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<DATE>2007-08-01</DATE>
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<NAME>Simon Charles</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed</ITEM>
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<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="license">
<PB REF="1">
<HEAD>Die Jovis 29 Octob. 1646.</HEAD>
<P>ORdered by the Lords in Parlia|ment A&s;&s;embled, That Mr. <HI>Mar|&s;hall,</HI> one of the A&s;&s;embly of Divines, is hereby Thanked for his great paines ta|ken in his Sermon the la&s;t Fa&s;t, Preached before the Lords of Parliament, in the Abbey Church <HI>We&s;tmin&s;ter:</HI> And he is hereby de&s;ired to Print and Publi&s;h the &s;ame; which is to bee Printed onely by Authority under his own Hand.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Joh. Browne Cler. Parliamentorum.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="appointment to print">
<P>I doe hereby appoint <HI>Stephen Bowtell</HI> to Print my Sermon.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Stephen Mar&s;hall.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>A Tvvo-edged Svvord OUT OF THE MOVTH OF BABES, TO <HI>Execute vengeance upon the Enemy and Avenger.</HI></P>
<P>Pre&s;ented in a Sermon to the Right Honou|rable the Hou&s;e of Lords a&s;&s;embled in Parliament, in the Abbey-Church at <HI>We&s;tmin&s;ter, Octob.</HI> 28. 1646. the &s;olemn day of their Monthly <HI>FAST.</HI></P>
<P><HI>By</HI> STEPHEN MARSHALL <HI>B. D. Mini&s;ter of Gods Word at</HI> Finchingfield <HI>in</HI> E&s;&s;ex.</P>
<Q><BIBL>E&s;a; 41. 14, 15.</BIBL> <HI>Feare not thou Worme</HI> Jacob, <HI>thou &s;halt thre&s;h the Moun|taines, and beat them to du&s;t.</HI></Q>
<Q><BIBL>Jer 31. 22.</BIBL> <HI>The Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, a Woman &s;hall compa&s;&s;e a Man.</HI></Q>
<Q><BIBL>Revel. 11. 5.</BIBL> <HI>If any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies.</HI></Q>
<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed by <HI>R. Cotes</HI> for <HI>Stephen Bowtell,</HI> at the Bible in <HI>Popes-head-alley,</HI> 1646.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE THE <HI>LORDS</HI> A&s;&s;embled in Parliament.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Right Honorable,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_THis Sermon publi&s;hed by your Order, holds out an in&s;tance of what St. <HI>Paul</HI> preached 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1. 27, 28. <HI>God hath cho&s;en the fooli&s;h things of the world to con|found the wi&s;e; the weake things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and ba&s;e things of the world, and things which are de&s;pi&s;ed hath God cho&s;en; yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 1. 27, 28.</NOTE> What Creature &s;o &s;imple, weake, or ba&s;e as a Worme, a crea|ture which no man values, loves, or feares? yet here's a worme beats great Mountaines to du&s;t, and makes the hills as chaffe. What &s;o &s;hiftle&s;&s;e and unable to de|fend it &s;elfe, or offend an Enemy, as a <HI>Babe</HI> or <HI>Suck|ling?</HI> yet behold here are Babes and Sucklings quelling and de&s;troying the &s;tronge&s;t enemies, even <HI>the Enemy and Avenger.</HI> Your eares have not onely heard the&s;e things preached, but your eyes do &s;ee them fulfilled in this our day: O that the&s;e things might per&s;wade your hearts of the&s;e Two things; 1 That
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it is better, more excellent and honourable to be one of Chri&s;ts Babes, one of his weake, &s;imple, and de&s;pi&s;ed ones, then to bee one of the <HI>Zanzummims,</HI> the <HI>Nim|rods,</HI> or men of renowne of the world. 2 That the greate&s;t &s;upport and &s;trength to Families, Cities, or Kingdomes, proceeds out of the mouth of the&s;e Babes, that their hearts and tongues can doe more then an ho&s;t of Men. The fir&s;t would make you with <HI>Theo|do&s;ius,</HI> rejoyce more in being the <HI>meane&s;t Chri&s;tian,</HI> then in being the <HI>greate&s;t earthly Potentate.</HI> The latter would provoke you both to plant the Kingdome with faithful Mini&s;ters, who are Fathers to beget the&s;e Babes unto Chri&s;t; and to encourage and cheri&s;h the godly party of this Kingdom, who with <HI>Mordecai</HI> will &s;eek the wealth of the Kingdom, and as &s;o many &s;hields under God, defend this Nation again&s;t all its enemies, <HI>The&s;e Innocents will deliver the Iland, and it &s;hal be delivered by the purene&s;s of their hands;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 22. 30.</NOTE> Yea it would provoke you to get &s;uch about you, and with <HI>David,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 101. 6.</NOTE> make your eyes &s;et upon the faithfull of the Land, that they may dwel with you, and &s;erve you, and conclude that you and your Family &s;hall be ble&s;&s;ed in them. My Lords, I be&s;eech you let this bee your choice, it is the earnest prayer of</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your Honours mo&s;t obliged Servant, STEPHEN MARSHALL.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
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<BODY>
<HEAD><PB N="1" REF="3">
A SERMON <HI>PREACHED</HI> Before the Right Honourable Hou&s;e of Lords at their Monethly FAST, <HI>October</HI> 28. 1646.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>PSALME 8. 2.</BIBL>
<Q><HI>Out of the mouth of Babes and Sucklings ha&s;t thau ordai|ned &s;trength, becau&s;e of thine enemies, that thou mighte&s;t &s;till the Enemy and the Avenger.</HI></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<DIV1 TYPE="introduction">
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Introduction &s;hewing the &s;cope and parts of the P&s;alme.</NOTE> _THe 4^t^h^. Ver&s;e of this P&s;alme, is the key of the whole P&s;alme, <HI>What is man that thou art mind|full of him? or the &s;on of man, that thou vi&s;ite&s;t him?</HI> And it fully manife&s;ts, that the whole &s;cope of this P&s;alme is to glorifie God for the &s;ingular dignity that God hath put upon Man above all other Creatures; and this dignity or glory of man is exemplified in Two particulars. Fir&s;t,</P>
<P>That God hath cho&s;en out this creature Man, who&s;e origi|nall
<PB N="2" REF="4">
is from being a Babe and a Suckling to bee his <HI>Champion,</HI> whereby he will quell and de&s;troy all his enemies; that is in this &s;econd Ver&s;e. The other Branch is,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> That God hath cho&s;en this creature Man to be his Viceroy, his Deputy, to rule and govern all the workes of his hands: God hath tru&s;ted him &s;o farre, as to put all that hee hath made under Mans feet; and having done the&s;e two things for him, made him his Champion to conquer his enemies, and the Ma|&s;ter of his hou&s;e for the governing of his friends; what re|maines more to bee done for him, this is to bee a little inferi|our to God him&s;elfe; <HI>Lord, what is man, that thou art thus mind|full of him? or the &s;onne of man, that thou &s;houlde&s;t thus vi&s;it him?</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Analy&s;is of the Text.</NOTE> The fir&s;t of the&s;e two, Mans being cho&s;en to bee Gods Cham|pion, to &s;till or quiet Gods enemies; I have cho&s;en to &s;peake of this day: and in it there are the&s;e two things to bee han|dled. Fir&s;t,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> Who it is upon whom this great honour is conferred, de&s;cri|bed in the&s;e words, <HI>Babes and Sucklings.</HI> Secondly,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> The dignity or honour that is put upon them in the other words, <HI>Out of the mouth of the&s;e Babes and Sucklings thou ha&s;t or|dained &s;trength, becau&s;e of thine enemies, to &s;till the Enemy and the Avenger:</HI> And this &s;econd Branch hath two remarkable parti|culars. Fir&s;t,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> The dignity it &s;elfe which is put upon him, or what the &s;a|vour is, that hee hath received, and that is <HI>&s;trength, and &s;uch &s;trength as &s;hall quell all Gods enemies, the enemy and the aven|ger.</HI></P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> The way and manner how this &s;trength is exerci&s;ed, that is, <HI>by the mouth;</HI> Out of the mouth of Babes and Sucklings ha&s;t thou ordained &s;trength. For the interpretation of the words, all doe agree that Man is the &s;ubject here meant, but of what Man, is a great que&s;tion. <NOTE PLACE="marg">Interpretation of the Text, what is meant by Babes and Sucklings.</NOTE>I finde the greate&s;t part of Interpre|ters to agree, that it is meant of the <HI>fir&s;t Adam, Adam</HI> in his Creation, who was lifted up above all the re&s;t of the creatures, as Lord and King over them; and &s;o it is nothing, (as they conceive) but the prai&s;ing of God for the excellency that Man was endued with in the day wherein God created
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him, or formed him out of the du&s;t of the earth: but who&s;o|ever will &s;eriou&s;ly con&s;ult the New Te&s;tament, where this P&s;alme is three &s;everall times quoted, &s;hall evidently finde, that this is meant, <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>E&s;ay.</HI> 53. 3.</NOTE> not of Man in his creation, but of Man in his renovation, not of the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> but of the &s;econd <HI>Adam,</HI> of the Lord Chri&s;t, primarily I &s;ay; who grew up as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground, a poore de&s;picable beginning, made like the &s;onnes of Men, partaker of their na|ture; and &s;econdarily, of his brethren and &s;eed with him, who though they have their originall from being Babes and Suck|lings, as all other men have, yet they are the prime and the choice of all the &s;onnes of Men, and upon them hath the Lord be&s;towed this great honour, as to ordaine &s;trength out of their mouth, to quell all his and their enemies. And that this is the meaning, I &s;hall fir&s;t demon&s;trate to you out of the Scripture; <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Matth.</HI> 21. 9 15, 16. opened and explained.</NOTE>Con&s;ider the 21 of <HI>Matthew,</HI> ver&s;e 15, 16. there you will finde that when our Saviour Chri&s;t rode upon an A&s;&s;e into <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> which was but a little before his pa&s;&s;ion, God did then in&s;pire the multitude of all Chri&s;ts Di&s;ciples to owne him for their Me&s;&s;iah; and accordingly both by the way as hee came into the City, and in the Temple, after hee was come into the City, all the Di&s;ciples, yea, the very young ones, who had but newly learned to know him, did all &s;ing, <HI>Ho&s;anna to the &s;onne of David,</HI> which was an acclamation taken out of the 118 <HI>P&s;alme, ver&s;e</HI> 25, 26. the words there are, <HI>Save now I be&s;eech thee O Lord, O Lord I be&s;eech thee &s;end now pro&s;perity; ble&s;&s;ed is bee that commeth in the Name of the Lord.</HI> This the Scribes and Phari&s;ees did take to bee &s;uch an intolerable bla&s;phemy, that they &s;hould a&s;cribe unto Chri&s;t that Divine acclamation which was peculiar to God, that they come to Chri&s;t, and aske him, <HI>Heare&s;t thou what the&s;e &s;ay?</HI> can&s;t thou being but a man endure this, that <HI>Ho&s;anna</HI> &s;hould bee &s;ung unto thee, that the prai&s;es and glory due to God, &s;hould bee attributed to thee who art a man? Yes, (&s;aith Chri&s;t) I doe heare it; <HI>but have not you read, That out of the mouth of Babes and Sucklings thou ha&s;t ordained prai&s;e, &amp;c.</HI> which I confe&s;&s;e &s;ome Interpreters doe conceive to bee meant
