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<DATE>2007-09-05</DATE>
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<NAME>Elspeth Healey</NAME>
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<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>A SERMON PREACHED BEFORE THE HONORABLE Hou&s;e of COMMONS: At <HI>Margarets We&s;tmin&s;ter,</HI> upon the 26. day of <HI>Augu&s;t</HI> 1645. being the day of their &s;olemne Monethly Fa&s;t.</P>
<P>By JOHN LIGHTFOOT, A Member of the A&s;&s;embly of Divines.</P>
<P><HI>London</HI> Printed by <HI>R. C.</HI> for <HI>Andrew Crook,</HI> and are to be &s;old at his &s;hop at the &s;igne of the <HI>Greene Dragon</HI> in <HI>Pauls</HI> Churchyard, 1645.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="by the same author">
<PB REF="2">
<P><LIST>
<HEAD><HI>A Catalogue of &s;uch Bookes as have beene publi&s;hed by Mr.</HI> Lightfoot.</HEAD>
<ITEM>OB&s;ervations on <HI>Gene&s;is.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>&mdash;On <HI>Exodus.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Harmony of the foure Evangeli&s;ts.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Elias Redivivus.</ITEM>
<ITEM>A Sermon on <HI>Luke 1. 17.</HI> at a Fa&s;t before the Commons Hou&s;e of Parliament, <HI>March 19. 1643.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A Commentary on the <HI>Acts,</HI> with an Eccle&s;ia&s;tick Hi&s;tory.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD><HI>TO THE HONORABLE Hou&s;e of COMMONS A&s;&s;embled IN</HI> PARLIAMENT.</HEAD>
<P>_IF ever Sermon met with di&s;advantages whereby it might be made unacceptable to an Auditory, this was it. For be&s;ides mine uttter di&s;abilities to prepare any thing fit for &s;o learned and di&s;|cerning eares and Judgements; the two things that might &s;poile delivery when the child, &s;uch as it was, was come to the birth, were come upon mee, and tho&s;e were &s;trait|ne&s;&s;e of time, and perplexity of &s;pirit; for the &s;ear of &s;topping your other occa&s;ions did &s;o &s;till lie before me, and the feare of mine owne poore Family in the inundation of the Enemy in the A&s;&s;ociation at that very in&s;tant, did &s;o follow me, that in this &s;trait between the&s;e two, I &s;tood your Orator at that time.</P>
<P>Yet I &s;ee it is not in vaine, but a comfort and happine&s;&s;e to labour to &s;erve and obey you, &s;eeing your acceptance che|ri&s;heth and encourageth &s;uch poore endeavours.</P>
<P>The &s;ubject I fixed upon, I purpo&s;ely cho&s;e, that the Mille|nary
<PB REF="3">
Opinion, which I cannot but judge erroneous, might not goe on altogether uncontrolled, and one man take it at ano|ther for a truth without gain&s;aying; but that it might re|ceive &s;ome check by the way, and it might bee &s;hewed, that <HI>Po&s;&s;e vinci Hannibalem,</HI> that there is a faire po&s;sibility that that Opinion is but a fal&s;hood. Errors &s;ometimes, and uncertainties often, doe get the repute of undoubted truths by going too long uncontradicted. As I cannot but challenge that opinion which is &s;o current and common, and hath &s;o long run from hand to hand for an unque&s;tioned certainty, that now it is become unque&s;tionable, and that is, that the &s;upper mentioned in the <HI>13</HI> of <HI>Johns</HI> Go&s;pel was the Pa&s;&s;e|over &s;upper, and that <HI>Judas</HI> his going out after the &s;op, was his departure away before the Sacrament: wher as if it be not certaine, which to me it is, and I conceive may bee very well proved to others, that that &s;upper was not the Pa&s;&s;eover, but a common &s;upper; and that it was not at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> but at <HI>Bethany</HI> fifteen furlongs off, and that it was not on the Pa&s;&s;eover night, but two nights before: If this I &s;ay, be not ab&s;olutely certaine at the fir&s;t &s;ight, as to convince of its certainty, yet is it very well worth the weighing, and the contrary opinion not to bee &s;uffered to goe unexamined, wh<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ch among the mo&s;t men it doth.</P>
<P>Your Honourable Hou&s;e weighteth all things, the Lord hold out and reveale his will to you more and more, and crown all your Vndertakings and Con&s;ultations with all pro&s;perity and &s;ucce&s;&s;e.</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE><DATE>Septemb. <HI>12. 1645.</HI></DATE></DATELINE>
<SIGNED>Your &s;ervant in the Lord, Iohn Lightfoot.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="1" REF="3">
<HEAD>A SERMON PREACHED To the Honourable Hou&s;e of Com|mons, at their Monethly Fa&s;t, <HI>Augu&s;t</HI> 27. 1645.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>Rev. Chap. 20. Ver&s;. 1, 2.</BIBL>
<Q><L>And I &s;aw an Angel come downe from heaven having the key of the bottomle&s;&s;e pit, and a great chaine in his hand.</L>
<L>And bee laid hold on the Dragon that old Serpent, which is the Devill and Satan, and bound him for a thou&s;and years.</L></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_NOw I would this Angell would bow the heavens and come downe, and bring his chaine with him and bind the Devill now, for never was there more need, never was it more time: for if ever hee were loo&s;e hee is loo&s;e in the&s;e times, and if ever hee raged hee rageth in this nation: Alas for the in|habitants of <HI>England,</HI> for the Devill is come downe among them, having great wrath, and yet wee
<PB N="2" REF="4">
know not how long his time is; how lamentable and dole|full is it, that that prophecy &s;hould ever bee &s;o true of us (which is uttered again&s;t <HI>Babel)</HI> as it is proved to bee at this day, that <HI>Zijim</HI> and <HI>Ijim</HI> and <HI>Obim,</HI> &s;atyres and fiends and devils &s;hould daunce and domineere, and rage and ravin as they doe in this nation, and when and how they &s;hall bee re|&s;trained, wee cannot tell? Onely there is &s;ome comfort in the text, and this indeed is all the comfort wee have, that the Angell in the Text can ma&s;ter the devill if hee will but doe it, and hee hath a chaine in his hand that will bind him, if hee will but tie him in it.</P>
<P>The Text is held to bee the harde&s;t peece in all the Bible by many degrees: For as Prophetick writings are the difficulte&s;t peeces of all the Scripture, and the Revelation of all Prophe|tick writings, &s;o is this Chapter of all the Revelation, and the&s;e Ver&s;es of all this Chapter; and &s;o doth a learned coun|trey man of our owne cen&s;ure upon this place, that it is <HI>Res omnium totius Scripturae Propheticae ab&s;tru&s;i&s;&s;ima maximeque admi|randa:</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mr. <HI>Mede in loc.</HI></NOTE> <HI>A matter the mo&s;t ab&s;tru&s;e of any part of the Prophets writings, and the mo&s;t to be admired.</HI> I might &s;pend the time that is allot|ted mee to produce the opinions and the arguments to prove tho&s;e opinions that are given upon this place. But I &s;hall but tell you that &s;ome Popi&s;h writers apply this prophecy and vi|ctory of the Angel in the Text to the Pope, &s;ome to Pope <HI>Ca|lixtus</HI> the &s;econd, who bound the Dragon, &s;ay they, when by an <NOTE PLACE="marg">Vid. Marlorat. in loc.</NOTE> <HI>Anathema</HI> hee cau&s;ed <HI>Henry</HI> the fourth to renounce the cu&s;tome of in&s;talling Bi&s;hops and Abbots. Others to Pope <HI>Innocent</HI> the third, who bound the devill by approving the orders of the <HI>Dominicans</HI> and the <HI>Franci&s;cans.</HI> I need &s;ay no more, &s;uch ex|po&s;itions as the&s;e, it is more then enough to have but named them.</P>
<P>I &s;hall but tell you neither that &s;ome expo&s;itors of a better &s;choole, apply this victory of the Angel over the Dragon to <NOTE PLACE="marg">Brightman.</NOTE> <HI>Con&s;tantines</HI> conquering of <HI>Maxentius Herculeus</HI> and <HI>Lieinius</HI> tho&s;e per&s;ecuting Emperours, and that hee bound the devill when hee ended tyranny and per&s;ecution, which had conti|nued again&s;t the Church &s;o long: and &s;o they will have the thou&s;and yeares to begin from him.</P>
<P><PB N="3" REF="4">
But I mu&s;t doe more then barely tell you, that the glo&s;&s;e and expo&s;ition upon this prophecy which hath got the dee|pe&s;t root and the highe&s;t &s;eate in the hearts and e&s;timations of very many in the&s;e times, and carrieth the greate&s;t cry with it, is the opinion of the Chilia&s;ts of old, refined by the Mil|lenaries alate, which take this matter about the thou&s;and years, &s;trictly and exactly according to the very letter. An opi|nion &s;o &s;trange to mee that I mu&s;t confe&s;&s;e I could not but make it a &s;ad <HI>omen</HI> and pre&s;age a good while agoe what opinions we &s;hould fall into in time, when &s;uch an opinion as this could bee &s;o &s;wallowed downe and entertained as I &s;aw it was.</P>
<P>I &s;ay &s;uch an opinion as this.</P>
<P>That when <HI>Antichrist</HI> is de&s;troyed the Jewes &s;hall bee called, their calling &s;hall bee home to the land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> (for let mee take up all the &s;hreds of this opinion that I find &s;cattered in the writings of the abetters of it) that Chri&s;t &s;hall have a glorious reigne here upon earth, that him&s;elfe &s;hall per&s;onally and vi&s;ibly dwell here among his Saints: that this glorious time &s;hall la&s;t a thou&s;and yeares, that <HI>Satan</HI> all this while &s;hall bee bound, &s;o that there &s;hall not bee the lea&s;t di&s;turbance or trouble in the Church, but all pro&s;perity and Sun&s;hine. That the&s;e thou&s;and yeares are that that is called the day of judgement: that this day of judgement of a thou&s;and yeares long &s;hall begin with a bodily re&s;urrection of the martyrs one|ly, and &s;hall conclude with the re&s;urrection of all the dead: and the beginning of the&s;e thou&s;and yeares is conceived by &s;ome to bee but about one and twenty yeares off: Thus the expo&s;ition of this place according to that opinion.</P>
