<!DOCTYPE ETS PUBLIC "-//UMDLPS//DTD EEBOPROOF 2.0//EN">
<ETS>
<TEMPHEAD>
<REVDESCR>
<CHANGE>
<DATE>2013-08-20</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>Olivia Bottum</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
</RESPSTMT>
<ITEM>Proofed text and corrected markup.</ITEM>
</CHANGE>
</REVDESCR>
</TEMPHEAD>
<EEBO>
<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="A78423">
<STC T="W">C1628</STC>
<STC T="T">E34_1</STC>
<STC T="C">R12377</STC>
<BIBNO T="umi">99859270</BIBNO>
<VID>111342</VID>
</IDG>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>THE GOOD MAN A PVBLICK GOOD,
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. PASSIVELY,</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. ACTIVELY.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>As it was Manife&s;ted in a Sermon preached to the Honourable Hou&s;e of COMMONS, at the late Solemne Fa&s;t: <HI>January</HI> 31. 1643.</P>
<P>By DANIEL CAVVDREY. Mini&s;ter of the Go&s;pell at Great Billing in Northampton&s;hire, and one of the A&s;&s;embly of DIVINES.</P>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>2. Cor. 12.15.</HI></BIBL> I will very gladly &s;pend and be &s;pent for you, though the more abundantly I love you, the le&s;&s;e I am loved.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>John 10.11.12.</HI></BIBL> The Good Shepheard giveth his life for the Sheepe: But he that is an hireling and not the Shepheard, who&s;e owne the Sheepe are not, &s;eeth the wolfe comming, and leaves the Sheep, and fleeth becau&s;e he is an hireling, and careth not for the Sheep.</P></Q>
<P>LONDON, Printed by <HI>Tho. Harper,</HI> for <HI>Charles Greene,</HI> and <HI>P. W.</HI> 1643.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>To the <HI>Honourable Hou&s;e</HI> of <HI>Commons,</HI> A&s;&s;embled in PARLIAMENT.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Honourable, and ever-Honoured Patriots:</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>THis poor and plain Sermon, as it was fir&s;t preached in obe|dience to your Command, and heard with a great deale of Religious Attention; &s;o it is now mo&s;t humbly pre&s;ented to your hands and eyes. Wherein the Preachers aime and intention was not,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Q<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">i monet ut f<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="3 letters">s, q<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">od j m &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ci, &amp;c.</NOTE> either to informe your Judgements in what you knew not, or to per&s;wade your Obedience to what you did not, but to encourage and comfort you, in what you already did, even &s;pend your &s;elves in the Publicke Good. The which he conceived the rather to be mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary for him to doe: Fir&s;t, becau&s;e of the great difficulty of the worke you are ingaged in, by rea&s;on of tho&s;e <HI>Scornfull men,</HI> who have brought the City into a <HI>&s;nare,</HI> or rather &s;et the Kingdome on <HI>fire.</HI> Secondly, becau&s;e of tho&s;e great di&s;couragements which you have long wra&s;tled with, through the frowardne&s;&s;e and unthankful|ne&s;&s;e of the people of this land, who have withdrawne (many of them) their a&s;&s;i&s;tance, and &s;topped up tho&s;e wels that &s;hould afford you wa|ter to quench that fire. And had not the Lord him&s;elf &s;tood by you, and endued you with Wi&s;dome, Goodne&s;&s;e, Meekne&s;&s;e, the wickedne&s;&s;e of the one &s;ort, and the perver&s;ene&s;&s;e of the other &s;ort, might have cau|&s;ed your hands to faint, and your hearts to faile in the pro&s;ecution of the Worke. But ble&s;&s;ed be God&punc; who both rai&s;ed you up unto us, and rai&s;ed and kept up your &s;pirits, to be con&s;tant and active, for &s;uch a time as this: But it is u&s;uall with God &s;o to doe. As it is ob&s;ervable in Nature (Phy&s;itians &s;ay) that as there are Nationall di&s;ea&s;es, &s;o there are peculiar Nationall remedies: So commonly in the greate&s;t di&s;tre&s;&s;es of his Church, and greate&s;t oppo&s;ition of Malignants, God
<PB REF="3"> is plea&s;ed to rai&s;e up defendants proportionable to the&s;e nece&s;&s;ities. This is evident in many pa&s;&s;ages of the &s;acred Story; e&s;pecially in the booke of Judges, in <HI>Nehemiahs</HI> and <HI>E&s;thers</HI> time. The two parties in the Text, are not &s;o much oppo&s;ed one again&s;t another, viz. <HI>Scornfull men,</HI> and <HI>Wi&s;e men,</HI> as they are in the pre&s;ent experi|ence of the&s;e times. Never did any Kingdome know and finde &s;o great a generation of <HI>Scornfull men,</HI> not onely the lower ranke of meane Malignants, who have &s;corned and &s;coffed at Religion and Good|ne&s;&s;e &s;o long till they have &s;coffed them&s;elves out of all, even <HI>&s;hewes</HI> of Religion, and into unbeleefe of all relations of &s;ucce&s;&s;es, as fal&s;e and fabulous: but even tho&s;e of the &s;econd and third magnitudes, who like <HI>Tobiah</HI> and <HI>Sanballat,</HI> have jeered and derided all your un|dertakings, as weake and worthle&s;&s;e: &s;aying as they, <HI>What do the&s;e feeble men? will they fortifie them&s;elves? will they make an end in a day?</HI> Will they pull downe the Old, and &s;et up a new Church in a day? Nay, have they not flouted your fa&s;tings and prayings, upon the lea&s;t &s;ucce&s;&s;es of their party? and &s;ome of them &s;aid where is now your God? But againe I &s;ay, Ble&s;&s;ed be God (who re&s;i&s;ts the proud, and gives grace to the Humble) that hath as it were, created a generation of <HI>Wi&s;e men,</HI> in a way of oppo&s;ition to tho&s;e <HI>Scornfull men,</HI> to breake tho&s;e &s;nares, and quench tho&s;e fires which they have kindled. Wherein God hath not only magnified his owne Wi&s;dome and Goodne&s;&s;e, in providing and fitting the Remedy to the Di&s;ea&s;e; but al&s;o manife&s;ted to all the world, your <HI>Wi&s;dome</HI> in di&s;covering their <HI>&s;nares,</HI> and your <HI>Goodne&s;&s;e</HI> in quenching their fires. Truly <HI>(worthy Patriots)</HI> next under God, we cannot but ac|knowledge, that the Kingdome, the whole I&s;land, is beholding to you for its pre&s;ent pre&s;ervation. And though you have met with an unthankefull generation for the pre&s;ent, yet we doubt not, but the children yet unborne, &s;hall have cau&s;e to call you Ble&s;&s;ed; as the re|pairers of our breaches, as the re&s;torers of paths to dwell in, and above all, as the ble&s;&s;ed Reformers of Church and State. Which that you may be, &s;hall be the dayly prayer, of</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your mo&s;t humbly devoted Servant in the Lord, DANIEL CAVVDREY.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="1" REF="3">
<HEAD>A SERMON <HI>Preached before</HI> The honourable Hou&s;e of COMMONS, at the publike Fa&s;t, <HI>Ian.</HI> 31. 1643.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Proverbs, 29.8.</HI></BIBL>
<P>Scornefull men bring a City into a &s;nare, but wi&s;e men turne away wrath.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_THis Booke of the <HI>Proverbs,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">The privi|ledges of the Proverbs in three things.</NOTE> as it hath the common <HI>Honour,</HI> with other &s;acred Scrip|tures, to be called <HI>Canonicall;</HI> &s;o it hath &s;ome &s;peciall <HI>Prerogatives</HI> above the re&s;t, and that in a threefold re&s;pect.</P>
<P N="1">1. In the <HI>Excellence</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1. The Excel|lencies.</NOTE> and preheminence of the <HI>Sentences</HI> therein contained; being, for the mo&s;t part, received principles or <HI>Canons</HI> of wi&s;edome, acknowledged generally by all, e&s;pecially by the wi&s;e. And for this cau&s;e they are called <HI>Proverbs.</HI> Look what <HI>Maximes</HI> are in Law, <HI>Axioms</HI> in Logick, <HI>Aphori&s;mes</HI> in Phy&s;ick, <HI>Apo|thegmes</HI> in hi&s;torie or morality, &s;uch are the&s;e <HI>Proverbs</HI> in Di|vinity: the word <GAP DESC="foreign"> in the original, carries their <HI>Dig|nity</HI> in the very forehead. It comes from a roote that &s;igni|fies to <HI>Rule,</HI> as a Lord or Prince. They are <HI>principes,</HI> or <HI>prin|pales &s;ententiae,</HI> princely or principall &s;entences, not onely
<PB N="2" REF="4"> from their Authour King <HI>Salomon,</HI> chap. 1. 1. but al&s;o from their <HI>worth</HI> &amp; <HI>authority,</HI> being, as I may &s;o &s;ay, <HI>Lords</HI> and <HI>Com|manders</HI> of our A&s;&s;ent and Judgement, for their Authenticall and acknowledged veritie: that's the fir&s;t.</P>
<P N="2">2. In their <HI>Independance</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Their In|depe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nce.</NOTE> u&s;ually one upon another; every ver&s;e almo&s;t, yea every <HI>Homi&s;tichium,</HI> or halfe ver&s;e, being a compleat <HI>Doctrine</HI> of it &s;elfe, as <HI>Proverbs</HI> commonly are &s;hort, and full. In other Scriptures, a man mu&s;t read many ver&s;es, &s;ometimes at lea&s;t, before he can make up the &s;en&s;e, or profitable in&s;tructions therein contained: but here he hath in two or three words, a full propo&s;ition, or Doctrine expo|&s;ed to his view. In which re&s;pect, they may be compared, not &s;o fitly to a <HI>Chaine</HI> of <HI>Gold,</HI> where each piece is linked to, and drawes on its fellow; as to a <HI>Chaine</HI> of precious <HI>Pearles,</HI> all put upon one &s;tring, having indeed, a kind of <HI>Contaction,</HI> (as I may &s;ay) but no nece&s;&s;ary <HI>Connexion,</HI> or <HI>Cohaerence,</HI> one upon another. And that's the &s;econd.</P>
<P N="3">3. In the mutuall <HI>Illumination,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">3. Their Mu|tuall Illumi|nation.</NOTE> or Illu&s;tration one of ano|ther: Somtimes by way of &s;hort <HI>Compari&s;on,</HI> by way of Si|militude, or Di&s;&s;imilitude, in which re&s;pect every thing is (as they &s;ay) twi&s;e under&s;tood, though but once &s;poken, &s;omtimes by way of <HI>Oppo&s;ition,</HI> and contraries, we &s;ay, &s;et one again&s;t another, do illu&s;trate, and enlighten one another; As light and darkene&s;&s;e in nature, white and blacke in co|lours, do make each other more notable or notorious: The ver&s;es, or halfe ver&s;es &s;ometimes, being like unto two <HI>Can|dles,</HI> or torches, lighted and &s;et up, which are &s;eene, both by their owne, and by each others light. And that's the third.</P>
<P>All the&s;e are ob&s;ervable, and applyable to this pre&s;ent ver&s;e, and text of ours:<NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Applyable to the text.</NOTE> Fir&s;t, it containes two Ancient and Au|thori&s;ed principles of wi&s;edome, &s;o full and cleere, that Na|turall men, have been able to &s;ee them; The one is this, <HI>That an ill man is an ill neighbour,</HI> acknowledged by a Heathen Poet, who &s;aid long agoe, <HI>The whole City, fares the wor&s;e,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">. He&s;iod.</NOTE> <HI>for one wicked man:</HI> He may &s;eeme to have borrowed it from our <HI>Salomon,</HI> in our text. <HI>Scornefull men, bring a City into a &s;nare, or &s;et a whole City on fire:</HI> The other is
<PB N="3" REF="4"> this, <HI>That a good man is a common good:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> &s;o &s;aid one of the Hea|thens wi&s;e men; who&s;e candle <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;eems to have ligh|ted in our Text when he &s;aid in oppo&s;ition to the former, <HI>wi&s;e men turn away wrath.</HI> Secondly, they are two propo&s;itions, but independents, &s;hining with their own native light: And yet thirdly, though they doe not need to borrow, yet they doe ea&s;ily and willingly lend and affoord their a&s;&s;i&s;tance to illu|&s;trate one another, as we &s;hall the better &s;ee, if we take them, and con&s;ider them a&s;under by way of explication.<NOTE PLACE="marg">3. The expli|cation of the words.</NOTE></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, what is here meant by <HI>&s;cornefull men.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1. Scornfull men, what.</NOTE> The words in the originall are <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>viri irri&s;ionis,</HI> men of &s;corne; not pa&s;&s;ively, as <HI>&s;corned,</HI> but actively as &s;corners, or <HI>&s;corning.</HI> The words are very emphaticall, and with the Hebrewes (who know no degrees of compari&s;on) carry the force of the &s;uperlative degree. The like phra&s;e is u&s;ed four times in this very Chapter; as <HI>a man of reproofes,</HI> ver. 1. that is, a man very of|ten reproved: <HI>a man of oblations</HI> or gifts, ver. 4. that is, a no|torious briber; men of blouds, ver&s;. 10. that is, as we read it, bloud-thir&s;ty men, men &s;oakt in bloud, cruell bloudy men. And once more, <HI>a man of anger,</HI> ver&s;. 22. that is, a mo&s;t ha&s;ty and cholericke man. So here, <HI>men of &s;corne,</HI> is more then &s;corners, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 1.1. (who yet, are there made the wor&s;t and highe&s;t degree of &s;inners, <HI>ungodly, &s;inners, &s;corners</HI>) for it implies the wor&s;t of &s;corners, and the highe&s;t degree of wickedne&s;&s;e. Not &s;ecret &s;corners as <HI>Mical</HI> was at fir&s;t, who de&s;pi&s;ed <HI>David</HI> in her heart; but open &s;corners, profe&s;&s;ed and proud &s;corners, that deride not only good men, and goodne&s;&s;e, but the Me&s;&s;engers and Mini&s;ters of God (and in them, God him&s;elf) in their admonitions, reproofes or threat|nings (as tho&s;e did, 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 36.16.) being neare of kin to that man &s;poken of, ver&s;. 1. A man of <HI>reproofes,</HI> or often re|proved, yet &s;corning all, and hardening his heart.</P>
<P>Secondly, what is meant by tho&s;e words, <HI>Bring into a &s;nare:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Bring into a &s;nare.</NOTE> The word in the originall is <GAP DESC="foreign">, which is diver&s;ly rendered by Interpreters, as they &s;uppo&s;e the root of it to be different. Some derive it from <GAP DESC="foreign">, which &s;ignifies a &s;nare: Now a <HI>&s;nare</HI> in Scripture &s;ignifies &s;ometimes perplexities, or
<PB N="4" REF="5"> perplexing troubles. <HI>The ungodly is &s;nared in the workes of his owne hands, P&s;al.</HI> 9.16. Sometimes &s;ome fearfull judgement of God. <HI>&V;pon the ungodly he &s;hall raine &s;nares, fire and brim|&s;tone, &s;torme and tempe&s;t, this &s;hall be the portion of their cup, P&s;al.</HI> 11.6. According to this &s;en&s;e of the word, the mea|ning is, that <HI>&s;cornfull</HI> men do bring perplexities and troubles upon a place, and provoke God (by &s;corning reproofes &amp;c.) to bring mo&s;t fearfull judgements upon it. Some againe derive it from <GAP DESC="foreign">, which &s;ignifies to blow or puffe at: as <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 12.5. <HI>I will &s;et him at re&s;t from him that puffes at him:</HI> for &s;o &s;cornfull men u&s;e to expre&s;&s;e their &s;corne; or rather to blow at a coale, and &s;o to &s;et all on fire:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Or &s;et on fire.</NOTE> Scornfull men are <HI>flabella Diaboli</HI> the Divells <HI>bellows</HI> to blow the coals of &s;edi|tion, &s;trife and contention till they &s;et the City on fire, and &s;o our margine expre&s;&s;es it; or to blow the coales of Gods wrath and fury, till he by his judgements (compared al&s;o to fire in Scripture, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 11. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 42. la&s;t) &s;et all on a flame. The &s;umme is, <HI>Scornfull men are mi&s;chievous in&s;truments,</HI> both &s;tirring up &s;editions and contentions among&s;t the people, and &s;o en&s;naring them with perplexities (as <HI>Demetrius</HI> the Silver-&s;mith did at <HI>Ephe&s;us Acts</HI> 19.) and al&s;o incen&s;ing the wrath of God again&s;t them, and &s;o <HI>enfiring</HI> them with mo&s;t fearfull judgements.</P>
<P>Thirdly, what is here meant by the <HI>City,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">3. City what.</NOTE> the word is ta|ken either <HI>Metonymically,</HI> the &s;ubject for the adjunct, the City, for the Inhabitants of the City; or <HI>Synechdochically,</HI> the &s;peciall for the generall; the City, that is, any place where tho&s;e &s;cornefull men live, the Hou&s;e, the Towne, the City, the Countrey, the Kingdome. Their mi&s;chiefe extends not to them&s;elves alone, but to all about them; they are the <HI>common pe&s;tilences,</HI> and <HI>publicke enemies</HI> in the places where they live.</P>