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onely thus, that now was fulfilled that of the P&s;alme, that Babes &s;hould acknowledge him, when Rulers rejected him; but that cannot bee all the meaning, for it is cleare that the Scribes and Phari&s;ees did intimate, that Chri&s;t ought not to permit them them thus to bla&s;pheme; it was bla&s;phemy to a&s;cribe that to him that was peculiar onely to God; and Chri&s;t alledges this Text as an apology for him&s;elfe, why he did receive that acclamation, which hee might not have done, if the P&s;alme had not acknowledged it to bee his due; and had not this been a due acknowledgement of theirs, Chri&s;t could not thus have excu&s;ed them, children may not be allow|ed to &s;peak bla&s;phemy: But the other Scriptures will yet make it plainer,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Heb.</HI> 2 6, 7, 8.</NOTE> <HI>Heb.</HI> 2. <HI>v.</HI> 6, 7. this P&s;alme is brought to prove, that Je&s;us Chri&s;t as Man hath all things put under him. One in a certaine place te&s;tified, What is Man that thou art mind|full of him? or the &s;onne of Man that thou vi&s;ited'&s;t him? Thou made&s;t him a little lower then the Angels, and crow|ned&s;t him with honour, and did&s;t &s;et him over the workes of thy hands, thou ha&s;t put all things in &s;ubjection under him; and then goes on, <HI>We &s;ee not all things yet put under Man, but wee &s;ee Je&s;us, who was made a little lower then the Angels for the &s;uffering of death, crowned with honour and glory;</HI> though this dignity of having all things put under his feet, is not made good to other men, we &s;ee it is made good of Chri&s;t. And as plaine you'll finde this in 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15. <HI>ver.</HI> 25, 27. there it is &s;aid of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, ver. 25. <HI>Hee mu&s;t reigne untill bee hath put all his enemies under his feet, &V;.</HI> 26. Yea, the great enemy death it &s;elfe, <HI>The la&s;t enemy which &s;hall bee d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;troyed is death;</HI> and the proofe of all this is in ver&s;e 27, taken out of this P&s;alme, <HI>For hee hath put all things under his feet.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15. 25, 26, 27.</NOTE> And the&s;e two la&s;t Scriptures are &s;o cleare, that I finde many Lear|ned Interpreters agree that the latter part of this P&s;alme, from the 4 Ver&s;e to the end, is meant of Chri&s;t, and can bee meant of none but Chri&s;t; but &s;o mu&s;t the whole P&s;alme al&s;o, for the Prophet &s;peakes of the &s;ame <HI>Adam,</HI> or race of men, throughout the P&s;alme: be&s;ides, there is no word in all this P&s;alme, of &s;ubduing of enemies, but onely in this &s;econd
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ver&s;e. Now to this I might adde, that &s;ome other expre&s;&s;ions in this P&s;alme doe further cleare it, as ver&s;e 5. <HI>Thou maede&s;t him a little lower then the Angels,</HI> &s;o wee tran&s;late it, but in the He|brew it is, Thou made&s;t him a little lower then <HI>God,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Phil.</HI> 2. 6. 7.</NOTE> the word is <HI>Elohim,</HI> which is parallel to that expre&s;&s;ion of the 2 of the <HI>Philippians,</HI> Though our Lord was in the forme of God, and thought it no robbery to bee equall with him, yet hee made him&s;elfe of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a &s;ervant, &amp; was made in the likene&s;&s;e of men: And &s;ome Criticks conceive, (though I build not upon it) that there is a further proofe out of the very Title of the P&s;alme, <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 81. <HI>P&s;.</HI> 84.</NOTE> it is a P&s;alme up|on <HI>Gittith,</HI> the word from whence it is derived, &s;ignifies a Winepre&s;&s;e; and they conceive that this P&s;alme, and the re&s;t which beare this Title, were u&s;ually &s;ung <HI>vindemiarum,</HI> or <HI>torcularium tempore,</HI> at the time of treading their Winepre&s;&s;es, which was about the fea&s;t of Tabernacles, the fea&s;t which ty|pified the Incarnation of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. Yea, they note fur|ther, that the re&s;t of the P&s;almes upon <HI>Gittith,</HI> are P&s;almes which relate to the Incarnation of our Saviour. This then I &s;uppo&s;e wee may take as cleare, that by the Babes and Suck|lings here meant, <HI>are our Lord Chri&s;t, and his &s;eed;</HI> the &s;econd <HI>Adam,</HI> the &s;eed of the woman: The re&s;t is ea&s;ie, To the&s;e Babes and Sucklings the Lord hath ordained <HI>&s;trength, that they &s;hall quell Gods enemies,</HI> becau&s;e of <HI>thine enemies, and the enemy and the avenger.</HI> If it bee demanded, who? and what are the&s;e enemies? the an&s;wer is ready, plainely, if by the Babes and Sucklings bee meant the &s;eed of the Woman; <NOTE PLACE="marg">What is meant by enemies, and the enemy, and avenger.</NOTE>by enemies, and the enemy and the avenger, can bee under&s;tood none, but the &s;eed of the Serpent; the one is the Church militant, the o|ther is the Church malignant, Satan and all his children, his. In&s;truments, and his followers, the&s;e are the oppo&s;ite party; and el&s;ewhere is Satan called the enemy and the avenger, as P&s;alme 44. <HI>By rea&s;on of the enemy and the avenger all this is come upon us; ide&s;t,</HI> through the malice and power of the Devill and his in&s;truments. But that lie and his &s;eed, are the known and onely enemies of God and his Chri&s;t, his Church, and his people, is &s;o cleare, that it is altogether needle&s;&s;e to adde
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any further proofe. To the&s;e babes and &s;ucklings (&s;aith my Text) the Lord hath given <HI>&s;trength:</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">What is meant by <HI>&s;trength.</HI></NOTE>Strength, what is that? the Lxx. Interpreters render it, thou ha&s;t ordained <HI>prai&s;e,</HI> and &s;o it is quoted in the 21 of <HI>Matthew,</HI> but the word plainly &s;ig|nifies &s;trength; and as the Learned doe ob&s;erve, it is <HI>robur ce|lebrandum, robur laude dignum,</HI> eminent &s;trength, prai&s;e-wor|thy &s;trength, glorious &s;trength, &s;uch &s;trength as &s;hall <HI>&s;till thy enemies;</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">What by <HI>&s;till</HI> or <HI>quell.</HI></NOTE><HI>&s;till,</HI> that is the next word, <HI>That thou mighte&s;t &s;till the enemy;</HI> the word that is tran&s;lated <HI>&s;till,</HI> is &s;ometimes render'd <HI>&s;ilentium imponere,</HI> to &s;top their mouthes, the&s;e Babes &s;hall bee able in di&s;puting, to &s;top the mouthes of the adver&s;aries, that they &s;hall cea&s;e to bla&s;pheme; but frequently it &s;ignifieth, <HI>remo|vere, ce&s;&s;are facere, perdere, redigere in nihilum,</HI> to remove, de&s;troy, wholly to take away, and becau&s;e it is here u&s;ed in reference to enemies, I conceive this latter here to bee intended, that the&s;e babes and &s;ucklings have received &s;trength to overcome, and wholly to de&s;troy all Gods and their enemies. <NOTE PLACE="marg">What is meant by <HI>mouth</HI></NOTE>La&s;tly, for the meaning of this other word <HI>mouth,</HI> Out of the mouth of babes, &amp;c. the cleare meaning is, as &s;hall (Godwilling) &s;ully appeare afterward, that all this &s;trength whereby they thus overcome their enemies, proceeds out of their mouth. So then the &s;umme of it all amounts to thus much, Out of the mouth of babes and &s;ucklings ha&s;t thou ordained &s;trength, becau&s;e of thy enemies, that thou mighte&s;t quell the Enemy and the Avenger; that when Satan the Devill had ca&s;t Man from that excellency that God had given him at his Creation, even the Lord&s;hip and dominion over the creatures, and brought him into &s;pirituall &s;lavery and bondage, and had him|&s;elf become the Lord of the world, ruling and domineering in the hearts of all: God having a purpo&s;e to quell &amp; de&s;troy the power of this adver&s;ary, chu&s;es out a Champion, rai&s;es up a generation to undertake him, and in his choice did not pitch upon the &s;eed of Angels, who might &s;eeme equall matches for the Devill and all his followers, but chu&s;es out the Creature, Man, (who&s;e original is from being a babe &s;uckling, an unlike|ly Creature to cope with &s;uch an enemy) and &s;ends his owne Sonne to bee borne, and to become even a babe and &s;uckling,
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and &s;o in all, other things like unto men, except their &s;inne, and culls out a certaine number of &s;infull men to joyne with, and under him, and the&s;e hath hee endued with &s;uch valour and &s;trength, that (how unlikely &s;oever it appeare to fle&s;h and blood) they &s;hall tread under feet all the power of Gods and their enemies; and the peculiar way and manner of their figh|ting and overcomming, is by a force proceeding out of their mouth. The words thus interpreted, doe afford two excellent In&s;tructions.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Doct.</HI> 1.</NOTE> <HI>That though it bee very unlikely to fle&s;h and blood, to &s;en&s;e and rea&s;on; yet Chri&s;t and his &s;eed have &s;ufficient &s;trength wholly to rout and de&s;troy all their enemies.</HI> The &s;econd is,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Doct.</HI> 2.</NOTE> <HI>That all that power and &s;trength which Chri&s;t and his followers are endued with, proceeds out of their mouth:</HI> Out of the mouth of babes and &s;ucklings ha&s;t thou ordained &s;trength to quell thy enemies.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<P>The fir&s;t of the&s;e hath two Branches:</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Doctrine in two branches.</NOTE> That to <HI>&s;en&s;e and rea&s;on it is a mo&s;t unlikely thing, that babes and &s;ucklings &s;hould ever quell the enemy and the avenger;</HI> that Chri&s;t and his followers &s;hould ever bee able to cope with the adver&s;aries that are engaged again&s;t thems.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> That <HI>though it doe appeare mo&s;t unlikely to &s;en&s;e and rea&s;on, yet &s;o it is, they have &s;ufficient &s;trength to quell and &s;ubdue all their ene|mies;</HI> That it is an unlikely thing to &s;en&s;e and rea&s;on, I ground it upon the expre&s;&s;ion which the holy Gho&s;t hath cho&s;en, Out of the mouth of <HI>Babes and Sucklings:</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Branch.</HI> It's an unlike|ly thing to &s;en&s;e and rea|&s;on that Chri&s;t and his Church &s;hould be able to overcome their enemies.</NOTE>Chri&s;t and his followers are here called babes and &s;ucklings, not onely becau&s;e their originall is from being babes, but principally becau&s;e the Lord would &s;hew the di&s;proportion which to rea&s;on doth appeare between them and their enemies, they are babes, and the other are <HI>Gyants;</HI> they are poore &s;ucklings, the other are the enemies of God; yea, the enemy, the great enemy and the avenger: &s;o that little <HI>David</HI> with his &s;ling did beare more pro|portion to the Gyant that was armed in bra&s;&s;e, then babes and &s;ucklings can beare unto tho&s;e whom God calls his profe&s;&s;ed