<P>I &s;hall not trouble nor tire your patience with the examina|tion of the truth of the&s;e particulars; I &s;hall onely lay before you &s;ix groundle&s;&s;e and mi&s;taken principles as I conceive, from whence I apprehend this expo&s;ition and opinion to have ri&s;en, and referre them to your owne cen&s;ure and judgement; three from this Chapter that is before us, and three from other places in the Scripture.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, the maintainers of this opinion, &s;eeme not to have ta|ken proper and &s;erious notice of one phra&s;e in this Chapter which the holy Gho&s;t hath twice mentioned, that it might bee
<PB N="4" REF="5">
be &s;ure to bee taken notice of, and that is, that Satan is bound for a thou&s;and yeares that hee &s;hould not deceive the nations: for &s;o it is expre&s;&s;ed in plaine tearmes in <HI>the third ver&s;e upon his binding,</HI> &amp; &s;o is it hinted and intimated in the eighth ver&s;e upon his loo&s;ing&punc; now this opinion of the Millenaries &s;peakes much of <HI>Satans</HI> binding, &s;o that there &s;hall be no per&s;ecution nor of|fen&s;ivene&s;&s;e in the glorious Church they dreame of, but all peace and happine&s;&s;e, and tranquillitie and glory, whereas this prophe&s;ie &s;peakes of no &s;uch matter. It &s;peakes not a word of <HI>Satans</HI> binding, that hee &s;hould <HI>not per&s;ecute the Church,</HI> but it &s;peakes of <HI>Satans</HI> binding, that hee &s;hould not <HI>deceive the nations.</HI> And how va&s;t a difference there is betwixt <HI>per&s;ecuting</HI> and <HI>deceiving,</HI> and betwixt the Church and the na|tions, may bee referred to any one to judge: And the mi&s;&s;ing to ob&s;erve pre&s;&s;ely, this phra&s;e and this difference, is to mi&s;&s;e of the very key that letteth in to the under&s;tanding of this pro|phecy.</P>
<P>Secondly, as this doubled phra&s;e is little ob&s;erved, &s;o ano|ther doubled one is much ob&s;erved, but as much mi&s;interpre|ted, and that is of the fir&s;t re&s;urrection of which there is men|tion in the fifth and the &s;ixth ver&s;es. For though they will not deny the Apocalyptick to &s;peake in borrowed phra&s;es, and figurative &s;peeches all along his booke hither, yet here they will have him to &s;peake nakedly and literally without any &s;uch borrowing, and to meane the very bodily ri&s;ing of the mar|tyrs from the dead: whereas in all this Chapter there is not one word of their <HI>bodies ari&s;ing,</HI> but of their <HI>&s;oules living,</HI> nor one word of their <HI>living on earth,</HI> but of their <HI>raigning with Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly, they conceive that the very method and place of this Chapter in which it lies, doth inferre their glo&s;&s;e and interpretation; for that mention being made of the ruine of <HI>Antichri&s;t</HI> in the next Chapters before, and of Chri&s;ts King|dome for the&s;e 1000. yeares, &s;o immediatly after, in this they thinke it mu&s;t not bee denyed, that the&s;e 1000. yeares mu&s;t not bee begun till Antichri&s;t bee ruined: whereas the method of the Evangeli&s;t if it bee pre&s;&s;ely followed will appeare of a cleane differing &s;cope.</P>
<P><PB N="5" REF="5">
For as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in the booke of <HI>Exodus,</HI> hath three times de|&s;cribed <NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod 25. &amp;c. and 36. &amp;c. and 40. Exod. 35.</NOTE> the fabrick and fa&s;hion of the Jewi&s;h Tabernacle, in the patterne, in the making, and in the &s;etting up: and hath made a fourth &s;ummary of all the materialls that went to the making of it, though they were named in the other: Even &s;o hath the Evangeli&s;h done by the de&s;cription of the Chri&s;tian Church in this booke: From the beginning of the fourth Chapter to the end of the eleventh hee hath de&s;cribed its &s;tate and per&s;ecution, but the per&s;ecutor not named: From the be|ginning of the twelfth Chapter to the end of the nineteenth, hee hath de&s;cribed its &s;tate and per&s;ecution, and pointed the per&s;ecutor out; in this Chapter hee &s;ummes up in briefe what hee had &s;poken in the two other parts at large, and in the two Chapters following hee &s;ets his Tabernacle up in her perfection, and de&s;cribes the Church in her holine&s;&s;e, and com|munion, and participation of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>It is not proper for this time and place, to in&s;i&s;t upon the proofe and confirmation of this to bee the Evangeliffs mea|ning and method, which might clearly bee done, I referre it to your owne thoughts and con&s;ideration. And as the parties that wee are dealing withall, doe thus mi&s;take and mi&s;con|&s;true upon this Chapter, &s;o doe they al&s;o upon other places of the Scripture.</P>
<P>For fourthly, they hold that <HI>Rome</HI> is the fourth bea&s;t, or monarchy or kingdome in <HI>Daniel:</HI> and becau&s;e that <HI>Daniel</HI> hath told in his &s;econd and &s;eventh Chapters, that after the de&s;truction of the fourth bea&s;t or kingdome, Chri&s;ts glorious kingdome &s;hall bee &s;et up, they therefore imagine that this kingdome of Chri&s;t is yet to come, and yet &s;hall not come, till Antichri&s;t &s;hall bee de&s;troyed, which they hold to bee a part of the fourth monarchy: whereas, to let pa&s;&s;e divers other rea&s;ons, which might &s;ufficiently prove the contrary, <HI>Daniel</HI> him&s;elfe in his &s;eventh Chapter at the eleventh and twelfth Ver&s;es, does &s;how mo&s;t plainely, that it is impo&s;&s;ible that the fourth bea&s;t &s;hould meane the <HI>Romans:</HI> for hee there telleth ex|pre&s;&s;ely, that even when the fourth bea&s;t was &s;laine and his bo|dy de&s;troyed and given to the burning flame, the re&s;t of the bea&s;ts had indeed their dominion taken away, but yet their
<PB N="6" REF="6">
lives were prolonged: Now what &s;igne of life &s;hall bee to bee found of the other three Monarchies, when Antichri&s;t &s;hall bee de&s;troyed, it is utterly unimaginable to apprehend.</P>
<P>Fiftly, and which is much agreeable to the former, they conceive that <HI>Daniel</HI> prophecieth of Antichri&s;t: of whom hee &s;peaketh not one word, nor treateth of any particular times or &s;tories of the Go&s;pel, but onely holdeth out that ge|rall prophecy which all the Prophets did, with one con&s;ent of the calling of the Gentiles, and of Chri&s;ts glorious kingdome among them in the Go&s;pell. For it is a groundworke nece&s;&s;a|ry to bee laid by him that will make any thing of the booke of <HI>Daniel</HI> and of the <HI>Revelation;</HI> That where <HI>Daniel</HI> endeth <HI>John</HI> beginneth and goeth no further back, and where <HI>John</HI> beginneth <HI>Daniel</HI> endeth and goeth no further forward. For <HI>Daniel</HI> &s;heweth the &s;tate and the per&s;ecutors of the Church of the Jewes, from the building of <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> by <HI>Cyrus</HI> to the de|&s;truction of it by <HI>Titus,</HI> and hee goes no further. And there where the beloved Prophet concludeth the beloved Di&s;ciple be|ginneth and taketh at him in this booke, and &s;heweth the &s;tate <NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 10. 11. Iohn 21. 20.</NOTE> and the per&s;ecutors of the Chri&s;tian Church, from the de|&s;truction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> to the end of the world, and revealeth a new <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> comming downe from heaven when the old one on earth is de&s;troyed, and one per&s;ecuting monarchy and &s;tate of <HI>Rome</HI> equalling in mi&s;chiefe and cruelty again&s;t the Church all the foure that had gone before it.</P>
<P>Sixtly and la&s;tly, they hold that Antichri&s;t &s;hall bee de|&s;troyed, before the Jewes &s;hall bee called: which is not onely not to be proved by any Scripture throughout all the Bi|ble, but ea&s;ily to bee di&s;proved both by Scripture and rea&s;on, and it were no hard taske to &s;hew, if it were &s;ea&s;onable, that the eleventh Chapter of this book, by the killing of the two witne&s;&s;es intendeth per&s;ecution again&s;t the two Churches Jewes and Gentiles, when they &s;hall bee knit together at the Jews calling.</P>
<P>Upon the&s;e &s;ix foundations is that opinion built which in it &s;elfe is &s;o exceeding &s;trange, and yet (which is as &s;trange) is &s;o exceedingly entertained; I leave the ballances in your hands to weigh the weight or the lightne&s;&s;e of them: and now crave a
<PB N="7" REF="6">
little leave, to pre&s;ent you with &s;ix other particulars on the other hand for the clearing and explaining of the Text be|fore us.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t therefore, by Satans deceiving of the nations (from which hee is bound up in the Text that hee &s;hall doe &s;o no more) is to be under&s;tood that blindnes and ignorance in which he kept the heathen for &s;o many hundreds of yeares, before the appearing of the Go&s;pel, deceiving them with &s;trong delu&s;ions to beleeve lies, e&s;pecially with his two great cheats and cou|&s;enages that mi&s;led all the world, Idols and Oracles: And that this is the meaning of that phra&s;e <HI>deceiving the nations</HI> may bee concluded upon, not onely by the terme <HI>nations,</HI> nor one|ly by the truth of the thing it &s;elfe, for that was the great de|ceiving of the world, nor onely by the phra&s;es of the Scrip|ture that expre&s;&s;e the errors and delu&s;ion of the heathen, but even by the very tenor and &s;cope of this Chapter it &s;elfe, for it &s;etteth downe the two great cou&s;enings and deceivings of the world by the Devill, the one under <HI>heatheni&s;me</HI> before Chri&s;t bound him, and the other by <HI>Antichri&s;tiani&s;me</HI> when hee was let loo&s;e againe.</P>
<P>Secondly, by the Angels binding the Devill in the Text, is to bee under&s;tood Chri&s;ts overthrowing the power of the De|vill among the Heathen, (for I &s;uppo&s;e it needle&s;&s;e to prove that the Angell is Chri&s;t) his ca&s;ting down tho&s;e &s;trong holds of <HI>Satan,</HI> Ignorance, Idolatry and lying Oracles, by the light and power of the Go&s;pel preached among the Gentiles, his bringing them home to the knowledge of the truth, and his curbing of <HI>Satan,</HI> that he &s;hould no more cou&s;en the world with tho&s;e delu&s;ions and heatheni&s;me as hee had done.</P>
