Imprimatur, July 28. 1643.

This is licensed, and entred into the Register of the Company of Stationers, according to Order.

Rex meus est Deus. OR, A SERMON Preached at the Common Place in CHRISTS-CHURCH in the City of Norwich. By G. D. ‘Scatter thou the People that delight in warre. Psal. 68. 30.

EX IGNE RESVRGIT VIRTVS

LONDON. Printed in the Yeare. 1643.

CIVITATI LONDINENSI Salutem et quietem a IESƲ CHRISTO humiliter precatur

G. D.

Rex meus est Deus OR A SERMON Preached at the Common Place in CHRIST-CHURCH, in the City of Norwich.

Gen. 4. 7.‘If thou doe well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sinne lieth at the doore, and unto thee shal be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.’

AS there was never any history in the world, compa­rable to the books of Moses, either for antiquity of time, or for latitude of extent, or for variety of mat­ters most memorable, and none of Moses his works for all respects like this of Gen [...]sis: so neither is there any particular passage of this booke more memora­ble then the relation of Cains patricide: wherein we have a man killing a man,Gen 4. 8. a bad man a good man, a brother slaying a brother, an elder brother a yonger brother, hatred and envie moving [Page 2] action in the one, v [...]rtue and goodnesse occasioning passion in the o­ther One of the first riddles that ever was made; the first man that ever was born, [...]. 17. 10 killed the first man that ever died.

Which God foreseeing, who is [...], the only searcher and knower of mens hearts,Leo. Cui pervium omne solidum, apertum omne se­cretum cui obscura [...]larant, muta r [...]spondent, as Leo wittily. To whom e­very solid thing is pervious & transparent, every secret thing open and manifest, to whom dark things shine bright, dumb [...] things speake loud, from whom nothing c [...]n b [...] hidden or conceal'd. I say t [...]is omniscient power perceiving the malicious intentions of this malevolous wretch against his innocent brother, doth in the words of my text labour to prevent it by disswading him from committing so horrible a sinne by these three arguments,

The first is argumentum ab utili, The text divided. a reason drawn from profit and com­fort in well doing: nonne si bone egeris remissi? If thou [...]o well, shalt thou n [...]t [...]e acc [...]pted? The second is Argumen [...]um ab iuutili, an argu­ment taken from the unprofitablenesse of the contrary, doing not well, sicerò non ben eg [...]r [...]s, prae foribus est peccatum exe [...]bans, and if thou do­est not well sin lieth at the doore. Lastly, here is Argumentum ab [...]aequo et bono, a reason drawn from right and equity, at [...]rga te est appetitus il­lius, & tu [...]raees illi And unto these shall be, &c. And these are the mea­sures of your patience and of this time, of them in order, and first of the first argument, [...] Argument. which is taken from the comfort and profit that a­riseth from well d [...]ing, si be [...]egeris if thou doe well, shalt not thou bee accepted?

In i [...] there are two things co [...]siderabl [...]:The first argument subdivided. a work and a reward. The 1 worke supposed, if thou do well; the reward promised, shalt thou not be 2 accepted? the question putting [...]t out of question: of these first jointly 1 and by themselves, and afterwards as they are put together, where I 2 will thew you, how our doing well makes us to be accepted: The first I 3 divide again into these three particulars. First, the work or duty it self, Doe. 2▪ the manner of performing it well. 3 the person admonished to parforme it, Cain, shadowed under the pronoune primitive Thou: 1 first of the worke or duty it selfe,Doe. Doe.

By which is understood the conformity of our whole carriage unto [...]ods wi [...]l revealed in his law: not that we can performe obedience to the Law legally, that is, in that perfection which the law requireth, for in many things we off [...]nd all,Iames 3. [...]. saith the Apostle: but when I speak of doing the will of God, I meane, that we should conform our sel [...]es [Page 3] and all our actions according to the rule of the Law, after [...]n evangelli­cal manner, that is, we must desire, resolv, and endeavor to perform unto it as perfect obedience as we can: and this doing of the word and fulfil­ling of the law, almighty God accepteth for his sons sake, who hath in all points and parts perfectly fulfilled the law for all those that believe.Without doing, no salvation. But without this doing of the will of God, there can be no salvation, for as the law saith,Luke 11. 28. Doe this and live; so Christ in the Gospel pronou [...] ­ceth them onely blessed that so doe:Acts 9. 6. therefore this was Saint Pauls first Quaerie,Acts 16 30. Lord what wilt thou have me to doe? and likewise the poor Goaler, Sirs, what shall I doe to be saved?

Which condemneth the carnall gospellers of these times,Solifidians con­demned. that are all for faith, and nothing for works, that believe they shall be saved as soon as the best,Iam, 2. 18. but they have nothing to shew for it; but this shewing the Apostle will have,Matth. 1 [...]. 3 [...]. Iam. 2. 18. shew me thy faith by thy works, for the tree is knowne by it's fruit. Know ye therfore, O ye carelesse [...]ra­tion, you scandalizers of religi [...]n, you enemies of grace, that faith is op­erative, working by love; it is not if thou believest well, but if thou doest well, that shall rend [...]r thee acce [...]ted before God: for what is the [...]ody without the soule, but a dead carcase? such is thy faith without works, according to Saint [...]ames; Iames 2. 26. as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also,Revel. 3. 1. therefore for all your boastings, I may say of you, as he Angell said of the Church i [...] Sard [...]s, that you have a name that you live, but indeed you are dead.

Againe,Idle talkers of re­ligion branded. if thou do well. This pusheth sore at all ou [...] idle talkers [...]f re­ligion, whither they be those of the clergy, that preach the will of God, but doe it not, (like Noahs carpenters building houses for other men, & per [...]shing themselvs,) or whither they be the common-tatlers of the times,2 Timothy 3 6. that goe from house to house, prating of religion a great deale more then their sha [...]e, whose works if you look in [...]o, you wil take them for Atheists, rather then for Christians: these in stead of making godli­nesse a great gaine, according to the Apostle, make a great gaine of godlinesse:1 Timothy 6. 6. 1 Timothy 4. 8. the first of these (if they bee Christs true disciples) are taught by their masters example,Acts 1. 1. first to doe, and then to tea [...]h Act. 1. 1 and the latter may be admonished by his sharp rebuke.

Matth. Matth. 12. 34. 12. 34. O generation of vipers, how can ye being evil, speak good things?Genesis 27. 12. how is it that I heare Iacobs voice, but feele Esaus hands?

Once more,Vaine heare is conv [...]nced, if thou do well, shalt not thou be accepted? what have most of our forward hearers to do with this? who of men and women are become monsters, having all eares but no hands, as if relgion were to [Page 4] go no further with them, then aurium tenus, up to the eares: But what saith Saint James (if Apostles may be credited in these dayes) Be ye doers of the word, Iames 1. 22. and not hearers only deceiving your own souls: where he doth not condemne hearing, no more do I: but I would have do­ing besides, [...]. well. Iames 4 3. and so would he.

But as we may aske, and goe without, because we aske amisse, so wee may doe, and not be accepted, because we do amisse therefore my next suit to you is, that you doe so, that you may be accepted, that is well; if thou doe well, saith God: for hee that doth well is of God, saith Saint Iohn in his epistle to his beloved Gaius, Iohn 11. verse 11.

The Lord here intimates unto Cain, that his owne evill doing, and not Gods evill judging, is the cause of his rejection: for howsoever he seem'd to walk in eq [...]ipage with his brother, and to offer as devout a sacrifice as hee, yet was there something amisse in it, which God (the searcher of the hearts) did see, and therefore did reject him. It was bonis specie, but malum inte [...]tione, good in apparition, but bad in intention; and God is wont to love adverbs [...]etter then adjectives; non refert quam bonum s [...]d quam bene; he regards not how good the worke bee, when it is done;Three things required to the do­ing of a worke well. but how well it is performed while it is a doing. Therefore that a worke may be done well, there are three things required, first, [...] conformity to the law of God, which is the rule of 1 righteousnesse, to which every good work, both for matter and manner must accord:Bucan. com. loc. de bonis oper [...]bus. page 331. [...] and [...] sinne and deflection from Gods law,1 Iohn 31 4. are termes convertible, so that whatsover is sinne, erreth from the law, and whatsoever strayeth from the law is sin, therfore that a work may be well done, it is required that it do accord with the Law.

2 Secondly, fides, faith in the doer, by which his per on may please God in Christ, and the word be accepted for the persons sake: for it is otherwise betweene God and m [...]n, then it is betweene man and man; with us the person is accepted for his gifts, be he black as Vulcan, or de­formed as Thersites.

Ditia si attuleris mun ra gratus cris.

Bring a good present in thy hand, and welcome; but it is not so with God, but cleane contrary; for he accepts of the gift for the giver, and reckons the worke good, because a good man doeth it: hee first makes the tree good,Gregor and then its fruit; as St. Gregory very clearly,Gen. 4. 5. Deus gratum non hab [...]t offerent [...]m propter munus, sed munus propter offeren­tem▪ thus verse 4. it is said unto Ab [...]l, and to his [...]ffering God gave re­spect: first unto Abel, then unto his offering, first loving the man in [Page 5] Christ, and then regarding the worke for the man. This excellent com­fort faith brings with it, that when it hath joyned us to Christ, all our deeds are well thought off,Rom 14. 23. but where faith is not, there can nothing be accepted,St. Aug. in Psal. 31. for whatsoever is not of faith is sinne. Laudo fructum bo [...]i o­peris, sed in fide agnosco radicem, saith St. Augustin, I commend the fruit of a good work, but I account faith to be the roote from whence that goodnesse springs.St. Bernard super Cant. ser. [...].

