Barwick bridge: OR ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND COVPLED.
In a Sermon tending to peace and vnitie.
Preached before the King at Saint ANDREWES in SCOTLAND.
Anno Domini. 1617. Iulij. 13.
By ROBERT WILKINSON Dr. in Diuinitie, and Chaplaine to his Maiestie.
LONDON, Printed by EDWARD GRIFFIN for William Aspley. 1617.
TO THE HIGH AND MIGHTY JAMES, BY the grace of God, King of great BRITAINE, FRANCE and IRELAND, &c.
REnowned and Beloued of God and man: As the Wisemen followed the starre in the East, so haue wee followed your Maiesty into the North, at your appointment wee haue preacht, and now at your command I haue put my selfe into the presse; To which I might haue answered, as one of the sons in the Gospell, yea, as one of your Presbyterian spirits lately answered you; Nolo, in flat terms I will not obey you; for why should so many men, the choise of two famous Churches, of so much greater learning of more and more excellent gifts, whom you haue heard not with attention only, but with admiration too, why (I say) should such and so manie escape the [Page] publishing, & I only to be set vpon the stage? yet I aske it not of your Maiestie, but of my selfe; and I thinke I haue found the reason of it, for as Izaak could not but know, that Iacob was better then Esau, and yet loued Esau for the meat which hee brought him, so your Maiesty knoweth that there be in our society, who like Rebecca can make better venison of a kid, then I haue done of venison, & yet you haue thus designed on me; therfore it was not I, but the argument, euen the peace (I spake of) which so affected you; especially to heare of peace in Scotland, but more especially to heare of peace betwixt England & Scotland, the very meat vndoubtedly which your soule loueth: and therefore while I seeme to publish my Sermon, I print vnawares your Maiesties praise, and make knowen to the world how highly your Highnes apprizeth peace; yea we haue lately seene it with our eies, that Iustice & Peace are met in you, we haue seen you sitting in Parliament ten daies together, & we are witnesses that once you sat from one at noone to ten at night; so much is Iustice beholden to you; And we haue hard from your Maiestie nothing here sounding but loue & peace, you haue in your open Parliament professed your loue to our English Nation; [Page] you haue proclaimed great punishment on such as should abuse the meanest of our nation; you haue been of nothing more carefull then of our entertainment, & such as haue kindly entertained vs, you haue openly thanked, you haue knighted & honoured them for it; that as the Babylonians said of Cyrus, The King is become a Iew, so your Maiestie at this time hath been whollie English but it is your loue, as in England to cherish Scots, so in Scotland to tender vs, and euerie where to be kinde to strangers, & it is your wisdom so to loue vs both, that your example might worke loue & peace in both. And since we are returned in peace, first, with Iacob we set vp a piller of thanks to him who hath kept vs in our iourney; & next to your Maiestie we giue, at least we repay the thankes which you your selfe vouchsafed your owne Subiects in our behalfe▪ & for those your Subiects, we reioice to thinke that in all this time of our intercourse & abode amongst them, we haue had no combate, but of kindes with them, & in kindnes (we confesse) they haue euercome vs: yea, from the great Lo: Chancellor of Scotland to the Colledge hals & Burgers houses, we are debters & prisoners, & for entertainment of that quality, as if anie man shall depraue it, he is like those men which raile on the Sun, & like the [Page] dogs which bark at the moone; yea, if any man shall embase what wee haue found so honourable, if hee were partaker of the iourney, I say, he is wilfully malicious, but if he speak by heare-say, his heare-say is heresie, & he is falsly & vncharitably credulous, yea if Scotland were as barren, as some report, which haue not seen it, we might report it for a wonder, that God hath prepared vs a table in the wildernes, for euery where we haue found cheerfull welcome, willing attendance, and of all things such abundance, as nothing could bee complained of, but excesse, or if any thing were worse then that excesse, wee our selues brought it with vs, it was our owne vnthankfulnes: yea if our beasts could speake, they would acknowledge fulnes of the crib, & say out of the Prophet Esay, we haue eaten cleane prouander winnowed and fanned, and shew themselues more thankfull to their benefactors, then many of their owners haue beene to God. That God, who hath euery where abundantly fed vs, who hath kept vs abroad, & brought vs safely home, that God make vs thankfull to himselfe, & louing to them who haue well deserued of vs, and vpon your Maiesty (we beseech him) so to deriue the peace-makers blessing heere, as you may bee called eternally the sonne of God heereafter.
THE PRAISES OF PEACE. A Sermon preached at Saint ANDREWES in Scotland.
RIght Honourable, Right Reuerend, Beloued and Christian Brethren; we are heere assembled a mixt and great assembly of two great Kingdomes; for which cause I haue taken a text of congratulation: and we are met among other reasons (as I coniecture) to giue thankes that wee may thus [Page 2] meet, to reioyce in God, and to be mutually merry, and for that cause I haue chosen a text out of a Psalme; yea, I haue chosen a text out of a Psalme, which (as Austin saith) is notus & nominatus, a Psalme well knowen to euery man, and much spoken of in euery mouth; and he saith of the text, that it is sonus ita dulcis, so sweet a sound, as many which knew not the Psalter, yet could sing the verse, & diuers which could not reade, yet had it by rote, Ecce quam bonum &c. Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together. The Psalme was penned by Dauid, and at that time (as it is thought, when after long warre betwixt the two houses of Saul and Dauid, some of the Tribes taking one part, and some another, they all came in at last, and swore fealty to Dauid, and made him King; the sweet sense whereof makes him to write this Psalme, and to breake out into this exclamation, Behold how good and pleasant it is, &c. And it is as if he had sayd, Compare the time present with the time past, and see what a change is made, while you had two Kings, [Page 3] you had them as two swords reuelling in the bowels of the Kingdomes, but now God hath set an vnion in your diuisions, & quietnesse in your borders, yea, hee hath stampt vnity vpon your coyne, Faciam eos in gentem vnam, all to haue one King, & all to make as it were one Kingdome; while you were diuided into parts, one part was still a prey to another, and as Abner spake to Ioab, the sword of ech deuoured other: but now God hath broken your swords into mattocks, and your speares into sithes: Fighting is now turned to feasting, and force of armes to mutuall embracing, so as now you may safely visit the Coasts, and Countries, and Townes, and Cities, and Churches, and Vniuersities, and Colledges each of other, Ecce quam bonum, Behold how good and pleasant this is.