<P>Fourthly, what is here to be under&s;tood by <HI>wi&s;e men:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">4. Wi&s;e men, who.</NOTE> the word is good, and of great e&s;teem. But perhaps &s;ome may que&s;tion <HI>Solomons</HI> wi&s;dome in the choice thereof, for ma|king an oppo&s;ition to the former part (as the particle, <HI>But,</HI> implies) it may be demanded, how are <HI>wi&s;e men</HI> oppo&s;ed to
<PB N="5" REF="5"> <HI>&s;cornfull men.</HI> It &s;eems more congruous, he &s;hould have &s;aid, <HI>Meeke or humble men turne away wrath;</HI> &s;o the oppo&s;ition had been fairer and clearer; or el&s;e, in the former part hee &s;hould have &s;aid, <HI>Fooli&s;h men bring a City into a &s;nare,</HI> as di|rectly oppo&s;ed to <HI>Wi&s;e men.</HI> True, but there is the more &s;e|cret <HI>wi&s;dome</HI> in this oppo&s;ition, that the Spirit of God inten|ded we &s;hould take notice of: For it intimates unto us two things:</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, That <HI>&s;cornfull</HI> and proud men, how ever they may thinke them&s;elves <HI>wi&s;e,</HI> are indeed but fooles in Wi&s;domes account; and in our common &s;peech we &s;o &s;tile them, when we &s;ay of a man of a &s;cornfull carriage, he is a <HI>proud foole:</HI> Yea, in the language of the Scripture, all wicked men, (of which, &s;cornfull men are chiefe&s;t, as we &s;aid afore) are fools and &s;imple: Therefore as &s;ometimes a &s;corner and a wicked man are <HI>Synonymas</HI> in Scripture, as <HI>Prov.</HI> 9.7. <HI>[He that re|proveth a &s;corner, getteth to him&s;elfe &s;hame, and he that rebuketh a wicked man, getteth him&s;elfe a blot.]</HI> He that in the fir&s;t part is called a <HI>&s;corner,</HI> in the &s;econd part is called a <HI>wicked man,</HI> implying them to be convertible, every &s;corner is a wicked man; and every wicked man is a &s;corner: &s;o a <HI>wicked man</HI> and a <HI>foole,</HI> are al&s;o one with the Spirit of God. <HI>Solomons</HI> fool (&s;o often mentioned in this Booke, and el&s;ewhere) is no better, no other then a <HI>wicked man:</HI> And that is the fir&s;t.</P>
<P>Secondly, That <HI>wi&s;e men</HI> are <HI>meeke</HI> and <HI>humble men,</HI> and only meeke and humble men are wi&s;e: This the Spirit of God would have us to take notice of, by oppo&s;ing <HI>wi&s;e men</HI> to proud and &s;cornfull men. Therefore, it is worth ob&s;erving al&s;o, that as proud men, and &s;cornfull men, are parallels in Scripture, <HI>Prov.</HI> 21.24. <HI>Proud and haughty &s;corner is his name who dealeth in proud wrath:</HI> and &s;ometimes we heare, <HI>The proud have laid a &s;nare for me,</HI> as here the &s;cornfull; &s;o <HI>wi&s;e men,</HI> and <HI>meeke men,</HI> are very neare a kin, or rather one and the &s;ame. So Saint <HI>James</HI> would have us under|&s;tand, when he &s;ayes, [<HI>Who is a wi&s;e man and endued with knowledge among&s;t you? let him &s;hew out of a good conver&s;ation his workes with meekne&s;&s;e of wi&s;dome, Jam.</HI> 3.13.] And againe,
<PB N="6" REF="6"> ver&s;. 17. <HI>[The wi&s;dome which is from above, is fir&s;t pure, then peaceable, gentle, &amp;c.]</HI> By wi&s;e men therefore here, <HI>Solomon</HI> meanes <HI>meek</HI> and <HI>humble</HI> men, in &s;peciall and generally all Good men, who are only wi&s;e; his wi&s;e man is the &s;ame with a <HI>good man,</HI> as his <HI>foole</HI> with a <HI>wicked man.</HI></P>
<P>Fifthly, what is here meant by <HI>wrath;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">5. Wrath, what, and what to turn it away.</NOTE> by <HI>wrath</HI> &s;ome under&s;tand the anger of men, as of a King, <HI>Who&s;e wrath is as the roaring of a Lion,</HI> and he is a wi&s;e man that knowes how to allay it; or of a tumultuous and enraged <HI>multitude</HI> &s;et on fire by <HI>&s;cornfull men.</HI> Others under&s;tand it of the <HI>wrath</HI> of God, which wicked &s;corners have incen&s;ed, but onely wi&s;e men and good men know how to quench it. So that here is the cau&s;e put for the effects; the wrath of God for tho&s;e &s;nares and perplexities, tho&s;e <HI>fires</HI> and judgements in|flicted on a people by the wrath of God. And there is a great deale of wi&s;dome in the choi&s;e of this word, for it implies three things very con&s;iderable.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, The <HI>prevention</HI> of judgements<NOTE PLACE="marg">1. Prevention of judgements</NOTE> ready to fall upon a people (by the wickedne&s;&s;e of &s;cornefull men) by taking away, or turning away wrath, the cau&s;e thereof. So <HI>Prov.</HI> 15.1. <HI>A &s;oft an&s;wer pacifies wrath;</HI> the wrath of God or men.</P>
<P N="2">2. The <HI>removall</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Removall.</NOTE> of tho&s;e judgements which are inflicted, when a City is en&s;nared or enfired, <HI>wi&s;e men,</HI> good men, are &s;o prevalent with God, that they help to break tho&s;e &s;nares, and quench tho&s;e fires, by turning away the wrath of God.</P>
<P>Thirdly, the <HI>procuring</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">3. Procuring ble&s;&s;ings.</NOTE> of mercies and ble&s;&s;ings upon the place, for here is a <GAP DESC="foreign">; as they call it, le&s;&s;e is &s;aid, but more is under&s;tood as the oppo&s;ition doth fairly &s;ugge&s;t: <HI>Scornfull men bring a City into a &s;nare, or &s;et a City on fire:</HI> That is, they deprive a Land of mercies and ble&s;&s;ings fir&s;t, and then helpe to bring on judgements: So <HI>wi&s;e men</HI> doe not only prevent and remove judgements, but procure ble&s;|&s;ings on the places where they live, the Hou&s;e, the Towne, the City, the Countrey, the Kingdome; which mu&s;t the ra|ther be ob&s;erved becau&s;e in this latter part, the City is not mentioned but under&s;tood, <GAP DESC="foreign">, by the rule of inter|pretation:
<PB N="7" REF="6"> So the &s;umme of all will be this, <HI>That wi&s;e men are common and publick Goods to the places where they live.</HI></P>
<P>The words thus explained, will yeeld us many good ob|&s;ervations,<NOTE PLACE="marg">4. The ob&s;er|vations &s;ome.</NOTE> we &s;hall name &s;ome, but in&s;i&s;t chiefly upon one.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>That all &s;cornfull men (as all wicked men, whereof the&s;e are the wor&s;t) how ever they thinke of them&s;elves, or others of them, are no wi&s;er then they &s;hould be: that is, are no better, no other then fooles in wi&s;domes account.</HI> It ari&s;es from the op|po&s;ition of <HI>&s;cornfull</HI> men and <HI>wi&s;e</HI> men.</P>
<P>Secondly, <HI>That only meek and humble men (as all good men) how ever the world accounts them &s;imple, are truly wi&s;e.</HI> It ari|&s;es al&s;o from the oppo&s;ition of <HI>wi&s;e</HI> men, and <HI>&s;cornfull</HI> men, who are ever proud men, for &s;corne ari&s;es from pride, as hu|mility from wi&s;dome.</P>
<P>Thirdly, <HI>That &s;cornfull men (the wor&s;t of men) are publicke evills and mi&s;chiefes to the places where they live:</HI> And that two wayes:</P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>Pa&s;&s;ively,</HI> as meriting and procuring the wrath and judgements of God upon the&s;e places.</P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>Actively,</HI> as &s;tudying, plotting and endeavouring mi&s;|chiefes to the places: <HI>They bring a City into a &s;nare, and &s;et a City on fire.</HI> In the fir&s;t &s;en&s;e they are <HI>flagella Dei:</HI> In the &s;econd, <HI>flabella Diaboli.</HI></P>
<P>Fourthly, <HI>That on the contrary, wi&s;e men (that is good men, for they are</HI> Synonyma's <HI>in Scripture) are publick Goods to the places where they live:</HI> And that al&s;o two wayes.</P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>Pa&s;&s;ively,</HI> the places being ble&s;&s;ed for their &s;akes.</P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>Actively,</HI> as &s;eeking, &s;tudying, endeavouring the publick Good, being men of publick &s;pirits, preferring the publick Good, before their owne private intere&s;ts.</P>
<P>But to handle all the&s;e particulars, as it is a little imperti|nent (&s;ome of them being only hinted, and not directly here intended) &s;o it is as much impo&s;&s;ible, con&s;idering that por|tion of time which is allowed me. I &s;hall therefore draw out only the la&s;t generall conclu&s;ion, con&s;i&s;ting of two par|ticular branches, taking &s;ometimes notice of the oppo&s;ite part, and the other con&s;iderations, for illu&s;tration, confirma|tion,
<PB N="8" REF="7"> or application, as &s;hall be mo&s;t expedient.</P>
<P>The generall Ob&s;ervation is this; <HI>Good men are publick Goods</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">5. The gene|rall Ob&s;erva+tion, Good men publicke goods.</NOTE> <HI>to the places where they live.</HI> That this is rightly collected, is evident to an ob&s;erving eye by the former explication: This we &s;hall endeavour to make good in both the branches be|fore propounded, both <HI>pa&s;&s;ively</HI> as God ble&s;&s;es the places for their &s;akes; and al&s;o <HI>actively,</HI> as they are men of <HI>publicke &s;pirits,</HI> &s;eeking principally the good of the Community.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>Good men are publicke goods pa&s;&s;ively;</HI> God for their &s;akes ble&s;&s;ing the Places,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1. P<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;&s;ively, as ble&s;&s;ings to the places.</NOTE> Family, Towne, City, Coun|try, Kingdome where they live. This is thus made good.</P>
<P N="1">1. There are <HI>promi&s;es</HI> made unto them for this very pur|po&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1. This is promi&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d.</NOTE> as to <HI>Abraham, Gen.</HI> 12.2.3. <HI>I will ble&s;&s;e thee, and make thy name great, and thou &s;halt be a ble&s;&s;ing. And I will ble&s;&s;e them that ble&s;&s;e thee, and cur&s;e them that cur&s;e thee, and in thee &s;hall all families of the earth bee ble&s;&s;ed.</HI> To this may bee added that other conditionall promi&s;e to the &s;ame <HI>Abra|ham, Gen.</HI> 18.26. <HI>If I finde in Sodome fifty righteous within the City, then I will &s;pare all the place for their &s;akes.</HI> Nay a lower condi&s;cen&s;ion we finde there: <HI>I will not de&s;troy it for tennes &s;ake.</HI> The &s;ame promi&s;e is made to <HI>Iob</HI> upon &s;uppo&s;ition of his repentance and turning to God. <HI>The innocent &s;hall deliver the I&s;land, and it is delivered by the purene&s;&s;e of thine hands, Iob</HI> 22.30. The like or a yet lower condi&s;cen&s;ion we finde, <HI>Jer.</HI> 5.1. <HI>Runne ye too and fro through the &s;treets of Ieru&s;alem, and &s;ee, and know, and &s;eek in the broad places thereof, if ye can finde a man, (one man) if there be any that executeth iudgement and &s;eeketh the truth, and I will pardon it.</HI> Adde but one more, and that is, <HI>Ezek</HI> 22.30. <HI>I &s;ought for a man (but one man) among them that &s;hould make up the hedge, and &s;tand in the gap before me for the land, that I &s;hould not de&s;troy it, but I found none, therefore have I powred out mine indignation upon them, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2. This is performed.</NOTE> We finde the performances of this promi&s;e in many in|&s;tances. This was made good to <HI>Abraham</HI> in the pre&s;ervati|on of his Nephew <HI>Lot</HI> and his family, <HI>Gen.</HI> 19.29. <HI>God remem|bred</HI> Abraham (that is, his prayer and pleading with God that he would not de&s;troy the righteous with the wicked,
<PB N="9" REF="7"> Chap. 18.) <HI>and &s;ent</HI> Lot <HI>out of the mid&s;t of the overthrow.</HI> Nay <HI>Lot</HI> him&s;elfe had experience of this grace and favour, that as he pre&s;erved <HI>Zoar,</HI> &s;o the City of <HI>Sodome,</HI> and the re&s;t could not be de&s;troyed &s;o long as he was in it: See but the power he had with God: For the fir&s;t, <HI>Lot</HI> did not directly petition for the &s;paring of that little City <HI>Zoar,</HI> but for his owne &s;afety, yet God is plea&s;ed to &s;pare it for his &s;ake: Thus he &s;ayes, <HI>See I have accepted thee concerning this, that I will not overthrow this City, for which thou ha&s;t &s;poken.</HI> For the &s;econd,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 19.21.22.</NOTE> thus more &s;trangely, <HI>Ha&s;te thee, e&s;cape thither, for I cannot doe any thing till thou come thither.</HI> Not only while <HI>Lot</HI> was in <HI>Sodome</HI> was it &s;pared for his &s;ake, but all the while he was going to <HI>Zoar,</HI> it was not de&s;troyed. The I&s;raelites had manifold experiences in this kind, in the wilderne&s;&s;e, where|in they provoked God forty yeares: <HI>Therefore he &s;aid that he would de&s;troy them, had not</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>his cho&s;en &s;tood before him in the breach, to turne away his wrath</HI> (the words of our Text) <HI>le&s;t he &s;hould de&s;troy them, P&s;al.</HI> 106.23. And &s;o ver&s;e 29.30. <HI>Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions, and the plague brake in upon them: Then &s;tood up</HI> Phineas <HI>and executed judgement, and &s;o the plague was &s;tayed.</HI> The&s;e were examples of favour for prevention, or removall of judgements: Take &s;ome for procuring of Good: <HI>God ble&s;&s;ed the Egyptians hou&s;e for</HI> Jo&s;ephs <HI>&s;ake, Gen.</HI> 39.5. <HI>And the ble&s;&s;ing of the Lord was upon all that he had, in the hou&s;e and in the field.</HI> And what a ble&s;&s;ing he was to the whole land of <HI>Egypt,</HI> for a ble&s;&s;ing of plenty for &s;even yeares together, is to be &s;een, <HI>Gen.</HI> 41.47. Saint <HI>Paul</HI> al&s;o was thus highly honoured, that he &s;aved the lives of all that &s;ailed with him in the &s;hip, two hundred three&s;core and fifteen &s;oules be&s;ide him&s;elfe, <HI>Acts</HI> 27.24 <HI>Lo,</HI> &s;ayes the Angell, <HI>God hath given thee all them that &s;aile with thee.</HI> In&s;omuch, that he confidently tells them. <HI>There &s;hall be no l<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;&s;e of any mans life among you, but of the Shippe,</HI> ver&s;e 22.</P>
<P N="3">3. This was ever a knowne and confe&s;&s;ed truth;<NOTE PLACE="marg">3. This is confe&s;&s;ed by all.</NOTE> both good and bad men have taken it for granted, That they &s;hall fare the better for Good peoples &s;ake. Hence it was
<PB N="10" REF="8"> that <HI>Bara<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> (a good, but a weake man) de&s;ired <HI>Deborah</HI> an holy Prophete&s;&s;e, to goe with him to the warre, yea profe&s;|&s;ed he would not goe without her, <HI>Judg.</HI> 4.8. as placing both his &s;afety and victory in her pre&s;ence. And wicked <HI>Ahab</HI> &s;olicites <HI>Jeho&s;haphat</HI> to goe to warre with him, as hoping to pro&s;per the better for his &s;ake. In a word, for this rea&s;on wicked men have &s;o often de&s;ired the prayers of righteous men, as di&s;tru&s;ting them&s;elves, and tru&s;ting more to finde mercy for their &s;akes, then their owne.</P>
<P N="4">4. The &s;ame is further confirmed by grounds of rea&s;on:<NOTE PLACE="marg">4. This is grounded on Rea&s;ons.</NOTE> Fir&s;t, Good men, or Righteous men, are Gods <HI>Favourites,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1. Good men are Gods Favourites.</NOTE> &s;o they are called in the Hebrew <GAP DESC="foreign"> his <HI>Saints</HI> we ren|der it, the word &s;ignifies, his <HI>Favourites,</HI> from the root <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ignifies Mercy, and Favour; &s;o his Saints are &s;uch as actually are mercifull, <HI>The Good man is mercifull and len|deth;</HI> but e&s;pecially <HI>pa&s;&s;ively</HI> as received to the <HI>mercy</HI> or <HI>favour</HI> of God, (as the word <GAP DESC="foreign"> is u&s;ed in Greeke, &s;po|ken of the ble&s;&s;ed Virgin, <HI>Lu.</HI> 1.28. that is, <HI>graced</HI> with God, or highly <HI>favoured</HI> of God) They are Gods <HI>Favourites,</HI> I &s;ay, and therefore for their &s;akes much Good is done to o|thers that have any relation to them. Con&s;ider but what <HI>Eliphaz</HI> &s;aies to <HI>Iob,</HI> per&s;wading him to humble him&s;elfe, and be acquainted with God, <HI>Iob</HI> 22.21. <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and to turne unto him; he u&s;es among&s;t others, this argument, ver&s;. 27. <HI>Thou &s;halt make thy prayer unto him, &amp; he &s;hal hear thee, and thou &s;halt pay thy vows. Thou &s;halt al&s;o decree a thing and it &s;hall be e&s;tabli|&s;hed unto thee,</HI> ver. 28. And la&s;t of all, (as before) <HI>The I&s;land &s;hall be delivered by the purene&s;&s;e of thy hands,</HI> ver&s;. 30. Such grace and favour &s;halt thou finde with God. It is very ob&s;ervable that the P&s;almi&s;t hath delivered, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 146.7.8. <HI>The Lord ex|ecuteth judgement for the oppre&s;&s;ed, he giveth food to the hungry, the Lord loo&s;eth the pri&s;oners, the Lord openeth the eyes of the blinde, the Lord rai&s;eth them that are bowed downe.</HI> The&s;e are all common mercies to wicked men: but what will he doe for righteous men? Sure much more for them; yet marke what he addes in&s;tead of all: <HI>The Lord loveth the righteous:</HI> as if his love were better then all tho&s;e before named, or