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enemies; and you may ob&s;erve in the Scripture, the Lord u&s;es to &s;et it out by the mo&s;t unequall matches that can bee found; <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 31. 22, 23. opened and explained: Proved by the compari&s;on which &s;ets out the unlikeli|hood of it.</NOTE>Fir&s;t con&s;ider that expre&s;&s;ion, <HI>Jer.</HI> 31. 22. <HI>How long wilt thou goe about, thou back&s;liding daughter; for the Lord bath created a new thing in the earth, a woman &s;hall compa&s;&s;e a man.</HI> God had promi&s;ed them deliverance, and now hee blames them for going about to &s;eeke other helpes, and would not re&s;t on his word, becau&s;e they &s;aw no hope or probability of its com|ming to pa&s;&s;e; hee tells them this &s;hould bee no barre to be|lieving, for the Lord will create a new thing, <HI>a woman &s;hall com|pa&s;&s;e a man,</HI> the church was a weake woman, de&s;titute of armes, of &s;trength, of skill, the enemy from whom they &s;hould be de|livered, were as a man, yea, a &s;trong man, (&s;o the word &s;igni|fies) and &s;uch was the <HI>Babylonian</HI> Empire at that time; yet this woman &s;hall compa&s;&s;e, <HI>i. e.</HI> be&s;iege this man, &s;o as to overcome and take him: Now how improbable this was to &s;en&s;e and rea&s;on, that a weake woman &s;hould bee able to doe this to an armed man, any man may judge. Con&s;ider al&s;o that com|pari&s;on in the 41 of <HI>I&s;aiah, ver&s;e</HI> 14, 15, 16. when the Lord would &s;et out the oppo&s;ition betwixt the Church and the E|nemies, the Church is called a <HI>worme,</HI> the enemy is called a <HI>mountaine,</HI> yea, <HI>mountaines, in the plurall number;</HI> Fear not thou worme <HI>Jacob,</HI> I'll make thee my thre&s;hing in&s;trument to beate the mountaines to du&s;t. Now what proportion is there be|twixt a mountaine and a worme? one bit of a mountaine would kill 10000 wormes; but here is one worme to cope a|gain&s;t a great many mountaines, a mo&s;t unlikely thing; <HI>P&s;al,</HI> 22. <HI>ver.</HI> 6. Chri&s;t compares him&s;elfe and his people to a worm, <HI>I am a worme, and no man, a reproach of men, and de&s;pi&s;ed of the people;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 22. 6. 13. 16. 202.</NOTE> and his and their enemies hee compares to fat Bulls of <HI>Ba&s;han,</HI> to ravening and roaring Lyons, to madde and fierce dogs: Thus al&s;o our Saviour told his Di&s;ciples, they were as &s;heepe among wolves, <HI>Behold I &s;end you out as &s;heepe among wolves.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luke</HI> 10 3.</NOTE> A handfull of &s;heep goe to fight with a whole multi|tude of Wolves, is there any probability to &s;en&s;e or rea&s;on, that they &s;hould carry the victory? <NOTE PLACE="marg">Proved 2 by &s;ome in&s;tances</NOTE>But it will bee yet clearer in a few in&s;tances:</P>
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Fir&s;t, take that of the Lord Chri&s;t him&s;elf, who is the head and Captain-generall of the Party, when hee came into the world to undertake this grand enemy, even the enemy, and the avenger; marke how hee appear'd, the &s;tate of the world then &s;tood thus, the Devill and his Angels in all places were wor&s;hipped as &s;o many Gods, the Empires and Kingdomes of the world were all at the Devills di&s;po&s;e, hee was then the God of the world, and ruled in the hearts of all; the Lords friends lived in one onely corner of the world, in the Land of <HI>Judea,</HI> and they were at that time brought into captivity to the great red Dragon, the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire, the profe&s;&s;ed enemy of the God of Heaven, and the&s;e were his va&s;&s;alls; Among them commeth Chri&s;t as a Champion to undertake this great adver&s;ary; and thus he enters the Li&s;ts, <HI>borne</HI> in a &s;ta|ble, <HI>wrapped</HI> up in rags, <HI>bred</HI> a poor Carpenter, <HI>lives</HI> 30 yeares in the world almo&s;t untaken notice of, when hee did come to &s;hew that hee was the Saviour who had undertaken the re|demption of his people from their thraldome, they who &s;hould have owned him, and joyned with him, &s;corn'd him, rejected him; none but a few women and children, and fi&s;hermen, would &s;o much as acknowledge that hee was &s;ent of God, yea, they never leave him till Jewes and Romans, (fol|lowing the coun&s;ell of the Devill) had agreed together to de|&s;troy him, they tooke him, hung him upon a cro&s;&s;e, crucified him, and there let him remaine a &s;hame and a reproach, and cur&s;e, and laughing-&s;tock to all the world, and now was the time hee was to fight the field; thus was hee accompli&s;hed for the warfare, and now was hell let loo&s;e upon him: who that &s;hould have looked upon Chri&s;t at that time, would ever have thought that deliverance &s;hould have come by him? would not all have &s;aid of him, as &s;ome of the &s;onnes of Belial did of <HI>Saul,</HI> and with a great deale of more rea&s;on toe, <HI>How can this Man ever &s;ave us?</HI> fie&s;h and blood, I dare &s;ay, would have given up the Cau&s;e as lo&s;t.</P>
<P>Secondly, take another in&s;tance in the fir&s;t Champions whom Chri&s;t &s;ends out in his Name, <HI>his Apo&s;tles,</HI> and the re&s;t of
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his Di&s;ciples, taken out of Fi&s;her-boates, and from other the like conditions, and hee &s;ends them to reduce the world un|der his &s;ubjection: &s;ee what probability there was, that they &s;hould ever &s;peed: they goe out a Company of weake men, without money in their pur&s;e, without a &s;word by their &s;ide, unto a prejudiced world, where all were engaged again&s;t them, and thus mu&s;t they go to &s;ubdue the world, and how I pray? by preaching &s;uch a Doctrine as was for the greate&s;t part utterly a|bove the capacity of man, ridiculous to mans rea&s;on, that they &s;hould beleeve in a crucified God, and appoint them a way of &s;elfe-deniall, plucking out their right eye, and cutting off their right hand, and their right foot, and for&s;aking all, and ta|king up a cro&s;&s;e, and following a crucified God, and when they had done all, then they &s;hould looke for that which no man ever &s;aw, a reward in a place where no man ever was that they had heard of, a reward of glory in another world, after they had undergone nothing but mi&s;ery in this world, and with this Doctrine mu&s;t they overcome the world. When <HI>Mabomet</HI> came out, hee had a Doctrine that &s;uited Mans rea&s;on and his lu&s;ts. And when Antichri&s;t came, hee had a way that would plea&s;e what&s;oever was in a carnall heart, but the&s;e mu&s;t go out with that, again&s;t which every man hath as many prin|ciples as hee hath lu&s;ts in his heart. Would ever any man thinke, that all this project and undertaking would not have fallen pre&s;ently into the du&s;t? I could goe on (but that I have many things to handle) and &s;hew you that in all the Churches conflicts it hath been &s;o. When God &s;ent a &s;hepheard to fetch 600000 men out of the land of <HI>Egypt,</HI> where they were in bon|dage, how ridiculous an attempt would it appeare to fle&s;h and blood? When they were to come out of the Captivity of <HI>Ba|bylon;</HI> when <HI>Athana&s;ius</HI> was to undertake the Arrian world; when <HI>Luther</HI> and a few company of Fryers and Monkes that came out of their Cells, undertooke to de&s;troy the ma&s;ter|piece of policy that ever the Devill had, was there any likely|hood to fle&s;h and rea&s;on they &s;hould carry it? I adde further, every particular Saint who is brought home to Chri&s;t, is a
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&s;ufficient proofe of this, when grace comes fir&s;t into their heart, as a &s;parke of fire into a well of water, as a graine of mu&s;tard&s;eed ca&s;t into a barren ground, a poore weake Crea|ture, who hath onely learned to know the way to life, pre&s;ent|ly a&s;&s;aulted with all the power of the world and hell it &s;elfe. No man that &s;hould looke upon it with the eyes of rea&s;on, but would conclude, it will never come to any thing.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">The rea&s;on why it's &s;o un|likely to &s;en&s;e and rea&s;on.</NOTE> And there is this rea&s;on for it, becau&s;e the principles of &s;en&s;e and rea&s;on can behold and view all the power that is again&s;t them, the temptations and allurements of the Devill, the world and the fle&s;h, are all agreeable to our corrupt nature, and wee can di&s;cerne what &s;trength is in them, the oppo&s;ition which the wi&s;dome, authority and power which all the King|domes and men of the world make again&s;t the Saints, appeare in its full &s;trength, as clearly as the Army &s;ent to take <HI>Eli&s;ha</HI> the Prophet, did unto his &s;ervant.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Kings</HI> 6 15</NOTE> But on the part of the Babes and Sucklings, &s;en&s;e and rea&s;on &s;ees their weakne&s;&s;e, but &s;ees nothing, of their &s;trength, that's no more di&s;cerned then the fore mentioned &s;ervant &s;aw the mountaines full of Chari|ots and Hor&s;es of fire, before the Lord opened his eyes, that is, a hidden, &s;ecret thing can be beheld and known only by the light of faith, and the revelation of God, which they have no under|&s;tanding of; there is the fir&s;t. The &s;econd Branch is,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Branch.</HI> Yet they have &s;trength to doc it, and &s;hall doe it.</NOTE> <HI>How unlikely &s;oever it appeare, yet &s;o it is, they have a &s;trength, whereby they &s;hall and will quell all their enemies, even the enemy and the avenger,</HI> the victory is &s;ure enough: For the proofe of this, nothing is more cleare in the Book of God. Fir&s;t,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Proved fir&s;t by many promi|&s;es that it &s;hall bee &s;o.</NOTE> All the promi&s;es are for it, a thou&s;and promi&s;es have decla|red it mu&s;t bee &s;o, <HI>The &s;eed of the Woman mu&s;t breake the Ser|pents head;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 3. 15.</NOTE> <HI>I will build my Church, the gates of hell &s;hall not pre|vaile again&s;t it.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Matth.</HI> 16. 18.</NOTE> No weapon <HI>that is formed again&s;t thee &s;hall ever pro&s;per; Every tongue that ri&s;es up again&s;t thee, in judgement thou &s;halt condemne;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>E&s;ay</HI> 54. 17.</NOTE> <HI>Feare not thou worme</HI> Jacob, <HI>thou &s;halt thre&s;h the Mountaines, and beat them to du&s;t:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>E&s;ay</HI> 41. 14.</NOTE> <HI>Ari&s;e and thre&s;h O daughter of</HI> Zion, <HI>and I will make thy borne iron, and thy hoofes bra&s;&s;e, and thou fhalt breake in pieces many Nations:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Micah</HI> 4. 13.</NOTE> <HI>I will make</HI> Jeru&s;alem
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<HI>a burden&s;ome &s;tone, for all people that burden them&s;elves with it, &s;hall bee cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth bee gathe|red together again&s;t it:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Zach.</HI> 12. 3.</NOTE> <HI>God will tread Satan under your feet &s;hortly:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 16. 10.</NOTE> <HI>All that is borne of God overcomes the world:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>John</HI> 5 4</NOTE> <HI>I write unto you little children, becau&s;e yee have overcome that wicked one:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>John</HI> 2. 13.</NOTE> who hath not read abundance of &s;uch promi&s;es as the&s;e are?</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 By experi|ence it ever hath been &s;o.</NOTE> And experience hath found it thus, &s;ee it in a few examples: Fir&s;t, our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t him&s;elfe at that time, when hee appeared &s;o unlikely, as you have heard, then did hee <HI>breake all his enemies, and led captivity captive;</HI> and hath hitherto &s;o farre prevailed, that all the Empires which have ri&s;en again&s;t him, the <HI>A&s;&s;yrian, Per&s;ian, Greeian, Roman,</HI> whether the <HI>Roman</HI> bee con&s;idered as <HI>Pagan,</HI> or <HI>Arrian,</HI> or <HI>Antichri&s;tian,</HI> Chri&s;t hath got the victory over them all, he hath broke them all, no power of Devill or world hath not been able to &s;tand again&s;t him; this &s;tone cut out of the mountaine without hands, hath &s;mitten and broken the great image of Gold and Silver, Bra&s;&s;e and Iron,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Dan.</HI> 2.</NOTE> and he mu&s;t reigne till all his enemies are made his foot|&s;toole.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 110.</NOTE> And not onely Chri&s;t, but the Fi&s;hermen and the re&s;t of their companions that have been &s;poken of, &s;erve for a &s;e|cond experiment; I will bee bold to &s;ay it, that <HI>Alexander</HI> and all the <HI>Cae&s;ars</HI> never conquered &s;o many, as tho&s;e &s;imple men &s;ubdued to Chri&s;t in a very little time. In one age their line went into all the corners of the world, the Sunne did hardly &s;hine upon a place, where they did not &s;et up Trophees of their Victories, as unlikely a thing as it was. Yea, all the Saints of God that have lived hitherto, have all found, that what&s;oever Tongues or Spirits have ri&s;en up again&s;t them have been con|demned, the woman hath compa&s;&s;ed the man, the worme hath de&s;troyed the Mountaine, and they have at the long runne been able with <HI>Paul</HI> to triumph, not onely over poverty, and hunger, and nakednes, and per&s;ecution, and &s;uch outward troubles, but over Principalities and Powers,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 8. 35, 38</NOTE> and all &s;pirituall wickedne&s;&s;es too, the Devil him&s;elf hath bin trod under all their feet. <NOTE PLACE="marg">And &s;hal be &s;o more &amp; more.</NOTE>And as there hath been experience of it hitherto, &s;o who&s;oever reads