<P>Thirdly, this change of the Heathens condition, from the darknes of Ignorance to the knowledg of the truth, from wor|&s;hipping of Idols to the wor&s;hipping of the living God, from &s;eeking after lying Oracles to the &s;tudying of the holy Scrip|tures, from the power of <HI>Satan</HI> to the glorious kingdome of the Lords deare Sonne, this change I &s;ay out of that condi|tion &s;o &s;ad, and that condition in which they had laine above 2000. yeares, was as their changing from death to life, and as it were a re&s;urrection from the dead. And &s;o is it called in
<PB N="8" REF="7">
the &s;ix and twentieth of <HI>E&s;ay</HI> and the nineteenth Ver&s;e, and mo&s;t expre&s;&s;ely by our Saviour in <HI>Iohn</HI> 5. 24, 25. And this is that <HI>fir&s;t re&s;urrection</HI> that is &s;poken of in this prophecie in the fifth and &s;ixth Ver&s;es: and when the Jewes &s;hall bee called, which now lie in a condition much like to the old Heathens, that &s;hall bee as another re&s;urrection, for &s;o it is al&s;o called, <HI>Rom.</HI> 11. 15.</P>
<P>Fourthly, if I &s;hould make a chronologie of the&s;e 1000. yeares, I &s;hould date the re&s;urrection of the Gentiles and their calling in and Chri&s;ts &s;etting up his kingdome among them from the de&s;truction of <HI>Ieru&s;alem,</HI> from which time <HI>Iohn</HI> al&s;o dateth his revelation. For although the Go&s;pel were preach|ed to the Heathen abundantly before <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> were de&s;troy|ed, and almo&s;t all the world was brought in, to the knowledge of the Go&s;pel, and obedience of the faith before that time, yet is the date of the&s;e things more e&s;pecially from that, becau&s;e that then Judai&s;me was wholly cea&s;ed, and Chri&s;tianity onely &s;et up, the old people of the Lord cut off, and the Gentiles cho&s;en and taken into their &s;tead. And hence it is that &s;o great things are &s;poken of the day of <HI>Ieru&s;alems</HI> de&s;truction in the Scripture: as that it is called the great, and terrible, and nota|ble day of the Lord, <HI>Ioel</HI> 2. 31. <HI>Acts</HI> 2. 20. as if it were the day of judgment and the di&s;&s;olution of the old world: and our Saviour di&s;cour&s;eth it and the end of the world &s;o mixtly together that you cannot know them a&s;under they are &s;o like, <HI>Matth.</HI> 24.</P>
<P>And to this purpo&s;e is the Ma&s;oretick note upon the fir&s;t of <HI>Gene&s;is</HI> and the &s;econd of good u&s;e, which telleth us that the phra&s;e <HI>Haarets tohu Vabohu, The earth was without forme and voyd,</HI> is never u&s;ed againe in Scripture but once, and that is in <HI>Ier.</HI> 4. 23. where the Prophet is &s;peaking of <HI>Ieru&s;alems</HI> de&s;tru|ction, as if then the world were ended and returned to its <HI>Chaos</HI> againe. For here it was that the old world of <HI>Mo&s;aick</HI> rites, the old heavens and the old earth of the Jewi&s;h Church and State ended and came to ruine, and hence it was that the <HI>new heavens and the new earth,</HI> the new world, the new <HI>Ieru&s;a|lem,</HI> the new &s;tate of the world, and the new Church of the Go&s;pel began, and then it is no wonder if this bee called <HI>the</HI>
<PB N="9" REF="7">
<HI>fir&s;t re&s;urrection:</HI> Here properly began that which in Scripture is &s;o renowned and called <HI>the kingdom of heaven:</HI> that is, Chri&s;ts kingdome in the Go&s;pel &s;et up among the Gentiles when the earthly kingdome of Rites and Ceremonies among the Jewes, the kingdome of hell in ignorance and Idolatry among the Gentiles was now fini&s;hed, and the kingdome everla&s;ting of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e and holine&s;&s;e &s;et up. And at this time it is that the thrones are &s;aid to bee &s;et up in <HI>Dan.</HI> 7. and in the fourth Ver&s;e of this Chapter, and as our Saviour expre&s;&s;eth it, the Apo&s;tles &s;itting on twelve thrones judging the 12. Tribes of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> that is, the Apo&s;tolique doctrine judging and con|demning that unbeleeving nation, and &s;hewing their rejection to bee mo&s;t ju&s;t becau&s;e of their unbeleefe: This period of time thus ob&s;erved and taken notice of would helpe to facilitate and cleare many things in Scripture, which for want of ob|&s;erving this, do fall under mi&s;pri&s;on and mi&s;interpretation, as in&s;tance in that in <HI>Act.</HI> 2. 17. <HI>It &s;hall come to po&s;&s;e in the la&s;t dayes, &amp;c.</HI> Conceits are taken up by divers in our times upon this place, as if vi&s;ions and prophetick gifts, and I know not what &s;hould bee powred upon men toward the end of the world, mi&s;con|&s;truing the phra&s;e of <HI>the la&s;t dayes</HI> to meane the later end of the world, whereas it meaneth the la&s;t dayes of the Jewes world or &s;tate, and mi&s;conceiving the terme, <HI>the great and terrible day of the Lord,</HI> to meane the day of judgement, whereas it meaneth nothing el&s;e but the day of <HI>Jeru&s;alems</HI> de&s;truction. Were I then to Chronicle the&s;e 1000. yeares in the Text, I &s;hould be|gin them from this date: but I &s;hall not bee punctuall to de|termine that at this time: Begin them whether you will, either there, when the Gentiles onely began to bee the Church, or be|gin them when fir&s;t the Go&s;pel came among the Gentiles, ei|ther by <HI>Peter</HI> to <HI>Cornelius</HI> or by <HI>Paul</HI> to the we&s;terne parts of the world, (for the publi&s;hing of the Go&s;pel to the heathen was the binding the devill that hee <HI>&s;hould no more deceive the na|tions)</HI> begin at whether date you will, it is ea&s;ie to ca&s;t where the 1000. yeares end, according to your choice of their be|ginning.</P>
<P>Fiftly, from either beginning, the end of them will fall in the very pitch of the Kingdome of Antichri&s;t as I may &s;o call
<PB N="10" REF="8">
it, when now the world began to be in deepe&s;t darkenes again, &amp; to become heatheni&s;h anew, and then is <HI>Satan</HI> in ju&s;tice loo&s;ed againe, and deceiveth the nations a fre&s;h by <HI>Antichrist,</HI> and for a &s;ea&s;on the world becomes no better then the old heathens for Ignorance and Idolatry.</P>
<P>Sixtly, in this thou&s;and yeares &s;pace, per&s;ecution haunted the Church in a mo&s;t mi&s;erable extremity: partly by the Hea|then Emperours, partly by Antichri&s;t when hee appeared, and many thou&s;ands were put to death for the witne&s;&s;e of <HI>Je|&s;us and for the word of God, and which neither wor&s;hipped the bea&s;t</HI> of the Empire <HI>nor his Image</HI> Antichri&s;t when hee was ri&s;en up, and the&s;e though they were mi&s;erably tortured and &s;laughte|red in regard of the body, yet their &s;oules reigned with Chri&s;t and were in happine&s;&s;e. And the Evangeli&s;t in the fourth Ver&s;e, &s;peaketh but in the tenor that <HI>Daniel</HI> doth in his twelfth Chapter and &s;econd Ver&s;e: where treating of the mi&s;erable afflictions to bee cau&s;ed by <HI>Antiochus,</HI> hee comfor|teth tho&s;e that &s;hould fall under them with a&s;&s;urance of the re|&s;urrection and eternall felicitie: So the Apocalyptique here, be|ing to di&s;cour&s;e of the per&s;ecution that &s;hould befall by <HI>Rome,</HI> fir&s;t heatheni&s;h, and then Papall, hee &s;olaceth and incourageth all cho&s;e that &s;hould &s;uffer it, with this a&s;&s;urance, that though their bodies &s;hould be de&s;troyed, yet their &s;oules &s;hould reigne with Chri&s;t: and as for the others that wor&s;hipped the Bea&s;t and his Image, they never obtained the fir&s;t re&s;urrection of re|covering out of their heatheni&s;h and blind e&s;tate into the im|bracing of the light, but they continued dead in ignorance and error till even after the&s;e thou&s;and yeares, and then the world &s;lipped into the darkne&s;&s;e and delu&s;ions of Antichri&s;t as into heatheni&s;me again. And &s;o I have given you the &s;en&s;e of this place, and as I conceive the very &s;en&s;e of the holy Gho&s;t: If I have been a little overlong in it, it is but according as the difficulty of the thing it &s;elfe requires, and I hope you will pardon mee.</P>
<P>Before I come to take up the words, I cannot but ob&s;erve this to you, from what hath been &s;poken la&s;t, namely that <HI>Errour and deceivedne&s;&s;e in the things of God is a verier devill and</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Doct.</NOTE> <HI>more dangerous then open per&s;ecution.</HI> For the Text accounts the
<PB N="11" REF="8">
Devill bound, when hee is tied up from <HI>deceiving,</HI> though hee bee at liberty for per&s;ecuting, I do but name this here, I &s;hall have occa&s;ion to make u&s;e of it hereafter.</P>
<P>And now in the Text you may ob&s;erve two things; fir&s;t, a de&s;cription of Chri&s;t and a de&s;cription of the Devill; and &s;e|condly, a ma&s;tery of Chri&s;t over the Devill.</P>
<P>The de&s;cription of Chri&s;t in the fir&s;t Ver&s;e, a de&s;cription of the Devill in the &s;econd, and the ma&s;tery of Chri&s;t over the Devill in the conjunction of both.</P>
<P>I might ob&s;erve many things out of the words in either ver&s;e, but I &s;hall onely take up that which both the Ver&s;es conjoyned doe mainely and clearely hold out unto us, and that is:</P>
<Q>That, <HI>bee the Devill never &s;o devilli&s;h, Chri&s;t hath power to over|power him.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Doct.</NOTE></Q>
<P>It is worth your ob&s;ervation, that the Text &s;eemeth to bee at &s;trife with it &s;elfe, whether to &s;et out the Devill in his de|vili&s;hne&s;&s;e, or Chri&s;ts power over him, in the higher expre&s;&s;i|ons; for as on the one hand it hath &s;et out the Devill in five of his attributes, if I may &s;o call them, as that hee is <HI>a Dra|gon, a Serpent, an old Serpent, the Devill, Satan;</HI> &s;o in as ma|ny termes on the other hand hath it &s;et out Chri&s;ts power and victory over him, namely that he <HI>layes hold on him, binds him, ca&s;ts him into the bottomle&s;&s;e pit, &s;huts him up, &s;eales him up</HI> for a thou&s;and yeares, as if it purpo&s;ely intended to proclaime this to us, which I cannot but repeate againe, <HI>That bee the Devill never &s;o devili&s;h, Chri&s;t hath power to overpower him.</HI></P>