The maine subiect of the text is Peace; not the peace betwixt a man and his owne conscience, which Matth. 11. is called Rest to your soules: nor yet the peace betwixt God & man, wher of Rom. 5. 1. Being iustified by faith we haue peace toward God: but it is [Page 4] the peace betwixt brethren, that is, betwixt man and man; concerning which we may in the text obserue these fiue things. First, it is described by a phrase of dwelling together: Secondly, it is limited, only among brethren. Thirdly, it is commended to be good and to be pleasant. Fourthly, it is admired, How good and How pleasant. Fiftly, it is poynted at, Behold how good, and Behold how pleasant: of all which by your patience and Gods assistance, I will speake in order.
And first of the first; The peace heere mentioned is stiled a dwelling, and a dwelling together; and first a dwelling, for peace is as a man settled and quiet in his owne house, which followes not vaine pomp & pride, nor yet the tumults and restlesse troubles, nor tossing and tumbling vp and downe the world, but peace saith as God saith in the Psalme next before, Hic requies mea, heere will I dwell. But they to whom there is no peace, they are like the raging sea which cannot rest, Esay 57. and Prou. 4. they cannot sleepe vnlesse [Page 5] they haue done euill; and no maruell; for Sathan their head is a ranger, he dwels no where, but euery where, Hee compasseth the earth, and walketh in it Iob 1, and 1 Pet. 5. He walketh vp and downe like a roaring Lyon, seeking whom he may deuoure: The tyrants of the earth which are his left hand, they dwell or rest no where, but run out to the North and South, and East and West, and extend their Dominions ouer the whole earth. Dan. 8. Againe, Pharisies & false Prophets, which are his right hand, they compasse sea & land to make a man of their profession. yet their diligence makes no warrant for their ill endeauours; It is sayd of the harlot Prou. 7. that her feet cannot abide in her house, but now she is without, and now in the streets, and lieth in waite at euery corner. The mysticall propagation of schisme and seducing heresie: for so doe the Priests, but especially the restles Iesuites, they are no where settled, but wander vp and downe like Apostles, and though S. Paul sayd, that God had set foorth them the last Apostles. 1 Cor. 4. yet they are Apostles later then the last, and because [Page 6] God will not send them out, they therfore send out themselues, and runne to the Indies East and West, to Mexico and Peru, to the Moluccoes, and to the great Magueere, and if we may beleeue their owne reports, they haue been in the remote and mighty kingdome of China, they haue beene at all Coasts and Capes, and seas and wayes, only the way of peace they haue not knowen. Againe, peace is not a dwelling onely, but a dwelling together? together? how! not simul in crimine, like Simeon and Leui, brethren in iniquity, combined in sinne together: nor simul in certamine, as Ephraim and Manasses; or as of late two popish prelates in England for meere precedency, & in a Church, flatly by the eares together; but together is heere cohabiting together, in a city, in a house, in a Church together, and sometime as Acts 1. 13. in a chamber together: and which is the moralitie of all this, of one heart and soule together. Acts 4. 32. And indeede wee see in nature, that the peaceable and harmlesse creatures do flocke together like doues, and folde together like sheepe: but [Page 7] wolues, and lyons, and beares, which lie in wait for blood, they liue in the wildernesse and apart, and owles come out in the night and apart, and make a noyse when all the rest of the birds are asleepe, but they are neither good intympano, nor in choro, they sing not in consort, and when they sing alone, it is the very horror of musique; and so it is obserued among men; if a man bee too much retired, and solitary, and melancholly, & hang downe his head like Cain, & like Shemaiah become a Recluse and shut vp himselfe, euerie man straight will vse the prouerb vpon such an one, Omnis solitarius aut Deus aut Daemon, such a man may bee a Saint, and hee may as well bee a Diuell; It was the aduantage which Christ had of Iohn the Baptist, that he liued in cities & townes, and did eat and drinke, and was sociable, so as he baptized, and all men came to him: Ioh. 3. but Iohn Baptist liued in the wildernesse austerely and sourely, and came neither eating nor drinking, so as they which knew not the mysterie of it, said plainely, that Iohn had a Diuell, Matth. 11. And we see [Page 8] for the most part that these close and sullen spirits, looke whatsoeuer way they take, they become by their singularitie hurtfull; if they haue to do in the state, they become proud and contentions, and breed factions there: if they haue to doe in learning, they proue dogmaticall, full of paradoxes and of opinions there; but if in the Church, they are not onely schismaticall, but turbulent and pragmaticall, and with Corah, Dathan and Abiram, ready to make riot, if all be not to their will; oh how peaceable had it been for the Church, how strong for the field, and how happy for the whole world, if such Church-men had beene made souldiers; but euery man if he be a Saint is of the Communion of Saints, and they which be truely brethren, doe dwell, and liue, and die together; The word in the text importeth more, euen to dwell together in vnity, or in one. Now as Bernard saith, there bee many wayes of one, there is vnitas collectiua, as when many stones make one heape, & there is vnitas constitutiua, as when many members make one body, and there is vnitas [Page 9] coniugatiua, as when man and woman make one flesh, and there is vnitas natiua, as when flesh and spirit make vp one man, with diuers other kindes; but why should I exceede in diuision pretending to preach peace? but of all the rest, why should I so infinitely diuide that which the holy Ghost contracteth into one? therfore I finde this multiplicity reduced into two heads, either Habitare in vnum, subiectiuely into one which is God, or Habitare in vno, for things of lesse moment, yet (if it be possible) to agree in one; Into God, one God, one faith we are necessarily grafted as into a stocke, without which there is no peace, no religion, no loue, no life; and for other things, though not so necessarie, yet Saint Paul exhorts to be of one minde, and one iudgement, Philip. 2. Therefore if it be possible, let vs Habitare in vno, all to follow one way, one gouernment, one discipline: but howsoeuer it fall, let vs Habitare in vnum, still to hold our grounds, one Gospell, one Faith, one God: that is, if we can, let vs all agree in an vniformitie, but if not so, yet let vs stil hold [Page 10] the grounds of vnitie: yea, and though we cannot Habitare in vno; that is, to keepe all one fashion, yet because we are all of one faith, to hold euen our differences in peace, and to doe nothing through contention.
