had no Commission to be the Ambassador of Christ, to publish that truth unto his people, so shall they be sharply censured by God, though they preach the very truth, when they are not lawfully called, and have no Commission from God to do the same; 2 Chro. 26.21. & I think the fearful Judgement of God upon King Uzzia, for invading the Priest's office, and upon Uzza, for doing that which appertained to the Levites to do, 1 Chron. 13.10. and upon King Saul for offering Sacrifice to the Lord, should be a sufficient warning for them to take heed how they thrust themselves into the Ministry; for King Uzzia, presuming to burn Incense unto the Lord, which appertained to the Priests, the sons of Aaron to do, the Lord suddenly smote him with Leprosy, and so he continued a Leper to his dying day: And Uzza, putting forth his hand to hold up the Ark, when the Oxen shook it, which belonged only unto the Levites to carry it, the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzza, that he smote him dead in the very place; and Saul lost his Kingdom for his intrusion into the Priest's Office; and how date these men to intrude themselves into this Sacred Office, to be the Ambassadors of Christ, to declare his will, and to expound his meaning, without Commission? And if they should dare to preach, how dare the sheep of Christ hear their voice, when as Christ tells us plainly, his sheep will not hear the voice of strangers; and the Lord commands them by his Prophet, not to hearken to those whom he hath not sent? And Solomon saith, jer. 27.14. etc. 29.8. Cease my son to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge, Prov. 19.27. Surely none would do it, but that we love to show ourselves to be the children of Adam, and to stretch forth our hands to the forbidden fruit, and as the Poet saith, Nitimur in vetitum semper, cupimusque negata. We long to do what we are forbidden, and will the rather do it, because it is forbidden; like the man, that for some just impediment, never went out of his house, but being for some offence enjoined to keep his house, he was so moved for the debarring of his liberty, that to cross the command of his Superiors, and to become liable to his censure, he would needs presently walk abroad, and so with Shimei, 1 Reg. 2.46. Our wilfulness to do what we are forbidden. bring himself to death: And so it is with us, we will not hear when we are commanded to hear, and we long to hear those that we are forbidden to hear, as if God envied our good when he forbade us, when as he forbids nothing but for our good, as when we forbidden a man to drink poison, that it might not kill him. 2. Having heard how the sheep of Christ are called, Secunda pars, I know them. it followeth that I should show how they are justified, in these words, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and I know them, that is, I do acknowledge them for my sheep, and do own them for my people, for my servants, and for my children; for there be very many that go under the shape and show of God's sheep, and are indeed the Foxes, Wolves, and Lions of Satan, of whom Christ never saith, I know them, but rather, Depart from me, I know you not, you workers of iniquity. Yet these subtle Foxes, and these Wolves in sheep's clothing, The wicked and the hypocrite not acknowledged by God to be his sheep. Gen. 34.23. The Sichemites how served for their deceitful hypocrisy. V 26. that profess themselves to be the only Saints, and are indeed the destroyers of God's servants, may easily blind the eyes of men, but they cannot beguile the allseeing God; for as the Sichemites whereof Moses testifieth, that they came with dissembling hearts to deceive Jacob and his children, were contented to be circumcised, and take upon them the habit of God's children, in hope that all theirs should be their own, if they were circumcised, as themselves confess; yet the Lord that knew the● to be hypocrites, doth not acknowledge them for his children; and therefore their dissembling of Religion brought on their destruction, and their Circumcision, which they thought would be the means to enrich them, became the means to destroy them, for while they were weak and sore, by reason of their Circumcision, the sons of Jacob fell upon them, and slew all that were male, which was a just judgement of God for the dissembling of their Religion: And as the Gibeonites with false hearts, and a dissembling show of a religious desire of communion with God's children, came to the children of Israel, and through their lies and dissimulation made a league with them, and so freed themselves from the Sword of Joshua, and deceived the Israelites, Josh. 9.15. yet they could not deceive the Lord, who knew their hypocrisy, and knew them not for any of his people, and therefore made them slaves and drudges to draw water, carry wood, V 27. The Gibeonites how served for their dissimulation. and do all manner of servile work for the sons of Israel: So amongst us in all places, and at all times, we have such Sichemites and Gibeonites, as deceive the world, and do blind the eyes of men, by making them to believe they are the only Saints of God, and do all for the honour of God, but the Lord knoweth them not for any such Saints, and Christ doth not acknowledge them for any of his sheep; but though they shall say to Christ, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy Name, and in thy Name have cast out devils, and in thy Name done wonderful works, that is, preached, and fasted, and prayed, and fought for thy service, and the like evidences of our faithfulness unto thee; yet Christ, that knoweth very well they did all these things for their own ends, Mat. 7.22, 23. will profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me ye that work iniquity. And S. Luke is more ample in setting out the discourse and Dialogue betwixt Christ and these men at the last day, saying, When once the Master of the house is risen up, How S. Luke describes the hypocrites. and hath shut the door, and they standing without shall knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us; and he shall answer and say unto them. I know you not, whence you are; then shall they begin to say, we have eaten and drunk in thy presence, that is, when they received the blessed Sacrament of his Body and Blood at his own Table, and thou hast taught in our streets, and we were daily hearers of those Sermons that were preached, though but in Chambers, or in Barns, or in the streets; but he shall say, I tell you, as being angry for their presumption and hypocrisy, I know you not, whence you are, depart from me all ye workers of iniquity; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when they shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the Prophets, and the rest of God's faithful servants, whom they persecuted, in the Kingdom of God, Luke 13.25, 26, 27, 28. and themselves thrust out of doors. But can they persuade themselves, that our Saviour Christ will not know them, when as they seem to be so zealous of his worship, How hardly it is to persuade hypocrites, to acknowledge themselves to be hypocrites. and profess themselves so earnestly and so strictly to observe his will, and to do nothing without a warrant from his written Word. Surely no, they cannot be persuaded hereunto; but it is easier to convert the drunkards, adulterers, and harlots, then to persuade these hypocritical Saints, that they are sinners, save in that general notion, that we are all sinners; for as decipimur specie recti, we are deceived in them, and the world is blinded, through that show of piety and profession of Religion which they make, so they deceive themselves hereby. Fallit enim vitium specie virtutis & umbra. For it is most certain, that vice deceives the owner, under the show and shadow of virtue, when as our Saviour saith to his Apostles, they shall persecute you, and imprison you, Lament. 4.5. Was there ever any time wherein this was more truly fulfilled, then now in our days? and scourge you, silence you, and rob you of your means and maintenance; and as the Prophet Jeremy saith, cause those that did feed delicately, to lie desolate in the streets, and those that were brought up in Scarlet, to embrace dunghills; and yet they that do these things shall not be Infidels and Pagans, but such as shall think themselves very good Christians, and to do God herein very good service, to persecute his servan s. And what a cruel deceit is this, to beguile their own hearts, and to deceive their own souls, to think they have God Almighty by the hand, when the devil holds them fast by the toes, and to persuade themselves they are the sheep of Christ, when Christ professeth he knows them not to be his sheep, but knoweth them to be the Wolves of Satan. But can any thing be unknown to God, or be hid from him which knoweth the secrets of our hearts, and understandeth our thoughts long before? he knoweth what is in the deep Sea, and how far the world extendeth; he knoweth the number of the stars, and calleth them all by their names; and he knoweth the height of heaven, the depth of the Sea, and the length of all the Spheres; and doth he not know these men? Indeed we know them not, they are such Chameleons that can change themselves into all colours, saving white; that is, put on all manner of shows and shapes, but that which is virtuous and honest, but God knoweth them very well, intus & in cute, both within and without; for so the Lord professeth, I know their works and their thoughts, Esay 66.18. And therefore you must understand there is a twofold knowledge in God. 1. The one general, or universal. 2. The other special, or particular. The first is over all the things in the world, as they are his creatures, The twofold knowledge of God. and the works of his hands; and so he knoweth all men, good and bad, and all creatures both in heaven and in earth. The other is only over his Church, that is, his children, whom he hath chosen and loveth, and which therefore do love, honour, and obey him, in doing his will, and keeping his Commandments: And thus he knoweth not the wicked hypocrites, How God knoweth both the godly and the wicked. oppressors, extortioners, and the like sinful generation, and brood of Vipers, as John Baptist calls them, to be his children, but knoweth that they are none of his children, but rather the children of their Father the Devil; for as a Father knoweth his Son, and as he is his Son provideth for him an inheritance, and knoweth his servant, but knoweth him not for his Son, and therefore provideth no inheritance for him, but appointeth him to do some drudgery, and keepeth him for his service: So Christ knoweth his sheep, and as they are his sheep, he provideth for them eternal life, and he knoweth the Goats, the Wolves, and the Foxes, and knoweth them not to be his sheep; and therefore provideth no inheritance for them, but will severely punish them, because they neither follow him, nor hear his voice, but as the Lord saith, Refused his counsel, and despised his reproof, Prov. 1.30. And this should be an exceeding grief and terror unto the wicked, when God shall say unto them, as a Father doth to his disobedient Son, I will not know him; that is, I will not acknowledge him for my son; so God will not own nor acknowledge these men for his children, though he knoweth them, and knoweth their works well enough. And on the other side, this is an exceeding comfort and joy unto the godly, when as a friend shall say of his friend, I will know him wheresoever I see him, before friend and foe, and I will acknowledge him my friend, and myself his friend, in what state or condition soever he be, rich or poor, bond or free, Nahum. 1.7. so God knoweth them that trust in him, saith the Prophet, and he shall say of them, I know them, and I will acknowledge them to be mine, my sheep, and my servants, wheresoever they are; and in what state or condition soever they be: And therefore they follow me, and study to be holy, as I am holy; which is their sanctification, and the third part of these words. 3. Christ told his Apostles at the first, that if any man would be his Disciple, Tertia part, they follow me. Luke 9.23. The following of Christ twofold. 1. In suffering Esay 53.3. and so his sheep to hear his voice, and to learn of him, he must take up his cross and follow him. And this following of him, as you see by these words, must be twofold. 1. In patiendo, in suffering, as he suffered. 2. In agendo, in doing, as he did. For 1. Our Shepherd Christ was vir dolorum, a man of sorrows, as the Prophet calls him, that had experience of infirmities; and his whole life, from his Cradle to his Cross, was but a life of suffering, the scornful reproofs of the wealthy, and the despitefulness of the proud, who did all that either tongues or hands could do against him; and yet, as a Lamb before his shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth, V 7. but forgave them all their indignities, and prayed for them that crucified him, which was an example of suffering without example, and beyond all examples. And our Saviour tells us, the Disciple must not be above his Master, he must not look to walk on flowers, when his Master walks through the briars; but where the Master goeth before, the servant should follow after. And yet we may justly say with S. Bernard, Quam pauci, O Domius Jesus, post te ire volunt, cum tamen ad te pervenire, nemo sit quinesit, hoc scitutibus cunctis, qua delectationes in dextratnausque ad finem? How few, O Lord Jesus, there are, which will come after thee, when as to come unto thee, there is no man but is willing, because where thou art, and in thy right hand, there is fullness of joy, and abundance of pleasures for evermore. Et propterea, saith that Father, Vol●●t omnes te frai, at non ita & intitari, conregnare cupiunt, sed non compati: And therefore all men would enjoy thee, but not so as to follow thee; they would Reign with thee, but they will not suffer with thee; they can be concented with the Apostle, to build Tabernacles, and to abide with him on mount Tabor, where he was transfigured in Glory; but they can all forsake him on mount Calvarie, when he was overwhelmed with sorrow, and confusion went over his face. This is the common course of the world, to follow him close in prosperity, and to seem zealous of his honour and of his service, Cum benefecerit illis, when as the Prophet David saith, Their corn, and wine, and oil increaseth, and they prosper in their successes; but if they should be ejected, suppressed and persecuted for serving him, then will they start aside like a broken bow, and like the children of Ephraint, that, being harnessed, and carrying bows, and so being enabled by their learning wealth and friends, to do God good service, do turn their backs to him in the day of battle, when there is most need of their help, and they could most chief follow him. But the true sheep of Christ, and the faithful servants of God will follow him, Per mare, per saxa, per ignes, and will say, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ, or withdraw us from the service of our God, and following after our Shepherd? or shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No sure, in all these things they are more than conquerors, through him that loved them, so that neither Death, nor life, nor Angels, nor Principalities, nor Powers, nor Things present, Rom. 8.35. & v. 38.39. nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate them from the love of God, and from following their Master Jesus Christ our Lord. And they that cannot truly say thus, or they that love Father, or Mother, or Son, or Daughter, or any other thing in this world, even their own life, more than Christ, they are not worthy of Christ, Mat. 10.37. as Christ himself doth testify. And therefore, seeing that to suffer with Christ, and for Christ his Service, is an especial gift and grace of God, Phillip 1.29. 1 Pet. 3.14. Mat. 5.11. as the Apostle showeth, and that they are happy and blessed that suffer persecution for righteousness sake, and when men shall revile them, and say all manner of evil against them, falsely for Christ his sake, I say with the Poet, — Componite mentes, Lucan Phars. Ad magnae virtutis opus, magnosque labores. And as our Saviour saith, when you suffer all that can be suffered, and all that your enemies can impose upon you, Mat. 11. v. 12. rejoice and be glad, yea, and be exceeding glad, because your reward shall be great in heaven; and let not your sufferings trouble you. — Nec enim fortuna querenda Ovid Met. l. ul●. sab. 44. Sola tua est, similes aliorum respice casus, Mitius istaferes. For this is not your case alone, but if you look what happened to other men, you shall find, that as our Saviour saith, So persecuted they the Prophets, that were before you, and so are many of your brethren persecuted as well as you, and perhaps more than you, which should teach you, Mitius ista far, to follow Christ in his sufferings, the more patiently and contentedly, without any manner of muttering. 2. 2 In Do. As we are to follow our Shepherd Christ in his Sufferings, so we are to follow him in his Do, that is, to imitate him in our actions, and to make him the Exemplar and the Pattern of all our do; for though we should live by Rules, and not by Examples, yet the Example of Christ is beyond all Rules; Et validior est vox operis, quam oris, Bern, in Cant. Ser. 59 and moral operations are more forcible than all the logical demonstrations in the world. But you must understand, that the Acts and Do of Christ are of two sorts: 1. Unimitable. 2. Imitable. And, The first he did as God, to approve his Office, and to confirm our Faith, that we might believe him to be the Son of God, and the Messiah that should come to be the Saviour of the world; for so he saith himself, The works that I do, do testify, and bear witness of me. And herein we are not required to follow him; and we are not able to imitate him, neither should we attempt to do it; for when he saith, Learn of me, he meaneth not, saith Saint Augustine, that thou shouldst learn of him, Aut mundos fabricare, aut mortuos suscitare, aut per maria ambulare, Aug. de bonis. Conjugal. c. 37. Non in quantum sil. dei sed in quant. filius hominis, Id. de sanctitat. Virginit. c. 27. aut coecos illuminare— but learn of me, that I am meek and lowly in heart. Therefore, The second sort of the Acts and Do of Christ are such as he did as man, and are imitable, to be imitated by us, that are men, and would be counted the Sheep and Servants of Christ: and herein we should follow him. And therein also we are to follow him. 1. In respect of the Manner. 2. In respect of the Matter. For, 1. What virtuous or pious act soever we desire to do, 1 Sincerely. 2. Totally. 3. Diligently. 4. Constantly. 5. Humbly. Diabolus dux nobis fuit ad superbiam. Aug. ho. 12. Phil. 2.7. and to imitate Christ therein, we must strive to do it to the uttermost of our power, Modo & forma, in the same manner as Christ did it; and that is, 1. In sincerity, without hypocrisy. 2. For God's glory, and not for our own commodity. 3. In a discreet knowledge, and not in a blind zeal. Without the observation of which rules, the Acts that we do may be good in themselves, and yet quite spoilt from yielding any great good to us, by our ill manner of doing them. As, 1. To fast and pray, and to pay Tithes of Mint and Annyse, 1 Boni videri volunt sed non esse. Bern. in cant. Ser. 66. 1 Chr. 28.9. Prov. 21.1. Psal. 51. Ad novercae tumul●m flere. Hieron. in Esa. l. 6. How horrible it is to do villainies under the pretence of Piety. Erasm. in simil. were very good deeds, commended and commanded to be done by God himself; yet because the Scribes and Pharisees did them in hypocrisy, to be seen of men, and to make the world believe they were Saints, and the only religious men, our Saviour denounceth many a bitter woe against them, and tells us, that they have their reward, and that is, as Saint Hierom saith, Gloriam mercenariam & supplicia peccatorum. So they that proclaim days of Humiliation, and practise nothing but Oppression, that pray to God, to bless them, and prey upon the poor that curse them, do but as the Greek Adage saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to weep for the death of our Stepmother, and double their sin in the sight of God, Quia levius est in alium aperte peccare, quam simulare sanctitatem, because the professed thief, that robs by the highway-side, is not so bad as the holy Saint, that under the show of Religion takes away mine Estate, saith Saint Hierome; for as Wine mingled with Water doth sooner provoke vomit, than either Water alone, or pure Wine, Ita intolerabilior est nequitia pietatatis simulatione condita, quam simplex & aperta malitia, so any wickedness that is covered with the Cloak of Religion, is a great deal more intolerable, then if the same were plainly committed without any pretence of Piety, saith Erasmus, So horrible a sin it is to Sin in the garment of Holiness, as to put the Coat of Christ upon Judas his back. 2. As it was an acceptable service unto God, 2 Many do Gods work for their own end, as to subdue the rebels to get their lands for themselves. The continual course of all worldlings in the service of God. and a very good work to root out the house of Ahab for his Idolatry and profaning God's Service; yet because Jehis did it rather to get the Kingdom unto himself, and destroyed all the King's children, the better to secure himself in his Kingdom, then to satisfy God's justice for Ahabs' Impiety, the Lord saith, that he will require the blood of Ahab on the house of Jehu: even so, they that destroy any Offenders, root out the Transgressor's of God's Laws, and punish the Corrupters of God's Worship, be they whom you will, the Work may be good and just; yet if the doers thereof do it, not so much to execute God's Will, as to satisfy their own Malice, to suppress whom they hate, or according to their ambition, to make themselves great, and to get their Estates and Possessions to themselves and their Posterity, God will never accept of this work for any service done to him, but will most severely punish it at the last. And I think, that the making of themselves great, as Jehu did, by the service that men pretend to do to God, doth sufficiently cause many others to doubt, whether they have done those things only for God's glory, or for a conjuncture likewise of their own profit; and I conceive, you may be sure, the jealous God will not regard that service which is done to him with a sinister aspect and respect to our own profit, because he will not give his glory unto another, he will not yield any part of his service to any of them that do the service; but, though he will certainly reward every man that doth him service; yet, as our Saviour explaineth the words of Moses, it is written, The shalt worship the Lord thy God, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and him only shalt thou serve, and not thyself with him in the service that thou dost to him, so he will neither accept nor reward that service which thou dost to thyself as well as to God, or rather to thyself then to God. And therefore I would advise all those, that in doing service unto God, by pulling down the Transgressor's of his Laws, have raised themselves to such great Polsessions, I would the Rebels would consider this. to look well to their intention, progression and execution of their work, lest that for the service they believe they do to God, they receive the reward of the Scribes and Pharisees, or of Jehn, that pulled down King Ahab, to make himself King of Israel. 3. 3 Many do good in a blind zeal Num. 11.28. 2 Sam. 16.9. The love of Joshna to Moses, when Eldad and Medad prophesied was good, and so was the love of Abishai to David, when Shimei cursed him, and of James and John to Christ, when they would have called for fire out of heaven to destroy the Samaritans for not receiving Christ; but the love of them was in a blind Zeal, without knowledge, and therefore instead of being commended, they were much reproved for their indiscretion; even as Saint Paul persecuted the Saints, when his blind zeal persuaded him, that he destroyed God's enemies. And as Aiax in his frenzy, is reported to have slain his own children, by taking them for Ulysses and Agamemnon; so many men in their blind Zeal destroy the true Ambassadors of Christ, and the Pastors of God's people, by taking them for Popish Prelates; Origen in ep. ad Rom. Zelus ad mortem. Amb. in Ps. 119. and therein think, they do God good service, as the Jews thought when they crucified Christ; for, as Origen saith, Putant se zelum Dei habere, sed quia non secundum scientiam zelati sunt, sacriligi extiterunt in filium Dei; they persuaded themselves that they had the love and zeal of the honour of God; but because their zeal was not according to knowledge, they became sacrilegious against the Son of God; and their fiery zeal to God's Worship became as Saint Ambrose saith, A bloody Zeal unto Death; and like unto a Ship under fail, without a Pilate, that will dash itself against the Rocks all to pieces; so it is, when we rob and spoil, and persecute the true Servants of Christ, for being, as we suppose, the limbs of the Antichrist. But such and so great is the malice and subtlety of Satan towards mankind, that he cares not which ways he brings man to destruction, so he may bring him any way, either in being too zealous without knowledge, and so persecute the good for bad, or too careless with all our knowledge, and so bless the bad for the good, either by hating the superstitious Papist, The continual practice of the Devil. beyond all reason, or loving the malicious Sectary, contrary to all reason; either by falling into the fire on the right hand, or into the water on the left hand, either by making the whole Service of God to consist only of preaching and hearing Sermons, and neglect the Prayers and all other Christian duties, or using the Prayers only with the Service of the Church, and omit the preaching of God's Word; for this hath been always the Devils practise, To separate those whom God would have joined together, and to join those together whom God would have kept asunder. And therefore we should be very careful to join Knowledge and Discretion with our Zeal, and desire to do God service, if we desire to follow Christ. 2. 2 The matter wherein we are to follow Christ. For the Matter, Points, or ways, wherein the Sheep of Christ are to follow him, they are very many, but the chiefest of them are reducible into these three principal Heads. 1. The works of Piety. Joh. 2.17. 2. The works of Equity. 3. The works of Charity. Jam. 2.16. Eph. 5.1, 2. In all which we are to do our best endeavour to imitate and to follow Christ, Actu & ciffectu. Bern. in Cant. S. 50. and therein we shall do the things that are most acceptable unto God, and most profitable for ourselves. For the first, none doubts of it, but that these things are most acceptable in the sight of God: And for the second, we may be sure of it, that it is better for us to build Churches, to maintain Preachers, and to erect Hospitals, then to raise our Families; and we shall receive more comfort to do Justice, and to protect the Innocent, and to relieve the Poor, then by gaining Naboths Vineyard, or he●ping Dives his Treasures unto ourselves. The time will not give me leave to prosecute these particulars any further; but I pray God give us grace to prosecute the performance and doing of them throughout all our lives, to the glory of God, the discharging of our Duties, and the eternal comfort of our own souls, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, To whom with the Father and the holy Spirit, be all Glory and Honour, for ever and ever. Amen, Amen. Jehovae Liberatori. THE SEVENTH TREATISE. 1 John 4.19. We love him, because he first loved us. THis text, you see, is a text of love, a Theme that filleth Sea and Land, Heaven and Earth, and as the Poets feign, Hell itself; Claudian de raptu Proserpinae. when as the King thereof— Tumidas exarsit in iras, did swell with rage, because he might not enjoy his love in hell, as Jupiter did in heaven. And yet the scarcity and want of true love, causeth such plenty of great evils in every place; for we love not God, we love not our neighbours, we love not our own selves, for if we loved God, we would keep his Commandments; if we loved our neighbours, we would neither wrong them, nor oppress them; and if we loved our selves, than we would love God, if not for his own sake, which is the right love, yet for our own good, and our neighbours, for God's sake: But for God's Commandments, I may truly say it with Nehemiah, Nehem. 9.34. Neither have our Kings, our Princes, our Priests, nor our Fathers kept his Laws, nor harkened unto his Commandments; but as Ezra saith, Ezra 9.7. We have all been in a great trespass unto this day, and for our iniquities have we, our King, our Priests, our Bishops, our Judges, and all of us been delivered to the sword, to the spoil, to confusion of face, and to all these miseries, as it is this day. And for wronging one another, if we consider all the oppressions that are done under the Sun, nay, that were done in these Kingdoms, and the tears of such as were oppressed, and had no Comforter, when the oppressors had such power, that none durst speak against them; then, as Solomon saith, we may most justly praise the dead, which are already dead, more than the living which are yet alive, Eccles. 4.1, 2, 3 and him better than both which hath not yet been, to see the great evils that are done amongst us. And for our own selves, we do just as the wise man saith, seek our own death in the error of our life, and Sampson-like, pull down the house upon our own heads; as you may remember, that when we had plenty of peace and prosperity, then as the children of Israel murmured against Moses, that delivered them out of the Egyptian bondage, and loathed Manna that came down from heaven, so were we discontented at every trifle, and so weary of peace, and such murmurers against our happiness. When the Articles of peace were published, we were so discontented and murmured so much thereat, that the ear of jealousy, which heareth all things, heard the same, and was pleased to satisfy our discontents, and to send us our own desires, such plenty of wars, and fullness of all miseries, plagues, famines, and oppressions, as our Fathers never knew the like, and are like to continue amongst us, until God seethe us more in love with his goodness towards us, and our repentings move him to repent him of the evils that he intendeth against us, that have so justly deserved them from him. Therefore to engender and beget love where it is not, to increase it where it is but little, and to rectify it where it is amiss, either towards God, or our neighbours, or ourselves, I will by God's help, and your patience, with as much brevity as I can, How the created Trinity fell, and may be reunited to the uncreated Trinity. express the plenty of these few words, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Mellifluous S. Bern. (whose laborious work is like a pleasant garden that is replenished with all sorts of the most odoriferous flowers) saith, that in the Unity of God's Essence, there is a Trinity of persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and in the unity of the souls substance, there is a trinity of faculties, the reason, the will, and the memory, which being created in holiness, fell away from the uncreated goodness of God: And in the unity of Christian Religion, there is a trinity of invaluable grace, Faith, Hope, and Love, whereby the relapsed trinity of man's soul is reunited unto the blessed favour of the Eternal Trinity of God's Essence. And these three graces I find most excellently delivered and explained by three of the chiefest Apostles (the three worthiest Pillars of God's Church) S. The three chiefest graces expressed by the three chiefest Apostles. 1. Faith expressed by S. Peter. Peter, S. Paul, and S. John; for as Faith is radix omnium virtutum, the root of all virtues, as S. Ambrose saith; and prima quae subjugat animam Deo; and (as S. Hierome saith) the first grace that bends and brings our souls to God, and the foundation of all other graces, from whence, as from the root of a tree, those fair and fruitful branches of hope and love do spring: So S. Peter was the first of all the Apostles, and his confession, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God, was the Rock, whereupon the whole frame of Christian Religion was established, as both S. Ambr. and S. Aug. testify: And as hope is, quasi columna, quae totum spirituale aedificium sustentat, 2 Hope explained by S. Paul. as Laurentius Justinianus saith, like the Pillar that beareth and upholdeth faith and love, or the Anchor that preserveth the little ship of God's Church in all storms, as the Apostle calleth it, and is indeed the only Nurse that feedeth, enlargeth, and maintaineth the very life of these graces: So the blessed Apostle S. Paul was the greatest Inlarger and Cherisher of the Doctrine of Christ, that we can read of, for he caused the same, by his own indefatigable pains, to be planted and watered, preached and published in abundance of places, as you may see in the Table of his Peregrination, collected out of his own writings, and the Acts of the blessed Apostles; and as love is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the perfection and compliment of all virtues; indeficiens thesaurus gratiarum, an unexhaustible treasure of graces, & unguentum suave, quo pestes animi sanantur, & oculi cordis illuminantur; and that sweet precious ointment which healeth all the sores of our souls, enlighteneth the eyes of our understanding, and sweeteneth all those fruits that proceed from Faith and Hope, 3 Love amplified by S. John. john 3. as S. Basil saith: So that heavenly Evangelist, and best beloved Apostle S. John, is the best and chiefest expressor of God's love to man, and the most careful exacter and requirer of man's love to God again; for what else doth he chief aim at in all his Gospel, but to show how God loved the world, that he gave his only begotten, and his dearly beloved Son, coequal and coessential unto himself: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; for this Son was the Word, and that Word was God (saith S. Basil) that whosoever believed in him, John 3. should not perish, but should have everlasting life: And what else doth he in all his Epistles, in every Chapter, and almost in every verse; but as the Prophet David (in the 119. Psalms) doth continually touch upon the strings of God's Law, so doth he as sweetly play upon the strings of God's Love, his love to us, and that love which we own, and are so many ways bound to render unto him: And to his dying day, when he could not go, he would be carried to the Church in a Chair, and when he was able to say no more, his whole Sermon was ut diligatis invicem, that they would love one another. And no marvel, for he was indeed the Disciple which our Saviour loved above the rest, and before all the rest of the Apostles; he was the chiefest child of Love, as S. Aug. calleth S. Paul the best Child of Grace: And therefore, as S. Paul gave himself principally to magnify the free grace of God, so doth S. John wholly dedicate himself to amplify the great love of God; and as he doth the same in all his works, so he doth it especially in this my Text, which I may well call the Epitome of all his writings, and it containeth these two things, which contain the sum of all Divinity. 1. God's love to Man. The sum of all Divinity twofold. 2. Man's love to God. For what Is the end of the Law, and the substance of the Gospel, but to show how God loved us, and to teach us, why and how we should love God again, and manifest this our love to God, by loving one another? For to love God with all our hearts, is the great command of the Law, and to love one another as Christ hath loved us, is the new Command of the Gospel: In these two hang all the Law and the Prophets; and in these are comprehended all our duties, and all this is contained in these few words: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Quia causae precedit effectum. Wherein the Apostle doth principally aim at the main ground, and chiefest cause, why we do, and should love our God. This is the sum of the whole, expressed in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; and therefore must be first treated of. Indeed, if we do contemplate of those infinitely amiable excellencies, and transcendent beauties, that are so accumulated and resplendent in the Essence of God, which is that light in whom is no darkness at all, We shall find that, as Nazian. saith of Christ, he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, wholly desiderable, and wholly delectable, so fully invested with such attractive excellencies, as are easily able to confound the senses, and to ravish the desires of all that truly consider them; Worthy men worthily loved. for when we hear Abraham so highly commended for his Faith, David for his Valour, Solomon for his Wisdom, Hercules, Achilles, Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, and the like, such glorious Heroes, celebrated and admired for their eminencies above other men, we cannot choose but deem them worthy of love, when so many wise men as have written of them, thought them worthy of admiration, and reputed them the Worthies of the world. So when we consider the glory of nature, and the beauty of bodies (which is nothing else but an apt proportion, and a just correspondence of the parts and colours of these visible creatures) they do so entice our senses, captivate our affections, and ravish our minds, that our hearts are more present, in their desires, with such bodies that they like and love, then with our own, wherein they sojourn and live. But what are all the Might's and Monarch's of the World, compared unto God, No excellency any ways comparable to the excellencies of God. but as Lambs among Lions, or as the leaves that are driven away with the wind, blown down from their Regal Thrones, consumed to ashes, and reduced to nothing, their power weakness, their prudence folly, and their excellency base, in respect of that boundless Omnipotency, infinite Wisdom, and incomprehensible transcendent excellencies of God: For if he is not barren that imparteth fecundity unto others, nor he poor that can make many rich, then surely he must needs be most beautiful, that can adorn the poor Lilies of the field with a far more glorious mantle, than any of those choicest robes that covered the body of the wisest Solomon: For though fields and gardens, and Palaces, and the bodies of men and women (and so the Heaven's and the Angels, and the whole frame of this Universe (which the Grecians called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) because it is so admirably beautified and composed in number, weight, and measure) are all innamelled with abundance of beauty, yet all these beauties proceeds from him, and reside in him, and are comprised in him, in a far more eminent degree of excellency, How eminently all perfections are in God. than they are in the best of these creatures themselves, because that in these creatures they are all limited in Essence, and hedged within the narrow bounds of natural perfections: But in God, all the Attributes of his bounty, simplicity, verity, charity, justice, mercy, benignity, and all other amiable colours, and most glorious beauties of his perfections, which the Angels rejoice to behold, the blessed Saints contemplate, and we poor wand'ring Pilgrims do all aspire to see, are all illimited, infinite and boundless. And besides all this, if we consider him truly, he is whatsoever is desirable, or can be desired by any one; as Omnipotency to him that affecteth power, Omnisciency to him that desireth knowledge, and the Ancient of days to him that desighteth in antiquity: And as S. Ambrose saith, Siesuris, ipse est panis; if thou art hungry, he is the Bread of Life; Whatsoever we desire, we may have the same in God. if thou art thirsty, he is the Fountain of Living Water; if thou art naked, he is the Garment of Righteousness; if thou art sick, he is a heavenly Physician; if thou art in prison, he is with thee, as he was with Joseph; if thou art in danger, he is a present help in trouble; if thou be'st dead, he can restore thee to life, for he is life, which is of all things so infinitely desired, and he is light, which is so much admired; he is truth, which is so much commended; he is the God of Peace, which is the Mother of all plenty; he is the God of Unity, which is the honour of all Brethren; he is the God of Constancy, which is the Crown of all Friendship; and he is the God of Wisdom, which is the glory of every man: And to be brief, all things that are good are in him, and derived from him, who is goodness itself. And therefore, causa diligendi Deum Deut est; this only consideration that he is God, and such a God, is a sufficient cause of loving God, as S. Bern. saith, because these are excellencies enough to attract love from the stoniest hearts, quae genuere ferae, which the most savage men have produced, if they did but truly consider them. And yet this is not that which the Apostle setteth down here, to be the ground and cause of our loving God; but seeing our weakness could not ascend so high, as to conceive the excellent brightness of this everlasting glory; therefore his goodness was pleased to descend so low, as to express that which is nearer unto us, and doth more feelingly concern ourselves; Whom men do naturally love best. that is, the love of God towards us, and the great good that we receive from that love; for the Apostle knew, that all men were naturally inclined to love their benefactors, and to love them best which do profit them most: And albeit, very often this kind of love is but base and vicious, yet being guided with reason, job 1. and ruled by charity, it may prove good and virtuous; therefore, as the devil maliciously suggested of holy Job, that he served not God for nought, so the Apostle wisely doth here intimate, that we love not God without cause, especially if we consider that great and real love of God, which hath and doth continually so infinitely profit us, for we love him, because he loved us first. Touching which words, though our love to God is first set down in the series of these words, yet seeing by the order of nature, causa precedit effectum, the cause doth ever precede the effect, I will by Gods help speak: 1. Of that great love which God hath showed unto us. 2. Of that love, which in requital thereof, we own unto God. And the first shall be the subject of my whole discourse at this time, wherein you may observe as many parts, 1 In God's love to us four things observable. as there be words. 