I Shall not presume to deteyne you by any Impertinent Preface, or as Tertullus the Orator,1 Act. 24.1. before Fae­lix the Governour, stand Court­ing your Ears this day, whereby to gain upon your Clemency to hear me a few words on this Scrip­ture; sith both the Text, and this Occasion, like Righteousnesse and Peace, do so sweetly embrace and kisse each other: The Accomodation of the one being as Consonant to the other, as sometimes was to the Coyn of Caesar, theMat. 22.20, 21 Image of Caesar; so [Page 2]that both the Importance, and withall the Seasonable­nesse of this Word (being like anPro. 25.11 Apple of Gold in a Picture of silver) anticipates an Apology, and may well promise me the Favour of your Noble Patience. And indeed, as Quintilian observes, Where the Matter is Serious, and the Auditors indulgent, there a Proaem is uselesse: Such, I am sure, is my Matter, and such, I trust, are my Hearers: To my businesse therefore.

And now, as that Woman in the Gospel, first lighted herLuke 15.8. Candle, e're she sought her Groat; So, afore I come to present you with the Jewels, I must first open the Cabinet wherein they are lock'd up; Lead you by the Portall into the Inner Roomes; by the Circumstan­ces of this whole Period of Scripture, direct and light you to the main Materialls of the Text.

Here are many Circumstances, and my Text like an Ingenuous Picture lookes upon all.

The first was the Occasion of this grave advice to the Judges; which was a Solemn Reformation both of Church and State intended by King Jehoshaphat; in the Diamonds of whose Crown, though there were some flawes, yet the sparkling of the one, overblazed the duskishnesse of the other; for the good things found in him, ver. 3, in his hands was now intrusted the Su­preme Authority over the Kingdome of Judah; which Kingdome, partly through his owne Oscitancy or Con­nivence; and partly also (as the Story foregoing inti­mates) through his God-displeasing League with Ahab, that Sacrilegious, Idolatrous, and Wicked Prince, ha­ving been lately ridden with but loose rains; He now (admonished by Jehu the son of Hanani the Seer, ver. 2) resolves to give a check to his foregone regardlessnesse, and by a speedy Expergefaction, to awaken both Him­selfe and his People to a discreet Regulation of all past Disorders.

And this he sets about in the right course, and after the best order: He begins first with Himself; next with [Page 3]Religion; and then with Civill Justice, as the strong Guard to both.

• 1. With Himselfe; And as the
  Prov. 30.28
  Spider taketh hold with her hands, and begins to mend her Web at the mid­dle, He prepared his [Heart] to seek God, ver. 3. By which Personall Reformation, the Vertue of his Pious Exam­ple proved so Magneticall, that it attracted the Obser­vation of all his People; He went out again through the people, from Beersheba to Mount Ephraim: The An­cients were wont to place the Statues of their Kings by Springs or Fountains; to intimate, as one observes, that they were the Fountains of Good or Ill in a Common Wealth; So was Jehoshaphat, here, of good, to his Sub­jects.
• 2. Next to Himself, and his owne Heart and Actions, He takes care immediately for Religion, and the right Worship of the true God; and surely, none so fit to re­store that, as they who first have made their own hearts as it were, the mould, wherein to cast Religion as in the proper Form; and surely, thus did Jehoshaphat, as is a­bundantly manifest in the twentieth Chapter ensuing, by his Fasting and Praying, and seeking of God; so that as soon as his heart had
  Psal. 45.1.
  indited so good a Matter, his tongue incontinently becoms as the pen of a ready writer; By an effectuall Invitation reducing his Exorbitant peo­ple from their Adoration of Idols in their Groves, unto the Veneration of the True God in Jerusalem; He brought them back unto the Lord God of their Fathers, ver. 4.
• 3. After himselfe and Religion, having so well entred with God; He then, and not till then, provides for Civil Justice, and the due administration thereof, ac­cording to the rules of Equity and Judicious Reason throughout the Land; and this to be managed by such Persons, whose Learning and Experience in the Lawes, should give weight to their Proceedings, whose Age and Gravity win Reverence and Honour to their Persons; [Page 4]such as these He set Judges in the Land, throughout all the fenced Cities of Judah, City by City, ver. 5. and ha­ving given them their Commission, and withall ponde­red the seriousnesse of the Employment; He said to the Judges, Take heed what yee do, for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord, &c.

And thus I have shewen you the severall Circumstan­ces of this Scripture, which, were it, happily, in a skilful­ler hand, might yet be branch'd out farther into more variety: But least I may seem to have hovered too long in the Air of Generalities, I shall now fasten on those Substantiall Materialls which are here before us in the Text.

Which Text is as the short abridgement, or Epitome of what concerns the Magistrate, as such, in the discharge of that Function; insomuch, that whatsoever lines of Paticularities can be drawn from the largest Circumfe­rence, may be all here concentred in this Point: Yet for my Method in the present Sermon, I observe out of it, these Heads of Discourse.

• 1.
  The Division
  The Office it selfe, Ye Judge, or Judge ye.
• 2 The Authority or Commission by which they exe­cute that Office, Not for man, but for the Lord; Vices Domini gerentes, as Junius notes, As God's Vice-gerents.
• 3. The Discharge of that Office, Do it, or Judge ye; Judicabitis, Ye shall Judge, so translated in the Fu­ture, hath, after the Hebrew Idiotisme, the Vertue of an Imperative.
• 4. The due Caution or Circumspection to be heeded in that Discharge, Cavete, Take heed; which is twice repeated, both in the Front, and in the Foot of the Text; The one standing as an Ecce, prefix­ed, the other, as one of David's Selahs, subjoyn­ed; both which Notes, serve to set an Accent up­on our Observation: The former Cavete hath re­lation to the Matter, Take heed what ye do. The [Page 5]later Cavete hath respect to the Manner, Take heed Now, let the fear of the Lord be upon you.
• 5. The Motive to perswade the well accomplished dis­charge of the whole, Vobiscum Jehovah in rebus Judiciariis; God is with you in the Judgement, or in the matter of Judgement: Which phrase of Gods being [with them] is in travell, as Rebekah, with a Twin of Interpretations; It denoting, either God's presence, as a Spectator; or else God's pre­heminence, as a Protector of you in the matter of Judgement; Which later seems by the last words of this Chapter to be the most genuine, where he saith, Deal couragiously, and the Lord shall be [with] the Good, to wit, for their Divine As­sistance.

And these (at least as to my observation they occurr) are the proper parts of this Scripture, the measures of my Sermon, and of your Christian Patience: Please to favour me with the one, whilst I am, by Gods blessing, in the dispatch of the other, I shall be as compendious as the Gravity of this matter, and the great affairs ensu­ing shall allow in all.

And he said to the Judges, Take heed what ye do, &c.The first part

The first member of my Division mentioned, is the Office it self of Magistracy, which I apprehend may well be couched under the Term or Style of Judging, an e­minent degree of the same: From whence the Point that I would commend to you, is this, viz.

The Office and Benefit of Government, Doctrine. together with the mischief and misery of Anarchy.

In speaking whereof, I shall use the same modest A­pology, whichCalv. Instit. lib. 4. c. 20. §. 9. Mr. Calvin (that bright burning Ta­per of Geneva) did, being about to write upon the same Subject: In Expounding (saith he) the Magistrates Of­fice, Non tàm Magistratus ipsos instituere consilium est, quàm alios docere quid sint Magistratus; It is not my [Page 6]intention to informe the Rulers, or Magistrates them­selves; but to instruct others of the people, who are to be Ruled and Governed by them, What the Magistrates are, and for what good end and purpose they are ordei­ned of God himselfe: Not to informe them, this were for me (under this Station) to exceed the activity of my own proper Orb, and to move in the Excentricks; yea, this were after a sort to blend Professions, and to mingle Civil Judicatures with Theologicall Doctrines; to fetch that into the Pulpit, which is proper only, and adaequate to the Bench; my Office is to teach others the great benefit, and good that God by the Ordinance it self of Magistracy intendeth, and doth; this, under favour (in a Spirituall notion) appertains to our Ministry, the bet­ter to excite the people to their duty, both of Prayer and Praises for them, and of constant fidelity to them.

Now, Two things there are that must come under this Head. First, the Office or Government it self. Se­condly, The Benesit, and Advantage of the same. These two like1 King. 7.21 Jachin and Boaz in Solomons Temple, are the two main Pillars, supporting the whole Fabrick of my speech; and in my speaking of them, I shall of necessi­ty so twist my Discourse with the Benefit, that, as that Artificer wrought his own name so cunningly in the Buckler of Minerva, that it could not be pick'd out, without the dissolution of the whole Frame; so take out the name of Benefit from Government, the most beau­tifull frame of any State may soon lye in the dust.

The first thing that I shall endeavour is, to shew you the nature of Magistracy, what it is: and thus I shall de­scribe it.

Magistracy is a publick Power ordeined of God, What Magi­stracy is. for the preservation of Order, Discipline and Peace in a Common Wealth, by Encouragement of the Good, and by the Pu­nishment of Evill and Contumacious Persons, according to Just Lawes: This is Magistracy in it self.