The limiting of peace is onely among brethren; which because it is a word of great equiuocation, the distinguishing of the kindes of brethren, will sort out the diuers kindes of peace; therefore first there bee brethren by creation, and so we be all, as we be all the sonnes of one God; for as it is Malach. 2: haue we not all one father! hath not one God made vs all? and thus wee are all tied to peace, so farre as peace is taken for a meere cessation from warre, for to that purpose speaketh Saint Paul, Rom. 12. If it be possible and as much as in you lieth haue peace with all men; yea, there is a kinde of peace to be maintained euen with Turkes, and Infidels, and wee haue no reason to inuade the possessions of Infidels, only for being Infidels, but rather to liue brotherly and humanely by them, because they bee men: Why, but did not the Israelites inuade the [Page 11] land of Canaan? it is true, they did so; yet they had for so doing a speciall command from God: but what reason had Dauid to make warre vpon the Ammonites? 2. Sam. 12. he had for his warrant a prouocation from themselues, 2. Sam. 10. and in such cases with such brethren it is lawfull to breake the peace, but otherwise as Austin saith, Cùm tu Christianus Paganū spolias &c. When thou a Christian dost rob and spoile a Pagan, thou robbest God of a conuert, & as much as in thee lieth, thou diuertest a Pagan from being a Christian. Secondly, there be brethren by bloud, either descended all immediately of one father, as Iacobs sons Gen. 42. We be 12. brethren, the sonnes of one father, or else, mediately descended of the same Ancestors, euen as Iames and Iohn, though but the kins-men of Christ, yet called Math. 13. the brethren of Christ. And by this brotherhood we are tied to that 2. Pet. 1. called brotherly kindnesse: and it was the reason whereby Abraham perswaded Lot to peace, Gen. 13. Let there be no strife between thee & me, for thou and I are brethren. For what shall perswade [Page 12] vs to liue peaceably in the world, if not this, that wee are all descended of one wombe, and if such contend in the world, what can they doe more, vnlesse with Iacob and Esau, they returne into the wombe, & spurne, and kicke, and fight it out there. Thirdly, they are said to be brethren who are all of one Countrey, Countrey-men. In which sense God speaketh, Deut. 23. To a Stranger thou maist lend on vsury, but not vnto thy brother, that is, vnto thy fellow Israelite: now the vnion of such brethren is the strength of the kingdome, but when such fall off, it is a kingdome diuided, and cannot stand. In the Scisme betwixt Ephraim and Gilead there fell in one fielde two and forty thousand, Iudg. 12. and the falling away of the ten Tribes from the two, was occasionally the ruine of both the kingdomes; and hee that readeth our Chronicles, shall finde that we English and Scots haue spent more bloud in domesticall broiles, then when one of vs in time of hostilitie opposed an other, but now it is peace here, and peace at home, and when [Page 13] we English shall returne home, and call to minde how kindly our Scottish brethren haue vsed vs here, we cannot but acknowledge their kindnesse, and owne them as brethren, yea if nationall brotherhood could not, yet very shame shall driue vs now to loue both them & our selues more mutually at home. Fourthly, they are said to be brethren who are al of one profession, & in that sense, Kings who vnder God diuide the earth, do call each other brethren; yea euen when the two kings had newly fought a bloudy field, the King of Israel asked concerning the King of Aram, Is my brother yet aliue? 1 King. 20. And there is nothing more needfull either for Church or common-wealth, then that Kings do liue peacably, and as brethren; for when it is otherwise, Delirant Reges, plectuntur Achiui: great and mightie men runne a madding, and the poore Peasant must pay for it, & while Benhadad sitteth quaffing in his tent, his Captaine and his Souldiers fall by thousands in the fielde; and therefore Kings by name must so be praied for, as the people may [Page 14] liue honestly and quietly vnder them, 1. Tim. 2. but he that soweth sedition between kings, or hinders their iust peace when it is intended, he is a fire-brand betweene two kingdomes, the fatherlesse and widowes shall curse him, the bloud of the massacred (like the bloud of Abell) shall cry against him, the God of peace shall confound him, and the Diuell whom hee serueth, in this shall pay him his wages. Againe as Kings, so the Apostles for their like profession did call each