<P>The truth of this doctrine was the very fir&s;t thing that was held out in the world, after &s;inne came into it: and as &s;oone as the Devill had &s;hewed his devili&s;hne&s;&s;e in the overthrow of <HI>Adam,</HI> the Lord proclaimes the power of Chri&s;t to conquer the devill, and that before ever any cen&s;ure or &s;entence bee pa&s;&s;ed upon <HI>Adam, Gen.</HI> 3. 15.</P>
<P>And this truth &s;hall bee one of the la&s;t things that &s;hall bee held out in the world, when the devill &s;hall receive the re|ward of all his devili&s;hne&s;&s;e; when hee, his Angels, and his in&s;truments &s;hall receive this &s;entence from him, <HI>Goe yet cur|&s;ed, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="12" REF="9">
And as for the &s;pace betwixt the&s;e two periods, or from the beginning of the world to the end of it, the Scripture is &s;o full of te&s;timonies, and the world &s;o full of experiences of Chri&s;ts power and ma&s;tery over the Devill, that it is needle&s;&s;e to prove it, the Devill him&s;elfe dare not deny it, <HI>Matth.</HI> 8. 29.</P>
<P>I &s;hall confine my di&s;cour&s;e upon this &s;ubject unto the&s;e particulars.</P>
<P>Namely, to &s;hew you how the power of Chri&s;t meets with the Devill to ma&s;ter him; fir&s;t, in the utmo&s;t evilne&s;&s;e of his nature, as hee is <HI>a Serpent:</HI> Secondly, in the utmo&s;t vigour of his power, as hee is <HI>a Dragon,</HI> the greate&s;t of Serpents; third|ly, in the utmo&s;t practi&s;e of his &s;ubtiltie, for hee is an <HI>old Ser|pent;</HI> and fourthly, in the utmo&s;t exerci&s;e of his malice, for he is <HI>a Devill;</HI> and la&s;tly, in the utmo&s;t violence of his cruelty, for hee is <HI>Satan;</HI> the utmo&s;t of any of the&s;e, the utmo&s;t of all the&s;e either in him&s;elfe, or in his in&s;truments or members, all the Devills in hell, all the wicked on earth, Chri&s;t is too big for them, hee can, hee doth ma&s;ter, quell and conquer them at his plea&s;ure.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t thing to bee con&s;idered in the Devill to our purpo&s;e in hand is the evilne&s;&s;e of his nature, and that the Text inti|mates unto us, when it calls him <HI>a Serpent,</HI> a bea&s;t that car|ries poy&s;on within him, death comes from him, and a cur&s;e is upon him: Wee may &s;ay of his nature as hee is a Devill, as the Scripture &s;peaketh of the frame of mans heart, as it was unframed by the Devill, <HI>hee is wholly evill, onely evill and evill continually.</HI></P>
<P>There is a que&s;tion among Divines whether there be a <HI>&s;um|mum</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aquin.</HI> part 1. quae&s;t. 49. Art. 3.</NOTE> <HI>malune</HI> as there is a <HI>&s;ummum bonum,</HI> a chiefe&s;t evill, in that &s;en&s;e that there is a chiefe&s;t good: They hold it negative|ly, and there is good rea&s;on for it, but certainly if any thing come neare to the pitch of &s;uch a thing as a <HI>&s;ummum malum,</HI> it is that evill one wee have in hand.</P>
<P>For fir&s;t, looke upon him in his being evill, hee is ab&s;o|lutely &s;o, hee is intentionally &s;o, hee is irrecoverably &s;o, hee is maliciou&s;ly &s;o.</P>
<P>Secondly, looke upon him in cau&s;ing evill, and hee was the father of &s;inne, the fir&s;t cau&s;e of Gods di&s;honour, the volun|tary
<PB N="13" REF="9">
cau&s;e of his own ruine, the malicious cau&s;e of the ruine of mankind.</P>
<P>And thirdly, looke upon him in his acting of evill, and hee did it at fir&s;t without a tempter, hee doth it &s;ince as a temp|ter, hee committed it then at the height of &s;inne, hee doth it now as a depth of &s;inne and puni&s;hment.</P>
<P>I might inlarge my &s;elfe in all the&s;e particulars, but I &s;hall onely recommend to you the con&s;ideration of the&s;e two things, <HI>the perver&s;ne&s;&s;e of his will</HI> incorrigible; and the <HI>de&s;pe|ratene&s;&s;e of his condition,</HI> irrecoverable: And thus is hee mo&s;t truely and primarily that which <HI>Jude</HI> &s;peaketh of &s;ome of his children and members, <HI>twice dead,</HI> to bee pluckt up by the <NOTE PLACE="marg">Iude ver&s;. 12.</NOTE> rootes. Mankind, though it fell into the hands this theefe, and were &s;tript, and beaten, and wounded and undone by him, yet left hee him but halfe dead: not in the &s;en&s;e that &s;ome would make of it, as if &s;ome power and moving to grace <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk, 10. 30.</NOTE> were in his nature when hee was falne, but in a &s;en&s;e contra|ry to the de&s;perate e&s;tate of the devill, that mans will was cura|ble, and his fall recoverable.</P>
<P>So was not the devils, either the one or the other.</P>
<P>The devill is in this in a direct diameter or contrarietie to the good Angels that &s;tood, that as they cannot &s;inne, &s;o can hee doe nothing el&s;e: and as they can will nothing but good, &s;o can hee will nothing but evill; and as they &s;hall ne|ver fall, &s;o hee &s;hall never recover.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, the incorrigible perver&s;ne&s;&s;e of his will is intimated in the&s;e expre&s;&s;ions of Scripture: <HI>There is no truth in him, and when bee &s;peakes a lie hee &s;peakes of his owne, John</HI> 8. 44. <HI>And the devill &s;inneth from the beginning,</HI> 1 John 3. 8. And <HI>your adver&s;ary the devill walketh about &s;eeking whom hee may devoure,</HI> 1 Pet. 5. 8. And others of the like tenor concluding to us that the devill is in a continuall motion and practi&s;e of &s;inning, and can doe nothing el&s;e becau&s;e there is no truth or goodne&s;&s;e in him, but hee is &s;pirituall wickedne&s;&s;e it&s;elfe, as hee is called, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 6 12.</P>
<P>Now this obduration of the devils will in evill, proceedeth not onely from the ju&s;tice of God, re&s;erving him in &s;uch chaines of darkne&s;&s;e to the judgement of the great day,
<PB N="14" REF="10">
but from two cur&s;ed principles within him&s;elfe.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, whereas the evils that men fix their affections upon, are cho&s;en by them as appearing to them to have good in them, as plea&s;ures, profits and the like, and &s;o poore men are deluded by &s;hadows: the devill in his fall cho&s;e evill even under the notion of evill, hee being of a knowledge that could not bee deluded, and being in a &s;tate that could not be bettered.</P>
<P>And &s;econdly, becau&s;e hee doth adhere unto the choyce of that evill that hee fir&s;t made, and that not onely in regard of the fixedne&s;&s;e of an Angels choyce, which as the Schooles tell us, cannot change his choyce which hee hath once made, <HI>quia apprehendit immobiliter per intellectum,</HI> but al&s;o in regard <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aquin.</HI> part 1. qu. 64. art. 2.</NOTE> of that malitiou&s;ne&s;&s;e that poy&s;oned his fir&s;t choyce, and hath venomed his whole will, and cannot bee wrought out of.</P>
<P>And thus is the Devil incorrigible in regard of his cur&s;ed will, and then it is no wonder if hee bee irrecoverable in regard of his cur&s;ed e&s;tate: for if any wicked one de&s;erves that &s;ad doome of <HI>Hee that will be filthy let him bee filthy,</HI> this wicked one de&s;erves it, and it is laid upon him. It was once indeed the conceit of &s;ome that the Devils &s;hould in time repent and bee &s;aved, but the Devils them&s;elves are of another opinion, as it may bee &s;eene, <HI>Matth.</HI> 8. 29. for God and their owne con|&s;cience hath told them &s;o, <HI>James</HI> 2. 19. and the Scripture tel|leth us &s;o, <HI>Jude</HI> Ver&s;. 6.</P>
<P>Now two rea&s;ons may be given of this be&s;ides the&s;e two men|tioned before, Gods ju&s;tice, and their owne obduration, and the&s;e are, fir&s;t, in regard of the heinou&s;ne&s;&s;e of their &s;inne, for it was again&s;t the Holy Gho&s;t; and &s;econdly, in regard of the height of their happine&s;&s;e, for they were <HI>in termino viae,</HI> at their journeys end.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, not to trouble you with any large di&s;cour&s;e what the &s;inne again&s;t the Holy Gho&s;t is, if ever it were committed, no doubt it was committed in the fir&s;t &s;inne of the Devill.</P>
<P>Secondly, when <HI>Adam</HI> &s;inned hee was but &s;etting forth on his journey towards heaven, and that eternitie that God had appointed him unto: for his happine&s;&s;e in paradi&s;e was not the utmo&s;t happine&s;&s;e that hee mu&s;t looke after, but an happi|ne&s;&s;e
<PB N="15" REF="10">
in heaven whereof that in Paradi&s;e was but a type and pledge, and &s;o poore man hee &s;tumbled and fell at the very thre&s;hold as hee was &s;etting out on his journey, and God out of pitty &s;et him on his feet againe, or el&s;e mankind had never ta&s;ted of that infinite good for which God created it.</P>
<P>But the devill, as &s;oone as ever hee was created, being created an Angel of light, hee was already in the utmo&s;t happine&s;&s;e hee mu&s;t ever attaine unto, hee was in heaven, he was in eter|nitie, already hee was with God, and what would hee, what could hee have more? And therefore for him <HI>in portu impin|gere,</HI> to &s;hipwrack him&s;elfe when hee was got into the Haven, for him to de&s;pi&s;e God, heaven and eternitie when hee now in|joyed it, it hath made him utterly de&s;perate in regard of his condition, and never to be repaired or recovered.</P>
<P>And thus have you &s;eene &s;omething of the Devils nature and con&s;titution: And I have beene the briefer in the treaty of it, becau&s;e I would not keepe your patience too long upon &s;uch a di&s;cour&s;e, and yet have I taken up &s;uch a di&s;cour&s;e becau&s;e I know it would bee exceeding profitable if it could but bring us to &s;ee the devill in his owne colors indeed. For if to behold God in his e&s;&s;ence doth fill the will &s;o full of divine content|ment, as that (as the Schooles &s;peak) it can never turne again from God to delight in &s;inne; then certainly on the contrary, to behold the devil in his colours and complexion, would &s;o fill the will with the abhorring and dete&s;tation of him, that it would not readily turne againe to the devill to for&s;ake God: And therefore if I were to make a threefold wi&s;h as <HI>Au|&s;ten</HI> once did, I cannot tell what to wi&s;h for to more profit and advantage then to know God as hee is, the devill as hee is, and our &s;elves what wee are.</P>
