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<DATE>2008-02-07</DATE>
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<NAME>John Pas</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<P><PB REF="1">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
A Sacred Panegyrick, OR A SERMON OF THANKS-GIVING, Preached to the two Hou&s;es of <HI>Parliament,</HI> His Excellency the Earl of <HI>E&s;&s;ex,</HI> the Lord Major, Court of Aldermen, and Common Councell o<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> the City of LONDON, the Reverend A&s;&s;embly of Divines, and Commi&s;&s;ioners from the Church of <HI>Scotland.</HI></P>
<P>Vpon occa&s;ion of their Solemn Fea&s;ting, to te&s;tifie their thankfullnes to God, and union and concord one with another, after &s;o many De&s;ignes to di|vide them, and thereby ruine the Kingdome, <HI>Ianuary</HI> 18. 1643.</P>
<P>By <HI>Stephen Mar&s;hall,</HI> B. D. Mini&s;ter of Gods Word at Finching-field in E&s;&s;ex.</P>
<P>Publi&s;hed by Order of the Lords and Commons.</P>
<P>PSALME 133. 1.</P>
<P><HI>Behold, how good and how plea&s;ant it is for Brethren to dwell together in unity.</HI></P>
<P>P&s;alme 144. 15, <HI>Happy is that People that is in &s;uch a ca&s;e: Yea, happy is that People, who&s;e</HI> God <HI>is the Lord.</HI></P>
<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed for <HI>Stephen Bowtell,</HI> and are to be &s;old at his Shop at the &s;ign of the <HI>Bible</HI> in <HI>Popes-head-alley.</HI> 1644.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>TO THE <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">IGHT HONOVRABLE he Lords and Commons A&s;&s;embled <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="page cropped" EXTENT="1 letter">n <HI>Parliament;</HI> His Excellency the Earle of <HI>E&s;&s;ex,</HI> with the re&s;t of the Noble and Worthy Commanders: The Right Honourable the Lord Major, the Court of Aldermen, and Common Councell of the City of <HI>London:</HI> The Reverend A&s;&s;embly of Divines: The Honourable and Reverend <HI>Commi&s;&s;io|ners</HI> from the Church of <HI>SCOTLAND.</HI></HEAD>
<P><HI>THis worke was too high for me, but as its now done by &s;o weake an hand, is too low, for &s;o many judicious eyes with any favourable re&s;pect to look down to: But <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="page cropped" EXTENT="1 word"> own Children, though le&s;se beautifull, we can behold with <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="page cropped" EXTENT="2 letters">ve; and even &s;toope to take them by the hand, that wee may hold and lead them, that cannot goe or &s;tand by them&s;elves: <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="page cropped" EXTENT="2 letters">ch a weakling is this, that is now before you, the defects <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="page cropped" EXTENT="2 letters">d weakne&s;&s;es whereof, I acknowledge are mine, but the <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="page cropped" EXTENT="2 letters">rth is Gods, and yours; to him I humbly pre&s;ent it, for <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="page cropped" EXTENT="1 word"> ble&s;sing; and to you, for your acceptance and helpe, that may better goe abroad; whil&s;t all &s;hall know, that it is <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="page cropped" EXTENT="2 letters">rs more then mine, and therefore to bee di&s;po&s;ed of rather</HI>
<PB REF="3">
<HI>by you, then by my &s;elfe. By your Command, (for &s;o I in|terpret all your requests to me) it was Preached, and is now Publi&s;hed; and this with the more boldne&s;se, becau&s;e with &s;ome confidence, that it will pa&s;se the better without others cen&s;ure, becau&s;e it hath already pa&s;&s;ed your &s;crutiny with al|lowance and acceptance. But whatever the lot of it in that kind &s;hall be, it will be abundant &s;atisfaction to me, if the main end be attained by it, which by you and me was intended in it;</HI> viz: <HI>the help of our &s;elves and all, the more to adore the infi|nite wi&s;dome, and power, and goodne&s;se of our God, who can make</HI> light to &s;hine out of darkne&s;&s;e; di&s;cords intended <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 4. 6.</NOTE> by enemies, to make up our more harmonious con&s;ent, <HI>and divi&s;ions of tongues that &s;catter the builders of Babel,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 11. <HI>Acts</HI> 2.</NOTE> <HI>to help up the more compact building of his Church. Hee once turned the day of his peoples griefes and feares to the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>E&s;ter</HI> 8. <HI>ult.</HI> 9. 1.</NOTE> <HI>quite contrary, &s;o that</HI> they had then joy and gladne&s;&s;e, a Fea&s;t, and a good day, in&s;omuch that many of the peo|ple of the Land became <HI>Jewes</HI> for the feare of the <HI>Iewes</HI> fell upon them. <HI>Now hee that hath wrought for us the like turne of things, be plea&s;ed in mercy to worke a greater turne in all our Enemies hearts, that &s;o now and ever, our Lord Ie&s;us may appeare to be</HI> the wonderfull Coun&s;ellor, the mighty God, the everla&s;ting Father, whil&s;t thus, the Prince of his Peoples Peace: So prayeth,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>His and Your mo&s;t Unworthy Servant.
STEPHEN MARSHALL.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<DIV2 TYPE="preface">
<PB N="1" REF="3">
<HEAD>THE PREFACE to the Sermon.</HEAD>
<P>_RIght Honourable and Beloved in the Lord, this day is a day purpo&s;ely &s;et apart for <HI>fea|&s;ting;</HI> and it is like one of the <HI>Lords fea&s;ts,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Lev.</HI> 23. 2.</NOTE> where you have a <HI>fea&s;t and a holy Convocati|on:</HI> And you are fir&s;t met here to fea&s;t <HI>your</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>E&s;a.</HI> 25. 6.</NOTE> <HI>&s;oules with the fat things of Gods hou&s;e, with a fea&s;t of fat things full of marrow, and wine on the lees well refined:</HI> and afterward to fea&s;t your <HI>bodies,</HI> with the fat things of the land, and the &s;ea, both plenty and dainty. But if you plea&s;e you may fir&s;t fea&s;t your <HI>eyes;</HI> doe but behold the face of this A&s;&s;embly, I dare &s;ay it will be one of the excellente&s;t fea&s;ts that ever your eyes were refre&s;hed with: Here in this A&s;&s;embly you may fir&s;t &s;ee the <HI>two Hou&s;es of Parliament,</HI> the Honourable Lords and Com|mons, after thus many yeares wra&s;tling with extreme difficulties, in their endevouring to pre&s;erve an undone Kingdome, and to purge and reforme a back-&s;liding and a polluted Church, you may behold them &s;till not only
<PB N="2" REF="4">
pre&s;erved from &s;o many treacherous de&s;ignes, &s;ecret trea&s;ons, and open violences, but as re&s;olved as ever cheerfully to goe on with this great worke, which God hath put into their hands. Here you may al&s;o &s;ee <HI>his Excellency</HI> (my mo&s;t honoured Lord) the Generall of all our forces by land; and neare him that other noble Lord, the Commander of our forces by Sea; and with them abundance of noble and re&s;olute Commanders al of them with their faces like unto Lions, who after, &s;o many terrible battells, and abundance of difficulties, and charging in the face of &s;o many thou&s;and deaths, are all of them &s;till pre&s;erved, and not a haire of their heads fallen to the ground. Here al&s;o you may behold the <HI>Repre&s;entative body of the City of London,</HI> the Lord Mayor, the Court of Aldermen, the Common Coun|cell, the <HI>Militia,</HI> and in them the face and affection of this glorious City; <HI>This City,</HI> which under God hath hitherto had the honour of being the greate&s;t meanes of the &s;alvation of the whole kingdome; and after the expence of millions of trea&s;ure, and thou&s;ands of their lives, &s;till as faithfull and re&s;olute to live and die in the cau&s;e of God as ever heretofore. Here you may like|wi&s;e &s;ee a <HI>Reverend A&s;&s;embly of</HI> grave and learned <HI>Di|vines,</HI> who daily wait upon the Angel in the Mount, to receive from him the lively Oracles, and the patterne of Gods hou&s;e, to pre&s;ent unto you. All the&s;e are of our <HI>owne</HI> Nation; and with them you may &s;ee the <HI>Ho|nourable, reverend,</HI> and <HI>learned Commi&s;sioners of the Church of Scotland;</HI> and in them behold the wi&s;dome and affe|ction of their whole Church and Nation, willing to live and dye with us. All the&s;e you may behold in one view; and which is more, you may behold them all of <HI>one heart,</HI> and one minde, after &s;o many plots and con|&s;piracies
<PB N="3" REF="4">
to divide them one from another, and thereby to ruine them all: And which is yet more, you may &s;ee them all met together this day <HI>on purpo&s;e,</HI> both to <HI>prai&s;e God for this union,</HI> and to rejoice in it, and to hold it out to all the world, and thereby to te&s;tifie, that as one man they will live and dye together in this common cau&s;e of God, of our Lord Ie&s;us Chri&s;t his Church, and the&s;e three Kingdomes. O beloved! how beautifull is the face of this A&s;&s;embly? Verily I may &s;ay of it, as it was &s;aid of <HI>Solomons throne,</HI> That <HI>the like was not to be &s;eene in any other Nation;</HI> I que&s;tion where ever the like A&s;&s;em|bly was &s;eene this thou&s;and yeeres upon the face of the earth: Me thinkes I may call this A&s;&s;embly <HI>The ho&s;te of</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 32. 2.</NOTE> <HI>God;</HI> I could call this place <HI>Mahanaim;</HI> and I beleeve there are many in the A&s;&s;embly who could &s;ay as old <HI>Jacob</HI> did, when he had &s;eene his &s;on <HI>Jo&s;ephs</HI> face, <HI>Let me now dye,</HI> becau&s;e I have &s;eene this A&s;&s;embly, and that it is yet thus with our unworthy <HI>England:</HI> and for my owne part, I profe&s;&s;e I am almo&s;t like the <HI>Queene of Sheba,</HI> when &s;he had &s;een the Court of <HI>Solomon,</HI> that &s;he had no &s;pirit left in her, and could pre&s;ently &s;end you away, and command all of you not to <HI>weepe to day, nor to mourne, but to goe home, and eat the fat, and drinke the &s;weet, and &s;end portions to them for whom nothing is prepared;</HI> I &s;hould in the joy of my heart &s;ay this pre&s;ently, but that I have fir&s;t &s;ome banqueting &s;tuffe for your <HI>&s;oules,</HI> &s;uch as God hath brought to my hand, to &s;et before you for your inward refre&s;hing; the ground whereof you &s;hall finde, if you plea&s;e to turne to the fir&s;t of the <HI>Chronicles</HI> the twelfth Chapt&punc; and the three la&s;t ver&s;es.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="4" REF="5">
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>1 Chron. 12. 38, 39, 40.</BIBL>
<Q>All the&s;e came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David King over all I&s;rael; and all the re&s;t al&s;o of I&s;rael were of one heart to make David King:</Q>
<Q>And there they were with David three dayes, eating and drinking for their brethren had prepared for them.</Q>
<Q>Moreover, they that were nigh them, even unto I&s;sachar, and Zebulun, and Naphtali, brought bread on a&s;&s;es, and on <NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;pecially the&s;e la<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">t <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">o<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">s.</NOTE> camels and on mules, and on oxen, and meat, meale, cakes of figges, and bunches of rai&s;ins, and wine, and oyle, and &s;heep abundantly; for there was joyin I&s;rael.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>I Laboured to finde out a Text, which might every way be &s;uitable to the occa&s;ion of this our pre&s;ent <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Sui<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters"> <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 span">&s;&s;e of the T<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">xt t<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> the occa<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">i<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">n. P<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">.</HI> 25. 11.</NOTE> meeting, becau&s;e <HI>a word &s;poken in &s;ea&s;on is like apples of gold in pictures of &s;ilver;</HI> a Sermon &s;uited to the cir|cum&s;tance of time, place, per&s;ons, and occa&s;ion, is not onely more acceptable, but more u&s;efull: And truly I thinke the Lord hath brought to hand one of the mo&s;t paralell portions in the whole Bible; for if you plea&s;e but to looke into it, and into the whole Chapter upon which this depends, you &s;hall finde, Fir&s;t, they were doing the <HI>&s;ame thing,</HI> that is, <HI>rejoicing abundantly:</HI> Secondly, expre&s;&s;ing their joy the <HI>&s;ame way,</HI> in <HI>fea&s;ting, eating, and drinking:</HI> Thirdly, you &s;hall finde the &s;ame manner of per&s;ons, that is, the <HI>heads of all their Tribes, the Nobles, the Commons, the Souldiery, the Mini&s;try;</HI> you &s;hall find them, fourthly, met on the <HI>like occa&s;ion,</HI> becau&s;e their hearts were united in one, and that in the way to ob|taine a <HI>ble&s;&s;ed peace</HI> to a kingdome, which had been long wa&s;ted with a Civill warre: Fifthly, you &s;hall find al&s;o,