other brethren, for so did Peter cal Paul his beloued brother, 2. Pet. 3. and Austin saith that this text bred Monasteries, and brought the Monkes and Fryers together; but sure he meaneth the old Monkes, and the auncient Fryers, for the later breede come not so high as from the Psalmes, but they may rather seeke themselues, where Saint Paul vnluckily found himselfe, Inter falsos fratres, 2. Cor. 11. and as the Apostles, so we their successors for vnitie of affection and consent of iudgement, ought all to bee as brethren; yet not as brethren in equality, for the King and his subiects by the [Page 15] mouth of God are all called brethren, Deut. 17. to teach the King to thinke of his subiects, as of brethren, & yet he were a proud subiect that should so equalize himselfe, as out of that text to call the King brother, so brotherhood in the Church concludes no parity of Church functions; yea the peace heere mentioned is not well maintained in a parity, for see in the Psalme the propagation of peace, and how it runnes, It beginneth at the head, it falleth downe by the beard, and so to the skirts of the cloathing; It beginneth at the head first, which is the high Priest, the figure of Christ, it goeth downe by the beard, the mouth of the Minister, and so downe to the skirts, euen to the lowest of the people, and how shall the people be annointed with peace, when Arons beard is defiled with sedition, or how shall we build vp the people in peace, when our selues like the vale of the Temple are rent in sunder? yea what ruine and confusion shall not follow the rupture and disioynting of the Ecclesiasticall body? Eusebius saith that before the great and fearefull [Page 16] persecution vnder Dioclesian there was euen in the Church-men themselues a prouoking of God vnto it, for they were all one deadly set against an other, Episcopi in Episcopos, & Pastores repulsa pietatis norma &c. both Byshops, Priests, and people were all fiered & enflamed one against another, & then came Dioclesian, as a fire-brand cast vp out of hell to burne and consume them all: but let peace begin at the Prelates and Preists of God, and then no doubt, but the lowest of the people shall bee annoynted with it. Fiftly & lastly, they are called brethren who be all of one religion; and in that sense euen Paul, though a Iew and borne at Tarsus in Cilicia, yet calleth the Romans brethren; I beseech you brethren by the mercies of Christ, &c. Rom. 12. and there is no peace like this, yea there is no peace without this: for let a man not bee at peace with God, and hee is no brother to vs, there is no dwelling with him: and that befalleth two wayes, either when men faile in fundamentall poynts of faith, or when they stray notoriously in wickednesse of life. If any man bring not [Page 17] this doctrine, bid him not God speed (saith S. Iohn) for what comfort is in that peace which is entertained with an Infidell, an Atheist, and Heretique, or an obstinate Papist, with whom a man may eat and drink, but not at the holy table; he may be merry with him, but not sing Psalmes with him; he may talke with him, but he cannot pray with him; and hee may walke with him but they must part at the Church dore, yea there is no peace with such, but when wee make peace with them, wee breake peace with God, for all peace and loue is founded first in religion, and in God, and if we agree not first in religion, all other agreement is horrible in the eyes of God. Again, though a man professe the same faith, yet if he liue a wicked life, there is no dwelling or liuing with him. If any that is called a brother be a fornicator, or a drunkard, or a rayler, with such an one eat not. 1 Cor. 5. with such an one eat not, that is, conuerse not; and why? first because it is vncomfortable, for woe is me (saith Dauid) that I dwell in Meshech, &c. Psal. 120. Secondly, it is not sutable, for righteousnes & [Page 18] peace haue kissed, but what fellowship hath light with darknesse? Thirdly, it is not safe for infection, for Commisti sunt inter gentes, & dedicerunt opera eorum, saith the Psalmist, euen Gods owne people were mingled with the Heathen, and learned their workes, and if we sleepe with dogges, what maruell is it, if we rise with fleas? yea, as the coldest iron comes red hot out of the fire, so the best natures are corrupted by ill company. Lastly, it is not safe for feare of confusion, for they which dwell in Babylon shall be partakers of her plagues. Reuel. 18. euen as the marriners in the ship with Ionas, (though cleere of the sinne) yet had their part in the storme.
