goes round about it to keepe it in And where the two ends of Peace meete there Unity is fast and knit up And the knot is of the same substance with the bond Peace too And therefore where the antient reading of the Text is To keepe Unity in the bond of peace there some will have it to keepe Vnity in vinculo quod est pax In that band which is peace This bond as 't is the bond of unity so 't is well fitted to the unity it bindes For if you marke it it bindes unity and the bond is but One In vinculo pacis in the bond of peace One band And yet that which is unum is not unius that which is but One is not onely of One For it bindes many whole Churches whole Kingdomes And both bodies are ever safest when the bond is One and that One able to hold them For when this One bond of peace cannot bind close 't is a shrewd argument either that some ill humor swells and will not endure the bond or that the bond it selfe is strained and made weake And in both these cases timely helpe must be applied or the Vnity of the Body is in Danger You may see this plaine in the Naturall body The out-bond of the body is the skinne If the body be too full of humors and they foule and in Motion the body swells till the skinne breakes So t is in the Church and so t is in the State when the body is too full of humours The inner-bond of the body is the Sinew 'T is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very word which the Apostle uses The bond or the sinew of peace If the sinew be broken or over-strained there 's much paine and weakenesse in the body and the members hang as loose as if they were falling one from another And so t is in the Ecclesiasticall And no other than so in the Civill Body If there be but a straining in the bond though perhaps the sinew be not yet broken t is high time to looke to the Unity of the Body Well What Remedy then What Why sure there 's none but Vinculum Vinculi The sinew must have a swathe And that which was wont to bind the Body must be bound up it selfe And if the Cure light not into honest and good Chirurgions hands it may prove a lame Church and a weake State ever after God blesse the Body therefore and direct the Chirurgions Now as the bond of these great bodies the Church and the State may be broken so the knot which hath ever beene hard to unty may be cutte And both Church and State have ever had Cause to feare both both breaking and cutting Saint Ignatius was afraid of this in the Church by and by after the Apostles times And therefore He writes to the Church of Philadelphia In any case to to flie and shunne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the partition or cutting off this knot And indeed t is not fit for any man imployed about this bond of peace to have his Rasor about him And David was afraid of this in the State and he had cause great cause For some wilde unruly men cryed out then Let 's break their bonds in sunder and cast their cords from us Psal 2. What bonds Why All the bonds of peace and all the bonds of allegiance too For the Consultation then was saith Calvin to depose David But he that dwells in heaven laughed them to scorne ver 4. And then brake them in pieces like a Potters vessell ver 9. Now the Breakers of the bond of peace both in Church and Common-wealth are pride and disobedience For these two cry one to another That is Pride to disobedience Come let 's breake the bond And this is very observable and with reference to this bond of peace too You shall never see a disobedient man but he is proud For he would Obey if he did not thinke himselfe fitter to govern Nor shall you ever see a proud man stoope to binde up any thing But if you see him stoope take heede of him 't is doubtlesse to breake the bond of peace The Reason's plaine if hee stoope to binde up He knowes he shall be but one of the bundle which his pride cannot endure But if he stoope to loose the bond then he may be free and shew his vertue as he calls it that is hope To runne formost in the head of a Faction Fond men that can be thus bewitched with pride against themselves For when they are bound up though but as one of the Bundle yet therein under God they are strong and safe But when the Bond is broken and they perhaps as they wish in the Head headlong they runne upon their owne Ruine Thus you have seene the Apostles care for Vnity For Unity but faine would he have it of the Spirit This Unity he desires you should keep yea studdy and endeavour to keepe as the Spirit is ready to prevent and assist that you may be able to keepe it This Unity must be kept in peace And if you will have it sure in the bond of peace That which remaines is that you obey and follow the Apostles Exhortation That all of you in your selves and with others endeavour