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<DATE>2011-12-08</DATE>
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<NAME>Leah Yurasek</NAME>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P> TWO ASSIZE SERMONS Preached at <HI>Bridgnorth</HI> for the County of <HI>Salop</HI> in the year 1657.</P>
<Q><BIBL>The fir&s;t, upon P&s;alm 58. ver&s;e 1.</BIBL>
<P><HI>Doe you indeed &s;peak Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, O Congregation?</HI></P>
<P><HI>Doe ye judge uprightly, O ye &s;onnes of men?</HI></P></Q>
<Q><BIBL>The &s;econd, upon P&s;alm 37. ver&s;e 37.</BIBL> <HI>Marke the perfect man, and behold the upright: For the end of that man is peace?</HI></Q>
<P>By MICH. THOMAS;</P>
<P>Rector of <HI>Stockton</HI> in the &s;ame COUNTY.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed by <HI>W. Wil&s;on</HI> for <HI>Humphrey Mo&s;eley,</HI> and are to bee &s;old at his Shop, at the <HI>Prince</HI>'s <HI>Armes</HI> in S. <HI>Paul</HI>'s Church-yard. 1659.</P>
<PB REF="2" MS="y">
<PB REF="3">
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<GROUP>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="3">
<P> A SERMON, Preached at the ASSIZES Held at BRIDGNORTH For the County of <HI>Salop</HI> in the year, 1657.</P>
<P>On the Fir&s;t day of the A&s;&s;izes, By <HI>Mich: Thomas,</HI> Rector of <HI>Sockton</HI> in the &s;ame COUNTY.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>Humphrey Mo&s;eley</HI> at the <HI>Prince</HI>'s <HI>Armes</HI> in St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s Church-yard. 1659.</P>
<PB REF="4">
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="4">
<HEAD><HI>TO MY WORTHY FRIEND MAJOR</HI> EDMUND WARING.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>SIR,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_WHen the Command of the Power of this County, both Civill and Military, was committed to your care and ma|nagement; you were plea&s;ed to ex|erci&s;e a little of that power you had over me, in de&s;iring me (and your de&s;ires are commands) accor|ding to my Function, to attend upon the Judges.</P>
<P>You cannot but &s;ay, you found
<PB REF="5"> me both willing &amp; obedient. And I undertook the work, upon a threefold encouragement.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>Fir&s;t, as it was a Service to your Selfe.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Secondly, as it was a Service to my Country.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Thirdly, as it was a Service to the Lord.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>For your &s;elfe; I am glad that I have occa&s;ion to make this pub|like profe&s;&s;ion, that I am very &s;en|&s;ible of tho&s;e great Civilities, I have received from you. I know, that, by the laws of Friend&s;hip, where there are receits, there &s;hould be returnes; which though they do not an&s;wer in proportion, are yet compleated by their inten|tion.</P>
<P>I have alwayes thought, That to be the truest love, which projects
<PB REF="5"> and works to the good of Souls. It is &s;trange, that men &s;hould de|light in the &s;ociety, and neigh|bourhood of each other in this; and not de&s;ire to meet, and live together, in Another world: That they &s;hould &s;tudy the Comfort, and Welfare of each other, in re&s;pect of their Per&s;ons and E&s;tates, and not be&s;tow a thought on their Sal|vation.</P>
<P>Devout <HI>Bernard</HI> complain'd of old; <HI>Omnes amici, et omnes inimici: omnes nece&s;&s;arii, et omnes adver&s;arii; pax &agrave; pa|ganis, &s;ed non &agrave; filiis:</HI> and we are fallen into &s;uch times. There is a generall pretence of amity, yet a generall emnity: we are all neigh|bours, yet all adver&s;aries; we have peace with the heathen, and we Christians differ among our
<PB REF="6"> &s;elves: Our divi&s;ions are the &s;parks of that fire, which our ble&s;&s;ed Saviour came to kindle, namely about the purity and pow|er of Evangelicall doctrines and ordinances. We agree about the &s;ub&s;tance of divine wor&s;hip, and conte&s;t about the circum&s;tances.</P>
<P>It is our &s;inne, and our &s;hame, that we out-doe the Jewes in our malice again&s;t Chri&s;t: They cruci|fied his body, but kept his gar|ment whole: we teare both his bo|dy and his garment. We di&s;pute, and wrangle about tho&s;e reverend &s;olemnities, wherewith the Chri|&s;tian religion in all ages, and a|mong all nations, hath bin appa|relled and adorned.</P>
<P>But we &s;hould all &s;it downe, and con&s;ider, what St. <HI>James</HI> &s;ayes; The wrath of man worketh
<PB REF="6"> not the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God, <HI>Jam.</HI> 1. 20. When all's done, when all is written and &s;poken that can be, on either &s;ide; The work of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e must be minded and regarded. That's &s;oul-work. That will be the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e of inqeu&s;t at the la&s;t day: The que&s;tion then will not be, Who hath bin the be&s;t Souldier, nor who the be&s;t Scholler, but who hath bin the best Chri|&s;tian.</P>
<P>Sir, Upon this meditation, I thought no argument more proper for &s;uch a &s;olemne Convention, than this of Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e. It is a doctrine of univer&s;all concern|ment, and &s;ince you were plea&s;ed to call me to preach the&s;e two Ser|mons, I conceived it the be&s;t ex|pre&s;&s;ion of a reall affection, to pre&s;ent them to You, as a te&s;ti|mony,
<PB REF="7"> that I am an hearty wi&s;her both of your pre&s;ent and future happine&s;&s;e: That as you have bin a man of Warre, &s;o by the &s;tudy and acque&s;t of that righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e which is taught and re|commended in the&s;e di&s;cour&s;es, your end may be Peace.</P>
<P>The &s;econd encouragement was the Service of my Country: for which (though not my native) I have a great ob&s;ervance and re|&s;pect. I came a poor &s;tranger in|to it, yet have received many, and great favours from &s;ome eminent members of it; and no &s;mall ones, from the generality. Their candid cen&s;ures, and acceptance of my weake labours in this kind, was not the lea&s;t motive to undertake this &s;ervice. And they are able to te&s;tifie for me, that &s;o often as I
<PB REF="7"> have appear'd in it, my di&s;cour&s;e hath had a tendency this way, to in&s;truct in &s;ome point of righte|ou&s;ne&s;se, that, through the ble&s;&s;ing of God upon his Ordinance, I might redeem the reputation of this County from an unhappy obloquie it lay under.</P>
<P>The Third Encouragement, which was the highe&s;t and the greate&s;t, was the Service of the Lord; who&s;e honour and glory we &s;hould all &s;tudy and endeavour to promote and advance, and which we can do in no better, or more ac|ceptable way, than by &s;peaking and doing righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>Sir, I humbly pre&s;ent the&s;e plain Di&s;cour&s;es to your, and my Countrie's; &s;ervice but more e&s;pe|cially I devote them to the Glory of our God, who&s;e unprofitable
<PB REF="8"> &s;ervant I am, but de&s;ire to im|prove.</P>
<P>And as I have ca&s;t forth this holy &s;eed of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e into the world, &s;o I &s;hall not cea&s;e to be|&s;eech the Lord to water it with the dew of his grace, that it may bring forth the wi&s;hed fruits of it: Peace and quietne&s;&s;e and a&s;&s;urance for ever.</P>
<P>This is the de&s;ire, and &s;hall be the prayer of</P>
<CLOSER><SALUTE>Sir,</SALUTE>
<SIGNED>Your affectionate Friend and Servant, MICH. THOMAS.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="1" REF="8">
<HEAD>A SERMON Preached at the A&s;&s;izes holden at <HI>Bridgenorth</HI> for the County of <HI>Salop,</HI> in the year, 1657.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL><GAP DESC="foreign">. P&s;alm 58. ver&s;e 1.</BIBL>
<Q>Doe ye indeed &s;peak righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e, O Congregation? Doe ye judge uprightly, O ye &s;onnes of men?</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_IF we inquire into the Argument, or Oc|ca&s;ion of this P&s;alm, and gue&s;&s;e aright at that; It will give us &s;ome light, to the proper Applica|tion of the Text. And I &s;hall
<PB N="2" REF="9"> neither wa&s;te the time, nor your patience in unnece&s;&s;ary quotations, or comparing the opinions of Expo&s;itors. I &s;hall pre&s;ent that conjecture which I humbly conceive the mo&s;t pro|bable, and &s;o proceed upon it.</P>
<P><HI>Lorinus,</HI> who with great indu&s;try hath collected the o|pinions of the Greek and La|tine Fathers; And <HI>Marlorate,</HI> who, with the like diligence, hath &s;ummed up the Judge|ments of the Divines of the Reformed Churches, do both agree in this, that this P&s;alm was written by <HI>David,</HI> and in|tended as an admonition to all the Officers of Ju&s;tice in the Court of <HI>Saul;</HI> that when <HI>Saul</HI> &s;hall call them to Councell, and they &s;hall be &s;itting in
<PB N="3" REF="9"> Judgment upon Him; that they vvould &s;peak righteou&s;|e&s;&s;e, and judge uprightly; that they would not hearken to the malicious informations of his Enemies, nor forme their Judgements according to the humour or the De&s;ignes of <HI>Saul,</HI> who&s;e Coun&s;ellours and Officers they were; but pru|dently, and equally to con&s;i|der both his Cau&s;e, and his Conver&s;ation, and to give &s;en|tence accordingly.</P>
<P>And allowing this to be the Argument or Occa&s;ion of the P&s;alm (as truly it is groun|ded upon very fair probabili|ties) you will ea&s;ily perceive, that the Text, in the proper Application of it, will have an influence upon this Con|gregation,
<PB N="4" REF="10"> and prove a word in &s;ea&s;on, in re&s;pect of the occa&s;ion of this &s;olemn Con|vention.</P>
<P>We are met at this time in the Name and fear of God, a|bout the work of Ju&s;tice: the Per&s;ons, and Cau&s;es of men, are to be weighed and examined; And as I cannot &s;ay that there are any <HI>Davids</HI> to be tryed at this A&s;&s;izes, men of &s;uch emi|nent Pietie and Integrity as He was: So I hope there are none of <HI>Saul's</HI> Officers here, neither Men of &s;uch pro&s;titute and mercenary con&s;ciences as they were: <HI>Omnia Dicta Do|mini, omnibus po&s;ita &s;unt,</HI> &s;ayes <HI>Tertullian.</HI> The words of God have a generall pro&s;pect; and though they may &s;eem a par|ticular
<PB N="5" REF="10"> Admonition to &s;ome few men, yet they intend a ge|nerall In&s;truction to all men who may be concerned in the like ca&s;e. This P&s;alm was written about a matter of Ju|&s;tice, and Judgement: and that is the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e wee are all met upon: And fora&s;much as the Admini&s;tration of Ju&s;tice in this Nation, is by the Prudence and Wi&s;edome of our fore-fa|thers, ca&s;t into that forme that in all judiciall proceedings there are many Parties; The &s;entence upon any cau&s;e, i&s;&s;ues not from the bo&s;ome of any Judge alone, &s;eeing he is tyed up to Proofs and Allegations: So that the mi&s;carriage in the worke of Ju&s;tice, may proceed from the corruption of tho&s;e
<PB N="6" REF="11"> parties which prepare a Cau&s;e for Sentence.</P>
<P>If the Coun&s;ellors &s;hall be corrupt and Covetous, and by their flouri&s;hing Eloquence &s;hall guild over a rotten Cau&s;e.</P>
<P>If the Witne&s;&s;es &s;hall be fal&s;e and malicious, and &s;eek rather their private revenge, than Publick Ju&s;tice.</P>
<P>If the Jury &s;hall be pack'd and partiall, or in&s;tructed to &s;weare according to the pri|vate intere&s;t of a Friend or a Landlord; there may prove &s;ad ob&s;tructions in the vvork of Ju&s;tice: this (as the Prophet <HI>Amos</HI> &s;peaks) may turn judge|ment into gall, and the fruit of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e into hem|lock.</P>
<P>And therefore I &s;hall not
<PB N="7" REF="11"> addre&s;&s;e my di&s;cour&s;e to any particular Party, or Officer, in this great work of Ju&s;tice; but to all, who are in any re&s;pect concerned in it, and enforce Holy <HI>David</HI>'s admonition in the Text, That they would &s;peak righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and judge uprightly in all cau&s;es, and be|tween all parties: that &s;o Wickedne&s;&s;e and Impiety may have its condign puni&s;hment; and Innocence, and Hone&s;ty, their due protection and re|ward. And this is the de&s;ign and project of the en&s;uing di&s;|cour&s;e; for which I humbly en|treat your Chri&s;tian patience and the Lord's a&s;&s;i&s;tance.</P>
<P>The Text, you &s;ee, is pre&s;en|ted in the form of a Que&s;ti|on,