Faith, saith Saint Bernard, is the vine, vertues the branches, good works the cluster of grapes, devotion the wine; to conclude, nec pal­mes fine vite, nec virtus sine fide; the branch cannot subsist without the vine to beare it, nor a vertuous action without faith to breed it.

Finally there is r [...]quired, Respectus ad Deum; a good intention and 3 respect to God: for the Pharisee may giv [...] almes to the poore, and Ca­in may offer sacrifice to the Lord, and yet both justly rejected, if they propound wrong ends unto their actions,St. Aug. cont. Iul. Pelag. lib. 4, seeking rather to magnifie themselves, then to glorifie God: This is that, that Saint Augustine tells the Pelagians, non artibus, sed finibus pensantur officia: good works are not to be poysed by the art in the well contriving of them,Bucanus de bo [...]is operibus. page 332. but by the ends for which they were contrived: so Bucanus, non tam artibus quam finibus virtut savi [...]is sunt d [...]sc [...]rnendae.

It is not the action, but the end of the action that must distinguish vice from vertue So then whilest Cain facrificed to the true God an offering for substance and matter allowable, yet wanting faith in Christ to give the action a good beginning, and respect to God to direct it to a right end, he did not well and consequently he and his offering just­ly were rejected.

Away then with hereticall Pelagi [...]n [...]sme,Heathen works condemned. that calls heathen vertues, good works, that thinks Aristides shall be saved for his justice, Xeno­crates for his temperance, Fabricius for his abstinence, Socrates for his patience, and so Cain for his sacrifice. And heark how in exclamation they cry out against us.Iulian. Pelag: a [...] pud A [...]g contra Iul. lib. 4. How is it possible, ut erunt in damnatione sempi­terna, in quibus erat vera justitia? that they should be in eternal condem­nation, whose works did seem to merit eternal cōmendation? But we reply with Saint Augustine, quis hac sapiat, nisi desipiat, who will think that such works be good, but hee that hath not the wit to think as he should, or he that with Epicurus accounts vertues, but voluptatis a [...]cillas, servants to attend upon vaine pleasure.

Hear Saint Bernard to Cain, Bernard super Cap, ser. 24 [...] Bene hon [...]ras deum munere fatido? bene placas fidei interfector? doest thou think to honour God well with a [Page 6] stinking oblation, that wants the salt of true faith to season it? And such & no better are all heathen works.

Yet wil not my charity suffer me to give all heathens for damned:All heathens not damned. for I know that God is righteous in all his wayes,Psalme 145. 17. & that he loveth righ­teousnes; I haue heard it also said,Psalme [...]. that he reapeth not where he hath not sowen & gathereth not,Matthew 25. 26, where he hath not strawed; but requireth of very man according to the talent which he hath given him,Genesis 18. 25 more where he hath given more, lesse where he hath given lesse, therfore if any of them shall make the best use of their talent, & improve it (accor­ding to their power) to the best advantage,Isaiah 42. 3. why may not I think that God (who hath promised that he will not break a brui [...]ed reed nor quench a smoking flaxe) will multiply & increase their guifts, accor­ding to his promise,Matthew 25. 29. Habenti dabitur, to him that hath; it shall be given & he shal have abundance: & may infuse into them so much knowledg of the Deity in generall, & of Christ the second person in particular as may save their soules?

Away also with Semipelagian Papism,Meritorious workes condem­ned. that c [...]lls unr [...]generate acti­ons meritorious deeds; that imagines goodnesse is shewed, & grace purchased Ex op [...]e operato; Rhemist. annot. in Acts 22. 16, A term more monstrous in the sence, then bar [...]arous in the words for what Papist of them all can for outward respects doe a better work then Cains? who yet neither shewed vertue to God nor merited reward unto himself.

[...]ittifull to think how many famous & worthy works they have spoi­led in their People by their false doctrine; either erecting them upon false grounds, or directing them vnto false ends.

For when I read (in Bede and others) of so many Churches built,Bed. Histor, Gent Aug. hospitalls edified, monasteries erected schooles founded, Colledges en­dowed, &c. I cannot sufficiently admire our ancestours devotion: but when I go further and finde that these works were done, in remea [...]um ani ae [...]n remissionē peccatorum, i [...] honorem divae virginis ad promeren­d [...]m De [...]m, &c. for their soules health, for remission of their sins in ho­nour of our Lady, and to merit heaven, I cannot but lament their tea­chers ignorance,Hypocrites and prophane persons condemned. and do often wish that they had some of our science, we more of their conscience, they our knowledge, we their devotion.

Finally,Bonavent. away with each hypocrite and prophane person: The hypocrite vult bonus esse inordi [...]ate, he desires to be good without the order, outwardly acting some laudable deed, inwardly respecting some detestable end: and the prophane person would have faine have well at death, but he is not willing to doe well in life, he is angry at his pu­nishment, [Page 7] but delighteth in his sinne. Let both these learne of Iohn the Baptist, Iohn 5. 35. of whom our Saviour saith, that he was Lucerna ardens ot lu­cens, a burning and a shining light. Wicked men doe but one of these. The hypocrite will not care much to gliste (like a glow-worme) with the false fire of holinesse, he is content to shine, but he will not burne with the true zeale of piety and the prophane person will not grudge to burne with Balaam, Numbers 2 [...]. 10 with the love of heaven, o that he may dye the death of the righteous! Yes by all meanes, but he will not shine with the light of vertue in his life, that men seeing his good workes may glorifie God:Bern. de ser, de Ioh. Baptist. at lucere parum, ardere vanum, lucere et a [...]d re perfectum; to shine onely is in vaine without profit, to burne only is in vaine, to no purpose, but to shine and to burne too is perfect.

Would we then be perfect? let us burne with the true love of God, sacrificing to him what Cain kept to himselfe,Psal. 36. 8. that is, our hearts, he wil coole us, cum potabit é torrente voluptatis: when hee shall drench us in the river of his pleasure, let us also shine with the light of grace, so will God adde more lustre to us, by making us shine in the light of glory.

And [...] much shall suffice to have spoken of the worke, Doe, with the manner of performing it,3. well: wee come now to the person, upon whom it was urged,Thou. Cain, shadowed under the pronoune, thou: If thou dowel. Grace offered un­to all men. Thou that hast offered me sacrifice with an hypocritical and de­ceitfull heart; thou that hast conceived against me unjust anger in thy breast, thou that repinest at thy brothers integrity, thou that harbourest in thy heart a bloudy resolution to slay the innocent without a cause, and he thy brother, there being but one man more in the world; and he thy father,Luke 19. 42. thou that art guilty of al this wickednes, yet, if thou do wel, shalt thou not be accepted? A like place to this wee have in the 19th of Saint Lukes Gospell; where our Saviour Christ comming neere he Ci­ty of Ierusalem, weeping over it, said, If thou hadst knowne, even thou at least in this thy day the things which belong unto thy p [...]ace: Acts 7. 51▪ thou that hast alwayes beene a stiffenecked and rebellious people; thou that killest my Prophets,Matthew 23. 37. and stonest them that are sent unto thee; thou that hast drawne iniquity with cords of vanity,Isai. 5. 18. and sinne as it were with a cart­rope, yet, if thou hadst known, even thou.

How free is the Lord in the dispensation of his grace [...] there is no man so abominably wicked, to whom he doth not proffer it: if hypo­criticall, envious, bloodthirsty Cain will at last doe well, hee shall be ac­cepted: herein God shewes himselfe to bee a God of mercy and com­passion, not desiring the death of a sinner, but rather that he turne from [Page 8] his wickednesse and live.Ezek, 18. 23. 32, Witnesse those passionate wishes that wee heare in scripture comming from him, oh that there were such a heart in them to feare me, Deut, 5, 29, Isaiah 5. 3, that it might go wel with them! Deut. 5. 29. Witnesse his mournefull exp [...]stulations, as Esaiah 5. 3. judge I pray you between me and my vineyard, what could I have done more for my vineyard? and turne yee,Ezek. 33, 11. turne yee, why will you dye, oh house of Israel? Ezek. 33. 11. witnesse his melting commiserations of the lamentable condition of foolish men that will not bee reclaimed. Oh Jerusal [...]m, Ierusalem! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings,Matthew 23. 37, and you would not? Matthew 23. 37. But now that men will not apprehend the doctrine of salvati­on, nor accept of grace thus freely offered them, but will goe to hell af­ter all this, debemus nos i [...]orum vitio, non Christi gratia adscribere, wee ought to lay the blame upon them, and not upon the grace of Christ. The raine falls upon the stony rocks, as wel as upon the fruitfull soyle, but doth i [...] pr [...]duce the same effect from both? No: for the soyle is made fruitfull,Isaiah 55, 10. but the rocks remaine hard and barren as before, is the fault then in the raine? no: but in the rockes, which because of their flintie hardnesse will not bee mollified and made fruitfull, God in like manner raineth downe the showres of his ordinances upon the wick­ed as well as upon the righteous,Isaiah 27. 3. the meanes of salvation are held out to all, if thou, or thou, or any thou in the world, wilt doe will, thou shalt be accepted. But the same effect is not produced from all, for some doe lay hold upon grace thus freely offered, others againe stand out, rebell and will not yeeld. The believer and unbelieve are like waxe and clay before the fire,Ier. 5. 2. the same heat which mollifies the one, hardens the o­ther.

Let not men therefore cavill at Christs intention and Go [...]s election,Ezek, 18. 25. but let them looke into their owne hearts, and they will tell them, that they are rebels, and live in prophane and wicked courses, in neglect of all holy duties, they carry their owne sentence, and cause of their dam­nation in their owne breasts. As for Gods secret purpose in electing some and rejecting others, it is hid from the world, and therefore that cannot bee the rule of our obedience; but look to Gods revealed will, looke to what is commanded thee in his word, and if thy conscience tell thee that thou hast not accepted of grace being offered thee, nor yeelded that obedience unto God that thou oughtest and mightest, 2 hereupon comes thy condemnation to be just and right.