<PB N="11" REF="8"> rather becau&s;e his love is the ground of all other favours, and becau&s;e he loves them, he can deny them nothing for them|&s;elves or others. So <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 5.12. <HI>The Lord ble&s;&s;eth the righte|ous; the Lord heareth the prayers of the righteous, &amp;c.</HI> In&s;o|much, that when God is re&s;olved to puni&s;h a People or Na|tion, he is faine to bid his <HI>Favourites</HI> not to pray for them, <HI>Ier.</HI> 14. and 15. Chap. Pray not for this people: Nay to in|treat them, not to intreat him, but to let him alone, that hee may de&s;troy them, as he did to <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI> It is a very extraor|dinary ca&s;e when &s;uch <HI>Favourites</HI> as <HI>Noah, Iob</HI> and <HI>Daniel,</HI> cannot deliver a Nation, but only their owne &s;oules, <HI>Eze.</HI> 14.14. any ordinary favour they may procure for others, as well as for them&s;elves.</P>
<P>Secondly, all <HI>Good</HI> things, as they are <HI>promi&s;ed</HI> to,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2. All good things are in|tended for them.</NOTE> &s;o they are primarily, if not only <HI>intended</HI> for the <HI>Good;</HI> nothing for wicked men, but as by rea&s;on of their vicinity, and neare neighbourhood they fall upon them, becau&s;e they cannot well be &s;eparated. <HI>All is yours,</HI> &s;aies the Apo&s;tle to his <HI>Co|rinthian</HI> Saints, the <HI>world</HI> it &s;elfe is yours, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3. la&s;t. Our Saviour hath made a di&s;tribution of the whole world, <HI>Matth.</HI> 5. Heaven is given to the poore in &s;pirit. Earth is bequeathed to the meeke: what then remaines for the proud and &s;cornfull wicked men, but Hell, their proper inheritance? as it is &s;aid of <HI>Judas,</HI> that &s;onne or heire of perdition, that he was gone to his owne place, <HI>Act.</HI> 1.25. Now then, if wic|ked men have any thing, they have it for the godly mens &s;akes, becau&s;e they are mixt together. As the Sunne &s;hines upon the &s;tony rocks, as well as upon the low valleyes; and the raine falls upon the barren mountaines, as well as upon the fruitfull medowes, but were intended only for the latter. The tares in the field receive and pertake of the dewes and &s;houres of heaven, but not for their owne, but for the corns &s;ake. The Heathen man &s;aw this truth by the twilight of nature; <HI>God,</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>provided all Good things for the Good, but they befall the evill men, becau&s;e they cannot be &s;eparated. And it is better to profit or doe good to evill men for the Goods &s;ake, then to bee wanting to the Good for evill mens &s;ake.</HI> The world it
<PB N="12" REF="9"> &s;elfe &s;tands for the Elects &s;ake; if their number were once made up, as the old world peri&s;hed by water &s;o &s;oone as <HI>Noah</HI> and his family were hou&s;ed in the Arke, &s;o this pre|&s;ent world &s;hould be de&s;troyed with fire, 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 3.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">3. All judge|ments are pro|vided for wic|ked men.</NOTE>Thirdly, as all Good things are intended for the Good: &s;o all judgements and puni&s;hments, are provided and prepa|red for the <HI>wicked,</HI> none for Good men, further then they communicate more or le&s;&s;e, in the wickedne&s;&s;e of the places and times where they live. <HI>The whip is for the A&s;&s;e, and the rod for the fooles backe, Prov.</HI> 26.3. <HI>Great plagues remaine for the ungodly, P&s;al.</HI> 32.10. <HI>&V;pon the ungodly he &s;hall raine &s;nares, &s;torme, and tempe&s;t, fire and brim&s;tone, P&s;al,</HI> 11. Now then, becau&s;e it is again&s;t ju&s;tice to puni&s;h the Righteous with the wicked, or for wicked mens &s;ake, <HI>Abraham</HI> pleads it &s;o with God, <HI>Wilt thou de&s;troy the righteous with the wicked? farre be that from thee; Shall not the Judge of all the earth doe right, Gen.</HI> 18 25. And God admits the plea as ju&s;t and rea|&s;onable, as you may &s;ee, <HI>If I finde fifty righteous, I will &s;pare all the place for their &s;akes.</HI> Either therefore God mu&s;t <HI>&s;eparate</HI> the righteous from the wicked (as &s;ometimes indeed hee does) or el&s;e he mu&s;t <HI>de&s;troy</HI> the righteous with the wicked, or for the wickeds &s;ake, which is unju&s;t; or el&s;e hee mu&s;t <HI>&s;pare</HI> the wicked for the righteous &s;ake. And we have a kinde of a Proverbe common among&s;t us, It is better to &s;ave two Nocents, then to de&s;troy one Innocent. The very tares (as was &s;aid) are &s;pared for the wheats &s;ake.</P>
<P>Fourthly, Good men are &s;tudious and active for the pub|licke Good,<NOTE PLACE="marg">4. They are active for the publick Good</NOTE> (as we &s;hall heare anon) as well as for their owne, yea above, and with neglect of their owne Good. They imploy all their parts, wi&s;dome, &s;trength, riches, inte|re&s;ts, for the Publicke Good; all their prayers and power with God to the Good of others. Now it is a wonderfull wel-plea&s;ing thing to God to &s;ee men of his owne di&s;po&s;iti|on, to neglect them&s;elves for Gods glory and his peoples Good, that he will, even for their &s;akes, &s;tay or remove a judgement, and drop downe ble&s;&s;ings upon others, and they perhaps wicked. As when <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> de&s;ired to be blotted
<PB N="13" REF="9"> out of Gods Booke, rather then Gods glory &s;hould &s;uffer, or his people be de&s;troyed; God takes it &s;o well, that he &s;pares a rebellious people for his &s;ake. The&s;e rea&s;ons may &s;erve for the confirmation:<NOTE PLACE="marg">5. The Appli|tion, then.</NOTE> We now come to the application of it, before we proceed to the next.</P>
<P N="1">1. Then on the contrary; wicked evill men,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1. Wicked men are pub|lick evills.</NOTE> are publicke evills; they are not hurtfull onely to them&s;elves, that is the lea&s;t part of their Illne&s;&s;e, but to the Places, Families, Townes, Cities, Countries, the whole I&s;land or Kingdome where they live. <HI>One &s;inner de&s;troyeth much good. Eccle&s;.</HI> 9. la&s;t. and hinders much good, and brings much evill; brings an hou&s;e, or City into a <HI>Snare,</HI> or &s;ets them all on fire. One &s;park hath been the cau&s;e of the burning of a whole town: One <HI>Achan</HI> troubled and had like to have ruined a whole Armie. One and every wicked man is a cur&s;e, a pe&s;t, a viper to the place where he lives. <HI>A fruitfull land, he maketh barren for the wickedne&s;&s;e of them that dwell therein. P&s;al.</HI> 107.34. The&s;e, the&s;e are the men that violate the peace and happine&s;&s;e of a Nati|on, that with-hold Good things from it: The Prophet <HI>Zach.</HI> 5. &s;aw in a vi&s;ion a flying rowle, written full of cur&s;es, with|out and within: <HI>And it &s;hall enter (&s;ayes the Lord) into the hou&s;e of the theefe, and of him that &s;weareth fal&s;ely, &amp;c.</HI> It is a wonder to me, that many families and townes, are not ru|in'd and de&s;troyed, for the wickedne&s;&s;e of them that dwell therein, &s;o full of cur&s;es, and oathes, and bla&s;phemies. No wonder there is &s;o much trouble and perplexity in our Cities and Countries, and whole Kingdome, &s;eeing wickedne&s;&s;e &s;o much abounds n every place: But e&s;pecially con&s;ide|ring, that our land is &s;o full of <HI>&s;cornefull men,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;pecially &s;cornefull men.</NOTE> both &s;ecret and open. Secret &s;corners, that in their hearts, deride and de&s;pi&s;e, not onely Goodmen, but Goodne&s;&s;e it &s;elfe, and the power and practi&s;e of Godline&s;&s;e. Many perhaps, that make a faire &s;hew of Religion, frequent the A&s;&s;emblies, ob&s;erve Fa&s;ts and daies of Humiliation, and yet in their hearts de&s;pi&s;e and deride all &s;uch Devotions, as either needle&s;&s;e, or u&s;ele&s;&s;e. Many o|pen &s;corners, that are profe&s;&s;ed mockers and flouters of Re|ligion, and them that de&s;ire to profe&s;&s;e it, in the &s;tricte&s;t and
<PB N="14" REF="10"> exacte&s;t way. Hypocriticall Mockers at Fea&s;ts, as <HI>Dauid</HI> calls them, the drunkards that made &s;ongs of him, and all that profe&s;&s;e Godline&s;&s;e. Among&s;t the&s;e you may reckon your <HI>Stage-players,</HI> who had skoffed Religion, out of coun|tenance with many. <HI>You have done well, to put them downe, and &s;hall do better if you keepe them downe.</HI> Adde to the&s;e, your pro|fane &s;ouldiers, who undertaking to fight for Religion, do as much &s;corne it and the profe&s;&s;ors of it, with names of re|proach, as any of the Cavaliers. Can we wonder to &s;ee our Cities and Countries &s;o en&s;nared, and enfired; when all pla|ces are full of &s;uch skorners, as our text mentions? <HI>When one ble&s;&s;es and another cur&s;es, which will God heare?</HI> &s;ayd a Wi&s;e|man. This mixture of &s;o many &s;corners with &s;ome few wi&s;e men, in our Cities, in our Armies, makes things thus to hang in <HI>aequilibrio:</HI> Now we have a victory, then by and by a lo&s;&s;e and defeat: God him&s;elfe &s;eemes to be doubtfull whether he &s;hould &s;ave us for &s;ome Good mens &s;ake, or de&s;troy us for the&s;e many &s;corners &s;ake. <HI>Salvian</HI> complained of his times, and it is our ca&s;e at this time. <HI>Si quis ex Nobilibus, &amp;c. If any of the Nobility or Gentry begin to be Religious, he pre&s;ently loo&s;es the Honour of his Nobility: Oh (&s;ayes hee) what honour is there among Chri&s;tian people, when Religion makes men vile?</HI> Oh &s;hamefull and un&s;ufferable wickedne&s;&s;e! It is not &s;o with any Religion as it is with ours. In any Religion of Jews, Turkes, Papi&s;ts, the more &s;trict and exact, the more Ho|noured and e&s;teemed: Only in the Prote&s;tant Religion, the &s;tricter and preci&s;er, the more &s;corned and de&s;pi&s;ed. It was a very noble act, that of <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> Dan. 3.29. <HI>I make a decree, that every people, nation and language which &s;peake any thing ami&s;&s;e again&s;t the God of</HI> Shadrach, Me&s;hach, <HI>and</HI> Abed|nego, <HI>&s;hall be cut in pieces, and their hou&s;es &s;hall be made a dung|hill, &amp;c.</HI> I could wi&s;h, that our Law-makers, would provide a Statute, that it might be lawful for no man, with impunity, to deride and &s;corne Religion, or the &s;trict profe&s;&s;ion of it: And there is good rea&s;on for it; For 1. <HI>Scornefull men bring a City into a &s;nare,</HI> or &s;et a City on fire. 2. Their puni&s;h|ment would be exemplary to others: <HI>Smite a Scorner and the
<PB N="15" REF="10"> &s;imple will beware.</HI> Prov. 19.25. <HI>When the &s;corner is puni&s;hed, the &s;imple is made wi&s;e. Prov.</HI> 21.11. And once more (as if it were a matter of great ob&s;ervance, and greater con&s;e|quence:) <HI>Ca&s;t out the &s;corner, and contention &s;hall goe out; yea &s;trife and reproach &s;hall cea&s;e. Prov.</HI> 22.10. Thirdly, and la&s;t|ly, Though every Good man be a publicke Good and ble&s;|&s;ing to the place, yet e&s;pecially the <HI>heires of re&s;traint,</HI> (as a Magi&s;trate is de&s;cribed, <HI>Iudg.</HI> 18.27.) That is, publick per|&s;ons if they be Good, are double ble&s;&s;ings, as Good men, as Good Magi&s;trates; &s;uch <HI>wi&s;e men</HI> e&s;pecially turne away wrath: Review but tho&s;e places before alleadged, <HI>Jer.</HI> 5.10. <HI>Runne too and fro through the &s;treets of Jeru&s;alem, &mdash; and &s;ee if you can finde a man, if there be any (one) that executeth judge|ment, and I will pardon it.</HI> And &s;o of another, it is &s;aid, <HI>Then &s;tood up</HI> Phineas <HI>and executed judgement, and &s;o the plague was &s;tayed, P&s;al.</HI> 106.30. I &s;peake unto <HI>wi&s;e men,</HI> judge ye what I &s;ay. A word to the <HI>wi&s;e</HI> is enough.</P>
<P N="2">2. It &s;hewes the <HI>ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e</HI> of that Family, Towne, City,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2. The ble&s;|&s;edne&s;&s;e of places where any Good men.</NOTE> &amp;c. that hath the&s;e Good and Righteous men among&s;t them, if they knew their happine&s;&s;e. Many a judgement is prevented, many a ble&s;&s;ing is procured, or continued for their &s;akes, when wicked men know not to whom they are beholding. The&s;e are the Towres and Ca&s;tles: The&s;e are Walls and Bulwarkes: The&s;e are the Forts and Amunition: The&s;e are the Hor&s;e-men and Chariots of a Kingdome; and for their &s;akes, Townes and Cities are pre&s;erved. The So|domites were beholding to <HI>Lot</HI> for the welfare of their City, &s;o long as he was in it, though they acknowledged it not. You know what was &s;aid of tho&s;e two great and holy Pro|phets, <HI>Elija</HI> and <HI>Eli&s;ha;</HI> when <HI>Elijah</HI> was taken away in a fiery chariot, his &s;ervant and &s;ucce&s;&s;our <HI>Eli&s;ha</HI> &s;aw his &s;trength and &s;afety, and therefore cried out, <HI>My Father, my Father, the hor&s;emen of I&s;rael, and the chariots thereof.</HI> And a King wicked enough, &s;aid as much of <HI>Eli&s;ha, My Father, my Father, the hor&s;emen of I&s;rael and the chariots thereof,</HI> when he lay a dying. But <HI>Eli&s;ha's</HI> &s;ervant &s;aw the rea&s;on of it, when an army of Souldiers be&s;et the Towne of <HI>D<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">than,</HI> and
<PB N="16" REF="11"> thought to have taken <HI>Eli&s;ha,</HI> and plundered the towne; the &s;ervant cryes out, alas Ma&s;ter, we are undone: <HI>Eli&s;ha</HI> prayes, Lord open his eyes; and pre&s;ently he &s;aw the Moun|taine full of hor&s;es and Chariots of fire, round about <HI>Eli&s;ha.</HI> 2. <HI>Kings</HI> 6.17. One <HI>Eli&s;ha</HI> was a better guard then all the ho&s;ts of I&s;rael. But I let that pa&s;&s;e.</P>
<P N="3"><NOTE PLACE="marg">3. The folly and madne&s;&s;e of the world, in 1. Imputing all evills to them.</NOTE>3. It &s;hewes the fooli&s;h unthankfulne&s;&s;e, and indeed the folly and madne&s;&s;e of the wicked men of the world.</P>
<P N="1">1. In imputing all their evills and mi&s;eries to Good men, as if they were the cau&s;es of all the troubles and cala|mities, that befall them. So they &s;aid of <HI>Paul</HI> and his com|panions, <HI>Act.</HI> 16.20. <HI>The&s;e men which are Jewes, trouble our City.</HI> So <HI>Tertullus</HI> the Oratour, elegantly and learnedly charges <HI>Paul, Act.</HI> 24.5. <HI>Certainely we have found this man, a pe&s;tilent fellow, (a pe&s;tilence, in the Originall) a mover of &s;e|dition, among all the Jewes, throughout the world, &amp;c.</HI> So <HI>Ahab,</HI> not onely accounts <HI>Elijah</HI> his owne enemy; but al&s;o charges him, with the mi&s;eries of the times; Art thou he that trou|bles I&s;rael? No &s;ayes he, <HI>It is thou and thy fathers hou&s;e, in that you have for&s;aken the commandements of the Lord, and thou ha&s;t followed Baalim.</HI> 1. <HI>King.</HI> 18.18. So it was in the primi|tive times, the Chri&s;tians were charged with all the calami|ties that fell upon them: So it is now; All the&s;e troubles and warres are cau&s;ed by the Puritanes, &amp;c. No, no, it is you that trouble England; your drunkennes and whoredomes, and bla&s;phemies, &amp;c. the&s;e are the troublers of England; you that are &s;cornefull men, that &s;coffe and deride Godline&s;&s;e, and God him&s;elf; <HI>That de&s;pi&s;e his Mini&s;ters and mock at his Me&s;&s;en|gers, till there be no remedy.</HI> 2. <HI>Chr.</HI> 36.16. It was an hard ca&s;e that <HI>Salomon</HI> tells of; <HI>Eccle&s;.</HI> 9.14 15.16. <HI>A little City and few men in it, and a great King came again&s;t it, and compa&s;&s;ed it about, and builded forts again&s;t it; And there was found therein a poore and wi&s;e man, and he delivered the City by his wi&s;edome; but none remembred this poore man: Then &s;aid I, better is wi&s;edome then &s;trength; yet the wi&s;edome of the poor is de&s;pi&s;ed, and his words are not heard.</HI> That Good men &s;hould deliver the Iland, and be forgotten or de&s;pi&s;ed, is a &s;ad condition; but that they &s;hould