to keepe the Vnity of the Spirit in the bond of peace both in Church and Common-wealth For good Counsell such as here our Apostles is doth not make Church or State happy when 't is given but when 't is followed And to the danger that may come it addes guilt to all such as will not obey the counsell that they may prevent the danger And let me say thus much for the Vnity of the Spirit 'T is that which ties us one to another and all to God and God to all Without God we cannot be safe either in this life or that to come And without this Vnity no man is sure of his Neighbours assistance nor any man of Gods But by this Unity GOD himselfe is content to be bound to you And that which is bound is sure and ready at need Et sortis cum debili ligatus illum portat se saith Saint Chrysostome And strength bound to weakenesse beares up both it selfe and weaknesse And in this sense I can admit of Scaligers Subtilty That Vnity is Omnipotent Keepe Vnity then and be sowre t is honourable Justice upon any that shall endeavour to breake it He deserves not to live that would dissolve that bond by which God hath bound himselfe to assist the Church and the Common-wealth Our adversaries make Vnity a Note of the Church and they perswade such as will beleeve them that we have no Unity and so no Church I would not have Occasion given them to inlarge their doctrine lest in the next place they take upon them to prove that we have no Common-wealth neither for want of Vnity Now to keepe Vnity I have made bold to direct you one
as it were to the maintenance of it himselfe partly because some men will not and some men cannot defend his Cause And partly because it must be judged at some Tribunall Now there lye many appeales in the cause of God And all appeale is to a superiour Court The highest is Gods Therefore when Malice and Tyranny hath done what it can to Gods cause if his Servants do but Appeale as they ever doe The Cause must in the end revolve to God himselfe who alone hath no superiour Yet his very Enemies need not feare For he will so pleade and judge his owne Cause that their owne Consciences shall tell them his Judgement 's right Now one thing which layes a kinde of necessity upon God to maintaine his owne cause is as I told you that some Men will not and some men cannot maintain it I finde both these touched in the Text. First they that will not For these words Arise O God and maintaine thine own Cause are a grievous taxe upon all them to whom God hath given meanes and ability yet will not stir to succour his cause For 't is as if he had said Men will not maintaine thy cause If thou wilt have it defended thou must do it thy selfe The Jewes it seemes were now very guilty of this else the Prophet would never have runne with that earnestnesse to God He would have prayed to God had Men been never so willing yes God forbid else but had they done their duty the extremity had not beene fear'd And marke and tremble at the curse of God which was called for upon some of that People for this sinne Judge 5. Curse ye Meroz saith the Angel of the Lord curse the Inhabitants thereof Why because they came not up to helpe the Lord to helpe the Lord against the mighty To helpe the Lord. Why What cause of God was this What Why 't was his cause of Warre against Sisera as appeares Judg. 4. Against Sisera yet to helpe the Lord. And certainly 't is a great and grievous errour in any People as well as in Israel and in any age of the world as well as in that to fast and pray and call upon God to Arise and Maintaine his cause and their owne joyn'd with it if in the meane time they will put nor hand nor purse to maintaine either their owne or Gods Their owne in the State Or Gods in the Church These Men perhaps are of Tiberius his minde Deorum injuriae Diis curae And what that Oracle meant when he writ so to the Senate whether It belongs to God to vindicate his owne cause Or God will be sure to doe it Or let his cause sinke if he will not defend it I am not certaine This I am sure of God can defend himselfe sine Patrocinio nostro without any aide of ours But yet if we come not in to helpe when the Cause of God is deposited with us the feare is and 't is Just that God will Maintaine his cause and leave us to maintaine our owne Secondly They that cannot For these words Arise O God Maintaine thine owne cause imply disability in Man as well as malice For 't is as if he had said Men cannot at all times maintaine thy cause If thou wilt have it defended thou must doe it thy selfe And this is true of the strongest of the Sonnes of Men if they be left to themselves But this though it puts us in more feare yet it makes us not halfe so guilty For Guilt followes malice more then Impotency And our weakenesse and