<PB N="5" REF="5">
that the per&s;ons who met here, were the &s;ame which had adhered to the <HI>right &s;ide,</HI> to the cau&s;e which God did own &amp; ble&s;&s;e; and &s;ixtly, who the longer their wars con|tinued grew &s;tronger &amp; &s;tronger, &amp; their enemies grew weaker and weaker; you &s;hall finde all the&s;e met upon the &s;ame occa&s;ion, upon a bu&s;ine&s;&s;e of the <HI>highe&s;t con&s;e|quence,</HI> all of them fea&s;ting; and &s;eventhly, at the charge of <HI>their brothren,</HI> in who&s;e precincts their &s;olemn meeting was. Looke but into the chapter, and you'll &s;ee all the&s;e; Looke but into this A&s;&s;embly, and you may behold them all in this Church. But it may bee you will &s;ay, We want a <HI>David,</HI> to make the paralell full; we want a <HI>David</HI> to bee with us, a <HI>King</HI> who might concurre with us, and we with him in the &s;ame bu&s;ines; I confe&s;&s;e indeed, that in the <HI>literall</HI> &s;en&s;e God hath not <HI>yet</HI> made us &s;o ble&s;&s;ed, the Sonnes of <HI>Belial</HI> have &s;tollen away both his Maje&s;ties Per&s;on, and affection from us, but even that is the thing which we contend for, that we might recover him out of their hands; the expence of all our trea&s;ure, and all our blood hath bin to that end that he might have the wicked removed from his throne, that as another <HI>David, hee might rule over us in</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 23. 3. 4.</NOTE> <HI>the feare of God, that hee might be as the light of the morning when the Sun ari&s;eth, even a morning without clouds:</HI> And as we have in our Covenant &s;olemnly &s;worne (&s;o much as in us lies) to pre&s;erve and maintain his per&s;on and authority, in the defence of Libertie and Religion, &s;o if God have any delight in him, and to doe us good by him, hee will in the end incline his heart unto &s;uch Coun&s;els, that hee &s;hall come home, and make this paralell full, and even bee the light of our I&s;rael, and the breath of our No&s;trills: But in the meane time, wee doe not want a <HI>David</HI> to &s;uit
<PB REF="6">
this <HI>David</HI> in the Text, we have here the <HI>true David,</HI> of whom that <HI>David</HI> was in this very thing a Type, <HI>that is, the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> whom wee are endeavouring to &s;et upon his throne, that hee might bee Lord and King in his I&s;rael, over his Church, among&s;t us: And as Davids per&s;on, and Kingdome, were but types of our Lord Chri&s;t and his Kingdome; &s;o this great joy and unani|mity of heart, which met in all the&s;e at Davids Corona|tion in <HI>Hebron,</HI> was but a type of that rejoycing and gladne&s;&s;e of heart, which &s;hould be among the Nations, when there &s;hould bee the like concurrence of the No|bles, and Commons, and Princes, and Mini&s;ters, and Citizens, with one heart, to &s;et up the Lord Chri&s;t, to be Lord and King over them: All Learned Men know this to be true, and therefore by this time I beleeve, you &s;ee that my Text is mo&s;t &s;uitable to our Meeting, and withall the &s;cope of it &s;o plaine before you, that I need not &s;pend any more time in the clearing of it, but &s;hall ha&s;ten to &s;ome matter of In&s;truction; Becau&s;e (though I conceive your Fea&s;t for your bodies will bee long) I would not willingly make the Sermon &s;o long, as to have it tedious to you; and before I come to the maine Le&s;&s;on which I &s;hall in&s;i&s;t upon, I would intreat you to <NOTE PLACE="marg">Some generall Ob&s;ervations out of this whole Chapter.</NOTE> looke a little back into the whole Chapter, where you will find Davids ca&s;e, and our pre&s;ent condition, in ma|ny things to be exceedingly alike, and in it find <HI>much</HI> to incourage and comfort you in your &s;adde&s;t exigence; be plea&s;ed when you are at home to read over this <HI>Chap|ter</HI> &s;eriou&s;ly, &amp; you will find &s;uch ob&s;ervations as the&s;e: Fir&s;t, <HI>That David when hee was per&s;ecuted by</HI> Saul <HI>unju&s;tly, did not onely take up Armes for his owne defence, but many</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 1. to 23.</NOTE> <HI>of the choi&s;e&s;t men of the Tribes did joyne with him, and ad|venture their lives in his defence; yea, and his Adherents</HI>
<PB N="7" REF="6">
<HI>increa&s;ed, till his Army grew to be like an Ho&s;t of God;</HI> and all this while King <HI>Saul</HI> was alive, and <HI>David</HI> but a pri|vate man, and one that had &s;worne Allegiance to him:</P>
<P>You will in this Chapter find al&s;o, <HI>that although</HI> David <NOTE PLACE="marg">17, 18, 19, 20, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> <HI>and his adherents in the defence of his innocent righteous Cau&s;e, were oftentimes brought very low, to a dead low ebbe, yet in the end, God brought all about againe; and</HI> Davids <HI>par|ty grew &s;tronger and &s;tronger, and their malignant Enemies grew weaker and weaker.</HI></P>
<P>You will find al&s;o in this Chapter, <HI>That &s;uch as did adhere to</HI> David <HI>in his low condition, (when the Lord had tryed and humbled them all) found to their comfort in the end, that they were no lo&s;ers by it; They after|wards being made his Worthies, his Coun&s;ellors, and Princes.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Compare the fir&s;t part of this Chapter, with</HI> 2 Sam. 23. 8. <HI>ad finem.</HI></NOTE></P>
<P>And this, <HI>That in the end God open'd the eyes of many of tho&s;e who were most malignant and oppo&s;ite, not only to &s;ee the righ|teou&s;ne&s;se of</HI> Davids <HI>Cau&s;e, but their hearts came cordially to joyne with him.</HI></P>
<P>And this al&s;o, that among all the Nobles, &amp; Princes, &amp; <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 29. <HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 32.</NOTE> Rulers, and Leaders; <HI>the more godly, the more wi&s;e, the more cordiall any were to</HI> Davids <HI>Cau&s;e, the greater power they had, and the more their brethren were at their command.</HI></P>
<P>This al&s;o you will find, that <HI>no co&s;t, danger pains or diffi|culties,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ver.</HI> 15. 20. <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> <HI>were ever &s;tuck at by them who&s;e hearts were rightly affected to</HI> Davids <HI>Cau&s;e.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>This Chapter compar'd with</HI> 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 23.</NOTE></P>
<P>And this al&s;o you may ob&s;erve, <HI>That God gave to</HI> Davids <HI>helpers &s;uch courage and &s;trength, that oftentimes ten of them could cha&s;e a thou&s;and &amp; an hundred put ten thou&s;and to flight.</HI></P>
<P>The&s;e, &amp; many more &s;uch things as the&s;e (which would be very profitable for our meditation, in the&s;e our di|&s;tre&s;&s;ed times) you may find in reading this Chapter; but I am re&s;olved to confine my &s;elfe to <HI>two Ob&s;ervations;</HI> the one &s;hall be from that, which was the <HI>matter</HI> of their
<PB N="8" REF="7">
joy at this time; the other from the <HI>manner</HI> of expre&s;&s;ing their joy; The <HI>matter</HI> of their joy, you have in the&s;e words, <HI>that they were of one heart, and one mind, to &s;et Da|vid to be their King;</HI> The manner of expre&s;&s;ing their joy was this, they <HI>were eating, and drinking, and fea&s;ting, at the co&s;t of all the Tribes in who&s;e precincts their meeting was;</HI> Tho&s;e of <HI>Zebulon,</HI> and <HI>Napthali,</HI> and <HI>I&s;&s;achar,</HI> did in abun|dance expend their Oxen, and Sheepe, and Wine, and Oile, and all the delicates, to refre&s;h their Brethren; for the Army was I thinke no le&s;&s;e then two or three hun|dred thou&s;and of them, who upon this occa&s;ion were come together: from the&s;e two, I &s;hall endeavour to handle the&s;e two Le&s;&s;ons. The fir&s;t is,</P>
<P>That it is <HI>the greate&s;t matter and cau&s;e of joy that can bee to any People, to find a concurrence of Nobles, and Commons,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ob&s;.</HI> 1. <HI>The maine Doctrine. No greater mattter of joy to any people, then to find a concurrence of hearts, to &s;et up</HI> David <HI>to bee their King.</HI></NOTE> <HI>and Souldiers, and Citizens, and Divines, to &s;et up</HI> David <HI>for their King;</HI> &s;uch an union and concurrence is a mat|ter of the greate&s;t joy in all the World. Secondly,</P>
<P>That this joy &s;pringing from &s;uch a concurrence to &s;et up <HI>David</HI> to bee their King, may very lawfully, and comely be <HI>expre&s;&s;'d in fea&s;ting, eating, and drinking.</HI></P>
<P>I begin with the fir&s;t of the&s;e, <HI>That it is a matter of the greate&s;t joy in all the World, that can bee to any people, to finde</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> <HI>&s;uch a concurrence as there was in this Chapter, to &s;et up</HI> Da|vid <HI>to be their King:</HI> Where fir&s;t we mu&s;t inquire, what is here intended by &s;etting up <HI>David</HI> to bee their King: Know therfore (beloved) that <HI>David</HI> is to be con&s;idered two wayes, he &s;tands in a two-fold relation, even in this his Coronation: The fir&s;t is <HI>Typicall;</HI> the &s;econd is <HI>Po|liticall; Typicall,</HI> and &s;o <HI>David is Chri&s;t: Politicall,</HI> and &s;o <NOTE PLACE="marg">Explained in two Branches.</NOTE> <HI>David</HI> is intended by God to be <HI>the pattern of a good King,</HI> the patterne and the Copy that all true Kings &s;hould write after; and both the&s;e are &s;o plaine, I dare &s;ay I
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might give you twenty &s;everall places of Scripture for proof of both the branches: Fir&s;t, <HI>David</HI> was a type of Chri&s;t; <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> is ordinarily called <HI>David;</HI> you will not find any one per&s;on (who <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ezek.</HI> 34. 23: 37: 24. <HI>E&s;ay</HI> 9 67: 55. 3: <HI>Ier.</HI> 30 9: <HI>P&s;al</HI> 8. 9:</NOTE> was a type of Chri&s;t) by who&s;e name Chri&s;t is expre&s;ly called in his kingly office, but only <HI>David&punc; I will give them David their King; upon the throne of David he &s;hall &s;it:</HI> &s;o <HI>David</HI> in the <HI>typicall</HI> relation is <HI>Chri&s;t.</HI> Then in the <HI>politicall</HI> relation, the Lord in tended him the <HI>patterne</HI> of a <HI>good King,</HI> and therefore you &s;hall finde that all the Kings that for foure or five hundred yeares did &s;ucceed in I&s;rael and Judah, when the Lord came to give any one their te&s;timony, who they were, how neare they came to the Standard, this is the rule by which hee judged of them; Such an one walked in the <HI>way of David;</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>King</HI> 14 8: 2 <HI>King.</HI> 14. 3: 16, 2: 18, 3; 22, 2: 15, 3, 11: 2 <HI>Ch,</HI> 28, 29. 2: 34 2.</NOTE> &s;uch an one did that which was right in Gods &s;ight as <HI>David;</HI> &s;uch an one did well; but not with &s;uch a heart as <HI>David;</HI> &s;uch an one walked not in the wayes of <HI>David;</HI> &s;uch an ones heart was not like unto <HI>Davids:</HI> &s;o that <HI>David</HI> was in all inten|ded by God to be the patterne o<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> a good King</P>
<P>Now this fir&s;t Le&s;&s;on thus opened. I mu&s;t therefore divide into <HI>two branches:</HI> the <HI>fir&s;t is,</HI> That <HI>there can be no greater matter of joy and rejoicing to any people in the world, then to finde a concurrence of</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><P><HI>Fir&s;t</HI> David <HI>is Chri&s;t, and hence,</HI></P>
<P><HI>The greate&s;t j<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">y to any Na|<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ion, to find &s;uch a concur|rence to &s;et up the Kingdome of C<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">i&s;t.</HI></P></NOTE> <HI>heart in the Nobles, and Princes, and Souldiers, and Mini&s;ters, and the heads of their Tribes, to &s;et up the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t to bee the King of the Church among them:</HI> that &s;hall bee the fir&s;t. The &s;e|cond is this, That <HI>there can be no greater ioy to a nation for aniething that concernes this pre&s;ent life, then to finde concurrence of hearts in the&s;e Nobles, and tho&s;e that are named in the chapter to &s;et up a</HI> Da|vid; <HI>that it, to have the Prince that &s;hould rule over them like into David.</HI> In the&s;e two things God willing) I &s;hall &s;pend the mo&s;t of this time, the other part of the Text I &s;hall only point at.</P>
