vanities Vanity of vanities all is vanity III. If such be the condition of Kings of Princes of Courtiers of Statesmen who have their portion in this life and seeme to be in a safe harbour against all kindes of stormes and in all weathers who is able to relate all the troubles which disquiet the mindes of other men and steepe the few drams of worldly comforts which they taste but seldome in their lives with a quintall of gall One bewaileth the death of his only sonne another curseth the day wherin he was made the father of a man childe this man complaineth of his wives disloyaltie that man conveyeth his wife to the sepulchre with sadnesse and teares He who lived in ease is ashamed to see himselfe stript of all that he had and he who spoyled him is amazed when he is also spoyled by another stronger than himselfe One amongst an hundred mourneth for the death of his friend who was to him more faithfull and steadable than a brother but manie fret and are much moved when they see their familiar friends in whom they trusted and in whose bosome they did lay all their secrets lift up their heeles against them To be short there is no tongue that can fully ex presse all the evils that are incident to man in his person and state neither is there any man who feeleth not with paine the portion of those evils which is shared unto him As they that sayle in shallow waters amongst rocks and shelves of sand are not voyde of danger and of feare so they that hoyse up sayles amongst the waves and surges of the tempestuous sea of this life are not freed from annoyes and discontentments all their pleasures are like the Locusts whereof mention is made in the Revelation which k Revel 9 8 10. had hayre as the hayre of women to entice with goodly shewes and tayles like unto Scorpions to sting with mortall discontent They shall leave off to be mortall men when evill shall leave off to pursue them and teares shal not be wipt from their eyes untill death hath closed their eye lids l Iob 5.7 For man is borne unto trouble as the sparkes rise up to flye and m Psal 90.10 the strength of his dayes is labour and sorrow IV. But amongst and above all men many are the evils of the righteous man as David said when hee was forced through feare 1. Sam. 21.13 to change his behaviour before Abimelech King of Gath and faining himselfe madde escaped his enemies indignation for he feareth not to call himselfe righteous and calling to memorie the great number of evills which hee had endured from the first day of his anointing till then he pronounceth that many are the evils of the righteous Which he speaketh so of himselfe that he extendeth it to all those who can claime the title of righteous men to themselves And because this saying is confirmed by the experience of all ages and therefore it may seeme very strange that a righteous man should be so storm-beaten with afflictions he mitigateth the bitternesse of this averred sentence with the sweetnesse of this no lesse experimented conclusion But the Lord delivereth him out of them all So the Text taketh you by the hand and pointeth out to you first a righteous man and his manifold afflictions secondly the LORD and his deliveries whereunto if ye adde a question which is implyed in the first part why the LORD permitteth the righteous man to be so roughly used ye shal have in these parts the matter of sundry Sermons the first of the righteous man and of the characters whereby he is known The second and third of the evils wherewith the righteous man is on all sides thunder-stricken The fourth and fift of the causes wherefore Almighty GOD and his loving father suffereth him to be pushed and tossed to and fro with so manie evils The rest shall be of the Lords deliverances Let us then begin at the first part and our beginning and helpe be in the Name of the Lord who hath made heaven and earth Amen V. If ye define and describe exactly the righteous man by the rules of the Law which ascribeth this glorious and most excellent title to those onely whose persons are from the womb without spot whose actions are without sinne and in whose lives Gods all-seeing eyes can perceive no blemish let Papists say what they will we will truly say with David in the Old Testament n Psal 14.10 There is none that doth good no not one and with S. Paul in the New Testament o Rom. 3.10 There is none righteous no not one For if Papists speake of such men as are by S. Iude called p Iude ver 19. sensuall not having the spirit and say That they may keepe the Law of God if they will the holy and true Apostle giveth them the lye saying in the New Testament that q 1. Cor. 2.14 The naturall man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishnesse unto him neyther can he know them because they are spiritually discerned Now if he cannot know them what ability can he have to doe them And therefore Eliphaz sayth of such a man in the Old Testament that r Iob 15.16 he is abominable and filthy drinking iniquity like water for he is flesh he is nothing but flesh nothing but corruption and sinne and Å¿ Rom. 8.7 the affection of the flesh is enmitie against God for it is not subiect to the Law of God neyther indeed can be If then we fit to these carnal men the words which Ieremy spake to his auditors asking of them t Ier. 13.23 r Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots then may you also do good that are accustomed to do evill wee shall convert them to their owne use because that v Tit. 1.15 being infidels their minde and conscience is defiled and w Rom. 8.5 being after the flesh they minde the things of the flesh If they speake of those of whom the Apostle saith that they are after the spirit and mind the things of the spirit and affirm of them that if they would they might keepe the law seeing they keepe it not and that the holiest man that ever was could not say truly x Pro. 20.9 I have made my heart cleane I am pure from my sinne then according to this saying good men are ill men honest men are knaves upright men are malicious men for y Iam. 4.17 to him that knoweth to doe good and doth it not to him it is sinne And never did any but a despitefull wicked man say I might do good if I would but I will not doe it whereas much otherwise the godly honest hearted man sayes a Rom. 7.18 19. The will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I find not For the good that I would I doe not