And so I passe from the worke supposed,Th [...] ward pro­ [...] If thou doe w [...]l; to the re­ward [Page 9] promised,Pareus is loc. shalt thou not be accepted? the interrogative put for the affirmative. It is well observed by Pareus upon the place, that the word here translated, acc [...]pted, which is [...] a verbo [...] among other things, signifies to lift up; and so is also turned by some actively, erit tibi elevare, if thou doe well, thou need'st not goe hanging downe thy head like a condemned man, but thou maiest bee able to lift up thy countenance in sincerity of conscience as well as thy brother. Of some againe passively, erit tibi [...]l. vari, if thou doe well, thou shalt be promo­ted and advanced with the blessings of earth i [...] this life, and with the crowne of blessednesse when this life is ended. If you joyne them both together,Wel-doing hath a double acceptance. you shall finde that well-doing hath a double acceptance: the gratulation of conscience within our selves, and the gratuity of bles­sednesse from almighty God.

Concerning the first; comfort of conscience is no small reward unto a righteous man,1. The comfort of a good conscience. many men reckon it enough, and solely rest therein. Virtus in seipsâ mercedem habet; a good work carries her reward with her, even the testimony and congratulation of a good conscience: which is a precious jewell, a hidden treasure, our heaven upon earth, our cheifest glory untill we come to the Kingdome of glory, accor­ding to Saint Paul: 2 Cor. 1. 12, this is our glory even the testimony of our consci­ence. Inaestimabile bonum est testimonium bonae & insontis conscienti [...], Muscul. the testimony of a good conscience is an inestimable good thing,Est titulus religi­onis, templum Solomonis, agee benedictionis, hortus delicia [...] aureum reclina­torum, gaudium Angelorum, arca faederis, thesaurus Regis, aula Del, habitaculum Spi­tus Sancti. with­out which no man can be truely merry, and with which no man cer­tainely sad: for what can cast a man downe, if conscience be upright? or what can raise a man up, if conscience once deject him? what made Belshazar fall into his melancholy dumps in the midst of his cups and boone companions? why, nothing but an evill conscience is a continu­al fiend to haunt him? and what made Saint Paul sing Psalmes at mid­night in prison, but a good conscience, a continual feast to cheere him? Finally,Hug. lib. 3. de ant. cap. 11. Dan. 5. 6. Act. 16. 25. Prov. 15. 15. Luke 16. 23. 1 Sam. 17, 50. Acts 12. 23. I demand with a Father, what thou accountest in this life plea­sant and comfortable? Mensanè deliciosa? a table furnished with conti­nual delicates? Dives had this, and yet was turned into hell. Bona vale­tudo corporis? Is it strength and soundnesse of body? Goliah had this, and yet knockt downe with a pebble stone. Ingens gloria? Great mag­nificence and glory? Herod had this, and yet was eaten up of lice. Divi­tiarum [...]pia? aboundance of wealth and riches? The glutton had this, and foolishly lost his soule.Luke 12. 20. What then? he concludes, nihil aliud jucun­dum est, quam conscientia proba, et res futurorum certa: nothing, no­thing truely comfortable in this world, but a good conscience within [Page 10] our selves, and a strong confidence in the God of heaven. Had [...] at the time of his oblation, but knowne the benefit of a good conscience, which was in Abel before he suffered his martyrdome, and the wound [...] of an evil conscience, which were fallen upon himselfe after he had committed his murder, he would have laboured more earnestly to doe well in action, that hee might more joyfully have sped well in accepta­tion.

And such would be the desire of all men,Ber [...]an lib. de co [...]scient. were conscience valued at his true dignity and worth, excellently Saint Bernard, unicuique est liber propria c [...]nscientia, & ad hunc librum discutiendum & em▪ [...]dan­dum omnes alij inventi sunt; every mans conscience is a booke, and to cleare and refine this book, all other books are invented and found out. All our reading to our selves,Id. all our preaching to you, all your and our hearing is joyntly for one end, ne dissideat unu quisque a seipso: that no man should be at oddes w [...]th his owne soule. The benefit and comfort whereof were it sufficiently knowne to many men, and earnestly lo­ved of all men, the shop-keeper would not by making short measure unto others,Micah 6. 10, 11. make himselfe fall short of heaven; the lawyer would not plead so long against the truth,Luke [...]. Isaiah 3. 15. Lev. till his own conscience pleaded against himself: the extortioner would not grinde the face of the poor, til faenus pecu [...]iae, proves funus animae, his monies birth, his soul [...]s death. The Bankrupt would not so often compound with his creditors, till the de­vill without compounding carries away his soule: finally the whoring drunkard, the roaring swaggerer, and the raving blasphemer, would not dance themselves in jollity into hell as they doe, if they were but per­swaded that a good conscience were but worth halfe so much as it is.

2 Againe besides gratulation of conscience, well-doing getts accepta­tion from God,Good workes re­warded. and so it purchaseth reward without, as well as parta­keth of comfort within▪ Indeed it hath ever been the devils pollicy to make men believe it is in vaine to serve God:Iob. 21. 15, in I [...]b. 21. 15. the wicked will needs make it a question, what profit they should have, if they should serve God?

A base demand, seeing as one observes, every good man knows, etiam submotâ mercedem, virtutē ips [...] coronā, ac ornamentum esse; that vertue carrieth her reward in her bosome, and cannot want the comfort that is due unto her: she is both the work and the reward herselfe: yea, and that in this present life. Gods children want not comforta [...]le blessings, which are (as it were) the first fruits of their full inheritance:Psalme 37. 25. God being gracious unto them, dum per res parvas, et in aspectum cadentes [Page 11] majoribus invisibilibusque fidem astruit: whilest by outward things he strengthens their faith for greater and more glorious matters. And they content themselves with his good pleasure,Romanes 8. 32. and depend upon him without distrust saying one to another with Saint Paul Rom. 8. 32 He that loved not his own: Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shal he not with him also freely give us all things? and to their owne soules with Origen, quid de op [...]bus dubitas, qui herum habes? what doest thou doubt of the inheritance,Origen, in Pom. 8, when thou hast the heire himselfe bestowed upon thee?

Yet herein they are discreet too,Isidor. Pelus. lib. 1. epist. 4. for they have learned with Pelusio­ta, that combatings appertaine to this world, comfortings to the other world, here crosses, there crownes. Such is Gods wisedome that gene­rally he hath proportioned the worke for earth, the wages for heaven: and yet such is his goodnesse too,Sr. Aug. de civit. Dei lib 2, cap. 8. that here also many goe not unrewar­ded. For saith Augustine, if God should reward no good man in this life it would be thought, these temporal lessings did either belong to God for to give, or to good men to receive: and againe, if he should reward every good servant with these outward things, they would be thought the onely good, and men would serve him for earthly commodities: and so, non pios nos f [...]e rei talis servitus, S. Aug. ut [...] sed cupia [...]s et avaros, the pra­ctise of religion would not make us truely pious, but wickedly cove­tous, and every man in the world would turne servant unto God, that God might make the wo [...]ld serve every mans turne.

Wherefore he takes an excellent course, rewarding some onely in Heaven, some both in heaven and in earth, but every man suffic [...]e [...]tly, & ultra condignum, beyond all dese [...]t. His blessings are infinite, some of his children have all of them, but all of his children have some of them, as maketh most for the glory of his name, and the glorification of their soules.

Why then doe we lose by idlenesse, Iob 22, 21. what we might gaine by godli­nesse? marke what counsell Eliphaz gives to Iob ch. p. 22. [...]1. acquaint thy selfe with God,verse 26. and be a peace, thereby good shal come unto thee▪ Good to thy soule, verse 26. Thou shalt have thy delight in the Almighty,verse 29. and shalt lift up thy face to God. Good to thy body, verse 29 When other men are cast downe, thou shalt say,verse 24. I am lift up. Good to thy estate, verse 24: Thou shalt lay up gold as the dust, and the gold of Ophyr, as th [...] stones. Let no man be discouraged, Psalme 58. [...]. for verily there is a reward for the righteous, doubtlesse there is a God that judgeth the earth.

O then let us all be doing out of hand: art thou a rich man? then bee [Page 12] doing,St August. erogae pecuniam et accipccalum: give thy mony to the poore, and thou shalt finde treasure in heaven. Art thou a magistrate? then bee doing,Luke 18, 22. exerce justitiam, ut obtineas misericordiam, doe justice to all men, that thou maiest finde mercy to thy selfe. Art thou a minister? then be doing: sparge sermonem, ut metas vitam. S [...]w the seed of the word, that thou maiest reap the harvest of life. And to conclude, who ever we be, let us imitate Abraham, who willingly forsook his earthly country for a City,Heb. 11. 10. whose builder and maker is God. Heb. 11. 10:

Let us imitate Moses, who left the Court of Egypt, for the Court of Heaven:Hebrewes 11. 26. Heb. 11. 26. Let us imitate Christ, who for the glory that was set before him,Hebrewe. 12. [...]. endured the crosse, and despise the shame. Heb. 12. 2. And so I end this point with Saint Paul: 1 Cor, 15. 58. 1. Cor. 15. 58. Therefore my deare brethren, be yee stedfast, unmoveable, alwayes abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labour shall not be in vaine in the Lord. If thou doe well, shlat not thou be accepted?