<P>For the fir&s;t, That to finde &s;uch a concurrence to &s;et up the Lord Chri&s;t to be King; is a matter of the greate&s;t joy and re|joicing <NOTE PLACE="marg">Proved by the type.</NOTE> in the world: You may &s;ee it fir&s;t, in the <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 word">: Se|condly, in <HI>Gods promi&s;e:</HI> Thirdly, in the <HI>Church<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">s performance.</HI> Fir&s;t, you &s;hall &s;ee it in the Type, in <HI>David</HI> bringing up the <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 8 12 <HI>ad finem:</HI></NOTE> Arke 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 6. 12, fir&s;t, he called all his <HI>Parliament</HI> together and the Convocation of the <HI>Mini&s;ters</HI> al&s;o, and there they con&s;ulted to goe and bring up the Arke of God from Kiriath-jearim (which Arke of God was a Type of the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t) they all agree to bring it up to &s;et it in his owne place, in a <HI>bet|ter &s;tate</HI> then formerly it had been, for the glory of it, and the
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welfare of the Church: Now when they concurred in this action, you &s;hall finde that <HI>David and all the hou&s;e of I&s;rael plaied before the Lord on all manner of in&s;trument,</HI> on Harps and P&s;alteries, on Timbrels and on Cornets and on Cimbals, with &s;houting and &s;ound of Trumpets, and the <HI>King him&s;elfe</HI> being cloathed with a linne Ephod danced with all his might, and gloried in his dancing, though we know <HI>Michal</HI> his wife de&s;piled him for it, as if he had played the foole; and all this becau&s;e they &s;o well agreed in bringing the Arke, and &s;etting it up in his place, in the Tabernacle that <HI>David</HI> had pitched for it, which was nothing in effect, but the <HI>&s;etting up the Lord Ie&s;us Chri&s;t, both God and man, to be acknowledged as Lord and King in the mid&s;t of the Church.</HI> So likewi&s;e when <HI>Solomon</HI> had builded the Temple, in 1 <HI>King.</HI> 8. when the Arke was to be &s;et upon the Table in the <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>King</HI> 8:</NOTE> <HI>holy of holie&s;t,</HI> which was properly the type of <HI>&s;etting the Lord Ie&s;us Chri&s;t</HI> upon the <HI>throne of Maie&s;tie</HI> on high, at the right hand of God, and &s;o to be Lord and Ruler over the Church. when there was a concurrence of the Princes and Nobles, who joined with him to doe this, there was &s;uch a holy fea&s;t made, that <HI>Solomon</HI> for his &s;hare &s;pent twenty thou&s;and Oxen, and a matter of an hundred and twenty thou&s;and &s;heep in &s;acrifices: and after all this holy fea&s;ting upon &s;acrifices, <HI>hee and all I&s;rael with him held a fea&s;t, from the entring in of Hamath unto the river of Egipt before the Lord, &s;even daies, and &s;even daies, even fourteen daies; and then all the people departed home to their hou&s;es, joifull and glad of heart for all this goodne&s;&s;e of the Lord Iehovah, in giving them the Lord Ie&s;us Chri&s;t to reigne over them.</HI> See this likewi&s;e promi&s;ed that it <HI>&s;hould and ought to be &s;o:</HI> and for this though I might <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>By Gods pro|mi&s;e that it &s;hould be &s;o. E&s;ay</HI> 9. 3: 6 7,</NOTE> name many Scriptures, I will &s;atisfie my &s;elfe with <HI>two:</HI> the one is in the ninth of <HI>E&s;ay</HI> and the beginning of it, The Lord there &s;pake of a very &s;ad affliction which the church &s;hould lie under, very uncomfortable times they &s;hould live in, but yet hee &s;aith that there &s;hould be joy, <HI>they &s;hould joy before him like the joy in harve&s;t, and as men rejoyce who divide a &s;poile.</HI> You all know that Souldiers when they are &s;acking a rich Town, every one filling not onely their Knap&s;acks, but loading their hor&s;es and wag|gons with rich &s;poile: and countrey-men when they have ga|thered-in all their harve&s;t, if ever they are merry it is then: Now the Lord promi&s;eth &s;uch a joy to his afflicted Church, which &s;hould bee like the joy of harve&s;t, and the dividing the
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the &s;poile, upon what occa&s;ion was that thinke you? You &s;hall find at the 6. ver&s;e&punc; <HI>or unto us a Child is borne, to us a Son is given, on who&s;e &s;houlders the Government &s;hall bee laid, who &s;hall be &s;et upon the Throne of</HI> David <HI>his Father, to order and rule it;</HI> that is, the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;hall be exalted to be their King, and then &s;hall the People joy before him, like the joy in harve&s;t, &s;o likewi&s;e in the 9. of <HI>Zachary</HI> ver. 9. rejoice greatly O Daughters of Zion, &s;hout for joy O Daughter of Jeru&s;alem; what is the matter? <HI>Behold thy</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Zach,</HI> 9, 9:</NOTE> <HI>King commeth to thee,</HI> and if you marke it, when Chri&s;t fir&s;t came to them in that place, he came <HI>poore</HI> and <HI>meeke, riding upon an A&s;&s;e,</HI> yea, to be <HI>hang'd upon the Cro&s;&s;e</HI> to be crucified; but yet afterward <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Math,</HI> 21; 5:</NOTE> it followes, <HI>that his Dominion &s;hould be from Sea to Sea, and from the River to the end of the Earth;</HI> This entertaining of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> their King, &s;hould make them reioyce greatly, and &s;hout for joy. See al&s;o one or two evidences for the <HI>performance</HI> of it, what in|finite <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>By experiences &s;hewing it both being &s;o; Acts</HI> 8, 8,</NOTE> joy there hath bin at the &s;etting of Chri&s;t on his throne: In <HI>Act.</HI> 8: when the City of <HI>Samaria</HI> (which before had been be|&s;otted with &s;uper&s;tition and Idolatry, and all kind of bea&s;tlines of that kind) upon <HI>Philips</HI> preaching Je&s;us Chri&s;t among them, had &s;ubmitted to him, and received him for Lord and King it is &s;aid, there was great joy thoughout the City; but e&s;pecially out of the book of <HI>Revelation.</HI> I could give you many evidences, <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rev,</HI> 4. <HI>per t<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">t:</HI> 7, 9, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> 11, 15, 15&punc; 3:</NOTE> be plea&s;ed to turne to one only, Chapter 19. from the fir&s;t ver&s;e to the eight, where you will find a Panegyrick celebrated with great joy, by a great multitude of people, a great voice from the throne calling upon them; to prai&s;ing and rejoicing; and all this great multitude cryed Halelujah, Salvation, glory and honour unto the Lord our God, let us reioice and be glad; and again they &s;aid Halelujah, and again &amp; again Halelujah making it the foot of the Song; what was the occa&s;ions wherby the Lamb was to be married, and his wife had made her &s;elfe ready, the new Ieru|&s;alem was comming down from Heaven; Jew and Gentile to be made one Church: Antichri&s;t the Bea&s;t and fal&s;-Prophet to be de&s;troyed, and Chri&s;t Je&s;us to bee gladly received as Lord and King: <HI>For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.</HI></P>
<P>But to make it yet more plaine, you know that joy is, <HI>acqui|e&s;centia</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ladovecns vi|ves.</NOTE> <HI>voluntatis in bono &s;ibi congruenti,</HI> a plea&s;ure or delight from &s;ome good thing we po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e or certainly expect, which breeds &s;atisfaction in the will and plea&s;ure in the &s;en&s;itive &s;oule, upon the delating the heart in the brea&s;t, when the object and facul|ty-&s;uits
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one another, as the Cup and Cover; which while it is onely comtemplated or meditated upon; is after a &s;ort made perfect, and accordingly the &s;oule united unto it; or while ex|pected upon &s;trong and unerring grounds, the &s;oule comtorta|bly and cheerfully works for the accompli&s;hment of our de&s;ire; but when its <HI>po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed</HI> the good <HI>really pre&s;ent</HI> and united to us, when we have it face to face, then is the heart &s;atisfied indeed. <NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">m 12, 12,</NOTE> Now I &s;hall fhew you (God willing that the &s;etting up of Je&s;us Chri&s;t after their manner, is the mo&s;t excellent, &s;uitable, con|gruous good that which will and may mo&s;t &s;atisfie and dilate the heart of any thing el&s;e whatever.</P>
<P>And to this I &s;hall demon&s;trate the&s;e two things:</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, that the <HI>&s;etting up</HI> of Chri&s;t to bee King is the grea|te&s;t, the <HI>mo&s;t</HI> de&s;irable good that ever can betide any Nation.</P>
<P>Secondly, that the <HI>Concurrence</HI> of the Nobles and Commons, and Souldiers, and Mini&s;ters, and Citizens to this work, their <HI>concurrence</HI> I &s;ay in this worke, is the mo&s;t glorious, the mo&s;t aimiable, the mo&s;t de&s;irable means of attaining this great good that any &s;oule can wi&s;h; and if both the&s;e be manife&s;ted, that the one is the greate&s;t, and the other the mo&s;t de&s;irable meanes to attain it; where the&s;e <HI>two</HI> things meet there mu&s;t needs bee matter of great joy.</P>
<P>For proofe of the fir&s;t, I de&s;ire you but to compare it with all tho&s;e things which make any Nation happy in their Prince or <NOTE PLACE="marg">Becau&s;e Chri&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">s government is the greate&s;t g<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">oa t<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> any Nations being</NOTE> Government, and I doubt not but you will &s;ee, that the &s;itting up of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> to bee King doth infinitely goe beyond them all; And in this compari&s;on I will confine my &s;elfe to foure things.</P>
<P>The glory and honour that commeth to that Nation, where Chri&s;t is &s;et up to be their Lord and King; the glory that there|by <NOTE PLACE="marg">The greate&s;t hon<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ur to a people:</NOTE> by comes to a Nation, you know is the thing w<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ich maketh a people rejoice in their King, when their King is an Ornament to them: The Kingdomes and Princes who liv'd round about <HI>Solomon;</HI> accounted it no di&s;honour to them, to be <HI>Solomons</HI> Tri|butaries and Servants; becau&s;e he was &s;uch an accompli&s;h't ex|cellent man: <HI>Hyram</HI> the wealthy King of <HI>Tyrus</HI> wrote a Letter to him, wherein he calls him&s;elf his Servant and &s;aith, <HI>becau&s;e the Lord loved his People, he &s;et up thee to bee King over them.</HI> To <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Crom,</HI> 2, 11:</NOTE> have a King who is &s;uch a glory to a Nation, that (when any of the People &s;hall bee named in any forraine place) the &s;tran|gers
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&s;hall &s;ay; <HI>O they are happy</HI> in their Prince. Or as the Queene of <HI>Sheba</HI> or <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 word"> and his People, <HI>Happy are thy men, happy are the&s;e thy</HI> Subiects <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Chron,</HI> 9, 7, 8&punc;</NOTE> and <HI>Servants, which <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 span"> continually before thee becau&s;e God loven</HI> I&s;rael <HI>to e|&s;table&s;h him for ever, therefore made he thee King over them;</HI> this is a glory to a Nation.</P>
<P>Now thinke I be&s;eech you, whether there can bee any glory like to <HI>this</HI> to have the <HI>Sonne of God;</HI> the &s;econd per&s;on in the Trinity made man, now exalted to the Throne of Maje&s;ties on high, to whom the Angels and Archangels, and all the mo&s;t of Heaven doe &s;toope, and all the Creatures did bow the knee before him, whether (I &s;ay) can there be any glory to a people like unto this, to have this <HI>Lord Christ &s;et up to bee their King?</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. Con&s;ider the <HI>advantage</HI> that commeth to a State and people go|verned <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Bring|ing all advanta|ges to his oubjects,</HI> 2 <HI>Sam;</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">, 24,</NOTE> by him, the infinite gaine and happine&s;&s;e of all his Subjects un|der him, <HI>David</HI> bid them all <HI>weepe for Saul, becau&s;e hee cloathed them all in &s;cariet; with other delights and put Ornaments of gold upon them,</HI> they might grow rich under him. But let mee tell you, it is onely the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t and his Government that maketh a Nation or a People furni|&s;hed with an all-&s;ufficiency of all things, As</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> in the things of <HI>this life;</HI> Chri&s;t hath all things delivered into <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>For this pre&s;ent life:</HI></NOTE> his hands, the Father hath given them all up unto him, and <HI>H<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">e</HI> giveth them to whom he plea&s;eth, and his Kingdom hath the promi&s;e of this life as well as that which is to come.</P>