disability is such that we are not able to hold up against so many and great Enemies as the cause of God hath This was the case of Hezekiah He durst not trust to himselfe and his owne strength against the Host of Assiria Therefore to his Prayers he went 4 Reg. 19. O Lord God do thou save us out of his hand which is all one with the Text Arise and maintain thine owne cause But I pray take this with you When Hezekiah pray'd thus the People were in Armes No deserting the cause though no selfe-ability could hold it up But what Enemies had the cause of God then or hath it at this day that such earnest prayers were then and are now made that God would Arise and maintaine it Doe you aske what Enemies I 'le tell you Perhaps I shall not be able to tell you all But what my Text tells me I 'le shew you First the Text tells me the Enemies that came up against Gods cause were fierce and got some hope of Advantage Implyed in this that the Israelites were faine to call for maintenance had supply against them Next the Text tels me these Enemies were thought too cunning and too strong for Israil to whom the defence of Gods Cause was then committed Implyed in this that they were faine to flie to God and call him in to his owne defence A signe that all seconds were too weak Thirdly the Enemies were many and not like to be beaten or mastered at once And that 's expressed ver 20. A multitude of Enemies And last of all they were as cruel as strong and numerous For so we read ver 5. Where they are called Roaring Enemies A name which ever had some affinitie with the Devil 1 S. Peter 5. So in all likelyhood nothing remain'd but to get God to be absent and then they might easily swallow his People and his Cause together To prevent this was the Prophets prayer and so it is ours this day For so the Psalme begins O God considering how thy cause is streitned Wherefore art thou absent from us so long And it ends at Arise and maintaine thy Cause against them And the forme of the Prophets Prayer is very confiderable too and a great example to the Church of Christ The Prayer is that God would arise and maintaine his Cause The first thing the Prophet aimes at is the Cause the equity and right that belongs to it not the respect it had to Persons And this out of question is the way of Justice to honour the person for the Cause not to esteeme the cause of the person Now men for the most part goe a crosse way to this and therefore when they will come into the way of Justice I cannot tell For usually all businesse is sided into parties 'T is no matter for the Cause let who will maintaine that simply for it selfe If it make for us and our party so farre we will maintaine it else be it Gods cause or whose it will whether it sink or swim it shall not trouble us And I doubt as the practice of too many men is so is their Prayer For the Faction and the Party all not the Cause either as 't is Gods the Churches or the States And parties are ever private ends The Cause as 't is Gods the Churches or the Kingdoms is ever common ever fit to be
God plead or maintaine thine owne Cause Remember how the foolish man reprocheth or blasphemeth thee daily THis Psalme in the very Letter is a complaint of the wast that was made upon the City of Jerusalem and the prophanation of the Temple that was in it And these goe together For when did any man see a Kingdome or a great City wasted and the Mother Church left standing in beauty sure I think never For Enemies when they have possessed a City seldome think themselves Masters of their owne possessions till they have as they thinke plucked that God out of his House which defended the City As you may see in that bragge of the Heathen in Minu. Foelix And so 't was here The Enemies roared in the City and displayed their Banners vers 5. And then by and by followes the defiling of the holy Place Downe goes the carved work with Axes and Hammers and Fire on the rest verse 6. A profanation upon the Temple and upon all the Rites of Religion there was All agree upon that But it was yet but in Prophecie not come And the learned which lived after and looked back upon the Prophecy and the accomplishment of it are not agreed For some say the Text refers to the first great desolation by Nebuchadonozor some to the last by Titus some to that which came between by Antiochus Epiphanes and some indefinitely to all The best is you cannot refer the Text amisse For in every of these the City and the Temple the State and the Church were threatned alike And I for my part see no great reason yet why the Prophet should not mean all since certaine it is both State and Church did suffer in all This Psalme as in the Letter it lookes back upon the State and Church of the Jewes so in the Figure