Now for the commendation of peace, it is first reported good and then pleasant: First good, quia omnia fundantur in bono, good is the ground of euery thing; and it is good first as Tobit commended Raphael, to be of a good stocke: so Peace hath God to her father, who seuen times in the Gospell is stiled, The God of Peace: Againe, peace is good, as Dauid said of Ahimaaz: a good man and bringeth [Page 19] good tidings, So Pax in terris, is the best newes that euer came into the world. Luc. 3. Againe, peace is farre fetcht, for it came from heauen; and it is deere bought, euen by the blood Christ; and if it be so, that is, if farre fetcht and deere bought, yee know for whom it is good then; it shall then befit the greatest Ladies, rather with Pilats wife, to perswade their husbands to peace, then with Iobs wife and Iezabel, to make them fall out with God and man: Againe, peace is good by diuine resemblance, for as God is in persons three, and in substance one, euen so doth Christ pray for the Church, that according to that pattern it may be one. Io. 17. againe, peace is good by naturall comparison, for all other creatures are borne with a kinde of armour into the world, either hornes to gore, teeth to bite, or nailes to rend and teare, but man (as Iob saith) is borne naked into the world, to shew a peaceable creature borne into it: Thus God sent peace, heauen bred it, the Angels brought it, Christ Iesus purchased it, when hee died he bequeathed it, and hee died to make it: [Page 20] this must needes bee good: But all these praises are externall: peace is good in it selfe, and In sensu morali, It is good, because it maketh good; for first it buildeth vs into the Church, yea it buildeth the very Church; Dauid the souldier might not build the Temple. 1 Chron. 28. 3. but Salomon the peaceable; and Scotland hath now felt, that they which write Beati pacifici, haue not been the worst friends and builders of their Church; and when Salomon built the Temple, there was neither hammer, nor axe, nor iron to bee heard in it, while it was a building. 1 King. 6. The Pharisies and Sadduces were not yet come with their hammers to deface and peruert the Law, nor Arrius with his axe to cut off the God-head of Christ, nor were there either Marcionists, Manichees, or Nestorians as yet, to make a a noyse in the Church; but all was peace: & as the Temple was built vp in peace, so is euery Christian engrafted into the Church in peace, and when wee are once in, it is meerely peace, that holds vs in, for the vnity of the spirit is kept in the bond of peace. Ephes. 4 [Page 21] and what good can we doe, while wee are not in peace? we come to Church and cannot heare well: for if yee loue on another, then are yee verily my Disciples, saith Christ, Ioh. 13. but not else. Againe, we pray worse, if we be not in peace, for we pray for forgiuenes with a stop; we say, Forgiue vs our trespasses, but dare goe no farther: and so we make a full point, where Christ made but a comma: but without peace we communicate at the holy table worst of all, for we eat and drink at it euen to our owne damnation. but the peaceable man is free from all this, hee heareth profitably, he receiueth comfortably, & he prayeth deuoutly, euen for his enemies and persecutours, for so did Stephen euen when the stones and the bloud ranne downe by his eares. Acts 7. oh see and behold how good peace is. And as there is no Church, so no Common-wealth without peace, for by peace men multiply into families, family fill whole Countreyes, and Countreyes build vp Kingdomes, but warre kils vp all: for where in peace the sonnes commonly bury their fathers, the fathers in warre [Page 22] oft bury their sonnes; yea, war kils vp both Lawes and Iustice: When Antigonus entred Asia with a strong and mighty army, one salutes him at his entrance with an eloquent oration in praise of Iustice, but Antigonus tolde him, he was a foole to speake of Iustice to a King with a drawne sword in his hand; yea, warre and contention kill vp euen conscience it selfe; for how many bee there, who while they bee not stirred, liue like Saints and Angels, but being once heated, they offend God and man, and fall to plots and fowle practises, and become foxes and lyons in warre, who were lambs in peace; euen as Dauid, who had hee not smelt too much of the sword, could neuer haue conspired against Vriah as he did: but that and other things, did cleane put him by the building of the Temple; yea, warre killeth euen humanity it selfe, and taketh from many all sense of blood and cruelty: for was it not a strange speech of Abner to Ioab, Let the yoong men arise and play: 2 Sam. 2. and what was their play? they went out twelue to twelue, and fought so long that [Page 23] all fell down dead: but it was a cruell heart which thought killing but a play, and it was a miserable play where all were losers: This was nought, but peace is good.
Yea, peace is not good onely, but pleasant too: now good and pleasant to concurre is rare, for many things are pleasant which are not good, euen as Iob 20. wickednesse was sweet in his mouth: againe, many things are good which are not pleasant, yea, few things which are good are pleasant: In medicines the best are bitter still, and affliction, which Dauid said was good, Psal. 119. yet Hebr. 12. is vnpleasant for the time, and though it bee more blessed and better to giue then to take, Acts 20. yet Lawyers and all trades can tell, it is much more pleasant to take then to giue: but good and pleasant doe both meet heere: Now of pleasure, the neerest Iudge to vs is naturall sense, but peace is pleasant, and delightfull to all the senses; As first and for example to the smell, for which in this Psalme it is compared to a precious oyntment, but that which smelleth sweete, euery man [Page 24] draweth neerer to it, euen as Cant. 1. Because of the sauor of thy good ointments, we wil run after thee. So peace hath an attractiue power, for though men naturally loue their owne Countrey best, yet euery man liketh best to liue and dwell where it is peace; Izaak left Gerar when they stroue with him, and went to Sitnah for peace, and when they stroue with him there, he went to Rehoboth and Beersheba for peace. Gen. 26. and England can tell, and so I think can Scotland too, what a conflux of French and Dutch, and other strangers hath beene to vs sometime for the shadow of our peace, euen for that peace which our friends haue admired, our enemies enuied, & Sathan hath often pusht at, but God hath so enlarged, as we are become like Nebuchadnezzars tree, a shade and refuge for all the beasts and fowles of the field. Secondly, as peace is pleasant in sent so in sight too; Dauid when hee wrote this was not ratling in harnesse, nor in the horrid aspect of a souldier, for the garrisons were all dissolued, and the wars now done, but Dauid now was turned reueller, and [Page 25] with a troope of gallants, thirty thousand pickt and chosen men, he marcheth before the arke, and singeth, and plaieth, and danceth, and like a Priest putteth on a linnen Ephod. 