<PB N="17" REF="11"> be charged with the troubles and de&s;olations of a King|dome, who are the pre&s;ervers of it; this is mo&s;t unrea|&s;onable.</P>
<P N="2">2. But the madne&s;&s;e and unthankfulne&s;&s;e of the world appears more yet in per&s;ecuting &amp; bani&s;hing Good men out of their hou&s;es, Towns, Countries, even out of the world,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Per&s;ecu|ting the Good</NOTE> if they could. Fooli&s;h men and unthankfull: They are be|holding to them for all the Good they have; and doe they requite them thus? Is this your kindene&s;&s;e to your friends? As was &s;aid to one, many good workes have they done for you, for which of them doe you per&s;ecute and bani&s;h them? Yea, but what madne&s;&s;e is this to &s;top up the fountaines, at lea&s;t the pipes, through which all the &s;treames of ble&s;&s;ings come? To pull away the props that uphold a Nation, the pillars that uphold the hou&s;e from falling upon the heads of the owners: To drive the City of all the guards, and pull downe the Forts and Bulwarkes of defence, when an Ene|my comes to be&s;iege it, this is little le&s;&s;e then frenzie. The Sodomites did what they could to drive <HI>Lot</HI> out of their Ci|ty, who alone kept off that &s;howre of fire and brim&s;tone from them. As <HI>Samp&s;on</HI> pulling downe the pillars, pulled the hou&s;e upon his owne head: &s;o doe the&s;e ha&s;ten their owne de&s;truction. If all the Elect were once but gathered out of the world, it would &s;oone be all on a flaming fire a|bout their eares. Bani&s;h but all godly men out of a City, Country, &amp;c. and de&s;olation will &s;oone follow. And there|fore it is noted as a <HI>progno&s;ticke</HI> and forerunner of ruine, to a place of Kingdome, when righteous men are taken away from the evill to come, <HI>E&s;ay</HI> 57.1.</P>
<P N="4">4. This is a ground of &s;trong encouragement,<NOTE PLACE="marg">4. Encou|ragement and comfort.</NOTE> and con&s;o|lation, both in &s;peciall to Good men, and generally to this Nation.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, To Good and Godly men in &s;peciall,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1. To Good men them|&s;elves.</NOTE> that they are thus highly favoured and graced by God, as to make them publick <HI>Goods,</HI> &amp; <HI>Ble&s;&s;ings</HI> to the places where they live. <HI>Joab</HI> tooke it as a great favour, that King <HI>David</HI> would conde|&s;cend to gratifie him in a reque&s;t for his owne &s;on <HI>Ab&s;alom,</HI>
<PB N="18" REF="12"> 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 14.22. <HI>By this I know that thy &s;ervant hath found favour in thy &s;ight, in that the King hath fulfilled the reque&s;t of his &s;er|vant.</HI> What an honour then is it for a poore &s;infull man to have this favour with the King of Heaven, not only to grant the reque&s;ts of his &s;ervants for them&s;elves, but when they &s;ay nothing, even for their &s;akes to &s;hew mercy unto others? What a &s;trange piece of complement, or rather reall honour was it for God to &s;ay to <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> as a man to his friend, <HI>Let me alone that I may de&s;troy them,</HI> when <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;aid nothing that we heare of? What an honour was it to Saint <HI>Paul,</HI> that without asking, God &s;hould give him the life of all the &s;oules that &s;ailed with him? If a man had but &s;o much fa|vour with a King, it would make him proud, and &s;carce to know the ground he goes on: Why, &s;uch honour have all Gods Saints, even to the lea&s;t of all Saints (as <HI>Paul</HI> of him|&s;elfe) is this honour given that God can deny them nothing. Marke how <HI>Eliphaz</HI> applies it to <HI>Job</HI> in particular, <HI>Job</HI> 22.30. <HI>The innocent &s;hall deliver the I&s;land.</HI> True, might he &s;ay, but whats that to me? Therefore he addes, <HI>And it is delivered by the purene&s;&s;e of thy hands.</HI> As if he &s;hould &s;ay, thou being <HI>innocent</HI> and pure, &s;halt have the &s;ame <HI>Favour,</HI> thou &s;halt de|liver not thy &s;elfe only, but the I&s;land. This is the Lords do|ing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.</P>
<P>Secondly, To this <HI>Land</HI> and <HI>Nation</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2. To this Land and Nation.</NOTE> of ours in generall, it is no le&s;&s;e encouragement; That it &s;hall not yet be totally de&s;troyed, though the &s;innes and &s;inners be many, though there be many &s;cornfull men, that bring the Land and City into many &s;nares, and have enkindled many fires; yet there are many <HI>wi&s;e men</HI> (ble&s;&s;ed be the Grace of our God) that is many Good men, that doe helpe to turne away wrath: ma|ny faithfull <HI>Abrahams,</HI> many righteous <HI>Lots,</HI> many meeke <HI>Mo&s;es's,</HI> many holy <HI>Pauls,</HI> that intercede with God for the Land: If there were any &s;weet of comfort to be &s;ucked out of the gall of bitterne&s;&s;e. I meane the wickedne&s;&s;e of an E|nemy, that their de&s;truction ha&s;tens a pace, our Enemies are as de&s;perately wicked, as we could de&s;ire them: But our comfort lies not in their wickedne&s;&s;e &s;o much as in the
<PB N="19" REF="12"> <HI>Goodne&s;&s;e</HI> of &s;ome of our owne, or rather in the Goodne&s;&s;e and Grace of our God; who for their &s;akes u&s;es to &s;hew fa|vour to the places where they live. It is knowne well e|nough, what God would have done to a de&s;perately wicked City, as any was at that time, yet if there had beene but fif|ty, nay but tenne righteous men in <HI>Sodome,</HI> for their &s;akes all had been &s;pared. We tru&s;t we may &s;afely &s;ay, and with|out any arrogance, there are many fifties, many ten thou&s;ands in this our Land, that never bowed the knee to <HI>Baal,</HI> that crie night and day to God that the I&s;land may be delivered. Suffer us, O Father of mercies, to plead an argument of thine owne framing, as <HI>Abraham</HI> did for <HI>Sodome,</HI> wee are bad e|nough, perhaps as bad or wor&s;e then <HI>Sodome,</HI> yet &s;uffer us ho|ly God, to &s;peake but this once; <HI>Wilt thou de&s;troy the righte|ous with the wicked? Be it farre from thee from doing this thing, to &s;lay the righteous with the wicked, and that the righteous &s;hould be even as the wicked, be it farre from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the world doe right? Gen.</HI> 18.23.25. Upon this ground we beleeve, though we may have a &s;harp &s;torm, yet it will blow over againe. God never yet (and will he beginne now?) de&s;troyed an humbling, fa&s;ting, praying, reforming Nation. Tho&s;e Innocents, righteous men, we hope, &s;hall deliver the I&s;land: Even &s;o, Amen.</P>
<P N="5">5. This may &s;erve for a ground of Exhortation,<NOTE PLACE="marg">5. Exhorta|tion.</NOTE> and that branches it &s;elfe two wayes, to the wicked, and to the Good:</P>
<P N="1">1. To the wicked world, and that in a double re&s;pect:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><P N="1">1. To wic|ked men.</P>
<P N="1">1. To the Good.</P></NOTE> Fir&s;t, to cea&s;e from evill, and to learn to do well, to labour to become Good &amp; righteous men, even for this rea&s;on, that as now they are <HI>cur&s;es</HI> and <HI>mi&s;chiefes</HI> to the places where they live, as well as to them&s;elves, and are branded with this ignominious title of <HI>Incendiaries</HI> of the Kingdome; &s;o being Good, they may be honoured as <HI>ble&s;&s;ings</HI> and <HI>publicke Goods.</HI> This argument <HI>Eliphaz</HI> pre&s;&s;es <HI>Job</HI> withall, <HI>Job</HI> 22.30. after many other encouragements; Acquaint thy &s;elfe now with the Lord, &amp;c. why? becau&s;e then, thou &s;halt pray unto him and he &s;hall heare thee, ver&s;. 27. And la&s;t of all, thou &s;halt
<PB N="20" REF="13"> be honoured as the <HI>Deliverer of the I&s;land: The innocent &s;hall deliver the I&s;land, and it is delivered by the purene&s;&s;e of (thy) hands.</HI> The like argument the Lord him&s;elfe urges upon a for|mall fa&s;ter, <HI>E&s;ay</HI> 58. that he would fa&s;t to purpo&s;e, by fa|&s;ting from &s;inne and wickedne&s;&s;e, and beginne to be righte|ous and mercifull, <HI>Is not this the Fa&s;t that I have cho&s;en to loo&s;e the bands of wickedne&s;&s;e, to undoe the heavy burdens, to let the oppre&s;&s;ed goe free, and that ye breake every yoke? Is it not to deale thy bread to the hungry, &amp;c. Then &s;hall thy light breake forth as the morning, and thine health &s;hall &s;pring forth &s;peedily, and thy righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e &s;hall goe before thee, and the glory of the Lord &s;hall be thy reward. Then &s;halt thou call, and the Lord &s;hall an&s;wer, &amp;c.</HI> And after all, thus he concludes to our pre&s;ent purpo&s;e, ver&s;. 12. <HI>And they that &s;hall be of thee, &s;hall build the old wa&s;te places; thou &s;halt rai&s;e up the foundations of many generations, and thou &s;halt be called the repairer of the breach, the re&s;torer of paths to dwell in.</HI> That is, thou &s;halt be honoured and renowned in pre&s;ent and future times, as a man that hath been a publicke Good and a ble&s;&s;ing to the places where thou lived&s;t: Thats the fir&s;t.</P>
<P N="2"><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 To love and make much of tho&s;e that are Good.</NOTE>2. If we cannot per&s;wade <HI>&s;cornfull men</HI> to be Good them|&s;elves, yet let them be per&s;waded for their owne &s;akes, to make much of tho&s;e that are Good and righteous: love them and honour them, if not for <HI>Goodne&s;&s;e</HI> &s;ake, yet for your own <HI>Goods</HI> &s;ake; you are beholding to them for all the <HI>Good</HI> you have and doe enjoy next under God. The Prophet advi&s;es the people going into Captivity, that they would <HI>&s;eeke the peace of that wicked City (Babylon) and pray unto the Lord for it, for</HI> (&s;aies he) <HI>in the peace thereof &s;hall ye have peace, Jer.</HI> 29.7. And you make much of a bad &s;ervant, becau&s;e he is profi|table and beneficiall to you; how much more of tho&s;e that never did you hurt, that con&s;tantly doe you Good; preven|ting judgements and procuring mercies, your very life and livelihood, and all your welfare depends upon it. I leave it to your con&s;ideration; and come,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">2. To Good men.</NOTE>Secondly, to &s;peake a word of exhortation to <HI>Good men</HI> that they would be <HI>Good</HI> &s;till, and improve all their <HI>intere&s;t</HI> in
<PB N="21" REF="13"> God in the&s;e trouble&s;ome and calamitous times for the <HI>pub|licke Good:</HI> Fir&s;t, to be <HI>Good</HI> &s;till,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 To b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e Good, and better &s;till.</NOTE> and more <HI>Good</HI> as there is more need and u&s;e for the publicke Good: <HI>He that is holy, let him be holy &s;till, and he that is righteous, let him be righteous &s;till.</HI> The better man the greater Good. As we &s;ee it is the policie of children, when they have any &s;ute or reque&s;t to promote, they are commonly <HI>double diligent</HI> to in&s;inuate them&s;elves in|to our affections and favour. It was <HI>E&s;thers</HI> wi&s;dom to ingra|tiate her&s;elf with King <HI>Aba&s;huero&s;h,</HI> when &s;he had a very great reque&s;t to make unto him; &s;he fir&s;t invites him to a banquet to <HI>&s;weeten</HI> his affections to her, in&s;omuch that he askes her that intended to aske him, <HI>What wilt thou Queen E&s;ther, what is thy reque&s;t, and it &s;hall be granted thee to the halfe of the King|dome, E&s;th.</HI> 5.3. But &s;he hath not yet enough hold of his affe|ctions, therefore &s;he de&s;ires only that the King would come to the banquet which &s;he had prepared for him; at which time the King makes the &s;ame demand, What is thy petition, &amp;c. but yet &s;he forbeares, as intending to ingratiate her&s;elfe more with him; thereupon &s;he renewes her former reque&s;t, that he would come next day to another banquet, and then &s;uppo&s;ing her&s;elfe endeered to him, out comes her great re|que&s;t, Chap. 7.3. <HI>If I have found favour in thy &s;ight, O King, and if it plea&s;e thee King, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my reque&s;t.</HI> It is worth our imitation in &s;uch times of di&s;tre&s;&s;e, when our lives and lands lye at &s;take, to make our way with God, by more exact ob&s;ervance of him, to indeere our &s;elves unto him, that &s;o for our &s;akes, not only our owne lives, but our I&s;land may be granted at our reque&s;ts. Secondly, to improve all the intere&s;ts they have in God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2. To im|prove their in|tere&s;t in God.</NOTE> and all their grace and favour with him (which we have heard is much) for the publicke Good: The King of Heaven can deny you nothing: To what purpo&s;e is this <HI>Grace</HI> and <HI>Priviledge</HI> with God, if we make not u&s;e of it as <HI>Abraham</HI> did? The whole Kingdome and Church of God cries to you as to our Saviour, <HI>If thou can&s;t do any thing, come &amp; help us?</HI> Ply God with prayers and tears, and be <HI>importunate,</HI> yea in a holy manner <HI>impudent,</HI> till he make this our Land the prai&s;e and
<PB N="22" REF="14"> glory of all the earth. In a word, imploy your parts and abili|ties for the publicke Good, which is done by getting publick Spirits: But that leads me to the &s;econd branch of my gene|rall Ob&s;ervation, to that I now come: And that is this, <HI>Good men are publicke Goods actively:</HI> That is, they are men of publicke Spirits,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Branch: Good men are publick Goods actively. This is</NOTE> preferring the Publicke before their own private Good. That this is rightly collected, I referre to the explication of the words, and proceed to the confir|mation.</P>
<P N="1"><NOTE PLACE="marg">1. Com|manded.</NOTE>1. This is Commanded in the Scriptures, as the duty of e|very Chri&s;tian: <HI>Let us do good to all, e&s;pecially to the hou&s;hold of faith. Gal.</HI> 6.10. <HI>By love &s;erve one another, Gal.</HI> 5.13. <HI>Let no man &s;eeke his owne things, but every man anothers wealth, or welfare.</HI> 1. <HI>Cor.</HI> 10.24.</P>
<P N="2">2. This is <HI>Commended</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Com|mended by in&s;tances.</NOTE> by the Spirit of God in Scripture, to have been the practi&s;e of all Good men: we ob&s;erve &s;ome memorable in&s;tances. And we beginne with <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1. Of Mo&s;es.</NOTE> who &s;pent him&s;elf in the publick affaires of the people, in judge|ing all cau&s;es brought before him, till <HI>Jethro</HI> his Father in lawe gave him wi&s;e coun&s;ell. <HI>Exod.</HI> 18.17.18. <HI>The things which thou doe&s;t is not well, thou wilt &s;urely weare away, (thou wilt faint and fall) and all this people with thee, for the thing is too heavy for thee, thou art not able to doe it thy &s;elfe alone.</HI> And when God offered him one of the greate&s;t offers that ever was made to a mortall man, to bribe him (that I may &s;o &s;ay) and to take him off from &s;eeking and entreating for the Good of his people, he utterly refu&s;ed it, <HI>Exod.</HI> 32.9, 10, 11, <HI>&amp;c. The Lord &s;aid unto Mo&s;es, I have &s;een this people, and be|hold it is a &s;tiffenecked people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may waxe hot again&s;t them, and con&s;ume them, and I will make of thee a mighty people. But</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>prayed unto the Lord his God, &amp;c.</HI> And another time, when the Lord &s;eemed re&s;olved to de&s;troy that people, he ventures not only his life but his <HI>&s;oule</HI> between them and the wrath of God: <HI>If thou wilt pardon this people, well; if not, blot me out of thy Book, &amp;c.</HI> The like we may ob&s;erve in <HI>David,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Of David.</NOTE> <HI>He fed the people with a true heart, and ruled them prudently with all his power, P&s;al.</HI> 7, 72.