<PB N="8" REF="12"> but it appears by the Con|text, that it is &s;uch a Que&s;tion, which (as Divines ob&s;erve) hath <HI>vim Negationis;</HI> it implyes a denyal, like that of St. <HI>Paul,</HI> Doe we provoke the Lord to Jealou&s;ie? are we &s;tronger then He? No, wee are not. So here in the Text: Doe yee &s;peake righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e? doe ye Judge Uprightly? No, ye do not: for, their conviction followes in the &s;econd ver&s;e; <HI>Yea, in heart yee worke wickedne&s;se, and weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.</HI> So that the Text becomes (as <HI>Mu&s;culus</HI> hath it) an invective, or a reproofe of the iniquity and inju&s;tice of <HI>Saul's</HI> Officers, and Coun&s;ellours, that when according to that place and
<PB N="9" REF="12"> power which they had with <HI>Saul,</HI> they &s;hould have defend|ed and protected Him as an innocent per&s;on; they on the contrary pro&s;ecuted, and &s;en|tenc'd him as a &s;editious con|&s;piratour. And this reproofe is imbitter'd with terrible threatnings and imprecations, as we find in the body of the P&s;alm. And the&s;e <HI>David,</HI> in the Spirit of prophe&s;ie, breathes out, and denounces again&s;t them, as knowing that the Lord in his due time would plead his Cau&s;e, and by the glorious effects of his Power and Ju&s;tice would give men occa&s;ion to &s;ay: <HI>Verily there is a Reward for the Righteous? Doubtle&s;&s;e, there is a God that judgeth in the earth.</HI></P>
<PB N="10" REF="13">
<P> It well became the maje&s;ty of that Spirit by which <HI>David</HI> wrote, to convey his admoni|tion in that form, by way of reproof or invective: But it will become me, to ob&s;erve a greater di&s;tance. And I humbly crave leave to pre&s;ent that in|&s;truction, which I conceive due to this Auditory, and Occa&s;ion, by way of Exhortation. Let me exhort you (I &s;ay) <HI>ju&s;titiam loqui, &amp; recta judicare,</HI> to &s;peak righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and to judge uprightly. And when I have opened the Duty to you, and &s;hewn you what it is, and how it may be done; we &s;hall find, in the other words of the Text, weight enough to pre&s;s it by way of motive or con&s;i|deration. And this I &s;hall do
<PB N="11" REF="13"> (by Gods a&s;&s;i&s;tance,) with all re&s;pect to your Patience and Imployment.</P>
<P>For the Duty it &s;elfe, to de|clare unto you what Righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and Upright Judge|ment is; I &s;hall not perplexe your attention with the vari|ety of definitions, and di&s;tin|ctions which might be offer'd out of the School-men and Ca&s;ui&s;ts. In this fir&s;t part, I in|tend onely the edification of the common &s;ort of people, who now are, or hereafter may be concerned as parties in the Admini&s;tration of Ju&s;tice. To them I &s;ay this; Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e is a con&s;tant purpo&s;e and re|&s;olution, of giving to every one their own.</P>
<PB N="12" REF="14">
<P> And you may very ea&s;ily perceive how this Definition agrees with the Ca&s;e in the Text. <HI>David</HI> complaines of the Corruption, and Iniquity of tho&s;e that were Judges in his cau&s;e. <HI>Doeg</HI> was a fal&s;e wit|ne&s;s, and gave in a malicious in|formation again&s;t him. <HI>Saul</HI> was too apt of him&s;elfe to believe it; and yet he wanted not &s;ome flattering Courtiers, &s;ome per|chance of his privy Councell, who blew the Fire, and by their evill &s;ugge&s;tions, turn'd <HI>Sauls</HI> hatred and jealou&s;ie into a flame; that <HI>David</HI> was a &s;u&s;|pitious, di&s;contented per&s;on; and the Crown would not &s;it fa&s;t upon his head, while <HI>David</HI> lived: and with this unrighte|ous dealing, <HI>David</HI> charges them. Now,</P>
<PB N="13" REF="14">
<P> Had the&s;e men been endu|ed with the grace of Ju&s;tice, and Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e; had they had a con&s;tant purpo&s;e and re&s;olution of giving to every one their owne, that is, their due, then they had given <HI>Da|vid</HI> that Character and com|mendation which vvas due to him, namely this: That <HI>Da|vid</HI> was mi&s;-repre&s;ented to <HI>Saul;</HI> that he had given large te&s;timonyes of a peaceable and quiet Spirit; that he had &s;pared the Life of <HI>Saul,</HI> when it was in his power twice to have &s;laine him: Thus they &s;hould have &s;poken righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e; and defended an inno|cent per&s;on: But they did not. They wrought wickedne&s;&s;e in their hearts, as <HI>David</HI> &s;peaks
<PB N="14" REF="15"> here; they complied with <HI>Saul's</HI> humour in his bloody intenti|ons, and per&s;ecutions again&s;t <HI>David;</HI> and did not care though he peri&s;hed, &s;o long as they might &s;ecure their owne per&s;ons and fortunes.</P>
<P>But this ca&s;e, this tryall of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, doth not often happen, yet &s;ometimes it doth: And then, tho&s;e that are in power and authority in any State, cannot better improve their greatne&s;&s;e, than by coun|tenancing and &s;upporting op|pre&s;&s;ed Innocence. Holy <HI>Job</HI> in his own ju&s;t vindication, re|lates this, as one evidence of his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e; I delivered the poor that cryed, and the Fa|therle&s;&s;e, and him that had none to help him. The ble&s;&s;ing
<PB N="15" REF="15"> of him that was ready to pe|ri&s;h, came upon me; and I made the Widdows heart to &s;ing for joy. I brake the jaws of the Wicked, and pluckt the &s;poyle out of his teeth, Chap. 29.</P>
<P>Even the heathens by the light of nature, did di&s;cern this to be the duty of a Magi|&s;trate. <HI>Sudandum e&s;t his, qui Ma|gi&s;tratum gerunt, pro communi|bus commodis,</HI> &s;ayes <HI>Cicero:</HI> Such as undertake the office of Ma|gi&s;tracy, mu&s;t &s;weat and lay out them&s;elves for the com|mon good, mu&s;t endure &s;torms and emnityes, and conte&s;t; not only with unju&s;t and audaci|ous, but even with potent ad|ver&s;aries, in the defence of In|nocence. And <HI>Seneca</HI> reports it
<PB N="16" REF="16"> in the commendation of <HI>Cae&s;ar, Omnium domos illius vigilia defendit:</HI> He was a man of &s;uch a publicke Spirit, that his watchfullne&s;&s;e defended all mens hou&s;es; his labour and in|du&s;try &s;ecured all men in their ea&s;e, and plea&s;ures, and vocati|ons. A precedent, not unwor|thy of the knowledge and imi|tation of tho&s;e, who &s;hine as Starrs of the fir&s;t magnitude in the Orbe of Honour: and let them know, that they are then truly glorious, when their Goodne&s;&s;e &s;ends forth as bright a beame, as their Great|ne&s;&s;e; when they u&s;e their power, as well to defend the oppre&s;&s;ed, as to puni&s;h the tran&s;gre&s;&s;our.</P>
<P>But I mu&s;t not re&s;traine the
<PB N="17" REF="16"> worke of righteou&s;ne&s;s to this ca&s;e only; the duty is of a grea|ter latitude, and yet St. <HI>Augu|stine</HI> in his Enarration of this fifty eighth P&s;alme, hath redu|ced that great variety of ca&s;es, to that one Head which our ble&s;&s;ed Saviour in his Sermon layes down before us: <HI>What|&s;oever yee would that men &s;hould doe unto you, even &s;o doe ye unto them.</HI> This is the grand rule of Equity. He that ob&s;erves this rule, &s;hall thinke and &s;peak, and do righteou&s;ly, and be of an holy and blame|le&s;&s;e conver&s;ation: This (&s;ayes that Father) was the fir&s;t law which God wrote in the heart of Mankind. In matters of civill righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e and mora|lity, in all tho&s;e dutyes which
<PB N="18" REF="17"> we owe to our Neighbour, a man need but knock at his own heart, and ask, What &s;hall I do in &s;uch or &s;uch a tempta|tion? and he &s;hall hear this an&s;wer Ecchoing and &s;ound|ing thence: Do as thou would'&s;t be done by.</P>
<P>Would'&s;t thou, not have thy Children, or thy Servants di&s;|obedient or undutifull to thee? <HI>Honour thy Parents.</HI></P>
<P>Would'&s;t thou prolong thy Life to a good old Age? <HI>Do no Murder.</HI></P>
<P>Would'&s;t thou have thine owne Marriage-bed honoura|ble, and undefiled? <HI>Do not commit Adultery.</HI></P>
<P>Would&s;t thou po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e thy goods and e&s;tate in peace and &s;afety? <HI>Do not Steal.</HI></P>
<PB N="19" REF="17">
<P> Would'&s;t thou not be over|born in thy righteous cau&s;e by indirect proceedings? <HI>Do not bear fal&s;e witne&s;&s;e again&s;t thy neighbour.</HI></P>
<P>Would'&s;t thou enjoy thy own hou&s;e, and vvife, and &s;er|vants, and cattle, entire and without dammage to thy &s;elf? <HI>Covet nothing of thy Neighbours:</HI> Do as thou would&s;t be done by.</P>
<P>This rule (&s;ayes St <HI>Hierom)</HI> is <HI>Compendio&s;um commonitori|um. A breviate</HI> of the whole duty of man to his neighbour: If he would neither do evill to, nor &s;uffer evill from, his neighbour; let him remember This. <HI>Lorinus</HI> tells us, and <HI>Beza</HI> affirmes as much, that, in &s;ome Antient Greek Copyes,
<PB N="20" REF="18"> This rule of our ble&s;&s;ed Savi|our was in&s;erted by the Apo|&s;tles into their canons, in their fir&s;t Councell at Antioch. Having decreed, that they &s;hould ab&s;taine from meats offered to Idolls, and from bloud, and from things &s;trang|led, and from fornication, then it was added: <HI>And what|&s;oever yee would that men &s;hould doe unto you, doe &s;o unto them.</HI> As if this were the mo&s;t perfect rule for a Chri&s;ti|an to walk by.</P>
<P><HI>Lampridius</HI> tells us al&s;o, that the Emperour <HI>Alexander Se|verus,</HI> did &s;o highly prize this Rule, that He cau&s;ed it to be written in his Palace, and in many publike places; and that in his Military di&s;cipline,
<PB N="21" REF="18"> he was wont to puni&s;h his Souldiers in this manner; If upon their march they had plundered any thing, and were taken with it, they were brought back to the owner, and there in his fight and pre|&s;ence were beaten either with clubs, or with rods; and up|brayded in this manner. Would you be content that that &s;hould have been done to you, which you have done to him? You have robbed and &s;poyled this man of his goods would you be robbed and &s;poyl'd of your own? And be|ing thus upbrayded for tran&s;|gre&s;&s;ing this evident law of nature, he was di&s;mi&s;&s;'d with &s;hame and &s;orrow.</P>
<P>And (my Chri&s;tian Bre|thren)
<PB N="22" REF="19"> let us all with &s;hame and &s;orrow, con&s;ider our de|linquency in this ca&s;e, How contrary we have walked to this rule of Equity; either in an utter contempt, or forgetfull|ne&s;&s;e of it. How many poore Soules are there now in the Jayle, and to be tryed for their lives, who with a deep &s;orrow and remor&s;e of con&s;cience wi&s;h they had alwayes walked according to this rule. Such as are to be arraigned for Mur|der, or Felony, how pa&s;&s;ionate|ly do they wi&s;h, they could gather up that bloud which they have &s;pilt, and that they had kept their hands cleer from all acts of Violence and Robbery. But ala&s;s, it is too late, and 'tis to be feared that
<PB N="23" REF="19"> &s;ome of them mu&s;t yield up their lives, to &s;atisfie tho&s;e righteous and equall lawes, which they have tran&s;gre&s;|&s;ed.</P>
<P>And although our piety and our prayers are in a great mea|&s;ure due to Them, let us not forget Our &s;elves. Let us look into, and examine our owne hearts, whether we &s;tand not guilty before the Judge of all the World of many acts of unrighteou&s;ne&s;&s;e. Ala&s;s, it is but little, that our finns, are not written on our foreheads as theirs are; that they are not legible to the World in a pub|like inditement. The time will come, when we &s;hall be ar|raign'd in the Court of Con|&s;cience, and groan under the
<PB N="24" REF="20"> gnawings of that greedy worm, which nothing can &s;a|tisfie but a broken heart. Oh (my Bretheren) lets think up|on it. We know not how neer the day of the Lord, is. 'Tis 1600 years ago and upward, &s;ince St. <HI>James</HI> told us: <HI>The judge &s;tandeth at the doore.</HI> 'Tis his infinite patience and long-&s;uffering; that he doth not en|ter into Judgement with us. 'Twere wi&s;e and &s;afe, by a &s;peedy and unfeigned repen|tance to prepare to meet Him, and by faith to get on the Bre&s;t-plate of Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, by which only we &s;hall be able to &s;tand in that evill day.</P>
<P>But although we mu&s;t make mention of the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of CHRIST onely, in the
