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<DATE>2007-10-19</DATE>
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<NAME>Elspeth Healey</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<DIV1 TYPE="license">
<PB REF="1">
<HEAD>Die Mercurii ultimo Martii. 1647.</HEAD>
<P>ORdered by the Commons a&s;&s;embled in Parliament: That S^r <HI>Henry Mildmay,</HI> do from this Hou&s;e give thanks unto M^r <HI>Iohn&s;on,</HI> for the great pains he took, in the Sermon he Preach|ed on this day at <HI>Margarets We&s;t|min&s;ter,</HI> before the Hou&s;e of Commons (it being a day of Publick Humiliati|on) and that he do de&s;ire him to print his Sermon. Wherein he is to have the like Priviledge in printing thereof as others in like kinde u&s;ually have had.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>H. El&s;ynge,</SIGNED>
<SIGNED>Cler. Parl. D. Com.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>L&V;X &amp; LEX, OR THE LIGHT AND THE LAW OF Jacobs Hou&s;e: HELD FORTH IN A SERMON Before the Honourable Hou&s;e of COMMONS at S^t Margarets We&s;tmin&s;ter March 31. 1647. being the day of publike Humiliation.</P>
<P>By ROBERT JOHNSON<HI> Eboraicus, </HI>One of the A&s;&s;embly of Divines.</P>
<BIBL>ISAIAH 8 20.</BIBL>
<Q>To the Law and to the Te&s;timony, if they &s;peak not according to this word, it is becau&s;e there is no light in them.</Q>
<BIBL>1 PETER 1. 19.</BIBL>
<Q>We have al&s;o a more &s;ure word of prophecie, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that &s;hineth in a dark place.</Q>
<Q><GAP DESC="foreign">. Chry&s;o&s;t</Q>
<P>LONDON, <HI>Printed by</HI> A. Miller, <HI>for</HI> Philemon Stephens, <HI>at the Signe of the Gilded Lion in</HI> Pauls <HI>Church-yard. 1647.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<P><GAP DESC="missing">
<PB REF="2">
priviledges of <HI>Jacobs</HI> &s;pirituall hou&s;hold, and to draw from you (in the&s;e hum|bling times) expre&s;sions of &s;orrow mo&s;t &s;utable to tho&s;e who walk &s;o un&s;utably to cele&s;tiall favours; (many priding them|&s;elves in an imaginary title to the <HI>bene|ficium</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jer 7. 9. 10</HI> Putant e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">im Hypocritae &s;i modo externas <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">u'tus divini cer<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="3 letters">ni<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> qua&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">an ob&s;er|vent, tunc on|nia tecte babe|re, quamvis ip|&s;i in &s;celeribus praefra<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">te per<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">|gu it O&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> and in loc.</NOTE> of the family, who are wholly neglective of the <HI>officium)</HI> this being of concernment to all Chri&s;tians (to whom&mdash;are al&s;o &s;ome directions hinted) &s;o chiefly to governours and all Reformers, that they <HI>partake not in other mens &s;ins.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>1 Tim 5 22.</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> Ne&abque; te participem con&s;titue ali<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">|rum peccat<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">um.</NOTE> I have endeavoured to incite you who are <HI>Ma&s;ters</HI> in our <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> to improve your diligence in the di&s;charge of that tru&s;t and office in this family, wherewith above others you are honoured by God; who ha|ving <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>1 Sam. 2 30.</HI></NOTE> manifested his bounty to this hou&s;e|hold no le&s;se, if not much more then to <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Exod. 10 23. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">. 8 19. p&s;ul. 147 19. Act. 14. 16.</HI></NOTE> tho&s;e our forefathers, in vouch&s;afing <HI>light</HI> to us, when others of our Allies &s;it
<PB REF="2">
in <HI>darkne&s;&s;e</HI> blacker then Egyptian, is plea&s;ed to direct us to our work and walk by a <HI>pillar</HI> at his own charges, holding forth to us a <HI>light</HI> &s;o much the more ne|ce&s;&s;ary, by how much <HI>the Princes of this world,</HI> who know not the Go&s;pel, <HI>cruci|fie</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>1 Cor. 2. 8.</HI></NOTE> <HI>to them&s;elves the Lord of glory:</HI> And as tho&s;e venemous &s;erpents in <HI>Sardi|nia,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Solin. poybi&s;t. cap <HI>9.</HI> Accendunt quo|tidie lucernas, quib<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> nulla lux e&s;t: illis co<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">pe|tunt te&s;t imonis te<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ebrarum. <HI>Te<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">t.</HI> Apol <HI>10.</HI> Igne<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> fatunm qui &s;equmuntur in avia abdu|cuntur &amp; in pr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">cipitia fo&s;&s;a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> que &s;aepe numero run<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">t. Kek Sy&s;t. Rhy&s;. lib. <HI>6.</HI></NOTE> mentioned in stories, either hate and flie the <HI>light,</HI> or like tho&s;e in <HI>Tertullians</HI> time, bear a lanthorn profe&s;sion without <HI>light,</HI> or as another &s;ort by an <HI>ignis fatu|us,</HI> are led into dangerous precipices and by-waies, and with <HI>Ixion</HI> in the Poet, embrace a cloud for the true <HI>Iuno,</HI> &s;ha|dows in the room of orthodox and &s;ub&s;tan|tiall truths. The &s;cope of all is to unde|ceive you in pointing to that only <HI>light</HI> of truth which is able to lead you to eternall <HI>light,</HI> and in the <HI>interim</HI> to afford di|rection in managing the whole bu&s;ine&s;&s;e of
<PB REF="3">
this <HI>hou&s;e,</HI> by which all other <HI>lights</HI> are to be examined, whereto if di&s;agreeing, it is <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;a. 8. 20.</HI></NOTE> becau&s;e there is no light in them. <NOTE PLACE="marg">Lo Cook. ju|ri&s;diction <HI>of Courts.</HI></NOTE> According to which that you may act to the hou&s;es welfare, Go<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">s glory; and therein as your Noble predece&s;&s;ours, ap|pear <HI>Doctum, pium &amp; benedictum Parliamentum,</HI> and not otherwi&s;e, to your own comfort in the great day, when the great <HI>Bi&s;hop</HI> and <HI>King</HI> of heaven and earth &s;hall appear clothed with the robes of glory, as it is the endeavour, &s;o the prayer of</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Yours<LB>Robert Iohn &s;on.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
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<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="1" REF="3">
<HEAD><HI>Lux &amp; Lex,</HI> OR THE LIGHT AND THE LAW OF <HI>Jacobs</HI> Hou&s;e.</HEAD>
<BIBL>ISAIAH 2. 6.</BIBL>
<Q>O hou&s;e of Jacob, Come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord.</Q>
<P>_WHil&s;t I reade this Scripture, I cannot forget <NOTE PLACE="marg">Pes enim Ille in quo claulica|bat, Iudaeos qui in Chri&s;tum non crediderunt, fi|gurabat, ille ve|ro qui &s;anus re|man&s;it, illorum typum ge&s;&s;it qui Chri&s;tum Do|minum recipe|runt.</NOTE> to remember that of divine <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> in one of tho&s;e Sermons <HI>de tempore,</HI> which goe under his name (though indeed the authour is doubtfull,) who &s;peaking of <HI>Jacobs</HI> halting, under&s;tands by his feet two &s;orts of people among the Jews. By his halting, the unbeleevers, who in faith did not receive Chri&s;t. By his going upright, he conceives <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>In co quod vincit Iacob, Iudaeos Chri&s;tum per&s;ecuturos &s;ignificabat: in co quod benedictionem petebat, illum populum figurabat qui in Chri&s;tum Domioum credituru<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> erat.</HI> Serm. 80. <HI>de Temp.</HI></NOTE> is meant tho&s;e which beleeved in him. <HI>Jacob</HI> overcoming (&s;aith he) &s;ignifies the Jews who prevailed again&s;t Chri&s;t in putting him to death. In being ble&s;&s;ed, he &s;heweth tho&s;e who wor|&s;hiped him, and were of him ble&s;&s;ed. We will not contend with <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> (or who ever is the authour) for the propriety of the allu&s;ion; the truth of this a&s;&s;ertion is clearly manife&s;t.
<PB N="2" REF="4">
<HI>Jacobs</HI> family had <HI>Mep<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">o&s;heths</HI> halters in it. Tho&s;e who came of <HI>Jacobs</HI> loins were fouly tainted, yea overgrown with unbe|lief. When Chri&s;t came they did not receive him. His own hou&s;e|hold, <HI>Jacobs</HI> po&s;terity, did not acknowledge him. They put|ting falvation away from them&s;elves, he turnes to the Gentiles, who embrace him. The Jews, <HI>Jacobs</HI> po&s;terity, for a long time of blindene&s;&s;e, &s;tand back through unbelief.</P>
<P>This our Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> a noble mans &s;onne, extraordinarily rai&s;ed to reform the hou&s;e of God, doth ob&s;erve what &s;hould <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Propheta igi|tur ver&egrave; regi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">s ex regio ut ple|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">&abque; veterum tradiderunt ge+nere oriu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">du<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">, &amp;c Ep Nu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> cup. ad H. Mo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. Com. in &s;l. &amp;</HI> Hieron.</NOTE> come to pa&s;&s;e in the&s;e <HI>latter daies</HI> of the Go&s;pel, when <HI>Gods Mountain,</HI> the Church, was to be <HI>advanced in the top of mountains, and all Nations,</HI> even the Gentiles (heretofore an abject people) <HI>(the partition wall being pulled down) &s;hould flock unto it.</HI> This he mentions as a &s;trong argument to per&s;wade the Jews <HI>Abra|hams</HI> &s;eed, <HI>I&s;aacks</HI> po&s;terity, <HI>Jacobs</HI> hou&s;e, to come in and re|ceive Chri&s;t. Which (&s;aith he,) &s;hall the <HI>Lords Mountain be advanced in the top of <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ountains?</HI> &s;hall <HI>many Nations flock unto it?</HI> &s;hall it repent them of their rigor again&s;t Gods people? that they <HI>&s;hall break their &s;words into plow&s;hares,</HI> and <HI>&s;pears into pruning hooks;</HI> if &s;trangers be &s;o inclinable to conformity, &s;urely children of the family &s;hould manife&s;t them&s;elves in actions of &s;o high concernment much more zealous. The Pro|phet &s;eems to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ewail the Jews, as <HI>Monica</HI> her &s;onne <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> be|fore his conver&s;ion with many tears: or as the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. confe&s;t. Rom. 9. 3.</NOTE> his countrey-men and kindred <HI>after the fle&s;h,</HI> who remained in naturall impiety and ob&s;tinacy; or as our Saviour Chri&s;t his auditors, that <HI>Publicanes</HI> and <HI>Harlots</HI> &s;hould receive <HI>the king|dome,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth&punc; 8. 11, 12. Mat. 2<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. 31, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">.</NOTE> and the <HI>children</HI> of the hou&s;e-hold be &s;hut out. <HI>Oh hou&s;e of Jacob.</HI></P>
<P>Here is a holy Apo&s;trophe. He turns him&s;elf to the Jews, who were (notwith&s;tanding what ever plenty of ordinances God vouch&s;afed them) ob&s;tinate and re<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ellious, though <HI>Ja|cobs</HI> hou&s;e. Nor is that meant only of tho&s;e in after ages, when Chri&s;t came in the fle&s;h: The particular applications mentio|ned, the kindes of &s;inners reprehended, the nature of duties whereto they are exhorted, manife&s;t his &s;cope is to teach the people of his own time.</P>
<P>In the words you may <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ote three particulars.</P>
<LIST>
<PB N="3" REF="4">
<ITEM><HI>1. The per&s;ons concerned in the duty required. viz.</HI> The hou&s;e of Jacob.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>2. The nature of the office from them expected, which is ^1prefaced,</HI> Come ye, let us. <HI>^2Expre&s;&s;ed,</HI> walk.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>3. The certainty of that directory, whereby every thing is to be managed.</HI> The light of the Lord.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>From which he draweth three arguments of per&s;wa&s;ion to godline&s;&s;e.</P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>A fontibus hone&s;ti.</HI> You are the hou&s;e and family of father <HI>Jacob,</HI> who prophecied of Chri&s;ts manife&s;tation in the fle&s;h, of <NOTE PLACE="marg">Theod. Snepf. <HI>in locum.</HI></NOTE> who&s;e line he was to come; you have been educated <HI>ab incu|nabulis</HI> in the laws and &s;tatutes of the Lord: Shall you &s;uffer Gentiles to go before you, <HI>O hou&s;e of Jacob?</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>Ab inhonesto.</HI> How un&s;eemly and ba&s;e is it, that others who are &s;trangers to God and Chri&s;t, without knowledge, hope, all, &s;hould walk in the Lords way, and you &s;tand <HI>idle all the day long? O come let us.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. <HI>Ab occa&s;ion<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> facili.</HI> You have now a more fair opportu|nity of Reformation then ever. You cannot pretend igno|rance, through want of means to in&s;truct you. You cannot de|ny but the Lord hath kindely invited you with tender of him&s;elf and &s;alvation. You cannot alledge that you are &s;trangers and in darkne&s;&s;e: Here is a <HI>light</HI> of truth, a <HI>light</HI> of Scripture mani|fe&s;tation, a <HI>light</HI> of Go&s;pel revelation &s;ent and &s;et up by <HI>God</HI> him&s;elf, that <HI>Light of the Lord.</HI></P>
<P>O <HI>hou&s;e</HI> of <HI>Jacob.</HI> Why hou&s;e? why hou&s;e of <HI>Jacob?</HI> It were too tedious and happily not countervail the charge and labour, to rear up a large &s;tructure of the various &s;ignifications and ac|ceptions of the word, <HI>Hou&s;e.</HI> In Scripture language 'tis a work <NOTE PLACE="marg">Flac. <HI>Illiric<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">, in verbo do<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">.</HI></NOTE> perfected already by our Divines in their writings; you may plea&s;e to take notice onely, how it's &s;quared to our pre&s;ent purpo&s;e. That the Church of God is often deciphered by this name, is not unknown to tho&s;e who are competently ver&s;ed in facred writ; which becau&s;e u&s;ed both materially and formally, be plea&s;ed to remember, that its taken &s;peci<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">lly for &s;ons or a po&s;terity of tho&s;e whom God would make happy with &s;uch a ble&s;&s;ing. As when God is &s;aid to be favourable to the Egyptian Midwives, that <HI>he made them a hou&s;e,</HI> concerning <NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 1. 21.</NOTE>
<PB N="4" REF="5">
which, though in &s;everall glo&s;&s;es there be variety of opinions, occa&s;ioned by the changing of the gender ma&s;culine for femi|nine, and feminine for ma&s;culine. As al&s;o that &s;ome of the <HI>Hebrew Doctors</HI> conceive it meant of their pre&s;ervation from the rage of <HI>Pharaoh;</HI> Others with <HI>To&s;tatus</HI> take it for her in|corporating into the Nation and Commonwealth of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> as <HI>Rabab,</HI> though its not improbable they were Hebrew women. Others with <HI>Hierom</HI> and <HI>Rupertus,</HI> think it meant of the Hea|venly man&s;ions in future glory. And &s;ome with <HI>Theoderet</HI> and <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> apply it to tho&s;e hou&s;es of wealth and riches the Lord for that &s;ervice gave them. In this variety we may not exclud<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> that &s;ence which the foregoing words do reade, of a numerous family and po&s;terity wherewith God ble&s;&s;ed them, notwith&s;tanding <HI>Pharaohs</HI> rage very great again&s;t them. To the like purpo&s;e is that phra&s;e, in <HI>Gen.</HI> 16 2. in the &s;tory of <NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"></NOTE> <HI>Sarah</HI> when &s;he gave <HI>Hagar</HI> to <HI>Abraham.</HI> I may (&s;aith &s;he) <HI>be builded by her.</HI> So <HI>Rachel</HI> and <HI>Leah</HI> are &s;aid <HI>to build the hou&s;e</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ibbanerb. Forta&s;&s;is aedifi|caborex ea. Forta&s;&s;is liberos con&s;equar ex <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">.</HI> Ju. Tr.</NOTE> <HI>of I&s;rael,</HI> Ruth 4. 11. And in <HI>Davids</HI> &s;tory you have that, 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 7. 11, 27. and in other places. The rea&s;on whereof is manife&s;t by the Etymologie. The Hebrew word <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ignifying a &s;onne comes of the word <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Banah,</HI> and is of the &s;ame root with <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Eben</HI> a &s;tone, and <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Beth</HI> a hou&s;e, that as one &s;tone built on another, ari&s;eth up to a hou&s;e or building, &s;o of one &s;onne or childe (by the ble&s;&s;ing of God on the parents) a family ari|&s;eth. Neither is it to be re&s;trained to this po&s;terity as &s;uch on|ly: He mentions them as a &s;elect hou&s;e, a cho&s;en people among&s;t <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 3 9. Heb. 3. 6.</NOTE> whom God had &s;et his name and wor&s;hip, as the Church of God is &s;et forth often in the new Te&s;tament, <HI>Heb</HI> 3. 16.</P>