<P>But to pur&s;ue what wee are about.</P>
<P>As you have &s;eene the evilne&s;&s;e of the Devils nature e&s;pe|cially in the&s;e two particulars, in the incorrigible froward|ne&s;&s;e of his will and the irrecoverable cur&s;edne&s;&s;e of his con|dition: So now looke how the power of Chri&s;t meets with him and over powers him for all this his crooked and cur&s;ed di&s;po&s;ition. And this is con&s;iderable al&s;o in two parti|culars.</P>
<P><PB N="16" REF="11">
Fir&s;t, in that though the will of the devill bee thus de&s;pe|rately and precipitately bent upon evill, yet Chri&s;t doth &s;o overpower him as that hee produceth good out of the devils actions to his owne people. <HI>Can any good thing come out of Naza|reth,</HI> much more can any good thing from the devill? can any bring a cleane thing out of an uncleane? not one, but one; Hee that brought light out of darkne&s;&s;e at the begin|ning, fire out of water at the &s;acrifice of <HI>Elias,</HI> &s;ight out of blind eyes &s;topt up with clay, the &s;ame can bring good out of e|vill, good to his people even out of the wickedne&s;&s;e of the devill, by that mighty working whereby hee is able to &s;ubdue all things, even the devill to him&s;elfe.</P>
<P>I might bee copious in &s;hewing what good the Lord pro|duceth out of the devils temptations practi&s;ed by him&s;elfe, what good out of the devils per&s;ecutions practi&s;ed by his in|&s;truments: even honey for <HI>Sam&s;on</HI> out of the very carca&s;&s;e of the devouring Lion, and meat for <HI>Elias</HI> out of the mouth of the carion Raven. I might &s;hew you, how <HI>Adam</HI> had a better condition, <HI>Job</HI> a better e&s;tate, <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> the high Prie&s;t better cloaths gotten, out even of the a&s;&s;aults of the devill; I might &s;hew you what carefulne&s;&s;e is wrought in the people of God, what clearing of them&s;elves, yea what indignation, yea what feare, yea what vehement de&s;ire, yea what zeale, yea what ho|ly <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 7. 11.</NOTE> revenge, as the Apo&s;tle &s;peakes in another ca&s;e, and all this even from the very devils temptations.</P>
<P>I might &s;hew you how the Church hath beene increa&s;ed, the Go&s;pel propagated, God glorified, Athei&s;ts converted, and the enemies confounded, even by the devils per&s;ecution: But I need not to goe farre for examples and experiences in this kind: looke at home, in the&s;e times and di&s;tractions where the devill is &s;o bu&s;ie, and as we may &s;adly &s;ee him raging, and let loo&s;e in the&s;e dolefull warres, &s;o may wee as vi&s;ibly &s;ee Chri&s;t doing good to this poore kingdome out of this his evill. For,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, how many rotten hearts, and how many rotten mem|bers hath the devill, or God rather out of the devils activitie di&s;covered in this nation in the&s;e troubles, which like a moth and corruption were devouring a poore kingdome, and &s;hee
<PB N="17" REF="11">
knew not who hurt her: What Junctoes of hell have beene found out, what plots di&s;covered, what Cabinets of letters detected, what actions de&s;cribed, what hearts anatomized? Popery, Prerogative, Prote&s;tations, Plotters, Prelates, all come to light and found de&s;perate and devili&s;h, and all this done by the great bu&s;ine&s;&s;e of the devill, God overpowering him, and making him to prove a tel-tale of his own coun&s;els, and as it were a fal&s;e brother to his owne hell and fraternity.</P>
<P>Secondly, how have the&s;e troubles beaten men and the kingdome out of their fooleries and &s;uper&s;titions, their trum|peries and ceremonies, cu&s;tomes and traditions? which how hard it would have been to have got off from them, if they had not beene thus brayed in this morter, the great tenaciou&s;ne&s;&s;e of them with divers even in this morter is evidence &s;ufficient: This dro&s;&s;e would never have beene got away if it had not pa&s;|&s;ed &s;uch a furnace: and our <HI>I&s;rael</HI> would never have &s;haken hands with Egyptian Idolatry, if it had not beene beaten out of it by Egyptian affliction. So that let me take up the man|ner of &s;peech of our Saviour with &s;ome inver&s;ion; Oh <HI>England, England,</HI> Satan hath de&s;ired to winnow thee as wheate, and hee hath winnowed away a world of his owne chaffe.</P>
<P>Thirdly, how many prophane and ungodly wretches hath this warre cut off, Papi&s;ts, Athei&s;ts, Epicures, Devills incar|nate, that would not onely have layen in the way, as &s;o much rubbi&s;h to hinder the worke of the Temple, but that would have proved <HI>Sanballats, Tobiahs, Ge&s;hems,</HI> and &s;uch Samaritans, utterly to oppo&s;e it with all their might? It is a &s;ad thing to &s;ee &s;o many of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> peri&s;h in the matter of <HI>Baal Peor;</HI> yet there is this comfort in it, that the entring into the land of promi&s;e will bee the &s;peedier when the&s;e untowardly and ungratious ones are taken a way.</P>
<P>Fourthly, how many prayers and petitions at the throne of grace hath hee pre&s;&s;ed out in the&s;e extremities? the foole ma|king a whip for his owne back, for &s;o prayer is &s;tiled, <HI>flagellum Diabolo,</HI> and helping forward his owne de&s;truction.</P>
<P>And thus all things, even the very evilne&s;&s;e of the Devill him|&s;elfe, worke for the good of Gods people, and hee that
<PB N="18" REF="12">
would have run <HI>Phereus</HI> thorough; cures his impo&s;tume and kils him not, and all through the overpowering power of Chri&s;t, who is able to &s;ubdue all things unto him&s;elfe, and doth di&s;po&s;e all things for the good of his.</P>
<P>Secondly, Chri&s;ts mighty power meets with this evilne&s;&s;e of the Devils nature and overpowers it, when hee delivers men out of the very &s;ame evilne&s;&s;e of nature, and works it out of them, by the work of grace and renewing, and brings them to become new creatures: Wee have heard a &s;ad &s;tory of the dole|full nature and con&s;titution of the Devill, wee may &s;ay each one to him&s;elfe as <HI>Nathan</HI> once to <HI>David, by thy naturall con|dition thou art the &s;ame:</HI> As one Blackmore may &s;ee his com|plexion in another Blackmores face, &s;o may wee our owne nature in the devils; he is our father by nature, &amp; we as like him as we may looke; and the two <HI>So&s;iaes</HI> in the Comedie were not liker one to another, then we to him in our originall temper: God at the fir&s;t made us like him&s;elf, but our degeneration hath made us &s;o like to Satan, that all the evilne&s;&s;e, perver&s;ne&s;&s;e, cur|&s;edne&s;&s;e that wee heare or read of of the Devill, is all our own, and who &s;hall deliver us from this body of death? I thanke God through Je&s;us Chri&s;t our Lord: Hee hath a power that can pull and redeeme us out of this e&s;tate; and &s;urely this power is not &s;mall. And therefore the Apo&s;tle &s;peaking of this worke wrought upon a poore &s;oule, hee cals it <HI>the exceeding greatne&s;&s;e of his power to them that beleeve, Ephe&s;.</HI> 1. 19.</P>
<P N="1">1. This is the next worke of wonder and power to the worke of the Incarnation, for as in that God became man, &s;o in this man becomes like God. 2. It is a worke beyond that of the creation, for in that there was no re&s;i&s;tance in the &s;ub|ject wrought upon, in this there is. 3. It is a change beyond all changes, for a Devill to become a Saint, a child of Satan to become the child of God, and a man from the very nature of the Devill, to become partaker of the Divine nature: And 4. it is a greater worke then ca&s;ting out &s;even Devils or a Le|gion of Devils, for it ca&s;teth out even all the Devils of hell out of a man, for the nature of them all is in him: And then how great is this power of Chri&s;t that can thus change our devilli&s;h nature to become like his glorious nature through his mighty working?</P>
<P><PB N="19" REF="12">
A &s;econd thing con&s;iderable in the Devil, and to which Chri&s;ts power is more diametrically oppo&s;ite in overpowering him, is his power, even that great and wondrous power of the Devil, for &s;o I may call it, that no bodily creature is able of it &s;elfe to re&s;i&s;t, and no man almo&s;t able to expre&s;&s;e or apprehend: Hee carrieth power in his name, he carryeth power in his nature, hee carrieth power in his number, and hee &s;heweth power in works.</P>
<P N="1">1. Hee carrieth power in his name, for hee is called a <HI>Dra|gon</HI> here; <HI>A &s;trong man armed, Matth.</HI> 12. 29. <HI>The Prince of the power of the aire, Ephe&s;.</HI> 2. 2. <HI>The God of this world,</HI> 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 4. 4. <HI>Principalities and powers, Ephe&s;.</HI> 6. 12.</P>
<P N="2">2. He carrieth power in his nature, as being an Angel, and &s;o hee is called even in his devilli&s;h e&s;tate, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6. 3. <HI>Know yee not that wee &s;hall judge the Angels,</HI> that is, the Devils? and &s;o &s;hould I under&s;tand that in 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 11. 10. <HI>A woman ought to have power on her head becau&s;e of the Angels,</HI> that is, a woman ought to have a covering on her head in the publique mee|tings, le&s;t the devils &s;hould tempt men with the expo&s;all of her beauty: Now Angels excell in &s;trength, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 103. 20. as being &s;pirits, which are of an activitie incomparably beyond bodily creatures. Nor hath the devill lo&s;t his power by his fall, &s;ince that was not &s;o much any part of his holine&s;&s;e and happine&s;&s;e as it was an e&s;&s;entiall facultie of his nature.</P>