<P>So that if Gold, or Silver, or Wealth, or ea&s;e. or plea&s;ure, or liberty, or any of the&s;e things bee good for them the Subjects of Chri&s;t mu&s;t needs injoy it from their beloved King: but the&s;e are &s;carce worth the naming; The Glory of Chri&s;ts Government to his People &s;tands in this, that the maketh their <HI>&s;ouls</HI> their <HI>be&s;t part,</HI> their <HI>Spirituall-part,</HI> their <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>And a|bove all for their &s;oules here and for ever.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Eternall part;</HI> he maketh their &s;oules I &s;ay, infinitly happy in being a King over them, which no other Government reacheth to, no not in any degree, further then it is in &s;ubordination to Chri&s;t, and endeth in him; but now where Chri&s;t is &s;et up to be King, he giveth his Subjects &s;uch things as the&s;e:</P>
<P>The <HI>pardon</HI> and <HI>forgivene&s;&s;e of all their &s;innes;</HI> the blood of Je&s;us <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Iohn</HI> 1&punc; 7&punc; <HI>Rev&punc;</HI> 1. 5, <HI>E&s;a,</HI> 60: 21: <HI>Rom.</HI> 8: 14: 15&punc; 16: 17: <HI>Heb.</HI> 2: 12.</NOTE> Chri&s;t their King, wherein they are all wa&s;hed clean&s;eth them from all their &s;innes, &s;o that not a man of them &s;hall ever be called to an ac|count before God for any thing they have done again&s;t him, <HI>He</HI> ma|keth all of them <HI>righteous,</HI> the Lord &s;aith to him, thy people &s;hall be all righteous He doth adopt them all to be His children; all His &s;ubjects are His <HI>children,</HI> yea coheires; yea they are all His <HI>brethren,</HI> they may all
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enjoy <HI>communion</HI> with his Father, and with him&s;elfe, and with his holy <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Iohn</HI> 1, 3 <HI>Rev,</HI> 1, 6, 5, 10: <HI>Rev,</HI> 22. 5: 1 <HI>Iohn,</HI> 5: 14:</NOTE> Spirit; all his Kingdome is his Court, all his &s;ubjects his Courtiers, they may all as his Favourites &s;tand before him, and &s;ee his face, they may all pre&s;ent their &s;upplications to him for them&s;elves and others, with a&s;&s;urance to be heard and an&s;wered in all things according to his will: in one word, he is &s;uch a King who maketh all his Subjects to be Kings; there is not one of all tho&s;e where he is &s;et up to be Lord and King over; but he maketh them all to be Kings and Prie&s;ts to God his Father: It is in <HI>fiers,</HI> in beginning and degree here in this world, but after|wards &s;hall to all eternity bee manife&s;ted and made good of them all in the highe&s;t heavens; where when they have overcome, they &s;hall fit <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Re,</HI> 3. 21,</NOTE> down with him on his throne, as hee hath &s;at down upon his Fathers Throne. Now (brethren) &s;o farre as the &s;oule is more excellent then the body, &s;o farre as heaven is above earth, as grace is above gold, and &s;ilver, or dro&s;&s;e, as eternity is above a moment, &s;o much more excellent are the advantages that Chri&s;t Je&s;us giveth to his &s;ubjects, then any that can be received from any other Prince in the world: now the happine&s;&s;e of the &s;oule is &s;o excellent, and &s;o de&s;irable to all men, that you know, that the very heathen by the light of nature did account this the greate&s;t happine&s;&s;e of all to any &s;tate, to have Religi|on <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Socrates, Plato, Plutarch, Cicero.</HI> &amp;c: <HI>Minor Zalincus Solon nu|<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="3 letters"></HI> &amp;c. <HI>Cicero</HI> li: 1. <HI>quin Tu&s;cul; et de natura deorum</HI> lib: 1, <HI>Plutarch adver&s;us colorem:</HI></NOTE> on &s;et up, which was for their &s;oules happine&s;&s;e as they conceived. It is ob&s;ervable, that you can hardly meet with one Philo&s;opher, or any one Law-giver among all the Heathen, who did not make Religion (which was for the wor&s;hip of their gods, and the welfare of their &s;ouls) to be the prime worke of all: yea, &s;o &s;acred a thing it was among them, that <HI>cul<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">us deorum,</HI> the wor&s;hip of their gods, was the principall care and charge of their Princes, who therefore were their chiefe Prie&s;ts: and that &s;o univer&s;ally, as <HI>Tullie</HI> &s;aith there is no Nation &s;o barbarous but you will finde Religion chiefly regarded: and <HI>Plutarch</HI> writing to an Athei&s;t, tells him that po&s;&s;ibly he may finde &s;ome Cities without lear|ning and &s;ome without wealth, and &s;ome without a well framed Go|vernment, but &s;hould never finde any without Temples, Altars, the wor&s;hip of their gods, and con&s;equently of the care of their &s;oules wel|fare. True it is indeed, the&s;e poore blind wretches groped after the welfare of their &s;oules to no purpo&s;e, becau&s;e they knew not God: but wor&s;hip't Devills in&s;tead of God: but yet thus much wee learne from it, that in their judgments which c<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">n procure the eternall happine&s;&s;e of mans immortall &s;oule, is the greate&s;t gaine the greate&s;t advantage of all other; and therfore becau&s;e the &s;etting up of Je&s;us Chri&s;t to be Lord &amp; <NOTE PLACE="marg">3 <HI>Safety from enemies.</HI></NOTE> King, is al&s;ufficient for this&punc; what greater good can come to any people.</P>
<P>A third priviledge of Chri&s;ts being &s;et up as King, is the &s;afety of
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his people; let a Prince be never &s;o wi&s;e, &s;o good &amp; loving to his &s;ubjects; let them be never &s;o happy in him, yet if they want power to defend his Kingdome from violence of other States, both he and they may &s;oon prove mi&s;erable; as we &s;ee in all the flouri&s;hing Empires of the World in times pa&s;t, another Prince hath violently come and &s;poiled all: But now where the Lord Chri&s;t is &s;et up to bee a King: I need not in this A&s;&s;embly tell you what &s;trength they have, <HI>Salvation is prepared</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>E&s;ay</HI> 26. <HI>Zach:</HI> 2: 5: <HI>Iohn</HI> 19, 11: <HI>Mat:</HI> 28. <HI>P&s;al,</HI> 68, 1:</NOTE> <HI>for walls and Bulwarks,</HI> he him&s;elfe is a <HI>wall of fire round about,</HI> &s;o that no enemies &s;hall dare come nigh to them; there enemies have none of them any power but what Chri&s;t him&s;elfe hath given them. <HI>All power is his both in heaven and in the earth,</HI> if he &s;peake but the word all his enemies are overthrown, <HI>let God ari&s;e</HI> (&s;peaking of Chri&s;t) <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 68. <HI>let God ari&s;e, and his enemies &s;hall be &s;cattered,</HI> they fly as the <HI>du&s;t before the wind,</HI> as the <HI>wax be|fore the fire,</HI> as <HI>&s;tubble before the flame,</HI> &s;o doe his enemies fall if Chri&s;t will but appeare again&s;t them. In one word, by him were all things Created, by him they are upheld, and &s;ubject, and all things di&s;po&s;ed of according to his plea&s;ure; and therefore under his &s;hadow, under his <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Col:</HI> 1 16: 17: 4 <HI>Perpe<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">i|ty of all their hap+pines:</HI></NOTE> protection they may quietly re&s;t, and none can hurt them.</P>
<P>And la&s;tly adde one more, that this King lives for ever, and reignes for ever; make him once a King over a people, and hee will ever bee a King; They who are once his Subjects, will <HI>ever</HI> be his Subiects; yea, and while they are under his government, his government &s;hall grow <HI>more glorious,</HI> more <HI>vict<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">ious; of the increa&s;e of his Government and Peace, there &s;hall be no end; be &s;hall &s;it upon the Throne of David his Father,</HI> to order it, and e&s;tabli&s;h it; the Lord hath &s;poken it, and it mu&s;t be &s;o. <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Concur|rence of the weal of a peo|ple to &s;et up Chri&s;t, the mo&s;t excellent and de&s;i|rable means.</HI> 1 <HI>As &s;uch a concur|rence is a &s;igne of Gods leve to that peo|ple:</HI></NOTE></P>
<P>I hope this is now cleere, that the &s;etting up of <HI>Chri&s;t to bee Lord and King, is the greate&s;t happine&s;&s;e that can beside any Nation.</HI></P>
<P>The &s;econd is, that &s;uch a <HI>concurrence</HI> to find <HI>Princes, Nobles, Captaines,</HI> &amp;c. (for all the&s;e are in my Text&punc;) to find the <HI>heads</HI> of all the Tribes thus concurring to doe it, is the mo&s;t <HI>glorious, amiable and de&s;irable meanes</HI> for effecting this work, which to make plaine, I be&s;eech you to con&s;ider it two wayes</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, looke upon it, as it is <HI>&s;ignum,</HI> what this concurrence holdeth forth as its a &s;igne.</P>
<P>Secondly, as <HI>cau&s;a</HI> look upon in that which it <HI>worketh</HI> for the effecting <HI>of it.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, as it is a &s;igne, and &s;o it expre&s;&s;eth, fir&s;t the greate&s;t love and fa|vour of God to that people; never did the Lord from Heaven expre&s;&s;e to any Nation, a greater token of his owning that Nation and People, then when he maketh &s;uch a concurrence in their Princes, and Nobles.
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and Leaders, to &s;et up the Lord Chri&s;t to be their King; of God in the Prophe&s;ie of <HI>Ieremiah</HI> and <HI>Zephaniah,</HI> that he would them one heart and one way, all of them &s;hould agree in one to &s;erve him &amp; &s;ubiect to him with one con&s;ent.</P>
<P>This made <HI>David</HI> &s;o ravi&s;hed in his &s;pirit, when there was &s;uch a <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ier,</HI> 33. 35: <HI>Zep.</HI> 3 9: 1 <HI>Chron,</HI> 29, 10:</NOTE> union and unanimity in his Princes and Nobles, to joine with in pre|paring for the Temple; <HI>Who am I Lord? and what i<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> my people that wee &s;hould be able to offer thus willingly after this &s;ort? now therfore O Lord, we thank and ble&s;&s;e thy glorious Name for it:</HI> and argues it there, as one of the grea|te&s;t pledges of Gods accepting them, that there &s;hould bee &s;uch a con|currence in &s;uch a worke.</P>
<P>Secondly, it's al&s;o the greate&s;t &s;igne that can be of a peoples love to Chri&s;t, and of the greate&s;t glory which they can po&s;&s;ibly put upon him <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Their&punc; love to Chri&s;t, E&s;ay</HI> 49. 7, 60, 3, 10 11, 55 5. 2, 2:</NOTE> to be &s;uch a willing people to &s;et him up upon his Throne. This was promi&s;ed as the great glory of Chri&s;ts Kingdom, that Kings and Princes &s;hould bring his Children upon their &s;houlders; that they &s;hould bring their own glory, and lay it and then Scepters at his feet; be nur&s;ing Fathers unto his Church; that whole Nations &s;hould flow in unto him: and certainly its the greate&s;t expre&s;&s;ion they can make, and the greate&s;t glory which the Lord can receive from poore men to have the Heads of a people thus oind to &s;et up Chri&s;t upon his Throne: It was much more glorious to <HI>David</HI> to be crowned after this manner, then to have conquerred them by his Sword, and for <HI>Salomon</HI> to have all the Kings about him to offer them&s;elves, to be his Servants out of that inward reverence and love they bore unto him, then to have &s;ub|dued them as <HI>Io&s;hua</HI> did the Kings of <HI>Canaan:</HI> and even &s;o is it here, it's a great exaltation of Chri&s;ts glory to find whole States thus willing to &s;ubmit unto him.</P>
<P>Thus it doth it as <HI>&s;ignum.</HI> 2 Book upon it <HI>ut cau&s;a,</HI> as it works to|wards <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>As a cau&s;e working it, P&s;a</HI> 17 2 27.</NOTE> the effecting of it: Nothing which men can doe carryes &s;uch an energie as this joynt con&s;ent doth, and that 3. &s;everall wayes.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t &s;uch a publique concurrence of all the&s;e, is a marvellous engage|ment of that people to adhere to the Lord without &s;liding back.</P>
<P>When <HI>David</HI> had <HI>&s;worne unto the Lord to find out a place for the Lord, an ha|bitation for the mighty God of</HI> Jacob, <HI>he would give no &s;leepe to his eyes, nor &s;lumber to his eye lids, untill</HI> hee had done what he could to effect it.