[Page 7]1. Magistracy is a Power, so styled by the great Apo­stle, Rom. 13.1. [...], the word signifies, a Power of Right and Authority, which makes it to be [...] High and Supereminent above others; so that the very terme of Relation implieth the order of Superiority, and of In­feriority; High and Low, the Scripture mentions, Psal. 62.9. and 49.2. Small and Great, Act. 26.22. Rev. 20.12. The one, in a rationall apprehension, supposeth the other; For, Par in parem non habet protestatem; if a­mongst levelling Equals none may challenge to Rule the rest, then the very name and nature of Government doth inforce an inequality: And indeed, without this, there could be nothing but confusion in the world; For what isBish. Dave­nant, quaest. 42. pag. 187, Edit. 1634. Cantabr. Order? But Parium, impariúmque sua cuique tri­buens loca dispositio; A meet disposition of Equalls, and Unequalls, giving unto each their proper and due pla­ces; and without such a moderate and meet Imparity, the [...]. Aristot. l. 1 cap. 5. Polit. Community will suffer: Government, it's as or­der to an army, which without it were but a crowd; it's as an hedge to a Vineyard, which without it, would be wasted by Wild Boars, and other spoiling Creatures; it's as an hemn to a garment, which without it would ra­vell out; Hence was that known saying ofGreg. Naz. lib. 3. Theolog. Nazianzene, [...], Anarchy is ever Disorder; And that freedome must of necessity be most unfree, which under aDu Moulin, Defence of King James, Art. 22. Title of Liberty introduceth licentious­nesse, wherein whilst every one would be chief, he be­comes a slave to himselfe, and to every one: Now such impetuous disorders, where ever they arise, if by any thing, will be by Government removed, or at least o­verawed: This was not impertinently set forth by the Ancients (saithL^d. Verul. l. 1 Advancement of Learning. one) in that faigned relation of Or­pheus Theatre, where all Birds assembling, and forget­ting their severall appetites, some of Prey, some of Game, some of Quarrell, stood all sociably together, listening unto the ayres and accords of the Harp; the sound where­of no sooner ceased, or was drowned by some louder [Page 8]noise, but every beast returned to his own nature again. Wherein is aptly described the nature and condition of men, who are full of Savage and unreclaimable desires, of Profits, of Lust, of Revenge; which as long as they give ear to Religious Precepts, and to good Lawes, sweet­ly touch'd with Eloquence, and Perswasion of the Makers, so long is Society and Peace maintained; but if these Instruments be silent, or that Sedition and Tumult make them not audible, all things dissolve into Anarchy and Confusion; We need seek no farther for this, then the Book of Judges, where, under the want of Govern­ment, every man did what was good in his own licen­tious eye;Judg. 17.6. & 21.25. and that, I am sure, was crooked in God's strict eyes: There was the Corruption in Religion, in the making and worshipping of a Graven Image, horri­bleJudg. 17.4, 5. Idolatry, by Micah and his mother; there was Burglary, Robbery, and rifling of Houses, yea, whole Cities of Harmelesse Poor people, and cutting all theirJudg. 18.27. throats; abominable plundering, and lewdnesse by the men of Dan: There was (ô Prodigious Act!) the ra­vishing of a woman, and that to death, chap. 19. by the men of Gilead, who also faced it out with impudence, and stood to maintain it; upon the matter, there are noIt was a say­ing under Ner­va, It was bet­ter to live where nothing, then where all things are law­full. worse things in the world, then these were; yet all these were the issues of Anarchy in those dayes: The people likewise in theExod. 32. absence of Moses the chief Go­vernour, were as a ship wanting a Pilot at sea, and so ran upon the rock of Idolatry, in making them an Idoll the Calfe of Egypt: And I marvell, were there no Ses­sions or Assizes, or Courts of Judicature and Justice in our dayes, if the whole Land, like that of Egypt, would not swarm withExod. 10.5. Locusts and Caterpillats, with Cut­throats, Robbers, Outragious Vagabonds; and Male­factors, which now (blessed be God) by the beesome of Circuit Justice are swept off (what may be) from our earth.

Wherefore it was wittily observed by Hermes Tris­megistus, [Page 9]or whosoever was the Authour of that Dia­logue, which passeth under his name;Hermes Tris­megist. Dialog. 9. ad Aesculap. that by the Gre­cians, the world was stiled, [...], that is, Faire: [ [...]] [...], For that God and Nature had so beauti­fied and a dorned it, not only with variety in the produ­ction of the Creatures, but in the comely order of whatsoever was made, by a decent subordination of one unto the other. Government was at first founded in Paradise immedately upon the Creation; Dominamini, saith the Lord to Adam, Gen. 1.28. Have dominion over every living thing; yea, 'tis accorded byVid. Joh. Ge­rard. loc. Com­mun. Tom. 6. cap. 2. § 25.26 &c. S. Aug. de Civit. Dei l. 19. c. 15. Divines most Orthodox, that however in the state of innocence there was not, nor should not have been any despoticall, or Imperious coercive domination, as is now since the Fall, of one man over another; so that, then, one should have born the sway, cum libidine dominandi, with an ambi­tious lust or desire to compell others as inferiour; yet, even then, under that very state, there would have been a fatherly, or oeconomicall subordination in Families, and Societies of mankind, joyned with a spontaneous, voluntary yeildance, as it were, through an innate [...], or naturall Instinct, to the mutuall counselling and lo­ving of each other; as Husband and Wife, Father and Child, Neighbour and Neighbour, for the Glory of God, and their own Beatitude. Thus the Schoolmen (among whose Disputes, though there be found much Drosse of Superstition, yet withall, some Gold of pre­cious and refined Wit) they directly pronounce thus, Fuisset in statu innocentiae praelatio in officio consulendi, & diligendi, non Dominium servituti oppositum, as The­mas, Biel, and others to the same Effect, expresse it: Yea, this may be yet read farther in the Book of the o­ther Creatures themselves, which are indeed halfe lost, if we only employ them, and learn nothing of them; Totus mundus nihil aliud est, nisi Deus explicatus, saith Cusanus: The whole Macrocosm, or bigger world, is but a [Page 10]book unclasp'd, wherein are the expresse characters of Gods Divine Wisedome shining in that order, wherein he first created it; even that God, who by the great Apo­stle, who was so much for decency and order in the Churches, is directly stiled, not the Authour of Confu­sion, but the God of Peace, and order, 1 Cor. 14.33. Yea, meditate but what is written of those, who never yet stained the honour of their Primitive Creation, still keeping their first estate, not leaving their ownS. Jude ver. 6 Habita­tion; look upwards in Heaven, among the confirmed Angels, there are Degrees: [...], saithDamascen. lib. 2. Orthodox. Fid. cap. 3. Damascen, accor­ding to their light and station, so is their Priority; There are, saith Paul, Mights and Dominions, Principalities and Powers, Ephes. 1.21. Rom. 8.38. Yea, among that Sacred Hierarchy, Saint Jude assures us, ver. 9. there is Michael an Archangel; to omit any farther enumera­tion of more orders of them, after the Computation of Dionysius Areopagita, an Author, however said to be sup­positious, as reckoned among Saint Paul's Converts, Act. 17.34. yet yeilded to be of long antiquity. Again, from those Heavens, let us behold the Starry Firmament, and there we discover two great Luminaries, asPsal. 136.8, 9 Rulers of the times and Seasons, the Sun to rule the Day, and the Moon the Night. Look yet below these into the Ae­theriall Heavens, and there we find theHorat. Eagle soaring aloft and prevailing:Plin. l. 10. cap. 23. Nat. Hist. Pliny writes of Cranes, birds of a subordinate feather, Ducem quem sequantur, eligunt, they select a guide: Upon the earth, among Beasts, the Lion; among Trees, the Cedar overtops: If we go down to thePsal. 107.23. sea in ships, and occupy our businesse in the great waters, even there find we aPsal. 104.26. Leviathan to take his pastime: In a word, Take view of the Microcosme, or little world, man himself, [...], saithAristot. l. 1. c. 5. Polit. Aristottle, the soul commands the body, and the mind in the soul it selfe, the sensuall appetite, and all the Inferiour Powers in the same: Yea, I had almost added, [Page 11]if we cast our eyes downwards, even in the pit of dark­nesse, theRev. 12.9. Dragon hath his Angels, and there are or­ders, andMat. 12.24. degrees, even in the Region of Confu­sion.

What should I say more? Wherefore, though my heart be much enlarged, and my thoughts voluminous in this matter, yet being straitned in the bowels of the time, as Homers Iliads were (once) presented to a great Potentate in a nut-shel; so I must now be forced to epi­tomize my expressions in a word or two: Take it in the Oratours own lines, Omnem naturam, Cic. de Nat. Dcor. lib. 2. quae non est sim­plex, sed cum alio conjuncta, necesse est habere aliquem in se principatum; that is thus much in the sense, Every created nature capable of Society, of necessity, must have in it some Superiority. Formes of Government (its un­denyable) have been in severall ages and revolutions of time, divers in the world, according to Gods own pro­found and providentiall Dispensations; and withall, ac­cording as his own Divine Wisdome foresaw to be best for his own Church and people; and under the [...], the very act of the time of mutation, the alteration of Governments (yea or but the succession of Gorvernors) is, saith one, oft times, like the removing of the world from one shoulder of Atlas to another, which occasions Epilepsies, and shakings in the earth; nor is it easie, at the first, for men to pronounce their Shibboleth of new Titles, and names accompanying such alteration: For a long time the Government was Patriarchall, or Father­ly, rather then Princely, as during all their staying in Egypt, when yet they were growen into the body of a Nation numerous and mighty: After that, even in Ca­naan, governed they were long by Judges, by advice of the High Priest, and that about the space of four hun­dred and fifty years, as we read Act. 13.20. untill Sa­muel the Prophet: After that, God gave them Saul a1 Sam. 8. King, a man of Benjamin, in anger, and took him a­way in wrath, Hos. 13.11. Briefly, theAristot. lib. 8. Polit. cap. 10. Forme was [Page 12]sometimes Democraticall, sometimes Aristocraticall, other whiles Monarchicall: But (things here below be­ing in a perpetuall gyre of mutation) doth the Crown endure to every generation? Prov. 27.24. Even the most lasting Kingdomes have had theirSee B. Hall, Serm. on Psal. 107.34. p 10. Period; and of the most settled Government, Gods hand writing upon the wall goes so far, as to say, Mene, Mene, Thy dayes are numbred: ThatPsal. 75.6, 7. God, he who alone it is that putteth down one, and setteth up another,Psal. 59.13. Ruleth in Jacob, and even unto the ends of all the earth, sitting upon the circle thereof, as the Prophet expresseth it, Isai. 40.22. and as we read Dan. 2.45. that the stone cut out of the moun­tains without hands brake in pieces the Gold, and the Silver, the Brasse and the Iron in the great Image, that is Christ, theEph. 2.20. Head stone of the corner, born, unusual­ly, of an incontaminate Virgin, overcame by the Scep­ter of his power, the four great Monarchies of the world. Assyrian, Persian, Grecian, Roman, and shall doe the Papall also; and the same Prophet again, Dan. 4.17. The living must know, that the most High ruleth in the King­dome of men, and he giveth it to whomsoever he will: This is the Lords doing and it is marvellous in all mens eyes. But yet, (which is the totall of what I aim at) in the great change of times and Seasons, in the altera­tion of various formes, neverthelesse the God of order upholdeth the State or Government it self, which (as I noted in the first branch of the Description) was a Pow­er, and that an High and Supereminent Power; and those Powers that are, [...], in present, actuall being, the same are not without Gods own ordination, as I shall forthwith demonstrate; and to those present Powers in act (commanding lawfull things) men must be subject, even for conscience of God, Rom. 13.1.5.