<PB N="23" REF="14"> And as if the &s;pirit of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had been upon him, he expo&s;es him&s;elfe to the &s;word of the de&s;troying Angel to &s;tay it from the people, 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 24.17, <HI>Behold I have &s;inned, yea I have done wickedly,</HI> (takes all the fault upon him&s;elfe, and all the puni&s;hment too) <HI>but the&s;e &s;heep what have they done? Let thine hand I pray thee be again&s;t me and my fathers hou&s;e.</HI> This is the commendation of that Good man <HI>Jehojada</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><P>3. Of Jeho|jada.</P>
<P>2 Chron. 24.16.</P></NOTE> the high Prie&s;t, and the <HI>Epitaph</HI> upon his grave, made by the Spirit of God, <HI>They buried him in the City of</HI> David <HI>among&s;t the Kings, becau&s;e he had done good in</HI> I&s;raell <HI>both towards God, and towards his hou&s;e. Mordecai</HI> al&s;o was a man of the like &s;pirit, who&s;e life and &s;tory is concluded with this Elegie, <HI>He was next un|to the King, and great among the Jewes, and accepted of the mul|titude of his brethren.</HI> There is his Greatne&s;&s;e, his Goodne&s;&s;e followes, <HI>Seeking the wealth of the people, and &s;peaking peace to all his people, E&s;th.</HI> 10.3. But mo&s;t memorable is the in&s;tance of that Good and Great man <HI>Nehemiah,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">4 Of Nehe|miah.</NOTE> who living in the fa|vour of a King, and in all plea&s;ures of a <HI>Court,</HI> yet en|joyed not him&s;elfe, while&s;t he under&s;tood the mi&s;eries of his people, and the De&s;olations of the hou&s;e of God, and of his City, as in <HI>Nehem.</HI> 1. and 2. Chapters, may ea&s;ily appeare. But the di&s;covery of his publick &s;pirit, with neglect of all pri|vate intere&s;ts, is mo&s;t remarkeable, <HI>Nehem.</HI> 5.14. Twelve yeares together; <HI>from the twentieth yeare, even unto the two and thirtieth of King</HI> Artaxerxes, <HI>that is, twelve yeares. I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the Governour. For the for|mer Governours that were before me, had been chargeable to the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, be&s;ides forty &s;hekels of &s;ilver, yea, and their &s;ervants bare rule over the people,</HI> (as great mens &s;ervants u&s;e to doe) <HI>but &s;o did not I, becau&s;e of the feare of God.</HI> But then, it may be, as he had nothing, &s;o hee did nothing, but only over&s;ee the people: For that, &s;ee what follows, ver&s;e 16. <HI>Yet al&s;o I continued in the worke of this wall, &mdash;and all my &s;ervants were gathered thither unto the worke.</HI> That is, though neither I nor my &s;ervants had any allowance, yet we were as active and diligent in the maine worke, as they that tooke wages for their worke. But perhaps hee
<PB N="24" REF="15"> had a great e&s;tate or revenue of his owne, and improved that to his owne be&s;t advantage: There were many poor Jews that were glad for nece&s;&s;ity, to &s;ell their inheritances, and &s;o he made good bargaines for him&s;elfe by buying land at the cheape&s;t rate: No, &s;ayes he, <HI>We bought no land,</HI> as &s;ome o|thers did: And le&s;t any man &s;hould thinke, though he did not get by the publicke calamities, yet he might &s;ave his owne e&s;tate, by living privately, and below his e&s;tate, and the dignity of a Governour; he addes, <HI>Moreover there were at my table an hundred and fifty of the (poore) Jewes and Ru|lers, be&s;ides tho&s;e that came unto us from among the Heathen that are about us,</HI> ver&s;e 17. His charge and expences is &s;et downe in the 18. ver&s;e to be very great; <HI>Yet for all this required not I the bread of the Governour, becau&s;e the bondage was great upon this people.</HI> All the&s;e con&s;idered, you will hard|ly finde a man of &s;o publicke a &s;pirit in all the Scripture. On|ly one we finde in the new Te&s;tament, that comes &s;ome|thing neare him in &s;pirituall re&s;pects, and that is Saint <HI>Paul,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">5. Of Paul.</NOTE> fir&s;t he &s;ayes, he had upon him the care of all the Chur|ches. Secondly, he laboured more then all the Apo&s;tles, &s;pared no paines, feared no dangers, ran through many per|plexities and hazards, by &s;ea and land, by brethren and &s;tran|gers, &amp;c. Thirdly, though he might have beene chargeable as an Apo&s;tle of Chri&s;t, and had power to eat and drinke, and to carry about a &s;i&s;ter, a wife, as other Apo&s;tles did; yet he u&s;ed not this power, but preached the Go&s;pell freely; and le&s;t he might be chargeable, he wrought with his own hands to &s;upply his nece&s;&s;ities; and as he &s;ought not his owne profit, but the profit of many, that they might be &s;a|ved, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10. la&s;t; &s;o &s;pent him&s;elfe in the publicke &s;er|vice, venturing his owne life for the Good of the Church: <HI>I count not my life deare to me, &s;o that I may fini&s;h my cour&s;e with joy, Act.</HI> 20.24. <HI>Yea</HI> (&s;aies he) <HI>and if I be offered (powred forth as a drinke offering</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">) <HI>upon the &s;acrifice and &s;ervice of your faith, I joy and rejoyce with you all, Phil.</HI> 2.17. And (to omit many things of like kinde) that there might be an ex|ample and in&s;tance of one under the New Te&s;tament, not
<PB N="25" REF="15"> inferiour to the highe&s;t in the Old, heare what he &s;aies like another <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> if not beyond him) <HI>I have great heavine&s;&s;e and continuall &s;orrow in my heart; For I could wi&s;h that my &s;elfe were accur&s;ed from Chri&s;t, for my brethren, my kin&s;men according to the fle&s;h, Rom.</HI> 9.2, 3. We need &s;ay no more, we have given in&s;tances of all &s;orts, Kings, Prie&s;ts, Magi&s;trates, Mini&s;ters, of eminently publicke &s;pirits, to make good our a&s;&s;ertion, <HI>That Good men are publicke Goods Actively, as well as Pa&s;&s;ively:</HI> That is, men of publicke &s;pirits, active for the publick Good, though pa&s;&s;ive in neglect of them&s;elves. Doe but take the Rea&s;ons<NOTE PLACE="marg">3. Grounded on Good Rea|&s;ons.</NOTE> of it, and we &s;hall ha&s;ten to the Application.</P>
<P N="1">1. Good men are made partakers of the divine Nature,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1. They par|take of the di|vine Nature.</NOTE> 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.4. and &s;o made conformable to God, their heaven|ly Father, and to Chri&s;t their Head. The <HI>Proverb</HI> is, <HI>A Good the more common it is, the better it is:</HI> we may invert it, The better any thing is, the more communicative it is of it &s;elfe; God him&s;elfe, the be&s;t and greate&s;t Good, communicates him&s;elfe to all his creatures, with no re&s;pect of any profit to him&s;elfe. <HI>The eyes of all things wait upon thee, O Lord, and thou give&s;t them their meat in due &s;ea&s;on, P&s;al.</HI> 145.15. <HI>Thou opene&s;t thy hand, and fille&s;t with thy ble&s;&s;ing every living thing. Thou art Good, and doe&s;t Good, P&s;al.</HI> 119.68. <HI>The Lord is Good to all, and his mercy is over all his workes, P&s;al.</HI> 145.9. <HI>He makes his Sunne to &s;hine upon the Good and the bad, and his raine to fall upon the ju&s;t and unju&s;t.</HI> The Lord Je&s;us al&s;o is called the <HI>common Salvation, Jude</HI> ver&s;e 3. <HI>He went about doing Good, and healing every di&s;ea&s;e.</HI> He gave him&s;elfe for all his &s;heep and wholly for every one: <HI>Who loved me and gave him&s;elfe for me,</HI> &s;aies <HI>Paul,</HI> as if he had loved and dyed for none but him: <HI>O bone Je&s;u, &amp;c.</HI> as that Father in a &s;weet meditation, and Soliloquie of his, <HI>O &s;weet Saviour Je&s;us, who take&s;t care for all of us, as if we were but one man, and &s;o for every one, as for all?</HI> Chri&s;t plea&s;ed not him&s;elfe, &s;ought not his owne profit, his owne glory, but the &s;alvation of his people. <HI>Let the &s;ame minde be in you, that was in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, Phil.</HI> 2.5. And &s;o it is in &s;ome proportion; the &s;ame nature, the &s;ame mind, and &s;o followers of God as deare children, and of Chri&s;t their
<PB N="26" REF="16"> Head, and &s;o communicative of their Goodne&s;&s;e to others: The ground of this in God, is his Al-&s;ufficiency partly, hee needs not the Good of any creature, and partly his Great Goodne&s;&s;e, whereof he is &s;o full, that as the Sea empties it &s;elfe into the &s;prings and rivers, &s;o doth he communicate his Goodnes to the creatures. Good men then being made parta|kers of the Al-&s;ufficient and Good God, are like him in this, to &s;eeke the publicke Good, with neglect of them&s;elves: and thats the fir&s;t.</P>
<P N="2"><NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Grace en|larges the heart.</NOTE>2. Grace and Goodne&s;&s;e enlarges the heart, and hand, and all: So the Apo&s;tle, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6.11, 12, 13. <HI>O ye Corinthi|ans, our mouth is opened to you, our heart is enlarged; ye are not &s;traitned in us, but ye are &s;traitned in your owne bowels: Bee ye al&s;o enlarged.</HI> As if he &s;hould &s;ay, it is your fault that you have no more benefit by us; you are not capable of what we are able and willing to give: And &s;o to his The&s;&s;alonians, 1. <HI>The&s;.</HI> 2.8. <HI>Being affectionately de&s;irous of you, we were willing to have imparted to you, not the Go&s;pel of God only, but al&s;o our owne &s;oules, becau&s;e ye were deare unto us.</HI> It is ob&s;ervable, that is noted of tho&s;e fir&s;t converts, who were before &s;trait-hearted and &s;trait-handed, but when once made partakers of the Grace of God, how much they were enlarged, <HI>Nei|ther was there any among them that lacked; for as many as were po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ours of lands or hou&s;es, &s;old them, and brought the prices of the things that were &s;old: And laid them downe at the Apo&s;tles feet, and di&s;tribution was made to every man, according as he had need, Act.</HI> 4.34, 35. And before that, <HI>Act.</HI> 2.44. <HI>All that beleeved were together, and had all things common. Omnia in|di&s;creta apud nos praeter uxores,</HI> &s;aid <HI>Tertullian</HI> of his times, All things with us, are common, except wives.</P>
<P N="3"><NOTE PLACE="marg">3. Grace &s;ets up another end.</NOTE>3. Grace alters and &s;ets up another <HI>End</HI> in a man, that is Gods <HI>Glory</HI> in the publicke <HI>Good,</HI> for therein is Gods Glory mo&s;t con&s;picuous. Our ends are private in Nature, we are our owne Alpha and Omega; our &s;elves are beginning and ending to our owne &s;elves, our owne god, &s;elfi&s;h in all, as they &s;ay; Self-ends, Self-profit, Self-honour, &amp;c. Now the fir&s;t Le&s;&s;on in the Schoole of Chri&s;t is, <HI>Self-deniall,</HI> let him
<PB N="27" REF="16"> deny him&s;elfe, his owne rea&s;on, his owne will, his owne affections, his owne ends. Marke what a new <HI>End</HI> the A|po&s;tle &s;ets up, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10.31. <HI>Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or what&s;oever you doe, doe all to the glory of God:</HI> And then, that you may &s;ee he meanes the Glory of God in the publicke Good; he addes in the la&s;t ver&s;e, <HI>Even as I plea&s;e all men in all things, not &s;eeking mine owne profit, but the profit of many that they may be &s;aved.</HI> A naturall man called out to publicke &s;er|vices, is ready to plead his owne private intere&s;ts: as the trees did in <HI>Jothams</HI> parable, <HI>Judg.</HI> 9.9. <HI>Should I leave my fatne&s;&s;e &s;aies the Olive tree: Should I leave my &s;weetne&s;&s;e, &s;aies the Fig tree, or I leave my wine &s;aies the Vine, to be promoted over the trees.</HI> The words rendered <HI>to be promoted over the trees,</HI> are &s;ignificant in the <HI>Hebrew, to goe up and downe for (other) trees?</HI> That is, Shall I neglect my &s;elfe, my owne profit, my owne honour, my owne plea&s;ure, to runne up and downe (as a Ma|gi&s;trate or a publicke per&s;on mu&s;t) to doe others &s;ervice? It is a common and received <HI>Proverbe</HI> in nature, <HI>proximus ego|met mihi,</HI> I am my owne next neighbour: and that is another much alike, <HI>Charity begins at home.</HI> And a third is as com|mon, <HI>Every man for him&s;elfe, and God (only) for all.</HI> Thus indeed &s;peaks nature, but Grace clean otherwi&s;e, as you have heard; we are Selfe-ends, and Selfe-gods, in nature; In Grace, <HI>Homo homini Deus,</HI> every man is a <HI>God</HI> to another: that's a third.</P>
<P N="4">4. A Good man is made a member of the body my&s;ticall:<NOTE PLACE="marg">4. They are members of the body my|&s;ticall.</NOTE> Now as it is in nature, every member of the body naturall, &s;erves not it &s;elfe alone, but is a &s;ervant to the whole body; The eye &s;ees, not for it &s;elfe (&s;ees not it &s;elfe) but for the whole body, the hand workes not, the foot moves not for it &s;elfe, but for the whole body: So it &s;hould be in the body politicall, &s;o it is in the body my&s;ticall, every member is &s;er|viceable to the community: More might be added, but the&s;e &s;hall &s;uffice for the pre&s;ent, and &s;o we come to Ap|plication.<NOTE PLACE="marg">4. Applied.</NOTE></P>
<P N="1">1. The fir&s;t U&s;e &s;hall be for <HI>Di&s;covery</HI> (and this is a time of great <HI>Di&s;coveries</HI>) of bad and naughty hearts.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1. For di&s;co|very of bad hearts.</NOTE> Before wee
<PB N="28" REF="17"> come to particulars, we may ju&s;tly take up the complaint of the P&s;almi&s;t, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 12.1. <HI>Helpe Lord, for there is not a Godly man left, the faithfull are mini&s;hed from among the &s;onnes of men.</HI> That is, if we look upon the generality of men, there will be but a few Good men be found: we may make the <HI>Di&s;covery</HI> by the&s;e two things: 1. That many have <HI>publicke &s;pirits</HI> in|deed but for <HI>publicke mi&s;chiefes:</HI> 2. That many have <HI>private &s;pi|rits</HI> in publick cau&s;es: we will note &s;ome particu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ars briefly.</P>