it lookes forward upon the whole course of the Church of Christ entertained in any State For if the State come to suffer 't is madnesse to thinke the Church can be free And therefore this Psalme certainely was penned to be Documentum perpetuum an everlasting document to the Church of Christ to labour and pray for the safety of the State Because if any violence threaten the Kingdome with Waste it must needs at once threaten the Church with both Prophanation and Persecution Well This danger is usually threatned before it come And so 't was here But upon that threatning what remedy hath the State What why wisely to fore-see carefully to provide against and unanimously and stoutly to resist the Insolence and the violence of the Enemie And to this work every Subject is bound by all Law of God of Nature and of Nations to put hand and meanes life and livelyhood But what remedy hath the Church What Why a Remedy beyond all this Majora arma as Saint Chrysostome calls them greater sharper weapons For foresight and care and unanimity and courage sometimes come all too short For all these may dwell in greater proportion in the Exemies Camp Whither goes the Church then Whither Why doubtlesse to God For when all things else faile The helpe that is done upon Earth he doth it himselfe ver 13. To God and to God by Prayer That 's the Church way And the Church way is Via Regia the Kings way as Epiphan calls it The Prophet here is all upon this way For here in the Psalme is a Noise of Enemies comming There 's a Prophecie what they will doe if they get the better What doth the Church Doth she stay till the Enemies be come No sure 'T is no wisedome in the State 'T is no Religion in the Church to doe so No nor did the Church so here But she called to minde what strange things God had done of old for his servants ver 14. Upon that mercy she grounds her confidence That upon the same Repentance she shall have the like Deliverance And upon this Faith and hope she repents and prayes ver 20. My Text is the conclusion of this Prayer And it hath two parts The one is the Invocation that God would bestir himselfe Arise O God The other is what the Prophet would have him doe when he is Risen And they are two things which hee doth expresly desire of him The one is that he would pleade and maintaine his owne cause The other that he would remember how the foolish man reproches or blasphemes him daily Arise O God maintaine thine owne cause Remember how the foolish man blasphemeth thee daily The Text it selfe is all as it begins a Prayer It must needs fit the worke of the day For that Proclaimes for Prayer No time is or can be unfit to call upon God But such Times as this are necessary And there cannot more well be said than such Times as this The Prophet David where he points out opportunity for Prayer goes not so farre Call upon me in the day of trouble so will I heare thee and thou shalt glorify me Psal 50. There 't was but the day of Trouble But these Times might I be bold to put them under their just character for difficulties both at home and abroad are more than the day of trouble For beside that they have made up a long Day of trouble already These Times are the very concurse of Feare and Danger The Cloudes have threatned from heaven now many dayes together to destroy a hopefull and plentifull Harvest in the Day of Possession As the Prophet speakes Esay 17. The Pestilence as if it were angry that God had driven it out of this great City of the Kingdome wastes and destroyes far and neare in other places of it The Sword of a forraigne Enemy threatens to make way for it selfe And if it enter 't is worse than Famin and the Pestilence The Prophet calls it a Rasor Esay 7. But such as is readier to cut the Throat than shave the Beard Can yee tell where to sue out remedy against these but at God Perhaps you may think upon second and subordinate Helps And 't is fit yee should For these are simply necessary too And 't is Gods great blessing upon the Kingdome that to meete with the Distractions of the Time he hath placed over us in the Throne a wise a stout a vigilant and a most provident King Well But can you alwayes have these second helpes at hand Can you always by them effect your end Have you them ready at this time Have you the Sinewes that move them 'T is well if you have But I doubt 't is a great part of the sorrow and trouble of the time that you have not And howsoever have or have not there is a commanding power both over you and these And therefore this is a time for Humiliation under that power that he which gives Grace to the Humble would resist the Pride of our Enemies S. Jaco 4. I need not presse this any further The necessity of these Times