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So when they have &s;worne a Covenant, and their Princes and Ru|lers, and all of them joyne together with &s;uch an vnanimous con|&s;ent, it averreth &amp; holdeth out to the world their full and unchang|ed re&s;olution to &s;pend, and to be &s;pent, and to do all that ever they are able for the promoting of this worke; Now this ingageing of a Nation to the Lord is an infinite meanes of effecting it, and inga|eth the Lord to &s;ware to them, as he did to <HI>David</HI> in the like <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 132. 11.</NOTE> ca&s;e.</P>
<P>Secondly, this concurrence in the Princes and Leaders of the <NOTE PLACE="marg">2</NOTE> people is a marvelous meanes to draw all the people on as one man without any oppo&s;ition, when they that are their Leaders doe thus goe before them, there is a notable example in this Text of the Tirbe of <HI>I&s;&s;achar. v.</HI> 32. of the re&s;t of the tribes it's &s;aid how many there came; of &s;ome Tribes 10 thou&s;and, of &s;ome 20. thou&s;and, of &s;ome 40. thou&s;and but of the Tribe of <HI>I&s;&s;achar,</HI> it is not &s;aid how many came, but only 200. that were the Leaders and Lords of that Tribe with perfect heart, and the Text addeth, <HI>all their Bretheren were at their command,</HI> all the whole Tribe; If the Tribe of <HI>I&s;&s;achar</HI> were 40. 50. 100. thou&s;and, &s;et but the 200. Leaders right, and they cary all the re&s;t right infallibly whether they will or no: And you all know by experience the infinite power Leaders have to cary the people to any thing, be it good or evill; <HI>Jeroboam</HI> and his Prin|ces may lead the people to wor&s;hip golden calves, <HI>Joa&s;h</HI> and his <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Kings</HI> 12. 28. 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 23. 28.</NOTE> Princes may draw the people to for&s;ake God; And againe <HI>Jeho|&s;aphat, Hezechiel, Io&s;iah,</HI> and their Princes and Rulers may draw the people of the Lord into a Covenant to &s;erve the Lord. That is the &s;econd way to effect it, by leading the people to &s;ubmit unto Chri&s;t al&s;o.</P>
<P>Thirdly, this vnity and concurrence of heart and &s;pirit, doth infinitely daunt and dampe the &s;pirit of their Enemies who would hinder the worke, neither is any thing &s;uch a terrour to tho&s;e that would de&s;troy and hinder the &s;etting up of Chri&s;t, as to &s;ee an vnity and concurrence of heart and hand of tho&s;e that are the prime Leading men to carie on the worke: This is notably &s;et forth in the Booke of <HI>Nehemiah,</HI> when <HI>Tobias</HI> and <HI>Sanballat,</HI> and the re&s;t of them had tried all their wits to devide and &s;care them, <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Nehemiah</HI> 6.</NOTE>
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and yet &s;aw, they went on with the worke, that they would build, though they built with the &s;word in one hand and a Trew|ell in the other, and though they wrought both night and day, and that &s;ome &s;lept whil&s;t others waked, and on they would goe the Rulers and Heads being the forwarde&s;t of all, when the enemie &s;aw that, the Text &s;aith, <HI>they were extreamly ca&s;t downe, becau&s;e they &s;aw the worke was wrought by the hand of God:</HI> So that enemies faile in their &s;pirits, when they &s;ee without changing the Nobles and Leaders are re&s;oluedly &s;et to carie on this worke, <HI>That Chri&s;t &s;hall be &s;et vp for Lord and King.</HI></P>
<P>And thus <HI>Beloved</HI> I have cleared the fir&s;t Branch of this ob&s;ervati|on: That the greate&s;t joy that can be to any people is to &s;ee &s;uch a concurrence of heart, to have the Lord Chri&s;t &s;et vp for Lord &amp; King.</P>
<P><HI>For the Application of it I &s;hall in&s;i&s;t only vpon two things.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, what infinite cau&s;e have all wee that are here gathered to|gether, to ble&s;&s;e the Lord for <HI>this day,</HI> for <HI>this very day,</HI> and all the&s;e dayes wherein we now live: I confe&s;&s;e Beloved, I di&s;cerne there are <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>V&s;e</HI> 1. <HI>Of thanksgi|ving: thus being our pre&s;ent condition.</HI></NOTE> very many with whom you &s;hall never talke, but they are complain|ing of the mi&s;erablene&s;&s;e of our dayes, <HI>oh the times are mi&s;erable!</HI> what glorious times had we three or four yeares, or five or &s;eaven yeares agoe, for then they had <HI>trading, plenty,</HI> and <HI>ea&s;e,</HI> and every one could &s;it vnder his owne vine, and his figge tree, no adver&s;ary nor evill occurrent, and now they heare of nothing but <HI>warres,</HI> and <HI>blood,</HI> and <HI>exhau&s;ting of trea&s;ure,</HI> and <HI>lo&s;&s;e</HI> of their <HI>children</HI> and <HI>kinred,</HI> and <HI>plundering their goods</HI> every where, &s;o that there is nothing but com|plaining among&s;t a world of people, as if our dayes were mo&s;t mi&s;e|rable: Now <HI>Beloved,</HI> give me leave to &s;peake my thoughts freely, I will &s;et a&s;ide my Text, and the matter I am in hand with, and yet I will cofidently affirme, that our dayes now are better then they were &s;eaven yeares agoe: Becau&s;e it is better to &s;ee the Lord executing Judgment, then to &s;ee men working wickedne&s;&s;e, and to behold a people lye wallowing in their blood, rather then apo&s;tating from God, and embracing of Idolatry, and &s;uper&s;tition, and bani&s;hing of the Lord Chri&s;t from among&s;t them: Set the worke of this Text a&s;ide, and the dayes are not &s;o mi&s;erable now, as they were then, but take this in, which I am handling, and
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I will here (in the wi&s;e&s;t and greate&s;t Auditory that any man in this Age hath preached unto) not feare to &s;ay, that &s;ince <HI>England</HI> was <HI>England,</HI> &s;ince any Booke was written concerning <HI>England,</HI> ne|ver was their that cau&s;e of joy and rejoyceing as there is this very day in <HI>England:</HI> Was there ever a <HI>Parliament</HI> in <HI>England</HI> knowne, which laid the cau&s;e of Chri&s;t and Religion &s;o to heart as this <HI>Par|liament</HI> hath done; Did ever any Parliament till now with <HI>David,</HI> &s;ware as in the 132. <HI>P&s;alm,</HI> That they will never give re&s;t to their eyes, nor &s;lumber to their eye-lids, till they have found out a place to &s;et the Ark of Chri&s;t upon, to <HI>&s;et up Chri&s;t for their King,</HI> Did ever Parliament call &s;uch an A&s;&s;embly of Divines and make them by &s;olemne Vow, or Oath ingage them&s;elves to pre&s;ent no|thing to them, but what &s;hould be (to their be&s;t under&s;tanding) the very will of the Lord God; was there ever Parliament and Nobilitie, and Mini&s;ters, and Citizens, and &s;o many ten thou&s;ands of all &s;orts in England till now, who did joyne in &s;uch a Cove|nant, yea, the two Nations together, that they will to their utter|mo&s;t, indeavour the Reformation of Religion, in the purity of it, and pre&s;ervation of it according to Gods Word; Did ever (when heretofore England hath been engaged in warre and blood) the City of <HI>London,</HI> the re&s;t of the Tribes, the Godly Party through|out England, &s;o willingly exhau&s;t them&s;elves, only that Chri&s;t might be &s;et up, and willingly, &s;aying every day to the Lord God, <HI>Lord take all, &s;o Chri&s;t may be but King;</HI> Did ever any of you reade it to be thus with England till now? <HI>My heart is towards the Governours of England, which thus willingly offer them&s;elves,</HI> and I can|not but tell you, that I think you &s;hould all doe as <HI>David</HI> and the Nobles did, when they fetched up the Ark of God from <HI>Kiriath-Jearim:</HI> And I the father in&s;tance in it, becau&s;e their ca&s;e and ours were very like, for there the Ark had been in Captivity among&s;t the <HI>Phili&s;tines,</HI> and when it was brought out of Captivity&punc; and pla|ced at <HI>Kiriath-Jearim,</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">it was but in <HI>Confinio Phili&s;ti<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="3 letters">um,</HI> neere the border of the <HI>Phili&s;tines,</HI> whither when Gods people went to wor|&s;hip, they went in danger, they were &s;ub<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ect to the incur&s;ions of the <HI>Phili&s;tines,</HI> and therefore it is &s;aid, <HI>all I&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">el mourned after the Lord,</HI> that is, They could never goe to Wor&s;hip, but they went in
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fear of &s;ome mi&s;chief, but now when <HI>David</HI> and the Nobles joyne together, to bring up the Ark of God, and to &s;et it in a fit place for the glory of it, they all danced and skipped for joy, and King <HI>David</HI> the mo&s;t joyfull Dauncer among them. Though <HI>Michal</HI> &s;coffed at him; and if this be to be vile (&s;aith hee) I <HI>will be more vile then thus:</HI> I will daunce againe before the Lord: Thus &s;hould we doe. When <HI>Jehoiada</HI> the high Prie&s;t on a &s;uddaine brought out young King <HI>Joa&s;h,</HI> when the people thought they &s;hould have alwayes laine under the Tyranny of <HI>Athalyah,</HI> and never &s;een a Prince more of <HI>Davids</HI> race, when &s;uch an unexpected favour was be&s;towed upon them, how did they &s;hout and joy? Thus &s;hould our &s;ouls doe; Honourable and Beloved, had you ever more cau&s;e of joy? Verily, if there be any in this A&s;&s;embly, that thinks not this a &s;ufficient retribution and &s;atisfaction for all his <HI>Twentieth Part,</HI> for all his <HI>Contributions,</HI> for all his <HI>Payments,</HI> and <HI>Hazards,</HI> if he think him&s;elf not well appayed to &s;ee the Lord doing all this, I &s;ay he is blinde, I &s;ay his heart is not right with God, hee hath no &s;hare in this pre&s;ent bu&s;ine&s;&s;e: But to the re&s;t of you, who know the glory and excellency of this worke which the Lord God is doing among&s;t us, I be&s;eech you rejoyce in it, and goe your ways, and eat the fat, and drink the &s;weet, prai&s;e the Lord for all the good he is doing to this our I&s;rael, and now that the walls are &s;etting up, doe as they did in <HI>Nehemiahs</HI> dayes, when they had built them, they &s;houted and rejoyced, &s;o that the noy&s;e was <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Nehem.</HI> 8. 20.</NOTE> heard, I know not how many miles off: &s;o let all England Cry, that our <HI>blood,</HI> our <HI>Armies,</HI> our <HI>Poverty,</HI> our <HI>Millions</HI> wherein wee are ingaged, are all abundantly repayed in this, That there is &s;uch a Concurrence to &s;et up the Lord Chri&s;t upon his Throne, to be Lord and King over this our I&s;rael.</P>
<P>And then Secondly, Let me exhort you all, to goe on in this Work, which you have &s;et your hearts and hands unto; And <NOTE PLACE="marg">2. <HI>Exhortation to Proceed on in this work.</HI></NOTE> wherein the Lord hath mercifully Carried you on thus farre, and let me be bold fir&s;t to &s;peak to you, <HI>Right Honourable, the Lords and Commons</HI> of the Parliament of <HI>England,</HI> wee have infinite cau&s;e all <NOTE PLACE="marg">To the Parl.</NOTE> of us, every day to ble&s;&s;e God for your unwearied labours, that thus you &s;tick to it night and day, and are not di&s;couraged; But
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goe on &s;till, I be&s;eech you, make <HI>England</HI> a happy Nation, and though many have di&s;&s;erted you, be not di&s;mayed, I tell you their names &s;hall be written in the Du&s;t, when yours &s;hall be written in letters of Gold, and the Generations to come &s;hall &s;ay, <HI>That the&s;e Glorious walls of Hieru&s;alem were built in a trouble&s;ome time, the&s;e foundations of Gods hou&s;e were laid, and the building reared up in times of Calamity, but ble&s;sed be God, for &s;uch Lords for &s;uch Commons, which would not be taken off;</HI> Carry on the work &s;till, leave not a ragge that belongs to Popery, lay not a bit of the Lords building with any thing that belongs to Antichri&s;t, or Antichri&s;ts &s;tuffe, but a|way with all of it, root and branch, head and tayle, throw it out of the Kingdome, and re&s;olve not to leave, till you can &s;ay, <HI>Now Chri&s;t is &s;et upon his Throne, and</HI> England <HI>is &s;ubdued to him,</HI> and the Good Lord carry you on to doe &s;o. And you my <HI>Righ Honourable</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">To his Excel|lence, and the re&s;t of the Commanders.</NOTE> <HI>and Excellent Lord,</HI> and the re&s;t of the Noble Commanders that are ingaged in this &s;ervice, let me &s;peak a word unto you, I acknow|ledge what cau&s;e <HI>England</HI> hath to ble&s;&s;e God; I hope your hearts beleeve, how deere your labours are unto all that love God, and your unwearied paines, which you take, how they are pre&s;ented at Gods throne every day, goe you on, Noble and Re&s;olute Com|manders, goe on and fight the Battells <HI>of the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> for &s;o I will not <HI>now</HI> fear to call them, for although indeed at the fir&s;t, the enemy did &s;o di&s;gui&s;e their enterpri&s;es, that nothing cleer|ly appeared, but only that you were compelled to take up Armes for the defence of your Liberties, and to bring Rebells and Tray|tors to condigne punni&s;hment, but now they have ingaged all the Antichri&s;tian world &s;o farre, that all Chri&s;tendome, except the Malignants in <HI>England,</HI> doe now &s;ee, that the que&s;tion in England is, whether Chri&s;t or Antichri&s;t &s;hall be Lord or King, all in the world, I &s;ay again, except our Malignants &s;ee it; the Prote&s;tants owning the one, and the Papi&s;ts and Popi&s;h-affected the other, as their cau&s;e. Goe on therefore couragiou&s;ly, never can you lay out your blood in &s;uch a quarrell, Chri&s;t &s;hed all his blood to &s;ave you from hell, venture all yours to &s;et vp him vpon his throne, that you may be made happy under him, that you may pre&s;erve your Liberties and Lawes, and pre&s;erve us out of the hands of them