2 And so you have the work and the reward severally, now take them both together,How good works make us to be­come accepted. and see how our doing well makes us to become ac­cepted, which I will unfold in a word: good works doe wonderfully please almighty God, and are rewarded by him with the choicest bles­sings of this life, and with the crowne of blessednesse when this life is ended;Cal. Iust. lib. 3. cap. 15. sect. 3. non quia ita merentur, sed quia divina benignitas hoc illis ex seip­sa pratium statuit: as Calvin, not because they deserve these rewards, but because the goodnesse of God hath of it selfe appointed these re­wards unto them.Merit condem­ned. As for the word merit, it is irkesome in the eares of every humble minded man.

For if we be not able to think a good thought as of our selves (as the Apostle avoucheth) then how can we doe good deeds,2 Cor. 3. 5. and merit by them?Genesis 6. 5. And for the workes that we doe performe (alas) they cannot merit, because, though they be good in their owne nature, yet they saile in some necessary circumstance that is required, as when wee doe them not after that manner, or with that minde, or to that end, that the law requireth.

But say we could doe, bonum bene, good works well, yet how few are they in number in respect of our evill workes? and can wee hope that some few good workes can make satisfaction for so many evill workes that we have done, and compensation for so many good vvorkes that we have left undone?

Besides what congruity is there betweene grace and merit, that workes should merit through grace? gratia non est ulla mod [...], si [...] [...]it [Page 13] gratuita omni mode, St. Aug. ep. 106. ad Bon. saith Saint Augustine, it is not grace any way, if it be not gratis every way:Romanes 11. 16. Cum deus coro­nat merita nostra nihil aliud coro­nat quā dona sua. St Aug. epist-105. ad Sextum praesb Luke 17. 10. so the Apostle reasoneth, Rom. 11. 6. if it bee by grace, then it is no more of workes, otherwise grace is no more grace; but if it be of workes, then it is no more of grace, otherwise worke is no more worke. But why should wee not as well dread the punishments we have deserved by our evill deeds, as well as looke for a reward for our good deeds? especially considering that our perfection is but imperfection, and that when wee have done all that we can, wee are but unprofitable servants;1 Cor. 2. 9. and the reward which God out of his free grace is willing to bestow upon us, is so great, as the eye hath not seen, nor the care heard, neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive;Romanes 8, 18. 2 Cor. 4. 17. and who knowes not the analogy of merit and reward, that the one must not exceed the other?

But yet as I would not have you Nullifidians, boasting of your wor [...]s without true faith, so neither would I have you Solifidians or carnall gospellers, making brags of your faith, having no works to shew fort: for though we cannot be saved by them,Phil. 2. 5. as the meritorious cause, yet can wee not bee saved without them,Whereby we are justified, and shall be saved. they being the necessary effects of our faith. Would we then all be saved? let us all to work, and that be­times too, for, paenitentia sera rarò vera: late repentance will be repen­ted oft: and having once well begun, let us with Abraham continue our sacrifice of well doing to the evening of our dayes, that so having been faith to the death,Reve. 2. [...] we may receive the crowne of life: for it is not if thou wilt doe well hereafter, nor if thou hast done well heretofore, but if thou doe well, if thou hast begun to doe well already, and if thou resolvest to doe wel to the end.

If thou doe well, 2 Argument, shalt thou not be accepted? That's the first argument. The second followes, which is argumentum ab inutili, a r [...]ason drawne from the unprofitablenesse of the contrary doing not well. And if thou doest not well, sinne lieth at the doore. That is, thy not doing well at­taints thee with sinne, and thy guilt of sin attaches thee with punish­ment.

Herein two things likewise are considerable,Two things consi­derable. a supposition and a po­sition: the supposition, if thou doest not wel: the position, sinne lieth at the doore.

Concerning the first, God intimates unto Cain, (as Parcus notes up­on 1 the place) that inter justitiam & peccatum non datur medium, Parcus ad. lo [...] be­tweene righteousnesse and sinne there is no middle thing, but whatso­ever is well done, is righteous, and whatsoever is not well done, is un­righteous. [Page 14] there is no indifferency at all betweene them. He that is [...] with me, Matth. 12. 30. is against me, (saith Christ) a [...]d he that gathereth not together, scattereth abroad: There be two maine opposites, God and the devill: two contrary places of reward, heaven and h [...]ll: two wayes to come thither, the broad way and the narrow way; two distinctions of mens actions,St, Hierom. good and bad: and as Saint J [...]rome said of the broad ani narrow way: Omne quod loquimur, omne quod agimus, aut de latâ, as [...] de angustâ vtâ est: all that we say, and all that we do, lookes upon one or t'other; so it is true of the quality of mens actions, they all favour of God or of the devill, they all tend [...]ither to heave [...] or hell, and are all for ment and worth to be repu [...]ed well done, or ill done.

Bellarmines mincing of sinnes, to be Non contra legem, but Pr [...]ter legem, cannot prove either that that which is not well done, should bee accounted a good action, or that that which is an evill action, should deserve no punishment. Take wee heed then by all meanes of linsey-wolsey actions, of workes part good part bad, of obedience by halfes; for God is a jealous God, he will have all the action for himse [...]fe and all the affection to himselfe: he reckons every thing bad, that errs in su [...]stance, and he accounts nothing good, tha [...] failes in cir­cumstance; onely his goodnesse will pardon the infirmity of our flesh, if our wills endeavour conformity to his spirit. Again [...], by this saying▪ If thou doe well; God gives us some insight into sinne, and the nature of it: It is not a thing positive, but privative, not the substance of any thing present,St. August. de B [...]at. To. 1. but the privation of a duty absent: Cain did ill because he did n [...]t well. Nequitia is ne quicquam, saith Saint Augustine, and naught and nought are both one. Adultery the privation of chastity, drunkennesse the absence of sobriety, covetousnesse the nothing of libe­rality; all evill the want of good. Had Cain come with an honest heart, and an upright hand, he had done well; these were absent, hee did ill, so his sacrifice was nought, his obedience nought.

Beware th [...]refore my beloved, of all things beware of sinne: there is no undoing of our selves, to the not doing of our duties: if we do wel, we are sure to be somewhat, but sinne brings us from all things to no­thing, and undoes us in punishment,Et vincit essentia nihillum. who left vertue undone in pra­ctice: Manifestum est, quia peccatum nihil est, et nihil fiunt homines cum peccant It is cleare (saith he again) sinne is a nothing,St [...] [...] de vera relig, cap. 12. and such as com­mit sinne,Id. in Ioh. Tract. 1 bring themselves to nothing, they that make nothing of sin, sinne shall make nothing of them. Wherefore I beseech you, as we de­sire a being, let us ake heed of being sinners, there is no well being, but [Page 15] with God; nor no well-doing but in the will of God: God is Eu [...] en­tium, the best being himselfe, and to bee like God, is the best being for man: doe well then, and be all this, but doe not well, and thou art un­done for ever. For, if thou doest not well; sinne lieth at the doore: that's the Position, following the Supposition, Peccatum prae foribus, sinne lieth at the doore.

I finde it three wayes expounded,1 Lyra ad loc. first, saith Lyra, no [...] erit occultum, sed mox patebit scelus tuum; if thou do not well, thy wickednesse is pre­sently found out by God, it can no more be hid from his eyes, then that which is throwne out of doors, can be concealed from the eyes of men. And herein is Cain stung to the heart, for he might suppose, that all his livour and ill meaning to his brother; all his choller and ill minde to­wards God, might bee palliated with some other outward worke of religion, with another opus operatum, a second sacrifice or so: but God detects him in his lewd thoughts, and tells him there is no starting from him.Ezek. 8. 9. He that found out the idolatry of a stone wall, Ezek. 8. 9. can finde out also the conspiracy of a stony heart, whatsoever hath bin spo­ken in darknesse shall be heard in the light, and whatsoever hath beene whispered in the eare in secret, shall be preached upon the house toppe openly; not a deed, not a word, not a thought that shall escape the all­seeing eye of God.Psalme 147. 4. For he that calleth the stars by their names, he that telleth all our steps;Iob 14. 16. hee that counteth the sparrowes, and reckons the haires upon our heads,Matth. 10. 29, 30. hee that pntteth all our teares into his bottle, hee that knoweth the cattel upon 1000.Psalme 56. 8. hills, he that writeth all our mem­bers in a booke,Psalme 50. 16. long before we were borne, nothing can be done so se­cretly, but he will bring it to light,Psalme 230, 16. for he is like the Sun, whose going forth is from the end of the heaven,Psalme 19. 6. and his circuit unto the ends of it, and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

How t [...]ue this is,Saint Bernard. Nonnullos d [...]uere non verba, sed verbera, it is Saint Bernards phrase in another case, some men have learned, not from the ministers word, but from the magistrates sword: what strange conspi­racies have beene hatched against our State and Kingdome? even sub­ter viscera terra, as low as hell it selfe, and yet have flowne out of doors, and lye like the Levites wife,Iud. 19. 27. dead upon the threshold, brought to their end, before their end; and seene of all men before they were felt of any. Thus the sinner meets with Jeremiahs sawes,Ier. 2. 19. Ier [...]m. 2. 19. Thine owne wickednesse shalt correct thee,Numbers 32, 33. and his conscience for ever after checks him as Moses doth the Rubenites, Numbers 32. be sure that your sin wil finde you out. For if thou poest not well, Peccatum pra foribus, Sin [...], &c.

[Page 17] Secondly, Pe [...]catum pra foribus, Si [...] lyeth at the doore, that is, [...] fitts in the Conscience, and there judgeth and condemneth the m [...] ­factour: for this is the property of sinne, Con [...]utere illum apud quem fuerit, to beat upon the heart of him that hatcheth it; as it did to David, whose heart smotehim, after he had numbred the peo­ple. When the sinne heares iniquity reproved, his Conscience is rea­d [...] to tell him,2 Sam. 24, 10 Tu es h [...]mo [...] when he heares judgement denounced, his Conscience makes him with F. lix to tremble.2 Sam. 12. 7. Obst [...]p [...]it [...] amisso nomine, Acts 24, 25. Arator, saith Arator: Felix lost his felicitie when he lo [...]t his innocencie, hee grew contrary to his name, when his Conscience was different in it selfe. Sinne hath many vengeances, but

—Prima est hac uli [...]o quod so
Iudice,
Iuven. Sat.
nemo nocens absolvitur.