<PB N="25" REF="20"> point of ju&s;tification, yet there is a &s;tock of morall righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e we mu&s;t lay in too, to de|clare the truth and life of our faith, of which we have a preg|nant intimation in the Text. And having &s;hewn you the <HI>Quid,</HI> what this duty is that <HI>David</HI> enquires after: It fol|lowes now that I &s;hew you the <HI>Quomodo,</HI> How it is to be per|formed; which appeares in the words of the que&s;tion, <HI>Do ye indeed &s;peak righteou&s;ne&s;s? do ye judge uprightly?</HI></P>
<P>I &s;hall ob&s;erve in this part but two branches; for we may well conceive, that tho&s;e phra|&s;es, Speaking righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and judging uprightly; are but Synonyma, important of the &s;ame thing, and under that
<PB N="26" REF="21"> joynt-notion, I &s;hall con&s;ider them.</P>
<P>And then a &s;econd thing will be: This &s;peaking righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e (indeed); we &s;hall per|ceive &s;ome weight in that word, when I come to open it.</P>
<P>For the fir&s;t of the&s;e: How are we to &s;peak righteou&s;ne&s;s, or to judge uprightly?</P>
<P><HI>Mollerus</HI> tells, that &s;ome Ex|po&s;itours render the words thus; <HI>An cert&egrave; mutam ju&s;titiam loquimini?</HI> It &s;eemes to be an improper &s;peech: but they thus explaine it, that <HI>David</HI> charges the coun&s;ellours of <HI>Saul</HI> with an unju&s;t &s;ilence. Do ye &s;peak righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e? that is, Ye do not &s;peak righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e: ye do not declare that innocence and integrity,
<PB N="27" REF="21"> which in your owne con&s;cien|ces ye believe to be in me.</P>
<P>I touch'd upon this before, and &s;hewed you, what reflecti|on it might have upon the great Officers and Coun&s;el|lours of State; let me in a word or two bring it a little lower.</P>
<P>As it may be a fault in a Wit|ne&s;&s;e to depo&s;e more then the truth; &s;o it may be a fault to conceal any materiall circum|&s;tance, which may make for the di&s;covery of the truth. They had a proverb among the Antients, when a man would not &s;peak freely what he thought or knew in any cau&s;e, they would &s;ay: <HI>Bovem habet in lingua:</HI> He hath a bull in his tongue; the Atnenian money having the figure of a Bull,
<PB N="28" REF="22"> &s;tamp'd upon it: and by that proverb they would taxe him with bribery, that he had ta|ken money to hold his peace. And the like &s;coff was put up|on <HI>Demo&s;thenes,</HI> when, upon a gift received he would not plead, as he did again&s;t the Mele&s;ian Emba&s;&s;adours: <GAP DESC="foreign">, He had &s;wallowed a bribe, and that made his throat &s;ore: I have heard complaints in this kind. Poor men, when with great co&s;t and trouble, they have prepared their Cau&s;e for a hearing, have yet lo&s;t it; their witne&s;&s;es have bin cor|rupted to &s;ay le&s;&s;e then they knew; and their Coun&s;ell ta|ken off to attend other cau&s;es in other Courts; and &s;o all hath mi&s;carried for not &s;pea|king
<PB N="29" REF="22"> righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e: unrighte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e hath prevailed again&s;t him. But ile carry this note no further.</P>
<P>Let me now take up that terme in the Text (indeed), and weigh it to you, and you may receive &s;ome farther light and in&s;truction from it. The Lxx render it, <GAP DESC="foreign">, that is, Do ye <HI>truly</HI> &s;peak righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e? <HI>Apollinarius</HI> thus: <GAP DESC="foreign">; that is, do ye un|dauntedly &s;peak righteou&s;ne&s;s? So now we may gue&s;&s;e at holy <HI>Davids</HI> meaning. Do ye &s;peak righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e without feare, without favour, from the truth and &s;incerity of your hearts?</P>
<P>And now that I have clear'd the words, let all the Officers and Mini&s;ters of Ju&s;tice from
<PB N="30" REF="23"> the highe&s;t to the lowe&s;t, be plea&s;ed to &s;uffer a word of Ex|hortation.</P>
<P>There is no one thing, Re|ligion onely excepted, that more &s;ecureth and adorneth a State then ju&s;tice doth; It is both <HI>Columna &amp; Corona Rei|pub:</HI> A prop to make it &s;ub&s;i&s;t firme in it &s;elfe, and a crown to make it glorious in the eyes of others. <HI>Jus et Aequitas vin|cula Civitatum,</HI> &s;aies <HI>Cicero;</HI> As the Cement is to the Building: &s;o is Ju&s;tice to the Body-poli|tick; it holds all together. Bodies politick owe both their &s;trength, and their height to Ju&s;tice. So <HI>Solomon</HI> tells us: Righteou&s;ne&s;s e&s;tabli&s;heth the Throne, and exalteth the Na|tion.</P>
<PB N="31" REF="23">
<P> It was the Lords command to the officers of ju&s;tice in the 16 of <HI>Deuter: That which is altogether ju&s;t &s;halt thou follow. Ju&s;ti&s;&s;imam Ju&s;titiam &s;ectare, Tremelius</HI> renders it: The old Vulgar, <HI>Ju&s;tum ju&s;t&egrave; per&s;equere.</HI> According to the originall, we &s;hould read it, <HI>Ju&s;tice Ju&s;tice &s;halt thou follow.</HI></P>
<P>The Charge you &s;ee from the great Law-giver, is very &s;trict, pre&s;&s;ing all his under-officers to the execution of Ju&s;tice. We of this Nation are happy in an excellent body of Lawes, and we want but one Law more, to enforce Magi&s;trates to the execution of tho&s;e Lawes. Execution in Polity, is like Elocution in Oratory. <HI>Primum, Secundum, Tertium:</HI>
<PB N="32" REF="24"> The prime, and the maine, the all in all of it.</P>
<P>The Lord by his Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> commands, <HI>Keep ye judg|ment, and execute Ju&s;tice.</HI> Now it were a &s;ad thing if we &s;hould <HI>keep judgment</HI> as a Pri&s;oner, or <HI>execute</HI> it as a Malefactour. The Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> complain'd of &s;ome &s;uch, that did with|hold the truth in unrighteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e: but God forbid there &s;hould be any &s;uch found a|mong&s;t us, who by any ba&s;e arts &s;hould ob&s;truct the cour&s;e of judgment, or award a pu|ni&s;hment to any one, who hath walked according to antient and known Lawes.</P>
<P>The purpo&s;e of the Lord by his Prophet was this: <HI>keep Judgment:</HI> that is, declare it,
<PB N="33" REF="24"> lay open the Law in the grounds and rea&s;ons of it, and execute ju&s;tice, that is, ad|mini&s;ter it impartially, indif|ferently, and without re&s;pect of per&s;ons. The Jewes had a proverb; Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ours need a Se&s;&s;ions hou&s;e.</P>
<P>It is not enough that good Lawes are enacted by pious Princes and their Councell.</P>
<P>It is not enough that they are rightly under&s;tood by the Reverend and learned Judges.</P>
<P>Nor enough, that they are diligently enquired into by the Grand or petty Juries.</P>
<P>The maine thing, is, the ex|ecution of the Lawes, that un|righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e &s;hould not dare to out-face Ju&s;tice, that the Magi&s;trate do not withhold
<PB N="34" REF="25"> his hand from &s;eizing upon im|pudent iniquity. Remember the importance of this word in the Text <HI>[Indeed]:</HI> that ye &s;peake and doe righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>truly,</HI> without any by, or ba&s;e re&s;pects, and <GAP DESC="foreign">, with|out fear or care.</P>
<P>Self-re&s;pects are too often ob&s;tructions in the cour&s;e of Ju&s;tice. <HI>Viderit Utilitas,</HI> is no good motto for a Magi&s;trate. Favour may blear his eyes, but gifts will blind them: He that is <GAP DESC="foreign"> will ea&s;ily be|come <GAP DESC="foreign">, and that undoes all. Con&s;ider the ca&s;e in the Text, between <HI>SAUL</HI> and <HI>DAVID,</HI> and you will wonder the le&s;&s;e at the Cor|ruption of his Officers, when you hear the argument he ur|ged
<PB N="35" REF="25"> to them. He had intelli|gence that his Son <HI>Jonathan</HI> was in league with <HI>David,</HI> and, &s;u&s;pecting the revolt of other great Officers, he &s;peaks thus to them: Hear now ye <HI>Benja|mites:</HI> Will <HI>David</HI> give every one of you Fields and Vine|yards, and make you Captains of thou&s;ands, and Captains of hundreds? 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 22. 7. Here was an hook cunningly bai|ted, to draw them to his own party; and it is hard to &s;ay, in whom the Corruption was greater: In <HI>Saul</HI> to offer, or in his Officers to accept? in Him to &s;ugge&s;t a temptation, or in them to yeeld to it; but be|tween both, we know that <HI>David</HI> a man after Gods owne heart, was pur&s;ued and per&s;e|cuted.
<PB N="36" REF="26"> So <HI>David</HI> tells <HI>Saul:</HI> I have not &s;inned again&s;t thee, yet thou hunte&s;t my Soul to take it, 1 <HI>Samuel.</HI> 24. 11.</P>
<P>I per&s;wade my &s;elfe, you ne|ver readd the Hi&s;tory of <HI>David</HI> but it begat &s;ad thoughts in you, that a man &s;o innocent, &s;hould be &s;o violently pro&s;e|cuted: but &s;ee, what &s;elf re&s;|pects will doe, when once a man layes-by all care of piety and religion, and de&s;ignes no|thing but the advancement of his own private intere&s;t, Hee cannot &s;ay at what &s;inne he will &s;top. It is a great truth that of <HI>Solomon,</HI> Hee that re|ceiveth gifts over-throweth a land.</P>
<P><HI>Vir Oblationum</HI> according to
<PB N="37" REF="26"> the Original, A man that is rea|dy to receive any motion that &s;hall be offer'd him, if it come with a gift; A man that comes to an A&s;&s;izes, as <HI>Plutarch</HI> &s;aid of <HI>Stratocles, tanquam ad me&s;sem auream</HI> as to a golden Harve&s;t, and brings a mercenary tongue and con&s;cience with him; what man though never &s;o innocent can be &s;ecure of his life or for|tune? VVhen <HI>Judas</HI> opened his heart to the High Prie&s;t with that indication <HI>Quid da|bitis?</HI> What will ye give me? They knew they had an agent for their turne. He betrayes his Ma&s;ter, and &s;ells his bloud, though he knew it was inno|cent.</P>
<P>That mo&s;t Chri&s;tian duty of Selfe-denyall, runnes through
<PB N="38" REF="27"> all the offices of a mans life. It is the greate&s;t pre&s;erver of Peace and Unity, and righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e: He that hath learnt to deny Him&s;elfe, will never envy the happine&s;&s;e of his neighbour; much le&s;&s;e invade his rights or po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions, and with a violent hand &s;eize up|on them. He hath learnt with St. <HI>Paul,</HI> in what&s;oever &s;tate he is, therewith to be content; and to &s;uch as are in a better condition then him|&s;elfe, he can &s;ay, The ble&s;&s;ing of the Lord be upon you: I ble&s;&s;e you in the name of the LORD.</P>
<P>Againe to &s;peak Righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e truely, is to &s;peak it with|out favour. Favour in a Magi|&s;trate, when mi&s;demeanours
<PB N="39" REF="27"> are gro&s;&s;e and palpable, is the nur&s;e of Vice. St. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> calls it, the mother of all &s;in. It is not &s;eldome &s;eene, that when a man hath &s;pent his youth, and his &s;trength in the &s;ervice of &s;ome great One, he is at length rewarded with a Li|cence to hang up a Signe: and that proves perchance a Sign of drunkenne&s;&s;e, a &s;ign of un|thriftyne&s;&s;e, a &s;ign of wanton|ne&s;&s;e, a &s;ign of prophanne&s;&s;e, and all kind of wickedne&s;s. The Spirits of Godly men are vex|ed, to &s;ee &s;uch a confluence of all &s;orts to that Sign of &s;inne: and they doe not only grieve that that hou&s;e of &s;inne is &s;ometimes as full as the hou&s;e of God, but complaine of it; yet that Sign mu&s;t not be
<PB N="40" REF="28"> pull'd down: Why? He was my old Servant, and I mu&s;t winke at him. And this favour hath an evill influence upon his fellow Commi&s;&s;ioners: If he will winke, they mu&s;t not &s;ee. They mu&s;t &s;hew favour to his Servant, that their owne may find the like.</P>
<P>But what will be the end of this? He that will winke at the tre&s;pa&s;s of the Lawes in his &s;ervant, how pore-blind would he be toward a Friend, or a Kin&s;man? Yea, &s;tarke blinde, if a Sonne &s;hould be a tre&s;pa&s;|&s;er.</P>
<P>Such was the Ju&s;tice of the Heathens that they did not &s;tumble at greater &s;tones then the&s;e. <HI>Torquatus</HI> a Romane, and <HI>Zaleucus</HI> a Grecian, &s;pa|red