2 Sam. 6. oh it was a glorious sight, and the triumph of their new atchieued peace, onely Michol scoffed at it, as many Schismitiques and ill-affected men do now, to see the ornaments and attires of the Church in the time of her peace; for when the Church came out of Aegypt (whatsoeuer shee wore before and in the daies of her bondage) yet then being freed and settled, God would haue her put on silke and scarlet, and fine twined linnen. Exod. 28. and what if Elias and Iohn Baptist liuing in the wildernesse and lamenting the times, went vp and downe in haire-cloth, and girt with lether girdles, must we now do it in the daies of our peace? no: but as Salomon was Christ, and Salomons house the Church of Christ in figure, so are wee in verity the seruants of that Salomon, and of that Christ, whose sitting, and order, and attire (though Michol scoffed at) yet a wiser woman, the Queene of [Page 26] Sheba admired; 1 King. 10▪ and wee, wee I say (for I keepe not others vine, nor meddle with other Churches) but wee of the Church of England do serue and minister to God in white, & yet we neither reuiue the dead rites of the Iewes, nor temporize with the popish Churches, but we weare white by the Text, partly to signifie the purenesse and integrity which should be, as Reu. 19. 8 and partly to giue thankes to God, and to testifie our reioycing for the peace of the Church, which is, according to that which is written Eccles. 9. 8. Thirdly, peace is pleasant to the eares too; for define peace, and it is but harmony, and the best harmony is of high and low, and base and meane, &c. Dauid sayd Psal. 101. Hee would sing of mercy and iudgment. A strang kinde of skill to put mercy & iudgement both i [...] a song, but it was in musike, & Dauid was the sweet singer of Israel. 2 Sam. 23. and the best Musician that euer was in the world; and as Musique is nothing else but harmony or agreement of disagreeing parts, so is peace. Peace in the body is a due temperature of [Page 27] contrary humours, peace in the minde is a concurrence of affection with reason, peace in the man is a body subdued to the soule; peace among men is when the superiours gouerne iustly, when inferiours obey willingly, and equals loue mutually, & peace in the Church is, when there is one God, one faith, one heart: when they whom God hath placed aboue, are obeyed as Bishops, and they beneath are respected as brethren; when one plants, and another waters; when one preacheth a truth, and another comes and confirmes it, this is harmony, and this is peace: but Heretiques and Schismatiques still sing out of tune. Fourthly, peace is pleasant to the feeling too, that is, it is profitable, for which in this Psalme it is compared to the deaw of Hermon, which made the mountaines fruitfull. But warre (as one compares it) is like the Basiliske, which scorcheth and poysoneth the very grasse, and the ground whereon he goeth, so warre depopulates and destroyes all; we neede not seeke farre for witnesse; witnesse in our Scottish and English borders, the [Page 28] woods and forrests wasted, the fields yet vntilled, the townes yet vnbuilt, and for townes and houses meere kennels for dogs, shrowdes fit for beasts, but farre vnfit for men, and yet we see in our trauels no great superfluity of beasts neither, onely they were beasts which made this desolation, and whosoeuer were captaines and souldiers, the Diuell on both sides was leader of the field: Nay, let it be but a suit in Law, and it is wonderfull to see how a man wasteth by it; one Lawyer must bee feed, Ne noceat, that hee doe no hurt, and another takes a fee, and doth in truth a very little good; and money runnes while all be run out, and the fees of the suit exceede many times the benefit of the sentence, and many a man becomes poore at the victory, who had beene rich, if hee had forborne the combate, but in peace men plant and build, and sow, and reape, and grow exceeding rich, and as in the peaceable daies of Salomon, Euery man sits vnder his vine and his fig-tree, and there is none to make afraid. Fiftly and lastly, peace is pleasant to the [Page 29] taste too: I speake it in the sense of Dauid. Psal. 34. O taste and see how gracious the Lord is, the taste and relish of a good conscience; for hee that is not in peace, hath his conscience full of horror: If he but see another prosper, he is afflicted at it, but if hee see it continue, hee plotteth and practiseth how to impeach it: yea, Saul was more troubled at Dauids rising, then at all which the Philistims did against him; yea, Haman was not ashamed to confesse, that his riches, & his children, and his honours, and all the grace the King had done him, yet did nothing auaile him, so long as Mardochai was in his eye. Ester 5. oh how ill tasted is that, which takes away the taste of all other pleasures from vs: but the peaceable minded man is free from all this, hee tasteth pleasures in his prayers, he tasteth pleasure in his sleep, yea, he lies him down & sleeps in peace. Psal. 4. hee enuieth no man, but saith with Dauid, we haue wished you good luck, euen to the ten Tribes that were against him. Psal. 122. he asketh not the death of his enemy, much lesse contriueth it, but [Page 30] though he haue Saul in the cane, yet he loseth his aduantage, and letteth him goe, and hee that can doe thus, when hee dieth shall finde it true, which Abigail sayd to Dauid, It shall bee no greefe of minde to thee, that thou hast not auenged thy selfe.