<P>But <HI>Why Jacobs hou&s;e?</HI> You know (beloved) that <HI>Abra|ham</HI> had but one &s;onne by <HI>Sarah. I&s;aak</HI> indeed had two &s;ons, but one of them was rejected and ca&s;t out of the family. But <HI>Jacob</HI> was honoured with twelve &s;onnes, all which as they were members, &s;o were they &s;harers in the heir&s;hip and benefits of the temporall and &s;pirituall family, and did joyn in enlarging his hou&s;e: whence it is that <HI>Abraham</HI> and <HI>I&s;aak</HI> are &s;ilenced, and &s;o often mention is made of <HI>Jacob</HI> or <HI>I&s;raels</HI> po&s;terity, doubtle&s;&s;e they did much glory in this prerogative: the pro|phet therefore being to deal with them takes his ri&s;e hence to per&s;wade them to duty.</P>
<P><PB N="5" REF="5">
<HI>A priviledged people &s;hould walk &s;utable to tho&s;e priviledges God vouch&s;afes them.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Doctr.</NOTE></P>
<P>To which purpo&s;e its ob&s;ervable in Scripture how frequently we are exhorted <HI>to walk worthy of the Lord:</HI> which &s;heweth, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Col 1. 10. 1 The&s;. 2. 12.</NOTE> that when God hath made large manife&s;tations of favour to his Church, it ought to corre&s;pond in behaviour to tho&s;e be|nefits. Hence are tho&s;e connexions, <HI>Deut.</HI> 6. 10, 11, 12. <HI>And it &s;hall be when the Lord thy God hath brought thee into the land which he &s;ware unto thy fathers, to Abraham to I&s;aac and to Ja|cob, to give thee great and goodly cities which thou builded&s;t not, and hou&s;es full of all good things which thou filled&s;t not, and wels digged which thou diggedst not: Vineyards and olive-trees which thou planted&s;t not: When thou &s;halt have eaten and be full, then beware le&s;t thou forget the Lord which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt from the hou&s;e of bondage.</HI> You &s;ee their priviledges are many: And the la&s;t wherein he in&s;tanceth, is deliverance from <HI>Egypt,</HI> of which the Jews made <HI>yearly</HI> mention, when <NOTE PLACE="marg">Deur 16. 5, 6.</NOTE> they pre&s;ented their fir&s;t fruits unto God: the intent of all which is to endear then, that &s;eeing the hearts of men are &s;o <NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut 3<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. 13, 14, 15, 16.</NOTE> corrupt, as ea&s;ily to abu&s;e Gods bounty to wantonne&s;&s;e, that they would be &s;o much more heedfull (being a priviledged peo|ple) that they forget not the &s;ervice of the Lord, his wor&s;hip and Religion: thats his meaning &s;urely, for in Scripture men <NOTE PLACE="marg">Judg. 37. P&s;al 44. 21. P&s;. 106. 20, 21. Jer. 3. 21. Jer. 18. 25.</NOTE> are &s;aid to <HI>forget the Lord,</HI> when they corrupt Religion, or &s;uffer it to be corrupted al&s;o, in 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 12. 29. <HI>onely fear the Lord and &s;erve him in truth with all your heart, for con&s;ider how great things he hath done for you.</HI> He might have &s;aid as the men of our times. God hath done great things for us, great delive|rances, great pre&s;ervations, he will not now fail us, though we be not &s;o holy. Oh &s;aith he, this priviledge mu&s;t binde you to <NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 19 4, 5. Heb. 13, 1.</NOTE> duty, <HI>con&s;ider</HI> what <HI>he hath done for you.</HI> This is the con&s;tant language of the Scriptures. But I need not compa&s;&s;e this truth <HI>with a greater cloud of witne&s;&s;es.</HI></P>
<P>You will &s;ay, what were the priviledges of <HI>Jacobs</HI> hou&s;e, that <NOTE PLACE="marg">Object.</NOTE> he in&s;i&s;ts &s;o much upon them?</P>
<P>Truly they were great and many, both to Church and &s;tate, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Re&s;ol.</NOTE> and in them as in a mappe we may behold our own priviledges repre&s;ented, as S^t <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;aies, <HI>priores omnei quotquot <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"></HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug.</NOTE>
<PB N="6" REF="6">
<HI>habuerunt Chri&s;tiani dicendi &s;unt.</HI> I&s;raelites were Chri&s;tians (in his &s;ence) Chri&s;tians I&s;raelites.</P>
<P N="1">1. They came of <HI>Jacob</HI> eternally famous for his great &s;trength manife&s;ted in his wra&s;tling by faith, with Chri&s;t, and overcom|ing <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Tenes in lacta <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">c tibi <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ono Deus e&s;t.</HI> Hilar. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> 5 <HI>de</HI> Tr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">nit Eph. 2. 18. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. 12.</NOTE> him, as <HI>Hilary</HI> notes; for his familiarity with God, <HI>talk|ing with him face to face,</HI> Gen. 32. 30. That he was to God a <HI>con&s;ilijs,</HI> and long before the incarnation of Chri&s;t revealed to him that mi&s;tery. Nor do we come &s;hort in this favour, we have by Chri&s;t <HI>acce&s;&s;e to the throne of grace,</HI> we have power with Chri&s;t, and by our faith <HI>conquer the world,</HI> and are of Gods coun|&s;ell, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb 4. 16. 1 Co<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. 2 ult.</NOTE> knowing <HI>the minde of Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. God did &s;eparate <HI>Jacobs</HI> family as a <HI>peculiar</HI> people to him|&s;elf, <HI>from all the nations of the earth, on whom he would chu&s;e to &s;et his love and do them good,</HI> Deut. 7. 6. they were a peculiar <NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 19 <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. <HI>Peculium Abu|les in locu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">,</HI> as <HI>the. C<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ldea.</HI> ob&s;erves. <HI>Speed.</HI></NOTE> trea&s;ure of Jewels, in which God took plea&s;ure. In this hap|pine&s;&s;e are we al&s;o &s;harers as children of the &s;pirituall family: who knows not that we were a wilde and barbarous people, who painted and fla&s;hed our fle&s;h? God vouch&s;afed at that time to &s;end his word among&s;t us to reclaim us of that barba|rous pagani&s;me, after that we fell to popery and &s;uper&s;tition, the Lord was plea&s;ed by a further manife&s;tation of his &s;on Chri&s;t Je&s;us to call us to him&s;elf, that we &s;hould be <HI>a peculiar people to him, zealous of good works.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Titus 2. 11.</NOTE></P>
<P N="3">3. Of <HI>Jacobs</HI> family Chri&s;t came as the Apo&s;tle witne&s;&s;eth, <HI>Rom</HI> 9. 5. It was no &s;mall honour to that hou&s;e, from which the Lord Je&s;us as man de&s;cended. Is not Chri&s;t our kin&s;man, our elder brother? is he not fle&s;h of our fle&s;h, bone of our bone? did he take the <HI>nature of Angels on him?</HI> No, he is made <NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 2 16, 17. Heb. 4. 15. Aug. <HI>in</HI> Joh. 3. 16. 17.</NOTE> like to us in all things, finne onely excepted. I cannot but with divine <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> admire the incomprehen&s;ible love of God to us in this, of clothing his divine nature with the rags of our hu|mane fle&s;h, when he came to make him&s;elf a &s;acrifice for &s;inne.</P>
<P N="4"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. It was a great priviledge of this family that God commit|ted to them, only the keeping of his <HI>Oracles,</HI> as the Apo&s;tle <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Theophil<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> vir Senatorij ordi|nie</HI> Aret. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> Act. 1. 1.</NOTE> &s;peaketh, <HI>Rom.</HI> 3. 2. if it were an honour to <HI>Theophilus,</HI> though a Sena<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">our, as a learned Divine doth &s;tile him, that <HI>Luke</HI> the authour of the holy &s;tory containing the birth, preaching-life,
<PB N="7" REF="6">
and death of Chri&s;t in the Go&s;pel of <HI>Luke</HI> and the Acts of Apo&s;tles, after Chri&s;ts departure to heaven, was dedicated <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Hac lege evan|gelium <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> Theopb nu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">u|pat Lu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">as ut &s;i|deliter ejus cu|&s;todiam &s;u&s;cipi|at.</HI> Calv. <HI>in loc.</HI></NOTE> to him, that he &s;hould faithfully pre&s;erve it for the Church of Gods u&s;e and benefit: how great a favour was it to the Jews, <HI>Jacobs</HI> hou&s;e, to have the &s;acred &s;tory, my&s;terious books of the Prophets in their keeping? Nor are Chri&s;tians behinde in this mercy, and we of this Land being a part of the family, have ex|perienced this bounty in a very great mea&s;ure. Time was, when our condition re&s;embled theirs in <HI>Samuels</HI> daies; <HI>that the word</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Sam 31. <HI>Sermo Iehovae &s;uerat rarus temporibus illis,</HI> Tremel. <HI>&amp;</HI> Jun <HI>Heb preti|o&s;us. Nan omne rarum <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">.</HI> See <HI>Iohn <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"></HI> his &s;tory in <HI>Act. and Mon.</HI> of the Church pag. 1941.</NOTE> <HI>of God was exceeding precious:</HI> Time was, when we had &s;mall vi&s;ion and <HI>the blinde</HI> lead <HI>the blinde,</HI> and through lack of it, people were in a peri&s;hing condition: Time was, when to have an Engli&s;h bible, or any part of old or new Te&s;tament in our own language without licence was capitall. But God of his infinite mercy hath for many years &s;hewed us in this parti|cular the light of his countenance: We have the &s;acred <HI>Oracles</HI> (notwith&s;tanding the projects and plots of all Athei&s;ticall and popi&s;h men) in a large and plentifull mea&s;ure. We have <HI>Mo&s;es and the Prophets,</HI> Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tles, holding out the doctrine of the covenant in the Lord Je&s;us for the foundation of our faith, direction of our manners; if by our unworthine&s;&s;e we provoke him not to deprive us <NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod 10. 4. P&s;al. 91. 4. P&s;al. 10<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. 14. Deut. 7. 17. Jer. 30. 10 12. 13.</NOTE> of them.</P>
<P N="5">5. This family had the Lord his &s;peciall protection again&s;t forreign and dome&s;tick enemies, he did <HI>bear them on Eagles wings,</HI> he covered and defended them under <HI>the feathers</HI> of his providence, <HI>he &s;uffered no man to do them wrong: but repro|ved Kings for their &s;akes;</HI> though as it &s;eems, they were in a <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 16. 19. P&s;al 8. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> <HI>Sol qui re<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">reat pios beneficij<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">is, ut &s;ol plan|tas &amp; anima|lia &s;uo calore &amp; &s;plendore: &s;cutum no&s;trum, id e&s;t, quod de|fendit nos, nem|pe me &amp; comi|tatum meum</HI> Pilcat.</NOTE> low condition, having &s;even mighty &s;tates to deal withall. Beloved we are equally partakers (as members of the family) in this favour. God hath been a <HI>Sunne</HI> to us, inlightning our under&s;tandings with the knowledge of him&s;elf, a <HI>&s;hield,</HI> a pro|tection to us again&s;t the mo&s;t nefarious and bloudy a&s;&s;aults of homebred and forreign enemies: How hath he <HI>turned</HI> the <HI>coun&s;ells</HI> of crafty <HI>Ahitophels into fooli&s;hne&s;&s;e?</HI> How hath he &s;hattered the forces of bloudy <HI>E&s;aus?</HI> How hath he di&s;com|fited yea routed the Annies of proud Phili&s;tines and confoun|ded &s;welling <HI>Pharaohs in the red &s;ea?</HI> He <HI>hath broken their bow,</HI>
<PB N="8" REF="7">
and knapt <HI>their spear in &s;under,</HI> and <HI>burnt their chariots in the fire:</HI> He hath rai&s;ed up the Heroick &s;pirits of tho&s;e worthies (not as the heathen fain by tran&s;migration of &s;ouls) but by re|doubling the &s;ame &s;pirit on them more powerfull then a drum of dead <HI>Zi&s;caes</HI> skin: on one he hath put <HI>Samp&s;ons</HI> &s;pirit, on another, <HI>Davids</HI> &s;pirit, on another <HI>Samuels</HI> &s;pirit: He hath for us men and our &s;afety, <HI>&s;ubdued Kingdoms, wrought righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e,</HI> performed <HI>promi&s;es, &s;topped the mouths of Lions, quenched the violence of fire,</HI> made us e&s;cape <HI>the edge of the &s;word:</HI> of <NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 1<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> 34. 35.</NOTE> <HI>weakne&s;&s;e</HI> made us &s;trong, we have <HI>waxed valiant in fight;</HI> hath turned to <HI>flight the Armies of the Alions,</HI> both in this and in other Kingdoms. I pray God, our private differences (after the influence of &s;o great mercies) which hath in &s;everall ages of <HI>Saxons, Danes, Normans,</HI> been fatall to this Nation, prove <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Quantos vide|mus humiliatos &s;ed non humiles</HI> Bern</NOTE> not a &s;ad <HI>omen</HI> to us, who live no better, if not wor&s;e then for|merly; in bla&s;phemies, in contempt of ordinances, and <HI>abo|minable idolatries,</HI> as if with <HI>Theramines</HI> in the &s;tory, we judge our &s;elves re&s;erved to &s;ome further evil of mi&s;ery, by our trading <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet 4. 3.</NOTE> in that of &s;in.</P>
<P N="6">6. God &s;eated <HI>Jacobs</HI> family on a mo&s;t fertile &s;oil. The ground &s;ometimes is of much advantage to that people, which <NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 3 8. Deut. 8. 7, 8, 9. Deut 11. <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">. 12. Ezek. <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">0. 6. called Jehova's land, Ho&s;. 9. 3. and the holy land, Zac. 2<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">2. the land of Immanuel, that is, of Chri&s;t, I&s;a 8 8. a figure of an heavenly coun|trey, Heb. 11. 9 10. being accuntrey in <HI>A&s;ia</HI> the le&s;&s;e, po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed by <HI>Canaan</HI> the &s;on of <HI>Cam</HI> the &s;on of <HI>Noab,</HI> and his &s;ons, but for their wickedne&s;&s;e the Land was to &s;pue them out, <HI>Lev.</HI> 18. 25. <HI>Gen.</HI> 12. 5.</NOTE> doth inhabit &s;uch a peece of earth: 'Tis ob&s;erved by our lear|ned hi&s;torian M^r <HI>Camden,</HI> that the Religious hou&s;es &s;o called (built by our predece&s;&s;ours, in the founders intentions, nur&s;eries of learning and piety) were placed in the mo&s;t fruitfull parts of the countrey: And may not Chri&s;tians, and more particu|larly we of this Nation, &s;ay as the P&s;almi&s;t, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 16. 6. <HI>The lines are fallen</HI> to us <HI>in a plea&s;ant place,</HI> or as the Greek, <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>in optimis &s;eu prae&s;tanti&s;&s;imis. We have a goodly heritage,</HI> or, as is fair for me, or unto me, <HI>it plea&s;eth me well,</HI> &s;uch an he|ritage as is a little paradi&s;e on earth, to the admiration of our friends and emulation of our enemies.</P>
<P>Worthy patriots, you have heard the <HI>beneficium</HI> and privi|ledge of <HI>Jacobs</HI> familie; having been &s;omewhat large in it, I &s;hall now briefly &s;hew the <HI>officium</HI> or duty on our part, cor|re&s;pondent
<PB N="9" REF="7">
to &s;o high a favour.</P>
<P>In opening whereof I tremble to tell you; I may <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> indeed, <HI>vox faucibus haeret.</HI> I &s;hall rather (&s;uch is our ingratefull <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Accipiendis be|neficijs indignus e&s;t qui &s;uer<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">t de accept<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> ingra|tus</HI> Bern Serm. 4. in <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> 90. I&s;a. 1. v. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> behaviour) point at the unworthy carriage of this generation to our heavenly father (as <HI>Polycarpus</HI> &s;aid) that ever hath followed vs with good, never did us evil. May I not take up <HI>I&s;aiahs</HI> complaint, he <HI>hath nouri&s;hed up children, and they have rebelled again&s;t him?</HI> may I not too truly lament our times, in the language of <HI>Ezekiel,</HI> that we <HI>are a rebellious hou&s;e?</HI> may I not as <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> complain of this family in that &s;ad expre&s;&s;ion, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 2. 5.</NOTE> <HI>Oh fooli&s;h nation and unwi&s;e, doe we thus requite the Lord?</HI> He &s;harpens his &s;peech with an Interrogation, to &s;hew the grievou&s;|ne&s;&s;e <NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 32. 6.</NOTE> of their offence, that it might work in them a deeper impre&s;&s;ion: And in the Hebrew he u&s;eth the word <HI>Nabal,</HI> &s;ig|nifying a fool that hath his judgement and under&s;tanding faded from him, whereupon he becomes wilde and wicked, not|with&s;tanding the riches of his heavenly fathers bounty to|wards him: Such <HI>Nabals,</HI> &s;uch arrant fools, are we of this <HI>Jacobs</HI> hou&s;e; as may be manife&s;ted, if we make an impartiall &s;crutiny.</P>