1. The Lover, he He loved us first. 2. The affection, loved He loved us first. 3. 1 The Lover. Divers pretend to love us. The beloved, us He loved us first. 4. The time, first. He loved us first. 1. Who is this He that loveth us? for there be very many that pretend to love us, and yet in very deed do love us not at all, especially: 1. The Devil. 1 How the Devil professeth to love us. 2. The World. 3. Our own selves. 1. In the third of Hosea, v. 1. Diabolus Dicitur amicus; saith a Father: Satan is said to be the lover of the seduced soul, even as the lascivious loves the Harlot; for the Devil comes unto us as he came unto Adam, and saith, You shall be as gods, and I will make you happy, and you shall be victorious, when he means to plunge us into all miseries, and to hurl us headlong into hell: And to that end, we can intent nothing, nor resolve upon any good action, What manner of love the Devil beareth to us. wherein this dissembling Lover is not always ready to entrap us, as Progne did to Tereus, proponendo quod delectabile, & supponendo quod exitiale; by giving us, like the Whore of Babylon, a drink of deadly poison in a golden Cup, to teach us Heresies out of the holy Scriptures, to set up a mere Anarchy under the glorious title of a Gospel-Government, and to raise a most odious rebellion, under the name of King and Parliament, and under the pretence of Faith and Religion: But O good God, is it possible, that tantum potuit Religio suadere malorum? No, no, God will tell us, this is nothing else but Satan's plot, who desires our ruin; and he desires, not only thus to fill us up with evil, but also to infect all our good; for if we pray, he casteth wand'ring thoughts into our minds, and when our hearts should think most of God, he will guide our eyes, to withdraw them to some other object, as S. Hierom confesseth of himself, that while his tongue was talking with God in his private Closet, his mind was wand'ring among the Wantoness in the Galleries of Rome: If we hear Sermons, he will poison our Opinions, and prejudicated our minds with some ill conceit of the Preacher; if we do well, he will infect our best deeds with Pharisaical pride, & tum superbia destruit, quicquid justitia aedificat, pride destroyeth whatsoever righteousness buildeth; if we do ill, he will persuade us to persevere therein: And so in all things else, though he professeth love, yet is it but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, like the gift of an enemy, as was Ajax Sword that he received from Hector, wherewith he killed himself; a most deadly love, worse than any open hate. 2. Passing over all dissembling flatterers, and all flattering friends, 2 How the world professeth to love us. & perditissimos homines, and those villainous men, as Cicere terms them, which can give a stab to the smile of an innocent, and perfidiously deceive them, qui laesi non essent, nisi credidissent, which had been safe if they had not trusted them: The whole world is the Devil's Ape, and imitates him to a hair, like the Courtly Mountebank, that is composed of nothing else but Compliments, and can promise golden Mountains, but perform dirty Dales, and deal with us as Laban did with Jacob, Gen. 29.24. when he had served seven years for beautiful Rachel, to thrust into his bed and to his bosom bleereyed Leah: It is like Dalila, able to betray the strongest Samson, and like Circe, powerful enough to bewitch the Wisest Solomon. And if I had time to relate unto you the Tragedies of Mar. Attilius Regulus, Cheops King of Egypt, that erected the Pyramids, Croesus' King of Lydia, Darius' King of Persia, Manius Acilius the Roman Consul, Belisarius the brave General of Justinian, who in his old age begged, Date obolum Belisario, job 30.4. quem virtus exaltavit, fortuna depressit, & malitia excaecavit: O give one halfpenny to him, whom virtue raised, fortune spoiled, and malice made him a poor blind beggar: And those thirty Emperors, or thereabouts, that died not sicca Morte, but were killed, from Julius Caesar to Charlemaigne, and especially that notable example of Hebraim Bassa, chief Councillor, and of greatest power with Solyman the Great Turk, whom Paulus Jovius termeth the greatest Minion of the world's inconstancy, because he was so entirely beloved of Solyman, that he entreated his Master not to make so much of him, lest being elevated with Haman too high, he might have like him, too great a fall, and the Emperor swore he would never take away his life while he lived; yet afterwards, for some distaste of his insolent carriage, Solyman being informed by a Talisman, or Turkish Priest, that a man asleep cannot be counted among the living, sent an Eunuch into his Chamber, who with a sharp Razor cut his throat, as he was quietly sleeping in his bed. And likewise Pope Baltazar Cossa, who called himself John the XXIV. that being thrown out of his Popedom, by the Council of Constance, 1417. made these verses of himself. Qui modo summus eram, gandens & nomine Prasul, Tristis & Abjectus, nunc mea Fata gemo; Excelsus solio nuper versabar in alto, Cunctaque Gens pedibus oscula prona dabant; Nunc ego paenarum fundo devolvor in imo, Vultum deformem quemque videre piget: Omnibus eterris Aurum mihi sponte ferebant, Sed nec Gaza juvat, nec quis amicus adest; Sic varians Fortuna vices adversa secundis, Subdit, & ambiguo nomine ludit atrox. And a thousand like examples that might be produced of some men, that as Job saith, cut up mallows by the bushes, and Juniper roots for their meat, children of fools, yea, children of base men, that were viler than the earth, whose Fathers we would have disdained to have eaten with the dogs of our flocks, are now keepers of Castles, and Commanders of whole Countries: Camer. l. 4. c. 7.246. And others, that from the highest honour, were suddenly thrown down to the lowest misery, & compelled to change their scarlet robes for rugs, it would plainly appear unto us, that the lovers of this world, which rely upon the World's love, Camerarius, l. 3. c. 5.162. are greater fools than Heliodorus the Carthaginian, who caused this Epitaph to be engraven upon his Tomb, hard by the strait of Gibraltar: I Heliodorus, Reliodorus his Epitaph. a fool of Carthage, have ordained by my last will to be buried in this place, in the remotest part of the world, to see if any man more foolish than myself would come thus far to see me. And therefore the best way to escape the deceits of the World, is to follow the counsel of the Epicarmus, How we ought to deal with the world. that is, semper diffidere, always to distrust it, and never to believe it, but with Ulysses, to tie ourselves unto the main Mast of our ship, i.e. to sound reason, or rather to true Religion, that teacheth us to deal with this World, as the worldlings deal with God, to stop our ears, like the deaf Adder, that layeth one ear close to the earth, and clappeth her tail in the other, and so never listeneth to the voice of the Charmer, charm he never so wisely. 3. 3 How we love ourselves 2 Tim. 3.2. The Comic tells us, verum idesse, vulgo quod dici solet, that every man loves himself better than another: And Euripides saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; every one loves himself better than his friend; and the Apostle saith, that in the last times men should be lovers of themselves: And yet there was not a sounder truth uttered by the mouth of any Philosopher, then nemo laditur nisi a seipso, no man is wounded but by himself; because as Aquinas saith, inordinatus amor sui est causa omnis peccati: Sin is the cause of all our miseries, and the inordinate love of ourselves, That our self-love is the cause of all our sins, and of all our miseries is the chiefest cause of all sins: And Plato calleth this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, sons omnium malorum, the root and fountain of all mischief: And experience tells us, that intus est equus Trojanus, every man's greatest enemy lodgeth within his own bosom; otherwise, if we had the true reins of our own passions, and could bridle our own affections, then outward occasions might well exercise our virtue, but not much injure our actions, because others cannot draw us into any great inconveniences, if we do not some way help ourselves forward: As the Adulterers cannot bereave us of the chastity of our bodies, if there be not an Adulterer lodging within our souls; and the Fornicator cannot take away the chastity of a Virgin, if her corrupted heart doth not some way yield consent; and therefore the Law saith of the ravished woman, that she shall be freed, and no cause of death shall be in her, because the fact was committed against her will; No force can prevail against the will. and actual sins have so much dependency upon the heart's approbation, as that the same alone can either vitiate or excuse the action, and no outward force hath any power over mine inward mind, unless myself do give it him; as all the power of the Kingdom cannot force my heart to hate my King, or to love his enemies, they may tear this poor body all to pieces, but they can never force the mind to do but what it will. And yet, such is the deceit of our own flesh, that if the devil should be absent from us, our own frailties would be his tempting deputies, and when we have none other foe, we will become the greatest foes unto ourselves; as Apollodorus the Tyrant dreamt, that he was flayed by the Scythians, and that his heart, thrown into a boiling caldron, should say unto him, That it was the cause of all his miseries, and so every man that is undone, hath indeed undone himself: for Perditio tua exte, thy destruction is from thyself, saith the Prophet; yea the very best men, Hos. 13.9. by whomsoever wronged, yet wrong themselves, as now it is with our gracious King: for as Valentine the Emperor, when he cut off his best Commander, and demanding of his best counsellor what he thought of it, had this answer given him, That he had cut off his own right arm with his left hand; so when the good King, seduced and over-persuaded, gave way (though against his will) to make an Everlasting Parliament, he then gave away the Sword out his own hand; So, I could tell you of a very good man that is brought to very great exigency, by parting with his own strength, and giving his sword out of his own hand. and when he excluded the Bishops out of the House of Peers, he parted with so much of his own strength, and brought himself thereby to be weaker than he was before: and so it will be with every one of us, and it may be in a higher misprision then with our King, if we look not well unto ourselves, and take heed, lest in seeking to preserve our bodies we destroy our own souls, or to save our estates we make shipwreck of our faith, or especially to uphold an earthly Rule or Kingdom, we expose to ruin the spiritual Kingdom of Christ, which is the Church of God, as you know how the Parliament do it at this day. And therefore the Spaniards prayer is very good, Dios mi, guarda mi, de mi, O my God, defend me from myself, that I do not destroy myself: and Saint Augustine upon the words of the Psalmist, Deliver me from the wicked man; demanding, who was that wicked man: Answ. it was a seipso: and so the wisest Philosophers have given us many Precepts, to beware of ourselves: And he that can do so, — Latius regnat, avidum domando Spiritum, Horatius. quam si lybiam remotis Gadibus jungat, & uterque paenus, Serviat uni.— doth more, and ruleth better than he, that reigneth from the Southern Lybia to the Northern Pole: so hard it is for man, under all the cope of Heaven, to find any one that truly loves him. But God is Verax & veritas, true and the truth itself; and as Hugo saith, Veritas est sine fallacia, & faelicitas sine miseria, he is Truth without Deceit, that neither can deceive not be deceived; and as this our Apostle saith, God is love, and the Fountain of all true love; and he is sweet, he is wise, and he is strong; 1 John 4.8. How God loveth us, and how sweet and gracious his love is. therefore S. Bern. saith, that he loveth sweetly, wisely and strongly, Dulciter, quia carnem induit; sapienter, quia culpam cavit; & fortiter quia mortem sustinuit; sweetly, because he was made man to have a fellow-feeling of our miseries; wisely, because he did avoid sin, that he might be able to help us; and strongly, because his love was as strong as death, when rather than he would lessen his love unto us, he would lose his life for us. And therefore of all that pretend to love us, God alone is the only pure and truly perfect lover. 2. For the affection, it is love; for God loved us; and love, 2 The affection. Love comprehendeth three things. as it is in the creatures, is a passion better perceived by the lover, than it can be expressed by any other, and it comprehendeth three things: 1. A liking to the thing beloved. 2. A desire to enjoy it. And 3. A contentment in it, as when the Father saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; because, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, derived of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or as others think of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, signifieth to be fully and perfectly satisfied in the thing loved, as Phavorinus testifieth. And so though the affection of love is not the same in God as it is in us, because he is a Spirit most simple, without passion, and we are oftentimes transported and swallowed up of this affection; yet in the love of God we find these three things most perfectly contained: 3 Things contained in the love of God. 1. An Eternal benevolence, or purpose to do good unto his creatures. 2. An Actual beneficence and performance of that good unto them. 3. A Delightful complacency, or contented delight in the things beloved; as the Lord loveth him that followeth after righteousness, that is, he taketh delight and pleasure in all righteous livers; and as he hateth the ungodly, so he loveth the righteous, and taketh delight in them, and in their just and righteous dealing. But because love is an inward affection that can hardly be discerned without some outward demonstration of the same; and that as S. Gregory saith, Probatio dilectionis exhibitio est operis, the trial of our love is seen by our actions, which testify our love far better than our words, How God imanifesteth his love many ways. when we see too too many that profess to love us, when they labour to destroy us, as the rebels pray for the King, when they fight against him; so finely can the Devil deceive us: therefore God manifested his love by many manifold arguments. As 1. Way. 1 By screating things of nothing, and making them so perfectly good, that when himself had considered them all, he saw that they were all exceeding good. 2. Way. 2 By preserving all things, that they return not to nothing, Quia fundavit Deus mundum supranihilum, ut mundus fundaret se supra Deum; because God laid the foundations of the world upon nothing, that the world might wholly rely upon God, who is the basis that beareth up all things with his mighty word; and more particularly, in preserving not only the righteous, but even the wicked also from many evils, both of Sin and Punishment; for did not God withhold and restrain the very reprobates, even from many sins, they would fall into most fearful abominations: and did not he sustain them with his hand, they would pull down many mischiefs, and kindle many plagues upon their own heads. 3. Way. 3 By bestowing many gifts and favours upon his creatures, as sending them rain and fruitful seasons, Acts 14.17. making the Sun to shine both upon the good and upon the bad, and filling our hearts with food and gladness, by giving us Health, Wealth and Prosperity. 4. Way. 4 By that which is above all, and beyond all the rest in giving his only Son to redeem us when we were captives, and to save us when we were utterly lost. Seneca saith, we esteem ourselves too highly, if we suppose ourselves worthy that the revolution of Winter and Summer should be done for us: But alas, good Philosopher, if thou thinkest it strange, that the world should hold his course for our sake, what wouldst thou think, if thou knewest as much as we, that God, for our sake, should send his only Son to suffer the most ignominious death of the cross to deliver us from everlasting death? The inexpressable greatness of God's love in sending his Son to redeem us. for this love is so full of all bottomless Mysteries & so transcendently infinite, that all the other multitudes of his blessings heaped upon us in our creation and preservation, are not worth the talking of, or so much as to be once named in comparison of this blessing; but as the light of the Sun obscureth all the light of the Stars, so the consideration of this benefit swalloweth up all the memory of all other benefits whatsoever. And therefore this is ever and anon showed and urged as the chiefest argument of God's love, and as the most royal Present whereby the King of Heaven did so exemplarily commend his love towards the sons of men; 1 Johon 4.9. for as the Apostle saith in this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, was manifested the love of God towards us, that he sent his only begotten Son into the world, Why this benefit exceedeth all other benefits. that we might live through him. And the reason why this benefit transcendeth and excelleth all other benefits, seemeth to be twofold: 1. Reason. 1 Because, That before our creation we had done nothing that had displeased God, or opposed his purpose to produce us; but before our redemption we had every way offended his Majesty, rejected his grace, and refused his favours towards us; nay, we had not only slighted his love, but we had also in all hostile manner done, as we see others do now unto us, rendered to him evil for good, and for all his grace and loving favours, we offered Wars and all despightful Indignities unto him. Reason. 2 2. Because in our Creation, Dixit & facta sunt, he spoke the world and they were made, commanded, and they stood fast, but in working our redemption, Multa dixit, magna fecit, & dira tulit, he spoke many excellent Sermons, he did many admirable Works, and he suffered many intolerable Things; and yet Solus homo non compatitur pro quo solo Deus patitur, of all God's creatures, The exceeding greatness of the Mystery of our Redemption, by the Incarnation & Passion of Christ. Col 1.26. 1 Pet. 1.10, 12. man alone regards not all this, for whom alone God did all this. And therefore this work alone was that astonishing project, wherewith the invisible God, blessed for ever, intended, in the fullest measure to glorify all his Attributes, even at once; and to make himself far more admirably known by this, than he was either by the Creation or the preservation of all the things of this world. And this was that unsearchable Mystery that was hidden from the Ages and the Generations before, in which God would make known the riches of his glory, and which the holy men of God for many ages together longed to see, and the Angels themselves desired 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, most heedfully to pry into it. So you see that God, by innumerable ways, and specially by this superlative argument of his love to mankind, doth sufficiently testify that he loveth. 3. For the extent and object of God's love, the Apostle saith, that he loveth us; 3 The Parties loved, us. Love what it is. The extent of is. The extent of Gods Love. 1. Himself. 2. All that he made. and S. Austin defineth love to be a motion of the heart delighting itself in any thing: And the better we conceive the thing to be, the more is our heart inflamed to love it; and therefore God being the chiefest good, he must needs, in the first place, love himself best, as the Father loveth the Son, the Son in like manner loveth the Father, and both of them equally love the holy Spirit, and the Spirit them. And besides himself, God loveth all things that he made, because all that he made were good; Sin he made not, therefore he loves it not, but hateth the same with a perfect hatred. But, though God loveth every thing which he hath made, That of all Creatures God loved Mankind best. yet he loveth not all things equally alike; for we find that he shown more evident testimonies of far greater love to mankind, than he did to any other creature whatsoever: for though he loveth his Angels with a very great and singular love, when he maketh them his Ministers, and these Ministers flames of fire, that do continually burn with the love of his Sacred Majesty; yet we do not read that he styleth himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a lover of Angels, as he termeth himself, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a lover of men, as Zanchy well observeth out of Tit. 3.4. And this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, his love to man more than to any other creature, appeareth more manifestly by the manifold effects of his love: As 1. In creating man alone after his own Image. 2. In giving to him alone dominion over the rest of his creatures, over all the works of his hands. 3. In predestinating his only begotten Son to take upon him our flesh, thereby to exalt the humane nature alone above all other creatures whatsoever; for though the Angels were of a pure, simple and unspotted being, and we of a terrene corrupted substance: yet, as the Apostle well observeth, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Heb. 2.16. he took not upon him the Angels, but he took the seed of Abraham. And therefore the Prophet David considering these many many testimonies of the divine love to man, crieth out with admiration, O God, what is man that thou art so mindful of him, or the son of man, that thou so regardest him? thou madest him a little lower than the Angels, but it was to crown him with glory and worship, Psal. 8 5. God's love to men not equally alike to all men. Prov. 8. Exod. 20. Psal. 11.6. And therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here hath an emphasis that God loved us men, or mankind, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more and above all other his creatures whatsoever. And here you must observe also, that amongst men, as the glory of all Stars, or the beauty of all Flowers, is not the same, when as every Star is not a Phoebus, and every Flower is not a Lily, so the love of God doth not appear alike to all men; for I love them that love me, and I will show mercy on them that love me and keep my commandments, saith the Lord; but the ungodly and him that delighteth in wickedness doth his soul abhor. And thus not only the Elect are beloved better than the Reprobates, and the Saints better than Sinners; but among the very chosen Saints, God loveth some better than others; for every like loveth his like; and therefore God embraceth them with a greater love whom he vouchsafeth to make, and findeth them willing and most yielding to be the more like unto himself, and so he loveth those that are the better, more than those that are less good: as the more we excel in Virtue and Goodness, the more dearly doth God love us, so he loved Abraham among the Patriarches, Moses among the Prophets, David among the Kings, and this beloved Disciple among the Apostles, more (as it seemeth) than any other: and so the blessed Virgin, whom all generations shall call blessed, was highly beloved, and loved more than any of all the daughters of men. And of this gradation of God's love S. Aug. saith, Omnia diligit Deus quae fecit, God loveth all that he made, and among them he loveth rather the reasonable creatures, and of these he loveth them more which are the members of his Son, and most of all his only begotten Son. And this greater love of God to some men more than to others (besides those internal graces of Faith, Hope, Love, Patience, and the like, which he giveth to the Elect, Mark 4.11. and not to the Reprobates, Quia vobis datum est, because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven, but to others not, because they will not accept of them when they are offered) God manifesteth the same to all men by two outward infallible demonstrations: 1. The donation of his graces. 2. The preservation of their persons. For, 1. There is no man but might consider how God hath bestowed more excellent gifts and graces on himself, 1 God giveth his Gifts and Graces severally and differently. than he hath done to many others, as either Health, or Wealth, or Honour, or some other gift that the meanest man hath, which many others have not: or if not, yet seeing God out of his greater love to some men more than to others, bestoweth on some five Talents, when he bestoweth on others but two, or but one, and maketh some men Princes and others Peasants, or endueth some men with Learning and Knowledge, when he leaveth others ignorant and foolish; and so maketh some men rich, when as many others are very poor: Why should our eyes be evil because he is good: For, Cum huic fit misericordia, tibi non fit injuria. when as herein he doth but show mercy unto one, and injury unto none. Why should we not rather consider that he may love whom he will, and show mercy on whom he will have mercy, and so do what he will with his own, especially seeing we know not, why he doth, what he doth. 2. God doth guide some men with his counsel, that they run not with the wicked, Ps. 37.24. Rom. 1. into the same excess of riot as they do, for seeing by nature we are all equally indifferent, and equally inclined to all sins, Repleti omni injustitia, saith the Apostle, How comes it to pass that some men abstain from odious Rebellions, and other impious abominations and abominable impieties, that many wicked men do perpetrate? Is it from out selves, and from the goodness of our Natures, or the sweetness of our dispositions? No, no, it is from God that giveth his grace and holy Spirit unto some, that are willing and ready to receive it when God offereth it unto them, rather than to others, that refuse to answer when he calleth, and to accept his gifts and graces when he offereth the same unto them; so God preserved Noah from partaking with the wickedness of the old world, Lot from following after the abominations of the Sodomites, Joseph from consenting to the lewd enticements of his Mistress, and the like: and so he doth preserve them that he loves from imitating the wicked in their odious sins, because these men love God again, & are ready and willing to be preserved by God; for, did not the blessed God work this happy change in our souls, and the Father of Lights illuminate our minds with a more distinct knowledge of his grace, we might have groped and flumbled in a thicker mist of stupidity then now befools our unnurtured brethren, and whatsoever is either odious or ridiculons in them might have been fare more prodigious in us. And so S. Aug. doth most excellently confess it, saying, tentator defuit, Satan was away, and time and place was wanting to do the deed, but this was thy doing, to preserve me, the Tempter came in time and place convenient, Aug. Soliloqu. L. 16. but then thou withheldest me from consenting: So when I had a will, I wanted ability, and when I had ability, I wanted opportunity, and all this was from thy blessed Spirit that preserved me: And this preservation of us from evil, Prov. 1. is offered by the goodness of God unto the wicked, but that they refuse it, as the wise man showeth, and the Scripture testifieth in many places. And as God preserveth those that he loveth from the sins, so he delivereth them, also from the punishments of sin; for though misfortune shall slay the ungodly, yet as the Prophet saith, God preserveth the righteous: And though the plagues of God shall range and rage's so far against the wicked, that thousands of them shall fall besides the godly, and ten thousands on his right hand, yet it shall not come nigh him, because God giveth his Angel's charge over those that he loveth, and they do preserve them in all their ways, that they dash not their foot against a stone. And here in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the persons on whom God shown so many testimonies of his abundant love, to some more then to others, I may, and must put ourselves before many thousands of others, that perhaps deserved the same far better than we do: For whereas all other places, that had the truth of the Protestant Religion amongst them, have now their Candlesticks removed, and the true public service of God metamorphosed, and corrupted with lies, heresies, and blasphemies, we alone, of all our King's Dominion, have the true light, and the public service of God shining in the right Candlestick, and with Authority maintained: And I humbly beseech Almighty God, that our sins, unthankfulness, and unworthiness, do not ere long deprive us of it: And whereas this day five years past, all the Protestants in this Kingdom, and we especially of this City, were destined to be sacrificed, and slaughtered, and sent as an Hol●●●st, or whole burnt-offering, from the holy Father, to the infernal God, as many thousands of our Brethren were then and since, yet by the love of God towards us, we are still preserved alive, that we might serve him, and love him again. And what more shall I say, but cry out with the Psalmist, O how plentiful is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee▪ Psal 31.21. and that thou hast prepared for them that put their trust in thee, even before the Sons of men! for thou hast showed us Marvellous great kindness, I cannot say in a strong City, but I say, in a weak City, and delivering us from strong Enemies, whose Subtlety and Cruelty, Treachery and Perfidiousness, would require the head of the best experienced converted Jesuit, to express it: I had rather preach of God's Love, than treat of their Malic●, and to talk of his Goodness, rather than their wickedness, and that great goodness, The Lord Marquis of Ormond. which he hath so lately showed in delivering our most Excellent Governor so often from that malicious wickedness of the Sons of Belial, so perfidiously intended against him, is not the least Testimony of God's Love to us all; especially if we consider, that what was intended this day 5 years, had now questionless been executed, if God had not broken the Snare of the Fowler, and by delivering him, redeemed us all from the Sword of Malice, and from the Jaws of death; and therefore this aught to be rightly weighed, and duly remembered in our Thanksgiving, among the many great undeserved and unexpected Preservations, that our good God hath wrought for us. And because his Excellency trusteth not in Lying Vanities, but putteth his Trust in the Lord, and in the Mercy of the Most High, therefore he shall not miscarry. But indeed this Love of God to us, hath been so great, and his Blessings in our Deliverances have been so many, that if I should go about to enumerate them, I might as well tell the Stars; for as the Prophet saith, they are more in number than I am able to express; and therefore I will now conclude with our hearty thanks and Praise unto our good God for all his Love and Favours and Deliverances, that he hath showed unto us through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is blessed for evermore, Labilis memoria hominis, How easily and how soon men forget good things. the memory of man is very frail and slippery, especially in the retention of all good things, for though, as the Poet saith, Scribit in marmore laesus, we writ injuries in marble, and never forget nor forgive the least ill turn that is done against us; yet we writ all benefits and all good instructions in the sands, where the waves of forgetfulness do soon wash all away; as the children of Israel regarded not the wonders that God wrought in Egypt, neither kept they his great goodness in remembrance, Psal. 106.7, 13, 21. but soon forgot his works, yea, and forgot God their Saviour, which had done so great things in Egypt, wondrous works in the Land of Ham, and fearful things by the Red Sea; therefore, lest you should forget the first part of this text, before you heard the second, I thought it high time to proceed to those points, which the time prevented me to enlarge, not the last time I was in this place, but the last time I treated of this verse; and I hope you do remember that I told you, this text was a text of love, and of a twofold love. 1. The love of God to man. And 2. The love of man to God. And In the first I noted these four things, 1. The lover, God. 2. The affection, Love. He loved us first. 3. The beloved, Us. 4. The time, First. And I have done with the first three; and therefore, not to stand upon any further repetition, I am now to proceed to show you the fourth point, that is, the time when he loved us, 4 The time when God loved us first. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; he loved us first, i.e. before we would, or could love him; for love is one of the affections, and the affections are seated in the heart, and the heart is placed in the midst of the body, and the body could not contain the heart, nor the heart cast forth the affections, nor the affections produce love, before our loves, Jer. 31.3. God loved us from everlasting before our Creation. and affections, and hearts, and bodies, had their being. But God loved us, before we were created, and before we could have the least thought of our very being, for I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee, saith the Lord; and this love was everlasting, as well a part ante, from the time past, as a part post, for the time to come; and this love will appear the greater, if we consider how freely, and how undeservedly he hath loved us, for the object of love is good, either that which is really so indeed, or seeming so to be: And S. Aug. reasoneth most truly, that antequam creati eramus nihil boni merebamur; before we were made, we could do no good, we could merit no reward, we could deserve no love. And yet, before we had received any being, the love of God towards us had received a beginning; and when our souls were unbreathed, our bodies unframed, and all this glorious structure laid in the dust, before ever we beheld the light, or the light was brought out of darkness, or the darkness was upon the face of the deep, our bodies and our souls were affected by God, and we had a deep interest in the love of God, when as then the earth was created for our habitation, the creatures were produced for our service, and the heavens were appointed for our comfort: So God loved us before our Generation, before we were, before we had our being, and after our transgression, God loved us after our transgression. John 8. when as God had made us his sons, like himself, and we had made ourselves like our Father the devil, there was cause enough of hate, but none of love, for than we found a way to run away from God, we invented garments to hid our shame, and to cover our nakedness from the eyes of men, but to make us most loathsome in the eyes of God, and we became 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, haters of God, that laboured with the old Giants, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to fight and war with God, to unthrone him, and to ungod him, when we desired to make ourselves like Gods, nay the only Gods, and he should be no God at all, unless we might have our wills, and not his will to be done in heaven, as we do in earth. Yet then, when we were thus filled with malice, swelled with enmity, and opposite to all amity, to all verity, to all goodness, when we lay polluted in our own blood, as the Prop. Ezek. saith, Ez. 6.6. & were enemies unto God, and were, as the Ap. speaketh, dead in trespasses & sins, having hearts, but no hearts to love him, having souls, Eph. 2.1. but no souls to long for him, and having bodies, but no bodies to serve him, but such as were breathing out slaughters against him, as Saul was breathing the like against the Church; Acts 9.1. and when we were no more willing to yield him any, the least jot of true love, or holy affection, then dead bodies are able to perform the most honourable action; God then pitied our miseries, and had compassion of our unworthiness, and as S. Aug. saith, etiam non dilectus dilexit, out of his abundant goodness, without any other motive, he loved us, when we thus hated, wronged, and abused him, continually provoking him to anger with our continual abominations; and yet he doth not say with the Poet, Odero si potero, si non invitus amabo; I love them against my will, but indignos amavi, I have freely loved them that are so worthy of my hate, and so unworthy of my love. And therefore here is love, and the love of loves, and the wonder of all wonders, to prosecute them with love, that persecuted him with hate, and so mercifully to give his only Son to save their lives, that so causelessly and maliciously put his Son, whom he so dearly loved, to a most direful and a most shameful death: And therefore, as David directeth his 45. Psalms, which is Epithalamium Christi & sponsae, or Canticum amicanum, a Song of Loves to the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, or to him that excelleth in Music: So must I leave this great love of God to be amplified by him that is vates amorum, the Disciple of Love, not he that termed himself so, but he that was so indeed, the Disciple which our Saviour loved. And so I will descend unto the second part of this text, which is, Pars 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, nos diligimus eum; as Catharinus, Calv. Beza, Tremel. and abundance more do read it; or diligamus eum, as the Vulg. Lat. Aquinas, Justinianus, Corn. a Lapide, and all those that follow the vulgar translation, do expound it, which in effect is all one, the Holy Ghost purposely using that word, which in the original, is both the Indicative and the Subjunctive Mood, to reach us, that what the holy men of God do, all men should do the same, that is, to love him, which is the second part of my Text, far different from the former, that being high and excellent, this low, and but indifferent, that very great, and more than can be expressed, this very very little, and less than should be imagined; and therefore I can speak but a little of it, and for that little. I beseech you to consider these two points. The 1. From the consideration of God's love, that he loved us. 2. From the consideration of the time, that he loved us first. The first point teacheth us to love God again, Quia amor amoris magnes, 1 What the first Point teacheth us, i.e. to love God a-again. De Lege Talionis. Res dare pro rebus, pro verbis verba solemus. Pro bufis bufas, pro trufis reddere trufas. Buffets with blows and mocks with mows, Dalton p. 180. Mat. 7.12. 1. In retaliation of evil for evil. Exod. 21.22. & durus est qui amorem non rependit, and Lextalionis: The Law of like, doth require no less, then that we should love him that loveth us, for even reason showeth, that Lex non justior ullaest, there cannot be a juster Law in the world, than the Law of Retaliation; and so our Saviour testifieth, With the same measure ye meat, it shall be measured to you again, and Nature itself teacheth us the same Lesson. Quod tibi fieri velis, aliis hoc fieri videto, Quod tibi fieri nolis, aliis hoc fieri caveto. And the Eternal Verity saith, Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. And this Law holdeth good not only in general, but also in the particular retribution, 1. Of evil for evil. 2. Of good for good. As, 1. Moses that was Faithful in all God's House, saith, If men strive, and any mischief follow, than thou shalt give Life for Life, Eye for Eye, etc. which is to be understood not of private revenge, but to be executed by him that is justly deputed to execute vengeance upon the evil doers: And so we find it executed, both by God and men; for the Old world that filled the Earth with a Deluge of all wickedness, God brought a Deluge of Water, to wash the same clean away, and the Sodomites that burned with the fire of unlawful Lusts, were consumed with Fire and Brimstone for the same; and the Egyptians that drowned all the Male Children of the Israelites, were themselves drowned in the Red Sea; and the Children of Israel when they took Adonibezek, cut off his Thumbs and his Great Toes, and he said, Judges 1.6, 7. Threescore and ten Kings having their Thumbs and their Great Toes out off, gathered their meat under my Table, and now as I have done, so God hath required me. So when Perillus made his Brazen Bull to torment others, Phalaris thought it just, that himself, which made it, should first taste of his own Invention. And when Egypt wanted the wont Inundation of Nilus, and Thracius told Busiris that the Wrath of the gods would be appeased by the Sacrificing of a Stranger's Blood, and the King understanding, by his own Confession, that he was an Alien, Illi Busiris, fies Jovis Hostia primus Inquit, & Aegypto tu dabis hospes aquam. He thought it the justest act to offer him first unto the gods. So we read that those Lords which first called the Moors into Spain, to suppress their King Roderick whom they hated, were themselves and their Families destroyed by the means of those Moors; and the Britain's that rejected their Just and Lawful King, Aurel. Ambrose, Speed, l. 7. c. 12. and sent for the Saxons Hengist and Horsus, to aid Vortigerne and his Associates, that were Intruders. were driven by the Saxons into the Rocky Mountains, where they remain exiled from their own Right, to this very day: and because the God of Long Patience is a God of Great Justice, that will render to every man according to his deeds, and holds it very just, that those rebellious people, which call any other Nation to suppress their own Lawful King, should at one time or other, either by that very Nation, or some other, be subdued and destroyed themselves; therefore Subjects ought to think of God's Justice, before they cast off the Yoke of their Allegiance. And 2. As the Poet saith, Lex non justior ulla est, Quam necis Artifices arte perire sua. There cannot be a juster Law, 2 In retaliation of good for good. then for him that diggeth a Pit, to fall into it himself, or that he that loveth War, should perish in the War, and he that sheddeth man's Blood, should have his Blood shed by man; so in the retaliation of good for good, the same Law holdeth most just, and more especially, 1. In Giving. 