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the Scripture will finde, that the older the world growes, the more experience there will bee of it continually, becau&s;e now begin the times of Chri&s;t and the Churches manife&s;t conque&s;t: hitherto they have carryed it, but not &s;o vi&s;ibly alwayes before the eyes of men; but we expect the dayes to bee at hand, where|in the <HI>Saints &s;hall take the Kingdome,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Dan.</HI> 7. 18.</NOTE> and all the Kingdomes of the world &s;hall bee the Lord Chri&s;ts, and hee &s;hall reigne over them;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Revel.</HI> 11. 15.</NOTE> and that Kingdome that will not &s;erve Chri&s;t, &s;hall bee de&s;troyed, and they &s;hall with joy and comfort bring all their glory, and conferre it upon the head of Chri&s;t, and put it in|to the hands of the&s;e Babes: So that the Babes and Sucklings mu&s;t carry it; <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rea&s;ons of it.</NOTE>and if you'll have a ground or rea&s;on for it, 100 might bee added. Fir&s;t,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> It is Gods onely de&s;igne, the onely great project that the Lord hath laid from eternity, that the Babes and Sucklings &s;hould carry the day again&s;t all their enemies; it is the ma&s;ter|piece of his contrivement, wherein hee will not indure to bee di&s;appointed. And then &s;econdly,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> His heart is with them, his love is &s;et upon them, they are his children, the apple of his eye, they are written upon the palmes of his hands, they are continually in his &s;ight, he loves them as hee loves him&s;elf.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">3.</NOTE> Thirdly, and his power is with them, his Almighty power, that power which can as ea&s;ily make a World, as it can up|hold a &s;traws all that power is engaged, that no man &s;hall ever bee able to prevaile again&s;t them. The&s;e, and many more &s;uch rea&s;ons as the&s;e are, have been &s;o frequently &s;et before this Honourable A&s;&s;embly, in the times of your greate&s;t extremi|ties, to uphold your hearts, that I &s;hall not need to &s;ay any more, neither in truth doe I know what to adde to that which hath been &s;poken by other men. I come therefore to a &s;hort application of both the branches, and among many excellent U&s;es wee might make of the fir&s;t, <HI>That it is an unlikely thing to &s;en&s;e and rea&s;on, that Chri&s;t and his Church &s;hould bee able to conquer their enemies,</HI> I &s;hall ob&s;erve onely this one,</P>
<P>To teach you all not to wonder, why the wi&s;e&s;t men, and
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<NOTE PLACE="marg">V&s;e of the fir&s;t branch, not to wonder though &s;o few wi&s;e men own the Churches cau&s;e.</NOTE> greate&s;t men of the world, the mo&s;t politique and wary men of the world, in all ages have, and doe mo&s;t of them re|ject the cau&s;e of Chri&s;t and his Church, &s;eldome willing to venture them&s;elves for it: <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">ou know <HI>Paul</HI> ob&s;erved it in his dayes, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1. 26. <HI>Brethren, you &s;ee your calling, not many no|ble, not many wi&s;e men after the fle&s;h, not many learned,</HI> and all ages have proved it &s;o. And when multitudes followed Chri&s;t him&s;elfe, the Phari&s;ees demanded, Doe any of the Rulers, or of the Phari&s;ees beleeve on him? <HI>John</HI> 7. 48. And <HI>Hierome</HI> ob|&s;erved in his dayes, that when one <HI>Paulinus</HI> a brave young no|ble man imbraced Chri&s;tian Religion, there was more won|dering at it, than if a Mule had ca&s;t a foale: now this le&s;&s;on may fully in&s;truct you in the rea&s;on of it, &s;o farre as any of their principles are able to make up a judgement, the cau&s;e of the Church is a lo&s;t cau&s;e, Chri&s;t and his Saints are but like <HI>David</HI> again&s;t <HI>Goliah,</HI> they are but wormes again&s;t a Moun|taine, and what wi&s;e man would ever engage him&s;elfe in &s;uch a fooli&s;h and unlikely bu&s;ine&s;&s;e? who that hath under&s;tanding would put his fortune into a Ship that hee thinkes will &s;inke in the Sea, which will da&s;h again&s;t the next rocke, or bee &s;plit with the next wave? Indeed when the Church is &s;miled up|on, and countenanced by Kings and Princes, it's no marvaile though wi&s;e, rich, and great men doe joyne with it; but when warres and per&s;ecutions are rai&s;ed again&s;t it, which hath mo&s;t-what been the Churches lot hitherto, wonder not though wi&s;e men withdraw from it, when they can &s;ee nothing but ruine at|tend them who take with this &s;ide; and this is the very rea&s;on of their withdrawing, and this al&s;o abundantly &s;atisfies mee in our pre&s;ent trouble, wherein we have had &s;o many Lords, &s;o many Gentlemen, &s;o many Learned men, &s;o many great and rich men to have de&s;erted the Cau&s;e that the Parliament was engaged in. I &s;olemnly profe&s;&s;e, I rather wonder that any wi&s;e man, if not &s;anctified, hath &s;tayed, that any Man not guided by the Spirit of God, &s;hould venture him&s;elfe in a Cau&s;e that appea|red &s;o de&s;perate as this Cau&s;e of Chri&s;t hath done to the eyes of fle&s;h and blood. I ju&s;tly call it the Cau&s;e of Chri&s;t and his
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Church, becau&s;e it's apparent that the Parliaments engaging them&s;elves for reformation of Religion, as well as pre&s;erving civill Liberties, hath provoked mo&s;t of the&s;e enemies again&s;t them. Therefore let this &s;atisfie you abundantly, when the multitude of the world generally goe again&s;t the Cau&s;e of Chri&s;t, they thinke it folly to owne it, becau&s;e they looke up|on it as a lo&s;t Cau&s;e. But the other Branch affords many excellent U&s;es: One is,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">U&s;es of the &s;e|cond branch, Con&s;olation to whom; who joyne with the cau&s;e of Chri&s;t and his Church</NOTE> This may hold up and content the heart and &s;pirit of every one that hath given up his name to Chri&s;t and his Cau&s;e, ente|red his name into Chri&s;ts Mu&s;ter-booke, is enrolled among&s;t the &s;ouldiers of the Lambe; I know fle&s;h and blood, &s;en&s;e and rea&s;on, thinkes wee have the wor&s;er end of the &s;taffe, but let &s;uch know, what dayes &s;oever may come, hee &s;hall never have cau&s;e to repent that hee engaged him&s;elfe on this &s;ide, the victory is &s;ure enough: &s;ome men in the&s;e conflicts of ours, have &s;olemnely prote&s;ted, that their plot was onely to bee on the &s;afe&s;t &s;ide, that they might bee &s;ure to &s;tand, who&s;o|ever fall. In the name of God, I promi&s;e it to every one that hath undertooke with Chri&s;t, in the Cau&s;e of his Church, they &s;hall &s;ucceed well. They u&s;ed to &s;ay in <HI>Rome,</HI> in <HI>Germa|nieus</HI> his dayes, <HI>Salvus Germanicus, &s;alva Roma, &s;alva omnia, Germanicus</HI> is well, and the City is well, and all is well: I &s;ay it with better confidence, Chri&s;t is well, his Church is well, their Cau&s;e is good, a &s;ucceeding Cau&s;e, a pro&s;perous Cau&s;e, and all &s;hall bee well, the worme mu&s;t beat the mountaine to du&s;t, the Woman mu&s;t compa&s;&s;e the man. It may for a while &s;eeme to goe very hard with the Church, but the end will bee comfortable; it was of old &s;aid of the <HI>Romans,</HI> they were &s;ometimes <HI>praelio victo nunquam bello,</HI> they lo&s;t many a bat|tell, but in the conclu&s;ion they conquered every Nation which warred again&s;t them: This mo&s;t undoubtedly is the fate of the Church, &amp; might hold us up in all our pre&s;ent difficulties: I know many of you are yet at your wits end, and wonder what will bee the end and event of the&s;e things; the pillars of the Earth, the pillars of the Land, the pillars of Truth as
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well as of Peace, are &s;haken, ready to fall; wee are wofully divided into <HI>minutula &s;ru&s;tula,</HI> and the young childe of Refor|mation in danger to bee &s;wallowed up, a <HI>Hydra,</HI> a <HI>Dragon</HI> watcheth for it, a malignant party on the one hand, Bla&s;phe|mies, here&s;ies, and divi&s;ions on the other hand; but there is a Spirit working wil &s;ubdue all, the zeal of the Lord wil bring all well to pa&s;&s;e, therefore hold up your Spirits and fear nothing, I cannot but commend unto you that excellent &s;peech of <HI>Luther</HI> to <HI>Melancthon,</HI> when the Prote&s;tants were in a very low e&s;tate, when <HI>Melancthon</HI> was affraid, Come (&s;aith <HI>Luther</HI>) to him, let the Pholips, let the Bi&s;hops, let the <HI>Turks,</HI> and the Devill him|&s;elfe doe his wor&s;t again&s;t us, <HI>nos filii regni &s;umus,</HI> wee are the children of the Kingdome, <HI>Dominus prope ade&s;t,</HI> the Lord is at hand, wee are engaged with Chri&s;t, whom they have cruci|fied and &s;pit upon, wee mu&s;t carry the day from them: So I &s;ay to thee, Feare thou nothing, the Barque wherein thou art may be to&s;t, it will never be &s;plit, troubles may come, the pre|&s;ent may continue, new ones may come, but nothing &s;hall come, but &s;uch as that Chri&s;t contrives purpo&s;ely, that things may appeare difficult to us, that his glory may bee the more in his carrying us through them all, and in the name of Chri&s;t, I pro|mi&s;e you the event &s;hall bee &s;ucce&s;&s;efull.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 U&s;e of con&s;o|lation to every particular Saint.</NOTE> And as this is comfortable in reference to the whole Church, &s;o it is wonderfully comfortable to every particular &s;oule that feares the Lord Chri&s;t, and may uphold them in all their tem|ptations and afflictions, cro&s;&s;es and de&s;ertions. I am per&s;waded many a &s;oule who heares mee this day, wonder how they &s;hall &s;ub&s;i&s;t one weeke longer, their &s;pirituall pre&s;&s;ures, temptations, de&s;ertions, are &s;o &s;trong, another findes their outward afflicti|ons &s;o intolerable, and their pre&s;&s;ures more and more breaking in, &s;o that they are ready every moment to &s;inke under their burthen, and know not what will become of them; ready eve|ry day to conclude as <HI>David</HI> did in his ha&s;te and feare, I &s;hall one day peri&s;h by the hand of <HI>Saul,</HI> I &s;hall never hold out, I &s;hall never be able to &s;tand again&s;t the&s;e impetuous a&s;&s;aults; but cheare up thy heart, if there bee any thing of Chri&s;t in thee,
<PB N="17" REF="11">
