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A13558
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Tvvo sermons the one A heavenly voice, calling all Gods people out of Romish Babylon. The other An everlasting record of the utter ruine of Romish Amalek. By Thomas Taylor, preacher of the Word at Redding in Berkshire.
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Taylor, Thomas, 1576-1632.
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1624
(1624)
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STC 23853; ESTC S118190
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35,162
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74
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Two Sermons THE ONE A HEAVENLY VOICE CALLING ALL GODS people out of Romish BABYLON The Other AN EVERLASTING Record of the utter ruine of Romish AMALEK By THOMAS TAYLOR Preacher of the Word at REDDING in Berkshire LONDON Printed by J. H. for Iohn Bartlet and are to be sold at the Golden Cup in the Gold-Smiths row in Cheapside 1624. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE RIGHT WORSHIPFVLL AND worthie Knights and Burgesses of the Lower-House of PARLAMENT IN most humble sense of mine owne unworthinesse which holdeth no comparison with the height of your authoritie place judgement and learning I have emboldned my selfe to present unto your wisdomes this voice from Heaven calling all the people of God out of Babylon For what voice can be more worthie of audience than a voice from Heaven What voice more seasonable than this amongst the grave consultations of the most important affaires and weightiest causes of God of his Majestie and of this flourishing Kingdome Or who more fit to heare this voice directed to Gods people than you the representation of all the people of God in this Kingdome You I say who sit in the places of your worthie Predecessors by whose consent and assent with that Higher and Honourable House the whole Kingdome was formerly set out of Babylon so farre as by the blessing of God now it is God will without mee saith Ioseph speake for the life of Pharaoh and without mee effect all his good purposes for the prosperitie of his Majestie and his people and you without mee well know the managing of the weightie businesses which you have in hand neither can my candle adde any light unto your Sunne onely having begunne to speake let me finde grace in your eyes and pardon to encourage you in the doing of what you doe Your wisdomes know that what were the two studs of the house in which Sampson played that is Religion and Iustice in the Common-wealth if they be pulled downe or shaken the Church and Common-wealth fall together and all under the fall must needs perish of the two Religion claimeth our first and chiefe care as intending Gods glorie more immediately and mans good not temporarie chiefly but eternall And therefore whereas heathen Governors could provide for the observation of the second Table Christian Governors as the gates of the world lift up their heads that Christ the King of glorie may enter in among them And all godly Parlaments whereof we have not a few examples in Scripture first setled the causes of God and Religion and then the causes of the King and of Civill Iustice as all the companies gathered for the Lords battels must say on everie side of the Host For the Lord and for Gideon Now of all the great and important causes of God which can be offered to your tractation none is more weightie than the subject of this little Treatise none more neerely concerning your selves to whom the care of your brethren is now committed as Benjamin was by his father to Iudah and on whom next to his Majestie the breath of our nostrils and that Higher and honourable house the care of all our safetie is now laid And as all the voices of the land have made you the eyes of the land so are all the eyes of the land held upon you to helpe us against these Babylonians who have beene and are so busie to bring us backe into our former Babylonish Captivitie and to oppose your selves stoutly with our Darius against these adversaries of Ierusalem who like the Midianites have too long troubled us with their wiles And because the planting of Christs Kingdome is the onely meanes to supplant the Kingdome of Babylon and the breath of Christ can onely blast the hopes of Antichrist a readier way cannot bee devised to effect this voice from Heaven than to provide that the knowledge of the Sonne of God may bee propagated thorow the land and that the blowing of the rams hornes of the Gospell may lay downe the wals of this Romish Ierico even with the ground If your wisdomes should send men over the Kingdome as Moses did the spies to search the land of Canaan they would bring you backe a true report that a great part of this Kingdome still lieth as a barren wildernesse destitute of the blessed means of grace and that many great parishes are as the mountains of Gilboa on which the sweetshowers and raines of the Gospell fall not or verie seldome neither doe the happie dewes of holy doctrine fall on them in their night nor the beames of the Sun of grace dart upon them in the day These faithfull messengers would informe you that all this waste and untilled ground is left for the Babylonians for Seminaries Priests and Iesuites to inhabit That these parishes are the verie thickets in which these snakes and vermins hide themselves who beare nothing about them but poison treason and seduction That these places of such blacke and reigning ignorance lie open to spoile and hazard to be drawne easily away by the poysoned breath of the most sottish Priest not to Poperie onely but even to rebellions and treasons which for most part arise out of ignorant and blinde zeale And now who knoweth whether the supply of this want and the remedie of so great an evill bee reserved for the crowne of his Majesties age and the eternall renowne of this Honourable Parlament So noble a worke requireth no lesse noble an Agent such a glorious and famous act well suiteth with him who for wisdome and understanding is the glorie and fame of the whole earth And now noble and worthie Gentle-men God forbid that you should not take to heart the miseries of your brethren wanting food who behold our Lord Iesus Christ more grieved in spirit to see his Country-men want Preachers than when hee saw them in bondage under the Romans God forbid that you should sinne against God and not bestirre you by planting the true knowledge of God to pull downe the strongest pillar of Poperie that you should not move everie stone for the beautifying of Bethel for the setting open of the gate of heaven here upon earth for the establishing of Gods pure worship and for the removall of everie scandall and advantage of Babylon Goe on therefore worthie men in the Lords strength open your mouthes for the dumbe and silent and be faithfull mediatours for the Kingdome of Christ as you desire him to be a faithfull Mediatour for you in the Kingdome of his Father And from hence would arise another happie fruit wherein the glorie of God and his Gospell would shine out in great brightnesse to the infinite disappointment of these Babylonians namely a more religious and conscionable observation of Gods holy Sabbaths whose honour is wofully violated not without the great scandall of our religion by ordinarie travels both by land and by water Oh that your wisdomes would earnestly move our highest terrene Majestie upon earth for the Sabbaths