<P N="1">1. How do children of this hou&s;e undervalue the benefits conferred on them? At how low and mean a rate doe they &s;et them? how vilely do mo&s;t men e&s;teem them? As he in the Proverbs, <HI>it's naught, it's naught, &s;aith the buyer.</HI> It's mean, it's not of that worth, &s;aith a carnall heart, there is not that ex|cellencie <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 20. 14. <HI>Pe&s;&s;imum e&s;t Trem. &amp;. Iun.</HI></NOTE> in the favours that men talk of. If a man &s;hould &s;et a poor rate on a Shop commodity, how would the owners frown at him? Think you when God hath be&s;towed all his co&s;t and labour on us, his enemies by nature, he will take it well we &s;o underprize his bounty, and yet of his family? O that any could &s;o value the Lord and his goodne&s;&s;e, as they ought to do! But as tho&s;e in the Go&s;pel, being invited to the fea&s;t (&s;aith the text) <HI>they made light of it, and went their way:</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 22. 5. <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>illi vero haec non curantes abicrunt.</HI></NOTE> the Greek &s;ignifies a di&s;dainfull neglect, as &s;ome ba&s;e thing not worth the while, and therefore be&s;tow them&s;elves otherwi&s;e: So do we di&s;e&s;teem (chiefly) &s;pirituall favours: the people of God may by experience finde it in them&s;elves too true, that of the two, their hearts are mo&s;t inclined to beat down the
<PB N="10" REF="8">
price of &s;oul-mercies, whereas God looks we &s;hould prize mercy t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> its worth. Hence, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 150. 2. <HI>prai&s;e him according to</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">, propter amp<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">.</HI></NOTE> <HI>his excellent greatne&s;&s;e,</HI> as he ri&s;eth to us in favours, our hearts &s;hould be rai&s;ed to him in <HI>Magnificates.</HI> I may not unfitly in this ca&s;e phra&s;e it with <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> Numb. 16. 9. <HI>Seemeth it a &s;mall thin<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> unto you, that the God of I&s;rael hath &s;eparated you from the congregation of I&s;rael, to bring you neer to him&s;elf, to do the &s;ervice of the Tabernacle of the Lord, and to &s;tand before the congregation to mini&s;ter unto them?</HI> His intent is to &s;hew the Levites their &s;inne, in undervaluing the kindene&s;&s;e of God in the function he had put them. As I&s;rael was &s;eparated from all other people to be the Lords peculiar, <HI>Leviticus</HI> 20. 26. 1 <HI>King.</HI> 8. 33&punc; 34, 36. So were the Levites &s;eparated from the &s;ons of I&s;rael to be the Lords, as <HI>Numb.</HI> 8. 19 hereupon the Scripture &s;peaks of them as di&s;tinct from the I&s;raelites, 1 <HI>Chron.</HI> 9. 2. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 135. 19, 20. And this was their &s;inne, that they bore &s;o mean thoughts of it: So God having taken us Gentiles, <HI>wilde Olives by nature,</HI> put us <HI>into the true Olive,</HI> called us to <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">4.</NOTE> him&s;elf, and of all people, us of this nation, by &s;everall remar|kable acts of providence, hath he &s;evered to be his peculiar portion. Shall we &s;uffer our hearts now to be low in regard of him? this is the way to forfeit all: Oh take heed of a &s;corn|full undervaluing Gods mercies. <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ho&s;. 2. 6.</NOTE></P>
<P N="2">2. How is it that our affections are not drawn to God by his favours? We love and rejoyce in him nothing the more &s;ince we received them. The&s;e would (if our &s;pirits were rightly tempered) be as a load-&s;tone to draw us to God the donor of them, as it was with <HI>David, Whom have I in heaven but thee,</HI> and <HI>in earth none in compari&s;on of thee:</HI> As S^t <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> his heart <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al 7<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">. <HI>I<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">qu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="3 letters">um e&s;t cor <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> do nec in<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e requi|e&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">t</HI> A<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">. <HI>Spe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> in <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"></HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> of <HI>R<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;amon<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">.</HI> Gen 32 <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">0.</NOTE> could not be quiet, but on all occa&s;ions of Gods di&s;pen&s;ing his bounties mounts up to heaven. Were our &s;ouls in right frame, the&s;e bounds of God would be to us as that clew or thred (pardon the expre&s;&s;ion) to carry us thorough all mazes and labyrinths to finde out the Lord. So were they to <HI>Jacob</HI> in a &s;traight: he called to minde the promi&s;e, that God had pa&s;t his word to him, he would do <HI>him good,</HI> he with that &s;ets before his eyes his own unworthine&s;&s;e of the lea&s;t of all <HI>Gods mercies,</HI> he con&s;iders how God brought him <HI>over Jordan with a</HI>
<PB N="11" REF="8">
<HI>&s;taffe only,</HI> he remembers al&s;o, how great the goodne&s;&s;e of God had made him, having now <HI>two</HI> compleat <HI>bands,</HI> and like <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> looks on <HI>him thats invi&s;ible,</HI> through all the&s;e per&s;pe|ctives, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb 1<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> 27. <GAP DESC="foreign">. Gen <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">. 11.</NOTE> and &s;o gathers a&s;&s;urance of Gods a&s;&s;i&s;tance again&s;t the rage of his mercile&s;&s;e brother <HI>E&s;au,</HI> who is <HI>ready to &s;lay the mo|ther upon the childe:</HI> So the Apo&s;tle in that place to the He|brews, where he &s;etteth down the goodne&s;&s;e of God to our fathers, be&s;ides other things, in making the promi&s;e to them (&s;aith) <HI>they embraced the promi&s;es,</HI> the Originall word &s;ignifies as much, as they &s;aluted the promi&s;es, not in a vain frothy <NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">. Heb. 11. 13.</NOTE> complement, as gallants of the times, but in earne&s;t, heartily, drawn in affection to him, and affiance for him that made the promi&s;es. Its an evil verily to be lamented, that this goodne&s;&s;e of our heavenly father is no more prevalent to allure our hearts to Godwards: this being one &s;peciall means to ingage God, as in <HI>Jacobs</HI> ca&s;e. God is by <HI>Jeremy</HI> &s;etting forth the return of the I&s;raelites from Captivity, <HI>Jer.</HI> 30. 2. See how he doth it, in the 10^t^h ver&s;e you read, <HI>fear not O my &s;ervant Jacob, &s;aith the Lord.</HI> In the 18^t^h ver&s;e, <HI>Behold I will bring again the captivity of Jacobs tents, and have mercy on his dwelling-places,</HI> and their <HI>nobles &s;hall be of them&s;elves</HI> (&s;trangers &s;hall not be their ma|&s;ters) <HI>And their Governours &s;hall proceed from the mid&s;t of them,</HI> and <HI>I will cau&s;e him to draw near and he &s;hall approach unto me, for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me, &s;aith the Lord.</HI> It's an heart-engagement, not tongue only; when <NOTE PLACE="marg">Pellioi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">t vel devovebit cor &s;uum ut mea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;emper perficiat voluntatem. O&s;iand &amp; Va|tab. in loc.</NOTE> the very &s;oul of a man is devoted to the Lord. I know &s;ome take it to be meant of Chri&s;t, but it mu&s;t be extended al&s;o to his members, the &s;pirituall po&s;terity of <HI>Jacob,</HI> as the &s;cope of the words &s;hew. O if we could ingage our hearts to God on mercies received, he would count no favour too dear for us.</P>
<P>Why doe we not imploy and improve our time and abilities to the benefit and advantage of the family? Is any man born <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Cicero. Cato cujus mo|res erant, Luca|no re&s;erente, toti genitum &s;e cre|dere mundo.</HI> Ger&s;on.</NOTE> for him&s;elf? Do we injoy guifts of nature, learning or for|tune (as I may &s;o call them) for our ea&s;e, honour, wealth on|ly? The heathen will, if we look into their writings, teach us another le&s;&s;on: A good man, &s;aith our Engli&s;h <HI>Seneca,</HI> &s;hould be a common fountain, at which all may freely come to receive
<PB N="12" REF="9">
water of comfort and a&s;&s;i&s;tance: tho&s;e who are in a family &s;hould be in&s;trumentall to the advantage of all, chiefly of <HI>the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 6. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">0. Gen. 4<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. 35. Gen. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">7. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">2, 13, 14. <HI>Ambr. in vita Theodo&s;.</HI></NOTE> <HI>family and hou&s;hold of faith,</HI> as <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> in <HI>Pharaohs</HI> hou&s;e. What a world of good did he upon every occa&s;ion to tho&s;e who &s;tood in need of his help? what an admirable te&s;timony is it which <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> gives of <HI>Theodo&s;ius</HI> the Emperour, who to his la&s;t, was &s;olicitous for the publike with neglect of his own private intere&s;ts? God hath put (Noble Senators) &s;uch a <HI>price into your hands,</HI> hath given you &s;o many, &s;o great opportunities (be&s;ides the deliverances vouch&s;afed beyond expre&s;&s;ion) for rai&s;ing and making happy Church and &s;tate, as never to any Parliament under the cope of heaven. He looks for more (without doubt) from you then others: It will not &s;atisfie him in the great A&s;&s;i&s;e, that any of you have been quiet and <NOTE PLACE="marg">Seneca Aliud a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">re, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ale age<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e.</NOTE> forborn to meddle much, as the heathen complained of &s;ome; Nor that others of you have been doing &s;ome other work then family bu&s;ine&s;&s;e; Lea&s;t of all that any of you &s;hould doe evil offices though never &s;o clo&s;ely to this family: As if you accor|ding to that opinion of the Florentine, &s;hould imagine, that great per&s;ons were made for their plea&s;ures only. He hath be|tru&s;ted <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ma <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">av, de in&s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">u<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">one principis. Aetrus Hadria</HI> the Emperour u&s;ed to &s;ay, <HI>Non m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">bi &s;ed popu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">o prae+es, nunqu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">d ut de &s;ubdetis <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">re&s; cas<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">equaqua<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> &s;e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> ut ip&s;e de <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e Ber. de con&s;ed l.</HI> 3.</NOTE> you with his <HI>hou&s;e,</HI> be not deceived, no pretences will &s;atisfie him when he calls his &s;tewards to an after reckoning. <HI>Saul</HI> you know was taken of God and imployed about this hou&s;e, but came &s;hort in his improvement. He perhaps prided him&s;elf in his greatne&s;&s;e, and thought <HI>his</HI> <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 30 6. 7. 1 Sam. 15 23, 26, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">7, 2<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> 1 Sam 15, 33.</NOTE> <HI>mountain,</HI> like <HI>Da|vid</HI> &s;ometimes, <HI>&s;o &s;trong as never to be moved:</HI> made light of admonitions, &s;ieighted opportunities, lo&s;t advantages, plea&s;ed him&s;elf, but <HI>provoked God to the confu&s;ion of him&s;elf,</HI> and <HI>rending of the Kingdome from him:</HI> yea though, perhaps in tenderne&s;&s;e or policy, he <HI>&s;pared Agag</HI> and the fat cattell (it being con|trary to the word of the Lord) God makes <HI>Samuel</HI> his execu|tioner to do his plea&s;ure on him in <HI>Gilgal:</HI> that <HI>as his &s;word had made many mothers childle&s;&s;e,</HI> &s;o <HI>&s;hould his mother be childle&s;&s;e. Jehu</HI> you know (honourable and beloved) was advanced to govern the family, he had <HI>a price put into his hands,</HI> and did &s;omething in the Lords cau&s;e: He &s;et on a parcell Reformation, and God therefore a&s;&s;ures him the kingdome to a fourth gene|ration. He went &s;o far as by-ends and &s;elf principles would <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 King. 10. 16.</NOTE>
<PB N="13" REF="9">
carry him, but he did not all that the nece&s;&s;ities of Gods fa|mily, and the high calling he was honoured with, challenged at his hands: <HI>Jehu took no heed</HI> (&s;aith the holy Gho&s;t) <HI>to walk in all the Law of the Lord God of I&s;rael,</HI> as <HI>Hezekiah</HI> did with all his heart (it was but in a corner of his heart) <HI>for he departed</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Chron. 31. 21. 2 King. 10. 29.</NOTE> <HI>not from the &s;innes of Jeroboam, which made I&s;rael &s;inne:</HI> and therefore you read in <HI>Ho&s;ea</HI> of him (though it may be at fir&s;t <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ho&s;. 1. 4.</NOTE> &s;ight you would take him to be a true I&s;raelite of the family in whom is no guile) how God is re&s;olved to repay his partia|lity and in&s;incerity in that very &s;ervice, the matter of which &s;o far as he went, God approves; <HI>for yet a little while</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the hou&s;e of Jehu, and will cau&s;e to cea&s;e the kingdome of the hou&s;e of I&s;rael.</HI> Think with your &s;elves (beloved) what a terrible cur&s;e it is that lieth on <HI>Coniah a broken de&s;pi&s;ed ve&s;&s;ell wherein</HI> God takes <HI>no plea&s;ure,</HI> &s;uch was his di&s;re&s;pect of Gods hou&s;e in which he lived: the Prophet <HI>Jeremy</HI> opens it fully, <HI>thus &s;aith the Lord, write this man</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 22. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">4. 28.</NOTE> <HI>childle&s;&s;e, a man that &s;hall not pro&s;per in his daies, for no man of his &s;eed &s;hall pro&s;per &s;itting upon the throne of David and ruling any more in Judah.</HI> You know that, <HI>ut cre&s;cunt dona, &s;ic cre&s;cunt donorum rationes,</HI> where the Lord be&s;tows great gifts he will call for a proportionable account, and will exact it in one kinde or another, he looks we &s;hould walk &s;utable to favours; if we doe not, Hear what he &s;aith by his me&s;&s;engers: <HI>The glory of Jacob</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 17. 4. Jer. 33. Amos 6. 8, Lament. 2. 3.</NOTE> <HI>&s;hall be made thin.</HI> Hear <HI>Jeremy, I will ca&s;t away the &s;eed of Jacob;</HI> Hear <HI>Amos, it will make God abhor the excellencie of Jacob;</HI> yea further <HI>he will burn again&s;t Jacob like a flaming fire, which &s;hall devour round about.</HI></P>
<P>Surely we de&s;ire not that <HI>Jacobs hou&s;e &s;hould be worn thin,</HI> that <HI>it be ca&s;t off,</HI> or the <HI>excellencie</HI> abhorred and <HI>burnt round about with fire</HI> from <HI>God, who (being angry) is no</HI> le&s;&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> then a con|&s;uming <NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 12 29.</NOTE> fire; Oh then how are we concerned to be carefull, being thus priviledged (as we have heard) that the hou&s;e of <HI>Jacob</HI> walk in the light of the Lord.</P>
<P>Let us now con&s;ider the nature of the duty thats pre&s;ented to us, with its introduction and de&s;cription, the former in, <HI>Come ye,</HI> the latter in the words, <HI>Let us walk.</HI></P>
<P>Some perhaps conceive this &s;poken by the Jews mutually
<PB N="14" REF="10">
exhorting one another as the Gentiles who were without the Church, doe in the precedent ver&s;es per&s;wade their fellows to goe up to the mount of the <HI>Lord.</HI> No they are within the Temples view, they want hearts to go, rather then an opportu|nity. I &s;uppo&s;e their Prophet Gods vicegerent would mould into a better form.</P>
<P>The Papi&s;ts and Arminians abu&s;e this and the like places to e|&s;tabli&s;h the power of free will; but who knows not the &s;everall <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>S<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ul<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">um e&s;&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">t <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> aut <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> ei qu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">. Arb <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">.</HI> 6. <HI>cap</HI> 10.</NOTE> ends God hath in expre&s;&s;ions of this nature, as</P>