But ere I go on to that, I may not omit the Epithet, or (if you will call it so) the Adjunct of this Superemi­nent Power: It is not a private, but a publick Power; that is, a Power Authorized by a Lawfull Commission to [Page 13]execute, as the Lords avengement of sin,S. Augustin. contr. Faust. Manich. l. 22. & 77. c 70. Ille abutitur gladio, qui nulla Superiori, ac le­gitimâ pote­state vel juben­te, vel conceden­te, in sanguinem alicujus arma­tur— Nam u­tique Dominus jusserat, ut fer­rum Discipuli ejus ferrent, sed non jusserat, ut ferirent. Vid Rayner. de Pisis Pan­theol. tom. 1.2. & Thom. 2^a, 2ae, Qu. 40. Art. 1. Justice and Judg­ment upon arraigned and convicted Malefactors; for o­therwise, as our Saviour said to Peter, all they that take the sword, shall perish with the sword, Mat. 26.52. that is, as all Orthodox Divines expound it, All they who take the sword to smite withall, out of their own voluntary, pri­vate motion, to satisfie their own private revenge, these so sinning without Authority, shall for that sin be smit­ten by the publick sword: which, by just Authority, is put into the hands of Lawfull Magistrates, as God's Vice-gerents upon earth, to execute and repay God's Just and Publick revenge upon Offendors: In Gen. 9.6. we read, Who so sheddeth mans blood (to wit, by a pri­vate sword, that makes it Murder) by man shall his blood be shed, namely, by a publick sword of the Magistrate, who bears it not in vain, but to be unsheath'd and u­sed, which makes it Justice; Magistrates are not Homi­cidae, but Malicidae, asBern. de Mi­lite, fol. 109. m. Object. Bernard wittily.

If any list to object the Act of Phineas a Priest, and no Civill Magistrate, commended for his Zeal in slaying Zimri and Cosbi, under their sin, Numb. 25.8. as like­wise the example of Samson, by suicide, destroying himselfe, and with himself, both his own, and Gods e­nemies, Judg. 16.30. Yet he is numbred among the faith­full, Heb. 11.32. and so capable of imitation?

Answ. To this the Resolution is,Answ. that Motus Heroici non sunt in imitationem trahendi, those Heroicall moti­ons, as (for distinction sake) Divines do style them, were Personall Dispensations, daigned out of singular Priviledge, and so are restrictive to them alone, and such as are guided, upon like assurance, by like warrantable instinct from God, and so not to be drawn into ordi­nary imitation. The examples even of Saints themselves Contra datam legem, if they do not (as) Saints, but de­viate from the generall Rule, must be declined: now, the knowne rule is,Deut. 32.35 Rom. 12.19. Vengeance is mine, and I will re­pay it, saith the Lord Himselfe, who executeth the [Page 14]same by the sword, put into the hand of his owne Ordinance, the Publick Magistrate, The Higher Powers.

By this time I presume, the beames of Order and Go­vernment it selfe, by Arguments drawn both from Na­ture and Grace, from Reason and Religion, shine clearly upon all bright and solid understandings: And yet (wo is me!) I cannot dissemble what black and pitchy Clouds have been interposed between this serene light, and the minds, at least, the refractary wills of some, whom I cannot better compare, then to loose teeth in a mans head, being often more troublesome, then useful to Ci­vill Society: However, with3 Ep. Job. 9. Diotrephes, they may de­sire preheminence, and would be some body in the trou­ble, who (it may be) were as no body in the peace of the Church.

Thus they pretend,Object. wresting the Scriptures, as Saint2 Pet. 3.16. Peter speaks, to their own hurt, [...], dealing like Chymicks, who labour to torture nature, for the extraction of such spirits, as were never inherent in the thing: Its said, Gal. 3.28. and Col. 3.11. There is nei­ther bond nor free, Jew nor Greek, but all are one, under the New Testament, in Christ Jesus, who is all, and in all?

But for answer:Answ. What think they? Is there no diffe­rence in any respect? Belike then, a man must leave his Nation, Jews must be no Jews, nor Grecians, Grecians. In short, the right meaning is this; In respect of Spiritu­all state and Title to Christ, all are one, Servants as well as Masters, small as well as great, they have obteined the [like precious] faith, 2 Pet. 1.1. and share together in the [common] faith, Tit. 1.4. Because Faith and Piety, and such graces are inward matters of the soul, tending to the better life (and in such Gratuities there cannot be said to be properly any partiality in God, or anyRom. 2.11. Re­spect of persons on Gods part) yet in respect of civil and outward condition, remaines the ancient difference [Page 15]of Rulers and Obeyers, of Master and Servant; or if there be any other externall thing, whereby they are di­stinguished one from the other: Besides, that Christi­an Liberty, whereby Christ hath made us free from the rigorous exaction of theGal. 5.1. Law, and from the power of sin and Satan, doth not at all intrench upon that Order, and those Civill Degrees which he hath most comely e­stablished in the world: A Politick Inaequality is not a­gainst a Spirituall Aequality; Onesimus (saith a Wor­thyMr. Josiah Shute, the Chry­sostome of his time, pag. 132. Ser [...]on Gen. 16 Divine now with God) was as good as Philemon in Christ; yet, for all that, Onesimus was Philemon's servant. Wherefore, amongst other gifts given to the Church, these are some, [...], 1 Cor. 12.28. Go­vernments; that is, gifts enabling to govern, to the intent they may be exercised; God and Nature do nothing in vain, neither doth he gift a man for any thing unlawful, nor would so many Godly men have taken on them the managing of that Office, had it been other then such as was, and is allowed by God.

Beloved Christians, give me leave to speak my mind freely to you, (and I 1 Cor. 7.40. think also, that I have the Spirit of God directing me herein) It is to be suspected, that all such Samsons, who would thusJudg. 16.9. tear the withs of Government asunder, and attempt the exauctorating all Civill Magistracy, doe it onely, that with the more security they may cocker the wanton Delilah's of their own corrupt Natures, that chafe most under the bit, fretting at what may bridle or curb the carnality of the same; in their lives; some of them are as unclean lepers as ever sore ran upon. Such ulcers (or rather, plaguesores) brake out, and, I am sure, ran with the pernicious infection of many in Germany, not above an Age past, that asSleidan l. 5. & 10. Com­mentar. Sleidan, Bullinger Contra Anabap. Bullinger, Calvin, and others record the luxury of their reaking Conver­sation, it appears, that they were, of all men, such as had most need of Government: However, till the Justice of Heaven stopp'd them, theyPsal. 2.3. threw off the [Page 16]yoak of the Lawes, and following the float of their ownJude ver. 8. filthy dreams, they turned the grace of God into S. Jude ver. 4. wantonnesse, despised 2 Pet. 2.10. Dominion, and spake evill of Dignities; those ambitious Nimrods, who would have pull'd down Sion, to build up Babel.

But leaving this jarring Discourse about such vaine 1 Tim. 1.6. janglers as those were then, (and if any are found of the same misse-inclinations now) to wallow 2 Pet. 2.22. in their own mire, till their abominable wickednesse bePsal. 36.2. found out to be hatefull: I shall now set the strings of my speech to a more pleasing tune, that it may sound with more harmony in your ears: Whilest, in the next place, I shall present my Hearers with the great Benefits and Advantages that by Government they may enjoy.

And these being in so multiplicious a variety,The Benefits of Govern­ment. I must be forced to do as Lapidaries of rich Jewels are wont, shew them onely in a short glance, and so lay them up again.

And now, WhatHos. 12.10. similitudes shall I borrow to il­lustrate this Blessing? We may sooner beggar the whole Exchequer of Nature, or impoverish Wealth it self, then from thence be able to fetch a meet comparison for its complete embellishment. Lo! TheChar. lib. 1. c. 49. §. 1. State, that is to say, Rule, Dominion, or a certain order in Commanding and Obeying, is the prop, the cement, and the soul of Humane things: it is the bond of Socie­tie, which cannot otherwise subsist: it is the very vitall spirit whereby so many millions of men do breathe, and the whole Creation hath a wel-being. Tell me, What is it that cloathes you in2 Sam. 1.24. Scarlet, with other delights, and puts on ornaments of gold upon your apparel; is it not Government? What is it that cloathes your Downs, your Pastures, your Valleys with Flocks and Store, till theyPsal. 65.13. shout and sing for joy; is it not Govern­ment? What is it that brings yourJob 5.26. Prov. 3.10. shocks of corn, in their seasons, into your barns and granaries; is it not Government? By what is it that you are delivered [Page 17]from Violencies and Plunderings, from Riflings, Rob­beries, and Rapine, but alone by this? and (that which is indeed the Diamond set in the ring of this whole Encomium) by what is your Religion guarded more then by this? all Godlinesse, as well as Honesty, is preserved by this, 1 Tim. 2.1.2. Remove this, what but ataxyes and disorders, more deformed then the first rude Chaos, break in upon you? as when the Sluces are pulled up, the flouds overflow, not to water, but to wash away the fruits of the earth: or, as Heraclitus once said, If the Sun were wanting, it would soon be night, for all the Stars; so, where, or when this is absent,Psal. 137.2. how are the Harpes hung up upon the Willowes? and how do men, as Au­gustus sitting between Horace and Virgil, inter suspiria & lachrymas, the one given to weeping, and the other to sighing, sit down under a night of sorrow and lamen­tation? I have read of a Law among the Persians to this effect, [...], That when their Chief Governour was dead, there should be no Lawes in force, for the space of five dayes together, upon which there ensued so Prodigions Dis­orders, Violencies and Perturbations, that as sometime Rachel impatient of her barren Womb, cryed out,Gen. 30.1. Give me children or else I die; so the people cryed out, O give us Governors to rule, or we die, we are all undone: They had learn'd by the want, to set a price upon the enjoyment; as theSee Psal. 106 24, 25. pettish Israelites, (a people seldom if ever, pleased with Gods present Providencies) whoExod. 15.24. murmured under Moses, though theNumb. 12.3. meekest man alive, would yet, in all likelihood, had not God by some Angel conveyed his bodyDeut. 34.6. out of sight,Vid. S. Jude ver. 9. (so prone were they also to Idolatry) have worshipped him for an Idoll, after he was dead. But I fear that I do all this while, but darken this so shining a Topaze of Govern­ment, by my rude polishing; sith to expresse the excel­lency thereof, quils pluck'd from the wings of the Blessed Seraphims, or Cherubims themselves, would bee but [Page 18]competent: Wherefore, waving this humble kind of Oratory; hearken a little, I beseech you, to what the inspiredAmos 3.7. Secretaryes of Heaven it self, the Sacred Pen­men of the Holy Canon (2 Pet. 1.21. over ruled therein by a Cele­stiall direction) have un-erringly, under many Resem­blances, expressed of those persons who manage this great affair, and so reflexively the splendor of the thing it selfe, may be the better displayed.

And out of so faire a Garden, adorned with so great Variety, I shall present you with a Posie of the choicest flowers. In the eleventh Psalm and the third verse, as also Micah 6.2. they are called metaphorically, The Foundations of the earth; If the Foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? that is, as the most Ortho­dox expound it, Magistratus pessundati, If Governors, that should be to God's people, as foundations are to the building, supports and stayes, if these are cast down, that is, either deprived of their Power, or through sloth or tyranny so degenerate from what they should be, that an honest man may look for no favour or suc­cour from them; then, what shall the righteous do? Di­rectly implying, that whilest they remain as Foundations, unshaken and2 Tim. 2.19. firme, then may the righteous and the true Religion be sure both of countenance and suppor­tation; whence also, in a Title of Cognation, they are stiled, Psal. 47.9. The Shields of the earth, to defend, and to safeguard from Injuries and Wrongs.