This is the first, that no man escapes the darts of an angry Conscience: Yea,Menander. [...], saith Menander. Conscience is a God, and keepes his Domesticum Tribuna; within us, and impos­sible it is to escape his censure,Gerard. Med. since the Plaintiffe, the Judge, the wit­nesse, the prison, the punishment, the Executioner is all one.

This is that [...],S. Chrysostome Gerard. Med. as Saint Chrysostom [...], calls it, that in­corrupted Judge, qui nec flecti potest precibus nec corrumpi [...]; as Gerhard; who will neither bee wonne by intreaties, nor corrupted with gifts: This is that Insepulta, sepu [...]tura, a Grave ever open, hee that stumbleth at it,L [...]ctanti us Insti. 6, 24, doth irrecoverably fall into it; Quid prodest non habere Conscium l [...]ab [...]nti Conscientiam? No booke to bee secret from the view of men, so long as conscience is privie to it lesse; like a Sergeant, or Catchpole, it sits at our doores, and never parts with the sinner; till he parts with his sin.

But most of all, Pecc tum prae foribus, wee shall finde sinne at the doore, when wee are going out at the doore, at the time of death, or going out of the world: For God herein alludes to the nature of some Mastiffe or wilde beast; lying at the doore of a mans house, who as soone as ever a mans foote is over the threshold to goe forth, it fires in his face to plucke out his throat. So Conscience in wicked men like a bandogge, barkes at them all the while they are in the house of this life, but when at death they goe out of the Clay houses of their bodies, then it furiously sets upon them, teares out the throat of their soules, and makes a full end of them.

Thirdly, and lastly, Peccatum prae foribus, Sinne lyeth at the [...], that is, li [...]nes punishment is at the doore, hard at hand; ready to over­take [Page 16] him that sinneth: Sinne and his punishment (except they be se­vered by found Repentance) goe still together▪ Gognatum [...] inua­tum est omni sceleri sceleris supplicium; Sinnes punishment is home­bred nay imbred with it: As in the cleere Sunne-shine, the darke sha­dow followeth the body, so in the sweete pleasure of evill lad punish­ment accompanieth sinne; if thou commit the one, God will not omit the other; If thou doe the one, thou shalt suffer the other. Ther­fore the Chaldee paraphrast turnes it thus,Chal. Bat. Si non bene egeris, peccat [...] tuum in diew judicij servatum erit: If thou doest not well, thy sinne is reserved till the day of judgement; thou mayest shut it out at the doore of thy minde, but it will fit at the doore of Gods memory, to procure just vengeance on thee. As the Poet said of perjury, I may say of all other sins,Pers. It may tarry long.

Sera tamen tacitis paena venit pedibus.
Val. Max.

Slow footing it makes, but sure footing it takes; and then as Val: Maximus saith, Tardetatem supplicij gravitate compensat, it will make amends for the long time of delay, with the heavinesse of the punishment when it commeth: for though God hath leaden feete, hee hath Iron hands, though hee commeth very slowly, yet he pay­eth surely.

And thus it was with Cain, Hee lived long after this, he built Ci­ties, married Wives, begate Children, invented Arts, as if nothing did trouble him, but all this while, he had with in him a feared Con­science, a trembling heart, a guilty looke, sinne lay at the doore, and at last threw him out of house and home,Psalme 50, 22. and so the end of sins plea­sure, was the beginning of hell-torments: Consider this all yee that forget God, least he teare you in peeces, while there be none to helpe. Sinne is a bad Tenant, it casts out the Land-lord: If you please your selves in sin, God will displease you in punishment, His judgments are ever just, and vengeance will come, when it is due.

Serious consideration herein may doe much good; whilest wee consider that divine punishment argues humane transgression: Wee may safely conclude from a punishment to an offence, Posito uno, po [...]i­tur et alterum: Who can enumerate your grosse enormities and crimes now raigning among us? How doth rebellion (which is as the sin of witchcraft) get a head,1 Samuel 15, 23. whilest Authoritie and Dominion is troden under-foot▪ How doth Schisme and Faction prevaile and increase, whilest order and decency is set at nought [...] How is Religion made [Page 18] with many, the Maske of Villany! How is the Ministerie contem­ned, and our Message disgracefully accepted! How have the Holy Scriptures lost their due Authoritie; and cannot be beleeved by many of Us! But above all, How by our unhallowed lives, doe we treade under feete the precious bloud of JESUS CHRIST!. When the Citie of Oth [...] was burned, one yeelds this as a presaging cause of it, that a little before a Priest at Masse, spilt a Chalice of Consecrated Wine, which that credulous age thought to have beene the very bloud of Christ: Our Kingdome hath not beene burned, nor (I trust) ever shall till that great day of fire, when the earth, and the Elements and the Heavens, and all shall burne; and yet how is the Bloud of Christ spilt upon the ground, and troden under foot by our prophane courses! But what though our Houses escape the fire, if our bodies doe not? No marvaile if some have Ignem in ossibus, the fire of loath­somnesse in their bones, when they have kindled I gnem in Carne, the fire of Lust in their flesh: No wonder that our bloud boyles with the heate of feavers and burning Agues, when the fervour of drunken­nesse and distemperature hath blowne the Coales. No mervaile if all the plagues concomitating a civill Warre doe fall upon us, when out filthie lusts within us,1 Peter 2, 12. which warre against the Soule are so predomi­nant.S. Cypt. ad D [...] ­ [...]tr. Quid mirum in generis humani crescere jamiram Deicum creseat quotidi [...], quod puniatur? What marvaile (saith Saint Cyprian) to see the judgements of God every day increase, when our sins which call for them do increase more than they? Our pride increaseth, our hypocrisie increaseth, our prophannes increaseth, our rebellion increaseth, our A­theisme increaseth. Is it a wonder then that the Pox should increase, that the Plague should increase, that our divisions should increase, that wars and rumours of wars should increase also! Be wise therefore (my Beloved) and sin no more lost worse things befall Ʋs take away the cause,Iohn. 5. 14. if you would have the effect to cease, and remove sin from your doores, if you would have God with-hold punishment from your soules.

And so much for the second point.

The third remaines, which is Argumentum, ab aquo & bono, a reason taken from right and equity, unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And here it did become mee to crave your pati­ence a little longer, (the time being already past) did I not know the subject I have in hand commanded it, For behold, my heart hath i [...]digh­ted a good matter, Psalme 45. 1. and I will speake of the things that I have made touching the KING: Psalme 105, 15. And I would to God that none would touch him worse.

Vnto thee shall bee his desire, and thou shalt rule over him:

WHich words are meant of Abels subjection to Cain, and of Cains supremacie over Abel. God that he might re­straine Cain from a further evill, doth comfort him with this present good, that neither his owne wickednesse could deprive him of his dominion, nor his brothers righteousnesse free him from subjection; but Ab [...]ls desire must be subject unto Cain as the Elder, and Cain by Authority rule over Abel as the younger. So that here two things are delivered.

One,2 Things delive­red. That the First-borne hath the condicion of a superior: The other, That the younger hath the state of an Inferiour, and both must keepe their owne.

Concerning the first,1 Primo geniture. Primo geniture, even by the Law of Na­ture, and by the Law of God, hath a twofold priviledge, Regni & Sa­cerdotij; of outward rule and command as a King, of inward directi­on and guidance as a Priest.Genesis 49, 3. Thus Iacob intimates in Reuben, Gen. 49. Reuben my first borne, &c. Thou hadst the excellencie of Dignitie, and the excellency of Power: The excellency of Dignity, that is the order of Priest-hood in the Church; The excellency of Power, that is the state of Soveraignty in the Common-wealth.

Now because every house is a little Citie, as every Citie is a great house, therefore the first borne was a petty King over his brethren, and as a Bishop or Priest to the whole family.

And for this cause God appointed the first-borne,Deut. 21, 17. Duplicem haeredi­tatem, a double portion of inheritance, answerable (as it were) to his double dignity and preferment. Cain then being Elder then Abel, was his Superiour by birth, and in this superiority was promised to continue, albeit by sin he might seeme to have lost it.

From this point much might bee observed, and I could bee large in it, but I neither desire to offend you, nor doe I delight to wea­rie my selfe: May it please you briefly to observe with mee these three points.

First that Superioritie of on man over another is the very ordinance and appointment of Almightie God;Three points. so that by him the greatest is set 1 to rule, the lesser appointed to obey, even by him (I say) that made them both, for as neither the soule alone nor bodie alone can make a [Page 20] man; so neither the Soveraigne alone nor the subiects alone can make a Common-wealth; whereall will rule there is no rule, and where none doth rule, there is all misrule. Therfore hath God ordained an order and chiefly in all things: The blessed Angels know their thrones and the Saints their seats. The Heavens have their Orbes, and on st [...]r differeth from another star in glorie.1 Cor. 15, 41. The Planets have their plac [...]s, and the Elements theirs:Prov. 19, 12. look among the creaturs, and you shall finde the Lion to have the preeminence among the beasts,Proverbs 20, 2. the Eagle among the Fowles,Iob 39, 27. the Whale among the Fishes, among the Serpents, the Basyliske; Ther's a Bell-weather in the flocke, ther's a Captaine a­mong the Cranes, a Governour among the Pismires, a master Bee in the Hive, and the Grasse-hoppers goe out in bands, and shall we ad­mit of no Order among reasonable men?Irenaeus. Cujus jussu [...]mines nas­cuntur, hujus jussu Reges constituuntur, It was Divinity in Irenaeus his time. He that made men, made Kings, and to them he gave a su­periotity over o [...] her men:Romans 13. 1. The powers that are, saith Saint Paul, are ordain'd of God.