<P N="1">1. To &s;hew what is our duty, rather then our naturall ability to perform.</P>
<P N="2">2. To humble men in con&s;ideration of their pre&s;ent condi|tion of oppo&s;ing and &s;tanding out again&s;t the Lord.</P>
<P N="3">3. That &s;uch as are elect (the holy Gho&s;t &s;etting on the ex|hortation) may by grace perform what is required of them in nature.</P>
<P N="4">4. That all excu&s;e may be taken away from profane per&s;ons, who cannot deny but <HI>a Prophet hath been among&s;t them,</HI> and hath invited them to return.</P>
<P N="5">5. Hereby God would &s;hew that we are not moved as &s;tocks <NOTE PLACE="marg">Calv <HI>in&s;tit l.</HI> 2. <HI>cap.</HI> 5. <HI>Au&s;tin.</HI></NOTE> and &s;tones; but as &s;uch who work <HI>ex con&s;ilio,</HI> by con&s;ent of will, God having made us <HI>ex nolentibus volentes.</HI></P>
<P>Is it not remarkable, think you, that I &s;ay a reformer of the Church and &s;tate, &s;etting to the work, calls on him&s;elf as on them? he doth not as the Scribes and Phari&s;ees binde heavy burdens on other mens &s;houlders, him&s;elf not touch them with one of his fingers: he is not as tho&s;e &s;ea Marks pointing a pa&s;|&s;age to Marriners, and them&s;elves move not: he, as a good Ge|nerall, &s;aith in effect to them, you are not to go one foot further then your leader &s;hall break the way before you. He puts on the &s;ame re&s;olution in <HI>Jacobs</HI> hou&s;e, as <HI>Jo&s;huah</HI> did in his own, <HI>I and my hou&s;e will &s;erve the Lord.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jo&s;h 24. 15.</NOTE></P>
<P><HI>Teaching us, that tho&s;e who are reformers of others, mu&s;t not exempt them&s;elves from Reformation;</HI> it's not enough <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ob&s;erv.</HI> Matth 8. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. <HI>Facere recte ci|ves &s;uos prin|ceps optimus &s;a+<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">endo docet.</HI> Paterculus.</NOTE> that you be &s;uch as the Centurion to tho&s;e under him, <HI>&s;aying</HI> go <HI>and he goeth, come and he cometh, doe this and he doth it.</HI> You &s;hould as Admirals in a fleet be as examples in the voyage, as one &s;aith, teaching others to do right by your own examples,
<PB N="15" REF="10">
which clearly is the rea&s;on why God would have us punctuall in the choice of rectors, <HI>Exod</HI> the 18. 21. <HI>Moreover thou &s;halt provide out of all the people, able men, &s;uch as fear God, men of truth, hating covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e.</HI> The Hebrews de&s;cribe them in this manner, Men of ability and &s;uch as be mighty in the command|ments, exactly look to them&s;elves, and &s;ubdue their affections, &s;o that there be no di&s;hone&s;t or contemptible thing in them. And generally able men are &s;uch as have a &s;trong (or coura|gious) heart to deliver the oppre&s;&s;ed out of the oppre&s;&s;ours hands; as it is &s;aid of <HI>Mo&s;es, he &s;tood up and defended or &s;aved them.</HI> To the &s;ame purpo&s;e is that charge, in <HI>Numb.</HI> 11. 17. <NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. 17.</NOTE> <HI>Gather unto me</HI> (&s;aith God) <HI>&s;eventy Elders, and I will take the &s;pirit which is upon the<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">, and will put it upon them:</HI> thereby God &s;heweth that none without the guifts of the &s;pirit, are fit for government, as is frequently taught in Gods book: By the <NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 1. 13.</NOTE> &s;pirit here is meant &s;pirituall guifts, as in Scripture language frequently, neither was <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> his &s;pirit hereby dimini&s;hed. <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 King. 2. 15. 1 Cor 14 12. 32. Joh 7. 30. Act. 19. 2. 6.</NOTE> <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in that hour was like unto the lamp left (burning) on the candle&s;tick in the Sanctuary, from which all the other lamps were lighted, yet the light thereof was not le&s;&s;ened any whit. A like place you have, in 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 23. 30. <HI>He that ruleth over men mu&s;t be ju&s;t, ruling in the fear of God;</HI> he mu&s;t have ju&s;tice both of the fir&s;t and &s;econd table, that his Act<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ons may read a lecture of both to the people; and may in &s;incerity with comfort give the like charge which the Apo&s;tle doth to his Philippians; <HI>tho&s;e things</HI> that <HI>you have learned and &s;een in me, doe, and the God</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 4. 9<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"></NOTE> <HI>of peace &s;hall be with you.</HI> Give me leave (honourable Sena|tours) (being one of your remembrancers from the Lord this day) to &s;tirre up your pure mindes, though happily you have been taught in the pre&s;ent truth; <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> was a Noble per&s;on and Prophet of Gods &s;ending, he was not a&s;hamed to inte|re&s;&s;e him&s;elf in the work of Reformation: 'tis your duties (as <HI>Abimelech</HI> did in another ca&s;e) (that I may u&s;e the holy Gho&s;ts <NOTE PLACE="marg">Judg. 9. 48.</NOTE> words) to invite the people, propounding your &s;elves a pat|tern, <HI>as you have &s;een us</HI> doe, <HI>&s;o doe</HI> you as we <HI>have done.</HI> I mu&s;t confe&s;&s;e that naturall abilities are of great advantage in government and &s;tate-policie, and where men are defective in them, they are expo&s;ed to contempt and hazard; Learning is
<PB N="16" REF="11">
of great worth, and without it, coun&s;ells are (in &s;ome &s;ort) blinde and lame. But what if we have abilities of both very eminently? what tru&s;t can we repo&s;e in &s;uch? If there be not up|right lives, integrity, godline&s;&s;e, we may truly &s;ay of &s;uch men, as of him in the &s;tory; He hath <HI>navim bonam, Gubernatorem</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Qui</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> <HI>in <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ide|l<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">s e&s;&s;e non<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> o&s;|&s;unt. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">. ap <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"></HI> 1. <HI>cap.</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> <HI>malum,</HI> a good &s;hip, but an evil pilot, and on the other hand, <HI>prob&egrave; doctus e&s;t qui probus est,</HI> he is intirely learned, who to his learning hath added integrity.</P>
<P>Oh that all the Magi&s;trates, Committees, Commi&s;&s;io|ners, Benches of ju&s;tice, which are under you, were of this con&s;titution? how well &s;hould it be then with Gods people! this is no more then what we have covenanted in the very &s;et|ting <NOTE PLACE="marg">See Nationall Covenant.</NOTE> on the work of Reformation, and yet its &s;trange to &s;ee and hear in all places, pretenders to the &s;ettlement of the common wealth, &s;ticklers (as they would per&s;wade us) for regularity and government in the Church, Antagoni&s;ts of He|reticks, Sectaries, and Sci&s;maticks, zealous again&s;t Malignants, as the Covenant obliges them: Yet how few are there that con&s;cientiou&s;ly make u&s;e of that other branch, touching Refor|mation of our own waies, without which what is the be&s;t even in Reformers but meer hypocri&s;ie?</P>
<P>Worthy Senatours, let this &s;ink into your hearts, as men by imploiment in Reformation, and obligement in covenants draw neerer to God then others; &s;o &s;hould they manife&s;t more holi|ne&s;&s;e in their conver&s;ation to God and his people.</P>
<P N="1">1. Reformers (&s;uch as I &s;ay here) do &s;tand in a neerer re|lation to the work, it being the fruit of their own womb: that it be not defective or ill &s;hapen: 'tis very requi&s;ite them&s;elves be of an hand&s;ome and comely feature, when parents are de|formed, children oftimes re&s;emble them; if Reformers be li|centious and loo&s;e, the product of their endeavours will be a loo&s;e Reformation.</P>
<P N="2">2. Reformation takes be&s;t with the people, when tho&s;e who commend it to them are them&s;elves active in what is good, common people look much into the lives of their rulers, how they move, what cour&s;e they &s;tear, and are not per&s;waded that you are in earne&s;t, if your &s;elves act not: And indeed if we in|tend a Reformation to the purpo&s;e, it mu&s;t be laid in the great
<PB N="17" REF="11">
ones, that are or &s;hould be the Reformers of I&s;rael: when in the Coun&s;ell of <HI>Con&s;tance,</HI> there was a &s;peech had concerning Reformation, &s;ome &s;aying, <HI>quod oporteat incipere</HI> 4 <HI>minoritis,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">M <HI>Fox Hi&s;t</HI> of the councell of <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">on&s;tanc<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> Anno</HI> 14<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">4.</NOTE> the Reformation mu&s;t begin at the Friers, no &s;aith <HI>Sigi&s;mond, Non a Minoritis, &s;ed a Majoritis incipienda e&s;t Reformatio,</HI> &s;ig|nifying that the Reformation &s;hould fir&s;t begin with the Pope, Cardinalls and Bi&s;hops, and &s;o de&s;cend to inferiours: and in|deed <HI>mutato nomine, de nobis,</HI> change but the name and it's a good hi&s;tory, &s;hewing us a rule of our Reformation, as he in the comedy &s;aid, <HI>Loquere ut videam,</HI> &s;o &s;peak as I may &s;ee it abroad, &s;o expre&s;&s;e in words, that our conver&s;ation give not a lie to our language, lea&s;t we be not unju&s;tly taxed, as tho&s;e who &s;ay and do not.</P>
<P>The Lords expectations are higher and greater from Refor|mers then others. Where God gives much of power, honour, e&s;tate, opportunities, of them he requires the more duty, <NOTE PLACE="marg"><P><HI>Primum viden|dum, quid &s;it&punc; quod &s;acrum ap|pellat <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">&s;t au|tem illud &s;a|crum quod &s;a|cris ufibus vel Dei in&s;tituto &amp; ju&s;&s;a vel hominum vo|luntaria &amp; <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;pontanea la<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">gitione ad lictum &amp; devotum e&s;t. Ob eam&abque; cau&s;am horum aut &s;ublatio, aut etiam imminutio, &s;acrilegij <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">rimine damnatur,</HI> Deut. 23. 21, 22, 23.</P>
<P><HI>Hec corruptela cum omnibus &s;aeculis <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="3 letters">uit, tu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> ex omni memoria nunquam magis gra&s;&s;at<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> e&s;t quam hoc no&s;tro ta<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> infaelic<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;ae<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ulo, in quo p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">eri&abque; non mo lo <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> largiuntur &s;ed etiam, qu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">&punc; adpo&s;&s;unt, da<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">t operam ut ex illo aliquid re&s;ecent &amp; arr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">dant, quod a &s;u<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> major bus ad <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> Dei &amp; &s;cholarum &amp; pauperam &s;u&s;te<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ionem collatum e&s;t.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Exaggeratur hoc &s;celu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> apud Prophet.</HI> Mal. 3. 8, 9. <HI>qui hanc injuriam <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">on tam hominibus quam <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">p&s;i Deo &s;actam e&s;&s;e queritur.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Quod &s;i illis mortale &amp; pernicio&s;um &s;it qui bis bonis fr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">untur, quid illis fie<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> qui alioru<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> Av<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> rit<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> tantum a <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">aini&s;tri fugruat, qui ip&s;i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ullum inde fractum perceperunt, &amp; qui &s;pe tantum praedae deiuceps con&s;equendae a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> hoc &s;acrilegium pertracti &s;unt.</HI> M <HI>Cart.</HI> on Prov. 20. 2<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">.</P></NOTE> <HI>Rom.</HI> 2. 21. <HI>Thou that &s;aie&s;t a man &s;hould not &s;teal, doe&s;t thou &s;teal? thou who profe&s;&s;e&s;t to abhor Idols, doe&s;t thou commit &s;a|criledge?</HI> Thou who frame&s;t to the Nation a Covenant, for pre|&s;erving Gods wor&s;hip in purity, &s;etling the Church in a doctrine and di&s;cipline agreeable to the word, reforming thy own waies, doe&s;t thou by &s;tarting a&s;ide, throwing it behinde thy back, as an ob&s;olete ceremony, or u&s;ing it as an engine for a particular project, to advance the de&s;ignes of <HI>a deceitfull heart,</HI> not to make thee more humble, holy, or watchfull in thy walk, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer 7. 24. Jer. 17. 9. 2 Sam. 1. 20.</NOTE> before God and man, <HI>di&s;honore&s;t thou</HI> the Lord? <HI>O tell it not in Gath, publi&s;h it not in the &s;treets of Askelon.</HI> Let not the <HI>Phili|&s;tines</HI> triumph: All Chri&s;tians (Hon.) are bound to walk with
<PB N="18" REF="12">
God, you more as being Reformers of Church and &s;tate. <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> is a good pattern, who pre&s;cribes to others what him&s;elf is ready to perform, requiring not profe&s;&s;ion only but action. <HI>O hou&s;e of Jacob</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>come ye, let us walk in the light of the Lord.</HI> And &s;o I pa&s;&s;e to the next words, &s;etting forth the nature of the duty, <HI>Walk ye.</HI></P>
<P>There are two &s;orts of walkers our law mentioneth. 1. Night Walkers, And tho&s;e the Scripture nameth &s;uch as walk in the fle&s;h, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. 2. and in darkne&s;&s;e, 1 <HI>The&s;</HI> 5. 3. 2. Day Walkers, who move to Godward after the direction of the word, and &s;trength of grace received from Chri&s;t, the Sonne of God, and <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ad Deum non acceditur pa&s;&s;i|bus corporalibu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> cum ubi&abque; &s;it, ped affectibus mentis: &amp; co|dem modo ab eo <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">eced tur &amp; &s;ic acc&s;&s;&s;us &amp; rece&s;&s;us &s;ab fimili udine localis motus defignunt &s;piritualem affe|ctum.</HI> Tho. Aquin. <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> q.</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. 5. <HI>m.</HI></NOTE> light of the world, of &s;uch the Prophet here &s;peaketh. He per&s;wadeth not the Jews to &s;peculation, painted profe&s;&s;ion, vain-glorious, empty o&s;tentation: reality and active walking in Gods waies, is that to which they are invited.</P>
<P><HI>Reall holine&s;&s;e con&s;i&s;ts in action, not profe&s;&s;ion only.</HI> The Apo&s;tle pre&s;cribing rules to &s;ervants, how they &s;hould as <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ob&s;erv.</HI> Ephel. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. 6.</NOTE> Chri&s;tians behave them&s;elves to their Ma&s;ters, &s;aith; it mu&s;t not be <GAP DESC="foreign">, &s;ervice to the eye. If men will not accept a perfunctory performance, much le&s;&s;e can we expect that God take &s;uch feigned holine&s;&s;e well at our hands, it being <HI>&s;imulata</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Cypr. <HI>Serm de Mortal.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;anctitas,</HI> and &s;o <HI>duplex iniquitas,</HI> which occa&s;ioned <HI>Cyprian</HI> to crie out: <HI>Quid prode&s;t verbis proferre veritatem, &amp; factis de&s;tru|ere virtutem?</HI> To hold out this truth more fully it is that the holy Gho&s;t makes u&s;e of &s;uch phra&s;es as require a mo&s;t indu&s;tri|ous <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 13. 24. <GAP DESC="foreign">. Phil. 2. 12. <GAP DESC="foreign"> 1 Cor. 9. 24. <GAP DESC="foreign">. Revel. 3. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> and &s;olicitous behaviour to Godward; <HI>&s;trive to enter in at the strait gate;</HI> &s;ometime, <HI>work out your own &s;alvation with fear and trembling;</HI> &s;ometime, <HI>&s;o run that you may obtain:</HI> all which do &s;hew the earne&s;tne&s;&s;e of endeavour after that godli|ne&s;&s;e which &s;hould be in all Chri&s;tians. Its not enough that we be as tho&s;e S^t <HI>John</HI> mentioneth, who have a name to live and in truth are dead; Nor as &s;uch S^t <HI>Hierom</HI> remembreth, <HI>Qui &s;ub Chri&s;tiano nomine,</HI> under the vizard of Chri&s;tians, in all their deportments towards Church and &s;tate, walk as Gentiles; Nor as that Indian figtree in <HI>Pliny,</HI> having leaves as large as Targets, the fruit <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">o bigger then a bean.</P>
<P><PB N="19" REF="12">