In another Style, they are called Saviours; so is Oth­niel, who delivered Israel, styled, Judg. 3.9. We read Gen. 41.45. that Pharaoh called Joseph, when advanced to the chiefe Government over all Egypt, Zaphnath Paaneah, which, in the Hebrew, signifieth as much as a revaler of secret things, or a mysterious Counsellor, in regard of his Interpretation of Pharaoh's Dreame: But, in the Egyptian Language, asBeauximis in Harmon. Evan­gel. Beauxamis acquaints us, it is by interpretation, A Saviour of the world; in as much as by his Providence, He saved so many besides [Page 19]his Fathers house, from perishing by famine: and ex­presly: the Magistrates, Neh. 9.27. have the appellation of Saviours, in respect of that outward incolumity and safety, which they procure to such as are under their Go­vernance and Protection: To this same purpose is it, thatSimon Maio­lus. p. 347. de Bellor. Eventu. Aristotle the Master, said to Alexander the Scho­ler, Governours were appointed, not [...], but [...], not, by an Imperious Domination, to be­come injurious, but, by a gracious Dignation, to be­comeLuke 22.25. Benefactors: So saith Euripides likewise, That a good Magistrate was [...]; the same is also sweetly illustrated by that Vision offe­red to Nebuchadnezzar, under the similitude of an high Tree, Dan. 4.11, 12. The leaves whereof were faire, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; the Beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the Hea­ven dwelt in the boughes thereof, and all flesh was fed of it: Because the good Magistrates procure sustentati­on, defence, and quiet Habitation to those that are un­der them.

Again, Under another Metaphor, they are resembled unto Pastors, or Shepherds; So Cyrus, whom God un­expectedly raised up for a Deliverer to his people, Isai. 44.28. is called The Lords Shepherd: and Moses likens people without a Governour, to sheep without a Shep­herd, Numb. 27.17. And King David gives the style of sheep unto his Subjects, 2 Sam. 24.17. So in ruling them, he is said to [feed] Jacob the Lords people, and Israel his Inheritance, Psal. 78.71, 72. So Psalm 28.9. that word which is translated [Feed] thine inheritance, is in the Original [Rule] thine inheritance; and that not un­fitly, [...], saithXenophon [...]. Xenophon, because the Offices of the one bear a kind of correspondence with the other, in the suppedi­tation of wholsom pastures and provisions: And as it's reported to have been the saying ofSucton in Tiber. Tiberius, ‘It is the care of a good Shepherd tondêre pecus, non deglu­bere;’ [Page 20]to fleece them, not to flay them: As in the great Charter of England, Theodoricus rex admonuit Mar­cellum, Ne plus tribueret Fisco, quàm Justitiae, Cassiodor. lib. 1. Epist. 22. Fines were imposed, salvo contenemento, in a gentle moderation.

Lastly, They are calledNum. 11.12 Exod. 20.12 Fathers, [...]: chiefly when good and godly, Isa. 49.23. By the Romans, their Senators were called Patres conscripti; andXenoph. l. 8. [...]. Xe­nophon approves the Title, [...], in regard of that providence and nutriti­on they have and provide for their people. S.S. Hieron. l. 9. in Ezek. Hierom observes, That, as the King of Egypt was successively called Pharaoh, after one Name; so among the Phili­stims, the King was stiled Abimelech, which is a com­pound, signifying My Father King; Even as in the other sex, Deborah was said, for counselling well, to be a Mother in Israel, Judg. 5.7. Joseph, advanced to the Regiment over Egypt, saith of himself, (Gen. 45.8.) That the Lord had made him a Father to Pharaoh: and by his command, the people (as he rode in his Chariot of State, Gen. 41.43.) were to cry before him, Abrech, that is, mild, or tender Father; asHieron. in Tradit. Hebra­icis, super Gen. tom. 3 pag. 390. Hierom renders it, (from [...] & [...], Pater & mollis) however the LXX take no great notice of the word) before whom all were to how the knee.

And now, after this so copious an amplification, both of the Office and Benefit of Magistracy, or Government, It's time, I presume, to hasten to an Application of the Point.

And here (perhaps) it may be expected, on some hands,Ʋse. That I should, first of all, become a Monitor, at least a Remembrancer to the Judges themselves, and put them in minde of their Duty: But I told you even now, [that] was none of my purpose: It were more meet to2 Sam. 13.24 beseech them as Num. 11.12 Exod. 20.12 Fathers, then to instruct them as Magistrates. I know the snuffers of the San­ctuary were to be of pure Exod. 37.23 gold; and I am not of so [Page 21]good metall to take on me to do that; lest what here Jehoshaphat insinuated to his Judges in the plurall, may be returned upon me in the singular, Caveto, Take heed what thou doest. I shall therefore become as some di­vine Proteus, to metamorphose an expected Exhorta­tion into an humble and cordiall Congratulation, to magnifie and blesse God, that he hath raised up so emi­nent Worthies, whose Learning in the Lawes, whose Sanctity and cleannesse of hands will altogether occasion judgment to run down as a river, and righteousnesse as a mighty stream.

My Counsell that I have to subminister upon this occasion, must look on some other objects; at such (I mean) who are under such Magistrates; even all ob­sequious people who arePsal. 35.20 quiet in the Land: Pliny tels us of some herbs, that however they be set in the waters, yet will not grow so well abs (que) imbribus super­venientibus, without some showers from above: No more will this obedience, which I am now about to presse, without continuall watering by good advice.

And the whole that I have to say to such, shall be re­duced to these four Heads, from whence, as from theGen. 2.10 four Rivers in Paradise, shall be derived such streams as mayPsal. 68.9 refresh the inheritance of God.

First then, Let me minde you of that of the Apostle, very apposite to our present purpose, Rom. 13.7.1 Ren­der to all their dues, Fear to whom fear, Honour to whom honour. And to whom can there be of right and con­science justly more due, then to those Higer Powers, who are ordained of God himself? It's a quaere in Po­liticks, Whether a Ruler were better to be feared, or to be loved? Sigismund the Emperor (asPanormitan. de dictis & fa­ctis Alphonsi, lib. 4. cap. 35. Vid. Dieter. Dⁿ. 23 post Trin. p. 841, 842, &c. Panormi­tan acquaints us) wisely resolv'd it, That Superiours will be both feared and beloved too: and indeed, both conjoyned argue a reverence meet for Authority. And surely, if they be Fathers (as ye heard but now) They must have Honour, Mal. 1.6. This comes under the [Page 22]Fifth Commandment, To honour our Father; Not one­ly of our Bodies, but also of our Country: And this,

• 1. In Thought; by carrying an awfull and reveren­tiall esteem of them, in regard both of their Persons, and Power; yea, of their Persons for their Power sake
• 2. In Word. Exod. 22.28. Thou shalt not revile the Gods, or the Judges, nor curse the Rulers of they people, Act. 23.5. Let us not be too hasty in censuring actions of Superiours; for we may see but one end of the staffe: like as when a stick is put into the water, that part above in the air is streight, though that under the water seems crooked, yet is in it self straight still, though we think it otherwise. Saint Peter makes it a note of such as Despise Government, to be presumptuous, self willed, no way afraid to [speak evill] of Dignities, 2 Pet. 2.10. And usually it holds true, where detraction goes before, as Esau; there sedition takes, it by the
  Gen. 25.26.
  heel, as Jacob; Wherefore (as a
  Bish. Andrews Serm. on Prov. 24.21. p. 950, 951.
  Learned man observes) the same word in the Hebrew, [...] [Shonim] signifies both De­tractor, and also Seditious; properly, after the Hebrew Criticisme, they are Biters, it comes of Shen, a tooth, they have teeth in their tongues.
• 3. Honour them in Deed. Bee so far from resisting the lawfull Magistrate, commanding lawfull things (and good Rulers will be content that men should serve God first, and them next) that rather, on the other side thou shouldest resolve to be moulded, as it were Plato­nically, after all their Legall Idea's; For they that resist, shall receive to themselves judgement, Rom. 13.2. Pride this way cannot climb so high, but Justice will sit a­bove it.

Secondly,2 As you must give them the Tribute of Honour, so also of your Prayers, and Supplications, and Intercessions, even for all that are in Authority, [...], or in Eminent place, That we may live a quiet and peaceable life, in all godlinesse and honesty; for this is good [Page 23]and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, 1 Tim. 2.1, 2, 3. So Jeremy advised the Jewes, even under Captivity, to pray for the peace of that place where they were, Jer. 29.7. Praying a long Life, wise Counsels, safe Go­vernment, valiant Armies, faithfull People, quiet Times, or whatsoever else may conduce to their wel­fare.

Thirdly, You must give them the Tribute of Obedience and due Homage, 3 (they giving you protection) in what they command, according to God, and according to Just and good Laws (for otherwise we must chuse rather to obey God, then man against God, Act. 5.29. after the example ofEsth. 3.2. Mordecai, and of the three Children, Dan. 3.8.) So the Apostle Paul, Rom. 13.1. Let every soul be subject, even for conscience of Gods Ordinance, and that, not Timore paenae, sed amore Justitiae, as S.Gregor. Mag. l. 35. c. 10. Ex­pos. Moral. Grego­ry expounds it, Not for the servile fear of punishment, but out of the charitative love of Justice. To the same purpose S. Peter in that famous Text, 1 Pet. 2.13, 14. and again S. Paul, Tit. 3.1. Put them in mind to be subject to Principalities and Powers, to obey Magistrates: This will be a mean to keep a City or a Common Wealth in Peace and Safety, if, as sometimes that wise Lawgiver Solon, inStobaeus c. 43 De Republ. p. 280. Stobaeus, said, Cives obtemperent suis Magi­stratibus, Magistratus autem legibus; The Citizens obey the Magistrate, and the Magistrate the Lawes.

Fourthly, and lastly,4 There must be given them Tri­bute and Custome, all subsidiary Supplies, Rom. 13.7. due to them for all their publick care, Providence, Prote­ction, Vigilancy, great Travell and Pains, which they undertake and undergo for the generall good of commu­nity. There is an old word made use of by some for money, in Latine, Moneta, à Monendo, so called (saithDieter. quâ supra, p 849. one) from monishing men of their duty, due even by it to the publick Magistrate; some there be who love to desire the Magistrate, but they do not desire to love the Magistrate; they care not how much the Magi­strate [Page 24]doth for them, but they regard not how little they do for Him. Even our Saviour Himself with his parents submitted to the Tax of Augustus Caesar, who then sway­ed the Empire, when he was born, Luke 2.4, 5. and af­terwards provided both for himself and Peter (to avoid offence) a piece of Tribute Money, Matth. 17.27. Now it is not the meanest part of Religion to imitate him, whom thou worshippest in things capable of i­mitation.