<PB N="41" REF="28"> not to give &s;entence even upon their own Sonnes. You know the old word, <HI>Amicus Plato &amp;c. Sed magis amica Veri|tas.</HI> Truth and Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e &s;hould be dearer to us then all the World be&s;ide; We may have a fair re&s;pect for &s;ervants, and friends, and kindred, and Children: but the peace of our Country, and the honour of Religion, and the glory of God &s;hould over-weigh all. Let the Chri&s;tian Magi&s;trate hear the Heathen Oratour <HI>Exuat per&s;o|nam Judicis, qui induit Amici.</HI> The affection of a friend fits not the function of a magi|&s;trate. He may &s;ay to his Ac|quaintance, In all matters of civility I am yours, but in mat|ters of Ju&s;tice I am God's, and
<PB N="42" REF="29"> my Country's &s;ervant.</P>
<P>Let me note but one thing more in this part, If yee would &s;peake Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e indeed, &s;peake it according to <HI>Apolli|narius Metaphra&s;e</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">: with|out feare. It was fear, no doubt that made <HI>Saul's</HI> Officers &s;o corrupt as they were. When &s;elfe-intere&s;t brought them to &s;erve him in his unrighte|ous de&s;ignes, &s;elfe-pre&s;ervation continued them in his &s;ervice: Their worldly wi&s;edome made them con&s;ider that, He that could give them fields and vineyards, and tho&s;e great commands, could as ea&s;ily take them away. And &s;uch as yeeld them&s;elves &s;ervants unto &s;inne for gaine; 'tis &s;ome que&s;tion, whether they would yeeld
<PB N="43" REF="29"> them&s;elves &s;ervants unto righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e, upon apparant di&s;|advantage. The Kingdome of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> was in a &s;ad &s;tate; when <HI>Naboth</HI> mu&s;t dye, rather than <HI>Je&s;abel</HI> be di&s;plea&s;ed: and <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> mu&s;t be Crucified, ra|ther than <HI>Pilate</HI> offend <HI>Cae&s;ar.</HI> And it will grow as &s;ad with us, if the portion of the Wid|dow, and the Fatherle&s;s may be &s;wallowed up; and neither Witne&s;s, nor Jury-man dare &s;peake his Con&s;cience, for feare of the mighty Oppre&s;|&s;our.</P>
<P>'Twas a noble courage in tho&s;e Antient Bi&s;hops, who be|ing charged by the <HI>Arrian</HI> Em|perour, to condemne <HI>Athana&s;ius</HI> without witne&s;s, and unheard, onely <HI>propter Me,</HI> on the Em|perour's
<PB N="44" REF="30"> word, refu&s;ed to do it; and would rather hazzard their e&s;tates, then do &s;uch an act of unju&s;tice. And let the feare of the Lord &s;o rule in all our hearts as not to feare the faces or frownes of men, by them to be over-awed or per|&s;waded to any act whereby the Glory of Chri&s;t, or his Go&s;pel may be di&s;paraged; or the right of our neighbour in any mea|&s;ure dimini&s;hed.</P>
<P>And now that I have &s;hewn you What Righteou&s;ne&s;s is, and how yee may &s;peake it <HI>in|deed,</HI> Let me begg but two minutes more of your Chri&s;ti|an patience for tho&s;e two Mo|tives or Con&s;iderations in the Text, that may pre&s;s you to them; and I have done.</P>
<PB N="45" REF="30">
<P> And the&s;e Motives will ri&s;e out of the Text, like a Party laid in ambu&s;h, and &s;urprize your Spirits, while you thinke not of them.</P>
<P>There are two motives to &s;peake righteou&s;ne&s;s, in tho&s;e two Compellations, with which <HI>David</HI> be&s;peaks the&s;e Officers of <HI>Saul.</HI></P>
<P><HI>O yee Congregation! O yee Sons of Men! Calvin</HI> conceives that <HI>David</HI> expre&s;ses him&s;elf thus by way of contempt. q. d: O yee &s;ervants of <HI>Saul!</HI> albeit when ye are met in Councell, ye &s;eem to be a Congregation, &s;uch a number of men, who&s;e power and policy, I, a poor fugitive, am not able to re&s;i&s;t; yet know, that yee are but the Sonnes of
<PB N="46" REF="31"> men. Ye, by your Coun&s;els, &s;eek to take away my life, and when ye have taken it, ye are but the Sons of men, Ye mu&s;t dye your &s;elves. <HI>Man that is born of a Woman</HI> (&s;ayes <HI>Job) is but of few dayes.</HI> The greater &s;hould our care be to &s;pend them well. And I &s;uppo&s;e that learned man, took the ground of this glo&s;s from the &s;ignification of the originall terme, <HI>Elem:</HI> which &s;ignifies <HI>Manipulus &s;picarum,</HI> a &s;heaffe of Straw or a bundle of Reeds: and in that &s;en&s;e it is found in the thirty &s;eventh of <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> ver&s;e &s;eventh, Where <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> relating his dream, tells his brethren: that their &s;heaves bowed to his &s;heafe. There's the word <HI>Elem.</HI></P>
<PB N="47" REF="31">
<P> And now you may perceive the weight of this Motive. That a Congregation of men, con&s;piring in an act of unrigh|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e, are but a &s;heafe of &s;traw, and a &s;heafe of &s;traw is nothing in the hand of God. God is a con&s;uming fire, &s;ayes the <HI>Apo&s;tle:</HI> and when <HI>God &s;hall come in flaming fire to render ven|geance to tho&s;e who obey not the Go&s;pell of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> what will become of this &s;heafe of &s;traw?</P>
<P>And it is con&s;iderable to this purpo&s;e, what <HI>David</HI> &s;peaks in the 82 <HI>P&s;alm, God &s;tandeth in the Congregation of the mighty,</HI> He judgeth among the Gods, ver&s;. 1.</P>
<P>Magi&s;trates are called Gods, becau&s;e they are advanced to
<PB N="48" REF="32"> do the work of God, for &s;uch is the work of Ju&s;tice. And &s;o <HI>Hezekiah</HI> told his Judges; See what ye do, For ye execute not the judgment of men, but of God.</P>
<P>Well, but yet God &s;tands in their Congregation. He is pre&s;ent at their Coun&s;ells, and He judges among them. He &s;ees, and knowes all their de|&s;ignes, how they are laid, and how they mu&s;t be carried on: and then, as it is in the &s;econd <HI>P&s;alm, When the Rulers took Coun&s;ell again&s;t the Lord and a|gain&s;t his annointed,</HI> The Lord &s;at in Heaven and laughed at them, and had them in deri&s;i|on. But be plea&s;ed to reflect upon this pa&s;&s;age in this 82. <HI>P&s;alm, God &s;tandeth in the Con|gregation</HI>
<PB N="49" REF="32"> <HI>of the Mighty.</HI> The meaning is, as I &s;aid, He is pre|&s;ent. It is not enough that He looks down from Heaven, and &s;ees all Congregations afarre off, but he comes, and &s;tands in them. And &s;ome Expo&s;i|tors conceive, that God is pre&s;ented in that po&s;ture of &s;tanding, to denote His atten|tion. As you know it is with us, when we &s;it and heare a di&s;cour&s;e, which we would li&s;ten better to, we &s;tand up. And &s;o here. God is &s;aid to &s;tand: that is, he is &s;o pre&s;ent, as that al&s;o he is attentive. Nothing pa&s;&s;es but <HI>Deo a&s;tante, &amp; atte&s;tante,</HI> He is an eare-wit|ne&s;s, and an eye-witne&s;s, yea and an heart-witne&s;&s;e of all that is &s;aid, or thought, or
<PB N="50" REF="33"> done in any Congregation.</P>
<P>And this notion <HI>David</HI> did conceive very proper to inti|midate the hearts of his ene|mies, to re-mind them, that God &s;tands in their Congrega|tion, that He is pre&s;ent at all their meetings, and attentive to all their debates: that they are but a &s;heafe of &s;traw, he can break their band, and &s;cat|ter them as the chaffe before the wind. And that is the fir&s;t motive to incline us to &s;peak righteou&s;ly.</P>
<P>And the &s;econd is this. <HI>Let us con&s;ider that we are but the &s;onnes of Men.</HI></P>
<P>And upon this theme, Holy <HI>David</HI> in another P&s;alm, prea|ches to us a Lecture of Morta|lity. Surely (&s;ayes He) every
<PB N="51" REF="33"> man living is altogether vani|ty. In the 62 <HI>P&s;alm,</HI> He wraps up all mankind in that &s;heet of corruption: <HI>Men of low de|gree are vanity.</HI> True: there's but little doubt or di&s;pute of that: but what are men of an high degree? <HI>They are a lye.</HI> That is: There is no &s;afe de|pending on them, their breath is in their no&s;trills as well as other mens, and dye they mu&s;t; and dye they may, a&s;&s;oon as o|thers. So that, take the whole race of mankind together; High and low, Rich and poor, the meane and the Mighty, and lay them upon a ballance, and they are altogether lighter then vanity. And this was that which <HI>David</HI> intended in that 82 <HI>P&s;alm,</HI> when he &s;aid, <HI>He</HI>
<PB N="52" REF="34"> <HI>judgeth among the gods.</HI> If God did onely &s;tand in the Congre|gations of unrighteous men, and heard, and would do no|thing, the care were the le&s;s; yea (but &s;aies <HI>David</HI> here,) He &s;tands to judge.</P>
<P>It is acutely ob&s;erved by a late reverend Author; that God's <HI>&s;tanding</HI> in the fir&s;t ver&s;. hath reference to the fall of tho&s;e mighty ones in the &s;ixth and &s;eventh ver&s;es. I have &s;aid ye are Gods, and all children of the mo&s;t high, but ye &s;hall dye like men, and <HI>fall</HI> like one of the Princes. God is a &s;tanding God; He onely doth and will &s;tand, when all unrighteous men, how great &s;oever &s;hall fall, and fall to du&s;t. Their greatne&s;s cannot exempt them
<PB N="53" REF="34"> from the fir&s;t &s;tatute, <HI>Statutum e&s;t omnibus &s;emel mori,</HI> It is ap|pointed for all men once to dye; Nor from the &s;econd &s;ta|tute; <HI>et po&s;t mortem Judicium,</HI> and after death to come to Judgment.</P>
<P>Magi&s;trates, though they are called Gods, yet they are <HI>Dii &s;ub Judice;</HI> when they have judged others, they mu&s;t be judged them&s;elves. They are <HI>Dii caduci, &amp; Dii judicandi:</HI> Gods that &s;hall fall, and Gods that mu&s;t come to Judgment.</P>
<P>Now then for the Conclu|&s;ion of all. Let me recommend this one Meditation to you. I may call it an occa&s;ionall Me|ditation, becau&s;e you may have frequent occa&s;ions to remem|ber you of it. You know a
<PB N="54" REF="35"> &s;heafe of Corne when it is in the band, will &s;tand by it &s;elfe, and endure an indifferent bla&s;t of wind, ere it fall: but, undoe the band, and you cannot make a &s;ingle &s;traw to &s;tand. I inferre this.</P>
<P>When unrighteous men a&s;|&s;emble, and &s;it in Coun&s;ell to|gether, then they are as a &s;heafe in the band: their &s;trength may be con&s;iderable and for|midable, and the upright man may be over-born in Judge|ment. A pack&punc;d jury (as I &s;aid before,) and a few &s;uborned witne&s;&s;es, may carry any cau&s;e; and it lies not in the power of the mo&s;t prudent upright Judge, to prevent it. Where|as when the band is once bro|ken, (as God will break &s;uch
<PB N="55" REF="35"> bands), when &s;uch men return to their &s;ingle capacities, their weakene&s;&s;e will not onely be vi&s;ible but de&s;picable. Al|though con&s;idered in their united capacities, in their grea|te&s;t &s;trength, compared with God, they are but as a &s;heafe of &s;traw laid upon a flaming fire, which leaves onely the poor revenge of its a&s;hes to hide the embers of that fire which con&s;um'd it. Yet it plea&s;es God &s;ometimes to break the band, and to &s;ingle tho&s;e unrighteous men out, and in their &s;olitude to pur&s;ue them with horrour of Con&s;ci|ence, and the di&s;tracting re|membrance of their perjuries and forgeries, their frivolous delayes, and demurres, their
<PB N="56" REF="36"> frauds and &s;ubornations, and tho&s;e irreparable injuries they have done; and they &s;hall be no more able to &s;tand, and look either God or good men in the face, than a &s;ingle &s;traw is to re&s;i&s;t a whirlewind.</P>
<P>I &s;hall &s;hew you this in one example. <HI>Doeg</HI> the Edomite was an in&s;trument of much e|vill to <HI>David,</HI> and to all that favour'd his righteous cau&s;e; by his malicious information, <HI>A|bimelech</HI> the Prie&s;t and eighty four more of the Prie&s;ts of the Lord were put to the Sword. What became of him? <HI>Lori|nus</HI> tells us out of <HI>Rabbi Solo|mon,</HI> that it was a received tra|dition among the Jewes, that he and his only Sonne dyed in this manner: That <HI>Doeg</HI> him|&s;elf
<PB N="57" REF="36"> was armour-bearer to <HI>Saul</HI> in that battle with the Phi|li&s;tines, at which he dyed. There, when <HI>Saul</HI> had fallen upon his own Sword, and &s;lain him&s;elfe; <HI>Doeg</HI> calls his Son, and &s;ends him with <HI>Saul's</HI> Crown and bracelet to <HI>David,</HI> thinking thereby to engrati|ate him&s;elfe; and then <HI>Doeg</HI> falls upon his owne Sword, as <HI>Saul</HI> had done, and kills him|&s;elfe; and his Son in&s;tead of a reward from <HI>David,</HI> is com|manded to be &s;lain. And there was an end of <HI>Saul,</HI> and <HI>Doeg</HI> his informer, and their family.</P>
<P>The Lord by that army of the Phili&s;tines brake up the Congregation, and made them know they were but the Sons of men, and that they were not