Write this Moses a Prophet of God Hee must make Canonicall Scripture of it And being so written it is unalterable and permanent It is sealed with the Kings ring as were the lawes of the Medes and Persians and is irrevocable 2. What must hee write This that is the whole narration of Gods dealing for his people against the Amalekites 1. De rebus gestis What God had done in the miraculous defeating of them already by the power of Moses his prayer 2. De rebus gerendis What God had further to doe in the finall destruction of this cursed Nation 3. Where must Moses write this In a booke Quest. What booke is this Answ. Some thinke it a booke now missing although the Scriptures yet extant be sufficient but this booke was no other than this present historie of Exodus and other his historicall Commentaries in his five bookes in the which this same storie is more fully repeated as Deut. 25.17 4. Why must he write this in a booke for a remembrance Israel saw the great works of God at least all Israel could not but heare of this and yet this is not enough it must be written to live in their memories and in the eyes of their posterities and after-generations Ob. But seeing Israel had many great and miraculous deliverances besides and above all this why is this so directly appointed to be written in a booke above the rest Answ. Israel had received a farre greater deliverance a little before from the Egyptians chasing them in the bottome of the sea and the Lord would not have this deliverance drowned in that but would have a thankfull memory of this also preserved and would have the glory of it maintained even above other great workes both by a booke and an altar and by a name God appointed it to be enrolled in parchment and Moses enrolles it in the stones of his Altar 2. Other great workes were lesse dependant and more transient in the present passages of them but this is dependant and must bee registred for future memory and use for divers passages of Scripture depend upon it and not only the present people of God then living but even the after ages descending of them must take knowledge of this fearefull sentence denounced against Amalek for these ends 1. That they might never make league or peace with them all their daies because the whole Nation stood accursed before the Lord. 2. That they might be ready in aftertimes whensoever God should command their kings to offer themselves cheerefully to the execution of this sentence in the utter extirpation of this hatefull people 3. That they should ascribe the honour of truth and iustice to the Lord when in aftertimes they should see King Saul reiected for failing in this execution and not destroying those sinners the Amalekites as the Lord had commanded him and the kingdome given to David who was better than he in that he effected the Lords whole decree in doing what Saul had omitted 1 Sam. 30.17 2. Rehearse it to Ioshua Quest. Why to him Ans. Because Ioshua must be Moses his successor and served to these two purposes 1. That hee for his time also should alwaies stand out in hostility against them not as a revenger of private wrongs and iniuries offered them but to beare in minde and publiquely to execute the iudgements of God which were charged upon them 2. That it might be an encouragement to him who was to bee the Lords Captaine and to leade out his people in the Lords battells against all the rest of the Nations in that hee seeing these enemies which made the first attempt and onset upon Israel so mightily revenged by God might hence assure his faith that God would goe on with him as he had now begun untill hee had given them actuall and full possession of that good land which he had promised them so long and so often Now from this first part of the Text wee may note 1. That in our way to heavenly Canaan we must make account of many Amalekites as Israel cannot set forth towards Canaan but Amalek will meet them Israel going into Egypt had no enemies but in their way to Canaan never wanted them A man may goe to hell merily and never meet with Amalekites to hinder him hee hath wind and tide with him But let all the Israel of God resolve in their way to meet with Amalek to fight with Amalek to overcome Amalek else there is no hope of ever seeing Canaan wee must not expect rest till we be thorow the Wildernesse 2. We hence learne to write up Gods mercies and deliverances in a booke of remembrance and as Israel keepes a Register and Catalogue of Gods mercies and favours towards us our friends our countrey our Prince our Magistrates and Ministers yea build up altars in our hearts to hold the mercies of God before our eies For 1. Nothing can more hearten our faith than the view of the monuments of Gods favour and gracious dealing of God with us 2. The renewing of them upon our selves and memorie perpetuateth every gift of God and makes us as thankfull as if we had newly received them 3. Nothing doth more binde the Lords hands from doing us good than the oblivion of his mercies when as every thankfull acknowledgement of old favours is but the invitation of a new so as it is a gainefull dutie Many have beene our deliverances publique and private of the Church and kingdome of our Prince and people of our own persons and estates when many Amalekites have risen against us But where are our bookes of remembrances where are our Altars or our Sacrifices where is our Iehova Nissi in which we proclaime God to be our banner and covert as the words import It was but one of ten of the Lepers that returned to give thankes for his cleansing For I will utterly put out the name of Amalek from under heaven In this second part of the text are two things 1. The Author of the reuenge 2. The severitie of it The Author or person executing this reuenge is the Lord who saith here I will doe it His arme is strong and power unresistable Who can turne him backe Yea although he appointed and raised meanes to doe it as Saul and David yet hee challengeth the revenge to be his owne 2. The severitie of this revenge in that the Lord will utterly destroy him with a totall and finall destruction and is not satisfied in overthrowing the kingdome and dominion only unlesse he put out the name and memorie of them from under heaven All which noteth a great detestation and an utter abolishing of this people Quest. Why what cause was there of such severitie in this execution Answ. The cause was the fierce wrath of Amalek against Gods people the Israelites if Amalek bee fierce against the people of God God will bee fierce against Amalek Now the fierce wrath of Amalek appeared against Israel because 1. It was unnaturall