2. In Suffering. 3. In Loving. For, For, 1. 1 In giving. Is it not just, that we should give to him that hath given all to us? And what have we that we have not received from God? Why then should we think much either to give the Tenth to God, or our Alms unto the Poor? when the Lord himself professeth, he that giveth unto the poor, dareth unto the Lord: and whatsoever you do to these, you do to Him. 2. 2 In suffering. Is it not as just, that we should be ready to suffer for him that hath suffered so much for us? The Apostle saith, that Christ exinanivit seipsum, though he thought it no Robbery to be equal with God, Phil. 2.6. yet he emptied himself of all his Royal Dignities, and suffered all the Indignities that could be laid upon him for our sake; and shall we grudge to suffer the Loss of a little Worldly Trash? or the bearing of some Light Affliction for him, and for the Defence of his Truth and True Service, that hath suffered all Sufferings for us? No, no, when we suffer any thing for the Faith of Christ, or our Loyalty to our King, let us but consider, what Christ hath suffered for us, and what our good King hath suffered for the Defence of our Faith, because he will not yield to deface the Church of Christ, and to destroy the True Service of God, and this will support us in all our Sufferings, we suffer a little for him that suffered much for us. 3. Because all men have not wealth to give, 3 In loving. and all men have not the patience to suffer, yet all men have hearts to love God, and they can have no excuse if they love him not; because he hath so dearly loved them; for if you consider all the Motives and procurements of Love, which are very many, as Beauty, Benignity, Bounty, Wisdom, Valour, and the like; yet there is none of these, nor all these, nor any other thing in the world, so powerful to beget Love, as Love itself; neither is there any thing so available to increase or to continue Love, as Love itself: Therefore the Poets feign, that when Venus the Goddess of Love, brought forth her first begotten Son, she called him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Love; and when she saw, he thrived not, but was still lean, meager, and bloodless, How Venus consulted with Themis about her son Eros. she consulted with Themis the Goddess of Justice, which was Mother to Minerva the Goddess of Wisdom, to know the reason of the sad condition of her Son, and she told her, that she must bring forth another Son, which she did, and called him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, i.e. Love for Love, and then both her Children prospered, and became exceeding beautiful and lovely: So among men, when we prosecute any one with Love, it is impossible that Love should be lasting, if at no time, in no measure, it should be requited with Love again; for as the Coals Conjoined, will preserve the heat, but when they are scattered, will be soon extinguished; so debet amor laesus irasci, love when it is deserted and forsaken or left alone, will be soon lost. And therefore if we desire the Love of God to continue towards us, we must resolve to show our Love to God again; for I will love them that love me, and show mercy unto Thousands of them that love me, saith the Lord: Prov. 8.17. And so the Apostle saith, we love him because he loved us first, that is, seeing he hath loved us, therefore we are bound to love him; where you may observe, 1. The Persons, We. We love him. 2. The Act, Love. We love him. 3 Parts. 3. The Object, Him. We love him. 1. The persons here said to love God are not the Angels, 1 The persons that love God, We. though they do exceedingly love him, when as the Script. saith, He maketh his angel's spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire, where you may see three most admirable and transcendent excellencies of the Angels: as 1. Purity of substance, because they are Spirits. 2. Readiness of obedience, because they are his Angels and his Ministers, Three excellent properties of the Angels. and such as for their swift execution of God's commands, are compared to the wings of the wind. 3. Ferventness of charity, or burning love, not only of one towards another, but especially towards God, because they are flames of fire: but the persons here meant are men, we love him, i.e. we that are the sons of Adam do love him; & seeing man's love to God is but Radius divini amoris erga homines, in deum reflexus, a beam of God's love towards man, reflected from man to God again, as Zanchius saith, and seeing that where so powerful a cause doth exist, the subsequent effect must needs follow. Therefore, seeing God loveth all men, it must needs be, that all men, How all men do love God. Acts 17. in some measure do love God again, that is, as God is their Creator, Preserver, and Cause, in whom they live, and move, and have their being, and from whom they have, and do receive all the good that they have: so the Jews, Turks and Heathens, Worldlings, Rebels and Traitors, and all the wicked men in the world, do love God. But seeing this love is too general and too base for all Christians, scarce worthy of the name of love, it will not serve the turn to make us happy, but will deceive and destroy those lovers, that have none other love to God but this poor confused general love. Therefore, 2. To proceed unto the stricter discussion of the act, or the affection of love, 2 The act, love. The Original cause of love twofold. 1. General. We love him, you must note the same to be according to the original cause and ground thereof: And that is twofold. 1. General, as the many manifold benefits that we continually receive from God, as he is the faithful Creator, a wise Preserver, and a bountiful Bestower of abundance of all good gifts upon his Creatures; So the Reprobates love God. 2. Special. and in this respect, the very Reprobates (as I told you) cannot choose but love the Lord, that is their Creator and Preserver. 2. Special, as the serious apprehension of our own infinite wants and miseries, and of those Miracles of Love and Mercies, which God hath performed to cure our souls from those Miseries, Thus the Saints only love God. by sending his only Son, to save us from all our sins. And thus the true Saints that do hate their sins, and lay hold on Christ, do only love the Lord, and the wicked that delight in sin, and perceive not the sweetness of their Saviour, cannot be said to love God; for as the whole have no need of the Physician, and give no thanks for his Physic; so they that feel not the sense of their own miseries, and perceive not their Obligation to their Deliverer, can have no love to God their Saviour. Therefore seeing as the Poet saith, Quod latet, ignotum est, ignoti nulla cupido. And as S. Bern. saith, non potes aut amare quem non noveris, aut habere quem non amaveris; we cannot love whom we know not, nor enjoy whom we love not; it behoveth us to search into our spirits, to look into our own states, to consider the multitude of our own sins, and to bethink ourselves, in what need we stand of a Deliverer, to see if this will not bring us in love with God our Saviour: And then I beseech you, Two special Points to be considered. let us consider, 1. What manner of Love we ought to have 2. How great a love it ought to be towards him. And 1. I presume, the●e is no man in this Assembly, but he would think himself much injured, 1 What manner of Lovewe aught to have. if it were but imagined, that he did not love God his Saviour; and i● is not my desire to dishearten any, when I wish from my heart, that every the least spark of your love to God, might prove a Glorious Flame. Yet I fear there be very many men that come into the world, they know not why, and live therein they care not how, and go out of it again, they cannot tell where, but do live in it without a God, and then die without any hope. And others there be, that dream of happiness, and their hopes being but dreams, they do therein but deceive themselves, like those that dream they are at a pleasant Banquet, yet when they awake, their soul is hungry: For as the Jews, in our Saviour's time, did indeed persecute him, because they were so blinded, that they could not apprehend him to be the Son of God; but for God himself, they made full account, that they alone, and none but they did love him, and for Moses, whose very Name was the Glory of their Nation, they professed to love him beyond measure, so that whosoever spoke any blasphemous words against Moses, was thought worthy to be stoned to death: Acts 6.11. John 5.42. V 45. And yet our Saviour tells them, I know you, that you have not the love of God in you, and that Moses in whom they trusted, should accuse them before God: So many Christians at the last day shall profess, that they have prophesied in Christ's Name, & cast out Devils, & done many wonderful works in his Name, & rebelled against their own King, and killed their own Brethren, and starved their own Shepherds, and hazarded their own Lives for his sake; and yet he shall protest unto them, I never knew you, i. e. to love me, or to do these things for my sake, but for your own ends, and to satisfy your own desires; and therefore departed from me ye Workers of Iniquity. And the reason is, Two sorts of the Lovers of Christ. 1. Formal. 2. Real. that there are two sorts of the lovers of Christ, and two kinds of professors of Christianity: 1. General. 2. Special. That formal, this real; that in show, this in deed; that engendered by Education, by Country, by Custom, by conformity to the Laws and Fashions of them with whom they live, and by a common sense of God's outward favours for Christ his sake unto them; and this infused by an inward operation of God's Spirit in the heart, in all sincerity and truth, and is continually preserved and increased by a lively sense of God's special favour unto them through Jesus Christ. And you know that S. Paul tells us, he is not a Jew which is one, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in that which appeareth outwardly in the flesh; i.e. which is but only born and bred a Jew, of the seed of Abraham, of the visible Synagogue, and partaker of all the external Covenants of grace; but he only is the right Jew, which is one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, inwardly in the secrets of the heart; so he is not a Christian that is but only born a Christian, and doth but outwardly profess Christianity, to come to the Church to hear Sermons, to receive the Sacraments, Who is the true Christian. and to accustom himself to all the outward formalities of Christianity; but he is the true Christian, that is so made by his second birth, and by that internal grace, which is indeed invisible unto others, but most sensible unto himself, and who, as the Evangelist saith, John 1.13. is born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And therefore, seeing God is not mocked, and that he requireth truth in the inward parts, and the exactest kind of love that can be imagined, let us not mock our selves by any presumptuous conceits of our love to God, and so deceive our own hearts, and betray our own souls; which is the usual practice of too too many men; for if we love God, as we ought, than our love must be, as the Apostle speaketh, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in purity, in simplicity, or, as the word signifieth, in incorruption; i.e. such as neither the most honourable, nor the most profitable, nor the most delectable things in this world can ever be able to lessen, or diminish the least jot of our love to God; when, with the Apostle, we disesteem our preferments, and our honours, and whatsoever else the world could confer upon us, and account them all but as dung in comparison of our love to God, and the discharging of that duty which we own unto him; for so Abraham forsook his Country, neglected his honour, and was ready to facrifice his only Son in obedience to the commands of God, and so will all they do, that do truly love the Lord as they out to love him. 2. For the extent and quantity of our love to God, S. Augustine saith, Aug. de moribus Ecclesiae. that Modus diligendi Deum est, ut diligatur quantum potest diligi, & quanto plus diligitur, tanto est dilectio melior. And St. Bernard saith, that Modus diligendi Deum est sine modo; The measure of our love to God should be beyond measure, so much, that we should prefer his Love, his Honour, and his Service, before our Father, or Mother, or Wife, or Husband, or Children, or Pleasure, or Profit, or any other thing in this World; yea, before our own life, which we should be ready and willing to lay down for the love of him, and the defence of his truth and service, Qui amori nostri placide ac benigne pro nobis mori dignatus est; which for the purchasing of our Salvation, did most cheerfully and readily vouchsafe to suffer a most shameful death for us; for so much only we do love God, as we love him more than we love any thing else, though the same should be never so lovely. And in very deed, our love to his honour, and our care of his service, and the maintaining of his truth, can never be near so much performed as we ought to do. Therefore, let others laugh at our toomuch love to God, and our too hot zeal to promote his truth, and to maintain his service; yet I shall never condemn the nature of those men, that with the zeal Phinees, and the boldness of St. Peter, are sometimes violent and vehement in these proceed; but I shall blame them that know not when, and wherein it is fitting to be so; for in this our love to God, if it be directed to the right end, though we should fail in the manner, We cannot love God too much, nor near so much as we ought tun love him. yet we can never fail in the measure of loving God; because, as when the subject of our hatred is sin, it cannot be too deep: So when the Object of our love is God, it cannot be too high; and they that with the Laodiceans are but warm, when God requireth them to be hot, can never be freed from sin; when their moderation is become a transgression, and their Sobriety is belied into a Virtue; which had it been done by Elias, John Baptist, and the rest of the Prophets and Apostles, and the Fathers of the Primitive Church, we had been deprived of much truth, and they had failed of the Crown of Martyrdom. Yet I deny not, but a man may eat too much honey, and in Solomon's sense, Men may be too precise. a man may be righteous overmuch, and make himself over-wise; that is, if I might expound it, make those things to be sins, to be superstitious, to be Idolatrous, to be Popish, which are not so, (as the English Rebels throughout all Ingland now do) and to make that for God's service, and teach those things for truths, which are not so: As the Romish Priests throughout all this Kingdom do; but to love God too much, to be too careful to obey God's Precepts, or too vehement to publish what we know to be a truth, most necessary to be known, it is the Sophistry of Satan to say, this is too much. And yet I say not that every Christian doth, or can love God in so great a measure as is required of him, or as many others have and do love him; for as there are degrees of faith, That there are divers degrees, as of Faith, so of Love. so there are degrees of love; and every degree of spiritual love proceeds from a proportionable act of saving faith. And therefore, as our faith, so our love is subject to all variations and changes, ebbings and flow, according to the strength of our persuasions, or the violence of our desertions. And, as some men are endued with a greater measure of faith than others be, (when as some have no more than a grain of mustard seed, and that mixed with much anxiety, and others are strong in faith, like Abraham, that doubted nothing of God's Promise, notwithstanding all the impediments that might cross it;) so some men have but an ordinary love to God, and others are endued with a more eminent and heroical love. And such was the love of the Primitive Christians when the rage of the Pagans was so great against them, Eus. l. 4. c. 15. & l. 5. c. 1. that to be a Christian was a sufficient accusation to draw them to their execution, as it appeareth by those two memorable examples of Attalus and Polycarpus; for as they made Attalus to walk about the Amphitheatre of the Lions, there was a little Tablet born before him, wherein those four words were only written, Eus. l. 4. c. 15. & l. 5. c. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, This is Attalus the Christian; and when Polycarpus was led to his Execution, the Governor commanded the Crier to make Proclamation, that Polycarpus had confessed himself to be a Christian. And yet such was their Constancy, and so great was their love to Christ, that they did not only say with Ignatius, Ure, tuned, divelle, Burn me, kill me, tear me to pieces, yet thou shalt never draw me from my Saviour Christ, but they did also suffer the most exquisite torments that could be invented with such incredible patience, that the sight thereof was so far from terrifying the beholding Christians, that it rather inflamed them to undergo the like tortures; The great love of the Primitive Christians unto God. for as they were leading Ptolomaeus, an honourable person, to a most dishonourable death, only because he had confessed himself to be a Christian; Lucius, another Christian, seeing this injustice of Urbicius the Governor, goeth unto him, and demands, What reason is it that thou shouldst put Ptolomaeus to death for confessing himself to be a Christian, seeing he hath not committed Adultery nor Murder; and thou canst not prove him a Thief or a Ravisher, or guilty of any crime or iniquity, therefore thy Sentence doth no credit unto the Emperor Antoninus the meek, nor to his Son, nor to the Senate of Rome. To whom Urbicius answered nothing, but only asked Lucius, if he was a Christian? Who replied Yes, that I am; and was therefore presently led to his execution; For which injustice he joyfully thanked Urbicius, that by this means he should be delivered out of the hands of such cruel Masters, and should go to God his most loving Father. And albeit, in the time of the Apostles and the Primitive Fathers, the Persecutions raised against the Christians were thus cruel, Isidor. de summo bono, l. 1. c. 28. and so tyrannical, that many good minds cannot read or remember the same without weeping; Yet Isidorus tells us, That in the time of Antichrist, and towards the end of the world, the Synagogue of Satan, and the worldly Senate shall more furiously rage against the Church of Christ and the City of God, than ever he did in the Primitive times; for Satan was to be bound for a thousand years; Rev. 20.2. whereby his malice was chained, and his power abridged, that the Church might have some refreshment, and therefore if the devil (saith he) when he was fast bound handled the Martyrs so cruelly, then surely he will do much more when he shall be unchained, which shall be, and now is in the time of Antichrist. Thumus Hist. l. 6. I'm de crudel. Antich. l. 16. c. 15. Mr. Fox. And truly I think that whosoever readeth Thuanus and Chamier, and the book of the Martyrs of our Church, and consider the Massacres of those Christians, that within this last Century of years have suffered in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and other places round about, and that only for Religion, and not for worldly Dominion, which is the suffering of the Christians under the Turk, that permitteth any profession so they yield themselves to his subjection.) He must ingenuously confess this truth of Isidorus; that the greatest of all Persecutions is that which is prosecuted by the Ministry of Antichrist that now reigneth in the world. But if you would desire to know who is this Antichrist that now reigneth and thus rageth in the world? I answer, Who is the Great Antichrist divers opinions. That although many good Arguments are produced to prove the Great Turk to be that Great Antichrist, and Constantinople to be that Babylon which is the Throne of that bloody beast; and as many good Arguments are alleged by Powel, Whitaker, Downham, Thompson, and others of our Protestant Writers to prove that series paparum from Boniface in Phocas time, to this present Pope, is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, spoken of by St. Paul, 2 Thes. 3. and that Rome is his proper seat, and so called Babylm by St. Peter. Yet divers others, of no small Learning, do avouch, That as Ecclesia credentium, corpus cum capite, the whole Catholic Church of Christ, head and members, is said to be, and is so termed, unus Christus, one Christ, as in Joh. 3.13. And Christ saith unto Saul, Why persecutest thou me, when he persecuted his Church; So Ecclesia malignantium, the Congregation of the wicked, or especially Senatus consultus, the great Sanedrim of the people, the supreme Counsel, A pack of wicked men is termed the Antichrist. and the highest Court of any Nation, which is the representative mystical body of that dispersed and nefarious Synagogue, is oftentimes, for their unanimous consent in all wickedness, spoken of, quasi unus homo, as if they were but one man; because they all have but one head, one will, and one end, to destroy the truth, and the true Church of Christ. And this supreme stool of wickedness, that establisheth mischief by a Law, 2 Thes. 3.8. doth now appear to many men to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, That man of sin, and the child of perdition, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming; because they say, First, There is neither Note, Argument, Saying, nor Testimony of holy Scripture that doth, competere antichristo, and is suitable unto Antichrist, but it is most properly found to agree with that Cumulus Senatorum, the representative Council of all wickedness. As, 1. They have seated themselves in a mystical Babylon, the Amsterdam of all confusion, where you may easily find almost all Heresies maintained that have been invented, and any Religion used but the true Religion, that dares not be professed. 2. They do sit in the Temple of God as God, that is, they do possess the truest Church of God that we know to be on earth, and as God they establish Worship and Religion, and ordain Laws for the Government of that Church, and root out that Worship and Government which God himself hath ordained. 3. They exalt themselves above all that is called God, i.e. Above Kings, This point of the Great Antichrist is fully and at large handled in my Book of The Great Antichrist revealed. of whom the Scripture most properly saith, Dixi Dii estis; I said you are Gods, because they are in God's stead, and do exercise God's Power here on Earth; and yet this grand Council of the Great Synagogue would not only be worshipped themselves as Kings, but will suppress Kings, deny any service to be done to them, and suffer none to do them Worship, which is properly to exalt themselves above Kings when they keep Kings so low. 4. When, by their false assembled Prophets, they deny the Notions, whereby we understand the Father and the Son to be the true God, (as they plainly do by the cashiering of the words, Essence, Person, Trinity, and the like words, which the Church of God, penes quam norma loquendi, hath ever used to bring her Children thereby to some sure knowledge of that great mystery of godliness, and to enable them to confute those wicked Heretics that denied the same) they do manifest themselves to be that Antichrist, who, as St. John saith, denieth the Father and the Son, 1 Joh. 2.22. which neither Turk nor Pope as yet ever did. 5. The unfolding of that great mystery of the Beast, Aug de Civitat. Dei. l. 20. c. 9 & 14. which Beast St. Augustine understandeth of the Society of wicked Christians, and the City of Satan, that is signified by that Beast; and the mystery which the Holy Ghost setteth down to be observed as the most proper Note of the Beast, is, that it containeth 666. touching which, if you omit one thousand, which is a full and perfect number, and which is not an unusual thing in the Scripture to do, to make the other the more mystery, and consider that in 646. this great Sanedrim or superlative Council demanded the Militia or sovereign rule over the King, for twenty years, which being added to 646 do make up the just number of 666. This they say is a strong Argument to prove the grand Council to be that Great Beast. 6. And lastly, The unspeakable unparalelled persecution of this Antichrist, above all the persecutions that preceded it, either of Pope, Turk, or heathen Tyrants, do plainly prove them, to the judgement of some men, to be the greatest Antichrist that as yet is revealed unto the world; though some think that a greater may yet come before Christ does come to judgement; which I do not believe. But though I say, as St. Augustine doth in the like case, Alii atque alii aliud atque aliud opinati sunt; Divers men have divers opinions about the time, place, and person of Antichrist which neither my Text nor my time will give me leave, either to discuss, or to disprove any of the same now. Yet thus much I dare boldly say, that letting pass the persecutions of the Preachers, not to be paralleled in any History, if you consider first the number of them, all the Reverend Bishops, all the Deans, all prebend's, and all the best Divines in the whole Kingdom And 2. the misery that is imposed upon them, worse than death, Quia dulce mori miseris? To be spoilt of all their means, banished from all their friends, wife, children, and Parents, and exposed to all wants and contempts, so that neither Nero, Domitian, Dioclesian, nor Julian, brought such a storm upon the Church of Christ, as is now brought upon the body of the whole Clergy within these five years; and omitting the many thousands of good Christians, No Historian can show me any king that hath suffered more indignities at any unchristian hand, than King Charles hath suffered from the Long Parliament. that for their Religion and good conscience have lost their lives, live, and liberties. I say, letting all these things pass, I dare appeal to any impartial Reader, that neither Eusebius, nor Socrates, nor Thuanus, nor Chammier, nor any other Hystorian, Ecclesiastical or Profane, that have written of Persecutions, or of the cruelty of Antichrist can show me any King (since the King of the Jews) that by his own Subjects, and for no vice of his own that malice itself can tax him, but only in reality (whatsoever is otherwise pretended) for the defence of Christ his faith, and the true service of God, the protection of all faithful Preachers, and the upholding of the Fundamental Laws of his Kingdom, hath or could suffer more unkingly indignities by any Antichrist, than our gracious King hath done by his own ungraciaus Subjects of these three Kingdoms. But stay, and let us consider, that, although these Persecutions be exceeding great, yet our sins and transgressions are far greater, and God in all this is most just; and as Ezra saith, Ezra 9 13. Punisheth us less than our iniquities deserve; for certainly we must confess, what the world seethe, that we have sinned with our Fathers, we have done amiss and dealt wickedly; and therefore as Eusebius confesseth the iniquities of the Primitive Christians to have pulled upon them those Heathen Persecutions, so must we acknowledge this Antichristian Tyranny, to have most justly fallen upon us. And not only so, but seeing we have so justly deserved it, let us submit ourselves under the mighty hand of God, repent and be sorry for whatsoever we have done amiss, and pray to God for grace and strength, to suffer what shall be laid upon us, either for the punishment of our sins, or the trial of our Faith to God, and our Loyalty to our King, not only the loss of all worldly things, but even of our life itself, because that in so suffering unto death, we shall be sure to have the Crown of life; which the Lord grant unto us for Jesus Christ his sake, to whom be all glory and honour for ever and ever, Amen. I have spent two hours in treating of this one verse already; and because here is magnum in parvo, abundance of treasure in this little mine, I must crave leave to spend one hour more, and with that I hope I shall finish all that I have to say on these words. You may remember I told you the words contain, 1. God's love to Man. 2. Man's love to God. The first I handled in my first Sermon. And, In the second, I shown you three parts; that is to say, 1. The Persons, We, 2. The Act, Love, 3. The Object, him, We love him. 3 The Object of our love, God. The two first in my last Sermon. And now because I love neither Tautologies, nor to stand long upon repetitions, I will proceed unto the object of our love, where the Apostle saith, We love him, that is, God. And I would to God that we did all love him, quia actus distinguitur per objectum; because it is not our love that doth hurt us, but the object of our love maketh or marreth all; for as St. Augustine saith, Duas civitates duo faciunt amores; our love to God buildeth up Jerusalem, Aug. super Psal. 64. the Church and City of God, and our love to the world, and these worldly things, buildeth up Babylon, the Synagogue of Satan. And therefore this is the error of the sons of men, The error of men. not that we are subject unto Passions, and endued with the affections of Fear, Hate, Love, and the like; but that we misguide our Passions, and misorder our affections, by misplacing them where they ought not to be settled; for we may fear, so it be him that can cast both body and soul into hell fire; we may hate, so it be the thing that is evil, and we may love, so it be what we ought, and as we ought to love. But this is that which God cannot endure, that we should fear men more than God, or fear temporal losses, goods, or lands, more than the loss of our souls, and the wounding of a good conscience; or that we should hate our brethren, and not their sins, which we cherish in our selves, though we detest them in all others; or that we should love the world and not God, or any thing in the world more than God, or so much, that it should any ways lessen our love to God. And therefore here I may stop my course, and stay a while, to reprove those many millions of men that are, as the Philosophers said, The Citizens of the world, and do freely bestow their loves, not on God, but either upon the vain pleasures, The love of vain things choketh our love to God. or the vile profits of this wicked world. And it is a strange thing to see, how one affecteth Honour, another Beauty, a third Authority, and most of us some one kind of vanity or other, that either drowneth or driveth away, and so lesseneth much our love to God: And above all things, the love of Riches choketh this divine love in all worldly men. For, as Apolonius Tyanaeus saith, That he hath seen a stone, called Pantaura, which is the Queen of all other stones, and hath in it all the virtues that are to be found in all the other precious stones; So, to this stone do some men compare riches; Kiches what they are like. because they suppose riches to contain in them the force and virtue of all other things, and are able to bring mighty things to pass; as the fiercest beasts are made tame by them, the fairest Ladies are won by them, as Jupiter prevailed with Danae, What great things wealth and riches have done. when as the Poets feign, he came unto her in a golden shower; The greatest Kings are subdued by them, when as no weapons can overcome the shields of Gold; and Rome itself might have been bought, if Jugurth had had wealth enough to purchase it, as he said when he passed out of Rome. And you see the Fishes of the Sea, that are overwhelmed with water, and drowned in the Deep, cannot escape the force of Riches; and the Fowls of the air, though of the swiftest Wings, yet can they not fly from their Empire; yea, what Altitudes have not Riches abated? What difficulties have they not vanquished? What improbabilities, I will not say impossibilities, have they not facilitated? And what things have they desired, that they have not obtained? Therefore St. Augustine, showing the folly of the Pagans about their selected gods, Aug. de Civit. Dei. l. 7. c. 3. wondereth, that if wise men were their Selectors, why Venus was preferred before the Lady Virtue; or if Venus deserveth her enhansement, because more do affect her, than those that love virtue, then why was not Lady Money more famous than Minerva, seeing that in all sorts of men there are more that love coin better than knowledge, and all Trades aim at Money, and say with the Poet, Quaerenda pecunia primum est, virtus post nummos, Haec Janus summus ab imo perdocet Haec recinunt juvenes dictata senesque; Which made Euripides to present one in an humour, that neglected all things and all reproaches; for wealth; because (said he) men seld am or never ask, how good or how honest is such a one, but how rich is he? and each man is that, which he possesseth, and is so esteemed, according as he is worth and no more; And therefore most men (I mean worldly men) love their gold as their God, and this God hath their love; And yet riches in their own nature, have neither honour, nor knowledge, nor power, nor valour, nor any other good nor evil in themselves more than that, whereunto they that do possess them do direct them, but they are like the water, Riches like the waters of Feneo. of the lake Feneo, whereof the Arcadians do report, that whosoever drinketh of it in the night, he falleth sick, but whosoever taketh it in the day time, he becometh well; so riches, used for the works of darkness, to oppress the poor, to subdue our Prince, to uphold pride, to maintain Idolatry, rebellion, and the like, are very poison unto our Souls; but if we employ them for the deeds of light, How riches do evil, and how they may do good. to uphold the right, to relieve the poor, to defend the innocent, they are as antidotes against all evil; for neither is the rich man condemned, nor the poor man saved, because the one is rich, and the other poor, but as both may be saved, so beth may be condemned, because the rich man abuseth his wealth, and the poor man his poverty. And, as most men hunt after riches, so I might show you how others affect authority, and others are drunk with the desire of honours, but the time would be too short for me to go about to cut off the head of this monstrous Hydra of misordered love; and most men do profess to know, that as S. John saith, 1 Joh. 2.15. Whosoever loveth the World, the love of the Father is not in him; and that this world is full of snares and thorns, and vanities and vexation of spirit; and that the lovers of this world are none other than the Servants of the Devil; and they do likewise confess, that God hath done and doth all those great things for them, which we have set down, and therefore that they are no worldlings, but do love God with all their hearts, and do think themselves much wronged, if they should be otherwise suspected. Yet because, 2 Thes. 3.2. as the Apostle saith, all men have not faith, so all men have not love, What we must do if we love God. especially such love as they ought to have; therefore lest we should deceive ourselves herein, and so destroy our Souls, we must know, that God is truth; and therefore he that loves God, loves truth, and whosoever loves lies and falsehoods, loves not God; and God is Justice; therefore he that loves God, loves that which is right and just, and he that loves to do wrong loves not God; and so God is Wisdom, and God is Mercy, and therefore he that loves God, loves Wisdom and showeth mercy; and they that are foolish, as all the wicked are, and do show cruelty unto their brethren, as do the blood thirsty men that do now seize and kill and slay the innocent that never offended them, cannot be said to love God. But for the fuller manifestation of our love to God, 1. Two things to be done. I will set down some of the most infallible signs of this true love of God, the best of them that are collected; 2. Lest, upon the discussion of these truths, we find ourselves destitute of this love I will briefly and as the time will give me leave, show the impediments and set down the furtherances of our love to God. 1 The infallible signs of our true love of God. The Image of of Love how anciently painted: And why. And 1. I find amongst the Ancient Hieroglyphics, that the Image of Love was painted in the shape of a beautiful woman, clothed in a green vesture, wherein was written these two words, prope & procul, far and nigh, in the breast were engraven life and death, in the borders of her garment were set Winter and Summer, and in her side a wound, so wide, and so largely opened, that all her inward parts were transparent. And those Sages that portrayed Love thus, did it for these reasons; 1. In the shape of a woman, to show the vehemency of this affection, The explanation of the hieroglyphic. 2 Sam. 1.26. because women, by reason of their weakness to bridle their passions, as they are more violent in their hate, so are they more fervent in their love, and more vehement in all their desires than men; therefore David, expressing the great love of Jonathan towards him, saith, that his love passed the love of women. 2. Of a beautiful woman, to show that Love is an alluring subject, and is sweet and delectable, even to them that are troubled with Love. 3. In a green vesture, to show that true love ought always to be fresh and fair, and never withered, nor waxed old, because it never faileth, 1 Cor. 13.8. as the Apostle testifieth. 4. In the words, far and nigh, that were set in the forehead of that Image, was signified that, contrary to the common practice of the world to follow that old Proverb, Qui procul ab oculis procul est a limine cordis, Out of sight out of mind, true love remaineth firm, as well in the absence as in the presence of them that we love; when as neither length of time nor distance of place can any ways alter the constancy or lessen the affection of a true Lover. 5. In life and death that were engraven on the breast, was showed, that, Cant. 8.6. as Solomon saith, love is as strong as death, Ecl. 49.1. and cannot be extinguished even by death itself; but we will love the very names and memories of them, whom we loved, as the Son of Syrach saith of Josias. 6. By the Winter and Summer, that were set in the borders of her garment was signified, that true love is permanent and durable as well in adversity as in prosperity; for though as the Poet saith of worldly lovers, Donec eris felix— While prosperity lasteth, and thy table is well furnished, thou shalt want no friends nor miss of any guests; but if adversity cometh, thy friends will fail, and thy guests will be gone; so the Prophet tells us, there be many men, that will love God, and praise him too, cum lucrum accidit illis, when they receive any benefit from him, and when (as David saith) their corn and wine and oil increaseth; Psal. 4.8. Job 1.11. but if any great loss, or sud calamity should happen unto them, than what the Devil said falsely of holy Job, may be truly said of these worldly men, they will curse God to his face, and therefore God may justly say to them, as S. Augustine saith of the like, you have showed me love indeed, and in some things, kept my commandments, but it was for your own profits sake, non quia me pure diligebatis, Aug. despeculo humanae miseriae. sed quia a me lucrari volebatis; not because you did Sincerely love me, but because you desired to be enriched and exalted by me, like those Jews that followed Christ, not because they saw his miracles, and were edified by his heavenly doctrine, but because they did eat of the loaves and were filled, i. e. for his temporal blessings, John 6.26. and not for the love of his spiritual graces; or like S. Peter, that would build tabernacles unto Christ upon Mount Tabor, where he was transfigured in glory, but did forsake him on Mount Calvary, when he was oppressed with calamities and overladed with injuries, just like too many of the servants of our now gracious King, that could serve and extol him in Whitehall, while he sat on his throne of Majesty, and yet now serve and magnify his oppressors and opponents, when he is compassed with afflictions, which is to love in Summer, and not in the cold of Winter; yet I say, the true lovers of God will as truly love him in the Winter of adversity and persecution, Job 2.10. as in the Summer of prosperity and exaltation; and will say with holy Job, shall we receive good at the hands of God, and shall we not receive evil? or shall we rejoice at our advancement, and shall we not be contented at our abasement? 