Again, observe from hence that sometimes a wicked man is appoin­ted 2 to rule, and a good man sit under to obey, here in Cain the King is wicked, in Abel, the Subject good. So it was in the Primitive Church, the Christians were good subjects, but Nero, Domi [...]ian Julia [...] bad Princes.

3 But observe in the third place, that it is not the wickednesse of the Prince, that can deprive him of his temporall jurisdiction, nor the goodnesse of the subject that can exempt him from his allegiance; Both are cleare in Cain and Abel, to whom is promised continuance of their states, each his owne place, after most unlike merits and de­serts.

This David knew of Saul, a bloudy, Bu [...]cherly barbarous Prince that so eagerly hunted after his life to take it, [...] Samuel 24, 1 [...] yet he (not a private man, but one appointed and annointed by God to raigne in his stead) was so farre from hurting him, when God had delivered him into his hands in the Cave, that his heart smote him when hee had but cut off the skirt of his garment;1 Samuel 24, 5. Verse 10. and the reason he gives for it is because hee was the Lords Annointed.

What should I speake of Nebuc [...] aduezzar King of Assyria, who wasted all Palestina plundered Jerusalem,Isaiah 12, 29. put out the eyes of the King, slew his Sons,Ieremiah [...]9, 6, 7 [...] Kings 24. burnt the Temple; tooke away the holy vessels, and de­filed all places with rape [...]uine and bloud, and yet for all this his unmat­ched [Page 21] cruelty and impietie,Ieremiah▪ 29, 7. the Prophets, Ieremy and [...], wrote to those Captive Jewes,Bar. 1. 12. whom he after his glut of butchery had led into Chald [...]a, to pray for the prosperity life of him, and his sonne Bel­sta [...]r, that their dayes might bee upon the Earth as the dayes of Hea­ven: and the Prophet [...], Eze [...]iel 17, 15, 16, 18. doth both blame and threaten Zede­ [...]iah, for his disloyalty in revolting from him (though a heathenish tyrant) whose homager and tributary he was.

What of Saint Paul, and Saint P [...]er, who lived, wrote their Epi­stles, and died Martyrs under the Raigne of bloudy, Heathenish, and Athiesticall persecutors? Yet saith one of them, Let every soule bee subject to the Higher p [...]ers (not every body,Romans 13, 1, 2 but every Soule, our sub­jection must not be forced,1 Peter 2. 17. but be free and voluntary, comming from the soule) And the other Submity [...] selv [...]s to every Ordinance of man for the Lords s [...]ke; to the King as supreame.

I could abound both with examples and testimonies taken out of the Word of God, if those holy writings were of any credit in these [...]yes. I am sure the Christians in the Primitive Church learned from them, that the Tyra [...]ie, Atheism, and prophannesse of their Prin­ces, was not a sufficient cause for them to thrust them out of their Em­pire, yea (remembring Saint Pauls precept) even to resist,Tertul. Apollo, being of­fended; and therfore they spent their time (according to Tertullian) in praying for them, that God would give them, Imperium [...] prolixam donium securam exercitus fortes; A safe Empire, a long life,Bellarm. de pot. a quiet house, a valiant army: and this they did not out of fe [...]re, because they wanted strength,Pap. lib. 5. c. 7. (away with that devillish glosse) but meerely out of Conscience because they knew their subjection to be Gods Ordinance:Romans 13, 1. For the government is not mans but Gods, it is not Earthly, but Heavenly, and Kings are in a manner deified while they are upon the earth: and that by Gods owne Vote too, Dixi Diiestis, Psalme 82. 6. I have said yee are God▪ (saith he) and a [...] of you are chil­dren of the m [...]st High▪ Gods, in [...]itle, though not equall in power, God hath given them His Name, though not His Nature, and upon the Earth they serve in Gods stead; as may appeare by that of the Queene of Sheba, 2 Chron. 9. 8. to King Salomon: Blessed be the L [...]rd thy God▪ which deligh­ted in ther, to set thee upon His Throne, that thou mayest be King, for the Lord thy God. Their kingdomes are given them by God, the most High ruleth in the kingdome of men,Daniel 4, 32. and giveth it to whomsoever he will,Iob 36, 7 [...] Dan. 4. Their Thrones are appointed them by God, Reges co [...]ocat in soli [...]; hee placeth Kings upon the Throne, he doth establish [Page 22] them for ever, and they are exalted. Iob 36. By God they sway their [...], and doe instice, Prov. 8. 15. by me Kings raigne, and Princes decree iustice. Pro. 8. Their crownes are set upon their heads by God,Psalme 21, 3. Thou settest a growne of pure Gold upon his head. 2 Samuel 12. 7. Psal. 21. They are annointed by God; I an­nointed thee King over Israel. 2. Sam. 12. Their Kingdome is Gods, their throne is Gods, their scepter is Gods, their crowne is Gods, their annointing Gods, and their royall persons adorned with all these are so divine and sacred,2 Samuel 14. 17. that they themselves are the angels of God, and [...] of the most high.Psalme 105. 15. And therefore hath God given a speciall charge con­cerning them, Nolite tangere Christos meos, touch not mine annointed; It is not, ne tangite, but nolite tangere: wee must be so farre from doing it that we must not have so much as the least will or inclination to go about it. N [...]lite ta [...]gere. Yea, say he bee a tyrant for manners, and a hea­then for religion, all is one, hee is Christus domini, the Lords Christ then whom none is greater then Christus dominus, the Lord Christ himselfe, he must not be touched. And as from God he receives his po­wer, so for the good or bad administration thereof he is to be acco [...] ­table onely unto God, and not unto any mortall creature.

And for this cause were Kings annointed with oyle to signifie their supremacy,The Kings su­premacy. for the oyle will still be uppermost: and for this end (it may be) God would have the first king hee set over Israell, to be higher by the head and shoulders then all the people,2 Samuel 10. 23. for the head being the place of policy, the shoulders of strength and power, doe shew that no poli­cy nor power should be above him. He may justly claime the commen­dation of Iohn Baptist, for surely among them that are borne of wo­men there hath not risen a greater.Matthew 11. 11. And therefore Kings are called high­er powers,Romanes 13. 1. the Heads of the tribes, the children of the most high: a Deo pri [...]us, post Deum secundus, reckon not God and the King is the first, but count God and Hee is the second.Psalme 8 [...]. 6 Nothing in all created nature is more great, more excellent; not the high-priest, for he is his servant, as Abimelech confessed nnto Saul, 1 Samuel [...]2, 15 1. Sam. 22. not Saint Paul that great and glorious Doctor of the Gentiles, forstanding at Caesars judgment-seat, he confessed that there he ought to be judged, and to submit him­selfe to his censure,Acts 25. 10. Act. 25, Nay, not Christ himselfe, as he was man, for he gave tribute unto Caesar, Matthew 22. 10. and denyed not but that the power of Pi­late was given him from above.Iohn 19. 11. In a word, who knowes not that this is one of his royall titles, supreame judge over all persons, and in all causes, over all persons, be they who they will be, be they who they can be,Ecclesiast. 8. 4. who may say unto him, what doest thou Ecclesiastes 8. 4 who of the [Page 23] Priests? who of the Peerees? who of the People? who but He that put him in authority Almighty God?

And as he is supreame Iudge over all persons so in all causes whatsoe­ver; defend the preservation of your liberties, of your estates, of your lives, nay, of religion it selfe: He is supreame in all causes; the cause can­not be so just as to deprive him of his supreame power.

I could multiply proofs out of Scripture to confirme this truth, take one for al,Mat. 26. 5 [...]. wch may stand as one in a third place of Arithmatick for a 100 they are the words of our Saviour Christ, Mat. 26. when he was betray­ed into the hands of the Iews; behold one of thē that were with Iesus stretch­ed out his hand, and drew his sword, and strook a servant of the high-priest, and smote off his eare: (what cause could bee more just then to defend the person of our most blessed Saviour? yet see how hee was rebuked for his pains:) Then said Iesus unto him, put up again thy sword into it's place, for all th [...]y that take the sword, shall perish with the sword: how so? why,Mat. 22. 20. because it was drawne without the consent of the Magistrate, to whom Christ himselfe did acknowledge subjection: so then this was the doctrine of the Prophets,Ioh, 19. 11. of the Apostles, of the Primitive Christi­ans, yea, of Christ himselfe, therefore for my owne part, till there bee a new bible made, or all these places raced out of the old one, I am re­solved (by the help of God) to live and dye in this opinion.

But what say the Iesuites to all this? their divinity is, that it is not lawfull for Christians Tolerare Regem infidelem aut haereticum: Bell de Rom Potif. lib, cap 7. to suffer a King that is an infidell or heretick to live,Iesuites Traytors but to take him away with all speed, and heresie (we all doe know) hath a large extent with them, if he doe but crosse the Pope, any thing will serve to make him an here­ticke, and then he must downe.Smalmeron in Rom, 13, disp, 4. And if you tell them of Saint Paul and Saint Peter, that these were of another minde, Salmeran very mannerly tells you againe, Blanditur Paulús imperatoribus, sic [...]t & Petrus in priore suâ epistolà, and Peter and Paul be both a couple of claw-backs, they do nothing else in those their sayings then flatter and cogge with the Emperours that then raigned; but St. Peter nor St. Paul need not care what such men say, it is well known their tongue is no slander, for they would be as ready to say as much of Christ himselfe if he stand in their way.