made the Object of our Prayers Yet this advantage may here be had If ever you may safely prefer the person before the cause and yet be just you may doe it here God before his owne cause And the reason is because God as he can never tender an unjust cause to his People so is he Justice it selfe And ever juster than any cause of his that is without him Therefore whatsoever others doe Arise O God and maintaine thy selfe and thine owne cause Maintaine it even from Heaven there 's no great trust to the Earth for that is full of darknesse and cruel habitations ver 21. Now all this while we have almost forgotten who 't is that makes this Prayer Saint Hierom tels me and he is not alone in the opinion the Psalme was Davids and therefore the Prayer too As a Prophet he foresaw the danger and as a King he went on directly to the highest remedy And though Kings now are not Prophets yet 't is a great blessing upon any Kingdome to have the King a Seer so farre as is possible To have him with both eyes open His right eye open and up to heaven for God to maintaine him And his other eye downwards but open upon his People to take care of them and maintaine them with the same support that he hath received from God And herein above other Nations we are blesed this day I say againe Above other Nations if we can see our blessing and be thankefull For the King keepes his eye as steddy upon God as if he had no helpe below him And yet at the same time as gracious an eye upon his People to relieve their just grievances as if he were more ready to helpe them than to receive helpe from them Let not your hearts be troubled neither feare S. Joh. 14. Here are two Kings at once at Prayer for you David and your owne King They are up and calling upon God to Arise For shame Lagge not behinde God and your King You have been and I hope are a valiant Nation let nothing dead your spirits in Gods and your Countries Service And if any man drop malignant poyson into your Eares powre it back into his owne bosom And Sir as you were first up and summon'd the Church to awake and have sounded an Alarum in the Eares of your People Not that they should Fast and Pray and serve God alone but goe with you into the House of the Lord so goe on to serve your Preserver Your Merit and the Noblenesse of your heart will glew the hearts of your People to you And your Religious care of Gods cause and service will make him I doubt not Arise and haste to the maintenance of your Cause as of his owne Onely in these and all times of difficulty be strong and of a good courage keepe close to the Law of the Lord. Be full of Counsell and then resolute to Act it Else if you shall not be firme to deliberated Counsells they which are bound to serve you may seeke and finde opportunities to serve themselves upon you This doe and God Arise and be with you as he was with Moses Jos 1. This doe and as S. Chrysost speakes Aut non habebis Inimicum aut irridebis eum Either you shall have no Enemy or you shall be able to scorne him the world over The second thing which the Prophet would have God doe when he is risen is that he would Remember how the foolish man blasphemeth him daily The Enemies of Gods Truth and of the peace of his People it seemes doe not onely seek to overthrow his Cause but base and uncivilly irreligious as they are they fly upon his Person too For so you see the Text changes from the Thing to the Person Maintain thy cause but remember the Reproach runs against thy selfe They blaspheme thee And by this you may see how dangerous a thing it is for any Men or any States to become Enemies to the Cause of God For sinne will not stay till it have wrought them farther even into enmity against God himselfe And therefore this sin here a high and a presumptuous sin is not called the presumption of them that hate Gods Cause but of them which hate God himselfe ver 24. Presumption easily falls to Reproach goodnesse it selfe But what Reproach is it these Enemies cast upon God What Why 't was in the highest degree 'T was Blasphemy For so Saint Basil renders my Text. And so 't is called againe Ver. 11. 