<PB N="58" REF="37"> able to &s;tand, when he came to judge them.</P>
<P>Now the Lord help us to con&s;ider of the&s;e things and di&s;po&s;e our hearts to love the work of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and in all our dealings with men to behave our &s;elves ju&s;tly and uprightly, that when we &s;hall come to dye like men, we may finde the fruit of righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e, which is peace: even Peace with God, and peace with our owne con&s;ci|ences, that we may commend our &s;pirits into the hands of the God of our righteou&s;ne&s;s, with joy and not with fear.</P>
<DIV2 TYPE="prayer">
<PB N="59" REF="37">
<HEAD>The Prayer after Sermon.</HEAD>
<P>GReat and Glorious Lord God, who art righteous in all thy wayes, and holy in all thy works: be good and gracious unto us thy poor Creatures, who here stand guilt, before thee of many acts of unrighteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, for having re|jected and de&s;pi&s;ed thy mo&s;t pure and holy lawes, and have cho&s;en rather to walke after the lu&s;ts and imaginations of our owne hearts.</P>
<P>We have defaced that perfect Image of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e and Holy|ne&s;&s;e, in which we were created, we have defiled our &s;elves with the pollutions of &s;inne; &s;o that all our righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e is but as a fil|thy ragge, and we cannot but loath and abhorre our &s;elves for all our abhominations.</P>
<P>Ble&s;&s;ed God, we de&s;ire to return
<PB N="60" REF="38"> unto Thee, and to &s;eek thy face; not only for thy mercy and pardon for the &s;ins we have co~mitted, but for thy Spirit and thy grace, that we may be renewed &amp; re&s;tored to that &s;tate of holines whence we are faln.</P>
<P>And fora&s;much as the Mini&s;try of thy Word is the means which thou ha&s;t ordained, &amp; promi&s;ed to &s;an|ctifie to that end; We humbly call upon thee for a ble&s;&s;ing upon that portion of thy Word which hath bin di&s;pen&s;ed unto us at this time.</P>
<P>Great God! our hearts are in thy hand, we be&s;eech Thee mould and fa&s;hion them according to thine own holy will. Beget in us a con&s;tant purpo&s;e and re&s;olution of giving to every one their owne, and re-imprint in our hearts that excellent rule of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, Not to do any thing to our neigh|bour
<PB N="61" REF="38"> which we would not be content that he &s;hould doe to us.</P>
<P>We are met at this time, O Lord, about thine own worke, The Exe|cution of Ju&s;tice and Judgement; we be&s;eech thee a&s;&s;i&s;t us in it. As we begin this worke in thy Name, give us grace to continue in it in thy Fear.</P>
<P>Touch the hearts of all tho&s;e who are in any re&s;pects intere&s;ted as parties in the admini&s;tration of Ju&s;tice, that they may all &s;peak righteou&s;ne&s;se and judge upright|ly, without re&s;pect to them&s;elves or re&s;pect to their friends, and with|out feare of the face of any man</P>
<P>And give us all grace to con&s;ider that a congregation of men, con&s;pi|ring in an act of unrighteou&s;ne&s;se, are but as a &s;heafe of &s;traw, not able to conte&s;t with thee who art a
<PB N="62" REF="39"> con&s;uming fire. Oh help us to con|&s;ider, that how great or mighty &s;o|ever we be in this World, we are yet but the &s;onnes of men, fraile and mortall, and know not how &s;oon we may be called to thy Judg|ment Seat: And let the&s;e medita|tions quicken us to an holy care to prepare our accounts, and to be|have our&s;elves &s;o righteou&s;ly to|ward all men here on earth, as that we may cheerefully commend our Spirits to the God of Heaven.</P>
<P>Hear us O God, and an&s;wer us according to thy wonted grace &amp; goodne&s;&s;e; &s;upply all our defects out of the fullne&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t Je&s;us, who is the Lord our Righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e: to whom with thee, O Fa|ther, and thy ble&s;&s;ed Spirit, we de|&s;ire to a&s;cribe all honour and pow|er, and pray&s;e, now and for ever|more. <HI>Amen, Amen.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="39">
<P> A SERMON, Preached at the ASSIZES Held at BRIDGNORTH For the County of <HI>Salop</HI> in the year, 1657.</P>
<P>On the Lord's Day.</P>
<P>By <HI>Mich: Thomas,</HI> Rector of <HI>Sockton</HI> in the &s;ame COUNTY.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>Humphrey Mo&s;eley</HI> at the <HI>Prince</HI>'s <HI>Armes</HI> in St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s Church-yard. 1659.</P>
<PB REF="40">
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="63" REF="40">
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL><GAP DESC="foreign">. P&s;alme 37. ver&s;e 37.</BIBL>
<Q>Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: For the end of that man is peace.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_IT may perchance rai&s;e your attention to the Doctrine of this Text, when you &s;hall con&s;ider, that it is a branch of that P&s;alme, which hath alwayes bin in very high e&s;teem both among the An|tients, and our Moderne Di|vines.</P>
<P>Origen calls it <HI>Humanae ani|mae Medicinam.</HI> It is Phy&s;ick for the &s;oul of man, fora&s;much as
<PB N="64" REF="41"> it reproves &s;inne, and teaches us to live according to the lawes of God.</P>
<P><HI>Athana&s;ius</HI> recommends it to be readd by all tho&s;e who are &s;candalized at the pro&s;perity of the wicked, and find them|&s;elves tempted to go along with them in their wayes; and to think this world to be go|verned by chance or fortune, that God is not a God of Judg|ment; that he makes no dif|ference between the righteous and the wicked.</P>
<P><HI>Calvin</HI> and <HI>Mollerus</HI> meet both in this cen&s;ure of it, that it containes <HI>doctrinam apprim&egrave; utilem,</HI> exceeding profitable doctrine; and <HI>Lorinus</HI> tells us, that <HI>Fulgentius</HI> (that great light of the Church in <HI>Africa,)</HI>
<PB N="65" REF="41"> by reading St. <HI>Augustines</HI> com|mentary upon it, was conver|ted by it.</P>
<P>The tree then being &s;o good, you may fairely pre&s;ume the Text, which is a branch of it, may yield you the like fruit. I may not unfitly call the Text, <HI>Totius P&s;almi</HI> Epitomen. The &s;ummary or abridgement of the whole P&s;alm. The doct|rine which is di&s;per&s;ed in the other ver&s;es of it, is collected and united in this.</P>
<P>All the defect will lye on my part, by rea&s;on of my weake|ne&s;&s;e, I &s;hall not be able to &s;hake this &s;o full laden branch, that all the fruit of it may fall among&s;t you. So farre as the Lord hath enabled me to un|der&s;tand the doctrine of it, I
<PB N="66" REF="42"> &s;hall humbly pre&s;ent it to your religious con&s;ideration, and &s;hall hope, that that &s;leight ta&s;t of it, which you will receive at this time by my &s;ervice, will provoke your holy appetites to make a farther enquiry in your private meditations.</P>
<P>But not to wa&s;te more, either of the time, or your patience, be plea&s;ed to take the Text divided into the&s;e three parts.</P>
<P>Here is an Act, and an Ob|ject; and they are both two|fold.</P>
<P>The Act is, to Mark and to Behold.</P>
<P>The Object of this Act is the Perfect and the Upright man.</P>
<P>And in the third place here is the rea&s;on of the Act which
<PB N="67" REF="42"> is very weighty and con&s;idera|ble; <HI>For the end of that man is Peace.</HI></P>
<P>But I mu&s;t crave leave to in|vert the order of the&s;e parts, and con&s;ider the Object fir&s;t, Who this perfect and upright man is. And then pa&s;&s;e to the Act, what it is to Mark and to behold Him. To which act, we &s;hall be the better di&s;po&s;ed, by the weight of the rea&s;on which enforces it; <HI>Mark the per|fect man, and behold the upright: For the end of that man is peace.</HI></P>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>The fir&s;t part: The Object.</HEAD>
<P>I confe&s;&s;e, I find much varie|ty in the &s;everall Tran&s;lations concerning the reading of the Text. The <HI>LXX</HI> render it
<PB N="68" REF="43"> <GAP DESC="foreign">, and according to the old vulgate, <HI>Custodi innocentiam, &amp; vide ae|quitatem:</HI> and then we &s;hould read the Text, <HI>Keep inno|cency and take heed to the thing that is right.</HI> And al|though <HI>Lorinus</HI> follow the&s;e tran&s;lations, yet we acknow|ledge that other grave Au|thors, <HI>Concret&egrave; interpretantur ex Hebraeo,</HI> render it out of the Hebrew by the Concrete. <HI>Ob|&s;erva perfectum, &amp; a&s;pice rec|tum;</HI> and &s;o <HI>Junius,</HI> and <HI>Treme|lius</HI> have tran&s;lated it; and &s;o al&s;o tho&s;e Divines of the re|formed Churches, who&s;e opi|nions <HI>Marlorate</HI> hath collected. And truly the difference is not great, whether we read it in the Ab&s;tract, or in the Concrete,
<PB N="69" REF="43"> the one will be the Expo&s;iti|on of the other: and &s;o the perfect man will be, He that keepeth innocency; and the Upright man, He that ta|keth heed to the thing that is right.</P>
<P>But we mu&s;t behold this Object at a neerer di&s;tance; and let us look upon this per|fection and uprightne&s;&s;e in the Root, and in the Branches of it; and then, according to our Engli&s;h word, we &s;hall have three Marks by which we may know who this perfect and up|right man is; and &s;o the better judge of our &s;elves, whether we are &s;uch or no.</P>
<P>The Root of this Perfection and Uprightne&s;&s;e, I place in the Heart; and the branches of it,
<PB N="70" REF="44"> in the Words and Actions of men. And this method an&s;wers that Di&s;tinction &s;o common a|mong Divines; <HI>Integritas Cordis, Oris, Operis:</HI> The Uprightne&s;&s;e of the Heart, of the Mouth, and of the Hand; and upon the con|&s;ideration of the&s;e Marks, we &s;hall have the fuller and the cleerer pro&s;pect of Him.</P>
<P>And I was put into this me|thod, not &s;o much by the com|mon di&s;tinction, as by the pro|priety of the termes in the O|riginal. We read of <HI>Noah,</HI> that he was a perfect man, <HI>Gen.</HI> 6. 9. of <HI>Jacob,</HI> that he was a plain man, <HI>Gen.</HI> 25. 27. of <HI>Job,</HI> that He was a perfect and an up|right man; and in all the&s;e pla|ces there is the &s;ame word in the originall, <HI>Tamim:</HI> and <HI>Mer|cerus</HI>
<PB N="71" REF="44"> upon tho&s;e places in <HI>Ge|ne&s;is,</HI> and <HI>Pineda</HI> upon that place in <HI>Job,</HI> interpret this per|fection to be the &s;implicity, the integrity, the &s;incerity which was in the Hearts of <HI>Noah,</HI> and <HI>Jacob,</HI> and <HI>Job.</HI> For the farther clearing of the word, you know well, there is a twofold perfection: <HI>Impu|tata, &amp; Impertita.</HI> A perfection which is imputed to us: and a perfection which is be&s;towed upon us; the one is called the Perfection of Ju&s;tification, the other of Sanctification.</P>
<P>The former of the&s;e, in a &s;trict &s;en&s;e, is a compleat per|fection. The Saints are com|pleat in Chri&s;t, they are per|fectly ju&s;tified, there is not any &s;inne left uncovered, nor any
<PB N="72" REF="45"> guilt left unwa&s;hed in the bloud of Chri&s;t, not the lea&s;t &s;pot but is taken away. By one offering, Chri&s;t hath perfected for ever them that are Sancti|fied, &s;ayes St. <HI>Paul. Heb.</HI> 10. 14. And then there is a Perfection of Sanctification; and that is called &s;o, either in regard of the beginnings of it, or in re|gard of our de&s;ires or aimes at it.</P>
<P>The Saints even in this life, have a perfect beginning of ho|line&s;&s;e, as being &s;anctified in every part; they are Sanctified throughout, in &s;oul, and body, and &s;pirit.</P>
<P>And then their de&s;ires are high and reall towards perfecti|on; they pray, and &s;trive to &s;ub|due every corruption, to aban|don
<PB N="73" REF="45"> every known &s;inne, to per|forme every duty. And this is the utmo&s;t degree of perfecti|on that any &s;onne of man can attaine to, in this life. And in this re&s;pect it was that <HI>Job</HI> had the character of a perfect man. Not that he thought him&s;elfe &s;o, in re&s;pect of an exact obe|dience to the whole law of God; &s;o he profe&s;&s;es, <HI>If I &s;ay I am perfect, it &s;hall al&s;o prove me perver&s;e,</HI> Job. 9. 20. but in re&s;pect of his de&s;ires, and en|deavours towards this perfecti|on. <HI>Job</HI> was &s;incere, he was &s;ound at heart, He did not per&s;onate religion, but was re|ally a religious per&s;on. He was <GAP DESC="foreign">, as the <HI>Lxx</HI> render that place, <HI>A &s;imple man,</HI> that is: plaine hearted, &s;ingle minded.