I shall not need manyEccles. 12.11 nayles to fasten this perswasi­on upon you; sith the consideration of the greatnesse, not of the dignity, more then of the weight and burden of the office it self, is enough: This appears by the same Title which Jethro gave it, when he counselled Moses to joyn Assistants with him, to help to bear the [Num. 11.11 Burden] of Judicature with him, Exod. 18.22. this Honos is also Onus: the Naturalists observe, that the head is leaner then any part of the body, because it takes care for all: The Governours empty themselves as it were of them­selves, to bestow themselves on the Publick; yea, if they care for themselves at all, they do it more for the Peo­ples sake, then for their own, as if they thought them­selves only ordeined for their weal, often breaking their owne rest, that they may the better procure yours.

Briefly, without using more arguments, I well read in the hilarity of your looks, the alacrity of your hearts,

I discover your readinesse to close with me in this se­rious intimation. Give me leave then to interrogate and return answer to my selfe, as sometimesAct. 26.27. Paul did on another occasion of Agrippa, King Agrippa, Beleevest thou the Prophets? I know that thou beleevest: So, my Beloved and Christian Hearers, do you, as Jeremy hath [Page 25]expressed it, cap. 30.21. do you [engage] your hearts to approach unto the Lord? I, as S. Paul, or as theJudg. 5, 29. mo­ther of Sisera, may return answer to my self, I know that you do engage your hearts to approach unto the Lord; and withall to a willing subjection to those High­er Powers of Magistracy, the great advantage and bene­fit whereof you have thus far heard enlarged: Yea, as S. Paul said of Philemons readinesse to give entertainment to Onesimus upon his motion, I know that you will doPhilem. v. 21. more then I say; being, as the same Apostle said of Titus, in relation to another Exhortation, 2 Cor. 8.17. more forward of your own accord: And indeed, how can it be otherwise with you? if, in the next place, you seriously consider the Commission, or Divine Authority of this Office, which we have here presented to us in the second member of my Division; contained under these words, Ye judge not for man, but for the Lord: Vices Do­mini gerentes, as Junius glosseth it, as Gods Vice-gerents, doing his businesse, and executing what he himself com­mands.

Which now comes in order to be fully, but succinctly spoken of; on which I shall so strive to husband my Discourse, as to lay it out in a due proportion to the time. And he said to the Judges, Take heed what ye do, for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord.

The Ordination of these Powers isVide Calvin. Instit. l. 4. c. 20. Pertot. & S. August. l. 4. c. 33. De Civ. Dci. divine,The 2^d Part they are [...], Ordained of God himself, saith the great Apostle, Rom. 13.1. By me, that is, by my own Paramount Authority, saith the Lord, rule even all the Judges of the earth, Prov. 8.16. [Per] me, [By] me, The nature of this Praeposition is to note a Cause certain, and a certain Cause excludeth Chance; they be no Casualties, Fortè fortunâ, at hap hazard, Causalls they are, (saidBish. Andrews Serm. on Prov. 8.15 p. 935. one, sometimes a great Ornament of this Church:) Casual they are not: Per me, not Perse: it's worth the noting, that it is said, By me, not by, or [Page 26]from themselves; it is not their own place they sit in, nor their own Power they execute, it is derived to them from God himself; so that they may say of themselves even in this regard, Ipse nos fecit, non ipsi nos, It is he that hath made us, Psal. 100.3. and not we our selves; and therefore the Judgement that they decree is Gods, Deut. 1.17. Many seek the Rulers favour (saith Solomon) but every mans Judgement cometh from the Lord, Prov. 29.26. And indeed, as Josephus expresseth it, [...], Without God it is utterly im­possible that any such Power should subsist in the world; considering the furious, and seditious Commotions that Satan the Author of Confusion and Rebellion, is apt to raise up in the brests, to vent and foment in and by the actions of the sons of Belial, against all Authority of Divine appointment. But it isPsal. 144.2. God who subdueth one man in subjection to the other, for the more uniforme Composure, and Peace of the whole Universe: Where­fore when men offer to reject that forme of Government which is by providence cast upon them, in the language and style of the Holy Ghost, they do not reject man, but they do reject God himself, that he should not rule over them, 1 Sam. 8.7.

For this cause is it, that God himselfe (whose Vice­gerents they are upon earth) to grace, and honour their persons, and Authority the more, hath given them the Title of his own name, Psal. 82.6. I have said, ye are [...] Gods: and again, Exod. 22.28. which are not [...], Swelling words of vanity, titles of com­plement, or of Adulation, but they are of Gods Royall imposition. Nor is this Old Testament onely, as some would have it, but our Blessed Saviour in the New Te­stament, comments upon these very same words, Joh. 10.34, 35. where, not only the Title, but the word, that is, the Warrant and Commission they receive from God is as a binding Law, which cannot be loosed. Now so they are called, sayS. Aug. Tract. 48. in John. and Lyra in Psal. 82. Austin and Lyra, by participation, [Page 27] Participando fiunt dii, tanquam lumina illuminata, in regard of their derivative power, as lights enlight­ned from on high: They are [...], called Gods, saith Saint Paul, 1 Cor. 8.5. in respect of their deputed power from God; [...], saithJust. Mart. qu. ad Orthod. 142. Confer. B. King pag 166 on Jo­nah. Justin Martin, that Use, or Office ceasing, the Title leaves them: For however they be Gods with men, yet are they but men with God, who standeth in the Congregation of those Gods, Psal. 82. ver. 1. and that, not onely as a spectator to behold them, which noteth his presence; but also as a Judge above them, which notes his preheminence; intending one day to take an account both of them and all their proceedings, which under his Title, and by his Autho­rity they undertook.

Now Gods own proceeding in Judicature is presented to us in the glasse of the Scriptures, after this manner.

First, It's Impartiall, and without respect of per­sons: so here, ver. 7. There is no iniquity with the Lord our God (saith Jehoshaphat) nor respect of persons; [...], as the Septuagint ren­der it. So they who judg for God, though they may have respect to the equity of the Cause; yet may not have of the quality of theDeut. 16.19. person, above the Cause. Deut. 1.17. the face of the poor man because hee is poor, must not be regarded; nor rich mens persons held in admiration, as SaintJude v. 16. Jude speaks, for any advantage whatsoever: As was said of Anacharsis Laws, they were like Spiders webs, which the bigger flies brake through, but the lesser were taken and held fast therein: but as Phocylides hath it, ‘ [...].’ Do judgment, not forVid. Episc. Davenant. pag. 966. Expos. in Coloss. Favour, but for Justice sake. The Ancients (as we read in Scripture) held their Judi­catories in theRuth. 4.1. & Gen. 34.20. Prov. 31.23. gates of their Cities, for the more free and open accesse of all, as well small as great: Justitia non novit Patrem, non novit Matrem, Veritatem novit, [Page 28]saithDieter. Dⁿ. 23 post Trin. pag. 840. one; A Magistrate on the Bench should be like Melchizedek, without father, without mother, [...], without Hebr. 7.3 descent, or kindred. As I have heardit reported of aJudg Pop­ham. Judg (sometime of this Western Circuit) when one arraigned before him, alledged, that he was his kinsman, however then an offender before him (as there are but few Families wherein some (as the grains in the fairest Pomegranate) are not tainted; and as it is in the hebrew proverb, [...], Vinegar may be the son of Wine) Are you so, said He? I must therefore never the later condemn you, being convicted; I must deny my self, with all my relations, to make Justice exemplary. A Judge must be (to use the word ofAul. Gel. noct. Attic. l. 14. c. 4 Gellius) Inadu­labilis, above flattery; or asCic. l. 1. Tus­cul. quest. Tully expresseth it, In­exorabilis, beyond intreaty, when the Cause expects it. Plutarch in the life of Themistocles, reports of him, That when Simonides the Poet of Chios desired a favour of him, beside what was just and equall, made answer, As thou shouldest be but an ill Poet, if thou shouldest not observe Numbers, and due Measures in thine Art; So neither can I be a good Praetor, in case I doe prefer any mans favour before the equity of the Laws.

2. And yet secondly, although God be impartiall, in respect of the Person; yet is he full of equanimity in respect of the execution of his Judgment, even after con­viction: In the Hab. 3.2 midst of judgment God remembers mer­cy; nor without incorrigible provocations doth he exe­cute the fiercenesse of his anger, Hos. 11.9. Yea, though Justice and mercy are Attributes both equally in God; yet quoad nos, in respect of us, the manifestation of the acts of clemency seem to come more kindly from him, then those of severity: The acts of mercy flow from God (the2 Cor. 1.3 Father of mercies) as a stream running kind­ly, and derived clearly from a sweet Spring or Foun­taine: but the acts of Justice, like liquor, or wine from the grape, which is not without squeezing orGen. 40.11 pressing forth: From God floweth not more Mercy then Justice; [Page 29]yet [rather] Mercy then Justice: And therefore when he proceeds to wrath, he is said by the Prophet, Isa. 28.21. to doe his work, a [strange] work; as if he had been unacquainted with such an act: It is observed, That God was longer in destroying one poor City Jericho, then he was in making the whole world;Josh. 6.16. for he was [se­ven] days in destroying it, butGen. 1.31. Exod. 20 11 six dayes only in crea­ting the world; In the second Commandment we read of his visitation of wrath but unto the third and fourth Generation of them that hated him, but of his mercy unto [Exod. 20.6. Thousands] of them that love him. Its worth our Observation also, how our Saviour wrought no de­structive miracles, but all salving, or restorative: Wee read in the Gospel, that our Saviour was once angry, but it was in an anger of Zeal, not of Livor, when he saw his Fathers House (the House of Prayer) to become, by buying and selling therein, a Den of Theeves, rob­bing God of his due honour in that place; he then made aJoh. 2.15. Whip of small cords to scourge those Money-Chan­gers out of the Temple; he made a whip, to shew his displeasure, but of [small] cords, to shew the mitigati­on of that displeasure; God sends his lightning withPsal. 135.7. rain, saith the Psalmist; as the one affrights with fiery flashes, and coruscations, so the other cooles, and com­forts the inflamed ayre; yea, tis observed byRuffin. Hist. l. 2 c. 23. Ruffinus in his Story, that the Ancients were wont to place upon the Statue of their Jupiter, Modium, a certain measure, as an embleme of Moderation: And this by way of Ana­logy, is imitated by those who are called Gods with men. Clemency is that golden thread, which runs through all their actions of Judicature: They will remember that ofChrysost. Ser. De Mansuetud. Chrysostome. That its better to give account to God theHeb. 12.23. Judge of all, for shewing mercy, rather then too much rigour or severity; [...], saithIsidor. Pelusiot. l. 3 cpist. 131. Isidor Pelusiota, Extremeties prove often dangerous; There is more safety in walking in the mid­dle path, then upon the very brink of the River; if [Page 30]men do all they may do, they may soon bee apt to do (through humane Infirmities or Passions) what they should not do; Moderation therefore, and a sweet2 Cor. 10.1. [...] (sith the Law Maxime is, Justitia nescit irasci) may be like that water observed by Anatomists in the Pericardium, which cooles the Ebullitions about the heart; or like Minerva's golden bridle to the winged horse: it makes a good Magistrate alwaies to carry a Chancery in his own brest, and inclines him, like the Master Bee, to rule, but without a sting. And yet, let me not be mistaken neither, for it is so sometimes, that Summa justitia proves to be Summa misericordia, the extremity of Justice, the height of Mercy; it is, when Justice is executed upon obstinate Malefactors, then mercy is shewen to the Country, which they spoil, tifle and depopulate. Bonis Nocet, quisquis pepercerit malis, saithSeneca, sen. 99. Seneca: he hurts the Innocent, who spares the Nocent: In this case Justice deals like Alcon, who espying a Dragon to clasp his child, so directed his ar­row, that he shot the Dragon, and preserved the child. In cutting off unreclaimable Malefactors, Vice is de­stroyed, Vertue encouraged, and the Country preser­ved: It was the saying of Ludovicus Divus, as is writ­ten in the Annalls of France, Pietatis opus est, non saevi­tiae, justitiam facere. It was an act of Piety, and not of cruelty to do Justice; so that, this notwithstanding, Mercy like a refulgent beam of the orient Sun, may shine in the midst of Judgement from the Seat of an upright Magistrate.