19 You may be sure the Prophet mistook it not It went not single there were more than one and Theodoret calls them Execrations Cursings and Revilings of God And men of all sorts as well as usurping Enemies had need be watchfull over this sinne For a man may quickly be within the borders â—o it before he be aware especially â—â—he be bold and busie with the Cause of God as it is reserved and secret in himselfe For since all Blasphemy is a Derogation of some Excellencie chiefly in God the Schoole collects and truly That whosoever denies to God any attribute that is due unto him or affirmes any of God that is not agreeable to his Nature is within the Confines of Blasphemy Entred though perhaps not so farre gone But these Enemies it seems stuck at no degree of Blasphemy Spared God himselfe no more than his Cause And what reason can this State of Church have to thinke these Enemies or their like that spared not God nor his Cause will if they have power enough spare them or theirs But I pray who or what manner of Enemy was it that made thus bold with God Who why my Text answers that too Stultus fuit it was the foolish Man And you may know so much by his boldnesse We find Psal 14. There was a Foole that blasphemed God But 't was in his heart Out of his mouth he durst not let it goe not once And this Foole was in the same feare at first For his Blasphemy kept in his heart ver 9. But now he was grown impudent it brake out at his Lipps For as S. Basil and others observe he did Palam maledicere Blaspheme at large The Prophet no question knew these Enemies what they were that they had other names beside Fools But he fits them with their Name of Merit That they deserved that he gives them I told you these Enemies were cunning subtill Enemies And 't is true But Malignity against Gods cause and Blasphemy against his Person will make the greatest Wisdome in the world turne Foole. And Follie dares adventure any thing against Man Nay against God too which is alike true of the Foole at home and the Foole abroad The Prophet pray'd against their Enemies as we doe now against ours O my God make them as a wheele Psal 83. And see in what a wheele they are The worst that ever moved For their Blasphemy
carries their Wisdome round into Folly And their Folly turnes their malice round into higher degrees of Blasphemy Thus is this Enemy no sooner a Blasphemer but a Foole And no sooner a Foole but a greater Blasphemer So Blasphemy is punished with Folly and Folly with Blasphemy There 's the wheele both in the sin and the punishment And I pray observe These Enemies that beset Gods Cause at Jerusalem were a Nation And so some reade here Not the Foolish man but the Foolish People And a powerfull Nation they were were they Babilonians Syrians or Romanes And one of them they were And yet you see the Prophet gives them no other no better name then Fool when they violently persecute Gods Cause Indeed they deserve it And this Sinne is as able to Foole a whole Nation as a particular Man Nay the holy Ghost here speakes of them as of one Man As if Blasphemie could change a whole Nation into one Foole. And surely 't is no hard thing with God to make the wisdome of the whole world foolishnesse 1 Cor. 1. And 't is as easie with him to confound the wisdome of a whole Nation as of one Achitophell And see I beseech you how their sinnes continue Once a Foole in this kinde and an Enemie to Gods Cause and a Blasphemer of his Person ever after without a great deale of mercy And this is noted in the circumstance Tota Die and Quotidie Daily and all the day long at this Blasphemy And 't is usuall this with Enemies All the day For their studdy is upon it And every day For these Enemies were the same in Blasphemy The day of their preparation The day of their Fight and the day of their Victory And Ruffinus observes that this Blasphemy grew in the continuance And either it derided God in his Servants or it menaced men for serving God How it flatter'd it selfe there while against both Man and God is thus farre apparent in the Text That they never durst have beene daily Blaspemers against God if they had not beene Opinators at least that God could never have maintained and made good his cause against them It is too much to see the cause of God opposed To heare the name of GOD Blasphemed were it but once But all the day long and every day is a Tentation almost unsupportable to Christian and religious hearts Yet this we must be Inur'd to heare against King and Church and God himselfe if we take not better course than hitherto we have done to keepe out the Enemy and his Blaspehmy Against this 't was time for the Prophet and 't is time for us to pray The Blasphemy of an Enemie is a very urgent Motive to make Men pray And the Prayer of the Prophet here that God would remember the Blasphemer was very fervent For he begins this Prayer at Remember the Rebuke of the Enemy ver 20. And he ends his Prayer with Remember the Blasphemy of this Fool ver 23. Remember and forget it not ver 24. This was the Prophet's Zeale for Gods Cause and you may learne by it that cold Prayers are not they which remove the Blasphemy of Enemies The Prayers indeed of but one righteous Man doth much but 't is when they are fervent Saint Jaco 5. But you will say What needes all this calling upon God to Remember Is it possible he should forget not possible certainely But then as before Though God cannot sleepe