7. And lastly by the wound, that she had opened in her side, is showed, that true love revealeth the very secrets of the heart to his beloved; so will they that love God, confess all their sins with Daniel, and lay open all their wants with David, unto God; and they need not be ashamed to confess them, when as before their confession, they are all patent to his eyes, as the Apostle showeth; But because all these are signs of any true love to any object, therefore I will show you some more proper signs of our love to God; and The 1. Acts 7.48. is to love God's house; for though as S. Steven saith, God dwelleth not in houses made wiah hands, but as the Poet saith, Enter praesenter, The chiefest Signs of our Love to God. 1. To love God's House. Deus est ubique potenter, That is, in the Prophet's phrase, he filleth all places: yet as he chooseth a Seventh day for his service, when as all days are his, and challengeth a tenth part of our goods for his servants, when as all we have is at his disposing; so he requireth a Church, and a material house to be served in, when as all the houses, and all the places in the World, Psal. 27.4. Psal. 84.2. cannot comprehend his Majesty; therefore the Prophet David saith, one thing have I required of God, which I will desire, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; and again, my Soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord, Hag. 1.4. and the Prophet doth extremely tax them that dwell themselves in seiled houses, and suffer the house of God to be waist, fit for nothing, but, as I see it now in many places, to lodge beasts and birds; and they may be as much and more blamed, that, neglecting his consecrated house, do think their polluted barns to be good enough to serve our God. Secondly, 2 To love God's Word. Psal. 119.79 & 47. & 72. What we understand by God's word. To love God's Word, is another sign of our love to God; therefore the Prophet David saith, O how do I love thy Law, my delight is in thy Commandments; and again, thy testimonies are better unto me, than thousands of gold and silver. But here you must observe, that, because every one pretendeth to love God's Word, as they do profess to love God, by God's Word we understand not the bare Written letter, but the truth of the holy Scripture, for, as the Heretics in Tertull. time, credebant Scriptures, ut crederent adversus Scripturas; believed not the Scripture, but what themselves pleased out of the Scriptures; so now and oftentimes always, the Word of God is perverted and misinterpreted, (especially by two sorts of men, as S. Peter noteth, 1. 2 Pet. 3.16. Two sorts of men pervert God's word. Those that are unlearned, and have not knowledge enough to undestand the truth of these high Mysteries. 2. Those that are unstable and unconstant, and therefore change the sense of Scriptures as they see the times and occasions change) As for example. 1. Mat. 20.26, 27 The words of Christ, whosoever will be great among you let him be your Minister, and whosoever will be chief among you let him be your Servant; the Presbyterians allegde them to prove a parity of orders and an equality amongst all the Ministers of God's Church, and yet the very same words are produced by all the Fathers and all the most learned Divines, to show the diversity of our callings, and the superiority of some of them above the others; which is indeed the very truth; because otherwise, he would never have said, whosoever will be chief, but he would have told them plainly and briefly, they were all equal, and none was chief, or none was greater than the rest; but, in saying, whosoever will be chief, let him be your Servant; he showeth the duty and humility that should be in him which was to have the priority, and doth sufficiently confirm the superiority of some above the rest. 2. Mat. 26.26. The words of the consecration of the Eucharist, take eat this is my body; are interpretd by Bellarm. and all the Church of Rome, that quote the Authors of all ages, to prove the Transubstantiation of that holy bread into the very body of Christ; and yet the very same words are expounded by the Lutherans to prove their consubstantiation, and by the Fathers rightly understood, as they are amply quoted by Pet. Martyr, and by the most learned of our Church, do prove, not the oral, or corporal eating, but the spiritual and sacramental eating of the body of Christ, by Faith; which is indeed there, really, but ineffably eaten, and should be so believed to be without any further searching into these Divine Mysteries, lest with the men of Bethshemesh, we be justly smitten for peeping too narrowly into the Ark of the Lord. 3. The very same Scriptures to the number of forty places, were alleged by the Arians to prove their Damnable Heresy, that Christ was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, of the like nature with his Father, as were produced by the Orthodox to prove him to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, of the same essence with God. 4. That Scripture which commandeth us, Matth. 22.21. to render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is Gods, is truly alleged by most Divines to exact our full obedience to those our just Sovereigns that do lawfully sit on their royal thrones; and this is so pressed by the true Expositors, that it may be observed, God requireth this duty to be performed, before his own deuce should be rendered. And yet when the right Kings are thrust out by any Usurpers, (as the Roman Emperors were oftentime expussed, and since many lawful Kings have been unlawfully dethroned) the very same Scripture is still alleged by some other false Interpreters, to require obedience to those powerful intruders that seem to have the lawful authority. So when the Lawful Governors of God's People are undecently reviled, the answer of St. Paul, to them that said unto him, revilest thou God's Highpriest? When he replied, I witted not, brethren that he was the Highpriest, for it is written, thou shalt not speak evil of the Ruler of the people, is justly urged by most of the best Interpreters, to condemn the upbraiders of just authority; And yet the same example is produced by some other spurious divines, to require the like obedience to intruding and usurping Governors, when they have got the power, and have attained unto the authority, though by very unlawful ways. And in all these, and many more places of like nature, I may say with S. Aug. in the like case, alit atque alii, aliud atque aliud opinati sunt, But the truth is, that the mistaking of the true sense of the Scripture, or the misapplying of those holy examples, is nothing else, but to make the same Word of God (as Card. Hosius calleth it) a nose of wax, that may be wrought to serve every turn; because the same univocal truth cannot be rightly produced, to prove contraries, John 6.52. or a direct contrariety of things. And therefore I say that, as hoc, est corpus meum, do no ways confirm the carnivorant, or inhuman eating of the true natural flesh of Christ that was born of the Virgin, and crucified for us under Pontius Pilate (which the very Jews loathed to hear of, otherwise then sacramentally, mystically, and spiritually, Dr. Hanmer in his chron. after Euseb. his History makes this plain. though really, by Faith, as I shown unto you before; and the rhapsody of the misalleaged Scripture by the Arians, do no ways prove the wicked Heresy of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; so the words of Christ to render tribute unto Caesar, do no ways require, the yielding of our obedience to any usurped power, or intruding Sovereigns. Because now, as you may see out of Josephus, Appian, and other Histories both of the Greeks and Romans, and out of the Books of the Maccabees, the Jews ever since Pompey's time were become Tributaries, and were tied by many other Obligations, for their defence against Antiochus and other enemies, unto the Romans, to become Tributaries unto them; and the Sceptre was now quite departed from Judah, when Herod that was an Idumaean, had quite extirpated all the Royal Line, and they had not then any other more Lawful visible Sovereign, than Caesar, John 19.15. as themselves confess, We have no King but Caesar, whose Image was upon their Coin, which thing is one of the chiefest things inter jura regalia; and therefore they did acknowledge Judas Galilaeus for a Rebel, and to have his Blood most justly mingled with his Sacrifice by Pilate, because he denied Tribute to be given, and Prayers to be made, for the life of the Emperor. And the example of S. Paul is more clear, that as he gave no Reverence, so he deemed no obedience to be due to the usurped power of Ananias, when he said God shall smite thee, thou whited Wall, that is, thou Hypocrite, for sittest thou to judge me after the Law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the Law? And if you say, that he recalled himself, and recanted his Error, by acknowledging his Fault (as some Expositors, that is, Erasmus and Cyprian, qui videntur hanc Interpretationem approbare, would have it so) when he saith, I witted not, Brethren, that he was the High Priest; I answer, Aug. Epist. 5. ad Marcel. quits him from all fault; and saith, Irridenter Circumstantes admonet. Hieron. ad Nepot. excuseth him also, and allegeth Crassus in Cicer. de Orat. l. 3. for the like Answ. A Lapide & Lorinus in Loc. do clear him likewise. Baron. to 1. Anno 58. etc. 150, distinguit inter Summum Sacerdotem & Principem Sacerdotum; and thereby makes good the Apostles Answer, because in that Confusion he could not well discern the one from the other. And Beza in his Larg. annotat. in Loc. quits the Apostle from all fault because this Anan. was an Usurper, as Josephus testifieth. And therefore we say, that this Answer of S. Paul acknowledgeth no Fault, but rather confirmeth my Saying, that he deemed no Obedience to be due to his usurped and unjust Authority; because you must not think S. Paul to be so ignorant, as not to know him to be the reputed High Priest, else he had not said, Sittest thou to judge me after the Law? and he had been 9 or 10 Days in Jerusalem, before he was brought to the Counsel; and think you, that in all that time, he understood not who was High Priest, the greatest Governor in Town? but S. Paul did not know, that is, did not acknowledge; which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, usually signifieth, or he did not take him to be the True and Lawful High Priest; for if he had taken him to be such an one, he would never have reviled him; because the Law forbiddeth us to speak evil of the Ruler of the People; but because he knew him to be an Intruder and Usurper, as Josephus testifieth, and such an one as had no just Power nor authority over him, therefore he saith, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: and yet being reproved for this Reproof, he makes use of the wisdom of the Serpent, to which our Saviour adviseth us, and as he escaped the violence of his Enemies, when he perceived the one half of them to be Pharisees, and other Sadduces, by making such a Speech as divided them, so here he evadeth the like Fury, by this fair Answer, I witted not Brethren that he was the High Priest. Therefore though his Reply might be some excuse for his Maleloquy, which Michael would not use against Satan, yet this Example gives no countenance to the yielding of Obedience to Usurped Authority, unless you will conclude S. Paul to be either very ignorant, or a very great Dissembler, which is very injurious to think of so holy an Apostle. But the Case of Athaliah puts this out of all doubt, because the had the Power and the Government, and the Authority settled upon her, about the space of seven years, yet because she had no Right, 2 Reg. 11.4. but did usurp the Crown, the good High Priest Jehojada was so far from obeying her, that assoon as ever he found ability, and a fit opportunity, he devised the way to depose her, and to set the Crown upon the right Heirs Head, whose example we ought all to follow, when opportunity serveth. Or were I not so; that we must renounce usurped power, how shall we protect and maintain the just and lawful authority? 2 Sam. 15, 16. surely the people that followed Abso lon, when he had the power to trample Justice under foot, to possess the royal City, and to drive the lawful King to fly from place to place; and the followers of those perfidious Rebels of Killkenney, that so barbarously massacred the poor Protestants, and so foully, so falsely deluded both the good King and all the King's friends, and have now, as themselves pretend, the great power in this Kingdom, may well be justified not to have offended, if this doctrine may be defended, that usurped authority is not to be resisted, but to be obeyed, when its power is most prevalent. But the Apostle tells us plainly, Rom. 14.2. that whatsoever is not of faith is sin; and with what faith, I pray you, can I obey that power and submit myself to that authority, which my conscience tells me to be against truth and without Justice. But Tertull. ad Scapulam makes this most clear; where he showeth how tender the Christians were to preserve the right to the lawful Emperors, and therefore though Albinus was most powerful in the West, and Pisen Niger in the East, yet the Christians would be nec Albiniani, nec Cassiani, nec Nigriani. Yet this much I must tell you, that where the right heir is not apparent, as it was not amongst many of the Primitive Emperors, who were often lifted up to that royal dignity by none other right than the Sword of the tumultuous Soldiers, and unconstant cohorts, and were therefore obeyed by the good Christians, because they knew not of any other that had any better right unto the Empire, the same as yet being unsettled to continue in any hereditary line.; or when the just Title to the Crown is not cleared, as perhaps it was not to all the Subjects in the time of Hen. 4. Edw. 4. and Rich. 3. and the like doubtful claims, than it is not for every private mechanic or ignorant Rustic to determine the right to the Crown, and decide the equity or the iniquity of such powers; but as the Apostle saith, and as it was most learnedly handled by a most Reverend and a most learned Prelate of our Church, not long since in this place, they ought to study to be quiet, to follow their own Trades, 1 Thes. 4 11. and to do their own business, and not to polupragmatize in matters so transcendent and so metaphysical to their Mechanic and Rustic capacities. And in this qualified sense you must understand and not mistake the meaning of the same most Reverend Prelate in this place upon our last King's day, that when it is doubtful to whom the right of the Sovereign Power should belong, or who hath right unto the Sovereignty, than all ignorant and private men are excused though they resist not the Government that hath the present power over them, but do obey the same, especially by their passive obedience, and likewise by their active obedience in all honest and lawful demands. All which, with all that I said before, I say to clear the integrity of the said Reverend Prelate's intention, from any sinister apprehension of misunderstanding hearers. But where the right is indubitable, and the sovereignty not to be questioned whose it is, as it is with our most gracious King, whom all the Irish Rebels of Kilkenny, and all the other Rebels of these three Kingdoms, deny not to be their lawful Sovereign: I say, that what Power soever exalteth itself above him, or against him, (which the Parliament of England doth not, when it challengeth only a kind of co-ordination with him) we are not to yield any obedience unto the same, especially if the same command, or require any thing contrary to his commands; because, as the Son of Syrach saith, We are to stand with the right, and in the truth, and as our Saviour saith, To continue faithful therein unto death, if we desire to enjoy the Crown of life. And therefore, though the dumb devil may hold my tongue, Rev. 2.10. so that I shall be able to say nothing of what truth should be delivered, yet all the power of hell shall never open my mouth, and cause me to say that untruth which my conscience telleth me cannot be justified; because this love to the truth of Scripture is a singular Testimony of our love to God. 3. The next sign of the love of God is to love the honour of God, without which we cannot be said to love God. 2 To love God's honour. 4. The next sign is to love God's Image, that is Man. 5. To observe God's Precepts. 6. To hate Sin. 7. A longing desire to be with God; to have an Union and Communion with him; for it is an impregnable property of a person loving, to desire to be united to the person loved; and therefore Pyramus loving Thisbe, cries out to the wall, that hindered them to meet together, Invide, dicebat, paries quid amantibus obstas? Many other signs of God's love I should show unto you, and the impediments that hinders us to love God; such as are, 1. The ignorance of the incomprehensible sweetness, and unspeakable goodness of God. 2. The too much love of ourselves, and of our carnal desires. 3. The bewitching allurements of the pleasures, profits, and other vanities of this present world, and the like, that do hinder, blind, and suffocate our love to God. And then last of all, I should show unto you the helps and furtherances to beget and to nourish the love of God in us, such as are, 1. The continual meditation of God's goodness towards us, and his excellencies in himself. 2. The daily reading and hearing of God's Word, and the reading of other godly Books, that do incite and invite us to love the Lord above all the things of this World. 3. Continual Prayers to God for Grace, and the assistance of his Holy Spirit to incline our hearts to love him. 4. Often discourse and conference with good and holy men about the goodness of God and heavenly things, and the like. All which I should more fully and amply enlarge unto you, but that the time binds me to defer the same to a fit opportunity, and in the interim to pray to God for grace to abandon the love of this World, and to love God, and to increase in our love to him more and more, through Jesus Christ our Lord; To whom be Glory, and Honour, and Thanks now and for evermore. Amen. Jehovae Liberatori. THE DECLARATION OF THE Just Judgements of GOD. THE Man, that was according to God's own heart, the best Subject, that ever we read of, and the greatest Ring that ever Israel saw, David, the Son of Jesse saith, that the LORD is righteous in all his ways, Psal. 145.17. and holy in all his works: and the Prophet Daniel testifieth as much; and so do all the Saints and Servants of God; yea, and the very wicked Reprobates do confess the same: for Adoni-bezek, the Tyrant, that had Seventy Kings, having their Thumbs, and great Toes cut off, to gather their meat under his Table, doth acknowledge, that God did most justly deal with him, as he had dealt with others; and so we find, that the Law of God is most just, and requireth Justice to be done at all times, in all places, and to all persons; as an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, and he that sheddeth man's blood, by man should his blood be shed: yet such is the corruption of man's Nature, that we do often judge amiss of the just Judgements of God; and therefore Christ adviseth us not to judge, that is, amiss; or, if we judge, not to do it according to the Superficies, and outward appearance of things, but to judge righteous Judgements, and especially of all the Judgements of God, that he showeth either in this world, or in the world to come. And because God of late hath poured out much of his wrath, and indignation, and shown many Judgements upon these Kingdoms, I will endeavour, Rom. 2.3. by the help, and assistance of the same God, to make, as the Apostle saith, a Declaration of the just Judgements of God, to stop the mouths of all discontented Murmurers, and to show the just deserts of us all, that either have been, or still are most justly punished; and I shall further show, how that in the midst of God's anger against these Nations, he was pleased to continue his mercies, and loving kindnesses to his dear, and faithful Servant, and our late most gracious King, of ever blessed Memory, Charles the First. And first, as the Poet saith, A Jove principium Musae; so I shall begin with him, that was Jehovah's Vicegerent, the Anointed of the Lord, and our most gracions King. CHAP. I. FIrst then for King Charles, I knew him before he was crowned King, a most virtuous, Vera quidem res est. patrem sequitur sua proles; Et sequitur leviter filia matris iter. and Religious Prince, religiously following the pious steps of his good and godly Father, and wellbeloved, and well spoken of by all his Father's Court; & pietas spectata per ignes, and his Travels through France, and Return from Spain, have sufficiently testified his sincerity, and constancy in the true Religion: so that I may truly say of him; Firma valent peruse, nullúmque Machaona quaerunt And after he was crowned King, all in white, in token of that purity, and innocency, which he desired always to retain, according to the counsel of Solomon, that saith, Let thy Garments be always white: I living in His Court, in no mean place, had a very great desire to note, and observe the lives, actions, and contrivements, both of the King, and of most other men, that were of any note in the King's house; and throughout all the space of seventeen, or eighteen years, that I was resident in His Court, whereof I waited in my turn six or seven years, upon His Majesty, my Witness is in Heaven, that I could observe none, nor find out any man, either of the Lords, Knights, or other Gentlemen of his House, that was of so mild a Disposition, so courteous in his Conversation, and so pious in all the actions, and circumstances of Religion as King Charles was: a man, that I never heard to take the Name of God in vain at any time; nor ever saw him passionately angry with any man: neither do I believe, that the mouth of the Father of Lies could justly tax him of any open crime, or inexcusable defect, either of Charity, Equity, or Piety, before the Birth of the Long Parliament, or after throughout all his life; for he knew that, Qui sceptra duro saevus imperio reget, Timet timentes, metus in autorem cedit: Seneca in Oedipo, Act. 3. and I am sure, I am able to arise in the last day to testify against many of his enemies, and accusers, that I have often heard them justifying him in those things, for which afterwards they accused him, and condemned him; yea, they were his Counselors to have them done, and then his Prosecutours, and Persecutors of him unto the death for doing them. Much more could I speak, and speak it most truly, in the just praise and commendation of this good and godly King; and when all that I could speak were set down, I must confess mine offence, that plenty itself, and the abundance of his virtues, — Talem vix reperit unum Millibus 〈◊〉 multis bominum consultus Apollo. Ausonius. and merits, hath made me poor in mine expressions thereof. Prob dolour, infoelix sors nostra amittere talem, Ter foelix talem, quae tenet or aviorum. And is it not therefore strange, that the just and good God should suffer the wicked Sons of men so strictly to prosecute, and so unexemplarily to handle, and to deal with so just, so good, and so Religious a Prince, as the Long Parliament hath done with King Charles, and so to confute that Poet, which saith, Nullum caruit exemplo nefas: when as no History of any Times, of any Kingdom, can parallel the proceed against King Charles. I answer no, not at all; but in the death of this good and godly King may be seen, the great merey of God, and I dare not say the Revelation of the just Judgement of God; but the gentle chastisement of a most loving Father, to a most dear and dutiful Son, that all men, that see the same, might praise God for the one, and fear him for the other; for, as the death of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, was most unjustly done by the wicked Jews, that condemned him for Blasphemy against God, and Treason against Caesar, whereof he was most innocent, and guilty of neither; yet was it most justly suffered to be done by the determinate Counsel of God, as Saint Peter showeth, because that out of his great love, and mercy to save sinful man, he became his Surety, to pay his Debts, and to satisfy God's Wrath, by suffering that death for our sins, that, as the Prophet saith, We by his stripes might be healed; therefore did God most justly execute upon him, what he had most mercifully undertaken for us all: so, though King Charles was a very good man, and a most religious Prince, and as his friends knew, most innocent, and free from all those crimes, that were laid to his charge by the long Parliament; yet could be not be justified from all offences against his God; but, as Moses that was faithful in all God's House, yet failed he a little at the waters of Meriba; and as David that was a man according to Gods own heart; yet offended he also in numbering the people; and as Ezechias and Josias that were two of the three best Princes of all the Kings of Israel and Judah; yet both of them transgressed: the one in showing his Treasures to the Ambassadors of the King of Babylon, and the other in his confederacy with a wicked King; and God justly punished every one of them; Moses, that he should not so much as enter into the Land of Canaan; David, with the loss of threescore and ten thousand of his people; Ezechias to have all that he shown transported into Babylon, and Josias even with death in the Valley of Megiado: so King Charles, though a very good man, and a most just and pious Prince, and a faithful Servant of Jesus Christ, and a strenuous defender of the true Faith; yet, because that, when God for his trial tempted him, as he tempted Abraham, Job, and many others, temptatione probationis, non deceptionis, to see how far he would stand unmoveable in the right way, he either through fear and frailty, or rather as I conceive, by the deceitful persuasions of some, whom he supposed to be his faithful Counsellors, but were indeed seducing friends, yielded, and perhaps with some reluctancy against his own mind, consented to the desires of some evil men, to do those things that offended God; therefore as he did, though deceived, what he should not do, (like the man of God in 1 King.) so his good God that did most truly love him, did notwithstanding most justly suffer his Counsellors to become his enemies to war against him, and to punish him, for what himself and his friends knew, and most others conceived, and do believe he never did; for it is just with God to punish our sins and offences, when and where, and how, and by whom he pleaseth, as I shall declare unto you by this plain Story, which may illustrate this point unto you. A certain poor man had a Pickax wherewith he got his living; and there was a certain rich man, his Neighbour, that coveted the same, and finding it, on a time, left where the poor man wrought, stole it from him, so that the poor Labourer was fain to provide another, and after many years, and the memory of the Pickax quite forgotten, the rich man driving some of his to the Market, a lusty fellow, that had stolen a couple of Oxen, drove them among the rich man's Beasts, and after a while, fearing to be apprehended, by the search and cry, that he perceived to come after him, he prayed the rich man to drive his Oxen a little way, while he went a Furlong or two, to deliver a Letter to such a Gentleman, and the rich man, suspecting no evil, did so; but not long after, the searchers for the Oxen found them with the rich man, driven towards the Fair amongst his own Beasts, and apprehending him, prosecuted him so eagerly, and the rather, because he was a rich man, that he was condemned to die for stealing of those Oxen; and being upon the Ladder, complaining of this injustice, and professing his innocency herein, he spieth a Kite flying up and down over his head, and crying, as he conceived, for the Pickax, for the Pickax; whereupon, his Conscience accusing him, he cried out, that God was just, and his judgement right; for though he was innocent from the Oxen; yet he long ago, had stolen a poor man's Pickax, for which God now brought him to this end; so no doubt, many a Thief and murderer, may escape for the robbery and murders committed by them; and yet may suffer for that which they never knew, which is most just with God, though unjustly done by men. And so God might justly, though most mercifully too, suffer the enemies of this good King to condemn him for what he never did, because he might offend God in some other things, for which he was never blamed by his enemies, nor accused by the Parliament. And let no man wonder, nor blame me for saying, that the King, though never so good a King, and so pious a man, should notwithstanding fail, and offend God in some things, when the Apostle tells us plainly, that in many things we offend all. For as there is no condition of life, be it never so happy, but it hath his cross, to show unto us, that perfect felicity is to be expected elsewhere: so there is no Prince, nor any man living, be he never so wise, but he sometimes erreth, and be he never so virtuous, but he will sometimes offend, else should he prove himself to be more than man, because, as Plutarch saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, It is more than is in the power of man to offend nothing in great matters, such as are the Affairs of Kings, and Princes. But what were those things, wherein this good King hath failed, and offended God, and for which he might justly suffer his enemies to war, and to prevail against him? can any man tell what they be? I answer, that the wisest of the King's friends conceive them to be not those things, for which his enemies warred against him, and condemned him most unjustly; but might be those things, wherein, contrary to his own free desires, he yielded to the desires of his enemies: and those you may find in the Bishop of Ossory his Discovery of Mysteries, to be those three principal mistakes, and not denied to be so by the King himself, when Secretary Falkland would for those things, have suppressed that Book; but the good King told him, they were true, and so suffered the Book to be published. 1. The threefold errors of the King. To yield his assent to put the Earl of Strafford to death. 2. To pass the Act, that excluded the Bishops from the House of Peers, and the other Clergy from Civil Affairs. 3. To make the Parliament perpetual, and so by himself, indissoluble, till they consented to dissolve it. These things pleased the Parliament, but might displease God, and might without doubt most justly move God to be offended with his Majesty, and to suffer his enemies most unjustly, and causelessly to rage's against him; for that First, Touching the Earl of Strafford, the King, we all know, loved his person, and admired his worth, and took indefatigable pains at his Trial, to be fully certified, and informed of those things, whereof the Earl was accused, and as the Poet saith, Regia, And this the King confessed at his death, saying, God for bid that I should be so ill a Christian, as not to say, that God's Judgements are just upon me, when many times he doth inflict Justice by an unjust Sentence: this is ordinary: I will only say, that an unjust Sentence, that I suffered to take effect, is punished now by an unjust Sentence upon myself crede mihi, res est succurrere lapsis, inquirere verum. This was a most royal part in him, and which Moses commanded to be observed, before any Idolater should be condemned; but after he had so religiously, and diligently searched into the depth of their malice, that accused the Earl, and found out the truth of his cause, and his Conscience informing him, that he was no ways worthy of death, for the King then to be persuaded, for what pretence of good soever, and by whomsoever, were it an Angel out of Heaven, to consent unto his death, is to become guilty of a great fault, and to say, that he was persuaded thereunto by the Bishops, (whose fault: was therefore greater than his majesty's) can no more excuse him, then for the man of God to say, that he was seduced by the old Prophet. And therefore this might be a just cause with God, to suffer him, that, to satisfy sinful men, would offend his good God, by giving way to them, to take away the life of an innocent man, to have his own life taken from him, even by those men, to whom he had yielded to take away the life of another man; which is, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a conformity of our punishment to our offence; and is nothing else but lex talionis, an eye for an eye, a tooth for tooth, and death for death, which was the first Law, that God published after the Deluge, saying, Whosoever sheddeth man's blood, that is, either per se, as Cain did Abel, or per alium, as David did Vriah's, and Ahab Naboth, by Act, or, it may be, by consent, by man shall his blood be shed. Secondly, touching the Bishops, myself knoweth, that he loved them all, and honoured their Calling very much, being fully satisfied of the truth of their Divine, and Apostolical Institution, as appeareth by that learned, and exquisite defence, that himself most graciously made against the Presbyterians, of the Episcopal Order; and he was indeed a right Constantine to all the Bishops, rather hiding their infirmities, if he spied any fault in them, with the Lap of his Garment, than any ways multiplying, or publishing the same unto the People. And this was a most Christian course in him; for I may justly say, Victima sacra Deo res est succurrere Cleris: And as our Saviour saith of them, He that receiveth you, receiveth me: And the Bishops, of all other his Subjects, were his most loyal Servants, and most faithful Orators, never thwarting their King, nor crossing any of his just Designs, but ever cleaving unto his Cause, and voting on his side, so far as truth, and right, and a good Conscience, would give them leave: contrary to which, his Majesty never desired any thing. And therefore, when the King saw the malice of most wicked men, qui oderunt eos gratis, and did bear an intestine hatred against these true Servants of God, and did strive manibus, pedibúsque, with all their might, against all justice, to thrust them out of their undoubted Right (by the favour, we confess, of our most pious Princes) for him, as we conceive, against his own mind, and to his own prejudice, to please, and satisfy the implacable hatred of his, and their enemies, to pass an Act to exclude the Bishops out of his Great Council, the Parliament, when above thirty Acts of Parliament had confirmed their right Interest therein, since the confirmation of Magna Charta, was an error, as I conceive, not salvable, and a fault, that cannot be justly excused by his best Friends; and therefore God might justly suffer all his Counsels to fail, and his Counselors to become perfidi familiares, his familiar Traitors, such as the Poet speaks of, Saepe sub agnina latet hirtus pelle Lycaon, Subque Catone pio perfidus ille Nero. And though I do not, nor dare not, say it was so, yet I may say, that for this, God might so give way to his Enemies, to prevail against him, and to thrust him out of his Kingdom, when he gave way to thrust his Ambassadors out of his house; which is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and even as Solomon divided God's Service, betwixt God, and the Idols of Zidon, Moab, and Ammon, 1 Reg. 11. etc. 12. so God divided his Kingdom betwixt his Son Rehoboam, and his Servant Jeroboam; so might he deal with King Charles, when he yielded to expel the Bishops, that were his true Friends, and God's Servants, out of his Council, to suffer his Enemies to exclude him out of his Kingdom: and not unjustly, or without cause neither, as the same proceeds from God, whose ways are always just; for who could better declare the right, and truth of things unto the King, than the Expounders of the Book of Truth? Who could advise, and direct him, to make better, and juster Laws, than the Teachers of the Law of God? and who fit to judge of right, and to require Justice to be enjoined, and practised by all People, than they, whose Calling is continually to call upon all men, to live godly, and soberly, and justly, in this present World? Why then should they be excluded from the Seat of Justice, either in the making of Laws, or to see those Laws executed, unless it were, that the Lay-Justices might do what they would without shame, and what they pleased without control, when as heretofore the reverend Presence of the Bishops, and grave Divines, and their sage Counsel, did oftentimes stop the Current of Injustice, and made some ashamed of some gross deal, that, in their absence, they were not ashamed to have effected: and therefore, I suppose I may justly say, that, as it was said of the Emperor Justinian, when he caused Aetius, his brave General, to be cut off, he had cut off his right Arm with his left Hand; so did King Charles, when he p●ssed that Act, that prejudiced himself more than the Bishops. Thirdly, touching the Parliament, we must understand, that Parliaments were first instituted by the Kings of this Nation, to inform them of the Abuses, Dangers, and Defects, which the Lords and Peers, and the wiser sort of their Subjects, which each Country had elected, and the chief Cities had chosen for that purpose, had observed; and to advise, and consult with their King de arduis rebus Regni, of these, and all other difficult, and great Affairs of the Kingdom; as the Writs, that call them together, do declare; and then, to consider, by what good means the Dangers of the Kingdom might be prevented; by what Laws ' the abuses might be redressed, and which ways the peace of the People might be preserved, and the happiness of all his Subjects continued, and enlarged; and if they understood of any sorreign dangers, invasions, or injuries, to consult how the same might be prevented, and rectified. And when the King understood, what his Lords and Commons conceived fitting to be done, He, with the Advice of His Council, ratified what he approved, and rejected what he disliked, with the usual phrase in that kind. But in process of time, the Parliament-men (as I heard wise men say) began to encroach more and more upon the Rights of Majesty, upon the Power, and Authority of the King, especially of those Kings that either had no Right, or, at the best, but doubtful Titles unto the Crown, or those that were of less Abilities, or of an easy, and facile disposition, and would soon be persuaded, by the importunity of their People, to yield to many things that they desired. And what Favours, and Privileges they thus obtained from these Kings, they challenged as their Right and Due from the succeeding Princes; and the more Favours, and Privileges they obtained, the more still they desired, and at last in some Parliaments, from Advisers, the Members thereof would fain become Directours, and instead of being Counselors, they aimed to be Commanders of their Kings, and to persuade them, that they ought and must enact what Laws, and do what things, as they concluded should be done: But, seeing as the Poet saith, Flumina magna vides parvis de fontibus orta, small Springs do often make great Rivers; therefore, to prevent the increase of this growing Mischief, to allay the Disease, before the Sore grew to be incurable, and to quench the Flame, before the Fire burned the House, the wise and prudent Kings retained always, in their own hands, the power to dissolve the Parliament whensoever they pleased; that, as they called them together, when they thought good, so they might dismiss them, when they listed, either when all things were reasonably concluded, or when they conceived the Parliament men to become unreasonable in their Demands; which was the first Signal Evidence of the Ambitious Desire of Kingly Majesty in the Lord Protector, when he dissolved the Long Parliament; which made me to believe, he aimed to be a King. Therefore when the King perceived, Qui s●mel verecundiae fines transgress us fuerit, eum oportet gnaviter esse impudentem. Cicero. not the importunity, but as some of the King's Friends said, the impudence of this Long Parliament, beyond all the Parliaments that preceded it, and saw them so insolent, and their proceed so violent, in all their courses, for him then to pass away that Supremest Power, or at least one Branch of the Highest Power which was in him, and which never any other King passed before; and so to give that Sword, which God had put into his hands, into the hands of any mad men, or to the usage of his Enemies, was such a fault, in my apprehension, as passed all the errors that this good King ever committed; or, as I believe, any other; for this was none other, then to give the Sword to his enemies, to enable them to destroy him. So that this good King might well cry out with the Poet, Heu patior telis vulnera facta meis: Indeed, Golias' Head was cut off with his own Sword; but David took it from him perforce, and Goliath gave it not, neither could he hold it, when he lay at David's feet: when as the King was not so, when he passed this Act, but he might have easily denied to pass this Bill of an indissoluble Parliament; which had never been an Act, had he not given his consent unto the same, which in a short time after made his Enemy's Kings, and unkinged him; and the Lord Protector was hereby put in mind of his Grammar Lesson, Foelix, quem faciunt aliena pericula cautum: and therefore he never gave to his Parliaments such advantage against him. But you will say, that the Parliament deceived the good King, who was therefore the sooner deceived, because he was good; for as the Orator saith, Cicero, Epist. l. 10. quisque est vir optimus, it à difficilimè esse alios improbos suspicatur; and Cicero saith most truly, that Credulitas error magìs est, quàm culpa, & quidem in optimi eujusque mentem irrepit facillimé. So the credulous, and well-minded King believed the deceitful Protestations of the subtle Parliament, who pretended only, they desired him to pass this Act, that they might the sooner be trusted to raise up Moneys, to satisfy their Brethren the Scots, that were their Brethren indeed, but intended hereby to change the Government, to root out the King, and to exstirpate the Royal Race, and so to settle themselves, and their Successors in the Throne of Supremacy for ever, as it is more amply expressed in the Discovery of Mysteries, and as afterwards they shown their intentions unto all. I answer, that it is most true; they deceived the good King: so did the Serpent deceive our progenitors, and the old Prophet deceived the Man of God; yet this excused neither of them. And the Lord Coke saith, Tantum abest, Cokus Dè Jure R●gis Ecclesiastico. ut ignorantia excuset, aut extennet ejus errorem, qui veritatem invenire poterat, quam necessariò agnoscere debeat, & tantùm investigare noluit, ut in causa sit, cur graviùs plectatur, And it cannot be denied, but that the King should have searched and sifted into their Plots, and not to have been ignorant of their Wiles, as we are not to be ignorant of the Wiles of Satan, as the Apostle testifieth. And I must confess, that as it was wickedness in them to deceive the King, so it was want of good Counsel in him to be deceived, and suffer himself to be circumvented by them: for had he consulted with God, and by God's Ministers, that were now to be all tumbled down, I believe these Foxes of Satan should not have ensnared his Majesty; because they could have sufficiently informed him, how the Old Serpent hath Emissaries enough to deceive, if it were possible, the very Elect. And therefore, as he was as innocent as the Dove, so he should have been as wise as the Serpent, to avoid the Stings, and to find out the Wind of the Infernal Serpent; and one man's head, though the wisest among many, is scarce sufficient to pierce into the Plots and Subtleties of many heads. And if you say, he had his Counselors; true, and I could name them; and they were great ones too, and wise men too: but, as I said before, they were not the Ambassadors of Christ, the Counselors that are sent for God; for their Advice was not suffered at this time to be desired, their presence was to be excluded, and themselves shortly to be imprisoned. And therefore, as Lucan saith, Hoc placet, o Superi, cùm vobis vertere cuncta Propositum, nostris erroribus addere crimen. Therefore, as the King, though unwillingly gave way to these Foxes to suppress, and to exclude God's Ministers from his Counsels; so God might justly give way for his Counselors, to betray him to his enemies, by yielding to their Desires, to have an everlasting Parliament, thereby to end him, and to remain as Kings themselves without end. Some other Misprisons, it may be, the good King might commit, of less moment, and not so easily to be observed, though easily pass, as Plutarch saith, in great affairs. But howsoever, for all that this good King did, and in all the things, that he suffered or have happened unto him, you may see that God is just in all his ways and holy in all his Works, and how the Judgements of the great God, as they proceed from him, may easily be justified by the weakest of men. And yet, as in the sufferings, and Death of the King we do see, and must acknowledge the just Judgement of God, and that he spareth not his dearest Children, if they do offend, but, though Coniah were as the Signet upon his right-hand, when he transgresseth, God will cut him off; so, in this very Judgement of God, The great goodness of God towards King Charles seen. we may plainly see, Mercy ana Truth met together, Righteousness and Peace kissing each other; yea we may clearly see the great love, and mercy of God towards this good and godly King, both in his Death, and in the consequents of his Death, as specially 1. In his Friends 2. In his Honour 3. In his Posterity 4. In his Felicity: for First, In his death. touching his Death, it is a true saying, Qui non vult in vita praevidere mortem, non potest in morte videre vitam; and as another saith Turpe est eo statu vivere, in quo non statuas mori: therefore did King Charles live so Justly, so innocently, so Religiously, and so Christianlike, that he might well say, nec pudet vivere, nec timeo mori, I am neither ashamed to live, nor afraid to die: for he lived like a Saint, and died a Martyr, like a good Christian; yea, so Christianlike, that, although I would not wish it for a World, to be, where I fear many of his Enemies are, yet, next to my being with Christ, I would wish nothing of God sooner or rather than to be where I assure myself King Charles is. Nec dubito, qui sic vixit, sic mortuus idem est Qui n sit apud Superos nobilis umbra Deos. Secondly, 2 In the Consequents of his death. 