<P N="3">3. Hee carrieth power in his number; there being a num|berle&s;&s;e multitude of devils that fell together. Some Divines of old have held that they are equall in number to all the peo|ple of God that &s;hall be &s;aved from the beginning of the world to the end of it, and that God in eternitie did decree: to make up the number of fallen Angels, by an equall number of elect men. Whether this bee &s;o or no, and whether the aire be full of devils, as others have conceived, wee will not examine; certainely it is that wee read of a Legion in <HI>Marke</HI> 5. 9. and doubtle&s;&s;e it is, that the number of them is exceeding many.</P>
<P N="4">4. And la&s;tly, as he carries power in the&s;e re&s;pects, &s;o hee &s;heweth power in his works and actings, in &s;o much that his power hath beene mi&s;taken for the mighty power of <HI>God, Act.</HI> 8. 10.</P>
<P><PB N="20" REF="13">
I &s;hall not need to in&s;i&s;t upon it to &s;hew you how hee can,
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Hurry bodies up and downe in the aire, <HI>Matth&punc;</HI> 4. 5. <HI>Luk.</HI> 8. 29. 33.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Rai&s;e tempe&s;ts, <HI>Job</HI> 1. 16. 19.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. Bring di&s;ea&s;es both of body and mind, <HI>Luke</HI> 13. 16. and <HI>Luke</HI> 9. 37. compared with <HI>Matth.</HI> 17. 15.</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. Overthrow hou&s;es and buildings, <HI>Job</HI> 1. 19.</ITEM>
<ITEM>5. Break chaines and barres, <HI>Marke</HI> 5. 4, &amp;c.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>It is our comfort Chri&s;t hath a chaine in the Text will hold him: And bee his power never &s;o great and wonderfull in it &s;elfe and in the eyes of men, yet Chri&s;t hath power beyond him and over him, and this hee exerci&s;eth partly immediately by him&s;elfe, partly mediately by his in&s;truments.</P>
<P N="1">1. Chri&s;t overpowereth the devill immediatly by him&s;elfe: for,</P>
<P N="1">1. Hee &s;uffereth him not to doe his owne will: This day is this truth fulfilled in our eyes, and in our per&s;ons, it is writ|ten even on the&s;e wals, as <HI>holine&s;&s;e</HI> on the bells of the hor&s;es, <HI>Zach.</HI> 14. 20. for if the devill might doe his owne will, where had wee beene by this time that are here now alive and &s;afe before the Lord? If his power were as large as his malice, no fle&s;h &s;hould bee &s;aved, but for poore mans &s;ake that chaine is &s;hortned.</P>
<P N="2">2. Hee maketh him to doe his will: as the Commander in the Go&s;pel, he &s;aith to one goe and hee goeth, and to another come and hee commeth, and to a third, do this and hee doth it, and they cannot, they dare not but obey him.</P>
<P N="3">3. Hee can doe nothing without his will: As 1. not walke further then hee gives him chaine; for as in the Text Chri&s;t hath a chaine in his hand, &s;o in <HI>Iude</HI> ver&s;. 6. hee hath the Devill in a chaine, and hee cannot goe an inch further then hee gives him liberty.</P>
<P N="2">2. Hee can tempt no man without his permi&s;&s;ion, as in the ca&s;e of <HI>Job, Job</HI> 1. and 2. of <HI>Ahab</HI> 1 <HI>King.</HI> 22. 21, 22. no not enter into the heard of Swine without licence, <HI>Matth.</HI> 8. 31.</P>
<P N="3">3. Hee cannot recover him&s;elfe out of his de&s;perate condi|tion into which he is fallen.</P>
<P N="4"><PB N="21" REF="13">
4. Hee can as little recover his &s;ervants and agents from any mi&s;ery into which they fall.</P>
<P N="5">5. Hee cannot take off any plague that the Lord layeth on.</P>
<P N="6">6. Hee cannot force any mans will to evill; for if the de|vill could carry the will whither him&s;elfe would, hee would carry all fle&s;h to hell.</P>
<P>The&s;e particulars I might inlarge, to &s;hew the weakne&s;&s;e of the devill for all his great power, and Chri&s;ts power over him infinitely greater; but that may be&s;t bee &s;eene, by that power of Chri&s;t over the Devill, which hee &s;heweth in, and by his &s;er|vants, over him. As,</P>
<P N="1">1. Chri&s;ts power in a poore beleever: a &s;pectacle for men and Angels to looke upon and to wonder at: That a poore lumpe of clay, a worme, a moth, a nothing, yet drawing power by faith out of the everla&s;ting fountaine, &s;hould con|quer him that can remove mountains: tread under foot the great Dragon, and through Chri&s;t bee more then a Conque|ror over him; and this wee &s;ee by con&s;tant experience.</P>
<P N="2">2. Chri&s;ts power which hee hath committed to <HI>Mini&s;ters</HI> and <HI>Magi&s;trates;</HI> the two hands of Chri&s;t whereby hee vi&s;i|bly conquers the devill in the fight of men: the <HI>Jonathan</HI> and and his armour-bearer: the Prie&s;ts with trumpets, and the ga|thering ho&s;te, that one after another de&s;troy the&s;e Phili&s;tims, and that both together helpe to lay the wals of the Citie of hell flat. Upon this object do I &s;pecially looke in the exerci&s;e of the&s;e two offices; that they have not to fight again&s;t fle&s;h and blood, but again&s;t Principalities and powers: and this con&s;ideration is &s;ome &s;atisfaction to mee, and helpeth to &s;et|tle mee about that matter which is now &s;o much controver|ted, namely about Chrurch power; for to mee it &s;eemeth, the acting of the&s;e two offices to bee thus, the mini&s;tery to ca&s;t the devill out where it may bee done, and the Magi&s;trate to bind the devill where hee cannot be ca&s;t out: and <HI>ubi de&s;init Philo&s;ophus ibi incipit Medicus:</HI> where the power of the one cea|&s;eth the other taketh at it and fini&s;heth the worke: The Mini|&s;tery by the preaching of the word, and by prayer, &s;triveth to ca&s;t the devill out: and if it doe it, well, but if it cannot doe it,
<PB N="22" REF="14">
it can goe no further; and then the Magi&s;tracy commeth in and bindeth him that hee trouble not others, though the Mini|&s;tery cannot ca&s;t him out from vexing the party him&s;elfe. It is needle&s;&s;e to &s;hew how Chri&s;t overpowereth the devil by both the&s;e: the matter is &s;o apparent and con&s;picuous I &s;hall not need to goe about to &s;hew it: It is enough to &s;ay that the mi|ni&s;tery of the Go&s;pel overthrew the Idolatry of the Heathen, and that the Magi&s;tracy can hang a Witch. And &s;o have wee done with a &s;econd particular, the Text hinteth unto us, the Devils power, and Chri&s;ts overpowering it.</P>
<P>I &s;hould now take up the other con&s;iderations concerning the Devill that the text holdeth out: and fir&s;t I might &s;hew his &s;ubtiltie, from that title that it giveth him, <HI>an old Serpent: A Serpent,</HI> the craftie&s;t of all bea&s;ts, <HI>Gen.</HI> 3. 1. and an old Ser|pent of 5573. yeares continuance and experience within one moneth or there-abouts.</P>
<P>I might have &s;hewed how in all this time,</P>
<P>1. Hee hath ob&s;erved the cour&s;e of nature: 2. The cour&s;e of Gods providence, and 3. the temper of men, and hath reaped policy and experience from all the&s;e. How,</P>
<P N="1">1. Hee playeth Gods Ape, in having his miracles and oracles as God hath his, and how hee imitates his workes.</P>
<P N="2">2. Can transforme him&s;elfe into an Angel of light: as hee did to <HI>Eve</HI> who tooke him for a good Angel.</P>
<P N="3">3. Baiteth his hookes with the good things of God, as with &s;hew of Religion, with Gods mercy and patience, to intice to pre&s;umption, &amp;c.</P>
<P N="4">4. Changeth his temptations as occa&s;ions change, as hee did by Chri&s;t: one while tempting him to a great worke of power, to turne &s;tones into bread: and another while to a worke of the greate&s;t weakne&s;&s;e, to wor&s;hip the devill.</P>
<P N="5">5. Deceiveth men with Kids fle&s;h in &s;tead of Veni&s;on, and fixeth them on the creature in &s;tead of the Creator.</P>
<P N="6">6. Kils men with love of them&s;elves as the Ape doth her young ones with imbraces.</P>
<P>I might al&s;o have &s;hewed the &s;ubtiltie and policie that hee exerci&s;eth by men, as well as hee doth to men: and here might I take up the ma&s;ter peeces of helli&s;h policies practi&s;ed by our enemies in the&s;e times.</P>
<P><PB N="23" REF="14">
And I might &s;hew how Chri&s;t overpowereth the Devill in re|gard of this his &s;ubtiltie, in</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Giving &s;trength to his people to overcome his tempta|tions.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. In di&s;covering his plots.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. In defeating of them.</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. In bringing them on his and his in&s;truments own heads.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>Secondly, I might likewi&s;e have &s;hewed &s;ome glimp&s;e of the malice of the Devill, as hee is named in the Text, <HI>Satan</HI> or an <HI>enemie.</HI></P>
<P>As, 1. That hee fell through malice to man: and this the mo&s;t proper cau&s;e of his fall, though pride were mingled.</P>
<P N="2">2. That hee continueth in the &s;ame malice by which hee fell, and cannot doe otherwi&s;e.</P>
<P N="3">3. That it hath no bounds either in regard of him&s;elfe, or of the object, but he is ever malicious, and malicious to all extre|mitie; and that both again&s;t God, and again&s;t all men, and a|gain&s;t all men alike, though in regard of externall per&s;ecution he &s;heweth &s;ome difference.</P>
<P>I might &s;hew withall how Chri&s;t overpowereth him in re|gard of this maliciou&s;ne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P N="1">1. By bounding the execution of his malice, though his malice it &s;elfe be not bounded.</P>
<P N="2">2. By loading him with the greate&s;t condemnation, even hatched and generated by his owne malice.</P>
<P>And la&s;tly, wee might have con&s;idered the crueltie of the devill, as hee is a <HI>devill:</HI> as</P>
<P N="1">1. That hee is cruell even to him&s;elfe that hee may mi&s;chief others: and brings the more condemnation upon his owne head, by bringing men into condemnation.</P>
<P N="2">2. That his crueltie is his onely comfort, and that he hath no &s;olace at all for his owne de&s;truction, but meerly this cur&s;ed one, to bring men into the &s;ame ca&s;e with him.</P>
<P>But Chri&s;t overpowereth his cruelty:</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. By the Saints patience.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. By his owne providence.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>All the&s;e things would require a large di&s;cour&s;e to illu&s;trate and comment upon them, but in regard of the time they mu&s;t bee pa&s;&s;ed over: I &s;hall now onely crave leave to have a word or