<P N="1"><NOTE PLACE="marg">1. Publick mi&s;|chiefes, as</NOTE>1. There are many, that have <HI>Publick</HI> Spirits, not for the publick Good, but for publick evill, to the places where they live, ju&s;t like the bramble in <HI>Jothams</HI> parable, <HI>Judg.</HI> 9.14.15. cho&s;en to raigne over the trees, who did &s;cratch and catch all for it &s;elfe. <HI>Publico malo nati:</HI> as if they were borne for publick mi&s;chiefe; like <HI>Paris,</HI> who&s;e mother <HI>Hecuba</HI> dream'd, when &s;he was with child of him, that &s;he was delivered of a <HI>burning firebrand;</HI> and &s;o he proved to his Country, if &s;to|ries &s;ay true; For through his meanes, the City <HI>Troy,</HI> was &s;et on fire, and the Country ruined. Such <HI>firebrands,</HI> there are many now to be found, who have &s;et this (as well as other) Kingdomes on <HI>fire,</HI> or brought Townes, Cities, Countries, into a <HI>&s;nare,</HI> as our text &s;peakes: we note &s;ome.</P>
<P N="1"><NOTE PLACE="marg">1. Papi&s;ts and Je&s;uites.</NOTE>1. As fir&s;t, <HI>Papi&s;ts,</HI> home-borne <HI>Papi&s;ts,</HI> who are the <HI>vipers</HI> that mo&s;t unnaturally have endeavoured to eate through their mothers bowels. Not their nature onely, but their Religion al&s;o, teaches and allowes them for the Good of the <HI>Catholike cau&s;e,</HI> fal&s;ely &s;o called, not to &s;pare their owne native Country, their owne kindred, Brothers, Fathers, no not of their own Religion, if it be for the publick Good, of their fal&s;e Religion. To blow up Parliaments, to ruine Cities, Countries, Kingdomes, is their ordinary worke. E&s;pecially of tho&s;e, whom they call <HI>Je&s;uites,</HI> the <HI>Bellowes</HI> of Hell, the <HI>Incendiaries</HI> of Chri&s;tendome, at this day. The <HI>Cur&s;e</HI> of God is upon them fearefully for arrogating their Name from <HI>Je&s;us,</HI> which &s;ignifies a Saviour, and is impropriated to the Sonne of God: <HI>Thou &s;halt call his name Je&s;us.</HI> The&s;e men, that call them&s;elves <HI>Je&s;uites,</HI> are, by the ju&s;t judgement of God upon them, the <HI>De&s;troyers</HI> of Cities, Countries,
<PB N="29" REF="17"> Kingdomes, and might farre better take their name from him, who is called in Hebrew Abaddon, and in Greeke Apolluon, but &s;ignifying a De&s;troyer. <HI>Revel.</HI> 9.11.</P>
<P N="2">2. Next to the&s;e, are tho&s;e, (prophe&s;ied to fall into the&s;e la&s;t and wor&s;t times: 2. <HI>Tim.</HI> 3.) whom the Apo&s;tle calls Traitours.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Traitours to their Country.</NOTE> <HI>In the la&s;t dayes &s;hall come perillous times, for men &s;hall be lovers of them&s;elves, Proud, boa&s;ters, Traytors:</HI> Not only be|traying the publike tru&s;t, but even their owne Countries and Kingdomes. Wofull experience have the&s;e our &s;ad times, of the&s;e publick mi&s;chiefes: who have for&s;aken their faith, betrai<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d the charges wherwith they were entru&s;ted, and with them, as much as in them laye, betrayed their Religion, Laws, Liberties, and which is mo&s;t unnaturall, them&s;elves, and their Po&s;terities to perpetuall mi&s;erie.</P>
<P N="3">3. Adde to the&s;e, tho&s;e of our text, <HI>proud, &s;cornfull</HI> men,<NOTE PLACE="marg">3. Seditious <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">piri s.</NOTE> who by &s;tirring up <HI>Seditions,</HI> and &s;trife, in Townes and Cities, have &s;et all places almo&s;t on fire: <HI>Onely by pride men make con|tention: Prov.</HI> 13.10. <HI>Ca&s;t out the &s;corner, and contention &s;hall goe out: Prov.</HI> 22.10. <HI>Yea &s;trife and reproach &s;hall cea&s;e.</HI> Such an one was that <HI>Silver-&s;mith Demetrius, Acts</HI> 19. who un|der a pretence of defence of religion, (but indeed for his own gaine) &s;et all the City of <HI>Ephe&s;us</HI> on an uproare. Such ano|ther was <HI>Achitophel,</HI> who adoring the ri&s;ing <HI>Sunne,</HI> fomented that <HI>Sedition</HI> and Rebellion of <HI>Ab&s;alom,</HI> out of his owne <HI>Ambition,</HI> to ingratiate, and advance him&s;elfe, with that yong Prince. All times, &amp; e&s;pecially the&s;e of ours, have exemplified the&s;e <HI>Incendiaries;</HI> the pride and <HI>&s;corn</HI> of &s;ome, have &s;tirred up &s;o much contention, and kindled &s;o great a flame, that all the <HI>Wi&s;e men;</HI> of the Kingdome know not well how to quench it.</P>
<P N="4">4. Among&s;t the&s;e may be reckoned, a multitude of men who are <HI>Publick enemies</HI> to the State and Kingdome: As fir&s;t, <HI>Oppre&s;&s;ours,</HI> and <HI>Depopulators,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">4. Oppre&s;|&s;ours, Depopu|lators, &amp;c.</NOTE> who do not, as they of old, in the Prophet, adde hou&s;e to hou&s;e, or town to town, but pull down hou&s;e after hou&s;e, and towne after towne, till there be no place, for a poore man to dwell neere them, till at la&s;t they pull downe their owne hou&s;es, and de&s;troy their owne families, that their place cannot be found. So that the pro|pheticall
<PB N="30" REF="18"> cur&s;e is now made good upon many of them; <HI>There|fore thus &s;aith the Lord, many hou&s;es great and faire &s;hall be left de&s;olate without an inhabitant, I&s;ay.</HI> 5.9. Such are the <HI>Pro|jectors,</HI> the <HI>Monopoli&s;ts</HI> of later times, who under pretence of <HI>Publick Good,</HI> have enriched them&s;elves, with the <HI>&s;poiles</HI> of the Commonwealth: The&s;e and &s;uch like, are the <HI>Catter|pillers</HI> and locu&s;ts of the places and Countries where they live; and as the Father &s;aid of <HI>Ingro&s;&s;ers</HI> of corne that made a famine in plentie, <HI>mercatores humanarum cala|mitatum,</HI> the <HI>Merchants</HI> of humane mi&s;eries and calamities. In a word, all <HI>Polititians</HI> that drive their owne <HI>de&s;ignes,</HI> at the publick charges in publick places of imployment; Men, like that unju&s;t Steward in the Go&s;pell, who being entru&s;ted with the publick Trea&s;ure, for an hundred write down foure&s;core, perhaps but fifty; diverting the publick &s;tocke into their owne pur&s;es, to make them&s;elves rich, in the pub|lick poverty of the State. This is, as if a man in a &s;hip, in a &s;torme, when all is like to be ca&s;t away, &s;hould gather all the wealth of the &s;hip into his owne cabine; or as if the &s;tomack a publick officer in the body natural, &s;hould keep all the meat to it &s;elfe, and &s;tarve the whole body. Well fare yet that Noble &s;pirited <HI>Nehemiah,</HI> we &s;pake of before, that was &s;o farre from eating the bread of the people, <HI>That he did not eate the bread of the Governour; becau&s;e the bondage was great up|on the people. Nehem.</HI> 5.17.18. Well fare al&s;o tho&s;e ju&s;t Stew|ards, tho&s;e faithfull and hone&s;t Trea&s;urers, entru&s;ted with the publick &s;tock; 2. <HI>King.</HI> 12.15. <HI>and</HI> 22.7. <HI>They reckoned not with the men, into who&s;e hands they delivered the mony, to bee be&s;towed on workemen, for they dealt faithfully.</HI></P>
<P N="2"><NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Private&punc; Spirits.</NOTE>2. As there are many evill publick &s;pirits; &s;o al&s;o many private evill &s;pirits, in the publick cau&s;es of God and the State: (Not to &s;peake of <HI>Idle</HI> per&s;ons, our lazie <HI>Gallants,</HI> in times of peace, that conferre nothing to the publick Good, by any publick u&s;efull imployment, as all creatures in the world doe, be&s;ides them&s;elves,) We may take up the com|plaint of the Apo&s;tle, <HI>Phil.</HI> 2.21. <HI>All &s;eeke their owne, and not the things of Je&s;us Chri&s;t:</HI> And we may &s;ee his prophe&s;ie
<PB N="31" REF="18"> fulfilled. 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 3.1.2. <HI>In the la&s;t dayes &s;hall come perilous times, For men &s;hall be lovers of their owne &s;elves:</HI> why were not men ever <HI>Lovers</HI> of them&s;elves? Is it any &s;uch great fault or dan|gerous for men to love them&s;elves? Is it not naturall for <HI>charity to begin at home?</HI> True, but the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> means, that in the la&s;t times, men &s;hal be Lovers of them&s;elves, &s;o that they &s;hal Love no body el&s;e, not their owne po&s;terity, not their owne Country; and therefore it followes in a few words after, men &s;hall be Lovers of them&s;elves&mdash;<GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>without naturall affection:</HI> So they may but &s;ave them&s;elves and &s;leepe in a whole skin, let po&s;terity take care for it &s;elfe, let the com|munity &s;inke or &s;wimme, they care not. Of this &s;ort are all <HI>Newters,</HI> and at be&s;t <HI>unwilling contributers,</HI> to the publicke cau&s;es of God and his people, either with their e&s;tates or per&s;ons. Fir&s;t, for e&s;tates, men of a covetous churli&s;h di&s;po&s;i|tion like <HI>Nabal,</HI> who when <HI>David</HI> &s;ent me&s;&s;engers to him for &s;ome reliefe and refre&s;hment of him&s;elfe and his &s;ouldi|ers, who were a protection to his cattell and &s;ervants, re|turned this dogged an&s;wer, <HI>Shall I take my bread and my wa|ter and my fle&s;h, provided for the &s;hearers of my &s;heep, and give it to men I know not from whence they are? There be many &s;ervants now adaies, that break away from their ma&s;ters, &amp;c.</HI> 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 25. Shall I leave my <HI>fatne&s;&s;e</HI> &s;ayes the Olive? my <HI>&s;weetne&s;&s;e,</HI> &s;ayes the Figtree, &amp;c. to go to be promoted over the trees? Shall I leave my profit, my honour, my plea&s;ure, for other mens &s;akes? Marke (I pray) what a &s;cornfull an&s;wer the men of <HI>Succoth</HI> and <HI>Penuel</HI> gave to <HI>Gideon</HI> that fought for them, when he &s;pake to them for &s;ome reliefe for his fainting fol|lowers,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Judg.</HI> 8.5, 6.</NOTE> <HI>Give I pray you loves of bread unto the people that are faint.</HI> They an&s;wer him with a flout &amp; a jeer, <HI>Are the hands of Zeba and Zalmunna, now in thine hands, that thou &s;aye&s;t, Give bread, &amp;c.</HI> How many are there that in this great and publick <HI>Cau&s;e</HI> now in agitation, have never yet contributed any thing, (willingly) but ill words, <HI>mocks</HI> and <HI>jeers,</HI> though they have enjoyed the benefit of publicke <HI>&s;afety,</HI> they and theirs? To whom it may be &s;aid, as <HI>David</HI> of <HI>Nabal, In vaine have I kept all that this fellow had in the wilderne&s;&s;e, &amp;c.</HI>
<PB N="32" REF="19"> 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 25.21. The&s;e men perhaps, &s;ome of them, wi&s;h all were well, but lend not the lea&s;t a&s;&s;i&s;tance that all may bee well: Sit &s;till, and live to them&s;elves, and enjoy their owne e&s;tates; even this di&s;covers men to be <HI>Naught,</HI> becau&s;e they have &s;uch narrow, &s;uch private &s;pirits in publicke Cau&s;es. Let <HI>Laws</HI> and <HI>Liberties</HI> and <HI>Religion</HI> &s;tand or fall, &s;o they may but have <HI>peace</HI> upon any conditions, &s;o it co&s;t them nothing. And &s;o for their <HI>per&s;ons</HI> to be engaged in the publick &s;ervice, how few are there that offer them&s;elves willingly to the worke? Men &s;trive not who &s;hall goe, but who &s;hall not goe to the warres; what &s;huffling to avoid it when called forth? what &s;tarting backe, what running away, when a|ny danger appears? what <HI>Apologies</HI> and excu&s;es for them|&s;elves. It hath it &s;eems been the fa&s;hion of former times as well as this? See but an In&s;tance in <HI>Judg.</HI> 5 14, 15, 16. where <HI>Deborah</HI> fir&s;t di&s;covers the <HI>Voluntiers, Out of Ephraim was there a root of them again&s;t Amalek; after thee Benjamin among thy people out of Machir came down Governours, out of Zebulon they that handle the pen of the writer. And the Princes of I&s;&s;achar were with Deborah: even I&s;&s;achar and al&s;o Barak, he was &s;ent on foot into the valley:</HI> But then there were many Newters of other Tribes, <HI>For the divi&s;ions of Ruben were great &s;earchings of heart.</HI> Great &s;earchings of heart? for what? to finde excu&s;es and pretences for their Newtrality and Cowardlyne&s;&s;e: So it followes, ver&s;e 16. <HI>Why abode&s;t thou</HI> (Ruben) <HI>among&s;t the &s;heepfolds, to heare the bleatings of the flocks? for the divi&s;ions of Ruben, there were great &s;earchings of heart. Gilead abode beyond Iordan, and why did Dan abide in &s;hips? A&s;her continued on the &s;ea &s;hore, and abode in his breaches.</HI> The meaning (as I con|ceive) may be this, when the&s;e tribes &s;hould have gone free|ly to the warres, after <HI>Deborah</HI> and <HI>Barac,</HI> they tarried all at home, and had great &s;earchings of heart how to an&s;wer it, if objected again&s;t them: Some, they had flocks of &s;heep to look to; &s;ome could not get over Jordan; &s;ome were in their &s;hips of merchandi&s;e; &s;ome repairing their breaches, &amp;c. thus they framed their excu&s;es, &s;ome had one impediment, &s;ome another. Ju&s;t the ca&s;e of the&s;e times, in the publicke
<PB N="33" REF="19"> cau&s;e of Religion, &amp;c. &s;ome have land to plow; &s;ome have harve&s;t to get home; &s;ome have a wife to plea&s;e; &s;ome have hou&s;es and flocks to guard or &s;ecure, which will be plunde|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ed if they appeare in the quarrell; &s;ome are poore, and have wife and children to maintaine: For the divi&s;ions of <HI>England,</HI> there are great &s;earchings of heart. The&s;e all di&s;|cover their private &s;pirits, and little Good hearts. But mark what followes, <HI>Zebulon and Naphtali were a people that jeopar|ded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field,</HI> ver&s;e 18. and &s;o &s;hewed them&s;elves, both <HI>Good men</HI> and <HI>Good patriots.</HI> And this may &s;erve for the fir&s;t U&s;e of Di&s;covery.</P>