though it bee but as &s;moking flax, it &s;hall never bee quenched, though but as a brui&s;ed reed, it &s;hall never bee broken, though it bee but a babe and &s;uckling, thou &s;hall quell all thy enemies. I tell thee, I know it, that all the power of hell is engaged again&s;t thee, becau&s;e thou art for Chri&s;t, whether there bee any power of hell in thy heart, in thy lu&s;t, or in thy family, in thy father, in thy husband, in thy mother, in thy brethren, or about thee, all will bee again&s;t thee; but as this power is again&s;t thee, &s;o I a&s;&s;ure thee, all the power in Heaven is engaged for thee, all the power that the God of Hea|ven hath, all his Attributes are for thee, and therefore doe thou conclude, though thou art a worme, a woman, &amp;c. the worm &s;hall thre&s;h the mountaine, the woman &s;hall compa&s;&s;e the man, the lambe &s;hall overcome the wolfe, and what is &s;aid in the 17 of the <HI>Revelations,</HI> of all the Kings of the earth, that they &s;hould &s;et again&s;t the Virgin Company, who follow the Lamb, but the Lambe &s;hould overcome them, for hee is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and tho&s;e that are with him, who are called, and cho&s;en, and faithfull, the like is true of every &s;oule who is a follower of the Lord Chri&s;t, they mu&s;t over|come, and by the helpe of the Lord tread all their enemies un|der their feet.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">3 V&s;e, exhor|tation to all, to have nothing to doe again&s;t the&s;e Babes &amp; Sucklings.</NOTE> Secondly, becau&s;e how unlikely &s;oever the thing bee, the Babes and Sucklings mu&s;t queil all their enemies; let me teach you all this point of wi&s;dome, never have any thing to doe a|gain&s;t the Lord Chri&s;t, or any of his children; beware how thou have thy hand in any contrivement again&s;t any of tho&s;e that are the Lambes followers: I cannot give it you better, then in an expre&s;&s;ion of <HI>Solomons,</HI> in <HI>Proverbes</HI> 24. 15, 16. to a wicked man; <HI>Lay not maite, O thou wiched man, again&s;t the babitation of the righteons, &s;poile not his re&s;ting place; For the righ|teons falls &s;even times a day, ri&s;eth agains; but the wicked fall into mi&s;chie&s;e:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Prov.</HI> 24. 15, 16</NOTE> I take the plaine meaning to bee this, <HI>Solomon</HI> tells wicked men, hee knows they cannot but bee like them&s;elves, plotting and contriving mi&s;chie&s;e again&s;t tho&s;e that feare God, and po&s;&s;ibly it is, that through their contrivements they may
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cau&s;e the people of God oftentimes to fall, to fall into afflicti|ons, under many cro&s;&s;es, but let them fall never &s;o often, they will bee like the corke, thru&s;t it under the water, you cannot keep it under the water, it will ri&s;e againe, &s;o &s;hall it bee with godly men, they will get out of their troubles: but when the wicked falls, hee falls to the purpo&s;e, hee will fall into mi&s;chief, and never ri&s;e againe, God will deale with them as hee did with <HI>Moab,</HI> in the 16 of <HI>I&s;aiah, Wee have heard of the pride of Moab, (he is very proud) even of his haughtine&s;&s;e and his pride, and his wrath, but his lyes &s;hall not bee &s;o; therefore &s;hall Moab howle for Moab.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;ay</HI> 16. 6, 7.</NOTE> <HI>Moab</HI> thought to make my children mourn and howle, but I'll make <HI>Moab</HI> howle for him&s;elfe: So thou mai&s;t thinke to carry on a plot or de&s;igne again&s;t Religion, a|gain&s;t the &s;ervants of God, either their Cau&s;e in generall, or &s;ome particular per&s;on of them, but forbeare it, as <HI>Gamaliel</HI> &s;aid to them, <HI>Forbeare the&s;e men, middle not with them, le&s;t yee bee found fighters again&s;t God;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Act.</HI> 5. 38.</NOTE> they may fall into trouble, but God will bring them out. I conclude this with that &s;peech of <HI>David, P&s;al.</HI> 37. <HI>The wicked plotteth again&s;t the ju&s;t, and gna&s;heth upon him with his teeth, the Lord &s;hall laugh at him, for hee &s;eeth that his day is comming.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 37. 12, 13</NOTE> This is the fir&s;t Le&s;&s;on, now I proceed to the &s;econd.</P>
<P>Which is the <HI>manner</HI> how the&s;e Babes and Sucklings doe ex|erci&s;e this their great &s;trength, <HI>Out of the mouth of Babes and Sucklings;</HI> You know that every creature which God hath endued with any &s;trength, hath a peculiar way of bringing out its &s;trength'; the Lions &s;trength lies in his jawes, the Beare in his pawes, the Eagle in her talons, a Man by his armes, the Bull by his hornes, the Scorpions have their power in their tayle'; thus every creature that hath any notable &s;trength, hath &s;ome eminent way to exerci&s;e it: Now would you know which way doe the&s;e Babes and Sucklings, exer|ci&s;e their &s;trength, it is out of their <HI>Mouth,</HI> Out of the mouth of Babes and Sucklings. The Le&s;&s;on I propound to handle from it, is this,</P>
<P><HI>That the peculiar way, whereby Chri&s;t and all his &s;eed doe</HI>
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<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Doct.</HI> 2. The &s;trength whereby the Babes &amp; Suck|lings doe over|come their E|nemies, pro|ceeds out of their mouth. Thus Chri&s;t him&s;elfe.</NOTE> <HI>overcome their enemies, is by a power that comes out of their mouth:</HI> That's the peculiar way of fighting, power comes out of their mouth: For the truth of it, &s;ee it, Fir&s;t, in Chri&s;t him&s;elfe, when it was prophe&s;ied of him in the 11 of <HI>I&s;aiah, v.</HI> 4. how hee &s;hould reigne and rule over all Nations, the Spirit of God layes it downe thus, <HI>He &s;hall &s;mite the Earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips hee &s;hall &s;lay the wicked.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>E&s;ay</HI> 11. 4.</NOTE> It was a rod of his mouth, and the breath of his lips, that's the &s;taffe of his power, that which is called in the 110 <HI>P&s;alme,</HI> the rod of his &s;trength,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 110. 2.</NOTE> is in this 11 of <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> called the rod of his mouth, &s;o al&s;o in the 19 of the <HI>Revelations, v.</HI> 15. where hee is brought on hor&s;eback, fighting his battaile in the field, and de&s;troying all his enemies; it is &s;aid, <HI>Out of his mouth came a two edged &s;word, that with it hee &s;hould &s;mite the Nations;</HI> and if you read his &s;tory while hee was upon earth, you may ob&s;erve that all in a manner which he did, came out of his mouth; &s;ome|times by a word of <HI>command,</HI> thus his miracles were wrought, be <HI>healed,</HI> be <HI>opened,</HI> be <HI>clean&s;ed, &amp;c.</HI> &s;ometimes by <HI>preaching,</HI> con|verting &s;ome, convincing others; &s;ometimes by <HI>prayer,</HI> that is one rea&s;on, as &s;ome thinke, why he is called <GAP DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span">, the Word of God; becau&s;e all that hee did was by a word. Se|condly,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Thus al&s;o all the Saints o|vercome.</NOTE> See it likewi&s;e in his &s;ervants, all the &s;ervants of Chri&s;t; the&s;e Babes and Sucklings that are his brethren and his &s;eed, they all overcome by a power that comes out of their mouth; And to cleare this, con&s;ider fir&s;t &s;ome pa&s;&s;ages of <HI>P&s;alme</HI> 68. a <HI>P&s;alm,</HI> which I confe&s;&s;e de&s;erves to be more fully cleared, then a &s;hort Sermon will allow, being &s;o full to this purpo&s;e, the whole <HI>P&s;alme</HI> being a full declaration of the way and manner how Chri&s;t and his followers doe overcome all their enemies; The fir&s;t ver&s;e of the <HI>P&s;alme</HI> is, <HI>Let God ari&s;e, and his enemies bee &s;cattered;</HI> and the clo&s;e of the <HI>P&s;alme</HI> is, <HI>God hath given &s;trength to his people, ble&s;&s;ed bee God,</HI> that is the drift of it, to give glory to God for the &s;trength hee hath given to his Sonne, and the followers of his Sonne to &s;ubdue all their enemies, and how is this performed? to &s;ay nothing of Chri&s;t him&s;elfe, you
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may &s;ee the way of his Saints overcomming, notably de&s;cribed, <HI>ver.</HI> 18. <HI>Thou ba&s;t a&s;cended on high, thou ha&s;t led captivity ca|ptive, thou ha&s;t received gifts for men; even for the bellious al&s;o, that the Lord God may dwell among&s;t them:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 68. 18.</NOTE> When Chri&s;t a&s;cended, then hee gave &s;uch gifts to his children and &s;ervants, that by them they &s;hould bee &s;o farre able to tame the mo&s;t rebellious that the Lord God might dwell among them, &s;et up his throne and habitation in the mid&s;t of them; what the&s;e gifts were, the Apo&s;tle tells you expre&s;ly in the 4 of the <HI>Ephe&s;ians;</HI> When hee a&s;cended up on high, hee gave &s;ome to be <HI>Apo&s;tles,</HI> &s;ome <HI>Prophets,</HI> &s;ome <HI>Evangeli&s;ts,</HI> &s;ome <HI>Pa&s;tors,</HI> and <HI>Teachers,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 4. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.</NOTE> the&s;e were the gifts which were powred out upon the day of <HI>Pent<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">co&s;t,</HI> all which were repre&s;ented by the &s;imilitude of <HI>cloven Tongues,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Acts</HI> 2. 3.</NOTE> whereby the Lord would teach you, that all the gifts which Chri&s;t hath powred out upon his Church, there is nothing &s;o lively a re&s;emblance of them all as the <HI>Tongue:</HI> out of the mouth by the tongue, comes all the power that the Saints have; <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rev.</HI> 11. 5 6. explained.</NOTE>you'll finde it as plain, if you look into the 11 of the <HI>Revelati|ons, ver.</HI> 5, 6. where the two Witne&s;&s;es of Chri&s;t their manner of overcomming is de&s;cribed. The&s;e two Witne&s;&s;es are by the be&s;t Interpreters judged to be the &s;mall number of true belie|vers, who followed Chri&s;t all the time of the Antichri&s;tian Apo&s;ta&s;ie, again&s;t the&s;e all the world fights, for the &s;pace of twelve hundred and &s;ixty yeares, the&s;e two Witne&s;&s;es ever car|tyed the victory, and there are they compared to <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Aaron,</HI> to <HI>Elias</HI> and <HI>Eli&s;ha,</HI> to <HI>Jo&s;hna</HI> and <HI>Zerubbabel,</HI> &s;o that looke what <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Aaron</HI> did in their time of I&s;raels com|ming out of <HI>Egypt,</HI> what <HI>Elias</HI> and <HI>Eli&s;ha</HI> in the time of that Apo&s;ta&s;ie, and <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> and <HI>Zerubbabel</HI> in the time of that Reformation, the&s;e two VVitne&s;&s;es &s;hould doe the &s;ame; but how? even as <HI>Mo&s;es, Aaron, Elias,</HI> and the re&s;t overcame all enemies and difficulties, by a power proceeding out of their mouth, as appeares in their &s;tories; &s;o doe the&s;e, the&s;e can &s;mite the earth with plagues, the&s;e can turn waters into blood, the&s;e can &s;hut and open heaven, the&s;e can de&s;troy their enemies, who would hurt them; but all this proceeds out of their mouth
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out of their mouth comes fire that de&s;troyes their enemies, all is done by their mouth; <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rev.</HI> 12. 11. explained.</NOTE>and in the 12 of the <HI>Revelations, ver&s;e</HI> 11. you may there read a great battail de&s;cribed, that is fought between the Saints, Chri&s;t and his Saints, and the great <HI>red Dragon,</HI> but <HI>Michael</HI> and his Angels overcome the <HI>Dragon</HI> and his Angels; at the 11 <HI>Ver&s;e</HI> it's &s;aid, <HI>They</HI> (that is, the Saints) <HI>overcame the Dragon by the blood of the Lambe;</HI> that was the <HI>meri|torious</HI> cau&s;e, but the <HI>in&s;trumentall</HI> cau&s;e was <HI>the word of their te|&s;timony; They overcame him by the blood of the Lambe, and the word of their te&s;timony;</HI> but you will bee better &s;atisfied after I have opened unto you,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Qu.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Wherein</HI> lyes the power which proceeds out of their mouth, what is it? or what doth their mouth?</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Re&s;p.</HI> 5 Things pro|ceeding our of the&s;e mouths of Babes and Sucklings whereby they overcome.</NOTE> Po&s;&s;ibly I &s;hall not bee able to name every particular branch, but there are five things that are mo&s;t cleare, which all are the fruit of the mouth, and by them in all ages, the&s;e babes and &s;ucklings have overcome the enemy and the a|venger. Fir&s;t,<LIST>