<PB N="74" REF="46"> He was not a compound, &s;pea|king one thing, and meaning another. <HI>Job's</HI> heart might be known by his tongue, and his &s;pirit by his actions. And this is the fir&s;t and chiefe&s;t mark of the perfect man, whom <HI>Da|vid,</HI> in the Text, advi&s;es us to ob&s;erve and behold.</P>
<P>And truly, this perfection in the root, as I have called it, this foundne&s;&s;e of heart, is that perfection, which is only valu|able and con&s;iderable; 'tis that which the Lord &s;o often calls for in the Scripture, to love Him, and &s;erve Him with all our hearts, that we would not &s;uffer our hearts to be divided, and carried away from God, and laid out upon the vanities of the world, while we pretend
<PB N="75" REF="46"> to be the &s;ervants of God in a more &s;trict and purer way then others are.</P>
<P>In the &s;econd of the <HI>Kings,</HI> ch. 17. v. 33. we read of the Sama|ritans, that they feared the Lord, yet &s;erved gods of their own. And the prophet <HI>Zephany</HI> reports it as one of the &s;ins of <HI>Judah,</HI> that they &s;ware by the Lord, and by <HI>Malcham</HI> the idol of the Ammonites.</P>
<P>And I would to God we that call our &s;elves, and would be thought, Chri&s;tians, could purge our hearts from this guilt, that our hearts were per|fect, and &s;incere, and intirely devoted to the &s;ervice of God. <HI>Beata &s;ervitus</HI> (&s;ayes St. <HI>Am|bro&s;e) &s;i nihil po&s;&s;it adver&s;arius de tuo &s;ibi &s;ervitio vendicare,</HI>
<PB N="76" REF="47"> That's a ble&s;&s;ed way of &s;er|ving God, when Satan can challenge no part in it. How few are there of us that can come to God with <HI>Davids</HI> argument, and may pre&s;s Him as he did, <HI>I am thine, oh &s;ave me.</HI> The worldly-man can|not &s;ay &s;o to God, becau&s;e he hath many Ma&s;ters: Lu&s;t comes and &s;ayes, Thou art mine, for thou make&s;t pro|vi&s;ion for the Fle&s;h, to fulfill the de&s;ires thereof.</P>
<P>Covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e comes and &s;ayes, Thou art mine, thou &s;er|ve&s;t not Chri&s;t, but thy &s;elfe. The Gold and Silver which lyes ru&s;ting in thy coffers, is the portion of the Widdow and the Fatherle&s;&s;e. The &s;tone in the wall of thine hou&s;e cryes
<PB N="77" REF="47"> out, and the beame out of the timber doth an&s;wer it, and the furrowes in the field joyn in the out-cry, and &s;ay, We were gotten by oppre&s;&s;ion, and bribery.</P>
<P>Luxury comes and &s;ayes, Thou art mine, thy con&s;cience can tell thee, thou ha&s;t &s;pent more at a fea&s;t in one day, then thy charity to the poor hath co&s;t thee in a whole year; that thou ha&s;t &s;triven to pay mo&s;t at a Reckoning in a Taverne, but ha&s;t pretended excu&s;es to give nothing to a Briefe in a Church.</P>
<P>Ambition comes and &s;ayes, Thou art mine; thou ha&s;t af|fected greatne&s;&s;e and power, that thou mighte&s;t &s;inne with|out que&s;tion or controul; and
<PB N="78" REF="48"> then Chri&s;t will put in his charge too, and &s;ay; Thou con&s;idere&s;t not, that I gave thee a command over men, that thou &s;hould&s;t obey Me; I honoured thee, that thou &s;hould&s;t honour Me. Now, <HI>Quem tam multi competunt, qu&agrave;m vile mancipium e&s;t?</HI> &s;ayes that Father St. <HI>Ambro&s;e,</HI> What a va&s;&s;all, what a &s;lave is that man, who&s;e heart is challen|ged by &s;o many ma&s;ters? Such an one cannot pretend to <HI>Ja|cob's</HI> title, to be <HI>Homo Simplex,</HI> a perfect &s;ingle-hearted man: He is rather <HI>Homo Multiplex;</HI> St. <HI>James</HI> his <GAP DESC="foreign">, doth not reach Him, He is more then a double-minded man, He hath an heart for every lu&s;t, a new God, and a new Religion, when
<PB N="79" REF="48"> &s;oever the &s;way and humour of the times &s;hall require it of him.</P>
<P>Upon tho&s;e words of the Lord by his prophet <HI>Joel; Turn unto me with all your heart;</HI> devout <HI>Bernard</HI> hath noted thus: <HI>Corporis conver&s;io, &s;i &s;ola fuerit, nulla erit,</HI> If the body on|ly turn to God, and not the heart, there is no conver&s;ion. It is but the form of Conver&s;i|on, there is nothing of truth in it; when there are preten&s;i|ons to godlyne&s;&s;e, but no pow|er. He is a mi&s;erable man that contents him&s;elfe in the outward formalities of religi|on, and neither knows, nor re|gards his heart. <HI>Bernard</HI> apply|ed this Note to his monks up|on a Fa&s;t-day, and took occa&s;i|on
<PB N="80" REF="49"> to reprove them for their hypocri&s;ie. <HI>Manet ton&s;ura,</HI> (as he goes on) yee continue your &s;havings, yee change not your garment, yee ob&s;erve your rules for fa&s;ting, and your hours for prayer; and yet the Lord cryes from heaven, <HI>Cor ve&s;trum long&egrave; e&s;t &agrave; Me,</HI> Your heart not|with&s;tanding all this, is far from me.</P>
<P>The be&s;t di&s;covery we can make of the integrity and &s;in|cerity of our hearts, is to ob&s;erve the bent and &s;way of tho&s;e foure chiefe affections, Love, Feare, Joy, and Griefe; and &s;ee whether God or the World have mo&s;t of the&s;e, and accordingly we may judge our &s;elves, whether we are true Converts, or Perfect men.</P>
<PB N="81" REF="49">
<P> But becau&s;e the nature of the root, is be&s;t di&s;cerned by the fruit which appears on the branches; be plea&s;ed, that the di&s;cour&s;e may pa&s;&s;e from the fir&s;t mark of perfection, which I call'd perfection in the root, the perfection of the heart, to the &s;econd, which is <HI>Integritas Oris,</HI> the Integrity of the Mouth or words; and no mark can be more proper then this, or more naturally con&s;equent. Our ble&s;&s;ed Saviour hath given us the rule, <HI>Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth &s;peaketh.</HI></P>
<P>In the 32^d^. P&s;alm <HI>David</HI> pro|nounces a ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e upon that man, <HI>in who&s;e Spirit there is no guile.</HI> And there are good Expo&s;itours conceive, this guile to con&s;i&s;t in and about
<PB N="82" REF="50"> the duty of Repentance, and e&s;|pecially in the covering of &s;inne; as when men &s;hall cover their extortions and oppre&s;&s;i|ons by building an Ho&s;pitall, and when they &s;hall cover all the Week-&s;ins, with a Sabbaths &s;olemnity. Such is &s;ometimes the folly of Hypocri&s;y, that it will &s;trive to cover &s;in though with a Net, which every man &s;ees thorow: they will have &s;uch mean and pittifull pre|tences for their unju&s;t actions: whereas a perfect-hearted man, is &s;erious in the &s;earch of his con&s;cience; and he will take knowledge of his &s;ins, before they di&s;cover them&s;elves; he will acknowledge his riot and voluptuou&s;ne&s;&s;e before he burn in a Feaver, occa&s;ioned
<PB N="83" REF="50"> by his &s;urfeits. He will acknow|ledge his wantonne&s;&s;e and li|centiou&s;ne&s;&s;e, before he comes under the angui&s;h and &s;mart of corro&s;ives. He will acknow|ledge his pride and wa&s;tfull|ne&s;&s;e, before he lye in pri&s;on for debt. The perfect man doth not &s;eek his &s;ins in his belly, nor in his bones, but in his con&s;ci|ence. He unfolds that, ripps up that, and enters into the private&s;t and remote&s;t corners thereof. And he that doth not thus, there is <HI>dolus in Spiritu,</HI> There is guile in his Spirit; and he hath no title to that ble&s;|&s;edne&s;&s;e, which <HI>David</HI> was pro|nouncing. So that if there be <HI>Veritas in Corde,</HI> Truth in the heart; there will be al&s;o <HI>Veritas in Ore,</HI> Truth in the mouth:
<PB N="84" REF="51"> which being the &s;econd mark of a perfect man, give me leave to lay it open to you.</P>
<P>The perfection of the Mouth hath a double pro&s;pect; it looks towards God, and towards man. God &s;hall have His glory, in the Confe&s;&s;ion of his &s;inne, and man &s;hall have his right, in &s;peaking the truth.</P>
<P>Among tho&s;e marks which <HI>David</HI> gives of that happy man, who &s;hall dwell in the holy hill of the Lord, this is one: <HI>He &s;peaketh the truth in his heart.</HI> And &s;o in the 14 of the <HI>Revel.</HI> v. 5. tho&s;e ble&s;&s;ed per&s;ons who are &s;aid to follow the Lamb, are thus de&s;cribed: <HI>In their mouth was found no guile.</HI></P>
<P>Truth, as it is a mo&s;t excel|lent vertue; &s;o it is <GAP DESC="foreign">
<PB N="85" REF="51"> &s;aies <HI>Philo:</HI> the mo&s;t &s;acred po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, pretious and nece&s;|&s;ary as the Sunne to the world.</P>
<P>When the que&s;tion was put to <HI>Pythagoras,</HI> What that was, in the doing whereof, men might be like unto God, he an|&s;wered, <GAP DESC="foreign">, If they &s;peak the truth. It will be a good in|terpretation of that command of our ble&s;&s;ed Saviour: <HI>Be ye therefore perfect, as your Fa|ther which is in heaven is per|fect:</HI> when, as He is truth, &s;o we be alwayes carefull to &s;peak the truth from our hearts, <GAP DESC="foreign"> even the Hea|then, by the light of nature could conclude, that it was a &s;ervile <HI>un-ingenuous</HI> humour, <HI>to lye,</HI> and to &s;peak fal&s;ely. And we have &s;ome impre&s;&s;ion of it
<PB N="86" REF="52"> &s;till remaining in us, of all re|proaches we can lea&s;t brook that: Thou lie&s;t. How many quarrells hath it occa&s;ion'd? How much blood hath bin &s;pilt about it? But truly, 'tis &s;ad and &s;trange, that men will not endure to be charged with lying, and yet make no con&s;ci|ence of lying; that they &s;hould take up that part of the Hea|thens morality, <GAP DESC="foreign">, To &s;peak the truth, is an evidence of a noble, con&s;tant, well com|po&s;ed &s;pirit; and de&s;ert the o|ther part of it, by a deficiency in their practice, in yielding them&s;elves up to tell lies for advantage.</P>
<P>Some Divines have moved and debated the&s;e two Ca&s;es: Whether if a man be examined
<PB N="87" REF="52"> before a Competent Judge, he may not lye to pre&s;erve him&s;elfe or his Friend from the penalty of the Law. And 'tis an&s;wer'd in the negative: He may not lye. There can no ca&s;e be put, in which it may be lawfull for any man to lye to any man: not to a mid|night, not to a noon-thiefe, that a&s;&s;aults his hou&s;e, or his per&s;on, he may not lye. And although many have put names of di&s;gui&s;e upon &s;uch practi&s;es, and call them Equivocations and Re&s;ervations, yet they are all children of the &s;ame Father the Devill, who is the father of lies.</P>
<P>The other Ca&s;e is: Whether if a man be examined before an incompetent Judge, he may
<PB N="88" REF="53"> not equivocate and prevaricate with Him? And 'tis an&s;wer'd thus: that if he do &s;peak, he mu&s;t &s;peak the truth. They al|low, that to an incompetent Judge, that hath no legall power to examine him, he may be &s;ilent without &s;inne: but to a competent Judge, 'tis an in|defen&s;ible &s;inne either to be &s;ilent, or to depo&s;e an untruth.</P>
<P>And upon this account, &s;ince it is &s;o clearly &s;infull in a wit|ne&s;&s;e, either to prevaricate or to depo&s;e an untruth; I &s;ub|mit it to your grave Judge|ments, whether it be not high|ly con&s;iderable, for an Advo|cate to plead an untruth; by the advantage of his Rheto|rick and Eloquence to palliate &s;uch a cau&s;e, which, in his owne
<PB N="89" REF="53"> con&s;cience and opinion, de|&s;erves rather a puni&s;hment then a defence; whether in pleading &s;uch cau&s;es, they do not take part with evill doers, and en|courage men to venture upon unju&s;t actions, &s;ince they may be a&s;&s;ured, that for a fee, they may have a &s;ubtle and ingeni|ous Advocate, to maintain their cau&s;e. But in this ca&s;e, &s;ince I &s;peak to &s;uch, who&s;e piety and integrity, I have no rea&s;on either to que&s;tion or &s;u&s;pect, I &s;hall proceed no fur|ther.</P>
<P>Indeed, my de&s;igne lyes mainely again&s;t that &s;ort of men, who inure their tongues, to &s;peak malitiou&s;ly and defa|matorily, and bla&s;t the fair re|putation of their neighbour,
<PB N="90" REF="54"> by fal&s;e &s;ugge&s;tions and in&s;i|nuations.</P>
<P>It may be &s;ometimes unlaw|full, to &s;peak all that a man knowes to be true of his neigh|bour; but it is alwayes unlaw|full to &s;peak that which he knows to be fal&s;e. This is <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>calumnia,</HI> &s;uch a practice whence the Devill takes his name, <HI>Diabolus,</HI> an accu&s;er: 'tis a devili&s;h practice by fal&s;e informations and &s;landers to repre&s;ent a man wor&s;e then he is, and to expo&s;e Him either to the hatred of the common people, or the cen&s;ure of the Magi&s;trate, for crimes whereof he was never guilty. Like the Heathens of old, who put the Chri&s;tians into the skinnes of bea&s;ts, and then brought them
<PB N="91" REF="54"> forth to be torn and worried, &s;uch an artifice hath <HI>Satan</HI> u&s;ed all along, by &s;uborning foul tongues, to &s;ully and &s;taine the fame and reputation of men, thereby to prepare them for de&s;truction. When <HI>Paul</HI> and <HI>Silas</HI> were mi&s;reported to the Romane Magi&s;trates, as trou|blers of the City, and teachers of cu&s;tomes, which were not lawfull to be ob&s;erved; we may wonder the le&s;&s;e, that they were beaten and impri&s;oned: yea, we &s;ee it in a greater ex|ample, in our ble&s;&s;ed Saviour Him&s;elfe; when He was &s;lan|der'd to be a deceiver of the people, a wine-bibber, a com|panion of publicans and &s;in|ners, and one that had a Devill, the&s;e a&s;per&s;ions rai&s;'d the ha|tred
<PB N="92" REF="55"> of the common people, and the malice of the Jewes was le&s;&s;e di&s;cernable, when they cryed away with Him, cru|cifie Him: and you know what the i&s;&s;ue was, the murder of the Lord of life.</P>