<P N="2">2. The &s;econd is for <HI>direction,</HI> in our choice of fit <HI>In&s;tru|ments</HI> for <HI>publicke places</HI> and imployments.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2. U&s;e: For direction in choice of pub|lick In&s;tru|ments.</NOTE> Chu&s;e a man of a <HI>Publicke &s;pirit;</HI> that is to &s;ay, chu&s;e a Good man, and one that is truly Religious, for &s;uch onely are men of publicke &s;pirits, for the publicke Good. For example, Fir&s;t, in choice of a Mini&s;ter, a publicke per&s;on; (a bu&s;ine&s;&s;e of great and common concernment in the&s;e times) If you would chu&s;e one that &s;hal be faithfull &amp; con&s;tant to you, chu&s;e not a man of a narrow or private &s;pirit: one that is either covetous, or ambitious, or voluptuous, that &s;eekes him&s;elfe and his own ends, and not the things of Je&s;us Chri&s;t: &s;uch an one will &s;eeke <HI>yours,</HI> not you; and when he hath found what he &s;eeks, will but a little care for the flock. Among&s;t other qualificati|ons of a Mini&s;ter, the Apo&s;tle requires, that he be not <HI>Co|vetous given to filthy lucre, not given to wine,</HI> not voluptuous: A Good man onely will make a Good Mini&s;ter: as it is &s;aid of <HI>Barnabas, He was a Good man, and full of the holy Gho&s;t and of faith, and much people was added to the Lord, Act.</HI> 11.24. A Good Mini&s;ter is a good <HI>light,</HI> a <HI>lampe,</HI> a <HI>candle</HI> that &s;pends him&s;elfe in giving light to others, whereas a <HI>&s;nuffe</HI> burnes and lights only within its owne &s;ocket, but is darke and &s;tinking to others round about him. In a word, a Good Mini&s;ter is like that Good Shepheard that layes downe his life for his &s;heep. Secondly, it may give us <HI>direction</HI> al&s;o in choice of publicke <HI>Officers, Magi&s;trates, Commanders, Knights</HI> of the Shire, and <HI>Burge&s;&s;es</HI> of Parliament, if ever we
<PB N="34" REF="20"> live to another election, to &s;eeke out and chu&s;e men of pub|licke &s;pirits; who are they? you will &s;ay: why (&s;ay the world what they plea&s;e) they are <HI>Good</HI> men, truly <HI>Godly</HI> men; they will be con&s;tant and faithfull in their entru&s;tments, they will live and dye for you, and with you: All other men will warpe and &s;tart a&s;ide like a deceitfull bow, will be cor|rupted or wrought like wax to take any impre&s;&s;ion of his owne or others de&s;ignes. Experience hath taught us &s;ome|thing in this particular: In the&s;e great <HI>divi&s;ions</HI> of this &s;tate, what <HI>di&s;coveries</HI> have been made of fal&s;e &amp; faithle&s;&s;e hearts? In our great <HI>Senate,</HI> in our Armies, in all publick &s;ervices: what &s;trange <HI>di&s;coveries</HI> have beene made of tho&s;e perhaps, whom wee little &s;u&s;pected. They &s;ay in politicks, <HI>A man may be an ill man, yet a Good Citizen.</HI> I am &s;ure it is fal&s;e in Divinity. He that is an <HI>ill</HI> man, can no more be a <HI>Good pa|triot,</HI> a <HI>Good</HI> Commonwealths man, then <HI>evill</HI> can be <HI>Good.</HI> He may perhaps be &s;eemingly Good in times of peace, when no divi&s;ions, no temptations: but no man will be con&s;tantly faithfull, but he that is a man of a publicke &s;pirit, and no man but a <HI>Good</HI> man hath a publicke &s;pirit. Let it be a war|ning to us for the pre&s;ent, and for the future, in choice of a|ny publick In&s;truments; if we be againe deceived, we may thanke our &s;elves. All, or a great part of the&s;e pre&s;ent di|&s;tractions of our &s;tate ari&s;e from hence, that men in publicke places have <HI>private</HI> &s;pirits, private <HI>ends</HI> and aimes with neg|lect of the publicke.</P>
<P N="3"><NOTE PLACE="marg">3. U&s;et double honour due to men of pub|lick &s;pirits.</NOTE>3. This may informe us, what <HI>Honour</HI> and e&s;timation is due to <HI>Good men,</HI> men of publicke &s;pirits, that neglect them|&s;elves for the <HI>publicke Good,</HI> their owne profit, plea&s;ure, Ho|nour. Truly, what the Apo&s;tle &s;peakes of laborious and painfull <HI>Mini&s;ters, That the Elders that rule well, are worthy or to be accounted worthy of double Honour, e&s;pecially they that la|bour in the word and doctrine,</HI> is fairly by proportion, to be applyed to all publicke In&s;truments of publicke &s;pirits. Men of <HI>private</HI> places, with <HI>publick</HI> &s;pirits, are worthy of double honour, e&s;pecially tho&s;e who being imployed in <HI>publick</HI> &s;er|vices, doe labour, and even &s;pend them&s;elves, and what they
<PB N="35" REF="20"> have for the Good and welfare of the Community. And what is that double honour? Countenance and mainte|nance, &s;ay &s;ome: A <HI>lampe</HI> or candle that con&s;umes it &s;elf to give others light (as every faithfull Mini&s;ter doth) de&s;erves to be &s;et, not under a bed or a bu&s;hell, but upon a Table, as our Saviour &s;peakes; there's his <HI>Honour</HI> of <HI>Countenance,</HI> and to be plentifully &s;upplyed with oyle, to pre&s;erve it &s;elfe for the common Good, there's the <HI>Honour</HI> of <HI>Maintenance.</HI> The like is due to the <HI>Magi&s;trate,</HI> that is imployed in the publicke &s;ervices of the State; and to the Souldier that jeopards his life in the high places of the field, to pre&s;erve the lives of thou&s;ands. It is an odious and ignominious <HI>&s;hame,</HI> that we &s;hould chu&s;e men to imploy in our publicke and common Concernments, &s;pirituall or temporall, (who mu&s;t leave their <HI>fatne&s;&s;e</HI> and their <HI>&s;weetnes,</HI> and their wine, (as the trees &s;peak in the parable) which they might privately, &amp; with ea&s;e enjoy as well as we) and then when we have &s;o done, de&s;ert them, both in regard of <HI>Countenance</HI> and <HI>Main|tenance,</HI> or a&s;&s;i&s;tance: This hath been the ca&s;e of many Mi|ni&s;ters in times pa&s;t, and at the pre&s;ent, the condition of our Honourable Patriots in Parliament: How &s;hamefully have they been de&s;erted (I wi&s;h that were all, yea maligned, &s;cof|fed at by <HI>Scornfull men,</HI> hated, oppo&s;ed) even by them that cho&s;e, and imployed them. If men go on thus to for&s;ake them, and let them fall, for want of <HI>A&s;&s;i&s;tance,</HI> it is ju&s;t with God, they &s;hould never chu&s;e more, or never live to partake of that common Good, which they de&s;ire and endeavour to do for them. As therefore the Apo&s;tle &s;pake in a ca&s;e of a faithfull Mini&s;ter, &s;o I of all of a publicke &s;pirit, <HI>Receive them therefore in the Lord, with all gladne&s;&s;e, and hold &s;uch in reputa|tion, becau&s;e for the worke of Chri&s;t, they were neare unto death, not regarding their owne life, to &s;upply your lacke of &s;ervice, Phil.</HI> 2.29.30. And as <HI>Deborah</HI> gave her <HI>Voluntiers</HI> their due and double Honour, &s;o let us doe al&s;o; Heare what &s;he &s;ayes, <HI>My heart is towards the Governours of I&s;rael, that offered them|&s;elves willingly among the people; Ble&s;&s;e ye the Lord, Judg.</HI> 5.9. and &s;o &s;he goes on to name the tribes and per&s;ons, ca&s;ting a
<PB N="36" REF="21"> &s;ecret reproach upon the <HI>Newters;</HI> and at la&s;t come to it a|gaine: <HI>Zebulon and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field,</HI> ver&s;e 18. So &s;ay I, my heart is towards the Governours of England, our <HI>Parliament Patriots,</HI> that offered them&s;elves willingly among the people: <HI>Ble&s;&s;e ye the Lord.</HI> Ble&s;&s;e ye the Lord that rai|&s;ed up their per&s;ons, and their &s;pirits, to &s;tand for the publick Good of <HI>Religion, Lawes</HI> and <HI>Liberties;</HI> and to &s;pend their time, their &s;trength, their e&s;tates, their credits and honour, and lives for the &s;ame: And ble&s;&s;ed be they of the Lord, and their po&s;terities after them for ever. My heart is al&s;o towards tho&s;e <HI>Noble Commanders</HI> and common <HI>Souldiers,</HI> that have offered them&s;elves willingly among the people, and have jeoparded their lives in the high places of the field, ble&s;&s;e ye the Lord that rai&s;ed up their &s;pirits to &s;uch a pitch of <HI>Magnanimity</HI> and <HI>Re&s;olution,</HI> and ble&s;&s;ed be they of the Lord; let their lives and names be precious with the Lord, and with the generations to come. La&s;tly, my heart is to|wards the <HI>Honourable City</HI> and <HI>Citizens,</HI> that offered them|&s;elves and their e&s;tates willingly among and above all the Cities of the Kingdome, to the almo&s;t exhau&s;ting of their wealth and trea&s;ure, to the publick Good of the whole Land: Ble&s;&s;e ye the Lord, that &s;tirred them up; and ble&s;&s;ed be they of the Lord for ever: the Lord recompence it upon them and theirs &s;evenfold. This is the lea&s;t we can doe for them, that have bn <HI>In&s;truments</HI> of the <HI>publick Good:</HI> Render to every one their due Honour to whom Honour belongeth, &amp;c.</P>
<P N="4">4. It may be a ground of <HI>Exhortation</HI> to all, <HI>e&s;pecially</HI> to tho&s;e who are <HI>publicke</HI> per&s;ons,<NOTE PLACE="marg">4 U&s;e: Ex|h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">rt<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">tion to get pu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">licke &s;p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">rits.</NOTE> to &s;tudy and endeavour the publicke Good, above their owne, with neglect of their owne &s;ometimes; and to this end, to labour for publicke &s;pirits: every man to contribute his abilities of what kinde &s;oever, to be &s;erviceable to the Community. As above in the heavens, every Starre, even the lea&s;t contributes its light and influence to the world, e&s;pecially tho&s;e of greater <HI>magni|tude:</HI> So let it be on earth, in a Church, in a State, every one ca&s;t in &s;omething to the publicke <HI>Trea&s;ury:</HI> Some their
<PB N="37" REF="21"> <HI>wi&s;dome</HI> and parts: Some their <HI>e&s;tates:</HI> Some their <HI>&s;trength:</HI> Some their <HI>per&s;ons</HI> and lives; all their prayers.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1. Per&s;waded.</NOTE> For the per|&s;wading of this, con&s;ider the&s;e things:</P>
<P N="1">1. We cannot (as hath been &s;aid) otherwi&s;e approve our &s;elves to God, to men, or to our owne con&s;ciences,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1. This an e|vidence of Goodne&s;&s;e.</NOTE> that we are Good men, have any true Goodne&s;&s;e, true Grace, true Religion. A <HI>Good</HI> man is a publicke <HI>Good,</HI> both <HI>Pa&s;&s;ively</HI> and <HI>Actively;</HI> is Good, and doth Good: A private &s;pirit is an evidence of a naturall heart. It was not a good &s;peech of the trees in the parable; Shall I leave my fatne&s;&s;e or my &s;weetne&s;&s;e, &amp;c. to be promoted over the trees, to goe up and downe for other trees? we mu&s;t, if we be trees of Gods Paradi&s;e, of Gods planting. <HI>He &s;hall be like a tree planted by the waters &s;ide, that brings forth his fruit in his &s;ea&s;on, P&s;al.</HI> 1. All times a re&s;ea&s;onable for a Chri&s;tians fruit, and &s;o are all places: He hath his fruit in private, but mo&s;t in publick.</P>
<P N="2">2. This is the end of all our <HI>Abilities;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2. It is the end of all abi|lities.</NOTE> <HI>Non nobis &s;olum nati, &amp;c.</HI> is a <HI>Proverbiall</HI> &s;peech among&s;t the very Heathens: we were not borne for our &s;elves, nor live for our &s;elves; our parents challenge a part, our kindred and friends a part, our Country, our Religion, all: We are but Stewards entru&s;ted with our Ma&s;ters Trea&s;ure, to be di&s;tributed and layd out for the Good of the familie: We are but Servants or <HI>Apprenti|ces,</HI> that have nothing properly our owne; we come into the world to &s;erve our generation: It is the Scripture phra&s;e, &s;poken of a King, King <HI>David,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">. <HI>Acts</HI> 13.36. <HI>When he had &s;erved his generation, he fell a&s;leepe.</HI> In the great world, all creatures <HI>contribute</HI> their &s;hare to the main|tenance of the Communitie: No creature is made for it &s;elfe, none acts for it &s;elfe, none lives to it &s;elfe but an idle per&s;on, and a Newter. The &s;heepe, and bees, and the re&s;t, pay their tribute to Man, <HI>Sic vos non vobis, &amp;c.</HI> and the bees in the hives do not fill their cells with hony for their owne private u&s;e, but every owne brings in, and layes up, as in a common trea&s;urie; and drones are either killed, or bani&s;hed from that little Commonwealth: In the body <HI>naturall,</HI> every member is a publick &s;ervant, to the whole <HI>Corporation.</HI> And &s;hall
<PB N="38" REF="22"> <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> in the body <HI>my&s;ticall,</HI> or Citizens in the body <HI>politicall,</HI> vary from all the re&s;t, and live only to them&s;elves.</P>
<P N="3">3. This is very <HI>rea&s;onable:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">3. It is very Rea&s;onable.</NOTE> There's none but lives upon the common &s;tocke, none but de&s;ires to partake, and &s;hare, in the Publick Good, of peace, plenty, liberty, lawes, reli|gion: what rea&s;on or equitie, they &s;hould expect it, if they contribute nothing to it. Shall all other men, all other crea|turs be made &s;erviceable to them, and they to no body? How can men de&s;ire of God with the P&s;almi&s;t? <HI>That they may &s;ee the Good of his cho&s;en, that they may rejoice in the gladne&s;&s;e of his nation, that they may glory with his inheritance,</HI> P&s;al. 106.5. if they have not &s;ome way or other lent their a&s;&s;i&s;tance to the procuring of it. If they will not <HI>&s;uffer</HI> with Gods people, is it rea&s;on they &s;hould <HI>raigne,</HI> or <HI>rejoice</HI> with them? Such men may ju&s;tly feare, that they &s;hall bee bla&s;ted by death, or otherwi&s;e, that they &s;hall never &s;ee the Good of Gods cho&s;en, or not have any comfort in it, though they &s;ee it. As the Prophet &s;ayd to that unbeleeving <HI>Prince,</HI> that doubted the plenty prophe&s;ied, as a thing impo&s;&s;ible, though God &s;hould open the windowes of heaven; <HI>Behold (&s;ayes he) thou &s;halt &s;ee it with thine eies, but thou &s;halt not eate therof:</HI> 2. <HI>Ki.</HI> 7.2. And it was made good upon him, <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 20. <HI>For the people trode upon him in the gate and he died.</HI> Let that be con&s;idered.</P>