Yet to awaken not him but our poore understanding concerning him the Prayer was Arise O God So here though God cannot forget yet because in his providence he sometimes carries himselfe to our sense and apprehension Ad modum obliviscentis as if he did forget and threatens that he will forget Oblivione obliviscar eorum Ose 1. Forgeting I will forget them Therefore here againe the Prayer runnes after the manner of men Arise O Lord yes and Remember too Why but since here 's Enmity against the Cause of God and Blasphemy against himself why doth the Prophet aske no more of God but that he would Remember this Why why certainly 't is because there 's abundantly enough of that He knew if God did Remember he would punish And as S. Jerome observes hee therefore Remembers that he may confound in Judgement And indeede in Gods Language to Marke and Remember is many times to punish and not to Remember is to forgive sinne If thou Lord shouldest be extreme to marke and observe that is to punish What is done amisse Psal 130. And the Church hath learn'd not onely to speake but to pray of the Prophet For so the Church prayes in the Letany Not punish not but Remember not Lord our offences And therefore the Prophets Prayer was home enough Remember Lord Yes doe but that and we either have or shall have enough and our enemies too We I hope of deliverance and preservation and they of punishment Thus you have heard the Prophets prayer and I hope made your owne that God would Arise and bestir himselfe And what he desired God would doe both for State and Church when he was Risen that is That he would plead and maintaine his owne Cause And Remember that is punish in his owne time the Blasphemy of all them that reproach or detract from it or him One thing yet remaines and 't is fit to be thought upon this day every day all the day long And that is what it it is that makes God a Protector of any King any State any Nationall Church against either in-bred or forraine Enemies Against the Fox at home and the Lion abroad And that certainly is for the State to goe on with Honour and Iustice And for the Church to labour Devotion as much at least if not more then knowledge For else Gods Cause and ours may be two And then God may Arise and maintaine his owne but leave us to the Famine to the Pestilence to the Sword to any other Judgement The onely way to make God Arise as soone as ever we call Nay to prevent our call and come in to helpe before we pray is for both King and People State and Church to weave their Cause and Gods together To incorporate them so that no cunning of the Devil may be able to separate them For then the benefit is apparent God cannot Arise and maintaine his owne cause but he must maintaine ours too because 't is one with his And his owne doubt you not he will maintaine against the proudest Enemy that can come against it And certainly the greatest hope and confidence of Gods Assistance to any Nation to any Man that can precede deliverance it selfe is to make their Cause all one with Gods And that is done by upholding his and conforming theirs Our safety then is when our cause is one with Gods Our danger when they differ But what is it that puts the difference between them What why that which put the
first Enmity betweene God and Man Sinne. And therefore if we wil quit the Enmity and be made friends the onely way to reconcile us with God and our Cause with his is by Faith and Repentance to banish Sinne. The sooner this is done the sooner we are safe which cannot be till our Cause be one with Gods One and yet when 't is one the preheminence is still with Gods Cause we must not suffer ours to step on before him For our Cause as 't is spirituall and concernes our soules if it be never so good never so close joyned with God's yet God's is to have the precedence For be ours never so good I must beg of your humility to Remember that Gods Grace did both prevent and follow to make it so And therefore we are to put his cause first and to pray chiefly for the maintenance of that which gave worth to ours And for our cause as 't is temporall and concernes this life onely Our safety life and lively-hood Gods cause is to have the precedence of that much more Father and Mother Wife and Children Brethren and Sisters Life and all must be accounted as nothing to Gods Cause S. Luke 14. And it hath ever beene a signe that the soule of a man goes right That a whole People keepe upon Gods path when they seeke first the Kingdome of GOD and the righteousnesse thereof and leave God to minister and maintaine the rest S. Mat. 6. When they are more tenderly affected to the Cause of God and more sensible of the Reproach or Blasphemy of his Name than of any calamities that might or malice can