<ITEM>1. <HI>Preaching.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. <HI>Confe&s;&s;ing, or profe&s;&s;ing the Name, Truth, and Cau&s;e of God and his Chri&s;t.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>3. Prai&s;ing, &s;inging out prai&s;e, and P&s;almes, and hymnes to God.</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. Praying. And,</ITEM>
<ITEM>5. Covenanting.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>You &s;hall &s;ee how by all the&s;e the Saints from time to time have carryed the victory, Fir&s;t,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">1. By Preaching.</NOTE> <HI>Preaching;</HI> when Chri&s;t &s;ent his Apo&s;tles out to goe con|quer the world, what was their <HI>apparatus?</HI> what was their fur|niture? their in&s;truments of warre? it was onely thus, <HI>Its, praedicate, Goe out into the world and Preach:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat.</HI> 28. 19, 20.</NOTE> And when hee &s;ent out the Lxx Di&s;ciples, <HI>Luke</HI> 10. as lambes among wolves, without &s;word, or money, or &s;crip, this was the great wea|pon hee furni&s;hed them withall, <HI>Preach unto them;</HI> and by that time they had been a little trying the power of this weapon, they had led captivity captive, and returne with great &s;poiles; and tell their Ma&s;ter, <HI>Lord,</HI> (&s;ay they) <HI>the very Devils are &s;ubject to</HI>
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<HI>us.</HI> True (&s;aith Chri&s;t) <HI>I &s;aw Satan falling like lightening downe from heaven,</HI> by preaching they could &s;hoot the Starres downe from heaven, and fetch the Devill out of his Throne: It were an endle&s;&s;e task for mee to recount unto you, what preaching hath done; what &s;trong Ca&s;tles have been demoli|&s;hed by preaching; how many thou&s;and enemies have been made friends by preaching; how many Kingdomes have been &s;ubdued by preaching; how many thou&s;ands, and ten thou|&s;and times ten thou&s;and, have been taken out of the roaring Lyons denne by preaching; how before <HI>Pauls</HI> death the preaching of the Word had gone into all the earth, and unto the ends of the world,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 10 18.</NOTE><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 19.</NOTE> and rent in pieces the Kingdome of the Devil. This, this is Chri&s;ts Arms, this is the power of <HI>God</HI> to &s;al|vation, a thou&s;and tongues are not able to &s;et forth the excel|lency and efficacy of it; this is the great Mon&s;ter queller, which is able to batter <HI>down all the &s;trong bolds of Satan,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10. 4, 5.</NOTE> 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10. 4, 5. which can ca&s;t downe every high thing which exalts it &s;elfe again&s;t the knowledge of God, and bring into captivity eve|ry thought to the obedience of Chri&s;t: In a word, preaching is that whereby Chri&s;t de&s;troyes the very Kingdome of Anti|chri&s;t, though it is the Devills ma&s;ter-piece laid the deepe&s;t in policy, and founded not onely in States but in mens con&s;cien|ces, yet Chri&s;t de&s;troys it by the <HI>Word of his mouth,</HI> that is, the preaching of the Go&s;pel in the mouthes of his Mini&s;ters. Preaching is one, and Secondly,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">2. By confe&s;&s;ing and profe&s;&s;ing the Truth.</NOTE> <HI>Confe&s;&s;ing</HI> is another; Preaching, though it belong to the whole Church, as a gift given to them for their good, yet it is to bee exerci&s;ed but by the Officers of it, it's given to all, not to bee exerci&s;ed by all; but all the re&s;t of the&s;e wayes of over|comming are to bee exerci&s;ed by all the&s;e babes, whether in office or not, whether men or women, old or young, learned or &s;imple, and confe&s;&s;ing or profe&s;&s;ing the truth is one of them, one of the things which proceed out of the mouth, whereby the Saints overcome their enemies, I'll give you but one text for it, the Lord Chri&s;t tells his Di&s;ciples,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luke</HI> 21. 15.</NOTE> <HI>Luke</HI> 21. 12. what u&s;age they &s;hould finde in the world, <HI>That they &s;hould be carry|ed</HI>
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<HI>before Kings and Princes for his &s;ake,</HI> this might be looked upon as a terrible thing to them who had been brought up a|mong rude and common people, to be brought before Kings and High Courts, who&s;e &s;plendor and maje&s;ty would da&s;h them out of countenance and ama&s;e them, &s;o that they would not bee able to &s;peake, and who&s;e wi&s;dome, under&s;tanding and &s;ubtilty was like to bee &s;uch, as would quickly put them to &s;i|lence; but feare not this, &s;aith Chri&s;t, why? <HI>I will give you a mouth,</HI> I will give you a mouth (that is his promi&s;e,) <HI>that none of your adver&s;aries &s;hall bee able to &s;tand before it;</HI> that mouth is nothing but a bold confe&s;&s;ion of the truth and cau&s;e of God: a notable in&s;tance hereof wee have <HI>Acts</HI> 4. 13. the Councell or Synedrion had called the Apo&s;tles before them, and deman|ded by what authority, or by what Name they had done this? they pre&s;ently made a bold Confe&s;&s;ion of the Lord Je&s;us, and &s;aith the Text, <HI>When they &s;aw the boldne&s;&s;e of</HI> Peter <HI>and</HI> John, <HI>and perceived they were unlearned and ignorant men, they mar|vailed,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Acts</HI> 4 13.</NOTE> yea, <HI>they could &s;ay nothing;</HI> and who&s;oever hath but read the &s;tories of the Church may find that the Confe&s;&s;ions which the Saints, yea &s;ometimes women and children have made, have repre&s;&s;ed the enraged adver&s;aries, have &s;ometimes wonne, the hearts of them, yea, have converted thou&s;ands: that is a &s;e|cond weapon out of the mouth. Thirdly,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">3. Singing of P&s;almes.</NOTE> Singing of P&s;almes, though this you would thinke the un|likelye&s;t of all, yet the Scripture is plaine for it; in the 149 <HI>P&s;alme,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;.</HI> 149. 4, 5, 6, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> there you have a promi&s;e, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 4. <HI>God will beauti&s;ie them with &s;alvation,</HI> yea, &s;uch &s;alvation, <HI>that they &s;hall execute vengeance upon the heathen, bind their Kings in chaines, and their Nobles with fetters; this glory have all Gods Saints.</HI> How &s;hall this bee done? Let (&s;aith the Prophet) them &s;ing aloud, <HI>let the high prai&s;es of God bee in their mouth,</HI> and a two edged &s;word in their hand: whatever bee meant by a two edged &s;word, plain it is, that the high prai&s;es of God in their mouth is one of their weapons: And in <HI>P&s;alm.</HI> 68. the place before mentioned, about <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 22, 23. &amp;c. you have a de&s;cription of Gods terrible march before his people, the very fight whereof was dreadfull to his
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enemies; <HI>They have &s;eene thy goings, O God, even the goings of my God, my King in the Sanctuary;</HI> and how was it? you have it <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 25. <HI>The &s;ingers went before, the players on in&s;truments followed after, among them were the Damo&s;els playing with timbrels,</HI> all &s;inging Hallelujah, <HI>ble&s;&s;e yee the Lord in the Congregations, even the Lord from the fountaine of I&s;rael.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 68. 23, 24, 25.</NOTE> And you have an in&s;tance of it in 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 20. when the children of <HI>Edom</HI> and <HI>Moab,</HI> and Mount <HI>Seir</HI> came again&s;t <HI>Jeho&s;haphat,</HI> when he &amp; his people went again&s;t them, they went &s;inging of P&s;almes; and it's &s;aid, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 22. <HI>When they began to lift up their voice, and to &s;ing prai&s;e to God on High; the Lord &s;et ambu&s;hments again&s;t the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come out again&s;t Jeho&s;haphat, and they were &s;mitten, and they de&s;troyed one another.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 20. 22</NOTE> Many o|ther in&s;tances there are in the Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall &s;tory, of the &s;trength which Gods people have found in &s;inging of P&s;almes; there is one famous one, of the Prote&s;tants in <HI>Mountaban</HI> in <HI>France,</HI> who when they (being be&s;ieged) were compelled to fight in their owne defence, alwayes went out to fight &s;inging of P&s;almes, and grew &s;o terrible to the be&s;iegers, that in the end, as &s;oone as they heard their &s;inging voice lifted up within the Towne, before the Portcullis was drawne up, or the gates were opened, their hearts would faile them, and they u&s;ed to cry out, They come, they come, and even fled away for feare, This is a third weapon out of the mouth; but then there is a fourth which is &s;uper-excellent in many re&s;pects beyond all, like <HI>Goliahs</HI> &s;word, there is none to that, that is,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">4. Prayer.</NOTE> <HI>Prayer:</HI> The wonders which the Prayers of Gods people have wrought, no time is &s;ufficient to tell: Prayer u&s;es to fetch in all things they need, it removes all evills which lye upon them; Prayer is the key of Heaven, the conqueror of God him|&s;elfe, the &s;courge of Satan, the out-gate from all di&s;tre&s;&s;es; you finde, <HI>P&s;alme</HI> 107. five &s;orts of men in mi&s;ery: 1 Wanderers out of their way. 2 Troubled and brought low with &s;ick|ne&s;&s;e. 3 Pri&s;oners. 4 To&s;&s;ed at &s;ea with tempe&s;ts. 5 Op|pre&s;&s;ed by enemies: but Prayer is a <HI>medieamentum eatholicum,</HI> a remedy for all the&s;e; then <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 107. 6, 13, 19, 28.</NOTE><HI>They cry unto the Lord in their trou|ble,</HI>