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who would de&s;troy all: And you likewi&s;e <HI>Reverend Fathers and</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">To the A&s;&s;em|bly of Divines.</NOTE> <HI>Bretheren,</HI> you the A&s;&s;embly of Divines, and the <HI>Reverend and ho|nourable Commi&s;&s;ioners</HI> of the Church of <HI>Scotland</HI> joyned with them for the effecting of this worke, goe you on I be&s;eech you, wait up|on God, humble your &s;elues for former pollutions, endeavour to &s;ee the patterne of the Lords hou&s;e, that you may hold out the true di&s;cription of the Lambs wife, that <HI>England</HI> may be in love with it, that you may have in due time the glory and prai&s;e of be|ing <HI>Ma&s;ierbuilders</HI> in this great worke of God: And <HI>thou Right Ho|nourable and welbeloved City of London</HI> of whom I utterly want <NOTE PLACE="marg">To the Citie of London.</NOTE> words when I would &s;peake, goe on, and be a patterne to all the Cities in the world, as thou art this day in expending all for thy Glorious King the Lord Chri&s;t, whom thou ha&s;t thus farre owned, and whom thou love&s;t, the Lord hath given thee great weatlh and e&s;tate, grudge not &s;till to lay it out in his cau&s;e, if he had tooke it an other way, thou woulde&s;t have been contented, if fire had burnt it, if pe&s;tilence had wa&s;ted thy inhabitants, if famine or plunder, or any thing, thou woulde&s;t have been contented; but now though there goe pound after pound, and thou&s;and after thou&s;and, and Regiment after Regiment, when it is for the Lord Chri&s;t, and purity of Religion which the enemy would deprive thee of together with thy civill Liberties&punc; never could it goe &s;o ho|nourably, &s;o nobly for his glory, and thy owne comfort: Goe on therefore I be&s;eech you all, and cary on the worke, and for your incouragement remember and ob&s;erve how the Lord your God go|eth <NOTE PLACE="marg">Encourage|ments there|unto.</NOTE> before you, ob&s;erve him in all his goings, how he watcheth o|ver you every day, <HI>no weapon can pro&s;per, that is forged again&s;t you, no tongue ari&s;eth up in Judgment again&s;t you, but the Lord condemnes it,</HI> every one that pleads again&s;t you the Lord pleads again&s;t him, &amp; though <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>E&s;ay</HI> 54. 17.</NOTE> you loo&s;e many of your Noble&s;t and wi&s;e&s;t men, the Lord &s;upplies all to you, if you had all the Intelligence in the world, I know not how you &s;hould have things di&s;covered to you, &s;o as the Lord hath di&s;covered them, &s;o that if you have <HI>Raine</HI> one day, you have <HI>&s;un-&s;hine</HI> another, and &s;ometimes both of them mingled together, And although as yet this day of our vi&s;itation is like that day in <HI>Zacharie, Neither darke</HI>
<PB N="23" REF="14">
<HI>nor light, but between them both, in the evening you &s;hall have light abun|dantly,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Zach.</HI> 14. 6, 7:</NOTE> attend therefore upon the worke, and re&s;olve (the Lord a&s;&s;i&s;ting you) never to give over, till you have &s;et up <HI>David&punc;</HI> to be <NOTE PLACE="marg">Helpes and means to ef|fect this all: taken out of this Chap.</NOTE> your King, that is, Chri&s;t upon his Throne and for your helpe in it, I will commend to you certaine quallifications, which you &s;hall finde in this very Chapter, among&s;t them that came thus to &s;et up <HI>David</HI> to be King.</P>
<P>I &s;hall name you &s;ix or &s;eaven of them, but I will in&s;i&s;t only up|on one of them.</P>
<P N="1">1. Look into the Chapter, and you &s;hall finde that they were many of them <HI>wi&s;emen,</HI> that knew the times, and what belonged <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>VVi&s;dome. ver&s;.</HI> 32.</NOTE> to every one of their dueties labour for <HI>that,</HI> you have a Promi&s;e, That God will grant wi&s;edome to tho&s;e that &s;eek it. Secoondly, They were <HI>skillfull men</HI> every one of them, able to doe that <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Skill. ver&s;.</HI> 2. 33. 35, 36.</NOTE> which belonged to his place: Doe not you undertake any thing but what God hath fitted you for. Thirdly, They were <HI>Couragious men,</HI> their faces were like Lyons, they abhorred <NOTE PLACE="marg">3 <HI>Courage. ver&s;</HI> 8, 21:</NOTE> any danger, when it was in <HI>Davids</HI> cau&s;e; labour for &s;uch a &s;pirit; &s;ay as <HI>Nehemiah</HI> did, <HI>&s;hould &s;uch a man as I flie, no not to &s;ave my life; flie</HI> when I am ingaged for Chri&s;t. Fourthly, <NOTE PLACE="marg">4 <HI>Love. ver&s;.</HI> 18.</NOTE> They had a Spirit of <HI>Love,</HI> infinite love to <HI>David,</HI> and his Cau&s;e, you &s;hall finde, when &s;ome of tho&s;e that <HI>David</HI> mo&s;t &s;u&s;pe|cted, came unto him when hee was at a very low ebbe, he asked them whether they came friendly and heartily, they an&s;wered pre|&s;ently, <HI>thine we are, David, Peace be unto thee, &amp;c.</HI> So &s;ay, <HI>thine we are, Lord Chri&s;t, thine we are, peace be to thy Cau&s;e;</HI> oh come with Love, that is the greate&s;t means of all, it is the band of Perfection, and the only way to build up the Church of Chri&s;t: I will, &s;aith <HI>Paul,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 12, <HI>ule.</HI></NOTE> &s;hew you a more <HI>excellent way,</HI> and that is <HI>Love,</HI> a more excellent way then coming w^t^h interpretation of Tongues a more excellent way then Prophecying, the mo&s;t excellent of all others they came with infinite <HI>readine&s;&s;e of &s;pirit,</HI> &s;o ready, that no man &s;hould need <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Reddine&s;&s;e of minde. v.</HI> 24.</NOTE> to call, <HI>goe ye,</HI> and <HI>goe ye,</HI> but <HI>let us goe,</HI> every one &s;triving which &s;hould be fir&s;t. Another (which indeed was a great one) was
<PB N="24" REF="15">
<HI>&s;inglene&s;&s;e of heart, &s;incerity,</HI> no man driving any work or de&s;igne of <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 33. 38. 6. <HI>Singlene&s;&s;e of Heart.</HI></NOTE> his own; verily, the doing of that, the looking of &s;elf-ends hath been the way of them who have built up Anti-chri&s;ts Kingdome, but an abhorred thing among them that build up Chri&s;ts Kingdome, they de&s;ire no other reward, but only to <HI>&s;ee Chri&s;t on his throne;</HI> &s;et up that, and you give them <HI>Peace</HI> enough, <HI>Gold</HI> enough, <HI>Honour</HI> enough, you give them enough of <HI>all,</HI> &s;o the worke may be done, for which they are imployed, all the&s;e are in that Chapter.</P>
<P>But the greate&s;t of all is that which I would more fully &s;peak of, and commend unto you, even the <HI>Concord and unitie of heart,</HI> and <NOTE PLACE="marg">7. <HI>And above all, Vnity and Concord.</HI></NOTE> unitie of minde, of Spirit, free from devi&s;ions and di&s;&s;entions a|mong them&s;elves, &s;o my Text &s;aith, <HI>All the&s;e came with one heart, and one minde,</HI> and again, <HI>all of them with one perfect heart, to &s;et up</HI> David <HI>to be their King:</HI> This I would commend to you, as the greate&s;t means of all the re&s;t, beloved, there is innumerable arguments for the per&s;wading of you to it, it is the work of this day, you are this day met together to prai&s;e God for it, and therefore it will be very &s;ea&s;onable for me to commend it to you.</P>
<P N="1">1. This vnity of heart, and concurrence of &s;pirit to this worke, is the <HI>beautifulle&s;t thing</HI> in all the world&punc; <HI>behould how comely a thing it is for bretheren to dwell together in vnity,</HI> nothing more beautifull <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 133. 1.</NOTE> then vnity and concord in a good worke: All that write of beau|ty, &s;ay, that <HI>Symotry</HI> is the be&s;t part of it, to have a &s;weet joyning of &s;pirits and hearts together to &s;et vp Chri&s;ts Kingdome is the lovelie&s;t thing in the world.</P>
<P>2^l^y, It is <HI>vtile</HI> a&s;well as <HI>jucundum,</HI> &s;trong a&s;well as lovely, it is <NOTE PLACE="marg">The &s;trongest and mo&s;t effe|ctuall means.</NOTE> the greate&s;t meanes of &s;afety in all the World to have vnion and concord among them that are engaged in Chri&s;ts cau&s;e, an Arch is the &s;tronge&s;t building, and a circle the &s;tronge&s;t Figure, becau&s;e in both each part &s;upports and &s;trengthens one another in truth, it is the greate&s;t meanes of &s;afety to any weake people: It is well ob&s;erved by one, that a <HI>few de&s;pi&s;ed Jewes</HI> when they are but of one <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>He&s;ter.</HI> 8. 11.</NOTE> heart and one minde, re&s;olved every man to &s;tand clo&s;e to other for their lives, they have &s;trength enough again&s;t their enemies of 127 Provinces, that they dare not &s;tir again&s;t them, yea it &s;trikes
<PB N="25" REF="15">
terror into their enemies, when they &s;ee how re&s;olutely and boldly they will &s;tand out in it; &s;o when the Lords people, they that own Chri&s;ts Cau&s;e are, as <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;aith, the Church of Chri&s;t <HI>is terrible like an army with Banners,</HI> with their Banners di&s;plaied and well ordered; there is no &s;trength of enemies able to &s;tand before them: and it is ob&s;erved of <HI>France,</HI> that if it do not combat it &s;elf, all the world cannot conquer it: and <HI>Tacitus</HI> ob&s;erved it long &s;ince, that the <HI>Romans</HI> had never conquered <HI>England,</HI> if their petty Princes had not been divided among them&s;elves; and &s;ome Hi&s;torians &s;hew, how that all the times, when <HI>England</HI> was conquered by the <HI>Romans,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Dum pugnent &s;inguli vin|cuntur uni|ver&s;i.</NOTE> <HI>Saxons, Normans,</HI> it was alwayes cau&s;ed by the divi&s;ions that were among them&s;elves; O therefore I be&s;eech you, &s;ince this unity and concord is &s;uch a &s;trength, labour to be all of one heart, and all of one mind in this Work.</P>
<P>And there are three things before your eyes, which may extreme|ly whet up your &s;pirits to it: the one is the practice of your adver|&s;aries; <NOTE PLACE="marg">Motives to unity and con|cord. 1. Fir&s;t from the example of the enemy. P&s;al. 83. 6. 7. 26.</NOTE> do but mark what combinations they make, <HI>The Tabernacles of</HI> Edom <HI>and the</HI> I&s;hmalites, <HI>of</HI> Moab <HI>and the</HI> Hagarens, <HI>Gebal and Ammon, and Amalech, the Phili&s;tims, and they that dwell at Tyre, A&s;hur joyned with them, and the children of Lot, all of them in one;</HI> Look upon them in <HI>Ireland,</HI> in <HI>England,</HI> you &s;hall &s;ee them bound by <HI>Oaths,</HI> by <HI>Covenants,</HI> you &s;hall &s;ee them &s;ending into <HI>France,</HI> offering offen&s;ive and defen&s;ive leagues to <HI>Antichri&s;tian</HI> people: &s;o they will but joyne to come and help to ruine us; &s;hall there be this care among them to de&s;troy us, and &s;hall not we be united?</P>
<P>Secondly, you &s;ee, and this dayes work &s;ets it before your eyes, <NOTE PLACE="marg">2. From their indeavours to to divide us.</NOTE> what infinite indeavours they u&s;e to oppo&s;e all our union, if the City and Parliament be united, if the two Hou&s;es be united, if <HI>England</HI> and <HI>Scotland</HI> be united, what extreme indeavours are u&s;ed, what &s;tone is not rolled, what &s;ort of men is not attempted, what Profe&s;&s;ion &s;oever they be of, be they Je&s;uites, be they Friers, be they Prie&s;ts, be they Profe&s;&s;ors, be they &s;uch as they call Puritanes, they try them all, to &s;ee if they can but divide the City from Parliament, the Hou&s;es one from another, the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> from the <HI>Scots,</HI> what would they not buy it at? <HI>Hoc Illiacus velit &amp; magno mercentur Atridae,</HI> millions of gold would they give to effect it.</P>
<P>Thirdly, con&s;ider their greate&s;t hope, and our greate&s;t danger is in our divi&s;ions: A Diamond (they &s;ay) is ea&s;ily cut with its owne
<PB N="26" REF="16">