<PB N="24" REF="15">
two of application of what hath been &s;poken and &s;o have done.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="1" UNIT="&V;&s;e"> This &s;hewes us where to get &s;trength again&s;t the devils temp|tations,  or his in&s;truments.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="&V;&s;e"> And an&s;werably it may comfort every poore &s;oule that lieth under the violence of the one or the other.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="3" UNIT="&V;&s;e"> And thirdly, it may &s;et us aworke to labour for a great faith, &s;ince there is &s;o great a power to fix it upon. <HI>I am God al-&s;ufficient,</HI> &s;aith God to <HI>Abraham, walke before mee and bee thou perfect, Gen.</HI> 17. 1. <HI>Bee perfect,</HI> that is, in this doctrin of my al-&s;uffi|ciency, or al-powerfulne&s;&s;e (for &s;o the word meanes, and not that perfection that &s;ome dreame of, as if <HI>Abraham</HI> kept the whole law) and then faith will gather &s;trength and extent, becau&s;e the power upon which it anchoreth is Omnipotent. But the&s;e things I doe but touch.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="4" UNIT="&V;&s;e"> Ble&s;&s;e God for the experience of this truth in our owne particular pre&s;ervation, and in the generall pre&s;ervation of the Kingdome; And truly this is gloriou&s;ly and graciou&s;ly veri|fied before our eyes at all times, in regard of the former, and in the&s;e times, in regard of the latter.</P>
<P>For fir&s;t, if wee con&s;ider the power of the Devill, and the weakne&s;&s;e of our &s;elves, and yet our pre&s;ervation in both the&s;e circum&s;tances, wee have great cau&s;e to admire and adore that power that doth pre&s;erve us. The &s;afety of the three Princes of <HI>Judah</HI> in the furnace, and of <HI>Daniel</HI> in the Lyons denne, and <HI>Jonah</HI> in the Whales belly, is hardly a greater wonder, then is our con&s;tant and continued pre&s;ervation: &s;o many Devils to bee hovering about us, as is their number, &s;o much power to bee in them, as there is in them, both in regard of their number and their nature, &s;o much malice to bee in their Spirit, and &s;o much cruelty in their acting as there is, and yet wee pre&s;erved in the mid&s;t of all this, I want words to ex|pre&s;&s;e the mercy; let us never want hearts to ob&s;erve that power that doth pre&s;erve us. The Devill can remove moun|taines, overthrow towers, rents rocks, teare up trees, doe al|mo&s;t any thing, and yet our poore lumpe of du&s;t is pre&s;erved: acknowledge the power, bee thankfull for the mercy.</P>
<P>And &s;econdly, in regard of the Kingdome: Let us but turne a&s;ide and &s;ee this great wonder, how it comes to pa&s;&s;e
<PB N="25" REF="15">
that this bu&s;h that hath burnt &s;o long is not yet con&s;umed that this poore carka&s;&s;e of a Nation, like that of the Prophet, though it bee even killed by this Lyon, yet is it not quite torn to pieces: that the fury, and policy, and mi&s;chievou&s;ne&s;&s;e of <HI>Satan</HI> hath hurryed it to the very precipice of confu&s;ion, as Chri&s;t to the pinacle of the Temple, and yet it is not throwne downe into it. Certainly it is no &s;trength nor power of our owne that doth pre&s;erve it, for who is able to re&s;i&s;t the violence of this enemy? but it is the great power of our deare Saviour, which I leave to your owne thoughts, for I doe but touch here neither.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="5" UNIT="&V;&s;e"> But la&s;tly, and where I de&s;ire to &s;tay a little: If Chri&s;t bee thus able to over-power the devill, and to ma&s;ter him at plea|&s;ure, then how is all this befallen us that is befallen us, through the fury of the devil, &amp; how doth it thus continue on us? As it is worthy our con&s;iderations that we are &s;o happily pre&s;erved by the power of Chri&s;t that wee are gone no further in our mi|&s;ery, &s;o is it &s;eriou&s;ly to be thought upon, how it comes to pa&s;&s;e that his power hath &s;uffered us to go &s;o farre as we have done, and to continue &s;o long in it as wee doe.</P>
<P>Surely his hand is not &s;hortned that it cannot &s;ave, nor his eare heavy that it cannot heare, but it is &s;ome thing that hath &s;eparated betwixt us and our Saviour, and that makes him to &s;tand as a &s;tranger that looketh on, and workes not for us whil&s;t the power &amp; fury of the devill doth thus tread upon us.</P>
<P>It is ea&s;ie to an&s;wer that our &s;innes have done it, and mee thinks God hath dealt with <HI>England</HI> much like as hee did with <HI>Pharaoh</HI> and the <HI>Egyptians</HI> in the book of <HI>Exodus,</HI> when ad|monition upon admonition was given to them, and exhorta|tion upon exhortation was pre&s;t upon them to hearken to God and to let <HI>I&s;rael</HI> go and they would not do it, then God lets the devill loo&s;e among them in vi&s;ible &s;hapes, as they &s;ate in the three dayes darkne&s;&s;e to terrifie and perplex them, as it is apparent by <HI>Exod.</HI> 10. &amp; <HI>P&s;.</HI> 78. 49. compared together: In the very like manner is it now with us: the Lord hath long bin treating with this nation for her conver&s;ion, by precept upon precept, line upon line; precept upon precept, line upon line, by exhor|tation, admonition, mercies, judgements, all things; what could have been done more then hath been done to <HI>England?</HI> but when
<PB N="26" REF="16">
&s;till we are as unreformed &amp; unconverted as ever, and when no|thing that the Lord hath done to us will amend us, the Lord hath now at la&s;t turned <HI>Satan</HI> loo&s;e among us with all his power and all his fury: our &s;innes have as it were broken the chains, and now hee rageth without re&s;traint, as never did he more in any nation. But this is not all I have to &s;ay.</P>
<P>It is mo&s;t undoubted indeed, that our former &s;innes have brought us and our p<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">e&s;ent &s;innes continue us under this rage and in&s;ultations of Satan that wee now feele in all the&s;e mi&s;e|ries that lie upon us, but if I may freely &s;peake mine owne thoughts, I do verily beleeve that a maine rea&s;on why the de|vill is no more bound among us, is, becau&s;e hee is not bound; my meaning is this: that God hath put into our owne hands exceeding much towards the binding of the Devils that do un|doe us, and we do not do it. It is in our owne power to curbe and quell the Devill that forrageth and ruineth us, and wee curbe him not, and then it is no wonder, nay it is but ju&s;tice if hee worry us, if he de&s;troy us.</P>
<P>I will not &s;peake of that Devill that &s;poyles all before him, the fury of our enemies, nor will I examine whether it may be re&s;trayned any more then it is, your wi&s;edomes be&s;t know what you have to doe in that particular.</P>
<P>But it is not the Enemy onely that hath done us this di&s;|plea&s;ure that wee feele, for then wee could better have borne it, or hid our &s;elves from him, but it is &s;ome of our owne party, &s;ome of our friends, of our familiars, with whom wee have taken coun&s;ell together, and have gone with them to the Hou&s;e of God as friends, which doe prove Devils to us, or at lea&s;t rai&s;e up Devils among us, that ruine and undoe us, that help on our &s;orrows, augment our mi&s;eries, bind on tho&s;e plagues that the de&s;ert of our &s;innes hath brought upon us. Our owne Quarters are become as the Land of the <HI>Gada|rens,</HI> where two po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed Parties, as <HI>I</HI> may &s;o &s;ay; or rather two po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing Devils, are &s;o exceeding fierce that none may pa&s;&s;e by them, none can bee quiet neere them. And the&s;e two are, <HI>Inju&s;tice in oppre&s;&s;iom,</HI> and <HI>erroneou&s;ne&s;&s;e in Opinion.</HI></P>
<P>The&s;e are they that lo&s;e you friends, procure you enemies, and keep off Neuters, that undoe at home, and exa&s;perate a|broad, that lo&s;e you more hearts, then all your Armies can
<PB N="27" REF="16">
&s;ubdue Per&s;ons; and doe more mi&s;chiefe to your Holy and Honourable Cau&s;e, then all the other Devils of hell can doe, then all your enemies on earth have done. Our &s;ad ca&s;e at this time is like the ca&s;e of the foure Lepers under the walls of <HI>Samaria</HI> in the Booke of Kings, if they went into the City, they went upon famine, if they went from the City, they went upon the enemy: If wee goe to the Enemies Quarters, there the Devill of their crueltie devoures us; if wee abide among our owne, one or other of the&s;e Devils is ready to de&s;troy us; &s;o that as it was with them of old, it is with us at this day, <HI>Abroad the &s;word devoureth, and at home is death.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, wee looked for Ju&s;tice, but behold a cry, (for give mee leave to u&s;e the words of the Prophet, and to &s;peake of bitter things in the bitterne&s;&s;e of my &s;pirit) the people of your owne party expected Judgement, Equity, and Comfort from your Sitting, and from your Coun&s;ells, and they concluded with them&s;elves, much like as <HI>Micah</HI> did in another ca&s;e, Now will it bee well with us, now wee have &s;uch a Parliament to take-care for us, to defend us, and to advice in our behalfe; but behold, in&s;tead of their expectation, injuries, oppre&s;&s;ions, wrongs, inju&s;tice, violence, and &s;uch complaynings and cry|ings out in all Quarters and Parts even of your owne party, that let it not be told in <HI>Gath,</HI> nor publi&s;hed in the &s;treets of <HI>A<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">kalon,</HI> le&s;t the circumci&s;ed triumph and exalt over us in it.</P>
<P>Mi&s;take mee not, it is farre from me to charge your hono|rable Court with any &s;uch thing, for I may &s;ay in this as hee and &s;hee did in another ca&s;e, my Lord <HI>David</HI> knowes it not, <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 King. 1. 11. 18.</NOTE> but it is too many that act under you, that cau&s;e this complai|ning and that doe this mi&s;chiefe, yet I cannot but &s;ay withall that the inju&s;tice will become yours if it be not remedied.</P>