3.3 Saith Jehoshaphat here, With the Lord our God there is no taking of gifts; yea, covetousnesse is asCol 3.5. Idolatry; and GodPsal. 10.8. abhorrs both it, and the persons that bow down to it; [...]; saithIsidor Pelusiot. l. 3. Epist. 337. Isidor Pelusiota; 'tis for Vultures, not for Eagles, to prey upon garbadge: Magistrates, like the woman cloathed with the Sun, Rev. 12.1. that is, the Church arrayed in the robes [Page 31]of the Lord Christ, the Sun of Righteousness (as he is sti­led, Mal. 4.2.) they have the Moon under their feet, by which fickle and dim Star, all the inconstant vanities of this Sublunary lower world (where, with many, the present Possession is but the Possession of the present) are resembled. Oh what a pure brest, and what cleane hands had innocent Samuel (a Prophet, and withall a Judge too in Israel) when bidding his last adieu to the world, and putting off his Office with his earthly Ta­bernacle, he made a challenge to all, saying, Whose Ox have I 1 Sam. 12.3.4 taken, or whose Asse (he means unjustly) or whom have I defrauded? and the people answer him, as every2 Sam. 23 3, 4 just Rulers conscience should to him, Thou hast not defrauded: O the tranquility of a spotlesse brest! there is nothing to a man in Judicature comparable to Samuels integrity, both to get, and to keep an inward, solid peace: Who then would suffer his eyes bySee Exod. 23.8. Deut. 16.19 Eccles. 7.7. bribe­ry or corruption, to be blinded, as old Tobits were, with the Swallows dung of this earth; or end anger the whole ship of his soul for a little ballast of gain?1 Sam. 12.3. Tob. 2.10. Its said among the Poets, that the RiverSic tibi cum fluctus subterla­bêre Sicanos, Doris amara suam non inter­misceat undam. Virgi. Alpheus glides under the salt sea, yet still preserves it self untainted by the brack­ish waters, till it salutes the sweet and limpid Fountaine Arethusa; so all Godly and Religious Governors keep themselves ( [...]. Ho. mer. above others) unspottedJam 1.27. of the world, till they drink of the well of Life in the new Jerusalem, I mean, till their souls be refreshed with pure comfort in the Kingdome of Heaven.

And yet, perchance, though the Prophet will not be tempted, 'tis not impossible, but there may bee some2 King. 5.20. Gehazi, whom some shekels of Silver, or some chan­ges of Rayment, may, though to the hazard of a Le­prosie to be entailed upon Posterity, secretly seduce: But because I know none such in this Circuit to be taint­ed (and who can take a fixed aim at a flying mark?) yet however I know men may beGal. 6.1. tempted, as Atalanta was stopped in the way by the Golden Apples: Wherefore [Page 32]let me not be mistaken; thus think, My Speech is no Re­proof which supposeth a Crime, but only as a Caution to forestall such Temptations, that like the sons of Zer­viah to David, may in some particulars, prove [Sam. 3.39. too hard] for them.

And so I come to the fourth and last Particular,4 that I shall at this time make any instance in: Gods Judgement is not passed without deliberation precedent: Hence its ob­servable, That before sentence passed upon Adam the Protoplast, and the very first man that sinned, God came to him, not in the heat of any subitaneous Passion, but in the Gen. 3.8, 9. cool of the day, and then reasoned with him, say­ing, Adam, Where art thou? Non in quo loco, quaero, sed in quo statu, as S. Ambrose upon that Passage; I do not ask, Where thou art in respect of Place, but where thou art, in respect of Grace? First Convincing, before he Doomed him: So likewise read we, Isai. 1.18. that though the sins of Israel were (in guilt) as red as Crim­son or Scarlet, that by their very hue called for a Judg­ment of the same colour, as appears ver. 20. yet before the sword was actually unsheathed, Come, saith the Lord, and let is: [reason] together, and debate the matter: In like sort, by proportion and Analogy are the proceedings of these terrestiall Gods with men; and indeed, so much is implyed in Jehoshaphats Cavete here, Take heed what ye do, Ne praecipitantèr, sed cum magnâ deliberatione senten­tiam feratis, saith Lyra: Be not over hasty in Judgement. Your Commissions run (as I suppose) with Oyer before Terminer, Hear, before you determine.Erasmus l. 4. Apotheg. A­lexand. 46. Erasmus, among the Apothegmes that he collected of Alexander the Great, notes this as a principall, He should alwayes reserve one ear open to the Defendant, as he hath given the other to the Plaintiff; for else, praepossession may prove a prejudice;Prov. 18.17. He that is first in his own cause, saith Solo­mon, though really most obnoxious, yet often apparent­ly makes his matter most specious, and feasible: Surely, some Causes are very difficult, and hard, Deut. 1.17. So [Page 33]that, as Agapetus said to Justinian, He needed to bee [...], and to have many eyes assisted by Cauti­on and Circumspection; like those living Creatures which S. Gregory mentions, which were in circuitu, S. Oregor. Mag. par. 3. Pa­stor. Cur. Ad­mon. 5. & intus oculis plena, full of eyes within and without, well eying the substance of the Cause within, and observing all the circumstances of it round about; it may other­wise prove difficult to keep the Balance even, and just­ly to decide it. I have read of a Spanish Judge, when a murther was committed in a tumultuous crowd of people, he caused all their bosomes to be made bare, and so feeling upon their brests, discovered the guilty author by the palpitation and panting of his heart; so will a prudent Magistrate by sharpness and acuity of un­derstanding, upon debate, so anatomize the very bow­els of a Cause, that a fair outside only, by vertue of some gawdy dresse, may not carry the matter: He that ru­leth therefore (saith the great Apostle) let him do it [...], with diligence, Rom. 12.8.

And thus I have done with my Analogies: Now, as the Apostle to theHeb. 13.22. Hebrews, suffer, I beseech you, a word of Exhortation; I cannot tune it to a better Harp, then to that of the sweet Singer of Israel, Psal. 2.10.11. Be learned ye Judges of the earth, serve the Lord with fear. Now, Judges serve God two manner of wayes, 1. As men; byPsal. 50.23. ordering their conversation aright, according to the Lawes of the Lord. 2. AndS. August E­pist. 50. ad Bo­nifac. as Judges, in quantum Judges, when they do those things in, and for the service of the Lord, which none can do but Judges, by vertue of their Office and Commission, which is to execute Justice and Judgement, according to the righ­teous Lawes of the Land; and being in a right sense Custodes utriusque Tabulae, to have the first regard to what concerns the right Religion, and the next to the supportation of equability amongst men: so shall they shew themselves what they are by Divine Ordination, [...], Rom. 13.4. The Ministers of [Page 34]God for good to the Common Wealth: so shall they be [...], Living Lawes. In short, because I must hasten (as well knowing this to be none of Jeshuah's dayes, wherein the SunJosh. 10.13. stood still) There is not in the world a more reasonable request then this, namely; What you [would] be, that [to] be, to make good your name, to be as Gods to men, in doing good; for God (for whom ye Judge) is good, andPsal. 119 68. doth good; spe­cially the common good to all: for so doth God do, Psal. 145.9. this is the time and place for it; and so my wish is, that they may, and my trust is, that they will do. Nor have I in all these intimations, done other, then shewen them a mirror of what they are already; as not needing, nor indeed presuming to exhort them farther to what they should be: Themselves will take notice of Jehoshaphat's doubled Cavete in the Text; sith they judge not for man, that is, as some interpret, they may not please any man in his sin, nor may they sin (inProv. 18.5. Judgment) to please any man: But they judge for God, and for his glory; who, upon so doing, is with them in the Judgement; With them as a Spectator, which notes his presence; With them as a Mighty Protector, which notes his Preheminence; God is thus with them, thus judging; Wherefore now, if ever, Let the fear of the Lord be upon them, take heed, and do it.

And thus, after my measure, as I could, though not after my wishes, as I would (in a meet correspondence to such an Auditory), I have dispatched my main inten­tions for this time. There are yet more parts of my first Division remaining; but the time and the weighty affairs ensuing command me to dismisse the larger hand­ling of those at the present.

I shall humbly crave the favour only to presse even with a Laconical brevity, this Exhortation of Jehoshaphat, in the close of the Text, in a latitude, or larger extension unto all in generall: and I shall only, as Jonathan did the Honey, touch all but as with the1 Sam. 14.27. tip of my staffe, [Page 35]or dip in it the end of my rod; and may the same hand that gave this opportunity, add also a successe to this businesse. Now, Let the fear of the Lord bee upon you all.