The fourth poynt generall is, that peace is not onely commended good, but admired, behold How good, and How pleasant; for as Di [...]nysius sayth of God appearing in a vision, hee that thinketh hee hath seene God non vidit Deum, sed aliquid Dei, he did not see God, but some glimmering of him, so that peace whose goodnes a man may limit and determine, it is not the true peace, but some shadow of it, for that peace passeth all vnderstanding; and indeede to bee good, is the meanest commendation that can be giuen to any thing, for God made nothing, but what was good, and that which is not good is of the Diuell: but the poynt is heere, How good, and How pleasant which is spoken by way of admiration, & may admit a four-fold interpretation, & first with a reference to the [Page 31] story, for when wee see a thing come to passe, which passeth common power, yea, and our expectation too, wee fall a wondring straight, euen so doth Dauid heere, that Ruben, and Simeon, and Gad, and Asher, and Zebulon, and Nepthali, and all the Tribes should come in to Iudah, and tenne submit themselues to one or two, this was good indeede, but How good? A Domino factum est istud, this was no wit, nor policy, nor power of man, but a worke wrought by the hand of God; and to draw this to our selues and our owne vse: when God at any time hath composed any trouble in the state, any faction or persecution in the Church, or hath made any peace which wee expected not, how can we do lesse, then lift vp harts, and hands, and eyes to God, and wonder at it: or secondly this strange demonstration, behold How good, is but an excessiue kinde of praise: and the highest stile of praise is to professe our vnability of expressing, euen as the Psalmist vseth to speake of God, O how excellent is thy name, and how great is thy goodnesse? he could not comprehend [Page 32] the one, nor was hee able to expresse the other: so since we cannot sufficiently set out the praise of peace, wee will onely aske how good it is, and praise it by saying nothing of it. Or thirdly, this admiration comes in by way of obiurgation, as if hee sayd, Oh yee that know not how good peace is, beholde and consider how good it is; for wee commonly wonder at those things which are vnwonted to vs, and since wee are such strangers to peace, it is spoken with a kinde of checke, that wee should learne to know that with admiration, whereof we cannot be ignorant, but to our great shame. Or else fourthly and lastly this admiration is mysticall, for as Dauid was a figure of Christ, so Dauids peace was a figure of the peace in heauen, euen of that peace which eye hath not seene, eare hath not heard, and which hath not entred into the heart of man, but as Austin saith of it, Facilius est consequi quam ennarrare, it shall be easier to attaine it, then to define it: & therfore since we can only aske questions of it, How good, and How pleasant, [Page 33] but cannot answer, when we haue asked, our way is onely to beleeue it, and so to liue, as they that expect and looke for it.
And so we come to the last point, Behold, which though in ranke & order of words it stand first, yet arising out of the Text, as an vse out of the doctrine, it cōmeth in good method to be handled last: for peace being so good & so pleasant, how can we do lesse then looke vpon it. Behold how good, &c. Behold: how! why Behold in contemplation of minde, or behold in experience; behold in vnderstanding, or behold in sense; Behold it, that is, search or seeke to know it; or else behold it, that is, onely looke out and see it; Behold it with the minde first, for it is true in euery thing, Quantum intelligitur tantum diligitur; wee loue things so farre as we know them, but no man can extend his loue beyond his knowledge, The sonnes of God saw the daughters of men, and then became enamoured of them, but if they had not seen them, they had neuer loued them; and Dauid where hee professeth to loue the Law, sheweth the reason of it, for it was his [Page 34] continuall meditation, Psal. 119. that is, hee did nothing but study it, and it is the cause of all profanenesse in the world, that men doe not extend their consideration to behold the goodnesse of God, and the beauty of vertue; The timbrell, pipe and wine are in their feasts (saith Esay) but they consider not the works of the Lord. Esa. 5. But if thou knowest the gift of God, saith Christ to the woman of Samaria. Ioh. 4. and againe, had they known the mystery of the Gospell, they would not haue crucified the Lord of glory, 1 Cor. 2. yea, and for peace, Oh if thou hadst knowne (saith Christ) the things that belong vnto thy peace. Luc. 19. for if men did behold Peace in her perfect beauty, and consider of what accompt it hath euer beene in the Church, they would not breake the peace as they doe; that is, they would not fall out for trifles, nor forsake the vnity of the Church for their owne fancies, nor write, nor raile, nor preach one against another, nor spurne against authority as they doe; for the holy Apostles strained farre to keepe peace, and saluafide, became all things to all, rather then [Page 35] to breake the peace: and in the primitiue Church they professed it lesse hainous to sacrifice to Idols, then to breake the peace: but now as S. Paul sayd to the Church at Corinth: we haue all knowledge, and know all things. 1 Cor. 8. wee know how to gouerne the Church, and wee know how to make combustion, and to stirre vp sedition, and to set both Church and Commonwealth on fire, but no man beholds or knowes how good & how pleasant peace is. Againe, beholding heere is not onely considering, but Dauids meaning is to behold it in sense, for Ishbofeth and he sought both for a kingdome, but they sought it with their swords, and so lost peace, but now they haue recouered it, especially Dauid for his part, and to that point he speaks, and he speakes it with his finger, Ecce, Behold in sense, how good peace is; for indeed to behold it in speculation onely, that is, to behold it, and not to haue it, what a beholding call you this? yea, to behold peace, as the beggerly Philosophers did write their politiques & speculate of Kingdomes, & as [Page 36] poore Mathematicians turne heauen and earth about in a globe, and then want money to buy a loafe of bread, this is a colde contemplation: yea, thus to behold peace that is, to see the goodnesse of it, and then to want it, oh it is one of the plagues of hell: but Behold it (saith Dauid) that is, behold and see how God hath sent it: euen as Luc. 10. Blessed are your eyes, for they see.