1. In his Friends. Claud. 2. Stilicon. For the Consequents of his death, and First, For his Friends, as Claudian saith, Haec & amicitias lengo post tempore firmat, Mansuróque adamante ligat, nec mobile mutat Ingenium, parvae strepitu nec vincula noxae Dissolvi patitur, nec fastidire priorem Allicitur veniente novo.— Or, as Solomon, saith, fortis est ut mors dilectio, Love is as strong as death. So they verified all this, in testifying to the World, that although his Enemies took him out of the World, and his Picture, (which, with all reverend respect to Christ, be it spoken, was in my judgement, the likest that ever I saw, to that Picture, and Description of our Saviour, that Publius Lentulus sent to the Senate of Rome) out of our houses; yet they never were, nor ever shall be able to take him, or our loves to him out of our Hearts, the hearts of all us that truly knew him, quia igneti nulla cupido; and therefore loved him, and so loved him, that neither Life nor Death, nor all the malice of his Foes could, or can lessen our love, and honour that we bore to him, or blot out the goodness of this King, and the Sweetness of his disposition from our thoughts, and memories: but as the Son of Sirach saith of good Josias, so we say of good King Charles; In Honour, and good name. Ovid in Ibin: Antut Anaxa●chus pila minuaris in alta. The remembrance of King Charles is like the composition of perfume that is made by the art of the Apothecary, the more you stir it, the Sweeter it smelleth; and therefore Secondly, He is happy in his honour, and good name; that shall continue Famous and Blessed among all Posterities for evermore: for though Anaxarchus-like, that for his Detracting tongue was Pestled to death in a Brazen Mortar, his Enemies say, with malicious Juno, Non sic abibunt odia, vivaces aget violentus iras animus, saeuúsque dolor aeterna bella, pace sublatâ, geret. Their hatred to him shall never die, yet, as Solomon saith, Memoria justi erit in benedictionibus, the remembrance of this just man, and good King, shall be blessed for ever. Indeed the malice of his enemies hath been, and still is such, and so great, as that to falsify the Saying of the Poet, Pascitur in vivis livor, post fata quiescit, that tells us, we hate the living only, and our hatred dieth with death: they never cease to slain his good name, and obscure his honour with apparent lies, and scandalous aspersions: for their hate to him is immortal, and unexplicable, seeking to bury his honour with himself; yea, and before himself was buried, even while he was alive, they dealt with him, as the Jews did with his Master Christ, saying, that he was a Blasphemer, a Glutton, a Drunkard, a Sabbath-breaker, a Traitor unto Caesar, and a Seducer of the people, that had a Devil, and did cast out Devils through Beelzebub the chief of the Devils; and what not? so do these, like those Jews, say, that King Charles was an Hypocrite, making only an outward profession of honesty and piety; that he was a Tyrant, and a Traitor, which both are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, most inconsistible, when as a Tyrant, as Claudian describes him, Jnstat terribilis vivis, morientibus baeres, Claudian. De bello Gildico. Virginibus raptor, thalamis obscoenus adulter: Quisquis vel locuples, pulchra vel conjuge notus, Crimine pulsatur falso, si crimina desunt. For which I think the Devil could not have the face to tax King Charles with any of all these things: for we all know, that he was so merciful a Prince, as seldom, if ever, he took the advantage of the rigour of any Law, but lessened, and sweetened that same many times, and in many things: neither do I believe, that Juno herself, had she been his Queen, could have suspected him for any false Play; so a Prince was King Charles, beyond the fair carriage of Alexander towards the Wife, and Daughters of Darius. And that he should be a Traitor is a thing, that the like was never heard of; because Treason is, as you know, crimen laesae Majestatis, an offence against the Supreme Majesty, which was solely, and fully resident in himself; and would he, think you, be a Traitor to himself? Indeed he was; when too confidently he trusted himself into the hands of those perfidious Gentlemen, the Scots, that, worse than Judas, sold him, and delivered him to be crucified by his grand enemies of the Parliament; and other treason, I am confident, can no ways be fixed on him. But, quid miror? quid opus est verbis? what need we say any more? When men laid to Christ his charge the things, that he never knew, and taxed him with what he never did, nor said; what wonder is it, if they slander the Footsteps of his Anointed? Yet all they do is to no purpose; for, as Plutarch saith, Plutarch. in Numa. Omnes bonos justosque viros major post mortem sequitur laus; invidia non multum post illos temporis supervivente non nunquam etiam ante exitum eorum moriente; the greatest praise, and honour, will follow good, and just men after they are dead, envy and malice not living long after them, but sometimes dying before them: even as Justin saith, it did in Semiramis; Cicero pro Cor. or if not, yet as Cicero saith, Cùm mors extinxit invidiamres gestae sempiterna nominis gloria nituntur: when death slayeth envy, the virtuous Acts of good men will shine to the eternal praise, and glory of their good name; for as the Rain, or Dew will not stick upon a Seagulls back, so the reproaches, and imputations of the malicious, cannot prejudice the honour, and good name of the godly; quia ut malam conscientiam laudantis praeconium non sanat, ita bonam non vulnerat convitium, because that as no praise, nor flattery can heal a bad Conscience, nor make a wicked man good, so no slander, nor dispraise, can wound a good Conscience, or make a good man wicked, nor diminish any of his deserved honour; but, as Christ Laudatur ab his, ut culpatur ab illis, though he be blasphemed of the Jews, yet is he truly honoured of all Christians, and all Saints in all Nations, that do him service, and sing with St. Ambrose, Thou art the King of glory, O Christ, thou art the everlasting Son of the Father, that sitteth on the right hand of God in the glory of the Father; so our late good King Charles, notwithstanding that false, In the Royal Exchange. and infamous Inscription set up, where his Picture, and Statue stood, and notwithstanding all that the venomous mouths of malice can vomit out against him, which shall vanish like the Summer's Snow, or the grass upon the Housetop, that withereth before it be plucked up, shall have his virtues, his goodness, and his godliness Chronicled, & fama perennis erit, and so long, as we shall be able to speak, or write, we shall leave it recorded, as in Marble, to the eternal honour of this good King, and the everlasting shame of his malicious enemies: both which Nec ira, nec ignis Nec poterit abolere vetustas. Thirdly, In his Posterity. For his Posterity, God said not of him, as he did of Coniah; Writ this man childless: but he gave him a numerous, and a glorious offspring, and as Moses saith of the first Fathers, and replenishers of the World, He begat Sons, and Daughters; and he needed not to say of them, as Clytaemnestra said of her Children, Ista Clytaemnestra digna quevela foret. For when my Nuts are ripe, and brown, My leaves, & boughs are beaten down. Certè ego, si nunquam peperissem, tutior essem; Nor with the Nut-tree; In felix fructus in mea damna fero; But the world seethe he was most happy in them all, in whom he still liveth, and shall live, though his enemies studied their death, manibus pedibusqúe laborârunt, and have used all machinations, and all plots, and devices, that either subtlety, or cruelty could invent, to cut them off; but God preserved them, and his Providence watched over them, and especially his eldest Son, after a strange and almost miraculous manner, from the last Fight at Worcester, where, through the cowardice of some, the oversight of others, and (as they say) the treachery of some chief Commanders in his own Army, and by the prudent Carriage of a brave and valiant General, to give the Devil his right, as the Proverb goeth, such as this Age will scarce equal, he had been taken, or swallowed, had not he, that dwelleth in the Heavens, most graciously preserved him, in a manner, as he preserved Daniel from the Lion's mouths, and sent his Angel, as he did to Tobias, to direct him in his Journey, and to carry him safe through Sea, and Land, which is wonderful in our eyes, and doth sufficiently presage, that God hath kept him for some great work, that in his divine wisdom he intendeth to effect by him, as now we see the same begun to his great honour, and our unspeakable comfort. And as God hath thus mercifully preserved his Eldest Son, so he hath made his second, and his third Son, the Duke of York, and the Duke of Gloucester, famous for their excellent parts, and Heroical Exploits, like their Brother, and Ascanius-like, followers of their Father's Virtues, passibus aequis. Neither may I here omit that Virtuous, and Heroic Lady, the Princess of Orange, that, with her Brothers, and as her Brothers, will perpetuate the blessed memory of that blessed King for ever, who is herein, not like King Henry the 8th, that notwithstanding his six Wives, besides all his Concubines, hath not a branch of his Body, that we know of, remaining under the Cope of Heaven: nor like Ahab, and other Tyrants, and wicked men, whose seed, for their sins, God rooteth out: but as God hath promised, and since performed unto Abraham, that his Seed should be as the Stars of Heaven for number, that is, innumerable, and hath likewise promised to all the faithful Children of Abraham, that their Generation should be blessed; so he hath done it, and no doubt but he will perform it to this good King, to muliply his seed, and to bless them for ever, even as the Prophet Esay saith of all God's people, Their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the People, all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed, Esay lxi 9 So shall the seed of King Charles be. which the Lord hath blessed. Fourthly, The Prophet saith, the age of man is but seventy years, and Pindarus saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, umbrae somnium homo, man is but the shadow of a man, a thing of nothing; Sicque in non hominem vertitur omnis homo: In his eternal selicity. Man's life is but a shadow, that soon vanisheth; and Job saith, he hath but a short time to live, and that short time is full of misery, interminabilis labour, even an endless toil, like the tumbling of a Sisyphus stone, or the filling of the fatal Tunn by King Danaus' daughters; where the water run out, as fast as they poured it in: or, as the Poet saith most truly, Passibus ambiguis fortuna volubilis errat, Et manet in nullo certa tenáxque loco. Sed modò laeta manet, vultus modò sumit acerbos: Et tantum constans in levitate sua est. And when the affairs of this world are best, and our happiness at the highest, then, as the very Heathens have observed, they presently decline, and begin to turn like the Cart wheel, Res humanae in summo declinant. Which warneth all, on Fortune's wheel that clime, To bear in mind, that they have but a time. And such was the time of King Charles, of whom I cannot say with him, that wrote A short view of the long life, and reign of Henry the third; A dainty piece of story presented to King James. Es. liii. 8. but I must say the short life, and reign, and long troubles of Charles the First; for as the Prophet saith of Christ, non dimidiavit dies suos, he hath not lived out half his days, being cut off è terra viventium, from the land of the living at a few months more than thirty three years old; by his malicious enemies; so the like enemies have shortened the life of this good King, and cut him off at the eight and fourtieth year of his age; yet, as Esay saith of Christ, Generationem ejus quis enarrabit? who shall be able to declare his Generation? for he shall see his seed and shall prolong his days, and as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me saith the Lord, so shall his seed and his name remain; that is, for ever and ever: so I doubt not to say of King Charles, that howsoever, and for what cause soever, the wisdom of God hath been pleased to permit his enemies to shorten that life, which at the best, and to the best is accompanied with abundance of infelicities, yet, instead of that Crown which was replenished with cares, and circumvironed with thorns, and which his persecutors have snatched from him, God hath now crowned him with eternal felicity, and hath set a crown of pure gold upon his head, that is, as himself said, the crown of Martyrdom, which is the crown of the greatest glory, because none can go higher, or do more for Christ, then to die for Christ, for the defence of the service, and servants of God, and the laws of this Kingdom, as he testified upon the Scaffold. And so the Lord hath dealt with him, just as he saith of his chosen people, for a small moment have I forsaken thee, that is, while I suffered thine enemies so furiously to rage's against thee, and so maliciously to behead thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee; In a little wrath I hide my face from thee, for a moment, when in justice I punished thee for thine errors, those small things, wherein thou hast failed; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, when as now I make thee to be numbered with my Saints, in glory everlasting. Therefore, as Balaam wished that he might die the death of the righteous, and that his last end might be like his, Numb. 23 10. so from my soul I wish that my soul may rest, as I hope it shall, when it leaves my body, with this righteous King that doth now rest in Abraham's bosom. CHAP. II. SEcondly, For of his other subjects that were against him, I shall speak in an other place touching the King's subjects, that honoured, loved, and served him, and were of his party, and have been, and still were persecuted, banished, killed, and afflicted, so long as the Tyrants ruled, they are either, 1. Clergy, or And 2. Laity. or And First, as for the Clergy, that are the other second witness of Jesus Christ, they are either, 1. the Bishops 2. the Priests And whatsoever hath befallen to these, or to either of these, I may truly, and justly say with Ezra, Ezra ix. 13. and God hath punished us less, than our iniquities deserved. First, Touching the Bishops, that are the prime part of the spiritual Witness of Christ, I do cordially love all their persons, and honour their calling, being all of them very learned, and most reverend men, and therefore not to discover the nakedness of such worthy Fathers, whose imperfections, and imbecilities, like neves in a fair face, I had rather, with the good King, like the most Christian Constantine, cover with the lap of my garment, then expose them to the view of the Vulgar; but yet, to justify the do of our just God, whose Judgements always are according to truth, I must say, as Christ saith to the Angel, that is, the Bishop of the Church of Ephesus, and to the Angel of the Church of Pergamus, that God had somewhat against them, and I fear more than he had against those Angels, for which he might most justly remove their candlesticks, and remove them, Two things considerable in all Clergymen. as he did, out of their places. For there be two things considerable in the calling of all God's Ministers, as well those of the highest, as the other of the lowest order. 1. Their introduction, or coming into their places; 2. The Execution of their office, after they are entered into it. For first, Their entrance into that holy calling. So the Articles of our Church, and of our religion testify. Whosoever shall not be called by the spirit of God to the great office, as Aaron was, or shall not enter through the gate, that is Christ, or the Ordinance of Christ set down by his holy Apostles, is a thief, and a robber; and not the Vicar of Christ, but of Judas Iscariot, and of Simon the Samaritan; but whether all our Bishops came rightly in I cannot judge, we cannot search into the testimony of any man's conscience; yet, for the investigation of the truth, and the outward election and approbation of them, which Dionysius calleth the Sacrament of Order, I am sure, the King was so careful, that none should be admitted to that high, and holy office, but such as should be thought worthy, (both for uprightness of life, and soundness of learning,) of those places, whereof most of them, The execution of their office. if not all of them, he knew to be such himself. 2. For the execution of their office, they were to do it 1. by the example of a good life 2. by the discharging of their Episcopal duties. First, By a good example of a just, and holy conversation; because, By a good example. as the Poet saith, Exemplar vitae populis est vita regentis. The common people look rather after our example, then after our Precept; Christ's flock to be said three ways. therefore the Expositors do apply the thrice repetition of the same thing to Saint Peter, Feed my Sheep, to a threefold manner of feeding, that is, 1. Pasce verbo. 2. Pasce cibo. 3. Pasce exemplo. First, Feed them with the word of God, and with good instruction, With the word of God. how they ought to behave themselves, as becometh Saints, and what to believe, like good Christians. 2 With Alms-deeds. Secondly, Feed the poorer sort with food, and alms-deeds, so far as thy means, and ability will give thee leave. Thirdly, Feed all of them with the good examples, of humility, meekness, With good examples. gentleness, patience, piety, contentedness, and contempt of these worldly vanities. And here I must confess, that, instead of giving good Example unto the People, many of the Bishops, that were our Predecessors, gave the worst example that could be, both to their succeeding Bishops, and to all other people whatsoever, The evil Example of our Predecessors. if the example of covetousness, injustice, and neglect of God's Service be evil examples; for what pious men, and good Christians had formerly bestowed upon the Church, and Churchmen for the honour of God, and the promoting of the Christian Faith, they, either through covetousness, for some Fine, or affection to their Children, Friends, or Servants, have alienated the same from their Successors in Fee-Farmes, or long Leases, some for a 1000 some for an 100 years, Whereby we are not able to seed the poor ' nor scarce ourselves. and some for other longer time, reserving only some small rent for the succeeding Bishops, as in my Diocese, theat Lordship was set for 10. l. yearly, that is well-nigh worth a 200. l. and that was set for 4. l. that is worth a 100 l. and the like. And therefore seeing the Bishops themselves did so unjustly destroy their succeeding Bishops; what wonder is it, that the just God should suffer the haters of the Bishops, and the Enemies of all goodness, to destroy them? And therefore, not to do myself, what I blame in others, lest God should justly condemn me out of mine own mouth, I have resolved, and do pray to God continually, to give me the grace to perform it, and do hope, that God will grant it me; That I will take no Fine for any Lands, or Lordships belonging to my Bishopric while I live, that I may not wrong any of my succeeding Bishops, nor lessen the Revenue of the Church of Christ, but to take heed, and beware of covetousness, which is the cause of much, and many evils, especially in all Churchmen, as you see it was the root, that sprang to the destruction of Judas, and to cause Demas to apostatise from the Ministry of Christ. Secondly, For the discharging of the Episcopal duties, which is a very great charge, & onus Angelicis humeris formidandum, as a Father calls it, if, Revelat. two. 14. with the Church of Ephesus, we have not forsaken our first love, and grown cold in our care to promote the gospel of Christ; yet I fear the Bishops had amongst them, those that held the Doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to set a stumbling-block before the Children of Israel, that is, as the Apostle expoundeth it, to love the wages of unrighteousness: and for the love of worldly honour, wealth, and other sinister respects, to grow cold in the love of truth, which made a Preacher at Paul's cross to pray, that God would be pleased to make the Lords Temporal more spiritual, and the Lords Spiritual less temporal; and it grieves me much to set down, how the Bishop's Courts were generally complained of (how justly, or how unjustly, I cannot tell) as the greatest Oprressours of the People, and the public grievance of the Kingdom, their delays unsufferable, their excommunications unreasonable, Corn. Ag●ippa De vanit●ue Scient●arum, cap. 61. their Fees intolerable, and often times their injustice no ways to be excused; which made the Lay people to exclaim against the Bishops, and their Courts, as much, and in like manner as Cornelius Agrippa, and our Presbyterians do against the Romish Bishops. And if they say, as they do, the Courts belonged to their Chancellors, that were learned men, Doctors of the Civil, and Canon Laws, and of honourable repute among all Nations; and what they did, should not be imputed to the Bishop's fault: It may be answered, Qui facit per alium, idem est, quasi faceret per seipsum; he that offends by his Proctor, shall suffer by himself. And we must confess the Courts were the Bishop's Courts, and the Chancellors were but their Deputies, and they should have rectified the Abuses of their own Courts, Yet I must ingenuously confess, that I can accuse none of the Bishops for this fault, but that this is the complaint of the People, how truly I know not. unless the Chancellor might say to the Bishop, as it was said to the Pope of the like Officer, Vendere jure potest, emerat ille prius. He had paid him dear for his place, therefore he must take great Fees, and sell justice, or he shall lose much by the Bargain; for indeed, he cannot sell cheap, that buyeth dear, and be a saves thereby; nor can he prove, but very seldom, an upright Judge, that hath bought his office, and by corruption obtained his place: and therefore this selling of the Chancellour's office, and other places in the Bishop's Courts was the root of all the corruption that were of those Courts; and so the Bishops that did this, even for these faults, besides the neglect to redress their other abuses, can not, in my judgement, be any ways excused. But I will show you yet, To ordain unworthy persons to be Priests, a great fault. to the shame of some, greater Abomination, which I have often bemoaned, when I considered how some of the Bishops, not following Saint Paul's counsel in the ordination of Priests, and Deacons, to lay hands on no man rashly; but to see the Persons to be admitted to Holy Orders, should be no Novices, and no ways unworthy of that high Calling, but every way qualified, both for life, and doctrine, so, as the word of God doth require, have notwithstanding, Vide England's Reprover, pag. 67. either by the solicitation of friends, or for some other respects, and perhaps worse corruption, many times made young Novices, illiterate men, and, which is worse, men of corrupt minds, and bad life, the Priests of the most high Gods to wait at his Altar, that were not worthy to wait on our Tables; and therefore, as the Bishops, that did this, did herein falsify their faith to God, and betrayed his Service to these unworthy men; so the just God hath most rightly suffered these perfidious men to betray their Makers, to spit in their Father's faces, and to combine with the Enemies of God, to destroy the Bishops of Christ; and so, as the Poet saith in another kind, Ignavum fucos pecus à praesepibus arcent. Neither was this all the Bishop's fault, to ordain these, to drive away themselves: but, as it was said of old, Rector eris praestò, Men obtained their livings four manner of ways. de sanguine Praesulis esto: or, as another saith, Quattuor Ecclesias portis intratur in omnes: Prima patet magnis, nummatis altera, tertia charis; Quarta sed paucis solet patere Dei. So, to put weapons into their hands, to enable them to war with their Bishops: it was the practice of some of the Bishops (if we may believe the common report of the Country Mercury) to bestow Live, Rectories, prebend's, and other preferments, not on such worthy Scholars, and Academics, as best deserved them, but either upon their own Friends, Children, Kinsmen, or Servants, or on such, as, according to the old riddle, could tell them, who was Melchisedec's Father, and his Mother too; and could say Saint Peter's Lesson, Aurum, & argentum non est mihi, the clean contrary way. And this very practice of those Bishops, that did so, bred ill blood, and many corrupt humours against the Episcopal function; as especially, First, A disdain of them amongst those worthy men, that were so carelessly neglected. Secondly, A neglect of God's People, and leaving them untaught, and unguided by those unworthy men, that were thus promoted. Thirdly, A general distaste of the people against all the Bishops, when they resented these distempers, that were only caused by very few. And all these things cried to God for redress, and for judgement against the Bishops, that were the Authors of these evils; and so, as all the Mariners were tossed for Ionas his sin, so all the Bishops must suffer for the offence of few. And though, as Eusebius saith, all the malice of the world, and all the persecution of Tyrants, and all the Stratagems of that old Serpent could not darken the glory of Christ his Church, while the Bishops, and the rest of the Priests, and Preachers of God's word held together, and kept the Unity of Faith, in the Bond of Peace: yet when the Bishops fell together by the ears, and dissented in their opinions, the one from the other, the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, they that held the faith of one Substance (which is the right Catholic faith) from them, that maintained the faith of the like Substance, which was, and is the Arrian Heresy; and when the Priests banded against the Bishops, and the Bishops did therefore seek to suppress those Priests, than the Lord darkened the glory of the daughter of Zion, and the Church that formerly triumphed, sat then as a Sparrow, that is alone, mourning upon the Housetop; even so now in our days, when they that ought, and had promised, and vowed most solemnly, when they were admitted to Holy Orders, to reverence their Bishops, and to be advised by them, and obedient to them, began to spurn with their heels, to spit in their faces, and to bark against them in their Pulpits: our Saviour's words must hold true, that A Kingdom divided against itself cannot stand: and much less the Hierarchy, when the Priests, and Bishops are at such odds, and so contrary to themselves. And this division of Reuben, with the aforesaid distempers, was a great presage of their present fall; yet I believe not all the cause, that moved God to permit the Devil to stir up Enemies to throw them down, but the true cause was greater sins, if I judge right, then either of these: for the former might be the aspersions of Enemies, and but only the allegation of ill-willers without any sound ground for their Justification; or, if true, but the Acts of some few of the inferior Bishops; and the Divisions of the Clergy might lessen our repute, and weaken our Authority, but not utterly to overthrow our Hierarchy, as all the contentions of the Primitive Church never did. And therefore the true causes of our ruin must needs be of an higher nature, and they might be, besides the forenamed, and some others, that we know not of, these three main faults, that can neither be denied, nor excused. 1. The misguiding of the good King before the Long Parliament. The three great faults of the Bishops. 2. The neglecting of him in the Parliament. 3. The evil Counsel they gave him with the Parliament. First, The King, having a reverend opinion of the Bishops, Fault. was persuaded to second, and to set forward the Designs of the Bishop of Canterbury in many things, that brought him the ill opinion, and so diminished the love of the people; as in the matter of Saint Gregory's by Saint Paul's, and especially in sending the newly amended Liturgy unto the Scotish Church, and the Prosecution of that business so eagerly, to the great prejudice of the King; which was, to speak what I conceive to be truth without flattery, such an Episcopal offence, as cannot be expiated with words, nor could be defended with the power of the King, as the Scots alleged, Non omnibus unum est, Quod placet; hic spinas colligit, ille rosas. and which I conceive to be the Original, and the Seed of all the King's troubles, and misfortunes, and the Bishop's overthrow, mittere falcem in alienam messem, to busy themselves out of their own Diocese, especially among the Scots, that were bewitched with the love of the Presbytery, and hated all forms of Liturgies, but such as was without form, or beauty: like Christ at his Passion, that was then, as the Prophet saith, without form, or beauty; for had they rested quiet, without raising up those Northern blasts, and those Spirits, that they could not lay down, they might, no doubt, in my Judgement, have remained quiet to this very day; but they, throwing these stones into the Air, they fell into their own foreheads, and they verified the old Proverb, Qui striut insidias aliis, sibi damna dat ipse, he that diggeth a pit for another, shall fall into it himself; for, by troubling the Scots with the new service, they pulled an old house upon their own heads, and an unspeakable trouble upon the King, and this Kingdom, as they soon felt it afterwards, and all the people smarted for it. Secondly, Great fault of the Bishops. When they had troubled these unsavoury waters, and raised up these foul Spirits, that they could not bind, and had engaged the good King in this bad cause, they neither justified the King with their pens, nor assisted him with their purses, near so much, as so good a Patron, both of them, and of their Churches had deserved; but, as men stupefied with that storm, that the Parliament had raised, they were tonguetied in his Cause, and hand-bound for any great help, or assistance they afforded him, against his, and their own enemies. And what a neglect was this of so good a King by wise men? to save their Wealth, and to lose both their King, and themselves. I would they had remembered Ausonius his Epigram 55. Effigiem, Ausonius' Epigt. 55. Rex Croese, tuam, ditissime regum, Vidit apud manes Diogenes Cynicus; Constitit, utque procul stetit, majore cachinno Concussus, dixit; Quid tibi divitiae Nunc prosunt, regum Rex O ditissime, cumsis Sicut ego solus, me quoque pauperior? Nam quaecunque habui mecum fero, cum nihil ipse Ex tantis tecum, Croese, feras opibus. But they skulked to escape the storm, I could name the men that had, and let abundance of Wealth, and ready Coin behind them; and yet did nothing to relieve the King. and suffered their King to suffer Shipwreck, a fault, not unworthy to be punished by the Judges; and an unthankfulness, yea, and such unthankfulness, as exceeded all their former defects, and faults: to do so little for him, that did so much for them; and was contented to lose his life, as he did, rather than he would consent, that they should lose their honour, and be degraded of that Calling, to which Christ had called them; I am sure it is our duty, and we owe it unto our King, as I have fully showed in my Book, Of the Right of Kings, to hazard our lives for our King, and to spend all, that we have, in the defence of our King; and I think this King well deserved, if ever any King deserved at the Bishop's hands, that they should hazard their lives, and expose all that they had in the just defence of so just a King; and therefore God dealt most justly with us, to suffer all our Bishops to fall, that would not help him to stand, which agonized, strived, and sweated to keep them up. And yet I will show you greater abomination: for Thirdly, The greatest fault of the Bishops. When the Parliament thirsted after the blood, and so eagerly sought to take away the life of that good, and wise Earl of Strafford, and the King, like a just, and a Christian King, would not, against his Conscience, consent unto his death, to shed the blood of him, whom he conceived, if not innocent, yet not worthy of death, nor guilty of the crimes, laid to his charge, they chose some Bishops to persuade, the King, and to rectific his Conscience, as they pretended, wherein he erred; and they were the heads of the people, the heads of the Clergy, and the chiefest amongst the Bishops, two Arch-Bishops, and two of the prime Bishops, that I can name; and these, all but one, * The Bishop of London. which I am sure herein was the honester, the wiser, and the more Christian, advised the King;— and, I pray God the Earl's blood be not laid to their charge: howsoever, after they had been with the King, the King was induced to subscribe unto his death, though still with some reluctancy of his own Conscience, as himself confessed, which makes me to conceive, it was for none other cause, then as Pilate delivered Christ to be crucified, for fear of some evil, if he denied it; or as Herod committed St. Peter unto the Goal, to please the people, that would needs have it so: so did the Bishops, so did the King, though unwillingly, commit this great evil, to satisfy the desire of the long Parliament; but, O Lord, I hope, and am sure, thy mercy is such, that thou hast not laid this to the charge of him, that was deceived by those guides, that, with Balaam, had their eyes open, Numbers 24.15. and yet did set a stumbling-block before the blind; and therefore are the more inexcusable, who knowing the judgement of God, that they, which commit such things, are worthy of death, not only join with the Parliament themselves, though not in that sentence, yet in approving, by not disproving, the sentence of his death, but also be the means, at leastwise, ut causa sine qua non, to draw the King, to deliver him, into the hands of his Executioners. Who then, but such as with the Sodomites do grope for the wall in the clear day, can not see the judgement of God to be most just against us, and far less than we deserve, to suffer the Parliament, to thrust us out of their Society, when we would be companions with them in this Iniquity? and to put all the Bishops out of their Honourable calling, when the chiefest of them would have any Finger with the Parliament, to put such an honourable person out of his life? a person, The just commendation of the Earl of Strafford for a true Friend of the Church. that I dare say it, upon my knowledge, did more favour, and more good to the Church, and Churchmen than any man, except the King, in these three Kingdoms: for as men, that sail in a Ship, when a Storm cometh, must all both good, and bad, endure the same loss: so the Bishops, sailing with the same wind, must all perish, with their heads in the same Boat. And, as their sufferings, and the judgement of God was most justly inflicted upon them all in general, as we may conceive, for these master-faults, and the general corruption that was amongst them, not much inferior, if true, to those wherewith Corn. Agrippa taxeth the Roman Prelates: so I could descend to every particular man, and show you how the violent death of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the sudden death of the Archbishop of York, and the Childishness of the Archbishop of Armath; and whatsoever disaster befell to any other of them, they have for some offence or other more than most justly deserved the same. But I love not to rake in the dunghill of their shame, and dishonour, wherein I have no other pleasure, but to amplify the Declaration of the just Judgements of God, even upon these otherwise most worthy men, and the faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ, and upon the sight hereof, to teach every one of them, and every like of them, to say with Job, I do abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes, and to proclaim it with Saint Paul to all the World, Let God be true, and just, and every man a liar; and every one of them to have more cause to rejoice, and to praise God, that he hath so favourably spared them, then either to complain, and murmur, or to grieve, that he hath too severely dealt with them; and to warn all men to consider, 1 Pettr 4.17. that if these things be done in the green trees what shall be done in the dry? and if judgement thus gins in the house of God, and upon his own faithful Witnesses, for their delinquences, what shall be end of them, that obey not the Gospel of Christ? Secondly, 2 The Insetior Clergy. For the other Clergy the Priests, that have suffered and felt the rod of God's anger within these few years, wherein the Wars raged amongst us, I may distribute them into these two Ranks, that is either 1. Presbyterians or 2. Episcopalls or First, Revel. xiii. 11. The Presbyterians, are the false Prophets and the Beast that risen out of the Earth: and they were deuces omnium malorum, the Fountain from whence sprang all the mischief, they hated both the King, and the Bishops; and therefore contrary to their oaths taken many times, both of their Faith and allegiance to the King, and of their submission, and canonical obedience, to their Diocessans, have rebelled against their King, and railed against their Bishops, and became the incendiaries, and the bellows to blow and to inflame that fiery zeal, of some of our blind zealots, and the infernal malice of some others, both of the Parliament, Cities and Countries, to dethrone the King, and to degrade the Bishops. And truly, The causes of the differences and distaste betwixt the Bishops, and presbyterians. 