du&s;t, and a Hou&s;e is then mo&s;t like to fall, when all the joynts of it begin to part one from another: unity and con|cord among brethren, are well compared to the bars of a Ca|&s;tle, not ea&s;ily broken, and while they remain firme, give &s;afety <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 18. 19.</NOTE> and &s;ecurity, but when they are once broken, they will hardly be made whole: they are al&s;o fitly compared to a Cable roap, which will not ea&s;ily break, but if once cut a&s;under, its hard to tye a knot upon it again. I be&s;eech you therefore, you honourable Lords, and Nobles, and Commons, you Reverend Divines, you Valiant Soul|diers, you worthy Citizens. I know you cannot in all things be all of one minde, but in what you can, be all of <HI>one heart,</HI> though you cannot in all things be of <HI>one minde;</HI> let confu&s;ion and divi&s;ion be|long to them that build <HI>Babel;</HI> let there be no noi&s;e heard at the rea|ring of the Lords Temple.</P>
<P>Next to the guilt of our &s;innes, I feare nothing &s;o much as our di|vi&s;ions, <NOTE PLACE="marg">3. From the dan|ger of divi&s;i|ons.</NOTE> but could we fir&s;t be reconciled to our God by faith, in the blood of Chri&s;t, and be firmely united together, and &s;et all our &s;houlders as one man to this work, our enemies de&s;ignes would all faile, and the work of God would pro&s;per in our hands; I will con|clude this fir&s;t Branch with that Councell of the Apo&s;tle, <HI>Phil.</HI> 2. 1. <HI>If there be therefore any Con&s;olations in Chri&s;t, if any comfort of love, if any fellow&s;hip of the Spirit, if any bowels &amp; mercies, fulfill my ioy; that</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 2. 1, 2.</NOTE> <HI>ye be like minded, having the &s;ame love, being of one accord, and of one mind.</HI> And with that 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1. 10. <HI>Now I be&s;eech you brethren, by the Name of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, that ye all &s;peak the &s;ame thing,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1&punc; Cor. 1. 10.</NOTE> <HI>and that there be no divi&s;ion among you, but that you be perfectly ioyned together, in the &s;ame minde, and in the &s;ame iudgement, and whereto we have attained, let us walk by the &s;ame Rule, let us minde the &s;ame thing.</HI></P>
<P>And &s;o much for the <HI>fir&s;t Branch</HI> of the matter of their joy; they met together to &s;et up <HI>David</HI> to be King, that is, <HI>David</HI> as he was a Type of our Lord Ie&s;us Chri&s;t, whom we are endeavouring to Exalt upon his Throne. The time commands me to be very &s;hort in the other Branch, and I may very well, for if the Lord &s;hould not pro|&s;per us in <HI>this,</HI> that we &s;hould not <HI>Ioyn togethee to &s;et up Chri&s;t,</HI> in vaine &s;hall we attempt the other; and if the Lord ble&s;&s;e this work in our hands; this will either in due time bring about the other, or in|fallibly &s;upply the defect of it, and make us happie without it.</P>
<P><PB N="27" REF="16">
Briefly, the Le&s;&s;on from it is this: <HI>That &s;uch a concurrence</HI> (as is aforementioned) <HI>to &s;et up a Prince in this Common-weal, like to</HI> Da|vid, <NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Branch. A great happi|ne&s;&s;e in a good King. Proved by Scripture.</NOTE> <HI>is a matter of great ioy and reioycing.</HI></P>
<P>I &s;hall according to promi&s;e be very brief in it: had not the time pre|vented, I would have produced &amp; opened unto you divers examples out of the Scripture, of the great content &amp; joy which hath bin, where there hath met a concurrence of the Nobles &amp; Leaders of the people, <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 29. 21. 1 King. 1. 4<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">. 2 King. 11. 17 &amp;c. Nehem. 12. 4. 3 And from the relation be|tween a King and his people. Iudg. 11. 87. 1 King 2. 43. E&s;ay 49. 23. People happy in a good King. Iob 29. 16. Iudg. 5. 7 2 Sam. 21. 12. Lament. 4. 20. Eccle&s;. 10. 16. Dan. 4. 21.&punc; 2 Sam. 18. 3. Prov. 24. 21. 2 Pet. 2. 16. 1 Chron. 12. 18. Tit. 3. 1. Act. 4. 19. Rom. 13. 1. 2 1 Kin. 21. 23. Ezra. 10. 1 Tim. 2. 12. 2 Chron. 15. 12. Lev. 19. 15. Rom. 13. 34. 1 Tim. 2. 2. Iob 29. 16. Neh. 5. 1. &amp;c. Mi&s;erable in a bad King.</NOTE> to &s;et up a good Magi&s;trate over them; <HI>viz.</HI> in <HI>David,</HI> in <HI>Solomon,</HI> in <HI>Io|a&s;h,</HI> in <HI>Nehemiahs,</HI> and divers others, where when good Governours and Governments have been &s;et up, the people have infinitly rejoy|ced; But you'l under&s;tand it fully, by that time I have but a little &s;hew|ed you the relation, betwixt a Prince and his people; he is their <HI>Head,</HI> their <HI>Lord,</HI> their <HI>Father,</HI> they are his children, he is (&s;o the Scripture cals it) to be the <HI>light of their eyes,</HI> the <HI>breath</HI> of their <HI>no&s;trils</HI> a kind of <HI>Fountaine</HI> to derive all good to them; this he is <HI>ex Officio;</HI> and there|fore it follows, that the <HI>goodne&s;&s;e,</HI> or <HI>ilne&s;&s;e</HI> of Princes, is not to <HI>them|&s;elves</HI> alone, but all their <HI>people</HI> do &s;hare with them, either in ble&s;&s;ed|ne&s;&s;e, or in mi&s;ery, according as the Prince is in goodne&s;&s;e, or in bad|ne&s;&s;e: Let the Prince be a good man, a <HI>David,</HI> he is then like unto <HI>Nebuchadnezzars tree, which he &s;aw in his vi&s;ion, that had meat for all, the fruit thereof much, and boughs for birds to make their ne&s;ts in, and &s;helter for all bea&s;ts, that they might dwell under it;</HI> that is, affording reliefe and comfort to all: Hee is the light of the eyes to his people, the breath of their no|&s;trils, he is worth 10000. of them: And to &s;uch an one, the people do mo&s;t joyfully (as they ought to do) yeeld <HI>reverence, (even</HI> the greate&s;t next unto God) and <HI>allegiance</HI> to their per&s;on, and authori|ty, <HI>&s;ubiection</HI> and <HI>obedience</HI> to their Laws, <HI>maintenance</HI> out of their own e&s;tates, and furni&s;h them with <HI>coun&s;ell,</HI> and all manner of Prayer, cheerfully as they ought to do; becau&s;e under &s;uch a Prince, <HI>religion</HI> is <HI>pre&s;erved,</HI> if it be <HI>corrupt,</HI> it is <HI>purged, reformed, iu&s;tice</HI> is <HI>admini|&s;tred</HI> without partiality, <HI>good men</HI> are <HI>incouraged, Peace</HI> is <HI>procured,</HI> and <HI>pre&s;erved; Trades</HI> are likewi&s;e enriched; <HI>Learning,</HI> and all &s;uch like promoted, the <HI>Poor</HI> are <HI>relieved, all</HI> made <HI>happy:</HI> can you won|der then, that where there is a concurrence to have &s;uch an one &s;et up, there is great <HI>Ioy:</HI> on the other &s;ide, let the Prince be either <HI>weak</HI> and <HI>fooli&s;h,</HI> or <HI>wicked,</HI> and <HI>ungodly, riotous</HI> and <HI>luxurious,</HI> let him be <HI>cruell</HI> and <HI>tyrannicall,</HI> O how mi&s;erable are that people under him?
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how great is the <HI>darkne&s;&s;e,</HI> where the <HI>light</HI> is turned into <HI>darkne&s;&s;e?</HI> how mi&s;erable is the <HI>body,</HI> where the very <HI>Organs</HI> of their <HI>breathing,</HI> the breath of their no&s;trils comes to be corrupted, or taken from them? how mi&s;erable are they, when the very <HI>Fountain,</HI> that &s;hould afford them comfort is <HI>Poy&s;oned?</HI> &s;uch a Prince is like to <HI>Ieroboam,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> King. 26. 16</NOTE> that compels the people to &s;in and mi&s;ery; like unto the <HI>Dragon</HI> who when he fell from heaven, drew the very <HI>Starres</HI> from heaven to the ground with him; like to great <HI>Cedars</HI> which when they fall, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Revel. 12. 4.</NOTE> break <HI>all</HI> the woods that are round about them; thus by their Prince are a people made happy or mi&s;erable, and &s;o <HI>Solomon</HI> expre&s;&s;es it in his <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tes, Happy art thou O Land,</HI> if they Prince be thus, <HI>Mi&s;erable art thou O Land,</HI> if thy Prince be thus; mu&s;t you not then <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;. 10. 16, 17.</NOTE> count it a matter of great joy, to have a good King &s;et up to rule over you?</P>
<P>I adde &s;econdly, that this is a greater matter of joy, when the <HI>Nobles, the Parliament, the leading men of the Citie and Tribes</HI> con|cur <NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> to have &s;uch a one, both becau&s;e that <HI>is the mo&s;t likely meanes to</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Such a con|currence a great meanes to effect it. 2 King 11. 4. &amp;c. Or &s;upply the want of it.</NOTE> <HI>obtaine it,</HI> God promi&s;ing his ble&s;&s;ings to &s;uch indeavours; and they likewi&s;e having &s;ome beames of Gods authority put upon them, may by their Councell and Example, make the Prince to be good, and in|able him to carry out the publike good; or if that cannot be attained, (through Gods mercy) by their meanes, there may be a &s;upply of what is wanting in him to make the people happie, though they faile of it in the other; I &s;hall make a brief application of this &s;econd Branch, and &s;o pa&s;&s;e over it.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, if to have a <HI>David</HI> to be our King, is &s;uch a ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e? <NOTE PLACE="marg">Application. 1. They are ther|fore cur&s;ed who hinder this.</NOTE> then how cur&s;ed, and ten thou&s;and times cur&s;ed are they who en|deavour for ever to rob us of that happine&s;&s;e: who as they would rob us of Chri&s;t, the greate&s;t happine&s;&s;e for our <HI>&s;ouls,</HI> &s;o they would for ever deprive us, of having any hope to be ble&s;&s;ed under a Prince, that &s;hould be like unto <HI>David;</HI> who have rent off the per&s;on, and the affection of our Soveraign from us; who endeavour to in&s;till principles of crueltie into his brea&s;t, again&s;t us, and foment them in him, who have provoked him to rai&s;e Armes to de&s;troy his Nobles, and Commons, and Divines, and this mo&s;t honoured City, and even all who have beene mo&s;t faithfull, have put him into Armes to ruin us; and when we but &s;tand up for our own defence, repre&s;ent us to him as Traytors, and Rebells, becau&s;e we will not give up our
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Throates to be cut by them, at their plea&s;ure, and our goods to be wholly po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed by them; If I had all Rhetorick, it would yet be &s;hort of &s;peaking of the&s;e men, what they do de&s;erve. I can more fitly compare them to none, then to the <HI>Iewes</HI> long &s;ince in <HI>England,</HI> who (before they were bani&s;hed hence) threw bags of poi&s;on into the fountains and wells, that the people were to drink of, and &s;o in|deavoured to poi&s;on them all. Accur&s;ed men there are who labour to make the breach &s;o wide, that we &s;hould never hope to &s;it under the &s;hadow of our Prince, with any hope and confidence; who would rather have our &s;treetes run with our blood, and venture their own too, then that we &s;hould have a Prince like unto <HI>David,</HI> that is, <HI>Iu&s;t, ruling in the feare of the Lord,</HI> to be like the morning light, and the morning without clouds when the &s;un ari&s;eth: I &s;uppo&s;e none of the&s;e men are here pre&s;ent, and I love not to &s;peak much of ab&s;ent men, but onely tell you, what cau&s;e we have (as to cur&s;e them) &s;o to ble&s;&s;e, the Lord God, who hitherto hath delivered us out of their hands, <HI>and let the Lord, the righteous Lord, be iudge between us and them.</HI></P>
<P>The other u&s;e of it is, to you, Honourable, Reverend and be|loved, who next unto the &s;etting up of Chri&s;t, have hitherto indea|vored <NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Exhortation to indeavour after this hap|pine&s;&s;e.</NOTE> by your Petitions, your Remon&s;trances, your Supplications, and by all means po&s;&s;ible, &s;o re&s;cue our Soveraign out of their hands, that not only there might be a right under&s;tanding betwixt us and Him, but that He might in truth raign over us as <HI>David,</HI> and His Throne made like unto <HI>Davids;</HI> I humbly pray you, go on in the&s;e indeavours, that if the Lord &s;ee it good, it may be &s;o; if He will have it otherwi&s;e, we &s;hall have the more comfort, what ever betides us, in the unfeig|nedne&s;&s;e of our de&s;ires, and indeavours after it.</P>
<P>If you demand what hope is there of it; or what further means may <NOTE PLACE="marg">Means how to effect it.</NOTE> we u&s;e for the attaining of it? I &s;hall &s;peak only as a Divine, in com|mending the&s;e <HI>three things:</HI> The fir&s;t is; Be all of you humbled be|fore God for your own &s;ins, and for all the &s;ins that <HI>England</HI> lies guilty of; for though we are ready enough to impute it to &s;uch and &s;uch that are about Him; or it may be to &s;ome Principles of His own, believe it (Beloved) what <HI>Salomon</HI> &s;aies of the <HI>change</HI> of Princes; <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 28. 2.</NOTE> <HI>For the iniquity of a Land, many are the Princes of it:</HI> &s;o for the ini|quity of the Land, it is thus with us this day; and that is in truth the greate&s;t cau&s;e of it; the Lord could blow all this over pre&s;ently, and