<P>Now oh that <HI>Englands</HI> griefe in this particular were tho|rougly weighed, and her calamity and complaints were laid in the ballances together: Oh that the cries of all the oppre&s;&s;ed in this kind might meet here this day together in your eares, as wee de&s;ire our cries and prayers might meet this day in the eares of the Lord: what &s;ad complaynings, lamentings, grie|vings and cryings out, would come almo&s;t from all parts and places in your owne quarters? I will not take upon mee to particularize in any, onely, might I have but the quarter of
<PB N="28" REF="17">
that time and patience at your barre that I have here, and but &s;ome preparation for it as I had for this exerci&s;e, to do the me&s;&s;age of mine owne Country, as I now do the me&s;&s;age of the Lord, I doubt I could tell you &s;o &s;ad a &s;tory as would make your eares to tingle.</P>
<P>It is well ob&s;erved by Divines, that though God for mans redemption, could have conquered the devill by power, yet did hee rather choo&s;e to doe it by ju&s;tice: Hee that &s;pake the word and brought light out of darkne&s;&s;e, and the world out of nothing, could by the &s;ame powerfull word have com|manded mankind out of the jawes of the devill, and it had beene effected: but his wi&s;edome rather cho&s;e, that his owne Sonne &s;hould take fle&s;h, performe the Law, and &s;uffer death, and &s;o that the devill &s;hould bee conquered by very ju&s;tice; and not onely his power quelled, but his mouth &s;topt.</P>
<P>This is the way for you to conquer and no way like it: A little execution of ju&s;tice is of more victoriou&s;ne&s;&s;e, then a great deale of military preparation: the &s;toning of one <HI>Achab</HI> doth more good toward the taking of <HI>Ai,</HI> then three thou|&s;and trained men could doe.</P>
<P>By this way mu&s;t you either quell and conquer this devill of injuriou&s;ne&s;&s;e and oppre&s;&s;ion, or hee will &s;poyle your cau&s;e, hee will overthrow your armies. And you cannot get &s;o much ground abroad as this will lo&s;e you ground at home if it bee not prevented.</P>
<P>I doe mo&s;t humbly recommend it to your mo&s;t &s;erious thoughts, and conclude this matter in the phra&s;e of the Pro|phet: Do judgment and ju&s;tice, judge the cau&s;e of the poore and needy, of the wronged and oppre&s;&s;ed, and then may you eate and drinke and pro&s;per, and it will bee well with you and with your cau&s;e, as <HI>Jer.</HI> 22. 15.</P>
<P>But &s;econdly, there is yet a &s;econd devill that undoes us, and wor&s;e if wor&s;e may bee; a white devill, that changeth him&s;elfe into an angel of light, and &s;o de&s;troyeth the more, by how much hee is &s;u&s;pected the le&s;&s;e, and that is, <HI>erroneou&s;ne&s;&s;e in opinion,</HI> too common, too violent among us at this day.</P>
<P>I told you erewhile, that <HI>error and deceivedne&s;&s;e in the things of God, is a verier devill and more dangerous then open per&s;ecution,</HI> and here I cannot but take it up againe: And I may give you &s;ome arguments to prove it: as,</P>
<P N="1"><PB N="29" REF="17">
1. I may u&s;e the &s;tile of our Saviour, Feare not that devill that can kill the body, but when hee hath done that, can doe no more, but feare that devill that can ca&s;t both &s;oule and body into hell: per&s;ecution can onely de&s;troy the body, but error de&s;troyes both body and &s;oule.</P>
<P N="2">2. I beleeve that per&s;ecution never de&s;troyed a Church &s;ince the world &s;tood, I am &s;ure errours have done divers: Nay I que&s;tion whether corruption in manners can nullifie the be|ing of a Church, I am &s;ure corruption in doctrine hath done.</P>
<P>The &s;even Churches of <HI>A&s;ia</HI> though &s;ome of them were ex|ceedingly corrupt in point of conver&s;ation, and &s;o corrupt that they had left and lo&s;t their fir&s;t love, yet are they all golden candle&s;ticks, becau&s;e for the generall they retained the puritie of doctrine.</P>
<P>The open per&s;ecution of our enemies hath not nor cannot doe that de&s;truction and mi&s;chiefe to us that errours doe and have done among us; and my heart doth never &s;inke &s;o much in feare of our cau&s;e, as when I con&s;ider the growth of the&s;e in the mid&s;t of us, for the&s;e threaten ruine to the very being of the Church and of Religion.</P>
<P>How &s;ad and dolefull a thing is it to con&s;ider, and for Gods &s;ake take it &s;eriou&s;ly to heart, that &s;o glorious a Church as this was but a while agoe, &s;hould now bee &s;o overgrowne with the&s;e cur&s;ed weeds as it is, and is more and more every day, as is no reformed Church under heaven: That God &s;hould be &s;o bla&s;phemed, his truth &s;o polluted, the morall Law &s;o de|&s;pi&s;ed, repentance and begging pardon for &s;inne, &s;o pleaded again&s;t, the immortality of the &s;oule written again&s;t, dutie cried downe, and I know not what &s;o cryed up, as is in the erroneous opinions that are among us, what a mi&s;ery is this in the mid&s;t of our other mi&s;eries!</P>
<P>A Canker, a Gangrene hath &s;ei&s;ed upon the land, and de|vours un&s;en&s;ibly, but it devours de&s;perately and devilli&s;hly, and <HI>Aut tu illum, aut ille te,</HI> either bind this devill, or this devill will have all in his power and kingdome of darkne&s;&s;e before wee are aware: How hee gets ground, and growes and devours and de&s;troyes, who is there that &s;ees not? and for <HI>Siont</HI> &s;ake who can hold his peace? Soules lie ableeding by
<PB N="30" REF="18">
this as well as bodies by the enemy, the Church is undone by this, as the land by them, this &s;poyles our truth as they doe our peace, and when the&s;e are gone, whither &s;hall we goe?</P>
<P>I &s;hall not take upon mee to bee your director or in&s;tructor for the manner or meanes of &s;topping of this mi&s;chiefe that it grow no further, and for the &s;uppre&s;&s;ing of that growth which it hath already made, it is above my skill, your wi&s;edome will be&s;t contrive that; but I &s;hall humbly crave leave to bee your remembrancer of &s;ome thing that may tend unto it.</P>
<P N="1">1. There is great talke of, and pleading for <HI>libertie of con&s;ci|ence,</HI> for men to doe in matters of Religion, as <HI>I&s;rael</HI> did in the book of <HI>Judges,</HI> what&s;oever &s;eemeth good in their owne eyes; and how that proved there, there are &s;ad &s;tories that re|late: I &s;hall not goe about to determine the que&s;tion, whether the con&s;cience may bee bound or not, though for mine owne &s;atisfaction I am re&s;olved it may, and do hold it a truer point in divinitie that <HI>errans con&s;cientia liganda,</HI> then <HI>ligat,</HI> but certain|ly the devill in the con&s;cience may be, nay he mu&s;t be bound, or el&s;e you act not according to that vigour that Chri&s;t hath put into your hands: nor according to that exactne&s;&s;e that Chri&s;t requireth at your hands. It is true indeed which is &s;o much talked of, that Chri&s;t alone mu&s;t reigne in the con&s;cience, but it is as true al&s;o, that hee doth &s;o by the power that he hath put into the hands of the magi&s;trate, as well as by his word and &s;pirit.</P>
<P N="2">2. I hope you will find &s;ome time among your &s;erious im|ployments to thinke of a review and &s;urvey of the tran&s;lation of the Bible; certainly that might bee a worke which might very well befit a reformation, and which would very much re|dound to your honour.</P>
<P>It was the cour&s;e of <HI>Nehemiah</HI> when hee was reforming, that hee cau&s;ed not the Law onely to bee read, and the &s;en&s;e given, but al&s;o cau&s;ed the people <HI>to under&s;tand the reading, Neb.</HI> 8. 8. And certainly it would not bee the lea&s;t advantage that you might doe to the three nations (if not the greate&s;t) if they by your care and meanes might come to under&s;tand the proper and genuine reading of the Scripture, by an exact, vigorous, and lively tran&s;lation.</P>
<P>I hope (I &s;ay it againe) you will find &s;ome time, to &s;et a foot &s;o
<PB N="31" REF="18">
needfull a worke: and now you are about the purging of the Temple, you will looke into the Oracle, if there bee any thing a mi&s;&s;e there and remove it.</P>
<P N="3">3. I &s;hall not beg of you to cheri&s;h learning, for that hath no enemie but ignorant ones, nor &s;hall I beg, that you would cheri&s;h a learned mini&s;tery, for that may <HI>challenge</HI> cheri&s;hing: but I be&s;eech you take care that none intrude upon the mini|&s;try or to preach the word that have not a calling to it, and &s;ome competent abilitie for it.</P>
<P>This is a maine well-head from whence flow all the errors that are among us, when mechanicks, unlettered and igno|rant men will take upon them to bee preachers, and to in&s;truct others when they need teaching them&s;elves; and this if it bee not &s;topped, wil overflow all with a puddle of errours and here|&s;ie: you have made good orders for the &s;topping and preven|ting of this, but execution is all.</P>
<P N="4">4. <HI>I</HI>
 be&s;eech you ha&s;ten the &s;etling of the Church: The&s;e weeds grow, while government groweth not; I rejoyce to &s;ee what you have done in platforming <HI>Cla&s;&s;es</HI> and Presbyteries: and I verily and cordially beleeve it is according to the pat|terne in the mount.</P>
<P>The Lord &s;peed and pro&s;per you in working up the furni|ture for this fabrick. E&s;pecially hee bee your director in the two great things that are now under your agitation, <HI>Church-power</HI> and <HI>&s;u&s;pen&s;ion from the Sacrament:</HI> I am mo&s;t unable to hold out to you any thing, that may direct you in matters of &s;uch weight: And if my judgement were any thing, yet &s;hould I bee &s;paring to &s;hew it, becau&s;e I mu&s;t confe&s;&s;e that about the&s;e matters I differ in judgement from the generality of Di|vines, and I hold it not any happines to be &s;ingular in opinion, nor doe I hold the&s;e to bee times to broach differences, I &s;hall ever follow you with my de&s;ires and prayers, and write the &s;ucce&s;&s;e of the good hand of our God upon you.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