O Honourable and beloved, con&s;ider there mu&s;t be reality in our godline&s;&s;e, verball &s;hews are not &s;ufficient: My reque&s;t to <NOTE PLACE="marg">Zanch. 9.</NOTE> you is (that with more certainty and comfort you may walk in this way of the Lord) the ordinary tract, the <HI>terminus a quo,</HI> and <HI>terminus ad quem</HI> (being pa&s;&s;ed by,) frequent in our Di|vines, treating on this &s;ubject, you would give me leave to pro|pound to you &s;ome objects, on which in this walk all Gods peo|ple mu&s;t fix their eyes; within which limits I &s;hall bound my di&s;cour&s;e; Take them in the&s;e &s;uccinct following con&s;ide|rations.</P>
<P N="1">1. Let your aim be in every undertaking to honour your heavenly father, who&s;e will is, that we &s;hould in the&s;e Scrip|ture revelations of duty, glorifie him. And whil&s;t I &s;ay &s;o, take notice, that we mu&s;t honour God for him&s;elf: We may not &s;eek him for ba&s;e ends; We &s;hould &s;ee an excellencie in him, above all per&s;ons, and things el&s;e, &s;o as we can re&s;t &s;atisfied with God alone, yea with outward cro&s;&s;es and troubles: In a word, honour him not as tho&s;e, who &s;ought after, and follow|ed Je&s;us, induced thereto, by mercinary, ba&s;e, and by re&s;pects of loaves and fi&s;hes and peri&s;hing things; as the <HI>Glo&s;&s;e</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Quae|reb<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">nt</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 6. to. <HI>Ord. Glo&s;&s;. in loc.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Je&s;um &s;ed non propter Je&s;um.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. In our walk we mu&s;t propound to our &s;elves this likewi&s;e, to help forward the &s;alvation of our brethren, by exhortation, example, or what way providence offereth; after the Apo&s;tle <HI>Pauls</HI> pre&s;ident. It's a vain imagination of tho&s;e who conceive <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 9. 22.</NOTE> that we mu&s;t walk only to our own ends and intere&s;ts, to our own honour, vain plea&s;ure, ob&s;ervance of carnall friends, with neglect of the Saints, and their common cau&s;e: Woe be to &s;uch a man, when his Ma&s;ter cometh, and &s;hall finde him &s;o walking. It's one of the &s;adde&s;t &s;pectacles our times pre&s;ents us with, and which doth threaten and may draw down a greater judgement then we are aware of, that men will not walk nor &s;tirre one foot (be the affair of never &s;o great importance to the publike,) unle&s;&s;e the golden ball run before them. I have read of a bloud-&s;tone, which having an excellent quality to &s;tanch bloud, the Jewellers &s;ay, it &s;eldome or never exerts <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mazarinus.</HI> P&s;al. 50.</NOTE> its force, if not &s;et in or covered over with &s;ilver. We have too many who have good parts, but if not &s;ilvered, you &s;hall
<PB N="20" REF="13">
be poorly helped, perhaps rather mi&s;chieved by them.</P>
<P>Another object in our walk, we are to look on; is Gods likene&s;&s;e, that we may come as fully up to it, as po&s;&s;ible. We are children of a <HI>holy</HI> and heavenly father, and endeavour to bear his image; that as when the que&s;tion was, <HI>who&s;e is this</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 1. 16.</NOTE> <HI>image and &s;uper&s;cription,</HI> they an&s;wer, <HI>Cae&s;ari;</HI> &s;o, when one &s;hall &s;ay, who&s;e is &s;uch a &s;tates-man, &s;uch a Divine, &s;uch a Ma|gi&s;trate, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 22. 20.</NOTE> &s;uch a Councellor? it may be an&s;wered, he hath Gods image in all his deportments, he walks up to God, he breaths out piety in all his enterpri&s;es and imploiments. But alas that evil which a father complain'd of in his time, is too rife among us, <HI>Omnes ad Deum, pauci po&s;t Deum ir<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> volunt,</HI> All men would go to God that they may receive glory, few <NOTE PLACE="marg">Bern.</NOTE> would go after him in a holy and divine imitation. Let us that have given our names to Chri&s;t; <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">minate on this: As we are called to a &s;tate of grace, let us walk an&s;werably. The Philo|&s;opers u&s;ed to &s;ay, if thou bee&s;t a Philo&s;opher, thou mu&s;t live <NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo&s;ophores? Philo&s;oph<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">e i gitur tibi vi|vendum e&s;t.</NOTE> as &s;uch an one; So I, if thou bee&s;t a Saint, walk up to Gods image and likene&s;&s;e, &s;hew what thou art.</P>
<P>There is another mark on which we mu&s;t &s;et our eies, in this walk, <HI>viz,</HI> to a&s;certain our &s;elves that we are in Chri&s;t, and &s;o &s;hall with him partake of future glory; which is that very le&s;|&s;on the Apo&s;tle <HI>Peter</HI> &s;o plainly teacheth the Saints. Although <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 1. 11.</NOTE> (as the learned <HI>Zanchius</HI> ob&s;erves) holine&s;&s;e and good works are not requi&s;ite <HI>ad promerendam,</HI> that we can by them merit everla&s;ting happine&s;&s;e, yet <HI>ad po&s;&s;idendem vitam aeternam,</HI> they are nece&s;&s;ary.</P>
<P N="5">5. The increa&s;e of grace received (in this walk we now treat of) is al&s;o carefully to be looked unto; and is one end that in our heavenly cour&s;e we mu&s;t aim at. You know diver&s;e after &s;ickne&s;&s;e by moderate walking do get &s;trength: u&s;e hands (we &s;ay) and have hands; its a very u&s;efull le&s;&s;on that of im|ploying graces, philo&s;ophicall habits are augmented by putting them forth into exerci&s;e, and the &s;pirituall endowments God vouch&s;afeth us, if we &s;uffer not, what we have received, to im|pair <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen 5. 24. vvith Heb. 11. 5.</NOTE> by di&s;u&s;e, will receive much advantage; if we would learn with <HI>Henock, to walk with God,</HI> I doubt not but we &s;hould gain much &s;trength by that divine exerci&s;e of &s;pirituall walking.</P>
<P N="6"><PB N="21" REF="13">
6. Briefly this mu&s;t be our &s;cope and de&s;ire to plea&s;e God; in which as we are to imitate the Lord Je&s;us; &s;o <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1+ letters">s our parts to draw power from Chri&s;t, &s;trengthening us to walk accepta|bly <NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 4 13. 1 Cor. 7. 32.</NOTE> before him; that of us it may be &s;aid truly in &s;ome &s;ort, as he of him&s;elf, <HI>Joh</HI> 8. 20. <HI>I doe all things that plea&s;e him&punc;</HI> and in|deed otherwi&s;e to what purpo&s;e is our walk? God hath coup|led, walk, and plea&s;ing him together, 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 4 1 <HI>how you ought to walk, and plea&s;e God;</HI> It's po&s;&s;ible to walk and not to plea&s;e <NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> him; many walk and are enemies to Chri&s;t, but then we are not in Chri&s;t or walk not with God, holily and in faith; <HI>with|out</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 The&s;. 2. 4.</NOTE> <HI>which it's impo&s;&s;ible to plea&s;e God.</HI> It was <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 word"> his care in his walk to plea&s;e God, and &s;hould be ours al&s;o; he <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom 8. 8. Heb 6 11. Gen. 5 22. Heb. 1<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> 5.</NOTE> behaved him&s;elf as in Gods &s;ight, had a regard to the rule, that all performances were warranted by it, and with the eye of faith looked on Chri&s;t, who was to come, his de&s;ires were to advance the Lord in every thing; whom that we may plea&s;e, take heed of,</P>
<P N="1">1. Plea&s;ing our &s;elves in &s;atisfying our own corrupt humours: <HI>as Christ plea&s;ed not him&s;elf</HI> in his walk, otherwi&s;e then might <NOTE PLACE="marg">Col 1. 10. Col. 3. <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">0. Rom. 15. 3.</NOTE> &s;tand with Gods plea&s;ure: So neither may we as <HI>Brutus</HI> and <HI>Ca&s;&s;ius,</HI> wedded to our own wills and corrupt lu&s;ts.</P>
<P N="2">2. Of plea&s;ing men, to who&s;e vain fancy it is a &s;in for us to comply. When God calleth us to him; if &s;o, we are <HI>not the &s;ervants of Chri&s;t.</HI> This of plea&s;ing God in our walk, is both a duty and a &s;peciall prerogative of Gods people, that when un|godly <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 1. 10. 1 The&s; 3 4.</NOTE> naturall men with the riche&s;t habiliments, and &s;weete&s;t accommodations nature can afford them, are di&s;ta&s;tfull, yea odious to God; yet the upright (their actions being died in <NOTE PLACE="marg">Zancby.</NOTE> the bloud of Chri&s;t) being acted by Gods own &s;pirit, their works are Gods in them, their walking in a holy &s;utablene&s;&s;e to his word, intending &s;incerely his glory, their per&s;ons being in <NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 2. 13. 1 Joh. 3. 22.</NOTE> Chri&s;t, their performances plea&s;e him; mi&s;take me not, as if in every thing a childe of God, plea&s;ed God; though his per&s;on be accepted, yet not all his actions, as in <HI>David</HI> and <HI>Peter</HI> ca&s;e, though the per&s;on as in Chri&s;t be well plea&s;ing, yet not as in a trade of &s;in; for which God doth ju&s;tly correct &s;uch <HI>with the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 7. 14. 15.</NOTE> <HI>rods of men,</HI> from whom he taketh not his <HI>mercy for ever.</HI></P>
<P>That we may plea&s;e God in our walk before him, ob&s;erve only the&s;e three rules.</P>
<P N="1"><PB N="22" REF="14">
1. Walk &s;o as to avoid every extream, not to fall into one evil whil&s;t we decline another: as &s;ome even of the primitive Fathers and Modern Divines through inanimadvertency in the heat of di&s;putation have not avoided; <HI>John Wickliffe</HI> though a good and learned man, &s;eeing the abu&s;e of Church goods to <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Scieba<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> horri|d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">us &s;cripturu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> Letherum quam &s;ent<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">. Phil. Melanct <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. ep ad A<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">cum. Anno</HI> 1544. <HI>Fox</HI> Martyr.</NOTE> exce&s;&s;e, riot, wantonne&s;&s;e, and Gods di&s;honour, cries down Church revenues, and opens unawares a gap that he never in|tended, to &s;acrilegious practi&s;es of covetous worldings, who &s;oon after took the advantage of his errour to enrich them|&s;elves, to the di&s;countenancing of learning, and di&s;courage|ment of the Mini&s;try, and their own ruine; Others there have been endeavouring to &s;hun the pre&s;&s;ures of Epi&s;copall tyranny, giving too much the rains, to novell opinions, &s;elf conceipts and intere&s;ts, unawares run headlong into confu&s;ion and irre|gularity. And &s;ome there be who &s;o highly advancing the love and free-grace of God to man; Others pleading &s;trongly for Chri&s;tian liberty (forgetting the golden mean) treading the morall law under foot, as an u&s;ele&s;&s;e ceremony after men are in Chri&s;t, hurry them&s;elves from Chri&s;tian liberty into Anti-Chri&s;tian libertini&s;me.</P>
<P N="2">2. Walk cautelou&s;ly that we be not con&s;ened with the fal&s;ities and deceits of the devil, oftentimes changing him&s;elf into an <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 11. 14.</NOTE> Angel of light, &s;ophi&s;ticating his wares, and dying vice with vertues colours, &s;ugge&s;ting under glorious &s;hews, &s;uch notions, of which we may &s;ay, as <HI>O&s;iander</HI> of the German Interim, there <NOTE PLACE="marg">O&s;iander. Ep. cen<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> was <HI>plus veneni,</HI> more poy&s;on by many degrees then whole&s;ome nouri&s;hment in it. I de&s;ire not to rai&s;e old errours from the dead, to engender new ones. <HI>We&s;tminster</HI> Hall, every &s;treet in <HI>London</HI> buy and &s;ell them; &s;o as we may &s;ay of tho&s;e Cities <NOTE PLACE="marg">Lond. We&s;tm.</NOTE> as &s;ometimes of <HI>Rome, omnia vaenalia Rome,</HI> ther's not an old fa&s;hion but its new dre&s;&s;ed and &s;et to &s;ale, not an ancient errour in <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> or <HI>Epiphanius</HI> his time, which is not &s;et forth as gain|full Merchandi&s;e: every countrey town almo&s;t in the land, is thereby infected. Nor would I be mi&s;taken in this, as if no di&s;tinction were to be made betwixt fundamentalls and <HI>prater-</HI>fundamentalls, if that difference take not place, it may be pre|judiciall <NOTE PLACE="marg">Polan. B. Hell. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. D<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">vena<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">.</NOTE> to the foundation upon which we all are builded.</P>
<P N="3">3. Walk providently, &s;o to manage things pre&s;ent as to
<PB N="23" REF="14">
have an eye behind to di&s;cern what may follow, how by &s;uch an enterprize much good may be hindered, enemies of the truth may gain advantage, thou maie&s;t unwittingly play thine adver|&s;aries game: there is <HI>a time</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Solomon) for all purpo&s;es:</HI> Chri&s;t him&s;elf did not many things which afterwards he put in <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s; 3. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> practi&s;e, his <HI>hour was not yet come; Mary</HI> was deceived, and for it ju&s;tly by Chri&s;t blamed, in ha&s;ting him to turn water into <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Joh. 2. 4.</HI></NOTE> wine before the time; The Di&s;ciples were in an errour, requi|ring <HI>fire from heaven as Elias did,</HI> it was not time; The tares in the Go&s;pell (&s;aith he) are to be rooted up, but not at all <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 9 54. Matth. 13. 30.</NOTE> times, if more detriment come to the good corn by taking them away (though in them&s;elves un&s;ufferable) then by their awhile &s;tanding, let <HI>them</HI> alone to a fit <HI>harve&s;t;</HI> All actions are not fit for all times. <GAP DESC="foreign"> in Greek is <HI>tempus,</HI> and <HI>temporis opportu|nitas,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal 6 10. <GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> <HI>time</HI> and the <HI>&s;ea&s;onablene&s;&s;e of it:</HI> We mu&s;t in our pro|ceeding look to both &s;ignifications, if we mean to be conforma|ble to the rule, or profitable to our &s;elves or others; <HI>Cyprians</HI> advi&s;e is of good u&s;e here, who reproved &s;ome Chri&s;tians that would needs <HI>intempe&s;tiv&egrave;</HI> profe&s;&s;e the faith, <HI>Confiteri nos vol<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">it</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>magis Chri&s;tus quam profiteri.</HI> Let us (Hon^b^l^e) in this ca&s;e walk providently, or as the Apo&s;tle hath it <HI>exactly,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">: which that we may do, go to the light, for to walk in <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. 5. 15.</NOTE> darkne&s;&s;e is dangerous; And the rather let us be induced here|to by the con&s;ideration of Gods bounty to us, no le&s;&s;e then to our forefathers of <HI>Jacobs</HI> hou&s;e, who had a light fiery pillar to direct them through the wilderne&s;&s;e to <HI>Canaan;</HI> So we have a light here &s;ent <HI>from the father of lights with whom is no varia|blene&s;&s;e nor &s;hadow of turning;</HI> it's the Lords <HI>light</HI> (&s;aith the <NOTE PLACE="marg">James 1. 17.</NOTE> text) <HI>Oh hou&s;e of Jacob, come ya, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.</HI></P>
<P>Having much ground to walk over, I &s;hall &s;pare needle&s;&s;ely to &s;tay my &s;elf or you in a review of the various acceptations of this word <HI>Light</HI> in holy writ, this task having been perfor|med <NOTE PLACE="marg">I lliricus.</NOTE> frequently by the Learned: its ob&s;ervable that the Hebrew word. <GAP DESC="foreign"> for light here u&s;ed, is of near kin to the word <GAP DESC="foreign"> thereby &s;hewing it to be a metaphoricall expre&s;&s;ion, in which the Lord would let him&s;elf down to mans capacity. Nor need we be curious in this variety of &s;ignifications whether to chu&s;e,
<PB N="24" REF="15">
the ten Commandments delivered by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> or the Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t, or indeed the whole word of God. Neither is this to <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 1. 19.</NOTE> be omitted, that the Prophet &s;peaking of the word, calleth it the Lords light, as the Hebrews) u&s;ed by way of empha&s;is to en|title, things of more then ordinary worth; or el&s;e as <HI>Oecolam|padius</HI> noteth, to &s;hew that there is one God of the Jews and <NOTE PLACE="marg">Oecolampad. in locu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"></NOTE> Gentiles; Yet he &s;aith not your Lord, nor <HI>Jacobs</HI> Lord, nor <HI>thy Lord,</HI> as in<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;ome other Scriptures; <HI>but the Lord;</HI> haply for that they having for&s;aken him, would not with that a&s;&s;urance and confidence of intere&s;t goe to him as their Lord.</P>
<P><HI>The holy Scriptures</HI> (this is that <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> would teach them) <HI>are a light to all Gods people,</HI> and that it is &s;o, there are the&s;e evi|dences. <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ob&s;erv. Spa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">bem dub. E<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ang parte</HI> 3. <HI>dab minima</HI> 94</NOTE></P>