1 On the Bishop's part. though I have diligently searched into the cause of this mischief, yet I could never fide it to be any other, then. First, too much austerity, superciliousness, and neglect, if not contempt, of these men, in some of the Bishops, for which they cannot be excused, when of all others, they should be courteous and affable, like Pompey, of whom it is Recorded, that no Petitioner departed from him discontented; because he either granted his request, or he gave such reasons with that courtesy and affability, that the Petitioner could not be offended; and as Titus, the Son of Vespasian was wont to say, non oportet quemquam a Caesaris colloquio tristem discedere, so should a Bishop especially endeavour, to let none of his coat and calling, to departed from him in discontent, Sueton. in vita Titi. if reasons and fair speeches could do the same; Multum quippe placent ádmixtis dulcia acerbis, and a soft answer appeaseth wrath, saith Solomon; and a fair speech gaineth love; and Secondly 1. Secondly on the Presbyterian part. 1. Pride. Pride 2. Ignorance 3. Envy 4. Ambition 5. Covetousness 6. Hatred. in the Presbyters, are the causes of all the discontent betwixt them and the Bishops. First, Their Pride and Arrogancy was such, that they thought too well of themselves, Superbos Jequiter ultor a tergo deus. and preferring themselves before others, they thought themselves worthy to be set above others; but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, saith Menander, none shall escape the punishment of Pride; because as Cicero saith, Nullum est officium tam sanctum tamque solemn, quod non superbia & abitio comminuere, ac violare solet; and as St. Augustine saith, Destruit superbia quicquid justitia aedificat, Pride destroyeth whatsoever Virtue or Righteousness buildeth; and the Poet saith as much; Inquinat egregios adjuncta superbia mores: our Pride soileth, and spoileth the best and fairest things; and so the Pride of these men destroyed whatsoever their good parts deserved; and deserve much they could not: For, Secondly, 2 Ignorance. Ignorance is many times the Mother of Pride, when as none is so bold as blind Bayard; for though sometimes, multum facit ad ingenium superbia, Pride spurreth on some to get Learning, and their Learning makes them the prouder: yet true knowledge, and especially the Divine Learning, teacheth Humility, and not Pride, for when they have attained to all Arts, and do know as much as Berengarius, that was said to know as much as was knowable; or as Solomon, that wrote of all Natures, from the Isop that groweth upon the Wall, to the Cedar of Lebanon: Yet may they cry out with the Poet, O quantum mortalia pectora cecae noctis habet: Ovid, M●t. l. 6, Alas! alas! how much Blindness lodgeth in all mortal men? and they may most truly say with Job, that they are but of yesterday, and know nothing: But their ignorance of the truth of the Holy Scriptures, the Writings of the ancient Fathers, and the Ecclesiastical Stories of all Times, made them to neglect their Duties, and to spurn against both their King, and their Bishops; for, had they been well versed in these things, and had understood them well, I should have thought it not possible for the Devil to have filled them with so much poison, as they have showed, both against their King, and against their Bishops; and that, just like the Coy-Duck, Officiosa aliis, exitiosa suis, to destroy their Brethren, to pleasure their Enemies, and the Enemies of God's Church. For, Thirdly, Seeing the Bishops, whom they deemed no more, than their Equals, to be preferred before them; and conceiving themselves thereby to be neglected, they both hated the King for his choice, and envied the Bishops for their places; and because they were not capable to work any other revenge, their Tongues were their own, and they let fly their Arrows, even bitter words, both against our obedience to the King, though cunningly, and obliquely; and most directly against the Calling of the Bishops, making that nothing, wherein themselves had nothing to do. But, till their envy had gotten power to work their ends, it only wrought the greatest mischief unto themselves: for, as it is said of Mount Aetna, Nil a lived nisi se valet arden's Aetna cremare, that it burns nothing but itself, Sic se non alios invidus ipse cremat; so the envious man comburitur intus & extra, doth burn, and pine away himself through envy; and this envy destroyed the whole Nation of the Jews: because, as Saint Ambrose saith, Maluerunt invidere, quàm credere, they rather chose to envy Christ for his honour, that he had for his Miracles, and good Deeds, then believe in him for their own Salvation; and the Bishops thought with Pindarus, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Melior est invidentia commiseratione, that a Case hateful was better then woeful, and that it was better for them to be envied by these, then to be pitied by all. But, Fourthly, The next thing, that made them to start aside, like a broken Bow, Ambition: was not so much their envy against the Bishops, as their ambition to obtain their places; and their ambition, which, as the Scholeman saith, is one of the Daughters of Pride, failing to lay hold of what it went about, or that preferment, which they sought, made them to fly out against the Bishops; and, as Arius, missing the Bishopric of Alexandria, became the Father of the Arian Heresy, and Aerius, as Epiphanius writeth, being denied the Bishopric, that he required, did first broach that Heresy, that there was no difference betwixt a Presbyter and a Bishop: so the Presbyterians haughty spirit breaketh forth to discontent, to murmur, to traduce, to malign, and to abundance of other evils, not easily to be discovered; for, as Cicero saith, Facillimè ad res injust as impellitur, quisquis est altissimo animo, & gloriae cupido; He is most easily induced, to do very unjust things, that is of an high mind, and ambitious of glory, and great places; Nam dulce venenum Est mundi lethalis honos: because this deadly desire of honour is like sweet poison, that enticeth us to suck it up. And Fifthly, As covetousness, and the love of this present World, Covetousness. made Demas to forsake St. Paul, so the like worldly love, and the love of the things of this World, hath made these false Brethren, to forsake their leaders; for this is that root of bitterness, Javenal. satire 14. which choketh every pleasant flower, and destroyeth every virtue; for, as Juvenal saith, quae reverentia legum? Quis metus, aut pudor est unquam properantis avari? what respect of Laws, what fear of punishment, or what shame of the World is at any time in a covetous man, that maketh haste to be rich? Nam saevior ignibus Aetnae Fervens amor ardet habendi. Yet we may, and aught to covet that, which is good; for he, that coveteth the Office of a Bishop, to feed the Flock of Christ, to preach the Gospel, and to promote the Glory of God, desires a good work, saith the Apostle; but he, that desires a Bishopric, to Lord it over God's Inheritance, and to enrich himself, and his Posterity, to purchase Lands, and to leave Lordships for his Children, this is an evil sickness, that produceth death. And this covetousness is said to be the Epidemical Disease of the Presbyterians, that are generally seen to be more covetous, than any other kind of men, as it is expressed in particular by the Author of the last Will and Testament of Sir John Presbyter. Sixthly, Covetousness. Their covetous desire and ambition, to get Wealth, and Preferment, and their unworthiness to obtain it, causing them to miss of it, have bred in them, not only envy against the Bishops, but also discontent, and hatred against the King, for preferring the other, and neglecting them; though the King did to them herein, Homer saith Iliad. π. but as God useth to do in the like case. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Annuit hoc illi Divum pater, abnuit illud, that is, to give them, what he thought fit for them, and to deny them, what he conceived them unworthy of. Yet, because that was not satisfactory to their expectation, when they beheld, as Ovid saith, Fertilior seges alienis semper in agris, better Corn, and a more plentiful Harvest in the Bishop's Fields, then in their own, they taught their Proselytes to invent new Oaths, and Covenants, to call new Synods, and they made Seditious, and Schismatical Sermons, and defended Perjuries, Forgeries, Treacheries, Equivocations, Rebellions, and the like; and they altered the whole frame of the Government of the Church, and of the Service of our God. And so, as Solomon ascended to the Throne of Majesty, per sex gradus, by six steps, so these men descended to the depth of their Iniquity, by these six ugly sins. And though, as Reusner saith, Formicae grata est formica, cicada cicadae, Et doctus doctis gaudet Apollo choris; one Ant, Disscidia inter aequales, ●ut fratres, p●ssima. and one Grasshopper loves another; and as Pliny saith, Serpens Serpentem non laedit, one Serpent will not by't, nor hurt another; and as our Saviour saith, If Satan cast out Satan, his kingdom cannot stand: yet these men, worse than Serpents, and foolisher than Flies, do that, which Satan will not do, destroy them of their own Profession, their fellow-Servants, and those worthy men, that made them the Ministers of Christ. Proud envy so their virtues doth deface, And makes these foes to them, they should embrace. And therefore, as their Pride, Covetousness, and Ambition, either through ignorance, or else, which is worse, against their Consciences, if they were not ignorant, have made them to envy the Bishops, and to hate the King, and thereupon omnem movere lapidem, to use all their best wit, and to employ their whole strength, like the brood of Vipers, to gnaw out the bowels of their Mother-Church, and like cursed Cham, to discover, and to deride their Father's supposed nakedness, and to spur on the Parliament, never to give over to prosecute their design, to degrade the Bishops, to put down the Hierarchy, Root and Branch: so the just God, whose Judgements are true, and righteous altogether, Psal. 19.5. to recompense this their wickedness to their bosom, suffered the Devil, to stir up as spiteful, and as malicious a generation of Vipers, as themselves, a brood of Independents, that sprang from among themselves, and that became as outrageous against them, as they had been injurious against the Bishops; and these were not afraid to jeer Jack Presbyter, as they termed him, to his face, to set out his last Will, and Testament, and to proclaim it to the World, that these Presbyterians were far more insolent, more intolerable, more inconsistent with Monarchy, and their Government every way, more unjustifiable, and further from the Apostolical Rule, than the Government of the Prelates; and if the Presbytery should be established, whereas before we had but twenty six Bishops in all England, So many Popes in England, as there be Parishes. we should then have not a Bishop, but a Pope in every Parish throughout this Kingdom; and a Pope more arrogant and presumptuous, and more tyrannical, and injurious to the people of God, then ever any Bishop, or Pope attempted to be: for whereas neither Pope, nor Bishop excommunicated any Christian, but either for contempt of his Court, or upon sufficient proof upon the Oath of good Witnesses, to make good the Allegation alleged against him, every Presbyter, upon his own dislike, and his own supposal, that such an one is unworthy, and a scandalous liver, will presently excommunicate the same person, and cut him off from the Body of Christ: heu scelus nefandum! an offence beyond expression. And so by these, and the like bold attempts, And another saith, Hic jacet in cineres, quem deflent hae mulieres, Presbyter Andreas, qui vitiavit eas: Cujus luxuriae meretrix non sufficit omnis, Cujus ●varitiae totus non sufficit orbis. and constant Allegations of the Independents, the dissembling and Hypocritical Assembly of Presbyterians were disliked, divers of them imprisonned, some of them executed, others fled, and all of them discarded, and discharged from their new devised Presbyterial Tyranny: and one that best knew them, makes this Epitaph of them. Presbyter hic jacet, jam dedecus urbis, & orbis, Qui nostrae aetatis magna ruina fuit; Hic est, si nescis, qui nobis certe paravit Excidium, pestem, funera, bella famem, Contemptor sacrum, blasphemus, publicus hostis, Perfidus, ingratus, raptor iniquus, atrox; Ex ista tandem migravit urbe Tyrannus, Quo pejor pestis nullus in orbe fuit. And, as there were, under the Law, four great Prophets, Esay, Jeremiah, Ezechiel, and Daniel; and in the time of the Gospel, four Evangelists, St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John; and in the Primitive Church, four famous Greek Fathers, St. Athanasius, St. Basil, St. Gregory Nazianzene, & St. chrysostom; and the like four in the Latin Church, St. Hierome, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, and St. Gregory; and in the Popish Church, four great Scholedoctors, Aquinas, Scotus, Antoninus, and Bonaventur: So these Independents have nominated four Arch-Presbyters, Martial, Case, Calamy, and Edward's, to be the four Bearers of the Presbyterial Assembly to his Grave, and appointed Sibbalds to teach their Funeral-Sermon upon that Text in Psal. 89.44. The days of my youth hast thou shortened, and covered me with dishonour: and Burges, and Sedgewick, were to be the close Mourners: then Gouge to throw it, like an Ass, into the pit, with these few words, Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, And rise thou, when others must. And thus their own Proselytes have jeered the Presbytery out of his life. The whole Trial of Mr. Love, pag. 68 And, that, which is more worthy your observation, Mr. Christopher Love, who confesseth, that he was the first Scholar, that he knew of, or ever heard of, in Oxford, that did publicly refuse, in the Congregation-House, to subscribe unto those Impositions, or Canons, imposed by the Archbishop, touching the Prelates, and Common-Prayer, for which, he was expelled the Congregation-House, never to sit amongst his Brethren; so he was the first of the Presbyters, that suffered death for the defence of the Covenant, and the Presbyterian Cause. And this was, as I conceive, some part of the inchoative Judgement of God upon them, in this life; what more shall be imposed on them, either here, or hereafter, it is not for me to imagine, but leave it to him, that is the Judge of all the World. But hereby we may all see, How justly God hath dealt, and dealeth with the Presbyterians. how just is God in all this, to throw them down, that sought to raise themselves by throwing their Fathers down. And who then, considering these just Judgements of Almighty God, and his unsearchable ways, to pull down the pride of men, and to cross the ambition of aspiring spirits, should not rather fear to deal unjustly, and be contented with his own unblameable station, then seek to raise himself, by unwarrantable courses, and especially such, as are by the downfall of others? When, as Pliny writeth of the Hart-wolf, Quamvis in fame mandens, si respexerit aliud, oblivionem cibi subrepere aiunt, digressumque quaerere illud, etc. that, be he never so hungry, and eating; yet, if he seethe another prey, Venator sequitur fugientiae, capta relinquit. Semper & inventis ulteriora petit. Ovid. Amor. lib. 2. he forsakes his meat, and followeth after the same, and thereby doth oftentimes, like Aesop's Dog, lose the morsel in his mouth, by snatching at the shadow in the water: so the ambitious covetous wretches, making no account of what they have, but greedily, and unjustly hunting after more, do, by the just judgement of God, amittere certa, dum incerta petunt, as Plautus saith, lose what they justly had, by their unjust seeking of what they should not look after. Secondly, The Episcopal Clergy. For those Clergymen, that were not the Members of the false Prophet, but were Royalists, and the approvers of the Episcopal Function, and yet have not escaped the fiery trial, but have been driven through fire, and water, and have suffered many heavy things, to be plundered of their Goods, deprived of their Live, and often times detained in Bonds, or driven to fly from their house, and home; I say, that, besides other causes, best known to God, into whose secrets we dare not dive, we know good reasons, that they were not thus handled without good cause, nor any ways unjustly dealt withal by the just God: as specially, if there were nothing else, but because they were not 1. Either right Royalists, or 2. Right Episcopals; but, as the Poet saith of the Maremaid, Desinit in piscem mulier formosa superné, or, like those half-Christians, that begin in the spirit, but end in the flesh; or those Apostles, that would build Tabernacles, to remain with Christ on Mount Tabor, where he was transfigured in glory, but will flinch away, and forsake him, on Mount Calvary, when his face was filled with ignominy: so they like the Jews in Elias his time, halted betwixt God, and Baal; were staggering betwixt the King, and the Parliament; and tottered betwixt the Bishops, and the Presbyters: as doubtful what would be the event, and issue of this debate. For 1. Divers indeed loved the King, and approved his Cause, as most just, and right, and their Consciences told them how far they were obliged, even by God's word, to honour and obey him in all his just Commands, and to assist him against his unjust enemies; but they like Ephraim, that was as a Cake baked on the one side, or like the Church of Laodicea, that, of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, were termed a righteous people, and yet were neither hot nor could, but lukewarm in their Profession; so were these men, as they pretended, for the King, but did nothing against the Parliament, nor any thing to any purpose, for the King; for had they all, with their tongues, and with their pens, high scriptis illi verbis, published, and thundered it out, like Trumpets, unto their several Congregations, and to all the World, how unjustly, and how unchristianlike it is for any Subjects to rebel, and to war against their King, and how far they, and all other true Subjects, and good Christians, are bound in Conscience, and obliged by God's Word, to defend him, whom they know without question, is their undoubted King; and had they themselves (to give good examples unto their people) opened their purses, and extended their bounty to the uttermost of their power, and sent their Servants and their Children to assist his Majesty, I doubt not, but am sure of it, that they had herein pleased God, and in all probability defended the King, and freed themselves from that yoke of Tyranny, and all those burdens and afflictions, that since the Parliament prevailed, were imposed upon them, and they were necessitated to undergo them: but they were such, as Pliny speaks of, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mouthless men, that could not, or would not speak a word in the King's cause, and they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men without hands, able to do nothing, or at least willing to do nothing for him, that underwent all his trouble for the Church, and Churchmen. And therefore, when they neglected their duty, to do what in their Consciences they were persuaded they should do, it was most just that they should suffer what they would not suffer, because the sins of omission are as punishable, as the sins of commission, and he that is not with me, saith our Saviour, is against me, and he that gathereth not, scattereth abroad, and so (the Angel cursed Meroz, and cursed bitterly the inhabitants thereof, because they came not forth to help Israel against Jahin King of Canaan;) and so they are justly punished, that, being in their hearts for the King, they did not with their tongues, hands and purses, do the uttermrst of their endeavours to aid, and assist the King; for as the Poet saith, Foederis haec species, id habet concordia signum, quos jungit amor, jungat & ipsa manus. Our hands should ever go with our hearts: and I am confident, had all we, that in our hearts were for the King, given to his Majesty in time, the fifth part of that which the Parliament hath since plundered, and wrested from us, we might by the assistance of God, have preserved both our King, and ourselves, from all the miseries, and losses that the Parliament hath since brought upon us; and what fools were we, to save our wealth, and shut our purses to enrich our enemies, and to empower them to destroy ourselves! O let ns never do so again. Secondly, For those that approved of Episcopacy, and had subscribed to the Articles, and allowed the Liturgy of our Church, and were in their Consciences persuaded of the purity, and excellency thereof, the same being composed by those godly Martyrs, that weeded all superstition, and superfluities from it, and then sealed the rest, that was inoffensive, and pious with their blood; and the same also, being justified by all the convocations of all the Bishops, and Clergy ever since and accordingly confirmed by acts of Parliament throughout the reign of four most pious Princes; for the space of well near one hundred years; for them, I say, through hope to save, and to retain their live, and so for the love of the World, to comply with the Parliament, and to embrace their directory, so indirectly to serve God, every Presbyter after his own fancy, and to omit the whole set form of God's Worship, enjoined to be observed in all Churches, save only the reading of a Psalm, and two Chapters (which notwithstanding they did not according to the Rubric) and to profane all Holidays, even those, that are set apart for the Commemoration of the blessed Birth, Circumcision, and Ascension of our only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: and all other days, that the former Saints and the whole Church of Christ had appointed for the children of God, to meet, to give thanks to God, for the great blessings, that all we had received from him; I demand of any man, even themselves being Judges, if it be not very just, that they should be plundered, and pressed, and even lose their live, which have so unjustly, and so perfidiously done those things in hope to retain their live; for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Non te latuerit, O supreme Jupiter, horum malorum quisquis autor extitit. The Heathen man can tell us God will not be mocked, neither can we blind the allseeing eyes of God, nor hid ourselves out of his sight, when we do commit such evils; and Christ tells us plainly, he that saveth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for his sake shall find it. And were the Martyrs so ready to lose their lives for his sake, and shall we be so unwilling to forgo a little worldly pelf, and some small living for his sake, that tells us plainly, whatsoever we give, or lose for his sake, we shall be required an hundred-fold, and shall receive eternal life. Let them therefore that will, if not out of faction, or ignorance, but for the love of their live, reject our inoffensive, and divine Liturgy, that is so conducing to peace, and good order, so little obnoxious to any just exception, and so exceeding profitable for the instruction of the people: for mine own part, I know it to be the true service, of the true God, and the best way that I know to serve God; and therefore, by God's help, I will never omit it, nor be guided by their directory for all the live, that they could, or can heap upon me; and, I pray God, it be not laid to their charge, that to comply with the factious opposers of it, or to retain their live have done it, to betray the service of God, and to lay aside those heavenly prayers, that were made by holy Saints, and approved by all the best Doctors of the Church, and appointed by authority, to be used to help the devotion of God's people, and in the stead thereof to authorize, or at least by their example to encourage every Ignoramus to prate nonsense, and sometimes to belch out blasphemies in his prayers to God, and in the face of the Church, without shame; God forgive them. Secondly, For the lay-subjects of the King, that have had their part, in the miseries of these latter days, The lay-subjects. I speak only of those, that in their Consciences approved of their King's cause: for his enemies, their portion, perhaps, is yet unpaid I may divide them into two ranks, just as were the followers of Gideon. 1. Judges seven. 7. Some were faint hearted, and they were the greatest part and that by much. 2. Others were very faithful, and courageous, but they were by far, the smallest number, not above 300. of 32000. so were the following subjects of King Charles. First, The faint-hearted Royalist. the faint-hearted subjects, that loved the King, and wished that he might prosper, and prevail against his Adversaries, but feared the powerful, numerous multitude of the Parliament abettors, that were very many, and were just like the Inhabitants of Meroz, that hated the Canaanites, but did nothing for the Israelites: so did these nothing, or so little as nothing, for the King, and for their fellow-subjects, that were with him. And yet the Schools tell us, and so do the Heathens also, that Qui potest liberare alium, & non liberat, occidit; he that can deliver another, that is, from anundeserved death, as in his Conscience he believeth is innocent, and delivereth him not, killeth him, and is thereby guilty of his blood; and the Canonists do say, Scotus in sent. didst 15. decret. secunda parte c. usa 23. q. 3. Et Seneca passim● qui succurrere perituro potest, cum non succurr●t occidit. And Cicero saith, N●l habet fortuna majus quam ut possit. nec n●turametius quam ut velit servare Pro. xxiv. 11, 12. qui non repellit injuriam à Socio, cùm potest, tam est in vitio, quam qui facit; he that hindereth not an injury, or a wrong that is done his fellow, when it lieth in his power to do it, is as much in fault, as he that doth the injury: and Solomon saith, If thou faint in the day of Adversity, thy strength is small, and if thou forbear to deliver them, that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain, and sayest, behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy Soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works; and the Prophet David biddeth us to defend the Fatherless, and the Widows, and to see, that such as be oppressed, have right, which was the practice of Job, as himself confesseth; and of Moses also, when he killed the Egyptian, to deliver the oppressed Israelite out of his hands: and the Poet that knew no more, than what the dim Light of Nature shown him; saith, Turpe erit in miseris veteri tibi rebus amico Auxilium nulla parte tulisse tuum: Ovid. lib. 2. De Ponto. It is a foul shame for any man to leave an old friend in distress, and not to further him with his aid, and assistance. And if men are thus obliged to assist their Neighbours, and their Friends, A shameful thing to neglect our Friends in Adversity. when they are wronged, how much more are they bound to aid, and to defend their King, when they see him wronged, and sought to be murdered, or dethroned? for these men had sworn Allegiance, and fidelity to their King at divers times, and many of them, if not most of them, had their places and offices, at least their Protection formerly from him; and, passing over those that were furthest from my knowledge, and, to speak of them, quorum pars magna fui, mine own Country men and Kinsmen, with some great, (I know not how good) men, had like Aeneas and Vcalegon, invited the wily Greeks to enter Troy, and to come into our Coasts; the chiefest Gentry were all moved, and persuaded to swear, and to take an Oath, so well deviced and penned, as the best, and most learned Divines in all those parts could do it; to be true and faithful unto their King, and to the uttermost of their power, with the hazard of their lives, and the expense of their goods, and fortunes, to oppose all those Adversaries, The inconstancy of many men. that then opposed him, and the chiefest of them by name. And yet behold the Constancy, and the Faithfulness of these good Subjects, how good Christians I know not, before one drop of their blood was spilt, or any part of their goods spent, they submitted themselves to the Parliament, and left the King's friends to sink or swim, and the King himself to do as he could; and I believe they were neither the first, nor the last that did the like in many parts of this Kingdom; neither do I conceive these men to be the worst of the King's Subjects, because, that indeed, there was something now, that might induce faint-hearted men, and semi-Subjects to yield unto the Parliament (though not to break their Oath, which is indispensable, and should be inviolably kept in any Case) for that the King was worsted, and the Parliament had very much prevailed against him; though this also is no such great Inducement, either with wise men, or faithful Subjects, to make them, so suddenly to lay down their Bucklers; because, as the Poet saith, Victores, victique cadunt, victique resurgunt. The doubtful events of war. And as another saith, Communis Mars est, & interfectorem interficit. Sam. xi. 25. That is, in King David's Phrase, The Sword devoureth one as well as another, as well the Conqueror as the conquered; and therefore Menevensis saith of King Alfred, Si modo victor erat ad crastina bella pavebat, Si modo victus erat ad crastina bella parabat. He feared his Enemies when he overcame them, and he prepared against them, when they overcame him; and, as Demosthenes answered, when he was charged for running away from his Enemies, Vir fugiens, denuò pugnabit, he that runs away to day, may cause his enemies to fly away to morrow: and so we find it verified many times, as the Histories of the greatest Warriors testify unto us. But, if fear of the Prevalency of the Parliament was now so powerful with them, as to bind their hands, and to shut their Purses from the King, what was the reason they were so slow, and did so little aid him, either with men or money, when, in all probability, the King had the better, or at lest stood at even terms with his enemies, and then might with a little help, and a small weight added, turn the Scales, and so subdue his Adversaries, and prevent all the miseries, and disasters that have happened ever since? Surely, here can be made none other answer, nor any excuse alleged, but the same reason that the Merozites had to shut their mouths, stop their feet, and hold their hands, till they did see who should prevail, and under whose wings they thought to shelter themselves, when all the brunt was past, The true cause of the neutrality of most men in this Kingdom. without danger; or, at least to come off upon very reasonable terms. And this was the cause of the neutrality of the most men, especially the greatest men of this Kingdom. And is it not therefore most just, that this panic fear, and punic faith should suffer the punishment that such perfidiousness deserved? that he which refuseth the sweet, How justly these men were punished by suffering all that fell upon them. just, and easy Yoke of Christ, should undergo the bitter, hard, and cruel Yoke of Satan? or that they, which undutifully neglected, and refused to do a little help, which their Conscience told them, they should do for their King, that exposed himself to the hazard of his life, and loss of his Kingdom, for to maintain the Service of God, and to defend their Laws, and Liberties; should bear the full Measure, and Weight of that punishment, which they deserved? Yes certainly, me judice, these, of all others merited to be scourged with Scorpions and not lashed with twigs, and I pray God, their deserts do not light upon their heads, when as, neither plundering, nor composition, nor taxes can Parallel that greatness of their offence, that destroyed both the King and his party by their deserting of them. Therefore, whatsoever miseries, taxes or service, or any, other Trouble, of the like nature hath fallen on any person of this classes, The greatness of their offence. let him say, and he shall say but the truth, that God hath, not only most justly dealt with him, that had so unjustly neglected his King, but hath been more merciful unto him, then either his offence deserved, or with any reason could be expected. Secondly, 2 The faith. For those Subjects of the King, that were like gedeon's faithful Soldiers, and spent their Wealth, and Strength to the uttermost of their power, to assist his Majesty, and did, according to their Consciences, and as they conceived the Word of God, Expounded by the true Prophets and servants of Christ, directed them, and yet felt the rod of God, and the miseries of those times in full measure and far heavier than most others, as though they had been the worst of men, and the greatest of all Sinners, such as divers of the Jews conceited those eihtteen Galilaeans, upon whom the Tower of Siloah fell, and those whose Blood ●ilate mingled with their Sacrifice, were; I say that if God should be extreme to mark, what they had done amiss, or should with the Eye of justice look upon the best of all his Saints, were he as faithful as Moses, that was faithful in all God's house, as religious as David, that was a man according to Gods own heart, as constant as Saint Peter, that was contented to be Crucified for the Faith of Christ, and as industrious as Saint Paul, that laboured more than any of all the Apostles, yet were he not able to answer God one of a thousand, but he must lay his Hand upon his Mouth, and opening the same, he must say with Holy Job, If I wash myself in Snow water, and make my hands never so clean; Job. ix. 30. yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own shall abhor me, Dan. ix. 7. and with the Prophet Daniel, O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto the, When we do never so well God may justly punish us, though not for that our well-doing, but for some other evil-doing, that we had done at some other time before, or for some defect in our well-doing. Why God punisheth the loyal Subject, and his own most faithful servants. but unto us shame and confusion of Faces. And therefore how faithful, and how constant soever these seemed to be, both in the service of God, and discharging their duties unto the King, yet must they confess, they failed in many things of that degree of perfection, which God requireth at their hands in both respects, they neither serveing God as they ought, nor being such Subjects unto their King, as the strictness of God's Law requireth. And therefore I say, First, that in all our sufferings, whatsoever calamities we have endured, and what pressure soever lieth upon us, we must all confess, that, either for our delinquences, and miscarriages in these times, or some other offences, committed by us, at some other times, we are most justly, and far less than we deserve, afflicted, and punished by God, whose judgements on us, as upon all others, are always most righteous, and just. Secondly, I say, that there is crudelitas parcens, & misericordia puniens, a sparing, which is cruelty, and a punishment; that is a great mercy; and such are the troubles, pressures and punishments of God's Children, mercies rather than judgements; because they proceed not from God's Wrath, but as the chastisements of a Father to his Children, so do these come from the love of God towards his servants, for their good, whom he afflicteth here for a moment, that they should be bettered, and not be condemned with the Wicked hereafter for ever. Thirdly, I say, that the Miseries, Crosses, and Calamities, Reason. 1 that the Faithful suffer in this World, are not always so much a punishment for their Sins, Reason. 2 though their Sins deserve much more, Reason. 3 and Sin is the root from whence all miseries do spring, as trials, and probations of their Faith, and Constancy in God's love, and service; for so the Scripture saith, that God tempted Abraham, not temptatione deceptionis, to deceive him, as Satan tempteth us, but temptatione probationis, to try him, whether he would obey the Commandment of God, or not, when he commanded him, to offer his Son, his only Son Isaac for a Sacrifice, unto God: and so he tried the Israelites, at the waters of Strife; and, as Moses saith, in their Forty years wand'ring through the Wilderness, to see, whether they would love the Lord their God, and cleave unto him, and continue faithful in his service; and so he doth plainly tell the Church of Smyrna, that the Devil should cast some of them into Prison, that they might be tried, and they should have Tribulation ten days: and that is, either ten years, as Junius expounds it, or else, several times, as others think; yet all to this end, that they might be tried, whether they would continue faithful unto death, or not; and such were the afflictions of Job, and of many other of the Saints of God: they were justly deserved by their Sins, and God in mercy sent them for their trial. What the former Doctrine teaching the us. And therefore whatsoever, and how great soever a measure of Miseries, Crosses, and Troubles, we have or shall suffer; yet let us not faint, nor be afraid of them: and let not the Children of God be like the Children of Ephraim, that being Harnessed and carrying Bows, and so well prepared for the fight, yet turned themselves back in the day of Battle, when there was most need of their assistance; but as we have loved our King, and have suffered all the calamities and burdens, that are laid upon us, for our faithfulness to him, and the preservance of a good conscience, so let us continue unto the end, and never comply with any of the King's Enemies, in the abatement of the least jot of our love, and good opinion of the deceased King, or with the Factious Non-conformists, in the dis-service of God, and the new invented Religion of our upstart Schismatics; let neither weight of trouble, nor length of time change our minds: because perseverance in Faith, and Virtue is that, which crowneth all the other Virtues; and if at any time, even at the last, we forsake our first love, and change our Faith we lose all the reward of all the former good, that we have done, and do, by our revolt, testify, that we were not good, for the love of goodness, nor adhered to the truth, for righteousness sake; but for some other by-respects, for our own ends, that never brings any to a good end: and therefore the primitive Christians could never, by any means, be drawn, to alter the least point of their Faith, Prudent De Vincéntio. and the right service of God; but, as Prudentius saith, Tormenta, carcer, ungulae, Stridénsque flammis lamina, Atque ipsa, paenarum ultima, Mors, Christianis ludus est. All the Torments, and Terrors of the World could never move them, to change their minds. But some man may say, Objection. Providence hath decided the Controversy, the King is dead, Victrix causa Dits placuit. and the Parliament hath prevailed against him, and all his Friends; and therefore what should I do now, but comply with the stronger side, and use that religion, which they profess, and that form of worship, which they prescribe, and so redeem the time, that I have lost, and repair some losses, that I have sustained. I answer, Solution. that our Saviour Christ, to prevent this very Objection, that the Jews might make to terrify the Christians, and to withhold them from the faith of Christ, because they had killed him, and he was dead, and therefore to what purpose should they adhere to a dead Saviour, and hazard their lives, and their fortunes, to maintain the honour of a dead man, that could not preserve his own life, because a Living Dog is better than a dead Lion, saith unto his Servant John, I am he, that liveth, and was dead, and behold, (or, mark it well,) I am alive for evermore, Amen; and therefore let not my death deter any man from following me, or believing in me: so I say, that faith, and truth are still alive, and though oftentimes suppressed, and afflicted, yet not killed; and therefore the Poet saith, Despair not yet, though truth be hidden oft; Because at last she shall be set aloft. And as another saith, Terra fremat, regna alta crepent, ruet ortus & orcus; Si modo firma fides, nulla ruina nocet. And for King Charles, I say, though he is dead, yet he is still alive many ways; and that his blood, like Abel's blood, being dead, yet speaketh, and speaks aloud, not only to God, These things were written, and preached, by the Author in the time of Oliver. but also to every one of them, that loved him, that they should not so soon forget their faith, and love to him, that lost his life for their defence, and the defence of the true Catholic Faith; and though he be dead, he is still alive, alive with Christ in Heaven for evermore, and alive with us on earth, in the good, that he did bring to us, in the love, that he shown towards us, and in the good, that he left amongst us; and shall we leave him, and leave our love to him, and our remembrance of him, and forsake our faith, and prove perfidious both to God, and to the honour, and to the memory of our deceased King; and cleave to them, to say and do, as they say and do, that have bereft us of him, and would have destroyed us with him? No, no; let us abhor them, and their evil do, detest their false Faith, and hate their Wickedness with a perfect hatred. And though we have suffered much, and may suffer much more, at the hands of these Tyrants, that are our new Masters, yet let us submit ourselves unto them, but as Daniel, and the rest of God's people did unto the Chaldeans full sore against their wills; james v 11. Job lxii. 12. and let us yield none otherwise to this present Government, than the Children of Israel did unto Pharaoh, that is, till they saw all Opportunity to be delivered from it. And, as the Apostle saith, You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, how the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: so may the Lord do with us; for as the Lord saith unto Cain, Sin lieth at the door, and is ready like a Sergeant to attach every cruel, bloodthirsty, and wicked Sinner, and so the Lord knoweth best both how and when, to deliver his Servants out of all their troubles, and his will be done: let us still wait on him; and stay his time, and we shall not miscarry. Amen. CHAP. III. THirdly touching the Irish Rebels, that are now either killed, banished, or enslaved; I say the world may see in them, as in the clearest Crystal glass, the just Judgement of God, and should learn by their example, Obadiah vers. 15. Jer. l. 15. to fear to offend his great Majesty; for, as the Prophet Obadiah saith concerning the Edomites, who came of Esau, Jacob's brother, and so were brethren unto the Israelites, As thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee; the reward shall return upon thine own head: and as Jeremiah saith the like of Babylon, Take Vengeance upon her, and, as she hath done, do unto her: so we find the Lord dealeth with the Irish, measuring unto them the same measure, that they measured unto their brethren the English, and those brethren, whom they pretended to be dearer unto them, the Britain's. And how, I pray you, have they dealt with these their dear brethren? surely, the heinousness of their cruel, and most wicked do, can hardly be expressed, though by a far better Orator than I am, that never had any other stile, but plain; yet, so near as I can, according to my plain manner, I will set it forth in these four respects; that is, The Suddenness, and unexpectedness of the Irish Rebellion. 