And this beholding is with thankes, which if it be not an onely cause, yet ought it to be one vse of our meeting in this kingdome; and all the curses of vnthankfulnes shall light vpon vs, if thus beholding peace we be not thankfull for it: and what cause haue we of thankes, I refer it to you Lords, Knights, and Gentle-men, Beloued and Christian brethren of both Kingdomes: Two things in this Iland hath bin much & long affected: one especially by vs English, that God would at length combine together the two disagreeing Families of Yorke & Lancaster, by whose schisme and contention such effusion of blood so many yeeres was made. The other, that God by some [Page 37] good meanes would reduce and bring together these two great Kingdomes into one; The former though done before our dayes, yet still we enioy the goodnes & pleasure of it: but the other, these golden daies of ours haue seene the doing of it: But oh how many consultations were there before it could bee done? It was seene in both Kingdomes for many reasons good, that is, we beheld it good in speculation, and many motions and meanes were made, and much endeauour was to doe it, but the Diuell who breakes off all good purposes, and we our selues still backward enough to better things, found means euermore to stand aloofe, and to mischieue one another; and when truces were taken, yet were they but the binding of Sathan for a time, for time still vndid what time had done; but now it is done, and wee behold peace in sight, and see peace, not as our neigbours the States, nor as the Churches in France, nor as the poore Churches in Greece, who see peace abroad, and want it at home, and are forced either to stand vpon their guard, and to [Page 38] sleepe with their swords vnder their pillowes, or to prostitute themselues to slauish conditions: but wee haue such a peace as our selues desired, and God hath so establisht, as onely our selues shall bee able to impeach it; and vnlesse, as Hierome sayd of his owne time, Nisi nostris peccatis Barbari fortes facti, vnlesse our sinnes and vnthankfulnesse giue victory to our enemies, the gates of hell shall not preuaile against vs,
And we must so behold our peace, as wee see God in it; Peace indeede is like a precious oyntment, but it is also like the deaw vpon the mountaines: the oyntment is powred on by the hand of a man, and our peace is well promoted by inferiour meanes: but the deaw comes from heauen, and it is God that sendeth it, and from God in heauen comes this our peace and vnion. Who would haue sayd to Abraham, that Sarah should haue borne him a sonne? Gen. 21. and who of late when he saw in England, a King with a sonne and two daughters, all like enough to liue, and leaue a royall issue, who would haue sayd to England, that Scotland euen in that age [Page 39] should haue bred and brought them vp a King? but God, that God (by whom Kings raigne) hath thus deuolued it for our good: and if God haue coupled vs, who then shal put asunder what God hath ioyned together? yea, what man either for his owne, or for the common good would haue this vnion sundred? while we were diuided into parts, that some followed Tibui, and some followed Omri, that some were for Saul, and some for Dauid, and one part English, and another Scottish, we were not strangers only, but enemies too? and our very names were mutually odious; our borders were like the piller which Iacob and Laban pitcht vp, as a barre to keepe the one from the other, a barre indeede to keepe out peace, but what could then debarre vs from mischeeuing one another; but God, the God of peace, hath now sounded a retraite, for where before the very ground of one was still a snare to the other, our houses now are become mutuall harbours, our Colledges are reciprocally conferring their honours, yea, and our pulpits open each for [Page 40] other; ours of late for you, and yours now for vs, for our Prelates, and for our Preachers, and for me also now, the meanest of ten thousand, to commend and plead for peace; and let the hugest of these mountaines drop downe vpon his head, which openeth his mouth to speake against it.
Oh you that haue trauelled far, & seen in your trauels the confines and diuisions of other Countreyes: Tell mee, did yee euer see in any two Kingdomes so little cause of diuision, yea of distinction, as in ours? There are no huge Pyrenean hils or mountains to diuide vs, as betwixt the two Kingdomes of France and Spaine, vnlesse pride of heart stand vp as a hill betwixt vs: nor are we seuered with wilde forrests or Herculean woods, as Bohemia is from Germany, vnlesse our selues grow wood-mad with enuy, and enuy creepe vp and downe, as a wild beast betwixt vs; nor are wee walled asunder as China is from Asia, vnlesse some Hiel or Bethelite shall arise, and build againe the walls of Iericho, nor is the confusion of Babel falne vpon vs, to make vs different language, [Page 41] onely one saith Sibboleth, and the other Shiboleth, very meane and insensible differences: and I hope we shall not be so mad (as Ephraim and Gilead) to fight a field for these; yea, if the Diuell doe not put more oddes in our hearts, then God hath done in our mouths, we shall need no French comment or interpreter to stand betweene vs, wee shall with little helpe vnderstand each other, we shall speake, and talke, and conuerse familiarly, and loue and liue together: Lastly, there is no raging Ocean or sea to sunder vs, as betwixt vs and the Indies, vnlesse we rage in hatred one against another; onely there runnes a pleasant Siloam, or Kedron betwixt vs; you call it Tweade, I thinke it came from twayed, because by it we are made vnkindly two, but when the bridge is finisht, Twayed shall then be Tyed, and we shall all be one; wee are not the sonnes of Hamilcar, who swore Hannibal yet a childe, that hee should neuer bee at peace with the Romans, which oath hee tooke at the altar, and kept to the end, but wee are not so; Popish ignorance of olde time [Page 42] made vs enemies, and the Pope who makes warre and peace (as best may serue his purpose) he (I thinke) did little good to make vs friends; but we haue now shaken of him, as the Prince of contention and darknesse, and being better instructed, we haue done better, and better knowledge hath brought forth better fruits; and it will euer be spoken in the ages to come, that one and the same age hath both freed vs from the tyranny of the Pope, & knit vs both into one Kingdome: A Domino factum est istud: this peace is like the deaw, and distilled euen from the hand of God: Blessed be that God that sent it, blessed bee the man that makes it, & blessed be they all which do embrace it: & God Almighty makes vs all so to dwel & liue together here, that we may liue eternally in the Kingdom of Christ Iesus heerafter; to whom for our meeting at this time, for our ioyfull meeting in this Kingdom, & for all the blessings seuerally, and for the peace now iointly bestowed vpon vs, to him (I say) with the father & the holy Ghost, be all thanks & praise, now & for euer. Amen.