<P N="1">1. The Scripture is a full and perfect light, there is no defect in it, no rules wanting, none in&s;ufficient, we cannot &s;ay as of the Oratours works <HI>de&s;unt nonnu&s;la,</HI> nor as the Schools, of <NOTE PLACE="marg">Tully.</NOTE> P. <HI>Lombard, hic Magi&s;ter non tenetur;</HI> No, the <HI>law of the Lord is perfect,</HI> it's <HI>&s;ine vitio,</HI> it hath no faule in the lea&s;t mea&s;ure. <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 19 <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. <HI>Pi&s;cat. in loc.</HI></NOTE></P>
<P N="2">2. It is a clear and &s;hining light, manife&s;ting a &s;ufficiency of in&s;truction and direction in all the waies of God, &s;o as <HI>the man of God may be made perfect;</HI> As it hath light in it &s;elf; So doth <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 3. 16.</NOTE> it convey the &s;ame to others, making them <HI>wi&s;e to &s;atuation&punc;</HI> if you &s;ay there be many in darkne&s;&s;e and ignorance to this very hour, who walk in by-waies. I de&s;ire you to con&s;ider, <NOTE PLACE="marg">M. <HI>Downames</HI> warf<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">re <HI>part</HI> 4 <HI>lib.</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. <HI>cap.</HI> 4.</NOTE> that God is plea&s;ed to clear to &s;uch as be his people, all truths nece&s;&s;ary to &s;alvation; if any of his children be in an errour again&s;t fundamentalls, God who hath promi&s;ed <HI>to lead</HI> his <NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 16. 13. Phil. 3. 15.</NOTE> Saints into all <HI>truth,</HI> will di&s;cover this unto them in due time.</P>
<P N="3">3. As light is pure and clean, you cannot fa&s;ten any dirt or uncleanne&s;&s;e on it; So is the word of God, there is no dro&s;&s;e in it, &s;o thorowly is it purged, &s;aith a learned Divine. Men may <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 11. 140. <HI>Pi&s;cat. Pu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">gaturur an|rum in catino.</HI></NOTE> ca&s;t di&s;gracefull &s;peeches and a&s;pertions on it, as doe Papi&s;ts, Athei&s;ts, and Enthu&s;ia&s;ts, but there you can fa&s;ten no evil.</P>
<P>The word, as the light, is a comfortable creature, <HI>how plea&s;ant</HI> is it to behold the light (&s;aith the wi&s;e man) the expre&s;&s;ions <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;. 11. 7.</NOTE> of Gods free-grace, the promi&s;es of mercy, the doctrine of
<PB N="25" REF="15">
the covenant in Chri&s;t made with Gods people, the future glory and happine&s;&s;e herein held forth, and re&s;erved to all Gods elect. How doth the hearing, reading, meditating of the &s;ame, put life into the hearts of Gods children in the mid&s;t of their hotte&s;t afflictions: as <HI>David; I had fainted in my trouble, but thy</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;. 119 50. 93.</NOTE> <HI>word hath quickned me.</HI></P>
<P>Light is &s;mart and painfull to all blear-eyed per&s;ons, who cannot endure the force and efficacie of it; which comes to pa&s;&s;e by rea&s;on of the weakne&s;&s;e or imperfection of the eies: So the word of God (e&s;pecially when powerfully preached) doth exa&s;perate and enrage ungodly men, de&s;irous to &s;leep in the dark dungeon of helli&s;h &s;ins, who like <HI>Cerberus Plutoes</HI> dog drawn from hell, belch and vomit at the light; So were the Phari&s;ees at Chri&s;ts Sermon, <HI>They were &s;candalized</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth 1<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> 12. <GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> <HI>at him.</HI></P>
<P>La&s;tly as the light hath its being and ri&s;e from the Sunne the fountain and originall of it (there is <HI>lux</HI> and <HI>lumen,</HI> as the Philo&s;ophers di&s;tingui&s;h, as cau&s;e and effect:) So God who is light it &s;elf and dwelleth in light, in whom is no darkne&s;&s;e at all, the father and fountain of light, is the originall of this Scripture light, which is a ray or beam of his &s;unne in heaven. It is of his en&s;piring: <HI>holy men</HI> (&s;aith the Apo&s;tle) <HI>&s;pake, as moved by the Spirit,</HI> the word is not <GAP DESC="foreign"> of their own <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 1. 20.</NOTE> interpretation; but as they were moved by the holy Gho&s;t.</P>
<P>Honourable and beloved, &s;eeing it's the light of the Lord that hath all this day, this day &s;aid I? yea &s;o many Sermon daies, <NOTE PLACE="marg">&V;&s;e.</NOTE> yea &s;o many &s;cores of years &s;hined to this Nation: Let us to whom of late more fully God hath vouch&s;afed &s;o imparallelld a mercy (our forefathers, and many of our dear brethren in other countries, as tho&s;e in Egyptian darkne&s;&s;e, de&s;iring to &s;ee <NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 10. 23.</NOTE> one of the&s;e daies of the &s;onne of man and cannot injoy them) let us (I &s;ay) endeavour to walk an&s;werable to &s;o high a fa|vour. Oh that I were worthy to fa&s;ten on you the exhortation of the prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> cap. 60. 1. 2. wherin is a promi&s;e al&s;o and &s;eemes in our times to be fullfilled. Ari&s;e, &s;hine, for thy light is <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gloria Iebovae doctrine evan|gelij per quam glorificatur Ie|vab.</HI> Pi&s;cat.</NOTE> come, and the glory of the Lord is ri&s;en upon thee; for behold the darkne&s;&s;e &s;hall cover the earth, and gro&s;&s;e darkne&s;&s;e the peo|ple, but the Lord &s;hall ari&s;e upon thee, and his glory &s;hall be upon thee.</P>
<P><PB N="26" REF="16">
Take notice therefore of the&s;e rules.</P>
<P>Bring your actions to this light and make triall whether or no they be <HI>wrought in God,</HI> both your private emploimen<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 3. 21.</NOTE> as men, and your publike undertakings in your re&s;pective <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">|ions to Church and &s;tate. The King (as we read, in <HI>Deu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">.</HI> 17. 18, 19.) <HI>When he &s;at upon the throne of his Kingdome,</HI> was to <HI>write him a coppy</HI> of the <HI>Law in a book ont of that which is before</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Some read it his Deutero|nomy. H <HI>Air&s;+worth.</HI></NOTE> <HI>the Prie&s;ts the Levites,</HI> and it was to be <HI>with him,</HI> and he was to <HI>read therein all the daies of his life, that he might learn the fear of the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law, and the&s;e &s;tatutes to doe them.</HI></P>
<P>Yea &s;ay &s;ome Hebrew Doctors, he was &s;o carefully to look to this rule, that if his fathers had left him none <HI>(viz</HI> no book of the law) or if that be lo&s;t, he is to write him two books of the law, the one he is to re&s;erve in his hou&s;e, for &s;o he is com|manded, as every one of I&s;rael: the other is not to depart from before him; if he goeth out to warre, it goeth with him, if he &s;it in judgement, it is to be with him. They knew of old this mo&s;t certain principle (as <HI>Luther</HI> calleth it) that Gods word will not attemper it &s;elf or conde&s;cend to Princes and &s;tates; but they are to frame them&s;elves and imploiments unto it, though never &s;o cro&s;&s;e to their malignant and corrupted hu|mours: which gives me occa&s;ion to remember that worthy &s;peech of famous Queen <HI>Elizabeth,</HI> when pa&s;&s;ing in roiall &s;tate to her coronation through the &s;treets of <HI>London,</HI> the Bible being pre&s;ented to her, which with both hands taking &s;he ki&s;&s;ed, and laying to her brea&s;t, &s;he &s;aid that the &s;ame had ever been her chiefe&s;t delight, and &s;hould be a rule by which &s;he meane to frame her government. In this ca&s;e it's true what Ca&s;ui&s;ts teach concerning the Cannon law, that <HI>in materia ad accle&s;iam pertinento,</HI> where the civill and Canon law di&s;agree, We mu&s;t <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Sartily Fu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="3 letters"> vill. uren c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">|lex. Leggs civi les &s;equuntur canonum di&s;|i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">io<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">em.</HI> Gal 4. 16. <GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> be ordered by the Canon: So if we could be willing (when laws fright and oppo&s;e one the other) to &s;ta<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">d to the deter|mination of Gods Canon without prejudice or partiality, &s;uffering our &s;elves to be directed by the light of holy Scrip|ture, it would &s;oon put a period to the mo&s;t unkindely dif|ferences.</P>
<P N="2">2. Beware of the pretended new lights &s;o much &s;ought after by
<PB N="27" REF="16">
the&s;e times, that our holy zeal for God is almo&s;t extinct. When God &s;ets up a pillar as a direction to his people, he expects that <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 6. 16.</NOTE> no <HI>ignis fatu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">s</HI> or lanthorn-man &s;hould &s;teal away his follow|ers, yet &s;uch is the mad in&s;tability of the&s;e times, that what ever pre&s;ents it &s;elf new to us is welcome, though un&s;ound and rotten. God hath &s;hut up the Canon of Scripture, your ex|pectations <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 18.</NOTE> will be fru&s;trate if you look for <HI>another Go&s;pel.</HI> There may be new lights <HI>re&s;pectu actus revelandi,</HI> enlightning both the organ and the object, but the&s;e revelations are not new, <HI>re&s;pectu doctrinae revelatae:</HI> this were to &s;et up another Go&s;pel <HI>then what you have received;</HI> which who&s;oever &s;hall pre&s;ume <HI>to bring,</HI> we may not (&s;aith <HI>John) bid him God &s;peed,</HI> lea&s;t we <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ioh. 2. 10, 11.</NOTE> <HI>pertake of his evil deeds.</HI> We mu&s;t as <HI>Martin Luther</HI> &s;aid he would do, if any &s;pirit &s;ugge&s;t to us any opinion, for which he hath not Scripture, &s;pit in his face, yea if an Angel from hea|ven (as the Apo&s;tle long &s;ince taught us) &s;hould preach <HI>any</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 1. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> <HI>other Go&s;pel</HI> (let him prate as much as he will of new lights) he is <HI>accur&s;ed.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. Suffer not men in the&s;e times of light, to walk in dark|ne&s;&s;e, compell them to come in at lea&s;t to an outward ob&s;er|vance <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Bald ca&s;. lib.</HI> 2. <HI>cap.</HI> 6 <HI>p.</HI> 104. <HI>in horum locum adigantur ad &s;acra Chri&s;tia|norum</HI> i e. <HI>jube|antur templa ip&s;orum i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">gre|di, Concionibus &amp; precibus in|tere&s;&s;e, &amp;c.</HI></NOTE> of ordinances. Some have doubted, though all are not of that opinion, whether the Jews living in a Chri&s;tian common|wealth, ought not to be forced to an outward conformity; but that &s;uch as are Chri&s;tians by profe&s;&s;ion &s;hould not by the civil Magi&s;trate be brought to ordinances, &s;eemeth to be out of que&s;tion. I move not this as &s;uppo&s;ing an outward com|pliance &s;ufficient to the compleating of a Chri&s;tian, which is done in the work of grace upon the heart, however when men come to, and live within the reach of the word &s;olidly preach|ed, they are more like to be enlightned and converted. Bi&s;hop <HI>Latimer</HI> u&s;ed to &s;ay, he would have men come to the Church <NOTE PLACE="marg">In his Serm.</NOTE> though to take a nap, it may be God would take them n<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">pping; who knows Gods time of &s;aving &s;ouls? We read of one in tho&s;e bloudy Marian times, who when the Prote&s;tants had a <NOTE PLACE="marg">M. <HI>Fox</HI> in the life of Q <HI>Mary.</HI></NOTE> meeting in Tems-&s;treet in <HI>London</HI> to hear a Sermon, came in with a purpo&s;e to have informed the per&s;ecuting Bi&s;hop <HI>B<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">nner</HI> again&s;t them; he went away by that Sermon converted, and became one of them. And who knoweth what God may do,
<PB N="28" REF="17">
though men come to his word out of bie re&s;pects? We have ma|ny good and whole&s;ome laws made by former Parliaments to this very purpo&s;e; it were much to be wi&s;hed, they were revi|ved and put in execution, that tho&s;e mulcts and puni&s;hments in them were inflicted: that &s;o ungodly men might not dare with that frequency and audaciou&s;ne&s;&s;e to disfrequent the publick places of Gods wor&s;hip (where the light is &s;et up) under &s;peci|ous and coloured pretences, when perhaps much wor&s;e im|ploied to the corrupting their weak mindes by &s;educers, who&s;e labour and ambition is to draw di&s;ciples after them and &s;ubvert un&s;table &s;ouls.</P>
<P N="4">4. Let it be your chief care (ever Honoured Senators) to &s;et up and maintain this light of the Lord in all places of the Kingdom, there being thou&s;ands of Pari&s;hes in <HI>England</HI> and <HI>Wales,</HI> which are mi&s;erably de&s;titute of this light, wanting a|ble Preachers to hold it out to them; as <HI>Cumberland, Northum|berland, We&s;tmorland,</HI> the Bi&s;hoprick, yea and a very great part of <HI>Yorke&s;hire,</HI> who like Pagans &s;car&s;e know whether there be a God, a Chri&s;t, a holy Gho&s;t or no. Take therefore good King <HI>Jeho&s;haphat</HI> for an example, who &s;ent <HI>Prie&s;ts and Levites</HI> in great plenty throughout all <HI>Judah, and they had the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Chron. 17 9.</NOTE> <HI>Law of the Lord with them,</HI> and went about <HI>throughout the Cities of Judah, and taught the people.</HI> He was carefull to ad|vance the light of the Lord, that his &s;ubjects might not remain in darkne&s;&s;e; and you &s;ee in the following part of the &s;tory, how the Lord remembred him for it, and (&s;aith he) the fear of the Lord fell upon all the Kingdomes of the land that were round about <HI>Judah,</HI> &s;o that they made no warre again&s;t <HI>Jeho&s;ha|phat.</HI> And verely had more care (&s;ince all the opportunities of advancing light from the beginning of the&s;e di&s;tracted times, till now) been taken, had the people been taught by <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Chron. 17. 11. Phil. 2&punc; 21.</NOTE> Learned, Orthodox, Godly, di&s;creet, painfull Divines, in the dark corners of this nation, where very little or no light &s;hi|neth; by Gods ble&s;&s;ing we &s;hould not have lo&s;t by that charge, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Speed in the &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of <HI>Saxon</HI> Mo|narks. <HI>lib.</HI> 7. <HI>cat</HI> 21. <HI>B<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">de hi&s;t Angl. lib.</HI> 3. <HI>cap.</HI> 3.</NOTE> what ever covetous &s;elf-ended per&s;ons (who &s;eek their own, not God or his people) may &s;ugge&s;t to the contrary. Famous <HI>O&s;wald</HI> King of <HI>Northumberland</HI> gave te&s;timony of his zeal for Gods glory, and love to his people in the &s;ame &s;ort, by &s;etting
<PB N="29" REF="17">
up a light of truth in tho&s;e very dark times, he &s;ent for one <HI>Aiden</HI> a Scotti&s;h Bi&s;hop (&s;aith <HI>Beda)</HI> to in&s;truct his people, who not well under&s;tanding nor pronouncing our language, was not &s;o intelligible to the hearers, the King him&s;elf therefore u&s;ed to interpret his Sermons as the Bi&s;hop preached. But it's not &s;aid that the King pre&s;umed to take on him the Preachers office, he did not preach, only (which indeed was an excellen|cy in him) he interpreted to them the Preachers Sermons. He well apprehended how much it concerned him&s;elf and King|dome to advance the light of life, without which they &s;hould all remain in darkne&s;&s;e and irregularity. Which light of the Lord, that it may be &s;et up and become u&s;efull, I commend to your con&s;ideration four &s;hort directions.</P>
<P N="1">1. Be regardfull of the nur&s;eries of good learning, that by the means of them &s;uch &s;tudents as &s;hall <HI>de futuro</HI> be &s;ent a|broad, may be compleated with knowledge in languages, skil|fullne&s;&s;e <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 49. 23.</NOTE> of arts and &s;ciences, well read in &s;tory politicall and eccle&s;ia&s;ticall, and indeed accompli&s;ht in all good literature requi&s;ite to &s;o high an imploiment, <HI>that he may &s;hew him&s;elf a</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 2<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> 5. Sir <HI>Hen. Sp<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">d. Tom.</HI> 1. <HI>Concil. Britan.</HI> 1 Tim. 5 17&punc; <GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> <HI>workman which needs not be a&s;hamed;</HI> Let the&s;e Schools of the Prophets receive their due revenues, and other incouragements which their pious founders and benefactours vouch&s;afed them: Let no man have ju&s;t cau&s;e to divert his childes &s;tudies to &s;ecular imploiments, either for want of means, conveniences or ho|nour by which the mindes of men are much invited to &s;tudy. Let that other &s;i&s;ter which hath no brea&s;ts be timely remembred, of which I may &s;ay, as King <HI>James</HI> &s;aid in the &s;tarre-chamber <NOTE PLACE="marg">King <HI>Iames</HI> his &s;peech in &s;tar-chamber.</NOTE> to the Judges, in that of <HI>Pauls</HI> &s;teeple, that in time may be done at a le&s;&s;e, which afterwards cannot be at a greater charge.</P>