<P N="4">4. It is very dangerous to have <HI>private</HI> Spirits,<NOTE PLACE="marg">4. A private Spirit is very danger<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">us. In re&s;pect</NOTE> in the <HI>publick</HI> cau&s;es of God, and his people, both, in re&s;pect of men, and God: <HI>Newters</HI> commonly fare wor&s;t. Fir&s;t in re|gard of men,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1. Of men.</NOTE> they at lea&s;t fall fowle upon &s;uch, both &s;ides &s;ometimes. Experience tells us of &s;ome, that for their <HI>Neutralitie</HI> have been plundered by both &s;ides. See but an in&s;tance of this in Scripture, <HI>Iudg.</HI> 8.15.16.17. How &s;harply did <HI>Gideon</HI> revenge him&s;elfe upon the men of <HI>Succoth</HI> and <HI>Penuel:</HI> for what? for <HI>complying</HI> with his enemies? no, but for their <HI>Neutralitie,</HI> and not affoording him a &s;mall a&s;|&s;i&s;tance. <HI>He tooke the Princes of Succoth, and the Elders thereof, even three&s;core and &s;eventeene men, and thornes of the wilderne&s;&s;e, and bryers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth: And he beat downe the towre of Penuel, and &s;lew the men of the City.</HI>
<PB N="39" REF="22"> And I have heard a French &s;torie, of a certaine Prince that in a warre betweene the <HI>Emperour,</HI> and the <HI>French</HI> King, complyed &s;ecretly with both &s;ides, which being di&s;covered to both, by letters intercepted, they both agreed to fall upon and breake him, before they fell upon one another.</P>
<P>But Secondly, if they e&s;cape with men, God<NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Of God.</NOTE> will be &s;ure to meete with them wor&s;e. That bitter execration of <HI>Meroz,</HI> is well <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nough knowne, <HI>Iudg.</HI> 5.23. <HI>Cur&s;e ye Meroz, &s;aies the Angel of the Lord, cur&s;e ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof, becau&s;e they came not up to helpe the Lord, to helpe the Lord again&s;t the mightie.</HI> And <HI>Mordecais</HI> me&s;&s;age is al&s;o well knowne: <HI>If thou altogether hold thy peace at this time, delive|rance &s;hall come, but thou and thy Fathers hou&s;e &s;hall peri&s;h.</HI></P>
<P N="5">5. This is very profitable<NOTE PLACE="marg">5. This is ve|ry profitable.</NOTE> for a mans &s;elfe; For what e|ver any man ventures in the publick cau&s;es of God and Re|ligion, &amp;c. this is the be&s;t way, 1. to <HI>Secure</HI> it, 2. to <HI>Repaire</HI> it, 3. to <HI>Improve</HI> it. Fir&s;t, to <HI>&s;ecure</HI> it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1. To Secure.</NOTE> be it credit, e&s;tate, life, any thing: we have a promi&s;e for this, <HI>He that will &s;ave his life &s;hall lo&s;e it, but he that will lo&s;e his life for my &s;ake and the Go&s;pels, &s;hall &s;ave it.</HI> Say the &s;ame of e&s;tate, of credit, &amp;c. The way to &s;ave it, is to lo&s;e it, and the way to lo&s;e it, is to &s;ave it. Men think, now in the&s;e trouble&s;ome times, to &s;ave their own &s;take, by &s;paring from the publick cau&s;e: if things fall out ill, they will have &s;omething to live on. No, this is the way to lo&s;e all, in the lo&s;&s;e of the publick. For in rea&s;on we &s;ee, the &s;afety of every mans <HI>cabin</HI> in a &s;hip, con&s;i&s;ts in the &s;afety of the &s;hip, not the &s;afety of the &s;hip in the &s;afety of the cabine; if the &s;hip &s;inke, what will become of his cabine? Secondly, Suppo&s;e a man &s;hould lo&s;e what he ventures for the pub|licke Good, yet God can ea&s;ily <HI>repaire</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2. To Repare.</NOTE> it. Be it e&s;tate, or credit, or life it &s;elfe: Our Saviour in the former &s;peech &s;up|po&s;es a man may lo&s;e his life, for his &s;ake and the Go&s;pels; how then can he &s;ave it? He meanes he &s;hall not finally lo&s;e it, but have it againe <HI>repaired</HI> and re&s;tored. Sometimes a man does but <HI>re&s;olve</HI> to venture it, or lo&s;e it, and God will not let him lo&s;e it, but &s;aves it for him. As when <HI>Abraham</HI> had brought of his heart to offer up his &s;onne, God would
<PB N="40" REF="23"> not let him: So here many times, when a man is re&s;olved to venture all he hath, God is plea&s;ed to accept of the will for the deed, and to continue it to him; and this is a kind of <HI>Reparation:</HI> But if he doe actually lo&s;e any thing. God is able to make it good to him againe, which men cannot al|waies doe, e&s;pecially not in matter of life. Thirdly, this is very good policie to <HI>improve</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">3. To Im|prove.</NOTE> our e&s;tates, &amp;c. &amp; the readie&s;t way to advance them: We have a promi&s;e al&s;o for this, if we dur&s;t beleeve it; <HI>He that &s;hall for&s;ake heu&s;e, or land, or life, &amp;c. &s;hall receive an hundred fold in this life, and in the world to come, life everla&s;ting.</HI> Men trade for a great deale le&s;&s;e pro|fit; eight or ten, or twenty in the hundred, is thought good gaine: but here is a hundred for one; who would not, who &s;hould not venture here, if he did beleeve this promi&s;e to be true?</P>
<P N="6"><NOTE PLACE="marg">6. It is mo&s;t Comfortable. Dulce &amp; de|corum e&s;t pro patria mori.</NOTE>6. La&s;tly, as it is very <HI>Honourable,</HI> as we &s;ay, in tho&s;e In&s;tances before mentioned, of <HI>Mo&s;es, David, Jehojada, Mordecai, Nehemiah, Paul,</HI> who &s;tand <HI>Renowned</HI> upon Record; &s;o it is mo&s;t <HI>Comfortable,</HI> in life, in death, when a man can looke back upon that practick Good which he hath done, and hence collect an evidence of his true <HI>Grace</HI> and reall <HI>Goodne&s;&s;e,</HI> he may &s;ay with that holy Apo&s;tle; <HI>This is our re|joycing, even the te&s;timony of our con&s;cience, that in all godly &s;incerity we have had our conver&s;ation in the world.</HI> 2. <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.12. And as this is the comfort of his life; &s;o when a man &s;hall come to lye upon his &s;ick bed, or death bed, he may com|fortably plead it with God, as <HI>Hezekiah</HI> (one of the great Reformers of Religion) did in a like ca&s;e, <HI>Lord remember how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy &s;ight, J&s;ai.</HI> 38.3. Or as <HI>Nehemiah,</HI> after all his great undertakings for the <HI>publicke Good, Thinke upon mee, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people: Nehe.</HI> 5.19. <HI>and</HI> 13.22.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Directed.</NOTE>More might be added, but the&s;e may &s;uffice, in way of <HI>Mo|tive:</HI> I &s;hall only adde a few <HI>directions,</HI> as <HI>meanes</HI> to procure a <HI>publick Spirit,</HI> and then conclude. Take the&s;e,</P>
<P N="1">1. The prime and principall is, to be <HI>Good men,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1. Be Good m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">n.</NOTE> Religious,
<PB N="41" REF="23"> not only in <HI>&s;hew,</HI> but in <HI>truth.</HI> Get from God a new heart and a new &s;pirit; the old is a narrow, private, &s;elfi&s;h &s;pirit: They that are men of publick &s;pirits, mu&s;t be <HI>&s;piritually wi&s;e men</HI> (as the text cals them:) The wi&s;dome of the world is to be wi&s;e to a mans &s;elfe, <HI>Nemo &s;apit, qui &s;ibi non &s;apit,</HI> is a <HI>proverb</HI> of Nature, he is not wi&s;e, that is not wi&s;e to him&s;elfe: But on|ly <HI>the wi&s;dome which is from above, is fir&s;t pure, then gentle, &amp;c. full of mercy and good fruits,</HI> as it is de&s;cribed, <HI>Jam.</HI> 3.17. <HI>Wi&s;e men turne away wrath.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. The next is to be <HI>meek</HI> and humble men:<NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Be me<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ke men.</NOTE> <HI>Wi&s;e men</HI> in the text are oppo&s;ed to <HI>Scornfull men,</HI> who are ever <HI>proud</HI> men; and we heare of the <HI>meekne&s;&s;e of wi&s;dome, Jam.</HI> 3.13. as we noted at the beginning. Now <HI>Meekne&s;&s;e</HI> fits a man for doing of publicke Good, and that two wayes: Fir&s;t, it hath a winning and in&s;inuating Nature, to allay wrath and fury, and con&s;equently tumults, contentions, &s;editions, and the like, which bring a City into a <HI>&s;nare,</HI> or &s;et it on <HI>fire,</HI> ac|cording as it is in the Text. For this, <HI>Salomon</HI> tells us, <HI>Prov.</HI> 15.1. <HI>A &s;oft an&s;wer turneth away wrath, but grievous words</HI> (of proud and &s;cornfull men) <HI>&s;tir up anger.</HI> And <HI>Prov.</HI> 29.15. <HI>By long forbearing is a Prince per&s;waded, and a &s;oft tongue brea|keth the bone.</HI> We have an In&s;tance in <HI>Gideon, Judg.</HI> 8.2, 3. and in the <HI>Town-clarke</HI> of <HI>Ephe&s;us, Act.</HI> 19.35. in laying that &s;torme and tumult rai&s;ed by <HI>Demetrius.</HI> Secondly, <HI>meekne&s;&s;e</HI> makes a man &s;toop and condi&s;cend from his owne Great|ne&s;&s;e, to the meane&s;t &s;ervice and imployment for the <HI>publick Good.</HI> A proud heart as it ever <HI>envyes</HI> tho&s;e that are <HI>honoured</HI> for their publick &s;ervice, &s;o he <HI>&s;corns</HI> to work for the publick Good, unle&s;&s;e in &s;ome high and honourable way: &s;hall &s;uch a man as I, &s;o parted, &s;o gifted, &s;o advanced, &s;o enriched, &s;toop to &s;uch and &s;uch meane and low imployments? &s;hall I, that am a learned Rabbi of the times, condi&s;cend to teach the ignorant, &s;imple, poore people? leave that to the poore <HI>Curate.</HI> Shall I that am by birth a merit, ennobled, &s;hall I leave my fatne&s;&s;e, my &s;weetne&s;&s;e to go up and down for other trees? Now a <HI>meek &s;pirit,</HI> will be content to be any thing,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Judg. 9.9.</NOTE> to do any thing, &s;o he may but advance the common Good.</P>
<P N="3"><PB N="42" REF="24">3. Another direction is, to learne well the fir&s;t Le&s;&s;on in <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> Schoole, <HI>Selfe-deniall:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">3. Learn &s;elf-deniall.</NOTE> This <HI>Self</HI> is it that hinders all <HI>publick Good.</HI> Men are naturally <HI>lovers of them&s;elves,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">; but in the&s;e la&s;t and wor&s;t times more then before, as it is prophe&s;ied 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 3.2. <HI>Lovers of their owne &s;elves,</HI> as it is well rendered by our <HI>Tran&s;lators,</HI> that is, &s;o lovers of them&s;elves, that they &s;carce love any body el&s;e, not their owne fle&s;h and bloud, their po&s;terity (which yet in &s;ome ca&s;es they love too well:) As the parents of the blinde man, when there was hazard to acknowledge Chri&s;t, fairly gave him leave to an|&s;wer for him&s;elfe, <HI>He is of age, aske him, he &s;hall &s;peake for him|&s;elfe. The&s;e words &s;pake his parents, becau&s;e they feared the Jewes; for the Jewes had agreed already, that if any man did con|fe&s;&s;e that he was Chri&s;t, he &s;hould be put out of the Synagogue, John</HI> 9.21, 22, 23. <HI>Therefore &s;aid his parents, he is of age, aske him.</HI> Never was there more of this <HI>Selfe-love</HI> &s;een, then in the&s;e times; when we &s;ee, not only brothers unnaturally to fight again&s;t brothers, but even children a|gain&s;t parents, and which is mo&s;t of all unnaturall, even pa|rents again&s;t children: The Apo&s;tle joynes tho&s;e two toge|ther, <GAP DESC="foreign">; <HI>Lovers of them&s;elves without naturall affection,</HI> in the place afore mentioned. Till this <HI>Selfe,</HI> this <HI>Selfe-love</HI> be denyed, men cannot goe, or looke beyond them&s;elves.</P>
<P N="4">4. La&s;tly, to adde no more, get your hearts filled with the <HI>love</HI> of God, and of his people:<NOTE PLACE="marg">4. L<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ve God and his people</NOTE> Love is liberall and bounti|full, <HI>Charity &s;uffereth long, and is kinde; charity envyeth not; charity vaunteth not it &s;elfe, is not puft up, doth not behave it &s;elfe un&s;eemly, &s;eeketh not her owne</HI> (marke that) <HI>is not ea&s;ily provo|ked, endureth all things,</HI> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 13.4, 5, 6. Yea <HI>Love</HI> will make a man not to thinke his life deare for the publicke Good: <HI>Greater love than this hath no man, than to lay downe his life for his friend, John</HI> 15.13. And therefore the Apo&s;tle having &s;aid, <HI>If God &s;o loved us, we ought al&s;o to love one another,</HI> 1 <HI>John.</HI> 4.11. he &s;hewes how far this love will carry us, cap. 3.16. <HI>Hereby perceive we the love of God, becau&s;e he laid downe his life for us, and we ought to lay downe our lives for the brethren.</HI> We are
<PB N="43" REF="24"> now at the highe&s;t degree of <HI>Love,</HI> and the greate&s;t act of a <HI>publicke &s;pirit,</HI> to venture his <HI>life</HI> for the publick Good; Grea|ter love then this hath no man, no man can &s;hew greater Goodne&s;&s;e then this: Here therefore I &s;tay. Con&s;ider what I have &s;aid, and the Lord give you under&s;tanding and pra|cti&s;e in all things. Amen.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="order">
<HEAD>Vltimo Ianuar. <HI>1643.</HI></HEAD>
<P>IT is this day Ordered by the Commons a&s;&s;embled in Parliament; That Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher Yelverton,</HI> &s;hall from this Hou&s;e give thanks unto Mr. <HI>Daniel Caw|drey</HI> for the great paines he tooke in the Sermon he this day preached (at the intreaty of this Hou&s;e) at St. <HI>Mar|garets</HI> in the City of We&s;tmin&s;ter, it being the day of publicke Humiliation, and to de&s;ire him to Print his Sermon. It is al&s;o Ordered, that no body &s;hall Print his &s;aid Sermon, but he whom &s;hall be authori&s;ed by the &s;aid Mr. <HI>Cawdrey,</HI> under his hand writing.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED><HI>H. El&s;ynge Cler. Parl. D. Con<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="order">
<P>I Doe appoint <HI>Charles Greene</HI> and <HI>P. W.</HI> to Print my Ser|mon.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>DANIEL CAVVDREY.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</BACK>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