1. The Suddenness of it, for 2. The Subtlety of it, for 3. The Cruelty of it, for 4. The Generality of it, for First, When a dark Cloud appears, and when the Winds do blow, and the Waves of the Sea do roar, before a mighty tempest of Lightning, and Thunder, and a storm of Hailstones doth fall upon us; men, foreseeing thereby, what is like to ensue, may either wisely prevent the danger, or resolvedly prepare themselves with Patience to sustain all their ensuing miseries, which will not be so terrible unto them, when they are expected, before they fall upon them; quia tela praevisa minùs nocent, because foreseen evils do least hurt us: and, as Horace saith, Levius fit patientiâ, quicquid corrigere est nefas; because Patience lightens the maladies, that we cannot mend: Gen. nineteen. 24. but when the Sun doth shine upon the ground, and the Lord suddenly raineth Fire, and Brimstone from the Lord out of Heaven, as he did upon Sodom, and Gomorrah, there is no evasion of such a sudden Destruction; and yet, the Irish Insurrection was not much unlike the Sicilian Vespers, or the French Massacre, that came like a Thief in the night, and rushed upon the poor Protestants, like an armed man, against whom there is no resistance: and as Joab shed the blood of War in Peace, Reg. two. 18. so did the Irish Rebels shed the blood of their harmless Neighbours, that behaved themselves most peaceably amongst them; and as the Israelites by the command of God borrowed Jewels of Silver, and Jewels of Gold of the Egyptians to departed from them, so did the Irish, contrary to the commandment of God, borrow Gold, and Silver, and all the Arms, and Weapons, not of those that oppressed them, as the Egyptians did the Israclites, but of many that had often times relieved, and protected them; and this they did not, with Israel to go out of Egypt, but, as Mithridates slew all the Romans that were in Pontus, so did they intent most suddenly to destroy all the English, and Britain's that were in Ireland, and that, while they seemed to be most friendly with them. And this very Circumstance, the Suddenness of their iniquity is so far from the Possibility to be excused, or extenuated, that it must needs be acknowledged to be a most horrible Impiety. Secondly, The subtle Carriage of their Rebellion. The palpable Forgery, and inexcusable Perjury of the first Rebels, and Murderers of our men, showeth their Subtlety, and the height of their Iniquity; for they most falsely pretended, that whatsoever they did to unarm the Protestants, and to expel the English, they did it for the King, and by the King's special Command, and Commission under his Great Seal; and therefore they termed themselves the King's Soldiers, and the Queen's Army, that were thus authorized by his Majesty, to rob, expel, and destroy all the English and British Protestants out of Ireland; and hereby they seduced many thousands of the simpler Irish, that otherwise meant no evil unto their Neighbour's, to join with them in their Rebellion, and they stopped the mouths, and weakened the hands of those loyal Protestants, that, otherwise, would have laboured more strongly to have resisted their un-Christian Violence; and so, in thus carrying on their design, they most impudently slandered God's Anointed, and with faces no less shameless than the Devils, How impudently the first Irish Rebels belied our most gracious King. they belied the good King, that was further from those thoughts, than the worst of them were from all goodness; yet they did hereby give colour to the illaffected, and the Enemies to the King in Parliament, to lay those things often in the King's dish, and to tax him openly with these forged lies of those false Rebels; as you may obviously find it (as I believe) in their Remonstrances, and Declarations. And, as that is most abominable with God, when a Thief, Murderer, or Adulterer, Psal. l. 21. thinketh wickedly, that God is such an one as himself, or regardeth not those things; so was this gross traducing of his Majesty, a most horrible impiety, to persuade the world, that so just, and so gracious a King, was so unjust, so cruel, and so bloody as these butcherly Rebels were. But Menander can tell them, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they should not think, that a lying Perjurer can hid himself from the Allseeing God; and the very Heathens knew, that God would be just, though for a while his Justice were oftentimes deferred; for upon the Trojans Lies, and perfidious Perjuries, Agamemnon could say, as Homer testifieth, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Homer. Iliad. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉— Though the God of Heaven avengeth not the same presently, yet surely he will punish it at last, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉,— For I am sure of this, To pay for all these lies, and perjuries. and do know it very well, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; There will be a day, when stately Troy shall be overthrown. Nam licet haud sontes praesenti puniat ira, Sera tamen punit Deus, & graviora malorum Supplicia,— For though God cometh, to punish lies and perjuries, and such like horrid crimes, slowly, and as it were, on leaden feet; yet when he cometh, he layeth on sound, and smites them home, as it were with Iron hands; and as the Poet Claudian saith, In prolem dilatarunt perjuria patris, Claud. in curetium. O that all Parents would always remember this, even this saying of Claudian. Et quas fallaceis collegit lingua parentis Has eadem nati lingua refudit opes. The punishment of the Father's perjuries, will reach unto his Children, even as Moses told us long ago, from the mouth of God himself, that God is jealous of his honour, and will visit the sins of the Fathers, especially such horrid sins, as perjuries, and high slanders, upon the Children, unto the third, and fourth Generation, and as the Wives, and Children of these Irish Rebels, can now testify, the truth of these things, and I shall more fully declare the same anon unto you. Thirdly, The bloody, barbarous, and inhuman murders of the wild Northern, Their bloody and inhuman deal Irish,. and the rest of the uncivillized Rebels, do add a great deal of more weight unto their impiety; for though the murders, and slaughters done here in England, be most bloody, and cruel, yea, most unnatural, and unchristian, when, as the Poet saith, Nec hospes, ab hospite tutus. but the Brother fought against his Brother, and sometimes killed one another, as we read they did in the Wars of Sertorius, and the Fathers often fought against their Children, and the Children against their Parents, just as our Saviour saith, it should be in the time of the great Antichrist; yet if we compare them with the Savage Butchering of the Women with Child, young Infants, aged Matrons, old Fathers, and all others, of what age, Sex or Condition soever they were, that were done, especially by the Northern Irish, and the other Rebels, that are expressed in the Remonstrance, published by a learned and Reverend man, Dr. Jones, the now Bishop of Cloghar, and the other Commissioners, authorized for the Examination of those outrages, than we shall find, that as the Poet saith, Saevior est tristi busiride, Saevior illo Qui falsum lento torruit igne bovem, Quique bovem siculo fertur donasse tyranno Et dictis arts conciliasse suas: the barbarous inhumanity of these Rebels to have exceeded all the cruelties, of Phalaris, Busiris, Dyonisius, and the rest of the Savage Tyrants of the Heathens, or the bloody persecutors of the Primitive Christians, and the English cruelties, to be very merciful, and their bloody slaughters to be but gentle punishments, in respect of these Tragic Acts, that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in the lemnian hands, they laid upon the poor Protestants, so far, that they, which felt them not, can hardly believe such infernal destruction should be invented, and executed by any humane Creature here on Earth; for as the Poet saith, Vix ulla fides tam saevi criminis unum Tota poenas cepisse caput; quis prodere tanta Funera, quis caedes possit deflere nefandas? Quid tale immanes unquam gessisse feruntur? It was so great, and so horrible an impiety, that scarce faith can be given to it, scarce tears can be found sufficient to bewail it, and scarce torments enough devised, to punish it, being so inhuman, that if I were an Infidel or Pagan, I would refuse all the happiness, that their Priests could persuade me to accept of, for embracing of their faith, rather than I would be of their Religion, that would incite their people to the unjust effusion of so much innocent blood, and the savage butchering of so many guiltless persons; when as such cruelties would be a sufficient Argument unto me, to prove, that they could not be the Priests of any good God, but rather the Children of Apollyon, and the firstborn of that destroyer, which laboureth with all his might, to bring all men unto perdition; for that we may justly say, that, as the Sun darkneth all the light of the Stars, so the Irish cruelty, if the Relation of their inhumanity be true, blotteth out all the strangeness of most other former cruelties; especially if we add, Fourthly, The generality of their intended wickedness. Psal. 137.7. the generality of their intended resolution, which was, as the Children of Edom cried in the day of Jerusalem, saying, Down with it, d●wn with it, even to the ground, that the name of Israel might be no more in remembrance: so they thought to root out all the English and British blood out of Ireland; but the Prophet Jeremiah, and Obediah, demand the same question of the Edomites, saying, Obadiah. v. 5. If thiefs come to thee, if Robbers by night, would they not have scollen till they had enough? that is, no more, than what they thought enough; or as Jeremiah saith, Jerem. 49.9. They will destroy till they have enough, as if he said, they will only destroy so much, but no more; and if Grape-gatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning-Grapes? And yet these Rebels, worse than Thiefs, or than robbers by night, were not satisfied with enough, nor could they tell, when they had enough; but they would cut off head and tail, root and branch, and leave not any glean, nor any remnant, for their Children to destroy afterwards. And so you see the wickedness of the Irish; and yet, not all, for after they had done all this, and after that, with the Inhabitants of Thessalonica, and of Antioch, when they threw down the Statues of their Emperors, they had provoked their King by their our-rages, and they considered, that they had done foolishly, by imagining such a device, as they were not able to bring to pass, and found their King more merciful, than the Thessalonians found Theodosius, or the Antiochians found Julian, when, upon their submission, and reducement to their former obedience, he would have been contented with some reasonable satisfaction, to be made to himself, and his abused Subjects, far less than their iniquity deserved, and the yielding up of the prime Rebels, and the bloody murderers to answer the Laws for their offences, and it may be, the decimating of them, to suffer death for their do; and to that end, had appointed a most honourable, wise, and sweet natured Nobleman, that might more rightly be termed deliciae generis humani, than the Son of Vespasian, to be a Commissioner, on the King, and the Protestants behalf, to treat with some, that were chosen to do the like, on the Irish side, how things might be well pacified, and a firm peace settled on all sides, betwixt the Protestants and the Papists, the English and the Natives; and these Commissioners, after much time spent, and a great deal of pains taken, had brought things, as they conceived, to a reasonable good pass, and a far fairer conclusion on the Irish side, then either their wickedness deserved, or any reason could give them any hope to expect; and the Noble Marquis of Ormond, had resolved to travel in his own person (as he did to Kilkenny and Clonmel) to cause the concluded Articles of peace, to be proclaimed, in the chiefest Cities of that Kingdom; these wretched men, bewitched with the poison of Rebellion, in the pride of their heart, which as the Prophet saith of the Edomites, hath deceived them, instead of a thankful acceptance of so merciful a favour, and abundance of graces concluded for them, did most desperately reject their own happiness; and as not forgetting their usual Treacheries, they laid snares, and plotted how they might take the noble Marquis, and render evil, what or how much I know not, to him, that had, with much cost, and more pains, procured so much good for them. To show unto us, that, as the Inhabitants of the Isle of Malta, unjustly said of Saint Paul, so we might justly say of them, though the merciful King desired not their Blood, to their ruin; yet vengeance would not suffer them to escape; Act. 28.4. but, as the Lord said of Edom, behind, they whose judgement was not to drink of the Cup, have assuredly drunken; and art thou he, that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished; but thou shalt surely drink of it, for I have sworn by myself, saith the Lord, that Bozra shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, Jerem. xlix. 1●. Jerem. xlix. v. 37. and a curse, and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes; and as the Lord said of Elam, I will cause it to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek theirlife, and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the Lord, and I will send the Sword after them, till I have consumed them; so the very like judgement doth now fall upon the Irish, for the Sword is sent after them, And yet the last v. of this C. may be a great comfort unto the Irish, for it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the Lord, and so the Irish repenting and reduced to their obedience may be received again into a sociable communion and become a great and a good nation. and they are dismayed before their Enemies, and they are become a Desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse, and their cities, as they were theirs, perpetual wastes; and that, even in the judgement of man, most justly too; because as I shown to you before, they have rebelled against the Lord, and against a good King, and were so cruel against their brethren, and have committed such horrible wickedness against innocent persons; and yet, as blinded in their own malice, they have refused their own happiness; for now the Lord God, that ministereth true judgement unto the people, maketh inquisition, by his Magistrates, for all the Blood, that they have spilt; and if the Blood of Abel, that was but one man, cried so loud to God from off the Earth, for vengeance against Cain, that was likewise but one single murderer; then how much more loud, do the Bloods of so many hundreds of men, so many women, and so many infants, as so many thousands of these Irish Rebels, have most cruelly spilt, cry to God, for Vengeance against those wicked murderers. And therefore, whatsoever hath befallen them, or shall happen unto them; God must needs be justified in all the judgements of these rebels; and themselves cannot deny, but that he, which sits in the Throne that judgeth right, hath done them right, in all that is done unto them. And I fear that before God makes an end of their punishment, as the Prophet saith, I will howl for Moab and I will cry out for all Moab, mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kir-heres, O vine of Sibmah, Jerem xlviii. 31. I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer; so we may weep and lament for the desolation of Ireland, and the sad condition of the poor Irish people, when they shall find and feel, the mighty distance and difference, betwixt a merciful King that they had, and merciless enemies and a cruel Tyrant, whose little fingers, shall be found heavier than the King's loins, and who, For these things we●e written in the time of the Usurper. in stead of those twigs wherewith the King would have most gently whipped them, will most severely Scourge them with Scorpions. Fourthly, touching the Scots, I shall, as brief as I can speak. 1. Of Charles Stuart, whom they Crowned to be their King, and is both their and our lawful King. 2. Of those perfidious, and distressed Subjects, that have Crowned him. First, their Crowned King Charles Stuart, as the Son of a good Father, and no less Virtuous a mother, is in the judgement of all, that now know him, a very wise, discreet, and Prudent Prince; and, they say, as Valiant and Courageous, as any Gentleman whatsoever; I need not say much of his worth, it is so well known to all that know him, and his Enemies cannot deny it, neither doth the Relation of his worth any ways lessen theirs, that have any worth in them; but were he as wise as Solomon, the mysteries of States, and the requisites to govern many people, will require many heads, and those likewise not of the meanest sort, but of the wisest, and greatest capacities to assist him; for, as Xenophon saith, Pauca aliqua unus videat, unus audiat, one man can neither see much, nor hear much, and therefore Tacitus none of the meanest Statesmen saith, Xenophon. Cyr. lib. 8. Non est unius mens tantae molis capax; but great affairs, such as fall out within the Spheres of Kings and Princes, do require many Heads to advise, and many hands to effect, and manage them; How requisite it is for all Kings and Princes to have wise Counselors to advise them and to be consuited with. when as one arm is altogether unsufficient to bear up so unsupportable a Burden, as is the Government of many people, and one brain is not capable of such a charge, as to be alone sufficient to advise how to discharge so great a business; but as Velleius saith, Magna negotia magnis adjutoribus egent, great businesses do require great assistants; and therefore, a Princes, or King's affairs being great, especially to regain such a loss, as this Prince received, he must not follow his own opinion, though grounded upon very probable suppositions, but he must yield to his faithful Counselors, when they produce more forcible reasons: because, he that needeth no Counsel, especially in great matters, must be more than a man, and he that refuseth all Counsel, is not much better than a Beast. And it was most wisely said of Mar. Antoninus, the Philosopher, Aequius est ut ego tot taliumque amicorum Consilia sequar, quam tot talesque amici mei unius voluntatem. Tit. Liv. lib. 44. It was fit, that he should follow the Counsel of such, and so many Friends, then that such, and so many men should follow the mind and will of himself alone; for he like a wise man judged that man which doth all things out of his own head, superbum magís quàm sapientem esse; rather a proud man then a wise man, as Titus Livius saith. Charles Stuart our now most gracious King, therefore, I make no question had his Counselors then; and, as we find it by the Transactions of business in Jersy, and Breda, he was in his greatest affairs guided by them; the more fault theirs, if they misguided him, though the more damage his; neither yet can he be excused from all fault, if he was misguided by them; the great God that governs all things, and crowns events according to their deserts, hath made it manifest to the world, Laertius in Solon. that his Counselors have not fully followed the old rule in Laertius, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; Consul non quae suavissima, sed quae optima, Counsel not those things, that seem most sweet, and pleasant, but those things which are best, and most honest; for these Ductores Principis, Counselors of this young Prince, consulting with flesh and blood, and considering what was likest to advance his design, and not considering what was most agreeable to God's Will, have in the Judgement of some, not so well advised their good Master; and had he not been, as it seemeth, another Jedidia, beloved of God, by following their Counsel in the Course, that he took, he might have been taken in a snare to his utter ruin. That is in Worcester Fight. But, what was the Counsel that they gave him? it appeareth by the trial of Master Love, and by the event of those treatises, betwixt the Scots Commissioners, and the Presbyterian Agents out of England, Captain Titus, Drake, and the rest, and the Prince; that they persuaded him to comply with the Scots; for that by this means, he should peaceably gain the Crown of Scotland, and with the Strength of Scotland, joined with the Presbyterian Party of England, which were very considerable, he might easily gain the Kingdom of England, and then Ireland must needs yield. An unquestionable way in the judgement of man; but it seemed not so with God, as the event did make it clear; and therefore, as when the Counselors of Rheoboam differed in their advice, the one sort, saying, Si loquaris verba lenia— speak to this people fair, and they will be thy Servants; and the other sort bidding him to tell them, that His Father whipped them with rods, but he would scourge them with Scorpions; Rhe●boam should have had the Discretion to know, which was the best to follow; for herein consisteth the greatest wisdom of any Prince, in the Election of his Counsel; because it is most likely, that among many wise men, both the best, and the worst Counsel will be propounded. And it is a point of great wisdom to be able to follow the best, to choose the good, and to refuse the evil; and the wisest man in the world may easily fail herein; especially in great matters, whose future, and contingent events are so doubtful. And therefore it is no wonder, nor any fault-unexcuseable, for the best traveller to mistake his way in the dark, or in a wilderness among the thickets: But could any wise man, that remembered the former passages betwixt the Scots, and the late pious King, think, or any good Christian believe, that God (whose ways are always right, as the Prophet speaketh, and the just shall walk in them; but the transgressors shall fall therein) would prosper the counsel that leadeth to any erroneous course? no, no; this cannot be. And therefore, as I conceive; the Counsellors of this good Prince failed, though, not in their love and faithfulness to their Master, but in their advice in directing him the best way; and he, not knowing which way was best, Incidit in Scyllam cupiens vitare Charibdim: By seeking to escape the Lions (it may be the Irish Catholics) he fell among Bears, if I may so call the Scottish Presbytery, whose feet, Rev. xiii. 2. the holy Scripture tells us, are as the feet of a Bear. But his Counsellors may answer, as a very learned Scotchman, discoursing hereof answered me; that their purpose was right, and their intention exceeding good, aiming at the same end, as is now, blessed be God for it, come to pass. But I say, the just God will not approve of our intentions to do good, if we go about to effect that good by an evil way: for, as the Schools tell us, si bonum feceris malâ intention, non imputabitur tibi pro bono, if thou dost good, with an ill intent, it shall not be imputed to thee for good; so in like manner, si malum feceris boná intention, non imputabitur tibi pro bono, if thou dost evil, though thou meanest never so well, and thine intention be never so good; yet shall it not be imputed to thee for good; because the God that is most perfect in all his ways, and in every thing, doth require that the good which we do, should be perfectly good, ex omni parte, on all sides, and in every respect: for as the Prophet speaketh, He requireth truth in the inward parts, and will have heart, and hand, mind, and tongue to go together; and therefore we may not do evil, that good may come thereof, or to enable us to do good, Job xiii. 7. neither may we speak wickedly for God, nor talk deceitfully for him, as Job speaketh: much less may we do the same, for the greatest preferment in the World. And therefore if this good Prince had been well informed, and throughly given to understand all the former passages, and proceed of those Scots, that so undutifully, so unkindly, and so treacherously dealt with his good Father, and for what ends they did it, I believe he would have never wandered those ways that he traveled unto them; but he having thus mistaken his way, he miss of his end, and the Presbyterians, that had made a Covenant with death, as the Prophet speaks of the Jews, and an agreement with Hell itself, did not stand any ways to further his design: but, when the overflowing Scourge did pass through, then were they trodden down by it; and he had been likewise trodden down himself, or taken, which had been worst, had not the eye of Heaven, which saw the innocency of his heart, not wittingly offending in any way, watched over him, and as he did, when he led Jacob to Padan-Aram, that he might escape his Brother's wrath, so it guided him, most miraculously, in man's judgement, to the haven where he would be, that so, he might escape the treachery of some professed friends, and be delivered from the malice of his cruel enemies: for I fear we may say, with Obadiah, All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border, Obadiah v. 7. the men that were at peace with thee, have deceived thee, and they that eat thy bread, have laid a wound under thee; that is, his own counsellors, by persuading him to take the Presbyterian way: I am confident, and sure, that God never approveth of their courses, nor for a man to accept of his own right, by an indirect way: and therefore I find not, that he blessed any of the Scots designs, but as Nahum saith of Niniveh, Nahum 3.13. so we may say of them, thy people in the midst of thee are Women, the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies, and the fire shall devour thy bars; and I think, they have found it true themselves, through their Kingdom when the Lion, and his Bears, the Tyrant, and his Whelps came amongst them. And therefore, this deliverance of the Prince, being of the like nature as those wonderful deliverances, that God wrought for other good Princes, which are set down by Camerar: libro secundo capite decimo: being such a special act of God's favour, and so wonderful in our eyes, and as I believe with these former praecedentia, forepassed things, will be a warning to him, and to all others, to amend future things, and to detest, and abandon this Presbyterian way, which I am confident the Lord hateth, and do assure myself, will never bless it, nor them that cordially follow it, if they do rightly understand it: howsoever he may in his secret Counsel, suffer them, as he doth many other Sinners, and great offenders, for a time to tyrannize over his children, and to prosper in this World, which is, but as the Prophet saith, a slippery station; when as Claudian speaking of Ruffinus, and his confederates, saith, — tolluntur in altum lapsu graviori ruant, God lifteth them up, to throw them down, which makes their overthrow the greater, by how much their exaltation is the higher; for, Qui jacet in terra, non habet unde cadat, He that walketh upon the ground, can have no great fall, but as Horace saith, Saepius ventis agitatur ingens pinus, & celsae graviori casu decidunt turres, feriuntque summos ful● ura montes. And so I believe their fall will be ere long, which now ride on other men's palfreys, and jet it up and down in pride, in their Brethren's garments; because, as Job saith, Job. 20.5, & 27. The triumphing of the Wicked is but short, and the joy of the Hypocrite is but for a moment, when as the heavens shall reveile his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him. Secondly, for the rest of the Scottish nation Mr. Hall a Counsellor for the Commonwealth of England, The trial of Mr. Love, pag 76. How the Scots have been always avers and great enemies to the English-Nation. in the trial of Mr. Love, sayeth, that Master Love held Intelligence with the Scottish-Nation, which truly, saith he, I do conceive hardly an English man, that had the blood of an English man running in his Veins, would join in confederacy with that Nation, of all the Nations in the World, against the Commonwealth: a Nation, that hath been known, to have been a constant enemy to this nation in all ages through the memory of all Histories; whereby * If this be true. you may guests, how worthy they are to have an union with this Nation, and how wisely we do, to submit ourselves, by an indissoluble Covenant to their Scottish-discipline; and therefore touching the now distressed, and subdued subjects of Scotland, especially those that Covenanted with the Parliament of England, to overthrow the established Government of our Church, and to set up the beggarly Presbytery, I may most truly say, lex non justior ulla; Quam Artifices tales arte perire suâ Never Nation was more justly dealt withal, than they be by what Crumwell brought upon them: for though according to the Apostles warrant, saying, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Cretians are always liars, I might justly say, there are national sins, as well as personal; and you know that punica fides, Titus 1.12, grew to be a Proverb among the Romans, to note out a perfidions person! so I might truly tell you, that from Fergusius the renowned King of the Scots, that first entered Ireland, and afterwards was drowned at Carregfergus, now corruptly called Knoc-fargus, in that Kingdom, their own Chronicles do testify, how this Nation have been always, such as Saint Stephen saith, the Jews were, a stiffnecked, and uncircumcised in heart, and ears; that have always resisted the Holy Ghost, even as their Fathers did, so did they; so were the Scots, a stiffnecked, stubborn, and rebellious people, that have always resisted their own lawful Princes, by deposing some, and killing others, whom they disliked, and whom I could easily name (if it were not for fear to be too tedious, unto you) out of their own Chronicles: And though they had many brave Commanders, and gallant Soldiers amongst them, and some great Scholars, as furious Knox, Antimonarchical Buchanan, That the Scots, have been ever a most rebellious Nation. in his Junius Brutus, and De Jure regni apud Scotos; and the like not a few, yet as a little coloquintida spoileth all the whole pot of pottage; so their treachery, and Rebellion against their Kings, obscureth all the good parts that can be in them; It is a rare commendation, that Quintus Curtius gives unto the Persians for their love, and faithfulness unto Darius their King, in his dejected Fortunes, when they would rather lose their own lives, then betray their King; and Damianus a Goes tells us that many Infidels among the Indians, were not inferiors to the best nations in their Obedience, and Loyalty to their Kings; and yet the Scots, of all other Nations, are as (they say) clean contrary; for, to go no further than our times, it is not unknown to both Kingdoms, how many signal favours were conferred upon men of all sorts, both the nobles, Gentles, and plebeians of Scotland, by King James, that made himself poor, How liberal, and bountiful King James hath been unto the Scots. to make them rich, and many times, emptied his own Exchequer to fill their purses, and how King Charles, never imposed any heavy burden upon them, but was no small benefactor to them, preferring them in his own house to places of the greatest honour, and best profit, and those that came with their staff like Jacob, over the Tweed, and in their blue Bonnets into England, they were in a short space, enriched, Knighted, and ennobled in the King's Court. But least that this Commemoration of benefits should be taken for an exprobration, as the Comic speaketh, I will not name those great persons, that have been made great by this good King, and that I could have set down, for unthankful retributours of such great favours; yet in general, I would that all men knew, how they have all rewarded their deserving Prince; for that blessed man in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith, The Scots are a Nation, The King in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. How lovingly King Charles used the Scots. upon whom I have not only ties of nature, sovereignty, and bounty with my Father of blessed memory, but also special; and late obligations of Favours, having gratified the active spirits among them so far, that I seemed to many, to prefer the desires of that party, before mine own interest, and honour: And Cicero tells us, that, ingratitudine nihil mali non inest, there is no evil that is not residing in an unthankful Wretch, and Ausonius saith, that ingrato homine terra pejus nil procreate, The earth never brought forth a viler thing, or worse wood than an unthankful man: and could there be found besides the Jews, a more unthankful people on earth, than the Scots have been to this, their own lawful, loving King, and bountiful Benefactor? How unthankful the Scots are. Witness that monster of men, whom the King made Lieutenant of the Tower, the chiefest Fort of all England, and he made himself the King's mortal enemy; and besides him, witness a thousand more, whom the King raised from the dunghill, to make them companions of Princes, and they to requite him, combined with the Parliament, fought against their King, to subdue him, and to bring him to nothing: hoc magnum est, hoc mirum; and may not this be wondered at? that the earth should bring forth such creatures, as are unworthy to live upon the earth? for, have they not like mortal Enemies, in a most hostile manner, invaded the King's Territories, and warred against him with as perfect fury, as ever Hannibal did against the Romans? and we all know, or should know, that no causes are warrantable for the undertaking of a war, if justice be not the ground thereof; Lipsius' polit. lib. 5. Justum autem non est, quod tria haec non habet justa; autorem, causam, & finem; and just it cannot be, saith Justus Lipsius, if it hath not these three just things: A just Author, a just Cause, and a just End. And Titus Livius saith, Tit. Livius. lib. 9 Justum bellum, quibus necessarium, & pia arma, quibus nulla, nisi in armis, relinquitur spes; that war is just, to whom it is necessary, and they do rightly fall to take Arms, And no War in no time for no cause can be just, that is made by Subjects against their King. which have no help nor hope but in their Arms. In eum autem, qui juste agere, & satisfacere paratus est, nefas est bellum sumere; saith Thucydides, but it is an heinous offence to make war against him, that if you be wronged, is ready to do you right, and to make you satisfaction: and wherein I pray you could the Scots show themselves justly grieved, and King Charles did not most willingly, and beyond expectation give them, and offer them, full satisfaction? And what cause then could they pretend for this Invasion? surely none at all but only covetousness, and a desire to be enriched, either with Spoils and Plunderings, or with very fair Compositions, as they were by the means of their Confederates in England, with the Sum, as was said, of three hundred thousand pounds, a fair Sum for such a foul Fact: and therefore, these do must needs be odious, both to God, and to all good men. And yet I will show you greater Abomination of these abominable rebellious Creatures, for they had, as the Parliament of England had done likewise, taken their Oaths of Allegiance, and Fidelity to his Majesty: and how have they kept their Faith, and observed their Oaths? did they not, being Scholars, remember what the Poet saith, Non bove mactato caelestia Numina gaudent, Ovid Epist. 