An Exhortation, though at all times usefull, yet at this time very opportune, and seasonable; sith we are fal­len into those last dayes of which the Prophecy was, That in themMat. 24.12. Iniquity should abound; and wherein the wounds of the Church seem so wide, that none but Heavens Chyrurgery can cure them; and if it should be said now to me, what the Lord did sometime to the Pro­phet, Son of man, What Jer. 1.11. seest thou? Surely, I must return answer (which I do also, Non exclamantis studio, but dolentis affectu; not out of a desire to declaim on the dismembred condition of these broken times, but only to declare my zealous sorrow for them) I say, I must re­turne answer, I see a world of Atheisme and Ungodli­nesse in most sorts of men to superabound; Sin, with more spots then theJer. 13.23. Leopard hath upon him, in all kind of variety, flowes to the height of full sea, whilest puri­ty of Religion, and manners, keeps for the most part, at a low water mark; so little, or noRom. 3.18. fear of God is there upon earth, orLuke 18.2. reverence of good men: and from this great depravation in maners, proceeds so great corrupti­on in Judgement; [...], saith theAristot. Eth. l 6. c. 5. Arch Philosopher, Wickednesse in practice corrupts e­ven the very principles of reason, and of Religion both; as, on the other side, aPsal. 111.10. right understanding, and thePsal. 25.14. and Prov. 3.32. secret of the Lord, is with them that fear him: we find that that same [...], the Reprobate, and in-judi­cious mind ariseth from vile affections, and from an un­seemly conversation, Rom. 1.24, 28. Hence spring those monsters of opinion vented in speeches, and in Pam­phlets, whereby many have taken pains (the more is the pity) to destroy those principall spurs and motives un­to all Vertue, to wit, the providence of God, the Re­surrection of the dead, the immortality of the soul, the [Page 36]Joyes of a future Locall Heaven, and the pains of a fu­ture Locall Hell, the Radicall cause (saith LearnedHooker Eccl. Polit. l. 5. p. 188 Hooker) of their Atheisme, and the miserableSee Bish. King upon Jon. p. 62. & 275. scandall of the Christian Religion: O take heed what ye do, and (if there be any here within this audience, this day, who secretly harbour such thoughts bordering upon blas­phemy) O serve the Lord with fear, and with trembling; For this let me tell all such, without fear of their faces, or blushing in mine own, whether they will hear, or whether they willEzek. 2.5. forbear; either they shall serve to the building, if their hearts be sound or streight; or if hollow and crooked, to the burning: serve they must all, one way or other.

But I am, thus, too generall; I now come in order to make a more particular Application, according to this occasion. I haveVid. Joh. Ge­rard. loc. Com. tom. 6. p. 447. §. 7. De Magi­stratu Polit. read, that of old, men were wont to build their Villages nigh to some one common Fountain, which in the Greek tongue is [...], and in the Dorick Dialect thereof, [...], from whence all of the Vicinity were denominated Pagani, living in open buildings with­out any wall to compasse them; and yet all that water in that common Fountain, could not advantage any, unlesse every one for himself had brought thither his own Pitcher, and had drawn up, and drank it for his own particular refreshing: In like manner, I shall now strive to2 Tim. 2.15. divide to every one his properLuke 12.42 porti­on.

And first of all,Advice to M^r. High Sheriffe, M^r John Trot Esquire, of La­verstoke. I shall crave leave to present my de­sires to Mr. High Sheriff, whose merits (being so tran­scendent as they are) have betimes won him the regards and high Reputation of this Country, and whose fideli­ty inclined the State to promote him to this present Sta­tion: I shall request him to be but like himself (for as Juno said of Hercules in Seneca, Quaeris Alcidae parem? Nemo est nisi ipse; If he will contend with an equall, he must strive with himself): I shall beseech him but to do as he doth do, so piously, so prudently, so munificently, [Page 37]and he shall stop the mouth of all contradiction; yea, his name and praise is already mounted upon the wings of honour, and carryed throughout his Coun­trey.

Next,Advice to the Grand Jury. Take heed what ye do, and Let the fear of the Lord be upon you also, Gentlemen of the Grand Inquest; Your Wisedome and Providence, like to a well drawn Picture, must look upon every corner of your Countrey: God, by you, makesPsal. 9.12. Inquisition for Blood, that it may be cleansed; for Sabbath-Breakers, that they may be avenged; for Blasphemers of Gods Name, or Ordi­nances; for when you are tender of God's1 Sam. 2.30. Honour, God will be of your safety: For Antichristian Popery, and Superstitious Idolatry, that it may be purged; for Jesuiticall Impostors, those who carry Jesus in their Names, butRev. 9.11. Abaddon and Apollyon in their hearts; thoseMat. 7.15. Wolves in sheeps cloathing, those Serpents, that2 Tim. 3.6. creep unawares into secret Chambers, beguiling2 Tim. 3.6. unset­tled, and2 Pet. 3.16. unstable souls; whether under the habit of Carpenters, of Seamen, of Butchers, of Cooks, of Coach men, or any sort of Mechanicks, or indeed of what not, so be they may gainMat. 23.15. Proselytes, and make them ten times more the children of Hell, then they were before; most Pernicious Incendiaries, not only in a Church, but in a State; and beleeve it, brethren, if the Magistrate do not early root out them (so soon as they may be unmasked and detected) they will, if pos­sible, extirpate the Magistrate; Sunt Homines multorum nominum, sed non boni nominis, they are men of many names, as may best advantage their occasions, but real­ly of no good name or repute. In a word, Deal faithfully for God, for the true Religion, and for the quiet of your Country, by preserving it from Rapines, Robbe­ries, Adulteryes, or whatever else may defile the Land: Take heed, and do it.

And for all you Jurers of a subordinate Rank,Advice to the Pe [...]ty Jury and Witnesses. Take heed what you do; and now, let the fear of the Lord be up­on [Page 38]you; be not like Ostriches, to swallow down Iron; bring your hearts to the temper of Josiah's be2 King. 22.19 tender in the matter of swearing, and learn toEccles 9.2. 1 Sam. 14.26. fear an Oath; Remember who said, The land mourns because of Oaths, Jer: 23.10. When so me unadvisedly, others continually, and as it were by custome, make an Oath an Interjection of filling of all their speeches, and to serve to close up the empty hiatus of their broken sentences; Yea, which thereby come, as one expresseth it, to a Diabetica passio of swearing, so that Oaths run from them, and they feel them not: Joshuah, who had the Authority, chose outJosh. 3.12. and 4.2. twelve worthy men out of the twelve Tribes, to serve their Country; have regard that there be noJob. 6 70. Ju­das among your twelve; he bore theJoh. 12.6. Bag, and for sil­verMat. 27.4. betrayed Innocent Blood; let there be none like Jezabels Knights of the Post, 1 King. 21.8, 9, 10. who by Impudent Perjury, through the wicked Subordination of a quean, occasioned the shedding of Innocent Blood, and the Injurious Usurpation of anothers Inheritance: If any particular hath been discovered in this kind, shake him off from your company, as Paul did theAct. 28.5. Viper off from his hand; Qui semel malus fuit, semper praesumi­tur esse malus, in eodem genere, saith the Civill Law; He is no more to be trusted, in the same kind: In short, Let not that, which is appointed of God to decide andHeb 6.16. end Controversies among your Neighbours, be made, by any secret, malevolent, or revengefull intentions, the beginning of a greaterHos. 4.1. Controversie, between God, and your own souls: Take heed, let the fear of the Lord be up­on you; Tremble to contest theJoh. 21.17. Omniscient, soul-fear­chingPsal. 44.21. Psal. 7.9. Act. 1 24. Rom 8.27 God to a falsity; that God whom you so pro­voke, will not hold youExod 20 7. guiltlesse: bring not then theZech. 5.3, 4. curse of God upon your souls, or into your houses, byZech. 8.17. false or byEccles. 5.2. rash swearing, Wherefore endeavor ra­ther to be like to the Sun, and Moon in the Heavens, asPsal. 89.36, 37. faithfull Witnesses, Take heed, and do it.

Thirdly,Advice to the Lawyers. I might say also to you Lawyers, Take heed [Page 39]what yee do, and let the fear of the Lord be upon you: O­pen your mouth, and plead the cause of the poor and needy, Prov. 31.9. Let theJob 31 20. Loyns of the desolate Wi­dow, and the Bowels of theLam. 5.3. Fatherlesse Orphan, bless you, Psal. 82.3, 4. A Widow by your Law, is called Reli­cta, one left and exposed to Injury, [...], saith the Greek Proverb, When the Oak (the man) falleth, every one will be fetching of wood, and [...], saith Hesychius, is from [...], one in the dark, or, under clouds, or, as Photinus, [...], one that hath no helper; wherefore do you defend both: And yet I may not conceal, but that there have been some, who because S. Paul (1 Cor. 6.) forbade the Co­rinthians to go to Law one with another, and to wran­gle about trifles, being Christians, beforeHoc loco non simpticitèr vetat judicio conten­dere propter res temporarias, sed Corinthios re­prchendit, quòd impatientes es­sent nimiùm, ac insupè malas causas in judicia [Ethnicorum] afferrent, & in cis ità se gere­rent, ut mag­nam praeberent occasionem Eth­nicis vituperan­di Evangelium. Bullinger. ad­vers. Anabapt. lib. 5. cap. 4. Infidel Judg­es, whereby the Apostle meant only the Correction of a disorder, and the avoiding of scandall; would yet, by a distortion of that Text, from a false Topick of the a­buse, have the whole profession it self totally abolished; not pondering the mean while, the hazard of what they possesse by that Precipitant, and (I had almost said) Whimsicall wish; not considering the excellency of our English Lawes, tempered with so great equanimity, that on the one side, they be not like Draco's Lawes, writ­ten in blood, and altogether savouring of cruelty; nor on the other side, Illusory, and light, savouring of vani­ty. O, say such Rooters, if the Client prove not a Ge­rund in Do, the Lawyer will soon become a Gerund in Dum: They deal by their Clients as Musicians do by their Sackbuts, contract or distend their Causes, as the Fee strengthens the breath; and in snarling language com­pare them to those Creatures, that having swallowed one gobbet, stare again in your faces, as if they had received none at all; like theProv. 30.15.16. grave or the barren womb, they still cry, Give, Give, and yet are not satisfied; and as they say of Bears, there is no such deformed lump, but with their tongues they can lick it into some fashion, and [Page 40]can easily smooth even the roughest stone: Such, and the like are the flowers of these mens Rhetorick, or rather the purulent excreations of their corrupt lungs, fittest for them to resume, who first disgorged them: for my self, I might well blush under such kind of Oratory, lest you might regest upon me, as they did, Luke 11.45. Ma­ster, thus saying, thou reproachest us also: But it is not for me to turne an Exhortation into a Satyre, or to ex­presse my self in the style of the stage: the times require a Character of Love, not of any such indiscreet, or in­temperate Zeal; I should rather vindicate your Honor, (chiefly if you plead for ours, and our rights) then as­perse that Noble Profession, which is of thatJob 9.21. age, that its well able to speak for it self: Go on then, andPsal. 45.4. pro­sper; up, and be1 Chron. 22.16 doing good, that your Country, and yourAct 13.36. Generation may1 Chron. 22.16 praise you; Take heed, and do it. Zeph. 3.19.