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&amp; he delivers them out of their di&s;tre&s;&s;e; This <HI>Solomon</HI> begg'd,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Kings</HI> 8. <HI>per totum.</HI></NOTE> 1 <HI>Kings</HI> 8.<HI>When thy people go to war, when they are oppre&s;t with their enemies, &amp;c. if they humble them&s;elves and pray, heare thou in Hea|ven and deliver them;</HI> and God promi&s;ed <HI>Chap.</HI> 9. 3. that it &s;hould bee &s;o;<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Kings</HI> 9. 3.</NOTE> and this innumerable multitudes of Gods peo|ple in all ages have found to bee &s;o; when <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> hands are lift up in prayer, <HI>Amalek</HI> is routed;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Exod.</HI> 17. 10.</NOTE> when <HI>Samuel</HI> prayes, the <HI>Phili&s;tims</HI> are di&s;conifited;<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 7. 9.</NOTE> when <HI>David</HI> prayes, his enemies flee, <HI>When I pray, my enemies are turned backe; this I know,</HI> (&s;aid hee) <HI>for God is with mee.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 56. 9, 11.</NOTE> The time forbids me to tell of the thundering Bands of Gods &s;ervants, and what their prayers have done: but in a word I am a&s;&s;ured, that what the Apo&s;tle &s;aith, <HI>Heb.</HI> 11. 32, 33. of the power of faith, <HI>The time would faile me to tell of</HI> Gedeon, <HI>of</HI> Barak, Sam&s;on, Jephthah, &amp;c. <HI>who through faith &s;ubdued Kingdomes, wrought righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, obtai|ned promi&s;es, &s;topped mouths of Lyons, quenched the violence of fire, e&s;caped the edge of the &s;word, out of weakne&s;&s;e were made &s;trong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight Armies of aliens, &amp;c.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Heb.</HI> 11. 33.</NOTE> hath all beene made good of Prayer: Prayer hath done as much as all this; yea, it hath made the Sunne &s;tand &s;till, the Rivers runne back, what is it that Prayer hath not been a|ble to do? Never did the&s;e Babes and Sucklings in the time of their di&s;tre&s;&s;e, &s;eek God by Prayer in vaine. This is a fourth weapon out of the mouth. Fifthly,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">5. Covenanting.</NOTE> <HI>Covenanting,</HI> is another, and for that you have abun|dance of evidence in all the ages of the Church, from the days of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> goe on to <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> and the Judges, and <HI>A&s;a,</HI> and <HI>Jeho|&s;haphat,</HI> and <HI>Hezekiah,</HI> and <HI>Jo&s;iah,</HI> and <HI>Ezra,</HI> and <HI>Nehemiah,</HI> all the&s;e in their great extremities, (when nothing did pro&s;per, but all went contrary to them) u&s;ed to renew their Cove|nants with God, entred into Oath and Covenant with him, and <HI>God</HI> ever pro&s;pered them after it. The &s;tories of the&s;e things are &s;o fully knowne, that I &s;hall not need to in&s;i&s;t upon them. <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rea&s;on of all this, when they are made &s;o, mighty in wor|king.</NOTE>If now you aske the rea&s;on of all this, why &s;hould this power of the Mouth, Praying, and Preaching, and Confe&s;&s;ing, and Co|venanting, and Singing bee thus mighty in operation, whence grow the&s;e <HI>Sam&s;ons</HI> locks. I an&s;wer, many excellent Rea&s;ons
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might be given for every one of them, but I will goe no &s;ur|ther then my Text, which I know will &s;atisfie you: My Text &s;aith, Out of the Mouth of Babes and Sucklings thou ha&s;t <HI>or|dained</HI> &s;trength, or <HI>thou ha&s;t founded</HI> &s;trength, &s;o the Hebrew word &s;ignifies, con&s;tituted, made, appointed; and that word when it is applyed to God, ordinarily &s;ignified one of the&s;e two things; &s;ometimes his Coun&s;ell, or what his Decree hath appointed, but mo&s;t commonly it &s;ignifies his making or crea|ting a thing. The Lord by wi&s;dome founded the Earth, <HI>Prov.</HI> 3. 10. the &s;ame word that is in my Text; &s;o al&s;o <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 102. 25. Thou Lord from the beginning ha&s;t <HI>founded</HI> the earth; and <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 104. 5. Thou ha&s;t founded the earth, or, laid the foundation of the earth; &s;o that this is Gods <HI>appointment</HI> and his <HI>creation,</HI> God hath decreed it &s;hall bee &s;o, and the Lord hath created it, and therefore it is &s;o; and truly you mu&s;t re&s;olve all other things into the &s;ame rea&s;on, Why hath the Lyon that &s;trength in his jaw? God hath founded it there; why hath the Bull that &s;trength in his horne? why hath Man &s;uch &s;trength in his armes? why the Serpent in his &s;ting? God hath founded it: Philo&s;ophers will carry you on from rea|&s;on to rea&s;on, and &s;hew how the&s;e ari&s;e out of their compo&s;iti|ons and natures; but when all is done, it mu&s;t be re&s;olved into this, <HI>God hath appointed it,</HI> and made it &s;o and &s;o, God hath founded this &s;trength in them, and thus to bee exerci&s;ed by them. And now I &s;hould think this Le&s;&s;on were very fit for application, did I not know it nece&s;&s;ary to remove one great &s;tumbling block out of the way, which when I have done in a few words, I &s;hall endeavour to &s;et it home in 2 or 3 U&s;es.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ob.</HI> All this by &s;ome is u&s;ed as an argument a|gain&s;t our de|fen&s;ive Armes.</NOTE> All this which I have &s;aid of the Armes of Chri&s;tians, is by &s;ome retorted upon our &s;elves again&s;t our pre&s;ent warre, as if we held not our &s;elves within the bounds of Chri&s;tianity for &s;ay they, If the&s;e be all the weapons and &s;trength whereby the Saints doe overcome, why doe you u&s;e any other meanes to overcome your enemies? why re&s;t you not contented with this? either the&s;e are not all, or you are not Chri&s;tians, not true to your own Principles; Indeed (&s;ay they) the time hath been when &s;uch a Sermon as this was owned as Divinity, in
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the time of the Fathers, when <HI>preces &amp; lachrymae,</HI> prayers and teares, were all the weapons which the Church did u&s;e; but now when you have &s;poke all the&s;e things of the power of Preaching, and Praying, and Confe&s;&s;ing, and Covenanting, you are glad to betake your &s;elves to Armes, to &s;ee what they will doe, to helpe the&s;e out, whence it's apparent you dare not re&s;t in the&s;e as &s;ufficient helpes; and &s;o they throw this as a &s;tumbling block in our way; but this is ea&s;ily removed. I an&s;wer therefore,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Re&s;p.</HI> 1.</NOTE> Fir&s;t, that many of tho&s;e who object this again&s;t us, doe it onely, that thereby they might the better &s;poile us, as <HI>Julian</HI> the Apo&s;tate, when he would expo&s;e Chri&s;tians to all manner of injuries, and di&s;courage them from &s;eeking or u&s;ing any lawfull way to right them&s;elves again&s;t any &s;poile or wrong, hee endeavoured to tye their hands by their owne Principles of Religion; and would &s;coffingly tell them, that Chri&s;tianity taught them, If any man &s;truck them on one eare, they mu&s;t turn the other; and that if any man did take their coat, they mu&s;t let him have their cloake al&s;o. How&s;oever, I know this an&s;wers not the Objection I therefore an&s;wer, Secondly,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> Wee acknowledge, that as we are Chri&s;tians (in that capa|city) wee u&s;e no other weapons then the&s;e I have told you of, the&s;e onely are proper and peculiar to us as wee are <HI>Chri&s;ti|ans;</HI> but the weapons which wee enjoy as wee are Chri&s;tians, doe not deprive us of tho&s;e that wee enjoy in the capacity of <HI>Men;</HI> looke what&s;oever belongs to us in the capacity of <HI>Men,</HI> or in the capacity of <HI>Subjects,</HI> or of <HI>Freemen,</HI> Chri&s;tianity doth not take them away, but &s;uper-addes the&s;e unto them. I &s;ay therefore, that wee have all the &s;ame meanes of defence again&s;t unju&s;t violence, that are common to us with other men, as we are <HI>Men,</HI> and wee have the &s;ame meanes of defence, as wee are Freemen, which other Freemen have; and wee challenge in this no more then wee might lawfully u&s;e, if wee were Papi&s;ts or Turks, if we were Pagans, Jews, or Indians: we challenge not this to belong to chri&s;tianity, as peculiar to it, we have lear|ned that by the law of <HI>Nature</HI> and <HI>Nations,</HI> men may defend
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them&s;elves again&s;t unju&s;t violence; if the Turkes &s;hould in|vade a Countrey of Chri&s;tians, they will tell him, that as they are Chri&s;tians, their <HI>Praying,</HI> and <HI>Profe&s;&s;ing,</HI> and <HI>Singing,</HI> and <HI>Covenanting,</HI> the&s;e &s;pirituall weapons out of their Mouth will quell them; but as they are <HI>Men,</HI> they have a liberty to defend them&s;elves again&s;t him, <HI>&amp; vim vi repellere;</HI> or if a Chri|&s;tian man were travailing upon the highway, &amp; a Thief &s;hould demand of him, how as he is a Chri&s;tian, hee defends him&s;elfe from his enemies; he would tell him by Faith, by Prayer, by the Word of God, by weapons out of his Mouth; but if the Thiefe a&s;&s;ault him, to take his life or his pur&s;e, as hee is a man, hee will u&s;e his &s;word, and his Chri&s;tianity will &s;anctifie this u&s;e of his &s;word to him. The like in&s;tances might bee given in other things which concerne Chri&s;tianity. If any man de|mand, how live you as a Chri&s;tian? I would an&s;wer, by <HI>faith,</HI> by <HI>every word that comes out of Gods mouth;</HI> but yet as wee are Men, wee mu&s;t eate our bread by the &s;weat of our browes, and as wee are Chri&s;tians our Chri&s;tianity &s;anctifies the&s;e other meanes of life unto us, it takes them not away from us: So when unju&s;t violence is offered to us, contrary to the laws of the Land, looke what defence is lawfull by our Lawes, Chri&s;tiani|ty deprives us not of that, it &s;anctifies that, and wee have all the&s;e which I have &s;poken to boot: And &s;o is it in our pre&s;ent bu&s;ine&s;&s;e, when the Parliament (the highe&s;t Court of Judi|cature, the Court where all controver&s;ies between the King and his Subjects receive their finall judgement and determina|tion) were proceeding to reform abule&s;, and call &s;ome grand Delinquents and Incendiaries to a legall tryall, a force was rai&s;ed to protect the&s;e Offenders, and con&s;equently to compell the Parliament to de&s;i&s;t from their work: (and let once the authority of Parliaments bee overthrowne, wee are an in|&s;laved and conquered people;) thereupon the Parliament, the repre&s;entative body of the Kingdome, takes Armes to defend them&s;elves, and to bring in the&s;e evill doers to condigne pu|ni&s;hment; this (&s;ay wee) wee doe according to the Funda|mentall Lawes of the Kingdome, and were the Kingdome and
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Parliament Papi&s;ts or Prote&s;tants, Chri&s;tians or Heathens, the ca&s;e is the &s;ame as to the matter of the warre, the Lawes of the Land warranting this ju&s;t defence; now our being Chri&s;tians, and true beleevers, deprives us not of this defence which wee enjoy as Engli&s;hmen, but &s;uper-addes the&s;e five things which I have &s;poken of, to &s;anctifie our other lawfull meanes of de|fence, and to make them the more effectuall; and ble&s;&s;ed be the name of God, wee have found it by experience. Now I pro|ceed to apply the Doctrine for our good.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>V&s;e</HI> 1. Exhortation to to take notice of the comfor|table experi|ence wee have had of this, in our pre&s;ent troubles.</NOTE> Is this the great power whereby Chri&s;tians doe overcome their enemies, a power that comes out of their Mouth? O how good is it for us to take notice, how God hath made all this good to us in our experience, in the great conflicts and deliverances which wee have lately had? we mu&s;t thankfully acknowledge, God hath rai&s;ed us up Coun|&s;ellors who have done their part, and Commanders and Souldiers that have done their part too; the mouth of the Sword hath done its part, but (I &s;ay) the &s;word of the Mouth hath done more: Wee may &s;ay of the mouth of the Sword, as it is &s;aid of <HI>Saul,</HI> that hee had &s;laine his Thou&s;ands, but the &s;word of the Mouth hath &s;laine its ten Thou&s;ands. Wee in our extremities have &s;ought God, Prayed to him, Covenanted with him, Humbled our &s;elves before him, owned his Truth, and profe&s;&s;ed it; and God hath carryed all our affaires &s;o, that when oftentimes our wi&s;e Councellors have failed, and our Armies have failed, and all other helpes have come in, and have told us, that wee are like to bee ruin'd, the Babes and Sucklings never failed to carry it in the times of our extremities: And I have begged it from God, and &s;aid it in this place, and cannot but &s;ay it againe, I would thinke it a wonderfull glory to God, to have it truly Written and Recorded, how in all our extremities, the power that hath come out of the Mouth of Babes and Sucklings hath &s;aved us from utter ru|ine: Our adver&s;aries have laughed at the&s;e things, and e|&s;teemed all the weapons of our Mouth to bee but wind,