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certainly, would, if hee were but reconciled to <HI>England; David</HI> did one Act, which co&s;t <HI>a matter of three &s;core and ten thou&s;and mens lives in a few dayes,</HI> a vain-glorious act, in numbring the people; but if you mark the Text, it &s;aith, <HI>That I&s;rael had provoked God to wrath, and</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 24. 1.</NOTE> <HI>then God let Satan loo&s;e upon</HI> David, <HI>to move him to that vile act,</HI> and the Lord did but take that as an occa&s;ion; and &s;o when the Lord had an intent to de&s;troy the <HI>men of Shichem,</HI> who had &s;et up <HI>Abime|lech</HI> to be their King, is &s;aid, <HI>The Lord &s;ent an evill &s;pirit between</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">udg. 9. 23, <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">6, 57.</NOTE> Abimelech <HI>and them, that they might devoure and tear one another;</HI> Why was it? even for the wickedne&s;&s;e that the people as well as their King had been guilty of; &s;o then, if ever you would have your Prince re&s;tored as a <HI>David,</HI> to be a ble&s;&s;ing to you, labour all to be humbled every one for the iniquity of his own heart and life, and for all the prodigious wickedne&s;&s;es that this Kingdome &s;tands guil|tie of.</P>
<P>Secondly, Commend him to the Lords working upon his heart, by your daily prayers: <HI>The Kings heart</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Salomon) is in the hand</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2. P<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">o. 21. 1.</NOTE> <HI>of the Lord, as the rivers of water, hee turns it which way he plea&s;eth;</HI> meaning plainly, there is no way in the world to alter the &s;pirit of a Prince, but only by the work of God, and God can do it in a moment: <HI>E&s;au</HI> came again&s;t his <HI>Brother</HI> with four hundred armed men, full of deadly rage, re&s;olving to de&s;troy him; <HI>Iacob &s;pent a night in prayer,</HI> on a &s;udden God turned <HI>E&s;au's</HI> heart, that hee fell upon his brothers neck, and ki&s;&s;ed him, as if hee had been the deare&s;t brother in the world to him; And had the <HI>King</HI> forty thou&s;and of the brave&s;t &s;oul|diers under heaven, were all our Armies di&s;&s;olved, were our Gates opened, were they marching in with a re&s;olution to plunder our Ci|ties, to ravi&s;h our wives, and make our City flow with blood, if the <HI>Lord</HI> did but &s;peak the word, their hearts would be turned pre&s;ent|ly, therefore do as <HI>Nehemiah</HI> did, when hee was to deal with a King, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Nehem. <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> that was of a nature rugged enough, when he was to goe to him, he <HI>fir&s;t made his prayer to God,</HI> and the Lord turned the heart of the King toward him; do as the good people did in the <HI>P&s;alme,</HI> beg of God that the King might heare: Save Lord, <HI>Let the King heare us</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 20. ult.</NOTE> <HI>when we call;</HI> commend it to the Lord, and the Lord can bring it about ea&s;ily.</P>
<P>Thirdly, e&s;pecially you that are in great place, that are the Lords and Commons, our Senators, if ever you would have it well, you mu&s;t
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do your utmo&s;t to remove all the wicked from his Throne, and in &s;tead of them, you mu&s;t indeavour to have men of wi&s;dome and god|line&s;&s;e placed about him; this mu&s;t be done, if you will hope for a ble&s;&s;ing in Gods way; <HI>Take away</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Salomon) the dro&s;&s;e from the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 25. 4.</NOTE> <HI>&s;ilver, then there &s;hall come forth a ve&s;&s;ell for the refiner, a choyce ve&s;|&s;el, fit for an honourable u&s;e;</HI> but otherwi&s;e let him make up a ve&s;&s;ell of dro&s;&s;e and &s;ilver together, who will regard it? So (&s;aith he) <HI>Take away the wicked from the King, and his Throne is e&s;tabli&s;hed in righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e;</HI> And certainly, if wicked men be pe&s;ts and plagues, in what part of the Land &s;oever they are found, they are much more &s;o, when they are found in the Courts of Princes; Labour therefore to remove them, and to &s;et others in their room: <HI>Salomon</HI> &s;aith excel|lently in that place of the <HI>Proverbs,</HI> For the iniquity of the Land, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 28. 2.</NOTE> many are the Princes of it; then it followes, <HI>But by a man of under|&s;tanding and knowledge, the State thereof &s;hall be prolonged;</HI> I think he means it not only of a wi&s;e Prince, but he means this; that as the wicked men corrupts their Princes, drawes them to di&s;&s;olute|ne&s;&s;e, tyranny, &amp;c. and &s;o to ruine them and the Land: So grave and good Coun&s;ellors, prudent men about him, are great means to pro|long the tranquillity of it: I could &s;hew you by examples how, not only wi&s;e and good Princes, wi&s;e and good States-men, but even women (as &s;ome of them have been the ruine of many Princes; &s;o by the &s;ea&s;onable advice of women) Princes and Cities have been pre&s;erved: you know the wi&s;e advice of <HI>Abigail</HI> kept <HI>David</HI> from <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Sam. 25. 1.</NOTE> &s;hedding innocent blood. And there was a <HI>poor woman</HI> in the City <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 20.</NOTE> of <HI>Abel,</HI> who by &s;peaking to <HI>Ioab,</HI> delivered all the City; and <HI>Solo|mon</HI> tels you, in the ninth of <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tes,</HI> of <HI>a poor, wi&s;e, good man,</HI> who delivered <HI>a &s;mall City,</HI> when <HI>a great King</HI> came again&s;t it, with <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;. 9. 13.</NOTE> <HI>a great Army;</HI> I be&s;eech you therefore let it be in your indeavours, to get &s;uch about him; I hope you imagine not that I would have &s;uch &s;et about Him for their own preferments or gain, no, no, the man that aims at &s;uch things, will never be good for any thing; hee who once &s;ets up <HI>Mammon</HI> to be his God, is not fit to &s;erve either God or his Prince, or Church or State; but I &s;peak of men of integrity and faithfulne&s;&s;e, of goodne&s;&s;e, who will trample all under their feet; &s;o <HI>that Chri&s;t might raign,</HI> and <HI>that a Kingdome might be made happy;</HI> &s;uch men &s;et about a Prince, may make a King like <HI>David,</HI> and pre&s;erve him &s;uch a one, if he be &s;o; and &s;o (right ho|nourable)
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have I done with the fir&s;t part of my Text, <HI>The matter of their joy;</HI> the concurrence of them, to &s;et up <HI>David</HI> to be their King.</P>
<P>I &s;hould now have come to the &s;econd, The manner of expre&s;&s;ing <NOTE PLACE="marg">2. <HI>Ob&s;.</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">uch joy may be expre&s;&s;ed by fea&s;ting.</NOTE> their joy, which was by <HI>fea&s;ting;</HI> you'le have enough of that anon: All that I &s;hall &s;ay &s;hall be, to per&s;wade you to take heede that you have not too much of it; I have not time to handle it, otherwi&s;e I could have &s;hewed you, How Gods people u&s;ed on &s;uch occa&s;ions as the&s;e, to have fea&s;ting and rejoycing: But I mu&s;t confe&s;&s;e our dayes are &s;uch in regard of the manifold di&s;tre&s;&s;es, that this Kingdom and poore Ireland are wrapped in, that were it not upon &s;uch an occa&s;ion as this fea&s;t is, I &s;hould &s;ay to all Fea&s;ters as <HI>Vriah</HI> &s;aid to <HI>David,</HI> when he would have him go home to his wife, <HI>The Arke</HI> (&s;aid he) <HI>and I&s;rael, and my Lord Ioab, and all lye in the open field, and &s;hall I go home to be merry with my wife, as the Lord liveth I will not doe it?</HI> &s;o I would &s;ay el&s;e to all Fea&s;ters, Is <HI>Ireland</HI> undon? and &s;o many Counties in the Kingdom in that di&s;tre&s;&s;e, are there &s;o many hun|dreds, &s;o many thou&s;ands that lived heretofore like Nobles, like Gentlemen, who now have hardly bread to put into their bellies, and can&s;t thou finde money and co&s;t in needle&s;&s;e and Prodigall fea|&s;ting? this I &s;hould el&s;e have &s;aid; But I confe&s;&s;e (beloved) to my poore ob&s;ervation, Never was there a fea&s;t upon a better occa&s;ion among us, nor for a better <HI>end,</HI> then the Fea&s;t of this day; not upon a <HI>better occa&s;ion,</HI> that when the enemie did endeavour to ruin us, by our divi&s;ion, that this &s;hould be made an <HI>occa&s;ion</HI> of our fea&s;ting and rejoycing together; and for &s;uch an <HI>end,</HI> that whereas they would faine blow it over all the Kingdom, over all the world, that we are rent and divided a &s;under, the Lords from Commons, and both Hou&s;es from the Citie, &amp;c. we purpo&s;ely Fea&s;t to prai&s;e God, and tell all the world there is no &s;uch matter; that we are all one, of one heart, and one minde; that our eating and drinking &s;hould &s;peake this out, that all the world &s;hould heare it; It is a ble&s;&s;ed opportunitie, and the Lord guided them who ever fir&s;t per&s;waded to it; I onely pray you (Lords and Gentlemen) in your Fea&s;ting, do onely what becomes a Fea&s;t, which followes a holy Con|vocation, a day of rejoycing in the Lord; and therefore in it, ob&s;erve the&s;e few Rules. Remember, (fir&s;t) God mu&s;t be re|garded, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rules for Fea|&s;ting.</NOTE> bani&s;h not Chri&s;t out of your Company; let there be no
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carriage at your Table which may grieve him, and make him &s;ay, <HI>This Roome I delight not to be in;</HI> Remember all the Fea&s;ts of Gods people in the Old Te&s;tament, they were <HI>Sacrifices,</HI> or Fea&s;ts which were accompanied with <HI>Sacrifices,</HI> yea the very heathen counted them prophan men, who would offer to make a fea&s;t of that, that was not fir&s;t offered to their gods, hereby to make it ble&s;&s;ed to them; <HI>So do you</HI> eate and drink as in the pre&s;ence of the Lord, that you may prai&s;e the Name of the Lord, who hath &s;hewed this mercy to you; doe as the little birds, who take not one drop, but they lift up their heads to heaven, as if they would tell all the world, whence they received their food; &s;o do you acknowledge the Lord, give him his glory and his prai&s;e; let there be no uncomely carriage among you; I &s;hould ju&s;tly be blamed if I &s;hould think you needed any per&s;wa|&s;ion to keepe you from drinking healths, from riot and exce&s;&s;e; I know you abhor it, but I beg that none of your &s;ervants, nor atten|dants may do it, that nothing may be done which would grieve the Lord.</P>
<P>Secondly, let the maine end of your fea&s;ting be <HI>Symbolum &amp; vin|culum charitatis,</HI> a pledge and bond to &s;hew, and more, to make you all one, of one heart, and one minde; that you may pledge one ano|ther in &s;uch a Cup, as may not only &s;peak you all to be one, but may attaine the very end, for which this fea&s;t is made, more to ingage you in this Common cau&s;e. That this Fea&s;t, may be as a Fea&s;t, which (I think) <HI>Lucian</HI> &s;peakes of it, where a poore wronged man made a Fea&s;t of an Oxe, and every one who ta&s;ted of his meate, did there|by engage him&s;elfe to live and dye with that poore man to recover his right, in &s;omewhat that he was wronged in; and &s;o let this en|gage your Spirits, that now you have eaten and drunk of their Cup, that Your and their Spirits, and Prayers, and Hearts, and Pur&s;es &s;hall be all one; O if this might be the carriage of it, this day would be a <HI>ble&s;&s;ed day.</HI></P>
<P>There is one thing more, that mu&s;t not be forgotten, you mu&s;t in &s;uch fea&s;tings as the&s;e, <HI>Remember the poore, for whom nothing is pro|vided;</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">3.</NOTE> alwayes did Gods people make at their fea&s;ts <HI>collections</HI> or <HI>contributions</HI> in <HI>He&s;ter,</HI> in <HI>Nehemiah, &amp;c. Go your wayes and eate and</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">He&s;ter 9. Nehem. 8.</NOTE> <HI>drinke, and remember them, for whom nothing is provided;</HI> and the very heathens upon &s;uch occa&s;ions would &s;end portions at their Fe&s;tivall times to the poore and needy. And for that very end I confe&s;&s;e I
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was in hope that at &s;uch a great meeting as this is, there would have been &s;ome publike contribution and collection, that there being &s;o many poore brethren in the Town, plundred, and undone, and di|&s;tre&s;&s;ed, our fea&s;ting might have given them a refre&s;hing al&s;o; but it did not appeare fit (as I am informed) to the wi&s;dome of this Noble Citie, when they had invited the Honourable Hou&s;es of Parliament and others, to refre&s;h the poore at the co&s;t of their ghe&s;ts, but what is to be done for the poore, they will do it at their own proper co&s;ts and charges, I know they will not forget them; but I be&s;eech you all not to omit this duty upon this Fe&s;tivall day; though there be no Ba&s;ons at the door, before you &s;leep, finde &s;ome Ba&s;on or other, finde &s;ome poore, to whom you may do &s;omewhat, that they may know that your hearts have remembred the afflicted in this day, wherein God hath refre&s;hed you: and &s;o much for this time.</P>
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<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
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