And would you thinke it?Schismaticks Traytors. There are such another sect in the world, who though they look divers wayes, yet like Sampsons foxes they hold together by the tayle, and carry fire betwixt them to burne up Church and State. Read but over the prophane writings of Knox and Buca­nan, and you shall finde how mightily the devill hath prevailed in the [Page 24] hearts of them who would have bin accounted great professours of re­ligion, the [...]r language is such as wou [...]d [...]care a very atheist, [...]ue. de ju. reg. apud Scot. pa. 70 and [...] him sweare to abandon all religion: namely, that minister, may excom­municate Princes, and they being by excommunication cast into Hell, are not worthy to enjoy life upon the earth That if Princes [...] against God & his truth,Knox in lib, ad Aug eb Scol. pa. 78. In Hist. [...]col. pag. 343. 15 his appeale. pag. 33. th [...]ir subjects are free from their oath of alle­geance: that God hath appointed the nobility to bridle the inordinate appetite of Princes, and in so doing, they cannot be accounted as [...]esi­sters of authority. That it is the duty of the nobility to suppresse the rage and insolency of Princes; and that the people have power to be­stow or take away the crowne at their pleasure, having no respect to birth-right, to succession, to propinquity of blood at all. You fire-brands of strife, you trumpets of sedition, you red horses, whose sitters have ta­ken peace from the earth, you furies of hel, whose voices are lightnings and thundrings, whose breathing is nothing but sword, fire, rages, re­bellions, (pardon me if I shake off all respect of civility,Apoc, 6, 4, towards such miscreants) is this orthodox divinity? is this according to Christ and his Apostles? surely the devill drop't poyson into their pens to infect all Christian countries with disobedience and disorder, for let them but shew me but one place of holy Scripture; (and on [...] is but a smal num­ber, yet let them shew me but one) either in the old or new testament, or any one of the ancient fathers, who have let fall so loose a speech, as may be strayned to make good their tenets, and [...] will bee their bond­man for ever, therefore were not the spirit of division, (I meane the devil [...]) bin seated in their soules, hey would not so openly opposed the settlings of their cotten braine against the expresse command of holy Scripture, which forbid leth so much as resistance under any Prince, though never so heathenish or tyrannicall: but as for the word rebelli­on, the very thought of it was so odious to Christ and his Apostles, that (as Sol [...]n made no law against paricide, because he thought no man would prove so wicked as to commit such a horrid fact) I do not finde it so much as once mentioned throughout the new testament, yet they have got a trick to produce some examples out of the old testament of rebellion,Rom, 13, 2, [...]. (which though were ever attended upon with heavy judge­ments from God) but I would faine know what they can force from thence: will they [...]ake over all histories for examples of rebellion? and then argue a facto adjus, and say every thing is lawfull that they finde hath bin done? we must judge facts by law, and not lawes by facts: for there hath bin no fact so impious, which may not be parraleld by exam­ples, will they justifie their grosse sacriledge, their [...]aturall ince [...], [Page 25] with their frequent adulteries, their notorious lying, their uncharitable judging,Ioshu, 7, 19. 2. Sam. 23. 2 Sam. 11. 4. Act. 5, 4. Mat. 7. [...]. because they have for these examples of Achan, Ammon, David, Ananias and Saphyra, the Scribes and Pharisees? who then hath but halfe an eye and cannot see how these mens pens have ranged, and their judge­ments raged beyond all compasse, and course of reason or religion?

But to let goe these (as they and the devill would have it) what policy can there be in it for th [...] Subject to oppose or resist the King upon any termes? for what can wee expect from thence but murders, out-rages, ripes,No policy in re­sisting. ruine and desolation? for what if the Prince aggriev'd be able to make and maintain his party as King John and Henry the third did against their Peeres? what if some forreigne Prince whom it may well concerne as well in honour to see the Law of nat [...]ons observed, as also in policy to break the neck of those proceedings which may form preced [...]n [...]s against himselfe, do come in and side with his brother king, and in the end play the kite with them both? wil not this prove a pretty piece of policy? were it not farre more safe to take Saint Pauls counsell and be obedient unto Princes, not onely for conscience sake, because they are the ministers of God,Rom. 13. 5. ver 3 1 Tim. 2. [...]. but for our owne sake, because hee is so to us for good: it is for our safety and tranquility that we may lead under them a quiet and peaceable life;The Prince is the soule of the body politicke. for the Prince is the very soule of the body poli [...]ick, and what is the body without it but a confused lump, unformed, sencelesse, witlesse, and destitute of all meanes to maintaine or uphold it selfe, but it is quickned, and moved, and provided for and kept from dissolution only by the soule. Now of the soule there are two principall receptacl [...]s,The King is the head, although she be to­tain tot [...], et tota in qualibet parte. The head and the heart, such is the king in respect of the body politick, he [...]s the head, in which regard we should have him in so high esteeem, as we should not onely seek his ease and wel­fare, but even expos [...] our selves to any perills for his sake and safety, wee should be so far from offering violence unto him, that wee should readily receive the strokes and wounds in [...]ented against him; yea there is no part of us but would willingly endure paine by incision, scarrifying, ligature, or issue to remedy his grievances, especi [...]illy considering how deare and tender all the members are to him: for such is the sympathy and fellow­seeling that he hath of [...]he griefes of the whole body, that when the most inferiour member suffereth, he suffereth together with it, even as a little wet or cold taken in the remotest part of the body hath forthwith a rea­dy passage to the head.The King is the Heart. Againe, the king is the heart of the body, which is the wel of life,Aristot. [...]he furnace of heat, the centry of blood, the first thing in man that lives, and the last that dies, and look as the heart sendeth forth somtimes the blood and spirits with a ful flush plenteously replenishing al [Page 26] the parts of the body. And otherwhile againe, being possest with a fe [...] of imminent danger, retireth them home with all speed to his little sconce, to comfort and fortifie it selfe: and judge if this be not sometimes the case of Kings. And whilest you are judging of that, I will passe fairely on to the second point;2 Point. which is, that Abels innocency did not free him from subjection to his brother. If the superior have his power from God, the inferiour ought to obey him for God, no mans vertue that hee hath in himselfe,A threefold duty from every sub­ject to his Sove­raigne. can be a warrant for him to be vitious to another, but who ever is holy and righteous must expresse it in duties to God and men. There­fore be the subject never so much in the right, and the soveraigne in the wrong, yet notwithstanding there is due from every one of them to him a threefold duty:1 Honour, honour to his person; subjection to his calling▪ obedi­ence to his lawe. First we must honour his person, and that in word and deed; the first consisteth in speaking honourably and reverently of him, he being no other then the derivative, or rather diminutive of Almighty God.Exodus 22. 28. This Moses enjoyneth Exod. 22. 28. Thou shalt not revile the Gods, nor curse the rulers of thy pe [...]ple, no, not so much as in our thoughts, saith Solomon, Eccles 10. 20. Numbers 12. 8. Ecclesiastes 10 And this God takes notice off. Nu. 12. 8. as a spe­ciall indignity done unto him, wherfore are ye not afraid (saith he to Aa­ron and Miriam) to speake against my servant, against Moses, not against my servant Moses, but more emphattically, against my servant, against Moses: against my servant, although he were not Moses: against Moses my great serv [...]nt, seeing hee is both my servant, and my servant Moses, wherefore are yee not afraid to speake against him? When this searching and piercing presumption shall get up to this highest step and dare to pry into the kings dispositions, intentions, affections, actions, then is it come to the height of the he [...]t of Ch [...]n, the stubbornnes of Esau the peevishnes of Shemei, the conspiracy of A [...]solom, the trechery of Iudas, and de­serves with them condigne punishment. For the heart of a King is unsearcheable as the height of heaven, and the depth of the earth saith Solamon it is as well presumptuous, as unpossible to discover it,Prov, [...]. 3, Eccles. 8. 4 therfore saith he again, Eccles. 8. who shall say unto him, what doest thou? But what is words without deeds? another sort then of homage i [...] is that we owe unto our Soveraigne, is to honour him with our goods, with our estates, yea, (if occasion serves) with our very lives. The children of Belial said, how shall this man save us? and they despised him in their hearts, and brought no gifts to him,1 Sam. 10. 27. 1 Sam. 10. 27. if they were the children of Belial that brought the King no gifts, then whose children are they that debarre him of that which is his owne?Iudges 5. I have read over the 5th. of Iudg and have pretty well observed the severall passages therein, how God hath in that renowned song of Deborah, provided an honourable commemoration of [Page 27] them who did assist His cause: First the Princes have their place: The Princes of Isachar were with her,Verse 3. 15. vers. 15. And then the Governours the great Persons, & officers of State, they have their place, because they [...]red themselves willingly in that service,Verse 9. vers 9. And after them the merchants that rode upon white asses; and the Iudges that sate in judge­ment, vers 10.Verse 10. Yea an unlikelier sort of people then any of these, even they that walked by the way in the same verse. And lastly the whole bo­dy of the people, they have their place in this honour, because they offered themselves (and what will he deny, that offereth himselfe?) and willing­ly in this service: This was the honourable mention that God afforded them, who did assist Him, but what saith he of those, who for collaterall respects preuaricated or withdrew themselues from this imployment; he gives them a brand that shou [...]d stick by them euer after: Reubens heart was to bigge to come in The diuisions of Reuben were great thoughts of heart vers.Verse 16. 16. Ambition of the Hi [...]hest [...]lace, desire of presedency in offices of imployment, greatnes of heart, & an unwillingnes to be under the command of any other do offentimes retard [...]en the cause of God: so is there a reproach & increpation layd upon Dan [...]uer.Verse 17. 17. why did Dan remayn in the ships? for this they were condemned though the ships were their owne; and upon Gilead, that abode beyond Iordan & As [...]er that continue on the sea-shore when the cavse o [...] God was in hand; & for this was Meroz cursed, yea cursed bitterly by the Angell of the Lord because they came not to the help of the Lord,Verse 23. to the helpe of the Lord against the mighty.Verse 20. And therefore for the incouragement of those that did assist him in any proportion, though their assistance was no way competent against so poten [...] an enemy, God fought himselfe to, they fought from heaven, the starres in their order fought against Sisera, verse 20. The Starres in their order fought, let no man pretend that hee fights for God, when he fights out of order, for God will not fight, nor bee fought for disorderly.