<P N="2">2. See that the places of Gods wor&s;hip be maintained; the neglect of which as it gives occa&s;ion to our Romane adver&s;aries to &s;peak evil, &s;o doth it not pa&s;&s;e without &s;u&s;pition among&s;t the vulgar &s;ort, as if with the outward fabrick and &s;tructure your intention was to demoli&s;h wor&s;hip and Religion it &s;elf. Truth <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ridley</HI> his view of the civil law. <HI>p.</HI> 19<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> is, the complaint now is no le&s;&s;e ju&s;t (and I hope free from Ro|mi&s;h tincture) then it was in King <HI>Alured</HI> his daies, when in mo&s;t places they were exceedingly gon to wrack; I am confi|dent
<PB N="30" REF="18">
you conceive me not to per&s;wade to a popi&s;h &s;upe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;itions garni&s;hing of Churches, walls, nor of a fooli&s;h opinion that prayers are heard <HI>propter &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">nctitatem loci,</HI> which yet was the <NOTE PLACE="marg">Th. Aqui<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> fancy of &s;ome Schoolmen: but only that &s;uch places &s;hould be conveniently repaired, and where they want, more built for receiving the people of God to wor&s;hip him, for neglect of which we are ju&s;tly culpable, as they who did not build the Temple of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> a type of the Church, Gods people. So is it time for us to mend our own hou&s;es demoli&s;hed by war, and <NOTE PLACE="marg">Hab. 1. 9.</NOTE> &s;hall the&s;e hou&s;es lye wa&s;t?</P>
<P N="3">3. Let the Di&s;cipline of the Church, according to the word of God, be&s;t reformed Churches and fundamentalls of our own Nation be e&s;tabli&s;hed; it will be a notable means to pre|&s;erve the light, and to keep of &s;uch as endeavour (like as they did that candle, <HI>Luther,</HI> in the beginning of the German Refor|mation lighted) to blow it out. The goodne&s;&s;e of God (&s;aith one in his book wherein this controver&s;ie of Di&s;cipline is pur|po&s;ely and largely di&s;cu&s;&s;ed) hath provided in his word a <NOTE PLACE="marg">To this pur|po&s;e M. <HI>Tham. Carthwright</HI> in his cont. with Arch B. <HI>Whit-gi&s;t.</HI></NOTE> Di&s;cipline for his Church, which if he had not done, he &s;hould have been le&s;&s;e carefull of it then of the commonwealth, of which in that regard he is not unmindfull. Neither is this any other then you have covenanted, and was there ever a Parlia|ment as of more prayers, fa&s;tings, preachings, deliverances, victories, &s;o of more vows, covenants, leagues, and &s;olemn prote&s;tations, with eyes hands and all lift up to heaven, then this is: Well, of all &s;ins, to fal&s;ifie Covenant is one of the greate&s;t, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;. 5 5. D<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ut 23. 21.</NOTE> better not promi&s;e, then having vowed, not perform.</P>
<P>In your fir&s;t Declaration there is this memorable pa&s;&s;age. It is far from our purpo&s;e or de&s;ire to let loo&s;e the golden reins of Di&s;cipline and government in the Church, to leave private per|&s;ons or particular congregations, to take up what form of di|vine &s;ervice they plea&s;e, for we hold it requi&s;ite that there &s;hould be through the whole realm a conformity to that order which the laws enjoyn according to the word of God. O that we had not &s;tarted a&s;ide from this like a deceitfull bow, then &s;urely had we wounded the hairy &s;calp of many Church ene|mies, that break the bonds a&s;under and ca&s;t the cords away from them. O that the husbandman had not &s;lept, the enemy
<PB N="31" REF="18">
could not with that advantage have &s;own &s;o many <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ares of er|rours in Gods field. O that this guard were &s;et, &s;o the foxes might be taken, even tho&s;e little foxes which do &s;poil the vines that are full of grapes.</P>
<P N="4">4. Take order that &s;uch Divines as in &s;everall parts of the Kingdome have or &s;hall con&s;cionably hold forth this light of truth in their charges re&s;pectively to the edification of their peo|ple <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> and not to yours or the Commonwealths di&s;advantage, be plentifully provided of comfortable maintenance and due en|couragement; <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 6. 6. Sir <HI>Ed. Cook</HI> in &s;econd part of Iu&s;t on <HI>Magna Charta.</HI> pag. 3, 4. So in the &s;tory of <HI>Lucius, E<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">bel|bert Eghert. Al+fred E<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">helwol<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. Edgar Edward</HI> the confe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">our with divers o|thers more in old Hi&s;tories. Numb. 4. 14.</NOTE> el&s;e how can you expect an exact performance of that tru&s;t of beating the light you require from them, you may <HI>not muzzle the Oxe that treadeth out the corn. The labouror is worthy of his hire.</HI> He that is in&s;tructed mu&s;t make him that in&s;tructeth him, partaker <HI>of all good things.</HI> Our forefathers brought honour to God, happine&s;&s;e to the Church, to them|&s;elves a glorious name by their foundations and contributions to the maintenance of his light. Oh let not us grudge that the oyl be&s;towed at their charge, &s;hould run in the &s;ame pipe to keep in his lamp and not into our private cru&s;es. You (Honou|rable) are the repairers of our breaches in Church and &s;tate; You are the Phy&s;itians of the body politick and eccle&s;ia&s;tick. We dare not prejudge you.</P>
<P>Of all inju&s;tice its the wor&s;t when men take wrongfully from <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mala<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> 3 8, 6. <HI>Dan Ethic. Chri&s;t.</HI> 12 <HI>c</HI> 15. <HI>Princeps jure non pote&s;t res &s;acra<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">, &amp; bona cu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> divino etiam in genere de&s;ti<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">ra etiam ea quae <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ul<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">i &s;uper&s;titio&s;o forvi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">t in <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">|&s;um profanu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> transferere. Ke<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">h Sy&s;t Po<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. l.</HI> 1 <HI>cap</HI> 21. <HI>&s;ic polan. in Synt. &amp; in</HI> Dan 5. 4, 5. I&s;a. 50. 4.</NOTE> the publike charge of commonwealth, and that wrong done to the Church is a &s;inne greater then that which is again&s;t the commonwealth, the Church of the two &s;tanding in a nearer relation to God, and to injure the Church, though it be a very great &s;in under the law, as may appear by the expre&s;&s;ion in <HI>Ma|lachy, Will a man rob God? Ye have robbed me, even this whole na<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ion:</HI> Yet is it more hainous, if committed in the light of the glorious Go&s;pel, by how much the Go&s;pels Mini&s;try is more excellent then that of the law: which is the rea&s;on why &s;ome learned and godly Divines have concluded it unlawfull to ali|enate the revenus of Gods wor&s;hip, though given in &s;uper&s;ti|tious times much of it, and haply to &s;ome &s;uper&s;titious u&s;es, but rather conceive it ought to be imployed to the &s;ervice of God, incouraging of learning and godline&s;&s;e, which was the main &s;cope of the donours, though &s;ome of them might fail in par|ticular,
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Circa fundamentall tenets. But certainly it mu&s;t needs heighten the &s;inne of tho&s;e who detain the revenue of the Church, under the &s;pecious &s;hew of lay-tenements. In the mean while there is none to bear the light of truth before the people, none to in&s;truct them; <HI>the key of knowledge</HI> being wholy taken away, &s;ome <HI>aumb dog</HI> is &s;et over <HI>the flock</HI> of Chri&s;t for a mean &s;alary, whereas they &s;hould be in&s;tructed by one, as <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> &s;aith <HI>that hath the tongue of the learned.</HI> And to deprive the people of &s;uch tongues that we may enrich our &s;elves with the revenue that &s;hould maintain them, is a &s;in no le&s;&s;e, if not much more, culpable, then that of <HI>Achan,</HI> who <HI>&s;tole a wedge,</HI> or as the He|brew <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Qui cau&s;am <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> ip|&s;um dam<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">n d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">i&s;&s;e vid<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">ur Io<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">ph</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">. <HI>de beno <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">u<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">aic<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">o</HI></NOTE> hath it, a tongue <HI>of gold,</HI> but in the end paid a rate dear enough for it, as many of his &s;ucce&s;&s;ours have &s;ince done, and more (if timely repentance and re&s;titution prevent not) may buy the gold of the Temple at a high price. It &s;eems the ve|ry heathen, who had no other pilot then natures law, &s;tood in fear to runne this hazard, of &s;plitting them&s;elves on this rock of &s;acriledge, and &s;o make &s;hipwrack of a good con&s;cience to <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen 47. 2<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">, <HI>Pu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">herri <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">us igitur his tex<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">s e&s;t ed nos non &s;equ<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">mur nec a <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">ittim<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">s in Germania, &amp;c Phara b Rex ae|gypti conju<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">get in judicio prox i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">o &amp; contra priacipes &amp; magi&s;tra<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">us Germanie, propterea quod ille &s;uos &s;acer|do<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">es coluit a|lu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">t &amp; ab&s;tieu it a ho<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">is <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> ea <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">u|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">&s;&s;ino contra|cta in &s;u<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> po|te<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">latem re<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">i gere patu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;&s;et.</HI> Luth.</NOTE> the lo&s;&s;e of the &s;oul, the mo&s;t precious lading, which if once gone, is irrecoverable. Doe we not read of <HI>Pharaoh</HI> King of <HI>Egypt,</HI> in that great <HI>famine</HI> mentioned by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> how that when all the people were nece&s;&s;itated to &s;ell their lands to make provi&s;ion for them&s;elves and families that they peri&s;hed not in the dearth, that he provided <HI>a portion</HI> for the <HI>Prie&s;ts,</HI> that &s;o their <HI>lands</HI> might be pre&s;erved to the u&s;es they were de|dicated? He might with as much ea&s;e, as little charge, have entered on the Prie&s;ts po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, as the whole land, and &s;o have been &s;ole Lord, that no man (as our great land-Lords u&s;e to &s;ay) &s;hould have a foot within his territories. No, he dur&s;t not enterpri&s;e it, <HI>Wherefore the Prie&s;ts land became not Pharaohs:</HI> He does not drive them (as &s;ome have done) to an exigent that he might gain the more by them, he provides, to prevent that mi&s;chief, <HI>portions,</HI> at his own charges for tho&s;e who are di&s;abled by the penury of the times, to make provi&s;ion for them&s;elves. And in that generall &s;ei&s;ure of all e&s;tates there is this clau&s;e of exception in the deed concerning the Prie&s;ts, to except before excepted, the <HI>land of the Prie&s;ts only, which became not Pharaohs.</HI> I know that &s;ome do endeavour to evade
<PB N="33" REF="19">
this place alledgeing the Hebrew word, <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Cohen</HI> &s;ignifieth a Prince, and &s;o take it of the chief officers about the King; but <NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronymus. Chry&s;o&s;tomus. Seb Mun&s;ter. Ar. Montanus. Vatablus. Ant. Honcala. Leon Marius. Sel<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">eccerus. Stella.</NOTE> the word &s;ignifies both Prie&s;t and Prince, and becau&s;e in one per&s;on it &s;ets forth both, haply by one word, and the circum&s;tan|ces &s;hew a di&s;tinction betwixt them and the re&s;t of the land, which occa&s;ions the Learned generally to read it as our Tran&s;la|tours have done. So the <HI>Chaldee,</HI> the <HI>Septuagint, To&s;tatus, Pere|rius, Cornelius a Lapide, Mercerus, Calvin, Mu&s;culus,</HI> And all our Engli&s;h Tran&s;latours I have met with.</P>
<P>Noble Senatours, let it be your honour (as he &s;aid) to leave <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>M. Lutherus. Luc. O&s;iander. Ioh. Brentius. Dav. Paraeus. H. Ain&s;worth. Doway Bib. Hen</HI> 4. 0. <HI>Engl.</HI></NOTE> the Church in a richer condition then you found it, yea though in mo&s;t places it complains of poverty (it being torn and beg|gerly) endeavour to re&s;tore it; it will be your comfort when you lye on your la&s;t pillow, if in this ca&s;e you can &s;incerely &s;ay to God, as <HI>Augu&s;tus</HI> of <HI>Rome</HI> repaired by him, <HI>inveni lateriti|am, reliqui marmoream.</HI> Remember that this <HI>light,</HI> the word, held forth to the people is not maintained (&s;ince that extraor|dinary apo&s;tolicall gifts are cea&s;ed) without va&s;t expence; tho&s;e who are in this imploiment (that their office may be more acceptable, gracefull and profitable) have &s;everall lights, none of them to be &s;uffered to die, which they mu&s;t maintain at great expence.</P>
<P N="1">1. A light of knowledge in the &s;tudy by books of all kindes <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim 2. 13. <HI>Floreati&s;&s;ima Anglia, ocellas ille eccle&s;iarum peculium certi&s;|mi gulare.</HI> Deodatus.</NOTE> of learning, that &s;o they may <HI>be able</HI> Mini&s;ters <HI>rightly dividing the word in truth;</HI> this (ble&s;&s;ed be God) is one cau&s;e why the Divines of this land have been &s;o famous to the admira|tion of forreigners: whereas if this <HI>light</HI> be extinct, there will be a want of the other <HI>light</HI> in knowledge and doctrine al&s;o; as one, a great Schollar, long &s;ince ob&s;erved: poor beggerly <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ex tenuitat<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> beneficiorum nece&s;&s;ar<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">&ograve; &s;e|quitur ignoran|tia &s;acerd<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">tum. Panermit.</NOTE> maintenance will have but a poor contemptible Mini&s;try; Scan|dalous maintenance, &s;candalous Mini&s;try.</P>
<P N="2">2. A light in the family: he mu&s;t maintain tho&s;e who&s;e &s;ub|&s;i&s;tance is from him: which &s;ometimes are exceeding many; if he &s;hould be deficient in providing for them, you would condemn him wor&s;e then an infidel: It is a pretty ob&s;ervation that one hath, <HI>The Table of &s;hew bread</HI> (&s;aith he) was &s;et in the mid&s;t of the Temple to &s;ignifie thus much, <HI>Quod Sacerdotes in Templo &s;ervientes, de Templo victum habere debent.</HI> Is it not <NOTE PLACE="marg">Aquin.</NOTE>
<PB N="34" REF="20">