<P>I &s;hall not need to urge any arguments to prove how farre di&s;tant a back-biter or a &s;lan|derer is from a perfect man. That grave Authour <HI>Pari&s;ien&s;is</HI> calls him, <HI>Dentem Diaboli,</HI> The tooth of the Divell, which he fa&s;tens in an innocent per&s;on, and tears his good name, and perchance his e&s;tate too, cruel|ly, and unmercifully, and irrepa|rably. We may ea&s;ily conclude the &s;in is great when the Judg|ment is &s;o heavy, when both St. <HI>Paul</HI> and St. <HI>John</HI> tell us,
<PB N="93" REF="55"> that who&s;oever are revilers, and makers of lyes, &s;hall not enter into the new Jeru&s;alem, the Kingdome of God.</P>
<P>There remaines yet the third mark of this perfect man to be con&s;idered, and that is, <HI>Integritas Operis,</HI> His Equity and Uprightne&s;&s;e in all his Actions.</P>
<P><HI>Pineda</HI> tells us that the ori|ginall term, <HI>Ja&s;ar;</HI> which, in that place of <HI>Job,</HI> is rendered <HI>upright;</HI> &s;igni&s;ies &s;ometimes <HI>Jucundum e&s;se:</HI> and then the up|right man will be &s;uch an one, as is of a complacent humour, of a mild and &s;oft temper. And probably <HI>Apollinarius</HI> had re&s;pect to this &s;en&s;e of the word, when he metaphra&s;'d our text, <GAP DESC="foreign">, Keep
<PB N="94" REF="56"> meekne&s;&s;e, and then it may mean, Be neither &s;owre not bitter in looks or language; be not har&s;h or cruell in thy dea|lings or actions with men.</P>
<P>I ob&s;erve in mo&s;t Latine Tran&s;lations, that they retain the word <HI>Rectum.</HI> In an old Ma|nu&s;cript I read it, <HI>Cu&s;todi &s;im|plicitatem &amp; vitae rectum:</HI> and <HI>Pineda</HI> by many in&s;tances clears it, that <HI>Ja&s;ar</HI> &s;ignifies <HI>Planiti|em viae,</HI> the &s;moothne&s;&s;e and evenne&s;&s;e of a way. And then by a fair allu&s;ion it may import that Ju&s;tice and Equity which men ought to u&s;e in all their dealings and commerce. There is no trouble in walking in a plain way. When there are hills to &s;train the nerves, or valleys to endanger a precipice; hence
<PB N="95" REF="56"> ari&s;es the trouble of a Jour|ney.</P>
<P>And &s;o it is in civill com|merce: when we are to deal with a plain man, who&s;e words and actions are both of the &s;ame piece, who lyes not upon the catch, and hath not his &s;ubtle re&s;erves, of fal&s;e weights, or lights, or mea&s;ures; there is neither feare nor danger in conver&s;ing with &s;uch a man. If we look into the body of this 37 P&s;alm, we &s;hall find <HI>David</HI> in&s;tancing in &s;ome actions, which &s;eem to be contrary to this uprightne&s;&s;e, which I am to pre&s;ent to you.</P>
<P>In the 12 ver&s;e, he &s;peaks of plotting again&s;t the Ju&s;t. In the 14 ver&s;e, of drawing the &s;word, and bending the bow
<PB N="96" REF="57"> again&s;t the poore and needy: In the 21 ver&s;e, of borrowing and not paying againe. And &s;o farre forth as any man is plung'd in the guilt of tho&s;e practi&s;es, he is &s;o farre di&s;tant from true uprightne&s;&s;e. Will you plea&s;e to review the&s;e in|&s;tances.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, What is it to plot a|gain&s;t the Ju&s;t man? I re&s;t in <HI>Lorinus</HI> his opinion upon the place: It is to pick a quarrell with him about his Religion, and the wor&s;hip of his God: &s;uch enemies we find the Pro|phet <HI>Daniel</HI> met with. They &s;aid among them&s;elves, We &s;hall not find any occa&s;ion a|gain&s;t this <HI>Daniel,</HI> except we find it again&s;t him concerning the Law of his God. So we
<PB N="97" REF="57"> read, <HI>Luke</HI> the &s;ixth, That the Phari&s;ees watched our Saviour, that they might have an accu|&s;ation again&s;t him. So true is that of <HI>Solomon, He that is up|right in the way, is an abomina|tion to the wicked, Prov.</HI> 29. 27. But this is certainely an abo|minable kind of wickedne&s;&s;e, when the wor&s;hip of God &s;hall be made the occa&s;ion of envie. When, like <HI>Cain,</HI> they &s;hall hate, and ri&s;e up again&s;t their brother, becau&s;e he offers to God a better &s;acrifice then them&s;elves. It was a pious wi&s;h that of <HI>Bucolcerus: Mortuus est Cain: &s;ed utinam non viveret in filiis &s;uis. Cain</HI> is dead: but would to God he did not live &s;till in his &s;onnes; who carry &s;till his bloody club, wreaking
<PB N="98" REF="58"> in the gore of Chri&s;tians, and &s;eeking the de&s;truction of tho&s;e, that are more holy then them&s;elves.</P>
<P>It is a &s;ad thing, when men &s;hall come into the hou&s;e of God, as <HI>Doeg</HI> did into the ta|bernacle; and to returne an in|former again&s;t the Mini&s;ter, as he did again&s;t <HI>Abimelech.</HI> Any plot again&s;t a ju&s;t man, argues rather pride then perfection: He is an ill &s;ubject to Chri&s;t, who envies Him the glory of a populous Kingdome.</P>
<P>Con&s;ider the &s;econd in&s;tance: The drawing the &s;word, and bending the bow again&s;t the poore and needy. Expo&s;itours conceive that <HI>David</HI> in this in|&s;tance, points at <HI>Saul,</HI> and tho&s;e &s;everall acts of inju&s;tice,
<PB N="99" REF="58"> whereby he oppre&s;&s;ed him. It is no new thing to &s;ee Right overcome by Might, and <HI>Ahab</HI> &s;olacing him&s;elfe in <HI>Naboth's</HI> vineyard</P>
<P>Notwith&s;tanding Holy <HI>Job,</HI> and the Prophets <HI>Jeremy</HI> and <HI>Habaccuck</HI> have expo&s;tulated the ca&s;e with God, concerning the pro&s;perity of the wicked; yet in his infinite wi&s;edome he &s;ees it fit to continue it, and &s;till we &s;ee the poor and needy, become a prey to the rich and mighty. But the&s;e permi&s;&s;ive acts of Providence are no war|rant, or &s;ecurity for &s;uch acts of Inju&s;tice. He is far from a perfect man, who &s;eeks to &s;lay the upright, or, as <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;peaks, Robs the poor becau&s;e he is poor, and unable to help him&s;elfe.</P>
<PB N="100" REF="59">
<P> The third in&s;tance is: <HI>The wicked borroweeh and payeth not againe.</HI> In which is noted an high act of inju&s;tice, and contrary to that Evangelicall precept delivered by St. <HI>Paul, Owe nothing to any man but love;</HI> provided alwayes, there be &s;ufficiency and ability to pay. Who&s;oever &s;hall pretend poverty to his creditour, and make a fraudulent compo&s;iti|on, contracts upon his owne &s;oul the guilt of theft in an high degree. And &s;ome have been &s;o curious to make the ob&s;ervation, That e&s;tates com|pounded for, &s;eldome pro&s;per: there is for the mo&s;t part &s;ome|thing of fraud and conceal|ment; and that con&s;titutes the wicked man, whom <HI>David</HI> here
<PB N="101" REF="59"> points at, <HI>He borroweth and pay|eth not again.</HI></P>
<P>You &s;ee in common experi|ence, how the Courts of Ju|&s;tice are troubled and pe&s;tered with &s;uits and cau&s;es in the&s;e ca&s;es; with actions in regard of con&s;piracy, The wicked plotting again&s;t the Ju&s;t; with actions of tre&s;pa&s;&s;e and battery, The drawing his &s;word again&s;t the poor, and by might oppre&s;&s;ing Him; and with actions of debt, The wicked borroweth and paying not again.</P>
<P>And no doubt, <HI>David</HI> de|&s;iring to winne, and work up the &s;ouls of men, to this per|fection and uprightne&s;&s;e, hath proceeded in that Method throughout this P&s;alme, as it were Antiphonically, and by
<PB N="102" REF="60"> way of contra-po&s;ition, to &s;et down the Characters of the upright and the wicked man, and de&s;cribe them by their in|tentions, by their words, and by their actions. Of &s;o much concernment did <HI>David</HI> con|ceive it to be, exactly to know the perfect and the upright man.</P>
<P>And in all this di&s;cour&s;e, I have pur&s;ued the &s;ame method: as contraries are be&s;t di&s;cern'd when they are placed together; &s;o in every mark of this perfect man, you have had &s;omething po&s;itively, &s;omething negative|ly delivered. And now that I have pre&s;ented the Object be|fore you, in which the great part of my bu&s;ine&s;&s;e lay, I am now to invite you to the Act:
<PB N="103" REF="60"> To <HI>mark and</HI> to <HI>behold him,</HI> which was the &s;econd part I propo&s;ed to ob&s;erve.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>The &s;econd part: The Act.</HEAD>
<P>But I need not detaine you long in this Act. I do not find any Expo&s;itour whom I have con&s;ulted, that &s;tops upon it. <HI>Mollerus</HI> conceives, that <HI>David</HI> onely calls upon us to ob&s;erve the pa&s;&s;ages of Divine Provi|dence, and the various i&s;&s;ues of his Di&s;pen&s;ations, concerning the wayes and the ends of the wicked, and the perfect man. It is the humour, or rather the weakne&s;&s;e, of mo&s;t men to judge outward appearances, and to conclude a man either Happy or Mi&s;erable, according
<PB N="104" REF="61"> to his &s;ucce&s;&s;es in this world So <HI>Job's</HI> friends pa&s;&s;ed their cen&s;ures upon Him, and he mu&s;t needs be a di&s;&s;embling Hypocrite, becau&s;e He was &s;o grievou&s;ly afflicted.</P>
<P>But this, according to that &s;aying of our Saviour, was un|righteous Judgement. And as <HI>David</HI> had made his ob&s;er|vation concerning the righte|ous man, I have been young but now am old: yet I never &s;aw the righteous for&s;aken, nor his &s;eed begging their bread, &s;o he calls upon all others to make the like ob&s;ervation con|cerning the perfect man. Mark and behold Him (&s;ayes He) And although ye may &s;ee the wicked flouri&s;hing like a bay tree, and the upright man
<PB N="105" REF="61"> withering like a &s;hrub; the one in honour and flowing with all temporall abundancies, the other vile and de&s;pi&s;ed, and lacking nece&s;&s;aries, yet judge not: They are yet upon their way; they are not yet come to their journeys end; they are now bu&s;ied in their &s;everall works, and have not received their wages: but when the day of our life &s;hall begin to clo&s;e, and the &s;haddowes of death &s;hall &s;pread them&s;elves; and the grave begin to open her mouth; and the Arch-angell's trumpet, in a pa&s;&s;ing bell, &s;hall &s;ummon the &s;onnes of men to Judgement, then will be fulfilled that of the Prophet <HI>Malachi: At that time God will make up his Jewells, and</HI>
<PB N="106" REF="62"> <HI>men &s;hall di&s;cern between the righteous and the wicked, be|tween him that &s;erveth God, and him that &s;erveth him not, Chap.</HI> 3. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 17, 18.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>The third part: The rea&s;on of the Act.</HEAD>
<P>And now, here, enters our third part, for the conclu&s;ion of all. Marke and behold the perfect man, for he is worthy of your ob&s;ervation. <HI>The end of that man is peace.</HI> Our ble&s;|&s;ed Saviour &s;peaking of <HI>John</HI> the Bapti&s;t: What (&s;aith He) went yee out into the wilder|ne&s;&s;e to &s;ee? A reed &s;haken with the wind? It may be in the eyes of &s;ome that &s;aw him, he &s;eemed not much more
<PB N="107" REF="62"> con&s;iderable: but I tell you; <HI>He is a Prophet, and more then a Prophet.</HI></P>
<P>And if any prophane &s;pirit &s;hould &s;ay; What do you call us to mark and behold? bro|ken reeds? and &s;moaking flax? per&s;ons that have lived in trou|ble, and are dying in di&s;hon|our? &s;uch as have been the &s;ubject of wanton wits to make Songs of, and the object of mens hatred and &s;corn? Such indeed is the lot and portion of the upright man: yet let me tell you, he is &s;omewhat more, yea very much more then he is conceived to be. Though the Wicked rai&s;e warre again&s;t him, yet He is the Son of peace; though he &s;ayle through a rough Sea, yet he hath a calm
<PB N="108" REF="63"> haven, though he meet with cro&s;&s;es on his way, yet he &s;hall find comforts in his end. And herein lyes the weight of the rea&s;on, and upon which the &s;tate of the perfect man be|comes &s;o worthy of all ob&s;er|vation.</P>
<P>Man as he is a rational crea|ture, propo&s;es to him&s;elf &s;ome end in all his actions. That's the great wheel that moves him, and &s;ets him to work; and what&s;oever he propo&s;es to him&s;elf as his end, that in his pre&s;ent &s;en&s;e and opinion, hath an appearance of Good. Tho&s;e two maxims in Philo&s;ophy con&s;i&s;t well together. <HI>Omnia agunt propter finem,</HI> and <HI>Omnia appetunt Bonum.</HI></P>
<P>But now it oft-times comes
<PB N="109" REF="63"> to pa&s;&s;e, that there is a &s;ad mi&s;|carriage; men project one thing, and another falls out. There is <HI>Finis Operis,</HI> &amp; <HI>Finis Operantis.</HI> The end which is properly con&s;equent to the Work: And the end which is in the de&s;ign of the Workman. And the&s;e doe oftentimes differ: Men engage them&s;elves into &s;infull actions, and propo&s;e to them|&s;elves as their End, plea&s;ures, or profits, or preferments: this is <HI>Finis Operantis,</HI> the end of the workman; but this is not <HI>Finis Operis,</HI> the end of the worke: <HI>For, the wages of &s;inne is death,</HI> In the eighth of the prophecy of <HI>Amos,</HI> the Lord threatens his people <HI>I&s;rael</HI> for their op|pre&s;&s;ion and prophanne&s;&s;e: <HI>Hear this ye that &s;wallow up the</HI>
<PB N="110" REF="64"> <HI>needy. I will turn your feasts into mourning, I will make it as the mourning for an only Son: and the end thereof as a bitter day,</HI> at the 10 ver&s;e.</P>
<P>This bitter day was the end properly con&s;equent to the worke of &s;inne, though they projected and de&s;ign'd ano|ther, namely their private gain and advantage.</P>