bring upon their persons And yet our giving Gods Cause the precedence in our Love to it and our Prayers for it is no exclusion of our owne Cause Nay the preferring of Gods before our owne And the making of our owne conformable to Gods is the way to make God as jealous of our safety from all extremity as he is to vindicate his owne honour from Reproach and Blasphemy And therefore though the Prophet here as Theodoret observes doth not say Arise O God and maintaine Causam meam my cause but thine owne Yet the same God that will have us prefer his cause will have us pray for our owne likewise And so the Prophet did For though he be here all for Gods cause yet we have him very earnest for his owne too Plead thou my cause O Lord with them that strive with me and fight thou against them that fight against me Psal 35. And defend my cause O God against the ungodly People Psal 43. 1. Well then Thy cause O God and my Cause O God But the Rule of Practise goes here Gods cause must leade that ours may follow it under the protection of God As we have therefore now begun so let us pray on as the Prophet did That God even our Gracious Father will be no longer like unto one that sleepes That he will Arise and blow over these feares from us 'T is but his Breath and he can dry the Cloudes that they drop not Rottennesse upon our Harvest 'T is but his Breath and he can cleare the Ayre of Infection as well all over the Kingdome as he hath beyond admiration done it in our chiefe City And 't is but the same Breath and he can shake our Enemies to peeces in the Sea That God being Arisen and come neare in providence will pleade first and after maintaine his owne Cause His owne in the hand of the King His own in the heart of the Church And his owne in the Holinesse of his Name That he will give this State and Church and every Member of both such grace that our cause may be his and his Maintenance ours That he will remember and that 's enough that if his Cause be ours our Enemies are his That we may so order our lives by his Grace that if these or any Enemies will Blaspheme it may not be Him for our sinnes but Vs for his service That our Enemies and his how-wise soever in other things yet in their plots and practises against us may be written in the Text-Letters FOOLES That we being preserved from them and all other Adversity may take warning in time to mend our lives and so hereafter live to honour and serve him that the world may see he hath beene mercyfull and we labour to be Thankefull That after the maintenance of his and our Cause here we may in our severall times be received up to him in Glory Through Jesus Christ our Lord To whom with the Father c. SERM. VI. Preached on Monday the 17. of March 1628. at Westminster at the opening of the Parliament EPHES. 4. 3. Endeavouring to keepe the Vnity of the Spirit in the bond of peace THIS Chapter is a great Scripture for Unity For here we finde there is but One Lord whom we serve v. 5. But One God and Father whom we worship and obey ver 6. But One Spirit whom we receive while he sanctifies us ver 4. One Lord One God and Father One Spirit Three in One all Three but one God blessed for ever But one Baptisme by which we are cleansed But one Faith by which we beleeve ver 5. But one hope upon which we relye ver 4. But one knowledge by which we are illightned ver 13. But One Body of which we are members ver 4. Different Graces but all tending to One Edification Divers offices but all joynt-Overseers of the same worke Till the Building be One and we One in it ver 11. This Chapter is as pressing a Scripture for Exhortation And the first Exhortation is That men would walk worthy of their calling ver 1. Their calling to be Christians their calling in Christianity And that to shew themselves worthy they would endeavour to keep the Vnity of the Spirit in the bond of peace ver 3. All for Unity And let me tell you We often reade of One in the Scripture but the word Vnity in the abstract is no where read either in Old or New Testament but onely in this Chapter and here 't is twice For we are exhorted to keep it ver 3. But how long why even till we be made perfect ver 13. that is to the end of this life Why but what need was there of this Exhortation at Ephesus what why sure very great need For Saint Anselm tells us Schisma suit there was a Schisme and a rupture there And Charismata the eminent Graces which God had given many of them was made the cause of the Schisme For Corruption at the heart of man breeds pride even out of Gods graces And they which had these gifts despised them which had them not and separated from them This gave occasion to false teachers to enter in and lye in wayt to deceive ver 14. This was the state of the Church of Ephesus