Fourthly:Advice to the Clergy. and lastly, As in that Marriage Feast, where Christ himself was a guest, at Cana in Galiee, theJoh. 2.10. good wine was kept till last;Deut. 32.2. I shall, in all Reverentiall modesty crave the favor to drop a word or two upon my reverend brethren of the Ministry: For, blessed be God, (notwithstanding the interposition of someS. Jude ver. 12 clouds without water) we yet see some shining lights standing in theirMat. 5.14, 15 Candlesticks, and it were a thousand pities, but it should be so still: We read, that there wereExod. 37.23. Snuf­fers in Gods Tabernacle, that where the lights did burn but dimly, they might be amended; but I find no mention there made of Extinguishers. And here, as John Baptist said, in an humble renuence to our Saviour, I have need to be baptised of thee, Mat. 3.14. and comest thou to me? So I being more fit to take, then to give counsell this way; for I know the Schools determine, that an Angel of an Inferiour Hierarchy cannot illuminate one of a Supe­riour; Therefore, I would not presume to inform, but only desire to inflame my Reverend Brethren. Let us take heed what we do, and let the fear of the Lord be upon [Page 41]you: Learning is, or hath been of late years, in the ve­ry Tropick of Cancer, but when the Sun is at the high­est, it is observed by Philosophers, that the Fountains below are coldest: There is often more affectation of knowledge in the brain, then any zealous fervent,2 Thes. 2.10. Af­fection in the heart; even as it was at the first, the Tree ofGen. 3.6. Knowledge, was preferred to the Tree of Life: I shall not enlarge on this occasion, only let us keep to the proper motion of our own Orbs: then shall we with Au­thority speak what we do, when we do what we speak: Let us be heard often, and seen seldome, and when we are seen, appear as some Rare and Beneficent Stars; and because the Eye anticipates the Ear among the in­constant Vulgar, (with whom itsMat. 21.9. Hosanna one day, andMark 15.13, 14 and Luke 23.21. Crucifie another, Neutrum modò, mas modò vul­gus) Let our Lives dazle, whom our Doctrine will not enlighten: Its possible, soon to make our selves too cheap, sith we find it in experience, how too much airing, like some fair coloured Silks, makes us lose our glosse: and men will be apt to tell us, that we are like Barbars, who snip off theJames 1.21. Superfluities of others naughtinesse, whilst we suffer our own locks to overgrow, and to deform our selves: In one word, If we poure the box of Piety, as of PreciousPsal. 133.2. Oyntment, upon our owne heads first, it may from thence distill, and trickle down to the very skirts of our garments, to the very meanest of our Hearers. And thus, Let us take heed to our selves, and doe.

To conclude this whole Exhortation: To all this peo­ple in generall let me say as the Scripture doth,Psal. 34.14. 1 Pet. 3.11. Eschew e­vill, and do good, seek not death in the error of your lives, butDeut. 30.19. chuse the wayes of life, in pursuing your peace with God; which is a Dicotomy, that makes up the Plerophory of a good Christian: Labor to be [...], Every one to be2 Cor. 1.12. Col. 3.23. Entire in his Affections,Psal. 119.6, 7. Univer­sall in his Obedience; Let every one be what he seems, [Page 42]or else seem what he is; and, as the Church is said Cant. 2.11. to have made her Borders of Gold, with studs of Silver, have the best side inwards.

Stand fast in that ChristianGal. 5.1. Liberty, wherewith Christ hath made you free, onely use it not as a1 Pet. 2.16. Cloak of Maliciousnesse, or as anGal. 5.13. occasion of the flesh; but by love serve one another: Take heed of1 Tim. 4.1. Seducing spirits, especially of the White Divell, who sometimes transformes himselfe into an2 Cor. 11.14. Angel of Light; beware of thoseS Jude ver. 13. Wandring Stars, whose faint blazes, shall never bee able to out shine the Ancient and Pure Light of theMal. 4.2. Sun of Righte­ousnesse, or that Faith which was [...] S. Jude ver. 3. once for all delivered to the Saints. Give not the Right Hand ofGal. 2.9. Fellowship to such who would withdraw you from the Ordinances of Christ, ma­king a Religion of wax, depending onely upon the traine of their own affaires; such as those who fit Reli­gion to their Wills, not their Wills to the true Re­ligion; not bringing their froward Consciences to theGal. 6.16. and Phil. 3.16. Rule of the Word Orthodoxly expounded but often, the Word mistaken, if not too much2 Pet. 3.16. wre­sted, to their owne mis-informed Consciences: O lean not to your owneProv. 3.5. Understandings, and ever suspect that Doctrine which tends to cherish theGal. 5.13. S. Jude ver. 4. Psal. 53.1. Ezek. 20 44. Corruptions of Nature; which is all for the Pro­mises and Priviledges, but nothing at all for the Pre­cepts of the Gospel; all for Comfort, but forPsal. 2 3. Luk. 17.10. Du­ty not at all: Who dimidiate Christ, would have him onely by halfes, to be Jesus for a Saviour, but reject him from being a Lord and a King, to Rule orLuk. 19.27. Raign over them: Such as they reason much from the Power of God: what he [can] do, name­ly, without the ordinary means; not from hisRom 12.2. Wil revealed, the solePhil. 3.16. and Gal. 6.16. Canon of all our Actions: A meer Paralogisme, and groundlesse kind of reasoning. [Page 43]Who questions, but that God [can] give wings to men to fly withall, for he hath done it unto Eagles? but [will] God do it unto men? this were to pervert the Order and Beauty of his Creation, which God (the1 Cor. 14.33. God of Order) will not do; no nor ordinarily bring a­ny to the end, which is Salvation, without the precisest use of the ordinary means, which is Sanctification: And indeed, if there be any, who think themselves too good for the means; the means (in Gods formidable Judgement) may, in the Event, become too good for them, Amos 8.11. Matth. 21.43. The summe of all that I have now to say, amounts to this; So live, and strive for Holinesse, as if thou hadst no mean of Salva­tion but that; and yet so rest and rely upon the Merits of Jesus Christ, as if thou hadst no holinesse at all: And thus let the fear of the Lord be upon you all, Take heed, and do it.

I have no more to add, save only to assure you (thus doing) of a most ample and glorious Remuneration of all your Gracious Endeavors, by the2 Tim. 4 8. and Gen 18.25. Righteous Judge of all the world; no mans RighteousHeb. 6.10. Labour was e­ver in1 Cor. 15.58 vain in the Lord, or wentGen. 15.1. Psal. 19.11. & 31.19 & 58.11 Prov. 24.14. Isal 40.10. & 62.11 Mat. 5.12. Col. 3.24. 2 Ep Joh. 8. Rev 22.12. unrewarded; Yea thus doing, ye shall be advanced, not only to a more neer Communion with God in the Beatificall Vision, but al­so unto a most precellent honor before the world, be­ing to sit on the Throne with Christ himself, judging the world, yea Angels, as ye read 1 Corinth. 6.2, 3. though not Authoritatively (thatPhil. 2.9, 10. Exaltation being given by God the Father, to his Son Christ, as Man, as the Re­compence of his Humiliation, John 5. ver. 22, 27) Yet as Assessors, and Approvers of that Just Sentence, which byJoh. 5.27. Commission from God, the Lord Christ shall thenMat 25.34. pronounce upon the world. I shall cite only one single Text very apposite to this purpose, and so close up all: It is extant in the nineteenth Chapter of Saint Matthew, verse the twenty eighth, compared with Luk. 22.30. [Page 44] And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that yee which have followed me; In the Regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the Throne of his Glory, yee also shall sit upon Twelve Thrones, judging the Twelve Tribes of Israel. A short Paraphrase, upon which words shall now terminate both my Sermon, and (as I fear) your wearyed Patience.

Yee which have followed me] that is, all yee, not my Twelve Apostles only, but all other sincere Natha­neels, andJoh. 1.47. Israelites indeed. Which have followed me, to wit, in things capable of imitation: Not in the Acts of Mediatorship, which no meer Creature, and onely Christ himselfe could do, nor in acts of Omnipotence, Infinitenesse, or of miraculous Nature, and such like. But in the Morall Actions of obedience. In the Rege­neration] Which word is not, asHilar. Can. 26 in Matth. Hillary, and some o­thers mistook, to be expounded in this particular Text of that Spirituall Regeneration, by which we are born again of water, and of the Holy Ghost, Joh. 3.5. begun in this life, because it is said here, That the Apostles and Saints shall sit upon Thrones judging, which we read not of at all in this world, where they were rather themselves judged: But this [...], or Regene­ration, is to be understood of theAct. 3.21. Restauration of all things, in the generall Resurrection. Sic enim caro no­stra regenerabitur, per incorruptionem, quemadmodum est anima nostra regenerata per Fidem, as SaintS. Aug. l. 20. c. 5. De Civ. Dei Au­gustin elegantly: For our flesh is, as it were, Regene­rate from the grave, by Incorruptions; as our soul is regenerate from the state of nature, by Faith and Holi­nesse: So that this Expression apperatains not, asJoh Gerard Tom. 8. loc. com. c. 1. Gerard well interprets, to this description of the Subject, or of the Manner and Forme, How the Apostles and Saints do follow Christ; but to the Determination of time, which is added to the Predicate, and shewes when the Retribution of Glory shall be given unto the Saints; Namely, then, when the Son of Man [Page 45]shall sit upon the Mat. 25.31. Throne of his Glory. By Twelve Thrones, and Twelve Tribes, putting a certain num­ber for an uncertaine (as is not unusuall in Holy Writ) are meant the whole number of those who shall be Judg­es, and also be judged; for else the Twelve Apostles only should be Judges, and none but Jewes of the Twelve Tribes be judged; whereas Saint Paul affirmes, that all other Saints shall likewise Judge (in the sense but now named) even all the world: O Heavenly Dig­nity! O Honor Incomprehensible!

So then, my Dearly Beloved, andPhil. 4.1. longed for in the Lord, let now but the fear of the Lord be upon you, in this Kingdome of Grace here; then may you even when the last1 Cor. 15.52 Trump shall sound, and the dead shall rise incor­ruptible, liftLuke 21.28. up your heads with joy in the Kingdome of Immortall Glory hereafter, unto all Eternity.

Which God of his Infinite mercy grant unto us all, for the sake of the Son of his Love, Jesus Christ the Righteous, for whom our souls do bless Thee, O Heavenly Father; and on whom we anchor all our Hopes, and to whom with Thee and thy ever Blessed Spirit, Trinity in Ʋnity, and Ʋnity in Trinity, be rendred and ascribed, as is most due, from the bottom of all our Hearts, all possible Praise, and Glory, from henceforth and for evermore. Amen.