18. Sed quae prestanda est, & sine teste, fides: [id est] That God delighteth more in observing Faith, and performing Promises, then in sacrificing whole Oxen to him. Nam fidem qui perdidit, nihil ultra potest; for he that hath lost his faith, How heinous a thing it is to break our faith, and to fal●ifie our Oaths. hath lost all that he hath worth any thing, and is unworthy to live among men: And would these men violate their solemn Oaths, think you? surely men will hardly believe it, if they did not see it; for a perfidious Violation of an Oath, and Covenant, is as damnable as Athiesm, if not worse, because this wittingly and willingly abuseth and scorneth that Deity, which it necessarily, though unwillingly acknowledgeth; and therefore the Heathen man could advise us; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, by no means to forswear ourselves, for fear of punishment from God, and shame among men; because, as I said before out of Menander, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, though we may deceive men, as Perjurers do many times, yet we must not think that our Perjuries, and Falsities can be hid from God, whose piercing eyes do behold every secret thought, and will not suffer the Perjurers and Deceivers to go unpunished, as it may appear by this one example, The Story of Perfidiousness of Hat●o Bishop of Mentz. which I have picked out of many, that might be produced to the same purpose, of Hatto, Bishop of Meutz; for Abbess Vrsbergensis writeth, that Adelbert, Count Palatine of Franconia, being charged to have slain the Emperor's Son, and upon that suspicion, being straight besieged by the Emperor; but the Castle of Adelbert being very strong, both by nature, and by art, the Siege did no whit promise, either the taking of it, or the yielding up thereof; therefore Hatto being a near Kinsman to Adelbert, and desireous to curry favour with the Emperor, employed himself, by cheating means, to draw his Cousin into the Emperor's hands, persuading Adelbert to go with him unto the Emperor, and that he might boldly go without any fear of danger, he made a solemn Oath unto him, that, as he came safe out of his Castle, so, if they could not well agree, by a good Treaty, he would bring him safe again unto his Castle; whereupon Adelbert consented to go with him, and went a pretty way from his Castle; but Hatto, looking upon the Sun, said, the Morning was well spent, and there was a long way to the Emperor's Camp, and therefore he thought it was their best Course, to return to the Castle and to break their Fast, and then they might go the better, and with more ease; and Adelbert suspecting no ill, in so fair a Motion, yielded to return to break their Fast, and he courteously entertained his Cousin, and after Breakfast, they rid both to the Emperor's Camp; where presently the Emperor adjudged Adelbert to die; whereupon he calleth for Hatto, and accused him of Treason, and Perjury, except he performed his Promise to bring him back safe again into his Castle; whereto the Bishop answered, that he was acquitted of his Oath, in that he carried him to his Castle, when they returned to break their Fast; and upon this perfidious trick the credulous Earl lost his life, and the Emperor seized upon all his Signories; but for this wicked part Hatto could never blot out his reproach, but was ever afterwards called by the Germans, Hatto the Traitor; and as you may find it in the Chronological Collections, taken out of Petreius his Library, God suffered this Hatto to be carried away by Devils, and to be thrown headlong into a burning pit in Mount Gibel, and a voice was heard in the Air, at his throwing in, crying out, Debito supplicio scelus luere Budaeus. Sic peccando lues, sicque luendo rues. Thus art thou worthily punished for thy wicked deeds, so the Psalmist demandeth, Shall they escape for their wickedness? So heinous a sin is a perfidious perjury, and so just is God in the Severity of his punishment for the same; and the reason is, Why God doth so severely punish Perjury. because every perjured person makes a mock of God more than most of other Sinners do: either denyeth his wisdom, as not thinking him to know all things; or else argueth him of injustice, as not regarding the innocent, and conniving with the faults, and malice of the most false and wicked men, which the Lord will never endure. And yet with these sweet Scots, these over zealous Saints, Tam facile & pronum est superos contemnere testes; It is but a small matter to break their faith, they make so small account to forswear themselves, when they deem Oaths, but as Lysander, How the Scott account of Oaths. and Dionysius said of them, and Alexander the sixth used them; that they were as Toys and Rattles, whereby we deceive fools, and delude Children: for as soon as the Parliament had contrived their wicked Covenant, and sent to the Scots for their conjunction, and association in this impiety, which they knew was the only Bait to take them; they presently swear, contrary to all former Oaths, and subscribe unto the same; and accordingly to disannul their Allegiance to the King, and to evacuate their Oaths of Fidelity to him; they join in Arms with the Parliament against him, to compel him, because they could not persuade him to take that Covenant, and thereby to forswear himself, and to become as wicked as themselves. And therefore, Carbone pollicenti quidpiam, & addente jus jurandum, What kind of fellow Carb● was. populus Romanus vicissim juravit, se illi non credere; as when Carbo promised any thing, and added his Oath, swearing that he would perform it; the people of Rome in like manner, would presently swear they did not believe him; even so when these men, that do thus slight their Oaths, do swear any thing, I might swear, that I will not believe them; and as the Prophet Jeremy saith of the Jews, Shall not the Lord visit them for these things, Jer. v. 9 & 29. and shall not his Soul be avenged on such a Nation as this? And yet this is not all the Wickedness, and impiety of these men, but they do still proceed from bad to worse, from worse to worst of all; for as one saith most truly, to betray a Kinsman, Friend, or Confederate is contrary to all law, odious to all men, injurious to the party betrayed, and a most abominable impiety in the sight of God; and Petrarch saith, Proditore turpius nihil unquam sol vidit, cujus obscoenitas tanta est, ut & qui artificio ejus egent, execrentur artificem, & caeterorum scelerum famam quaerunt hujus infamiam reformident; the Sun never beheld any thing filthier than a false Traitor, whose Villainy, and Treachery is so great, and so hateful, that they which need, and love his help, and treacherous art, do notwithstanding abhor, and detest the Traitor, and they which hunt after the same of other vices, do exceedingly shun, and fear the infamy of this vice; Cicero pro Ros. and the reason is rendered by Cicero, Quia nemo ferè credit nisi ei quem fidelem putat; because no man willingly trusteth any man, but whom he thinketh, and believeth to be an honest, and a faithful man; and therefore, saith he, Perditissimi hominis est, fallere eum, qui laesus non esset, nisi credidisset; it is the part, and practise of the worst, and vilest Wretch in the World, to deceive, and betray that man, who had never been hurt, nor betrayed, if he had not trusted and believed the Traitor, to be an honest man. And yet when the good King, by intimation from some friends, understood he might be safe with these, his own native Subjects: who, as the King saith, have oft professed, they fought not against him, but for him, as you may see in the 22. page of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; In his Letter, the 3. of April 1646. and as his Majesty writes, to the honourable Lord Marquis of Ormond, saying, that having received very good security, that he, and all that should adhere to him, should be safe, in their persons, honours, and consciences, I would all perfidious traitors would read the seventh Chapter of the 1. Book of Camerar hist. Medit. that showeth the just reward that perfidious Traitors deserve, and have received for betraying their King, Country, or friend ●. in the Scottish Army, that would really, and effectually join with them, and employ their arms, and forces to assist them, for the procuring of a happy peace, he resolved on that course, that is, to go unto them, and thereupon, with a very great hazard of his own person, he adventured to pass throughout all difficulties, and through the very Pikes of his Adversaries, and to commit himself into the hands of these men; they very fairly, but most falsely, made a good Merchandise of his Majesty, and sold him to the Parliament, at a far dearer rate, than the Traitor Judas sold the Saviour of the World, and the King of Kings, unto the Jews: and no such wonder neither, because Judas was but an Ass to Lesley, who had been a Pedlar, or Merchant, as they term Pedlars in the Country, before he became Commander of an Army, and therefore he knew how to sell his ware better than the other; though his sin, in one respect was far worse; for Judas repent of his treachery, and he brought the thirty pieces of silver, all that he had received, every penny, and he threw them down, contemptu quodam, with a kind of disdain, and contempt, and confessing his fault, said, I have sinned in betraying the Innocent Blood: But we do not find that either Lesley, or any other of these Scottish-Merchants, either repent them of their falsehood, and Treachery, or confessed their fault, or brought any part, or penny of the price, they received for their King, back again. But we find here is in them, morbus complicatus, a multiplicity of all kind of wickedness; The manifold sins of the Scots First, Impiety, Secondly, Injustice, Thirdly, Covetousness, Fourthly, Perfidiousness, Fifthly, Perjury, Sixthly, Treachery, and what not? And shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? and shall not my soul be avenged on such a Nation as this? Yes certainly, How justly God hath requited the treacherous Scots. God will visit them, and in some measure he hath held his visitation amongst them already, and he hath sent his Deputies to redress, and correct their abuses, and them also for their abuses; Yet you must know, there were, and I do know very many of them, very excellent, worthy, and brave men, most faithful, and loyal to their King, and most religious, and zealous in the service of God, among the Scots, both here, and in Scotland. And therefore whatsoever I say here of the Scots, I mean it of those, that warred against their King, Covenanted with the Parliament, and sold him to the Parliament, and upon these perfidious Scots he hath most justly brought his judgements, to make the Parliament, that invited them to these impieties, to become the instruments of their punishments, and a rod to scourge them, that formerly were a banquet, to feast them; so that now we may rightly say with Job, A dreadful sound is in their ears; and in their prosperity the destroyer came upon them; and though Wickedness was sweet in their mouths, when the Parliament filled their Coffers, though they hid it under their tongues, that is, by their Hypocrisy, fair glozing speeches, and pretence of piety; yet, now the meat in their bellies is turned into the gall of asps within them, and the riches, which they swallowed down, and which they had, for betraying their King, they vomit them up again; God doth cast them out of their bellies, Job xx. yea now, they suck the poison of Asps, and the Viper's tongue doth slay them; they fly from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel doth strike them through; and when they are about to fill their bellies, God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon them, and shall rain it upon them while they are eating. And how long these their miseries shall continue, he only knoweth, that knoweth the greatness of their Impieties. O consider this, all ye that forget God, and become not such transgressors, as they were, lest he tears you in pieces whilst there is none to help you, and remember what Adonibezek said, Threescore, and ten Kings having their thumbs, Judg. i. 7. and their great Toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table, and now, as I have done, so God hath requited me, that is, when the Children of Israel took him, and cut off his thumbs, and his great Toes, just as he had done to others. And therefore, as Martial saith of the Lion, which is the Arms of Scotland, Laeserat ingrato Leo perfidus ore Magistrum, Ausus tam notas contaminare manus; Sed dignas tanto persolvit crimine poenas, Et qui non tulerat verbera, tela tulit. Which Mr. Thomas May thus excellently translates; A treacherous Lion hurt his keeper late, Daring those well-known hands to violate, But for his foul offence he paid full dear, Instead of stripes, he felt a kill Spear. So may I say of the Treacherous Scots, And as he suddenly turned their mirth into heaviness, so he can as suddenly turn our heaviness into joy. that they soon smarted for their Treachery. And when I consider how they are now punished, and plagued by their dear Brethren of our Parliament, that, not long ago, made Speeches in their commendation, and gratulory Orations, for the blessed union betwixt these two Nations, and were the first that ran into the same transgression, and yet are now the chiefest instruments, that the Lord useth, for the execution of his Fury upon this perfidious and perjured people, I cannot choose, but cry out to God, and say O Lord God, thou art wonderful in all thy works, and most wonderful in all thy judgements, to whom Vengeance belongeth, and thy Vengeance always is most just, how unsearchable are thy ways, and thy Paths past finding out, how suddenly canst thou turn the Wheel, and overwhelm the courses of things, and bring to nought the devices of men, and abase all those that walk in Pride? why then should not the sinner, that is but a Worm, and no man, a Vanity, and altogether lighter than Vanity itself, tremble, for fear of thee, and be afraid of thy judgements, that are so often and so openly showed in the sight of the World? O my God, I most humbly pray thee, give me thy grace, that I may continually fear thee, and be ever afraid to offend thee. Amen. CHAP. IU. FIfthly, Who are meant by the long Parliament. Touching the Long Parliament, I mean hereby not only the Members, that are elected, and chosen by the Cities, and Counties of this Kingdom of England, together with the Barons, and Lords of the Upper House, to sit in consultation, for to determine, and settle matters for the well Government of the People of this Land, and to do all other Acts, that appertain to War, and Peace, but also all other men, that have complied with them, and been partakers in their proceed, and assisted them any ways, either with Men, Money, or Ammunition, The Judgements of God upon the long Parliament, two fold. as their Associates, Confederates, and Approvers of their Actions, Opinions, and Conclusions, wheresoever dispersed through out this whole Kingdom, or in any other part of the World. And by the Judgements of God upon these, or any of these men, I under stand some imposed Punishment, as a Signal Demonstration of his heavy Wrath, and Displeasure conceived against them, for some great, and extraordinary offences, and transgressions of his will: and these Judgements to be poured forth upon them are either 1. Inchoated, or 2. Suspended First, The inchoated judgements of God, that are already executed, and manifested to the World, are to be considered 2. ways 1. On the whole number, and Mass of them in general, and specially the prime, and principal part of them, that sat, and consulted in Parliament at Westminster. 2. On many particular Members, and the most active persons of that Parliament, and their adherents. First, For the Parliament in gross, if I should go about to express, and set down what they have done to deserve God's Wrath, and to pull down the Judgements of God upon their own heads, it would be a work more difficult, and a task far heavier, than the twelve labours of Hercules; for if this Parliament be, as it is conceived by many, and I have, as I do most confidently believe, unanswerably proved it to be, the great Antichrist; and the Antichrist is the Beast, that ascended out of the bottomless-Pit: then certainly the Wickedness, and impieties of this Beast are so bottomless, that we cannot dive into the depth thereof. And truly, their Plots, and Devices, their Actions, and Proceed, during the time, were so Unnatural, so Unjust, so Ungodly, and so Unparallelled in any History; and withal so subtilley, and so inexplicably contrived, that I must needs confess my learning wants words to express them, and my understanding is not sufficient to comprehend, how many, and how vile they were, how odious unto God, and how injurious unto men; and therefore I only desire my reader, to take that satisfaction from me herein, which I have set down concerning their do in the foregoing Treatises, that I set forth, of the Discovery of Mysteries, and the Revelation of the great Antichrist. And for which do, the Lord God hath, if not sufficiently, yet apparently showed his just Wrath, and Indignation against them, many ways. First, In the discovery of their secret, Hypocritical, and hidden underground Mysteries of their Iniquity, which could not otherwise be sifted out, and manifested, but by the omniscient Spirit of the all-seeing-God. Secondly, In raising so many godly men, though to many with the hazard, and to some with the loss of their lives and fortunes, to oppose them, and with a courage, raised by the divine Spirit, to withstand their wicked ways, and to uphold the true service of the living God. Thirdly, In the reducing of their chiefest Plots and Devices to nothing, though, out of his patience and long-sufferings he suffered them for a while to prosper, and to walk on still, and to proceed in their wickedness: for they intended, like those Giants that built the Tower of Babel to erect such a frame of Government, in these Kingdoms, that they only and their Posterity and Successors should sit at the Stern, to turn and guide the same, as the thirty Tyrants did for a while in Athens, so long as the Sun and Moon endureth; and to that end they destroyed their King, they suppressed the Bishops, they excluded the Lords, and then framed such an Engagement, as might infringebly oblige and tie all the inhabitants of these dominions, to adore them, for their good Masters and Governors for ever. But, lo, he, that dwelleth in Heaven laughed them to scorn, Psal. two. 4. and the Lord had them in derision; for, as the Spirit of the Lord came upon Othniel and upon Barak and Gedeon to destroy the Aramites, Canaanites and Midianites; and as the Lord stired up Samson, and David to destroy the Philistines: so the same Spirit stirred up one even the Lord General Cromwell a Philistine, from among these Philistines and a grand Rebel out of these Rebel's, that did first so wisely disannul their brazen Engine, the Engagement, and then, seeing his opportunity, and finding how acceptable it would be to God, and beneficial to all good men, he did with an Heroical courage, dissolve that knot, and scatter those Parliament-men, as the Lord scattered the Jews, that were the murderers of his Son and their own King, over all the parts of this Kingdom: And thus by the just Judgement of God, the whole Mass of that long Parliament, that thought to remain as Kings for ever, became like the chaff, which the wind scattereth away from the face of the earth. And therefore. Secondly, The just Judgement of God upon the dismembered members of the long Pa●liament. I must now proceed to show you the just Judgements of God upon the dismembered parts of this great body, as I find them driven by the wind of God's wrath, here, and there throughout all the parts of these Dominions. But I must confess, that for the particular persons of that Parliament and their adherrents, that have in a great measure already felt the heavy hand of God's wrath for their Transgressions, in that confederacy, it is a work beyond man's reach, either to set them down, or to show their punishments; and therefore I will confine myself, and as the Lord shown unto Moses the land of Canaan from the top of Mount Nebo afar of, which sight must needs be therefore, but very partial and imperfect, so will I give you a taste, and a glimmering light of some judgements of God, and the justness thereof upon some particular men, and the more noted Members of that Parliament; and I will begin with him, that was the beginning of our trouble, the first disturber of our peace, and the General of the late unhappy War, the Earl of Essex. First, It was said, as I remember, of Dionysius, King of Sicily, Of the Earl of Essex. that he was a Tyrant, begot of Tyrants, than which a worse Character could not be given, and a base description could not be made of him; saith Plutarch. But I will not say of this noble Lord, who in deed had a great deal of Honour in him, and carried himself for aught that ever I heard, like a man of Honour, and pius inimicus, a noble Adversary unto the King, that he was a Traitor, begot a of Traitor; yet I must say that his Father was a favourite of Queen Elizabeth, and was arraigned and beheaded for Treason àainst the Queen, whether justly for his deserts, or unjustly by the malice of his enemies, I will not determine, and though, her Royal Majesty did Royally, and most Graciously restore this man, both to his Father's Lands, and Honours, and King James confirmed the same, and King Charles more than that, made him one of his Privy Council, and Lord Chamberlain of his , which was, for Honour, one of the best Offices, as I take it in the Court, and for profit, a place worth, viis, & modis, near about 2000 pounds per annum, as I heard: and conferred many other favours upon him, and for all this, this Lord, as is conceived, out of no other cause, than ambition of popular praise, (which greedy desire of popularity hath undone many a noble mind) or, as others think, out of a secret grudge, which he bore to this good King, and to King James his lineage, for giving way to his Lady, and Wife to be divorced from him, only propter frigiditatem naturae, which all Divines, and Canonists do not consent to be a sufficient cause of divorce, presently, and willingly accepted the motion of the House of Commons, Plinius l●b. 8. cap. 23. and commission of the Parliament to become the General of all their Forces against the King: wherein, as Pliny writeth of the Aspic, saying, Conjunga ferè vagantur, nec nisi cum compare vita est, itaque alterutra, intercepta incredibilis alteri ultionis curá, persequitur interfectorem, unúmque eum in quantolibet populi agmine notitia quadam infestat, perrupit omnes difficultates, ut perdat eum, qui comparem perdiderat; that he pursueth him, which hath hurt, or killed his Mate, and knows him among a multitude of men, and therefore hunteth him still, and layeth for him, breaking throughout all difficulties to come at him: so, it may be, this Lord was such as Seneca speaks of, qui tantùm ut noceat, cupit esse potens: that accepted of his office, that he might be revenged for his disgrace; when, notwithstanding, King Charles was not the Author of his dishonour, nor did any ways further that divorce, and therefore should not have been maligned for another's fault. Or if it was not for this cause, as I heard some confidently say it was, yet for what cause soever, this, or any other, and with what mind soever, this Lord accepted that office, as being loath to slain his Honour, and Ambitious to retain the Fame of an honourable Soldier, I never heard the King, nor any other of the Nobility, accusing him, for any base, ignoble, and perfidious act, that he did against his Majesty, other than a fair enemy, and a pious Adversary useth to do; this I must need say of him, that I never heard any man speak otherwise of him. But how did the just God like of these his do, how fairly soever carried, you may conceive by the success, so far as man can judge of things; for he was worsted at Edg-Hill, the first Field that he fought, where he was fain to hid his head in the day of Battle, and the next day to retire, not without some Dishonour, to Warwick-Castle; and afterwards in Cornwall, he was forced to abandon, and leave his whole army, and glad to take the Sea, to carry him back to the rebellious City: for which, and for such other the like disasters, that the Parliament conceived, they that so solemny swore a little before, that they would live, and die with him, do now Vote a dispensation of that Oath, and discard this unfortunate, though not unhonourable head, and choose another in his room; and his Lordship, not without some disgrace, is disrobed of his Excellency; and, lest this potion might, in time, through discontent, work some bitter effect, against them, that gave it him, as the like hath done to many other rejected, and degraded Officers, that are most sensible of disgraces, their jealousy produced a double passion, of Fear, and Hate, and these cause the Patient to think, that all remedies are too weak for the Danger; and do force them to apply more violent Phyfick, then either the quality of the Disease, or the Constitution of the diseased can sustain; and therefore it is generally reported, and of most of the King's Friends, believed, they gave him a Spanish-fig, The Earl of Essex suspected to have been poisoned. some Aconites that wrought too strongly upon his Body, that it soon brought his head into the Grave; And thus was he rewarded for his good service unto the Parliament, and the ill offices he did against his King, God in justice suffering the People, Sir John Hotham and his Son. that magnified him, to destroy him, which is the Common fruit of Popularity, Secondly, The next persons that I shall instance are Sir John Hotham, and his Son with him; whom I shall put both together, because both were in the same fault of disloyalty, to the King, and both tasted of the same sauce, and suffered the like punishment. This man was the first that so unjustly, and so insolently durst presume to enter into Hull, the King's own proper Town, and there to seize upon the King's Magazine, and his own peculiar goods, and when the King came in his own person to require admission into the same, he very undutifully, and uncivilly, to say no worse, refused to receive him in, but kept him out, with unseemly terms of denial, and, as they say, with a great deal of Scorn, and Contempt. And how did the just God approve of these unjust do? You may guests by the subsequent punishment, which both the Father, and his Son have undergone And truly I cannot think of their punishment, but I must remember the Story, that you may find in Herodotus touching Hermotimus, and Pamicetius: Herodot. lib. 8. for Hermotimus taken Prisoner in War, was sold unto Pamonus, that was a base Merchant, and which made a Trade of very dishonest gain; for, The Story of Hemotimus, and Pamonius. seeing that gelded Youths, were much more set by for all manner of services among the Barbarians, than those that were ungelded, as Xenophon allegeth Cyrus to have therefore committed the keeping of his body rather to Eunuches, then to others, this base Merchant bought all the fair Boys, that he could get for money, in all Ports, and Fairs, where he went to buy them, and then gelding them, The great price of Eunuches. he went to Sardis, or Ephesus, and sold them again, almost for their weight in gold; therefore he used Hermotimus after the same manner, and they sold him to one, that among other gifts presented him to King Xerxes, with whom, in success of time, he grew into greater credit than all the other Eunuches; and Xerxes, making War upon the Grecians, took Hermotimus with him, who was sent upon some business to the Isle of Chios, where finding his old friend Pamonius, he took acquaintance with him, and recounted unto him the great happiness, and the great benefits he enjoyed, by his adventure, and the good that Pamonius had done him; and therefore promised, that, if he, and all his Family would remove to Sardis, he would enrich him with much wealth, and advance him to great honour; which offer, the Covetous, and Ambitious Merchant willingly accepted, and soon transported himself, with his Wife, and Children, and all his whole family thither; to whom Hermotimus, when he had him within his power, said, O thou the most Wicked of all men, that usest the vilest, and most detestable Traffic, that can possibly be devised: what hurt, or displeasure didst thou ever receive at my hands, or through my means, that of a man, am now made of thee, to be neither Man, nor Woman? Didst thou think that the Gods were Ignorant of thy Practice, and dost thou not now see, how that they, doing right, The just Judgement of God upon Pamonius. and justice unto all, have most justly delivered thee, as a most wicked Wretch, into mine hacds, that thou mayest find the just punishment, which thy wickedness hath deserved: so he caused his four Sons to be presently brought into his presence, and compelled the miserable Father to geld them all with his own hands, and then he forced the distressed Children to geld their own Father. So when Sir Hotham, and his Son, had most disloyally played their part, in the House of Commons, against the King, and then more egregiously, by seizing upon Hull, and with very undecent usage, and reviling terms, denying the King entrance into his own Town, as I said before, had showed themselves to be, as they were, arrant rebels, and stiff Traitors, the Parliament, within awhile after, finding, that these false fellows had played foul with them likewise, and repenting them of their former Wickedness, or rather, as I conceive corrupted with the greedy desire of some great reward, promised by some of the King's Friends, that knew how to catch ambitious Worldings, had resolved to comply with his Majesty, and to deliver his Town, and Magazine unto him, they, like Hermotimus, having most cunningly gotten them into their hands, wrought the Son, in hope to get pardon for himself, to accuse, and to betray his Father; and then, with the like Subtlety, and for the like hope, they brought the Father to accuse his Son: and so being both found guilty, and condemned, they chopped of both their Heads, as the just reward of their former Wickedness; God now rendering unto them what they had before so well deserved, and suffering them willingly, and wickedly to do that to each other, which Pamonius, and his Sons did most unwillingly, to be the Authors, and instruments of each others Punishment: which should be a warning to all Transgressor's, to fear the Vengeance of Almighty God. Thirdly, The Lord Brooks. The next Member of the Long Parliament, that I shall set down in my Catalogue of disloyal Subjects, is the Lord Brooks; a man, whose former life, and Conversation (which I knew by his own penitent Epistles and Letters, that, from beyond the Seas, he wrote to his Uncle Sir Fulk Grevil, afterwards Lord Brooks, who shown them unto me) was very lose, and dissolute; and how, in a short time, by some strange Conversion, far unlike Saint Paul's, he passed from one extreme to another, Four remarkable things concerning the Lord Brooks. from a very dissolute Youth, to a most resolute Saint, I know not: but out of many remarkable things, written of him immediately after his death, I shall only set down here these few particulars. First, That, as in his former looseness, he wholly neglected the Commands and grave Counsels of his Uncle Sir Fulke Grevil, that was his Governor, & loco Parentis, his Maintainer, and upon my Knowledge a very bountiful Maintainer of him too; so afterwards in his too much preciseness, he did in like manner wholly reject his Duty, and Obedience to his King, that was Pater Patriae, and a very gracious King to him too; yea, he became a very obstinate, violent, and a most virulent Opposer of his King; as if he could not be a Saint in the Service of God, except the became as a rebel to oppose his King: but so it is most commonly seen, that they, which are undutyful to their Parents and Governors, will seldom prove faithful to their Kings or Princes. Secondly, I observed that our of his superabundant zeal, which he pretended to God's Honour, he extremely hated, and persecuted the Governors of God's Church, and the chief Upholders of God's Service, the reverend Bishops, and and all the grave and learned Doctors of God's word; and he was no less a Profaner of God's House, which is the material Temple, and the place, where God's Honour dwelleth, while the Saints are Pilgrims in the Wilderness of this World. Thirdly, It is not unknown to most that knew him, that he could not endure to have this Epithet, and Title of Saint, to be given either to Evangelist, or Apostle; and especially to any other departed Saint or Servant of God, as Saint Augustine, Saint Ambrose, and the like, though he could not deny them to be with God in Heaven; as if the Saints in Heaven, for fear of Idolatry or Superstition, were not to be acknowledged for Saints now on earth, but that this Sanctity must be appropriated only to themselves, that are such furious Zelots against the reverend esteem we bear to the Saints in Heaven, though we neither invocate them for help, nor adore the best of them with the Church of Rome, no more than they: but knowing, that not one is in Heaven, but he is a Saint, we give this Title of Saint to them, of whom we doubt not of their being blessed with God. Fourthly, He had another property, no less injurious to himself, and the Servants of God on earth, than the former was to the Saints in Heaven; for that excellent Prayer in our Litany, and the holy desire of God's Servants, that it would please God to deliver them from sudden Death, which all good Divines, and faithful Servants of God did ever acknowledge for a temporary Judgement of God, and therefore prayed, that, whensoever it pleased him to call for their Souls out of this earthly Tabernacle, he would be pleased to grant them some time and space to call upon him, for the forgiveness of their Sins, and to commend their Souls into his Hands, and so forth. Yet this Lord could not away with the Prayer, nor abide to hear of this Petition; but would have every man, at all times to be so prepared for death, that he needed not at any time to pray against sudden death, and we say likewise, that every man ought to expect death in every place, and to do his best endeavour to be prepared for death at all times; yet, that neither this Lord, nor the best Saint on earth can be so well prepared at any time, but that he ought, as he hath need, to pray for pardon of the Defects, and Imperfection of his Preparation; and therefore to pray for time to make that Prayer, and then, as for time to dispose, and fit himself for God, and to make his peace with him through Christ, so to set his House in order, as the prophet saith to Ezechias, and to settle his Estate among those, that depend upon him: which hath been ever held to be, as it is indeed, a Blessing, and a great favour granted from God, to preserve love, and to continue peace, and amity amongst a man's Children, and the rest of his Friends and Posterity. But here in this Lord we may behold, and adore the Judgement of the just God, how that as Goliah's Head was cut off with his own Sword, so, Judicium suum super caput suum, this man's Judgement and his practice fell upon his own head, and the Stone, that he threw at another, lighted upon his own Pate: for in the Prosecution of his hate against his King, as a just reward of that Service, his Lordship being in Litchfield on Saint Chad's day, the Founder of that Church, while he viewed the College, or Close, as they term it, and Church of Saint Chad, to batter them down with his Canons, for the Fideliy and Allegiance of that Fraternity unto their King, being all harnessed, Cap-a-pe, from top to toe, as he lifted up his Helmet to see the same more clearly, behold you, and see the just hand of God directing the hand of a youth, that was a Prebend's Son, with a Fowling-Piece, to hit him just in the eye; that, as formerly he could not see the truth, so now he could see nothing, but fell suddenly dead, and never spoke word, no, not so much as, Lord have mercy upon me: so the Lord God shown himself just, and righteous in his Judgements, and holy in all his ways; and let all the Sons of men acknowledge the same, and all wicked men fear his Justice. Fourthly The next man, Fourth Man. that I shall bring upon the Stage to answer at the Bar of Justice, is Master John Pym; a man, that was in an Office of great trust, and of much profit, and gain under the King: and because, as the Proverb goeth, Much would have more, his Covetousness egged forward by his Ambition to be great, snatching at more than was just, laid him open to lose what was due, and to be deprived of his place, that was so good. Then he, like the unjust Steward spoken of in the Gospel, took unjuster Courses against his Master; for he not only advised with himself to detain more of his Master's goods in his hands, and to deceive him of so much, as might well enable him to live well, and in good sort, as his false fellow-Steward, that Christ speaks of, had showed him the way before, but as after Ages grew more subtle, so they became more wicked, than the former times, even so this unjust, and unthankful Servant became more wicked than before: for now he layeth up such hatred, and malice against his King, and sealeth it in the depth of his Heart, wherein the same boiled like new Wine, that wanted vent, so that, it was like meat, and drink to an hungry Stomach, for him to find any Opportunity to broach the same against the King. And the Long Parliament, that consisted of very many discontented Persons, and men both disaffected to his Majesty, and distasting his present Government, made him a fair way to lay open all his Malice, and what he formerly vented in his private Discourse by retail, he doth it publicly now in gross, and he doth it to the full: and having a tongue apt to speak, and not unskilful in the art of Rhetoric, he gins first to make his Oration against the Earl of Strafford, as knowing, that whatsoever evil was proved or conceived against him, the same reflected most upon the King; then, after the taking of this great Earl, and prudent Counsellor of the King, out of the way, making more bitter Invectives against his Majesty, than ever Cicero's Philippics were against Marcus Antoninius, or his Actions against Verres, he so still passed on, till he had poisoned the greater part of that House, and the seditious vulgar, that understood his Proceed, with an evil conceit against the good King. And now seeing himself backed with the wild part of the House, and the strength of the rude multitude, no mean revenge will serve his turn, but with his Rhetorical Orations, and Speeches, filled with Gall against the King, though as yet somewhat obliquely, he labours to disrobe, and rob the King of all his chief Friends under the Notion of evil Counselors; and withal secretly complies with the Scots to assist him, and the rest of his seditious Compeers against his Majesty. But, the King having full intelligence both of his, and his partners vile practice against his Majesty, laboured to bring them to their Trial in the usual legal way, for their underhand Treachery, and Confederacy with the Scots to bring a foreign Army to invade his Dominion; and then to save himself, and the rest, they fly to the City of London, and in a short space drew the Citizens, and, with them, the whole Kingdom to engage themselves, in a desperate civil War against their lawful Sovereign. Then the King found himself too weak, to bring this strong Rebel, to any trial; yet the hand of God was not to short to fetch him out of his guarded Palace; for he is the Lord of Hosts, and hath as well his great Army of little ones, as the Rats, and Mice, that devoured Popiel the second King of Polonia, in anno 830. for his treacherous poisoning of his Uncles; the Moales, that undermined a City in Thessaly; and the Worms, that destroyed Herod the King; as also his strong Army of great ones, as the earth to swallow up Corah, Dathan, and Abiram, the Sea to overwhelm Pharaoh, and all his Host, the Stars in their Order too fight against Sisera, and his Angels to be at his Command, to overthrow his enemies. And therefore he sent his Sergeant to arrest him, and to fetch him out of his strong hold, that he should do no further Mischief against his Anointed. And how he died, I leave to the Report of them, that knew the manner of his death better than I can set it down. I did intent further to show unto you the just Judgement of God upon Colonel Hamden, that for his disloyalty to his King was shot, whereof he died, on the same Plot of ground, where he first mustered his Soldiers against his King; even as the Lord threatened the like Judgement against Ahab. And upon the Mayor of York, that, on that day twelvemonth, that our King lost his life, made a Bonfire for joy, that the King had so lost his life, but on the same day twelvemonth after hanged himself. And especially upon Colonel Axtel, that hath been the ruin of so many Churches, and the Suppressour of so many honest conformable Ministers, and other good Protestants, and played so many Tyrannical parts about Kilkenny, and in my Diocese of Ossory, as I am not able in a short time, and with few words to express it: and upon divers others, but my Occasions at this time will not give me leave to perfect what I have begun. And therefore I must now here make an End, and commend us all to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be all glory, and honour for evermore. Amen. Jehovae Liberatori. The Author's Prayer, after he had finished the Reparation of the Chancel, and Choir of the Cathedral Church of Kilkenny. OEternal, Almighty, and most merciful Lord God, that hast created all things by thy Power, governest them by thy Wisdom, and preservest them by thy Goodness, and hast disposed all thy Creatures to be for the Service of man, the Sun to give him light by day, and the Moon by night, the Earth to feed him, and the Angels of Heaven to attend him, that he dash not his foot against a Stone; for all which great love, and bounty of thine towards man, thou requirest no more, but that he should be thankful unto thee, and praise thee for thy goodness, and declare the wonders, that thou dost for the Children of men; and, as Moses saith, what doth the Lord our God require of us, but to fear the Lord our God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord our God with all our hearts, and with all our souls, and to keep his Commandments, and Statutes, which he commanded us for our good: for the discharging of which duties, and the performance of our Service unto the Lord our God, though, as Saint Stephen saith, the most High dwelleth not in Temples made with hands, when as the heaven, and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him, which is above the heavens, and below the earth, and filleth all places, and beyond all places with his Presence; yet our forefather's most religiously, according to the Precedent, that King Solomon left us, and the good Examples, that the Primitive Christians gave us, have erected Oratories, and built Temples, and Churches, where the Saints, and Servants of God might meet, to praise the Lord for his manifold mercies; to beg his favour, and graces, to help, and to supply their wants, and necessities; to understand his Will, and to know his Commands, and to do all other the best Service, that they could do, to the Lord their God; and to that only end they have set them apart, and alienated them from all secular, and profane uses, dedicated them wholly for God's Service, and consecrated them by Prayers to be Sanctuaries for them, and their Posterities to serve, and to honour God in. But, O Lord our God, we confess, and with grief, and sorrow of heart we do confess, that we have sinned with our Fathers, and with our Teachers, that have mis-taught us, to do amiss, and to deal wickedly, to profane those thy Sanctuaries, to destroy thy Temples, and to make those houses of thee, our God, to become Dens of Thiefs, Cages of unclean Birds, Stables for our Horses, and the Receptacles of other bruit, and fouler Beasts; and as the Prophet saith of the Heathen, so we may truly say of ourselves, Thy holy Temples have we defiled, and made thy Church's heaps of Stones, the Monuments of thy Martyrs we have thrown down, and the dead Bodies of thy Servants we have given to be meat unto the Fowls of the Air, and the flesh of thy Saints unto the Beasts of the Field. And, for this our great Wickedness, we are become an open shame to our Enemies, and a very scorn, and derision unto them, that are round about us; and we do confess, that we have justly, and most justly deserved all the evils, that are come upon us, and we say with Ezra, that thou our God hath punished us less, than our Iniquities deserve. Yet thou, O Lord God, like a most gracious Father, didst not suffer thy wrath to burn like fire, to increase more and more, and to continue, as our Iniquities continued, but in the midst of thy Judgements thou hast remembered thy mercies, and commanded thy destroying Angel to put up his Sword, and to punish us no more, but to turn our heaviness into joy, by rooting out our Oppressors, and the Depravers of thy Service, and restoring to us our most gracious King: for which great Blessings, and inestimable favours of thine, O gracious God, we laud, and praise thy glorious Name, and we will thank thee, and magnify thee for ever. And now, O Lord, seeing we are taught by thy holy Prophet, that Holiness becometh thy House for ever; and thou hast commanded thy people of Israel, that they should keep their Tents, and Habitations holy, and clean, lest thou, that canst abide no impurity in thy sight, shouldst departed from them; which was a Type to signify unto us, how much more holy, and clean, thou wouldst have us to preserve thy House, where thy Service is celebrated, thy Name magnified, and thy Presence promised to be assistant unto thy Saints: we do therefore in all humility beg of thee, and from the bottom of our hearts beseech thee, to blot out, and pardon all the Abuses, Profaneness, and Wickedness, that hath been done in, and against this House: and we pray thee to accept of these our Prayers, and Supplications unto thee, to sanctify the same, and to make it a fit place for thy Service; and so to preserve it an holy Tabernacle for thy Majesty, to be present with thy Saints, to have thy Name magnified, thy people instructed, and their Petitions presented unto thee; and, when they do pray unto thee in this place, do thou hear them out of thy holy Heaven, and let thine Eyes be open towards this House, night and day, even towards this place, of which thou hast said, My Name shall be there; and thy dear Son, and our blessed Saviour, Jesus Christ, hath said, Where two or three are gathered together in my Name, I will be there in the midst of them; and this House, being erected for the gathering together of thy Saints, dedicated for thy Service, and by our Prayers consecrated for thy Worship; we do most humbly beseech thee to be present amongst us, to hear our Prayers, to grant our Requests, and to give us strength, and enable us through thy Grace to finish the Reparation of this House with Joy, and to thy Glory, which with such Alacrity we have begun, and we pray thee likewise to guide us by thy blessed Spirit to walk according to thy Will, that our sins may not provoke thee, to suffer the Sectaries, and the Enemies of thy truth, and the Depravers of thy divine Service to profane the same any more; grant this O blessed Lord for Jesus Christ his sake, to whom be all Glory, and Dominion for ever and ever. Amen.