<P>Let us remember then what the prophet <HI>I&s;ay</HI> hath taught us. The worke of righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e &s;hall be peace, and the ef|fect of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, quiet|ne&s;&s;e, and a&s;&s;urance for ever, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 32. 17.</P>
<P>But we mu&s;t not under&s;tand this word, Peace, in that lati|tude as it was u&s;ually taken a|mong the Jewes, for a conflu|ence
<PB N="111" REF="64"> of all temporall ble&s;&s;ings, as it happened in the ca&s;e of <HI>Job,</HI> who&s;e latter end the Lord made better then his begin|ning, that is, in re&s;pect of tem|porall abundances, having his e&s;tate doubled to him. We mu&s;t take it in that &s;en&s;e, as it means peace of con&s;cience, and an a&s;|&s;urance of the favour of God in Chri&s;t, that however mat|ters goe with him in re&s;pect of his per&s;on, or e&s;tate, or his life, or his po&s;terity, he re&s;ts &s;ecure as for the &s;tate of his Soul; and can with cheerfulne&s;&s;e com|mend it into the hands of his faithfull Creatour.</P>
<P>Whereas the &s;ame prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> tells us, <HI>There is no peace to the wicked, I&s;a.</HI> 57. 21. Such as do not walke in the wayes of
<PB N="112" REF="65"> peace, &s;hall never find peace at their End. I deny not but a Wicked man may dye po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;'d of all the comforts this world can afford him; he may dye (as it was &s;aid of <HI>David)</HI> full of dayes, riches, and hon|our, and yet his death-bed pil|low may be unea&s;ie to him, when it &s;hall come to that of the Poet <HI>Linquenda domus &amp; tellus,</HI> &amp;c. when he &s;hall look upon tho&s;e things, which we call worldly comforts, but find no comfort in them.</P>
<P>When he &s;hall look upon his e&s;tate, and not only grieve that he mu&s;t part from it him&s;elfe, but he mu&s;t leave it to a Son, whom, as <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;peaks, he doth not know whether he &s;hall be a fool.</P>
<PB N="113" REF="65">
<P> When he &s;hall look upon his Wife and Children, and take his la&s;t farewell, and out of the horrour of his con&s;ci|ence &s;hall be forced to declare him&s;elfe thus. I leave a great E&s;tate among&s;t you, but I fear, you will finde it encumbred with the cur&s;e and vengeance of God.</P>
<P>When he &s;hall look upon his friends, that &s;tand weeping and mourning over him, and &s;hall breathe out <HI>Socrates</HI> com|plaint in that &s;en&s;e, <GAP DESC="foreign">, Oh Friends, ye cannot help me, your coun&s;el, nor your power cannot enlarge the terme of my life a minute, nor give a ran&s;ome unto God for mee.</P>
<P>When he &s;hall look upon
<PB N="114" REF="66"> his body wa&s;ted, and confu|med by his Luxuries, and, it may be, &s;o di&s;ea&s;ed, as to be loath|&s;ome to him&s;elfe and his atten|dants; and from a &s;ad reflecti|on upon the vanities of his life pa&s;t, &s;hall &s;igh and groan out this as his own Epitaph; <HI>I have lived in &s;inne, and now I lye down in &s;orrow.</HI></P>
<P>But above all, when he &s;hall con&s;ider the &s;tate of his poor Soul, who&s;e immortall nature delivers him up to an Eternity either of bli&s;s or mi&s;ery. When this poor Soul, poor I &s;ay as not being rich in faith, or any other &s;pirituall grace, &s;hall &s;it upon his lips, as the Emperour <HI>A|drian's</HI> did, with a <HI>Qu&ograve; nunc ibo?</HI> whither &s;hall I go? what &s;hall become of me? How &s;hall I ap|pear
<PB N="115" REF="66"> before God, who&s;e Name and Sabbaths I have bla&s;|phem'd and prophan'd? How &s;hall I &s;tand before Chri&s;t, who&s;e Mini&s;ters and Ordinan|ces I have per&s;ecuted and de&s;|pi&s;ed? What comfort can I expect, or hope for, from the holy Gho&s;t, who&s;e private mo|tions and workings in my heart I have &s;leighted and re&s;i&s;ted? I never look'd upon, nor ex|amin'd my heart or wayes, by &s;aying, What have I done? And now, mi&s;erable man that I am, I know not what to do.</P>
<P>Oh my Chri&s;tian brethren, let us think upon the&s;e things; this will be the certaine Fate of a dying wicked man. The Lord will be ju&s;t and righte|ous though we are not, and
<PB N="116" REF="67"> every &s;ecure &s;inner &s;hall feel in his con&s;cience <HI>Futuri Judi|cii praejudicium,</HI> as <HI>Tertullian</HI> ex|pre&s;&s;es it, a ta&s;te of that eternal Judgment and Horrour, which he mu&s;t endure irremediably and everla&s;tingly.</P>
<P>Think upon the &s;ad &s;tate of <HI>Cain.</HI> We cannot tell by the Hebrew, whether he &s;aid; My iniquity, or, my puni&s;hment, is greater then I can bear. Think upon the &s;ad &s;tate of <HI>Antiochus:</HI> when he lay dying, he calls to his friends, and &s;ayes, My heart faileth me, into what floods of mi&s;ery am I fallen? and now I remember the evills that I have done at <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI></P>
<P>Think upon the &s;ad &s;tate of <HI>Saul:</HI> when he was di&s;comfited by the Phili&s;tines, he calls to
<PB N="117" REF="67"> his &s;ervant; <HI>Stand upon me I pray thee, and kill me, for angui&s;h is come upon me.</HI></P>
<P>And let the&s;e terrours of the Lord convince us, that this perfection and uprightne&s;&s;e in our hearts, and words, and acti|ons, is a con&s;iderable quality. Let us with all po&s;&s;ible &s;peed and care provide for our death|bed comfort, and purge our con&s;ciences by Confe&s;&s;ion, and Faith, and Repentance and Re|&s;titution; that we may &s;top their Mouths, and &s;till their Clamour, and not become, as <HI>Job</HI> complained, a burden to our &s;elves. <HI>Job</HI> 7. 20.</P>
<P>It was a good Caution that <HI>Bernard</HI> gave <HI>Eugenius; Nullus mole&s;tior oculus &s;uo cuju&s;que.</HI> Through the guilt of &s;inne, it
<PB N="118" REF="68"> will &s;o come to pa&s;&s;e, that no eye will be &s;o dreadfull and terrible to us, as our owne; there will not be a face either in Heaven or Earth, which a troubled con&s;cience would ra|ther fly from than his owne, and can le&s;&s;e do it.</P>
<P>The Lawes of God are the rules of that perfection and up|rightne&s;&s;e, which in St. <HI>Pauls</HI> phra&s;e we &s;hould follow and pre&s;&s;e after.</P>
<P>And Holy <HI>David</HI> tells us that their peace will be great that love, and are not offen|ded at the lawes of God. This peace in our la&s;t &s;ickne&s;&s;e will prove our be&s;t Cordiall. It was &s;o to King <HI>Hezekiah,</HI> when the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> brought to him that &s;ad me&s;&s;age: Thou &s;halt
<PB N="119" REF="68"> dye, and not live: He betakes him&s;elfe to prayer: Remem|ber now, Oh Lord, I be&s;eech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a per|fect heart, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 38. 3. It was not his Crown, or his King|dome, nor tho&s;e va&s;t Trea&s;ures he &s;tood po&s;&s;e&s;&s;'d of, that then admini&s;tred any comfort to him, onely the te&s;timony of a good con&s;cience, that he had walked before the Lord in truth and uprightne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>Wherefore it is a &s;ad thing, &s;o many men &s;hould &s;eek after Science, &s;o few after Con&s;ci|ence; that men &s;hould hunger and thir&s;t after Riches, and not after Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e: whereas did we be&s;tow as much paines in &s;eeking Morall and Theolo|gicall
<PB N="120" REF="69"> Vertues and Graces, as we do for Arts and Sciences, we might attaine them &s;ooner, and retaine them longer.</P>
<P>Longer, did I &s;ay? I need not recall the word: Spirituall graces are truly called a trea|&s;ure, becau&s;e as they &s;upply to all purpo&s;es, &s;o they continue to all times. Grace carries us through all duties, and through all tryalls. It makes the yoak of Chri&s;t ea&s;ie, and his burden light; it weakens the &s;trength of &s;inne, and takes out the &s;ting of death; it &s;tu&s;&s;es our pillows with the Feathers of a Dove, and fills us with tho&s;e joyes that are &s;o un&s;peakeable and glorious. St. <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> &s;pea|king of the primitive Chri&s;ti|ans: <HI>Quidam patienter vivunt,</HI>
<PB N="121" REF="69"> <HI>&amp; delectabiliter moriuntur:</HI> They live with patience, and they dye with joy. Their Life it &s;eemes was a trouble, Death an advantage: they endured the one, and de&s;ired the other. That ble&s;&s;ed Martyr <HI>Vincentius,</HI> had doubtle&s;&s;e a great mea&s;ure of this ble&s;&s;ed peace in his end, when he could &s;ay to his exe|cutioner <HI>Dacianus; Nunquam aliquis ade&ograve; ben&egrave; &s;ervivit mihi, ut tu;</HI> No man ever did me &s;o good &s;ervice as you are about to do: your torments will ha|&s;ten me to my triumphs, your &s;word will but let out that corruption of fle&s;h and blood, which cannot inherit the King|dome of God.</P>
<P>I &s;hall conclude and di&s;mi&s;&s;e you in the comfort of that pro|mi&s;e
<PB N="122" REF="70"> recorded by Holy <HI>David</HI> in the 64. <HI>P&s;alme. All the up|right in heart &s;hall glory,</HI> at the 10 ver&s;e.</P>
<P>The &s;ubject of the promi&s;e you &s;ee, is Glory: and the per&s;ons to whom it is due, are the Upright in heart. And we may admire the wi&s;dome and goodne&s;&s;e of the Holy Gho&s;t in that expre&s;&s;ion: (upright in heart.) A man may be upright in the de&s;ires of his heart, when through the &s;uddaine&s;&s;e or vio|lence of a temptation, he may be over-borne into a &s;inne. The Lord help us, we cannot maintaine a perfect rectitude in the wayes of this world. In every calling there are &s;ome in-evitable temptations: but yet let us &s;trive and beare up,
<PB N="123" REF="70"> though the &s;tream of corrup|tion runne &s;trong again&s;t us, let us put off all di&s;gui&s;es in re|ligion, and lay down the love of craft, and fal&s;e-hood, and circumvention in Civill actions; and then we &s;hall &s;ecure our title to the promi&s;e. Of what? Of glory. So we read it; but tran&s;lations differ: &s;ome have it, <HI>Laudabuntur,</HI> they &s;hall be prai|&s;ed. Uprightne&s;&s;e is &s;uch a grace as creates an Holy and Reverentiall admiration in all that behold it. Even wicked <HI>Balaam</HI> could wi&s;h, Let me dye the death of the righteous, and let my la&s;t end be like the <HI>I&s;ra|el</HI> of God. But I re&s;t not in that. Take the word in another tran&s;lation; <HI>Laetabuntur,</HI> they
<PB N="124" REF="71"> &s;hall rejoyce. If we could crowd Heaven into a Map, we might find two Hemi-&s;phears; the one would be Joy, the o|ther would be Glory: And as of tho&s;e two Hemi&s;phears of the world, the fir&s;t hath been known long before: The o|ther (that of <HI>America</HI> which is the richer in trea&s;ure) God re|&s;erved for latter di&s;coveries: &s;o though he re&s;erve that He|mi&s;phear of heaven, which is the Glory thereof, to the re&s;ur|rection; yet the other Hemi|&s;phear, the Joy of heaven, God opens to our di&s;covery, and de|livers for our habitation, even whil&s;t we dwell in this world. That which Chri&s;t &s;hall &s;ay to our &s;ouls at the la&s;t Judgment;
<PB N="125" REF="71"> <HI>Enter into your Ma&s;ter's joy;</HI> He &s;ayes to our Con&s;cience now, Enter in your Ma&s;ter's joy. The everla&s;tingne&s;&s;e of the Joy, is the ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e of the next Life; but the entring, the in|choation is afforded to the up|right in this. Tho&s;e words of Chri&s;t, <HI>Come ye ble&s;&s;ed,</HI> are words intended to them that are comming to Him, that are upon their way. And as here he bids us, Come; herafter, he will bid us, Welcome.</P>
<P>Let it not trouble you then, what I told you out of <HI>Solomon,</HI> that the upright is an abhomi|nation to the wicked, and &s;o, tribulations are to be expect|ed. But you know, as a man mu&s;t have &s;ome land, or he
<PB N="126" REF="72"> cannot be in ward&s;hip: &s;o a man mu&s;t have &s;ome of the love of God, or el&s;e he could not fall under Gods correction. And when the hand of God lies upon him, either in a di&s;|ea&s;e, or in a per&s;ecution, and pre&s;&s;es him, &s;o that even life it &s;elfe is expiring, then he &s;hall feel the comfort of this pro|mi&s;e: <HI>Laetabitur,</HI> he &s;hall Re|joyce. And as the Lord &s;aid concerning the reducing of his people <HI>I&s;rael</HI> out of <HI>Babylon: Sibilabo populum meum,</HI> I will hi&s;&s;e for them, <HI>Zech.</HI> 10. 8. &s;o when the upright man &s;hall lye panting, and langui&s;hing upon his bed of &s;ickne&s;&s;e. The Lord &s;hal then come to his bed-&s;ide, and hi&s;&s;e for him, and whi&s;per
<PB N="127" REF="72"> gently to his departing &s;oul: Feare not Sin, I am thy Righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e: Feare not Death, I am the Re&s;urrection: Feare not the day of Judgment, I am thy Advocate now, and &s;hall be thy Judge then. And by the&s;e fla&s;hes of joy, &s;hall &s;o in|lighten his &s;oul, as to overcome all the cares and the feares of Nature, all the Horrour of the pa&s;&s;ing Bell, all the cryes, and teares of a di&s;tracted and &s;cat|tering family. Like ble&s;&s;ed <HI>Ste|phen,</HI> he &s;hall, by the eye of Faith, &s;ee Heaven open, and his Saviour &s;tanding at the right hand of God. And his joy then &s;hall be &s;o &s;trong, as that it &s;hall no more extin|gui&s;h, or evaporate than his
<PB N="128" REF="73"> &s;oul &s;hall. And it &s;hall become a Joy that &s;hall pa&s;&s;e up, and put on a more glorious garment above, and be a Joy &s;uper-in|ve&s;ted in Glory.</P>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="73">
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</GROUP>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