much to be lamented think you, that the oyl in the fir&s;t in&s;titu|tion of it appointed to pre&s;erve light to Gods people, is powred <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Indicandus e&s;t fur &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">erilegu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> qui <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">a&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> fuerit non uudequa. que tollere, &s;ed de eccle&s;ia tollere</HI> Aug <HI>tr</HI> 50 in Joh</NOTE> out to other purpo&s;es, <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg"><P>Ye that are Lords and Burge&s;&s;es of the Parliament hou&s;e, I require of you in the name of all my poor brethren that are Engli&s;h men and members of Chri&s;ts body, that ye con&s;i|der well (as ye will an&s;wer before the face of Almighty God in the day of judgement) this abu&s;e, and &s;ee it amended. When as antichri&s;t of <HI>Rome</HI> dur&s;t openly without any vi|zard, walk up and down thorowout England, he had &s;o great favour there, and his children had &s;uch cra<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ty wits (for the children of this world are wi&s;er in their generation then the children of light) that they had not onely almo&s;t gotte <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> all the be&s;t lands of England into their hands, but al&s;o the mo&s;t part of all the be&s;t benefices, both par&s;onages and vic<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">raged, which were for the mo&s;t part all impropred unto them. And when they had the gifts of any not impropered, they gave them unto their friends, of the which alwaies &s;ome were lear|ned, for the monks found of their friends children at &s;chool. And though they were not learned, yet they kept ho&s;pitality, and helped their poor friends. And if the per&s;onage were improprated, the monks were bound to deal almes to the poor, and to keep ho&s;pita|lity, as the wri<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ings of the gifts of &s;uch per&s;onages and lands do planly declare in the&s;e words, <HI>in puram ele<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">of<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">om.</HI> And as touching the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">l<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">es that they deale and the ho&s;pitality that they kept, every man knoweth that many thou&s;ands were well releeved of them, and might have been better, if they had not had &s;o many great mens hor&s;es to feed, and had not been overcharged with &s;uch idle gentlemen, as were never out of the abbeys. And if they had any vicarage in their hands, they &s;et in &s;ometime &s;ome &s;ufficient <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> (though it were but &s;eldome) to preach and to teach. But now that all the abbeys with their <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> goods and impropriated per&s;onages be in temporall mens hands, I doe not here tell, that one halfepenny worth of almes, or any other profit cometh unto the people of tho&s;e pari&s;hes. Your pretence of putting down abbies, was to amend that was ami&s;&s;e in them. It was far ami&s;&s;e that a great part of the lands of the abbies (which were given to bring up learned men, that might be Preachers to keep ho&s;pitality, and to give almes to the poor) &s;hould be &s;pent upon a few &s;uper&s;titious monks, which gave no<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> fourty pound in almes, when they &s;hould have given two hundred. It was ami&s;&s;e that the monks &s;hould have per&s;onages in their hands, and deal but the twentieth part thereof to the poor, and preached but once in a year to them that paid the tithes of the per&s;onages. It was ami&s;&s;e that they &s;carcely a|mong twenty &s;et not one &s;ufficient vicar to preach for the t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">thes that they received. But &s;ee now, how <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">t that was ami&s;&s;e, is amended for all the godly pretence. It is amended even as the devil amended his dames legge (as it is in the proverb) when he &s;hould have &s;et it right, he br<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ke it quite in peecet. The monks gave too little <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">lm, and &s;et unable per&s;ons many times in their benefices. But now where twenty pound was given yearly to the poor, in more then in a hundred places in <HI>England,</HI> is not one meal<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">t given. This is a fa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> amendment. Where they had alwaies one or other vicar, that tither preached or hired &s;ome to preach, now is there no vicar at all, but the farme<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> is vicar and par&s;on alltogether, and onely an old ca&s;taway monk or <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> which can &s;carcely &s;ay his mattens, is <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> for twen|ty or thirty &s;hillings meat and drink, yea in &s;ome places for meat and drink alone without any wages.</P>
<P>I know, and not I alone, but twenty thou&s;and more know more then five hundred vi|carages and par&s;onages, thus well and go&s;pelly ferved, after the new Go&s;pel of <HI>England.</HI> And if a man &s;ay to the farmers, why have the people no preachers? &s;eeing ye have the tithes and offerings ye &s;hould finde Preachers. They will an&s;wer, we have hired the per|&s;onages of this or that Lord, and he or he is par&s;on or vicar, we pay for the tithes and of|ferings to the Lord that is per&s;on. Well then, I &s;ay unto thee my Lord, par&s;on, and vicar, thou doe&s;t wrong, to have per&s;onages and vicarages, to have the tenth pig, the tenth lamb, goo&s;e, fleece, and &s;o of all other things, &s;eeing that thou art no Mini&s;ter nor no prie&s;t of Chri&s;ts Church; teach, nor do any office of a par&s;on or of a vicar, but polle and pille. What can&s;t thou &s;ay of thy &s;elf my Lord par&s;on and vicar? thou wilt &s;ay peradventure, the King gave me the abbey and all that belongeth thereto, which had then given him by the Parliament, Therefore if thou &s;peak again&s;t my being per&s;on and vicar though I neither preach nor teach, nor yet procure none to do it for me, thou art a traitour, for this the thirteenth article of our creed added of late, that what&s;oever the Parliament doth, mu&s;t needs be well done, and the Parliament, or any proclamation out of the Parliament time, cannot erre. But to you my Lord par&s;ons, how can ye defend your &s;elves if a man &s;hould bring this argument again&s;t you, and prove you all the theeves, that have per&s;onages and vica|rages in your hands, and cannot preach. Chri&s;t &s;aith <HI>Iohn</HI> 10. <HI>he that entreth not into the &s;heepfold by the door, but climbeth in an other way is a thief and a murtherer,</HI> but ye entred in an other way, wherefore ye are theeves and murtherers. That you come not in by the door, I will prove it thus, Chri&s;t is the door, but by Chri&s;t ye came not into the &s;heepfold, that is, to be par&s;ons and vicars, for ye grant that ye came in by the act of Parliament, and the act of Parliament is not Chri&s;t, for it is not confirmed by Chri&s;ts word, therefore ye came not by Chri&s;t, and &s;o be ye theeves and murtherers, as your works proved of late, in &s;hed|ding of the bloud of &s;o many true preachers and &s;hepheards, which &s;pent their lives for their &s;heep. If this argument be not &s;trong enough, what &s;ay you by this? <HI>All they that come before me</HI> (&s;aith Chri&s;t) <HI>are theeves and robbers,</HI> ye come into the &s;heepfold, before Chri&s;t, <HI>ergo</HI> ye be theeves and robbers. To come in before Chri&s;t, is to be a par&s;on or a vicar before Chri&s;t &s;end him&punc; and ye came in before Chri&s;t &s;ent you, for he &s;endeth none to be &s;heep|heards, but &s;uch as he knoweth to be able to feed his flook, <HI>ergo</HI> he never &s;ent you, for he knoweth you unable to do that office. And thus to conclude, ye be theeves and robbers, for a theef cometh not but to &s;teal and to kill. Wherefore give over your par&s;onages to learned men, and enter not into other mens vocations, to rob the Mini&s;ters both of their office and of their living, that ye be not puni&s;hed of God. But if ye will needs be par&s;ons and vicars &s;till, and have all the profits of the par&s;onages, and will have all, even to the tithe egge of a poor woman that hath but two hens, ye mu&s;t have the pains that belong to &s;uch per&s;ons as you be. Hear what Almighty God &s;aith unto you, my Lords. which will be par&s;ons and pa&s;tors, <HI>Ezek</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">3 <HI>If I &s;ay unto the wicked thou &s;halt die the death, and thou &s;peak not unto him, to keep the wicked from his way, the wicked his own &s;elf &s;hall dye in his wickedne&s;&s;e, but his bloud &s;hall I require of thy hand.</HI> Mark well, Lord par&s;on, for this is &s;aid to all them that are par&s;ons, and take wages, and living of the people, as tithes and offerings, for feeding of them with Gods word, or el&s;e by what title can&s;t thou challenge the tithes? look well upon this matter, and build thy con&s;cience upon Gods word. The complaint of <HI>Roderick Mors</HI> to the Parliament in <HI>Edw</HI> 6. time.</P></NOTE> as former times have complained, lu&s;ts
<PB N="35" REF="20">
of men, yea the wor&s;t lu&s;ts of the wor&s;t men that are enemies to God and the Church. In the mean time tho&s;e and their po&s;terity,
<PB N="36" REF="21">
who attend on his light, whil&s;t others have <HI>food enough</HI> and to &s;pare, are in hazard to <HI>peri&s;h with hunger.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. A light in the town and countrey where they live: its a light of good works, in &s;hewing mercy to the poor, being help|full to the needy, as <HI>Job</HI> &s;aith of him&s;elf, he <HI>was eyes to the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 29, 15. Job 31. 20</NOTE> <HI>blinde, feeet to the lame;</HI> this would have covered them, to the cre|dit of Religion, inciting others to the like, he did not put his <HI>light under a bu&s;hell,</HI> So (prai&s;ed be God) in this nation, where the revenues of the Church were great (though &s;ome did &s;pend much in vanity and exce&s;&s;ive cour&s;es as the profu&s;e vulgar) all did not &s;o: much hath been given by Divines to Colledges, Ho&s;pitalls, Libraries and other pious works. And indeed <NOTE PLACE="marg">D. <HI>Willet,</HI> the end of his <HI>Synop&s;is.</HI></NOTE> Schollars be&s;t knowing to &s;et a price on learning, have been mo&s;t beneficiall this way.</P>
<P>The Apo&s;tles exhortation to Mini&s;ters is that <HI>they be given to ho&s;pitality.</HI> Surely then they mu&s;t have ability el&s;e they &s;hould <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 3. 2.</NOTE> &s;tand in need of other mens ho&s;pitality, be fitter to receive then give, as God knows it is the ca&s;e of many a learned, god|ly and painfull Divine at this day (as &s;ometimes it was the con|dition of learned men, beware the fears where Church reve|nues <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mu&s;culus. Io. Dru&s;ius. Ame&s;ius. H. Ain&s;worth. Iohn Knox. Augu&s;t</HI> 3. 1571.</NOTE> are devoured) who have great charges of children and nothing wherewith to bring them up, or place them out, while the ancient Church-revenue is in the hands of many that wor&s;e de&s;erve it. This made the mighty godly Divine of <HI>Scotland</HI> (as I am informed) lying on his death bed (and the words of <NOTE PLACE="marg">The mighty &s;pirit of com|fort wi&s;edome and concord remain with you Dear bre|thren, if abili|ty of body would have &s;uffered, I &s;hould not have troubled you with this my indictment. I have not forgot that was laid to my charge by famous libels the la&s;t A&s;&s;embly, which I pray you patiently to hear, and judge of me as you will an&s;wer to God: for unto you that hear I &s;ubmit my &s;elf, being a&s;&s;ured that I neither offended God nor good men in any thing that hitherto hath been laid to my charge. And now, brethren, becau&s;e the daily decay of na|turall &s;trength threatens unto me certain and &s;udden departing from the mi&s;ery of this life, of love and con&s;cience I exhort you, yea in the fear of God I charge and command you, that ye take heed to your &s;elves and to the flock over the which God hath placed you Pa&s;tours. To di&s;cour&s;e of the behaviour of your &s;elves I may not, but to command you to be faithfull to the flock I dare not forget Unfaithfull and traitours to the flock &s;hall you be before the Lord Je&s;us, if that with your con&s;ent, directly or indirectly ye &s;uffer unworthy men to be thru&s;t into the Mini&s;try of the Church, under what preten<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">e that ever it be. Remember the judge before whom you mu&s;t make an account, and re&s;i&s;t that tyranny as you would avoid hell fire; this battell I grant will be hard, but the &s;econd part will be harder, that is, that with the like uprightne&s;&s;e and &s;trength in God, ye gain-&s;tand the mercile&s;&s;e devourers of the patrimony of the Church: if men will &s;poil, let them doe it at their own perill and condemnation, but communicate not yee with their &s;ins of what&s;oever e&s;tate they be, nei|ther by con&s;ent, nor yet by &s;ilence; but with publike prote&s;tation, make this known to the world, that ye are innocent of &s;uch robberies, which will, ere it be long, provoke Gods ven|geance upon the committers thereof, whereof you will &s;eek redre&s;&s;e of God and man&punc; God give you wi&s;edome, &s;trength and courage in &s;o ju&s;t a cau&s;e, and me a happy end. Of S^t <HI>Andrews, Aug</HI> 3. 1571. <HI>&s;ic &s;ub&s;cribitur,</HI> Your brother in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, <HI>Knox.</HI></NOTE> dying men &s;hould make a deeper impre&s;&s;ion) &s;o earne&s;t in his exhortatory letter writ from S^t <HI>Andrews</HI> to the A&s;&s;embly at <HI>Sterling.</HI> There are two branches of his exhortation, one to keep out of the Church &s;candalous Mini&s;ters, the other to pre|vent a &s;candalous maintenance.</P>
<P><PB N="37" REF="21">
Noble Patriots, as it belonged to <HI>Eliazer</HI> to provide oyl for <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 49. 23. <HI>Magni rege ac principes non &s;olum Chri|&s;ti jugum &s;ub|ierunt, &s;ed e|tiam facultates &s;uas contu<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">erunt ad erigendam &amp; fovendam Chri&s;ti Eccle&s;i|am ut &s;e patro|nos &amp; tutores ejus prae&s;tarent.</HI> Cal. <HI>in loc.</HI></NOTE> the lights of the Temple, &s;o to you it appertains, as nur&s;erers of the Church, to &s;ee that the&s;e lights of the Church have oyl to feed them as <HI>Hezekiah</HI> did, 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 31 4. I can pre&s;ent you with no arguments more con&s;tringent then tho&s;e in the text before you.</P>
<P N="1">1. You have many priviledges, God expects this as a te&s;ti|mony of thankfulne&s;&s;e. Tho&s;e who gain by &s;ea-trade are not unwilling to be at the charge of land-light. <HI>The children of light</HI> &s;hould be as wi&s;e as the men of the world.</P>
<P N="2">2. You are reformers in I&s;rael, this is one &s;peciall point of your work, to &s;ee that Gods hou&s;e be not as a dark room, the light removed.</P>
<P N="3">3. You know that Religion is not in &s;hew, but in deed, it's <NOTE PLACE="marg">A brief repeti|tion of the heads of the Sermon. James 2. 16.</NOTE> not &s;ufficient to &s;ay as tho&s;e S^t <HI>James</HI> mentioneth, <HI>goe</HI> and <HI>be warmed,</HI> unle&s;&s;e al&s;o you make provi&s;ion for them.</P>
<P N="4">4. It's the Lords light that affords direction to your &s;ouls for the obtaining eternall light, which by how much the more excellent it is then that under the law, &s;o much the more liberall we &s;hould be in providing for it, as that fa|mous &s;ervant of God long &s;ince taught us, with who&s;e words <NOTE PLACE="marg">B. <HI>Babington</HI> on Gen. 47 7. except the land of the Prie&s;ts. <HI>pag.</HI> 146.</NOTE> I &s;hall crave leave to clo&s;e this imploiment.</P>
<P>Had the Prie&s;ts of the law the tenth part, and &s;hall not the Mini&s;ters of a better te&s;tament have any part? Such maintenance will have &s;uch Mini&s;ters in time out of que&s;tion, to the utter decay of learning piety and Religion, and to the bringing of all barbari&s;me and errour as Satan wi&s;heth.
<PB N="38" REF="22">
Worthy is the vertue of <HI>Nehemiah</HI> touching this matter, ever|la&s;ting remembrance and imitation of them that have like authority and fear God; he finding that the Prie&s;t <HI>Elia&s;hib</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Nehem 13. 14.</NOTE> (who had the over&s;ight of what belonged to the maintenance of the Prie&s;ts, being joyned in affinity with <HI>Tobiah</HI> the <HI>Am|monite,</HI> an enemy of the Jews, the portions of the Levites were not given them, but every man was fled to &s;hift for him|&s;elf among&s;t his friends) mo&s;t zealou&s;ly reformed it as you may &s;ee; threw out <HI>Tobias</HI> ve&s;&s;els, thru&s;t out <HI>Elia&s;hib,</HI> and placed them that were accounted faithfull, and brought the tithes of corn and wine and oyl into the hou&s;e of the Lord: again mark the &s;tate of our times, and &s;ee if &s;uch <HI>Tobias</HI> be not yet among&s;t us, and &s;uch <HI>Elia&s;hibs,</HI> who dealing in all un|righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, convey the portions of the Levites by little and little from the Church that all may come to ruine and utter confu&s;ion in time. They mu&s;t have the tithe corn and gleab land, peradventure the hou&s;e al&s;o for a dairy, and then co&s;en <HI>Elia&s;hib</HI> the Mini&s;ter &s;hall have the tithe gee&s;e, and the egges at Ea&s;ter: But &s;hall not God vi&s;it this great impiety? O Lord, O Lord, in mercy forgive the &s;innes of the land, and the ini|quity of thy people de&s;erving ju&s;tly the lo&s;&s;e of thy word and &s;weet liberty of their con&s;ciences, and yet, yet &s;hew favour, for thy mercy rai&s;e up men that are able to feed thy people as they ought, and either convert or confound Church-robbers that &s;avour nothing but their own gain, that take thus daily away the reward of knowledge, endeavour the death of thou|&s;and thou&s;ands of &s;ouls, which thou ha&s;t created. Stirre up <HI>Nehemiah</HI> thy faithfull &s;ervant to redre&s;&s;e this &s;in, and to &s;ettle things carnall as &s;hall be fit for them that &s;ow &s;pirituall, that God be not mocked: So we that be thy people and the &s;heep of thy pa&s;ture, &s;hall give thee prai&s;e for ever, for &s;o great a mercy.</P>
<TRAILER>Amen, Amen.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="22">
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