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but God hath made them &s;uch a wind as hath &s;cattered them. And (Right Honourable and Beloved) it becomes us well to ob&s;erve it, and to &s;tand amazed, and &s;ay with the P&s;almi&s;t here, <HI>Lord, what is Man, that thou &s;houlde&s;t be thus mindfull of him? O Lord our God, how excellent is thy Name in all the world?</HI></P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 2. Exhortation to maintaine tho&s;e Forces for time to come.</NOTE> Secondly, becau&s;e this is the great way of our conquering our enemies, I be&s;eech you (I principally &s;peake to your Lord&s;hips, and to tho&s;e that are intere&s;ted in being the great Councell of the Kingdome) take care that this Magazine of the Mouth, the powers that come out of the Mouth of Babes and Sucklings may bee pre&s;erved and recruited, and not any wayes disbanded; It is now a great di&s;pute among you that are wi&s;e State&s;men, what wee &s;hould doe with our Armies? whether (there being no vi&s;ible enemy in the Field) it would not bee fitte&s;t to disband our pre&s;ent Armies? A di&s;pute I have nothing to doe with; but this I have to doe with, and make bold to tell you, what&s;oever you doe with other Armies, you mu&s;t not disband the Forces of the Babes and Sucklings, out of who&s;e Mouth comes your &s;tronge&s;t helpe. You are farre from having your worke done as yet, <HI>Ireland</HI> is in a &s;ad condition, <HI>England</HI> is wofully un&s;etled, terrible divi&s;i|ons are found every where; looke to it, that you have a force about you; what other Forces are needfull, I leave to your wi&s;domes, but &s;ure I am the&s;e Babes and Sucklings, are the <HI>Triarii,</HI> the <HI>Veterani,</HI> the old Souldiers, the Life-guard of <HI>England,</HI> disband them once and you are lo&s;t. Therefore for the Lords &s;ake, &s;ee that this power that my Text drives at, may have all the encouragement that may bee: <NOTE PLACE="marg">To this end be carefull of two things.</NOTE>And to this end, your Lord&s;hips mu&s;t be carefull of the&s;e Two things. Fir&s;t,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> To give all the a&s;&s;i&s;tance po&s;&s;ible, that the&s;e Souldiers may bee encouraged and multiplyed in all parts of the Land, I meane, that the Go&s;pel may &s;pread, the Preaching of the Go|&s;pel, that Saints might bee wonne, and that the Church might bee inlarged, bee &s;etled in peace, that there might be free|dome to &s;eek God, and to &s;erve him according to his will; and
<PB N="31" REF="18">
know you for certaine, that every &s;oul which &s;hall be wonne to Chri&s;t, be it the &s;oule of a woman, or of an old man that &s;toops for age, or of a childe, yet every &s;oule wonne to Chri&s;t, and &s;o numbred among the&s;e Babes and Sucklings will bee as &s;tout a &s;ouldier as ever you did employ, and will in your extremity doe more then all the experienced Captains that tread on En|gli&s;h ground, becau&s;e God is with the&s;e, and the&s;e mu&s;t carry it; the power of heaven is engaged with them, therefore for the Lords &s;ake further Religion, the propagation and &s;ettling of it; you are wi&s;e, and can think of the wayes which have been often &s;et before you, God Almighty ble&s;&s;e you in it, and ever let the&s;e parties be deare in your eyes, who have &s;uch in|tere&s;t in Heaven, let them bee owned as the Souldiers who will never fail you, though others may and will. The other thing I humbly advi&s;e is this,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> That you would alwayes carry this in your wi&s;e thoughts, never to engage in any cau&s;e, wherin you &s;hould not be accom|panyed with the power that comes out of the Mouthes of the&s;e Babes and Sucklings: you have found, (though it may be carnall eyes &s;ee it not) that the prayers and teares of Gods people, and their cleaving to God, and their intere&s;t in your Cau&s;e, hath been the greate&s;t meanes under heaven to keepe your Lord&s;hips to be a Parliament Hou&s;e to this day; and the Lord keep you, that what&s;oever bu&s;ine&s;&s;e you have, what con|te&s;t or warre &s;oever you may have, that your Cau&s;e bee &s;uch, that the&s;e Babes and Sucklings bee not con&s;trained to with|draw from your a&s;&s;i&s;tance; my meaning is, that the Cau&s;e bee ever good, and &s;uch a Cau&s;e as God will own, and as God cals you to; hitherto your Cau&s;e hath been manife&s;t, and your way hath been cleare; the Lord keep you, that you and the Babes and Sucklings of my Text may live and dye together, and then wee are well enough; but when ever you engage a|gain&s;t them, or without them, you will be wor&s;ted.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">3. Exhortation to all the&s;e Babes and Sucklings to u&s;e their power again&s;t Chri&s;tand their enemies.</NOTE> 2. To the re&s;t; who is there among you that belongs to this party who are of Chri&s;ts number, I be&s;eech you give us your help, come all of you and helpe the Lord again&s;t his enemies,
<PB N="32" REF="19">
helpe in the great worke that now is in hand; doe not &s;ay you can contribute nothing, it may bee &s;ome of you have no Money or Lands, no wi&s;dome or authority: I am &s;ure thou ha&s;t that which Gods people may receive benefit by, Chri&s;t hath given thee a mouth, which is a quiver full of choice arrowes; thou can&s;t profe&s;&s;e Chri&s;ts truth, thou can&s;t &s;ing his prai&s;es, thou can&s;t call him <HI>Abba</HI> father, thou can&s;t be one of his remembrancers, thou can&s;t pray for the peace of <HI>Zion,</HI> thou can&s;t &s;ay, <HI>Our Father which art in heaven, let thy kingdome come;</HI> and little doe&s;t thou know what great things thou mai&s;t doe, in thy Clo&s;et, in thy Chamber, in the Fields at thy work; no tongue can utter what admirable helpe thou mai&s;t give; thou mai&s;t reach <HI>Rome</HI> and <HI>Spaine,</HI> and <HI>Ireland,</HI> &s;uc|cour the one, and de&s;troy the other: O for the Lords &s;ake lay out your &s;trength to the utmo&s;t; come out (I &s;ay) and helpe the Lord all that are able; <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Hee that</HI> in a famine <HI>withholds Corne,</HI> the people will cur&s;e him; what will thy con|dition be, if thou withholde&s;t thy help in the needfull time of trouble; you know <HI>Mordecai</HI>'s &s;peech to <HI>He&s;ter, Who knowes but thou came&s;t to the Kingdome for &s;uch a time as this?</HI> I &s;ay to thee without any if or and, I know thou art indued with all this &s;trength, for &s;uch a time as this, O therefore fill thy mouth with prai&s;es, with confe&s;&s;ions, with prayers, and with whatever el&s;e may quell the Lords and thy enemies, even the enemy and the avenger.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Rules how to u&s;e this power of the mouth, &s;o as to make it effectuall.</NOTE> But take this in, thou mu&s;t bee carefull &s;o to u&s;e this power, that it may take and &s;peed, thinke not that every one that pre|tends to pray, or pretends to Covenant, or profe&s;&s;e Gods name can doe it: I could give you abundance of in&s;tances, where the Lord hath aborninated al the&s;e things, &amp; they have bin cur&s;es to them who have u&s;ed them, have you not often read of &s;uch &s;pee|ches as the&s;e, <HI>What ha&s;t thou to do to take my Name into thy mouth? when yee make many prayers, I will not heare you; when they pray, I will de&s;troy them with &s;word, famine, and pe&s;tilence;</HI> and many other the like, know therefore its not bare Preaching or Con|fe&s;&s;ing, or Singing, or Praying, that will doe any thing, the&s;e
<PB N="33" REF="19">
mu&s;t be u&s;ed and done aright; and there are excellent Rules for every one of the&s;e, to teach us how to u&s;e them, &s;o as to make them effectuall, but a Sermon will not beare the hand|ling of them, I &s;hall at the pre&s;ent commend onely two directi|ons which are common to them all:</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> 1 See that that Mouth out of which all this &s;trength mu&s;t be exerci&s;ed, bee a &s;anctified Mouth, a Mouth &s;eparated to, and engaged in Gods Cau&s;e onely; let it not bee the Mouth that St. <HI>James</HI> &s;peakes of, <HI>Out of the &s;ame Mouth comes cur&s;ing and ble&s;&s;ing;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>James</HI> 3. 9. 10.</NOTE> let it not be a Mouth that &s;hall &s;ing <HI>Ho&s;anna</HI> to Chri&s;t in the Temple, and <HI>crucifie him</HI> in the Court; that &s;hall &s;ing a <HI>P&s;alme</HI> to him in the Congregation, and a <HI>bawdy Catch</HI> in an Alehou&s;e or Tavern; that &s;hall <HI>ble&s;&s;e</HI> his Name in the a&s;&s;embly of his people, and <HI>ble&s;pheme</HI> him in the company of prophane ones; that &s;hall talk of <HI>Heaven and holine&s;&s;e</HI> in one compa|ny, and <HI>uncleanne&s;&s;e and luxury</HI> in another, this is a Mouth end a Mouth, a double Mouth, that the Lord takes no more plea&s;ure in, then in a double heart: No, let the Mouth, that is &s;uch an excellent in&s;trument as this, and the tongue in it, let it (I &s;ay) bee for the Lord, and for the Lord onely, let it bee a &s;anctified Mouth. And &s;econdly,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> 2 That though all this power mu&s;t be exerci&s;ed out of the Mouth, yet it mu&s;t come further then from the Mouth, the Mouth is the in&s;trument, it is the gun if you will, or the &s;word, but the Mouth it is not the magazine, it is not the &s;tore-hou&s;e; though the tongue is the glory for execution, there mu&s;t bee another thing that mu&s;t be the fountaine: <NOTE PLACE="marg">A double &s;tore-hou&s;e, whence the Mouth mu&s;t be &s;up|plyed with &s;trength.</NOTE>and therefore this &s;anctified Mouth mu&s;t fetchall from another trea&s;ury, &amp; there is a double &s;tore-hou&s;e whence it mu&s;t be furni&s;hed. <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Chri&s;ts Me|rits.</NOTE>1 <HI>Chri&s;ts merit,</HI> the meritorious cau&s;e of all the conque&s;t, <HI>is the blood of the Limbe;</HI> goe not thou out in the force of thy prayer, &s;ay not, I can pray, I can preach, I have a bold Spirit to confe&s;&s;e Chri&s;t, and I have taken the Covenant, and will &s;tand to it: God for|bid thou &s;houlde&s;t thinke this can contribute any thing becau&s;e it is in thee; no, but let the blood of the Lambe be the merito|rious cau&s;e upon which thou relye&s;t, faith in it will make the
<PB N="34" REF="20">
&s;ling &s;tones, able with <HI>David</HI> to kill the&s;e <HI>Goliahs;</HI> take this a|way, and thou can&s;t doe nothing. <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 From a &s;an|ctified heart.</NOTE>2 See that all come out of the <HI>good Trea&s;ury within,</HI> from a &s;anctified heart; when thy <HI>Mouth makes con&s;e&s;&s;ion,</HI> &s;ee that it come out <HI>of a heart that beleeveth;</HI> if thou <HI>&s;ing</HI> to Gods glory with thy mouth and voice <HI>it mu&s;t bee with grace in thy heart;</HI> if thou wilt <HI>pray,</HI> &s;ee to it, that it be not lip-labour, or onely a company of words or &s;entences well compo&s;ed, but let it bee the powring out of the heart, the crying with the heart, with an humble heart, with a beleeving heart; and &s;o let thy Covenanting bee, thou wilt &s;weare a Covenant, let thy heart &s;tand to it, and hold it out, and main|taine it; this is the way to u&s;e the&s;e Mouth-weapons aright. I &s;hould have inlarged my Di&s;cour&s;e upon them, but I rather feare I have been burthen &s;ome already to your patience. <HI>Con&s;ider what I have &s;aid, and the Lord give you under&s;tanding in allthings:</HI> And I &s;hall end.</P>
</DIV1>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