The duty that every Subject oweth to his Soveraigne, is submission to his high place and calling,2 Submission. He being no other then Gods Lievtenant and Vicegerent upon the Earth: And that not so long as he doth w [...]ll, and no longer, as some simple people imagine, for what rebellion, what [...] hath ever beene made, but under some of these pretences? what can a Prince doe or leave undone that may not thy malicious or ignorant interpretation forfeit His Crowne? No, no. God hath better provided for them then so; They doe not hold their Crownes ad placitum populi, at the peoples pleasure, but it was God that set them in their Thrones, and it is God onely that can remove them: Le [...] them so be­have [Page 28] themselves as they will answer it before God at the last day, [...] our parts there is no shift for us, but wee must bee subject. And why should wee not in this, as well as in other things? we can endure [...] patience unseasonable weather, unfruitfull yeeres, unwholesome seas [...], and such other judgements of God, because wee know they come from God (for shall there be evill in a Citis, Amos. 3. 6. and the Lord hath [...]) and why should we not as well tollerate the imperfections of Princes? Since they are Ministers sent from God to do his will? If the Lord bee [...] pleased with us, Romanes 13. 5. 2 C [...]o. 1. He will set a wise King over us, whom he loveth, 2 [...] 1. If hee b [...]e offended at us, He will remove Him, and set up a worse in his roome: For, for the fin [...]es of the Land, the Kings are changed, Pro. 28. 2. whither they be good or bad,Prov. 28. 2. there is Digitus Dei, the finger of God in it, and therefor not to be resisted nor repined at, but to bee endured with patience.

And yet we want one duty still that we owe unto Our Soveraigne, and that is Obedience to his Lawes.3. Obedience. Which though they do not binde the Conscience primario per se, principally and by themselves, bec [...] he onely who can punish the Soule; can bind the soule yet they doe it per concomitantiam, Matthew. 10. 28. by way of concomitancie, because they depend upon the Law of God, and are agreeable unto it, which primario & per se, doth binde the Conscience.

It is true indeed a mans Conscience bindes him more than the com­mandement of the Magistrate, because the Conscience hath none direct­ly above it, but God only: yet herein we must distinguish, by putting a diff [...]ence betweene those things that are indifferent in themselves, and those things which are simply forbidden or commanded. In things in­different we are more bound to follow the command of the Magistrate then our owne consciences, but in those things that are good and evill in themselves, we are bound to follow our conscience then the command of the magistrate again ther's a generall mistake among us whilst we do not distingu [...]sh between subjection & Obedience; for there may be sub­jection where there is no obedience: the on is allwayes due; though not the other▪ or if it be it is by distinguishing between active & pas [...]e obe­dience: If the King commands me a thing not Lawfull, I will not obey Him Faciendo by doing it; but Patiendo [...] I hope I shall by submitting my self to suffer his pleasure for not doing it:

This was the very case of the three children Dan.Dan. 3. 18. 3. be it knowne vnto thee O King that we will not serue thy Gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set vp; They refused to yeeld obedience to his vn­just comands faciendo, yet did they acknowledge him to be their King & [Page 29] did willingly submit to suffer any torment that he should be pleased to in­flict vpon them.1 Samuel 8. This was that which God by the mouth of Samuel told the Israelites before hand: 1. Sam. 8 After he had admonished them what heauy, what open injustice they should endure vnder some of their kings, he concludeth, & yee shal cry out in that day, because of your King, & the Lord will not hear you; as if he had sa [...]d, ye shall gr [...]an vnder your burden, but you shall haue no power either to shrink from it or shake it off. I but the people of England, are not like the children of Isra [...]l, they for their disobedience were made slaues unto their Gouernours,Obiect, 1. but we are a free nation, I have Lawes to be ruled by, let the King say what he will; God be thanked that we can tell now what is lawfull, and what not.Resp. It was not so from the beginning, for in the first Heroicall ages, it is evident the people were not governed by any positive Law, but their Kings did both judge and command by their word, by their will, by their absolute power,Sir Iohn Hay­ward. without either restraint or direction, but only of the law of nature, but because it grew both trublesome and tedious for all the people to receave their right from one man (as Iethro advised Moses) therfore were laws invented and officers appointed to execute the same under the supreame Magistrate.Genesis 18. 18.

I but our Kings are bound to observe the Lawes as well as we,Object. 2. They take an Oath at their Coronation to do nothing thereunto repugnant, & if they doe, They shall finde that there is law for Them as well as for o­thers: which is as if in direct terms they should say thus much: Sir Kings, whilest our heads were under your girdles, we were content to be obe­dient to your commands, because we had no way to helpe it, but now we have gotten the winde of you, and made you sweare that you will not transgresse [...]he lawes established, we tell you plainly the case is altered, you hold your crownes meerely at our courtesie, and are indeed no other then Lievtenants Generall, we have the power upon your m [...]sdemeanour to keepe you up, or to put you downe.

Prophane men!Resp▪ Is Christian Religion become a meere polecy! doth the word of God change and vary with the times? are Gods ordinances alterable according to the wilfulnesse of the Giddy multitude; was it death in former times to disobey the ruler of the people, and may he now with Acteon be chased, nay worried by his owne hounds? May the Lords Lievtenant,Iohn 1. 18. the Lords Annoynted be kept in, or easte out of state at the pleasure of his subjects? Is he become of worse condition then the Lord of a Mannour, then a parish Priest, then a poore School-master, who can­not be thrust out by any under their charge?

[Page 29] O my soule come not thou into such secrets.Gen. [...]9. 6. But what if the king do at his corona­tion take an oath that he will be are himselfe regardfull of the accomplishment of the lawes established? doth he in so doing condit [...] restraine himselfe or his authority? should he not be King if he did not take that oath? Surely yes, onely it is his gracious pleasure to make an honourable promise that he wi [...]l endeavour to discharge his duty, which promise he it bound to performe by the lawes of conscience and state, yet if hee doe not, his person onely is hereby affected, not his authority, the one is tyed and bound in honour, the other is in force, though performances faile. The promise of the Prince is free and voluntary, hee need not have made it except he had would, yet being made, his duty in performing it is necessary; duty I call it onely in respect of God be­fore whom he sware, but to us it was a princely exce [...]ency and an act of grace.

But is not the King then subject to the law as well as others?Obiect. 3. Resp. [...]rifler, to the directive part of the law he is, but not to the coactive part of it, as thou wouldst have it: as the law is the rule of justice, and the line by which both Prince and people must be guided, so is the Prince subject thereunto: but as it is an instrument which the Prince useth in ruling of the people, so is the King free and not subject to it.

I come now to unburden your overwearied patience with a briefe conclusion,Conclusion. by way of application to these present times. If a bad Prince must be honoured, submitted to, and obeyed out of conscience, then how much note a good one with all readines? If it be wicked and bloody tyrants due, how much more is it required from all men to godly and pious Princes? under whose peaceable and religious Governement, the gos­pell of Christ is cherished, learning advanced, factious spirits supprested, wholesome lawes enacted, the bond of unity maintained, and our very goods and lives preserved▪

It was a passionate and pathetical speech that Saint Ambrose h [...]d u [...]on the death of Gratian and Val [...]tin [...]an two famous Emperours; Percussa eras, ô ecclesia in uná maxi [...] [...]um amitteres Gratianum p [...]aebuisti alteram maxillam cum Va [...]entini [...] creptus est, [...] [...] ­taque non in unâ sed in utrâque maxi [...] lacrimae tibi sunt: Thou wert smitten, ô poore Church on the one cheeke when thou lostest Gratian; thou turnedst the other cheeke when Valentini [...] died, justly therefore hast thou teares not on one but on both thy cheeks: I may say [...]t truely of this Chu [...]ch of England she had a blow on the one cheek when famous Elizabeth died, the suffered on the other checke when good king James was taken from us, and just cause had we to have wept with both eyes, had not these wounds bin healed by the comming of our most gracious Soveraigne King Charles, for whom let us give God thankes, and think our selves as happy in him, as any nation in the world is in their Prince, indeed hee is set as a sparkling gemme in the ring of this round world not to be paraleld by any or all the princes of the earth for his piety and uprightnesse towards God, for his temperance and sobriety in himselfe, for his mercy and clemency to his people.

Prolong ô God the Kings life and his years as many generations,Psalme 61. 6. give him ô Lord the desire of his heart,Psalme 21. 2. and deny him not the requests of his lips: prevent him with the blessings of goodnesse,Psame 59. 10. and set a crown of pure gold upon his head, [...]ebuke the compa­ny of speare-men,Psalme 21. 3. the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the People, till every one Submit himself with PIECES of SILVER,Psalme 68. 30. Scatter thou the people that delight in warre.1 Samuel 25. 29. But let the soule of our Lord be bound up in the bundle of life, let his glory be great in thy salvation,Prov. 21. 5. 6. honour and majesty do [...] lay upon him, give him everlasting felicity and make him glad with the joy of thy countenance,Psalme 132. [...]18. as for his enemi [...] cloath them with shame,Psalme 70. 13. but upon himselfe let his crowne flourish: So wee thy people and sheep of thy pasture,Revel. 1. 7. will give thee thankes for ever, we will shew forth thy praises to al Generations, even so, Amen.

FINIS.

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