thy nature but of the workes of thy iudgements and mercies Brethren Iearne and wonder Men speake so of God And therefore God borroweth mens phrases and as they speake of him so speaketh he of his owne selfe e Ier. 23.24 Wicked men when they spoile kill and abuse most licentiously the righteous man doe say f Psal 94.7 The LORD shall not see neither shall the God of Iacob regard it As if he were in his Closet fast asleepe or busied with other matters when they reele to and fro to doe mischiefe or as if he dwelt so farre off from them that he cannot see them What say they g Iob 22.12 13 14. Is not God in the height of heaven and behold the height of the starres how high they are how doth God know Can he iudge through the darke cloud Thicke cloudes are a covering to him that he seeth not and he walketh in the circuit of heaven For this cause God saith that seeing they thinke and speake so he will come out of his place to visit i.e. to punish the Inhabitants of the earth for their iniquitie Even as it is said when the Giants were building the Towre of Babel that h Gen. 11.5 7. the LORD came downe to see the City and the Towre which the children of men builded and said Goe to let us goe downe and there confound their language And as when he was to destroy Sodome and Gomorrha he said to Abraham i Gen. 18.21 I will goe downe now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it which is come unto me and if not I will know As likewise when his time was come to take vengeance of Pharao and deliver his people he said to Moses k Exod 3.7 8. I have surely seene the affliction of my people which are in Egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their taske-masters for I know their sorrowes and I am come downe to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians When he withdraweth his care from his children and suffereth his enemies to afflict them he saith in Hosea l Hos 5.15 I will goe and returne to my place till they acknowledge their offence And then they acknowledging their owne folly cry unto him m Psal 60.1 O turne thy selfe to us againe n Psal 80.14 Returne we beseech thee ô God of hostes looke downe from heaven and behold and visit this Vine After the same manner when he destroyeth their persecuters he delivereth them and saith that he commeth out of his place to visit them them who are his children in his favour them who are his enemies and the oppressors of his children in the extremitie of his anger IV. He calleth the one and the other his visitation For o 1 Tim. 6.16 he dwelleth in the light which no man can approach unto and cannot be seene of us but by his workes which when he displayeth not we thinke and we say that he is absent But when we see and feele them then we say he is present and hath visited us As we speake of him so speaketh he of himselfe though p Act. 17.27 28. hee be not farre from every one of us for in him we live and move and have our being Or rather he teacheth us that he doth all things by rule by number and by ballance that first he takes a perfect notice of our estate and afterwards setteth his workes forward The workes whereby he visiteth us are either of mercie or of iudgement And therefore his visitations are taken in the Scriptures sometimes for his mercies sometimes for his iudgements And it is said that he visiteth us either when he giveth us conspicuous testimonies of his favour or when he punisheth us for our sinnes In the first sense it is said that q Gen. 21.1 the LORD visited Sarah as he had said which in the words following is thus explained And the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken Because he fulfilled his promise and gave a Sonne to Sarah the Scripture saith that he visited Sarah In the same sense Ioseph said to his brethren r Gen. 50.25 God will surely visite you i.e. deliver you And so is the word expounded by Zacharias in his song where he saith that ſ Luk. 1.68 God hath visited and redeemed his people Ye reade the like in the Acts where it is written that t Act 15.14 God did visite the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his Name For their calling to the light of the Gospell was their visitation When Ierusalem made light of that light Christ said that v Luk. 19.44 she knew not the time of her visitation In the second sense visitation of punishment is double The one is of love and of grace whereby God visiteth his owne deare children as he said to David x Psal 89.31 32 33. If they breake my statutes and keepe not my commandements then will I visite their transgression with the rod and their imquitie with stripes Neverthelesse my loving kindnesse will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulnesse to faile We have heard heretofore that this kinde of visitation is most usefull It is not so much y Minut. Felix Non est poena militia est Fortitudo enim infirmitatibus roboratur Et calamitas saepius disciplina virtutis est a punishment to the Church as her warfare For fortitude is corroborated by infirmities And often affliction and calamitie is the schoole and mistresse of vertue It is ever so to the Church The other commeth from Gods heavie wrath and indignation and hath for end not the correction but the destruction of the sinner As when God said that hee a Hos 1.4 would visite the blood of Iezreel upon the house of Iehu he threatned the Kings house with a totall and finall overthrow as he saith in the words following that he would cause to cease the kingdome of the house of Israel In this sense David made this prayer to God b Psal 59.5 O LORD God of hostes the God of Israel awake to visite all the heathen for he addeth by way of exposition Be not mercifull to any wicked transgressors This word is so taken in this text when the Prophet saith that the Lord commeth out of his place to visite i. e. to punish in his anger and hot displeasure Whom will he visite V. The inhabitants of the earth What Are not all men are not Gods servants inhabitants of the earth aswell as other men No men to speake properly are inhabitants of the earth For we are all tenants at the will of the great Lands Lord not owners and our life is a soiourning rather than a dwelling on earth All true beleevers acknowledge this truth and say in their prayers to God c 1 Chro. 29.15 We are strangers before thee and soiourners as were all our fathers Our dayes on the earth
betwixt man and beastes as betwixt the serpent and man the like disagreement and farre greater is betwixt the righteous and the wicked man for p Pro. 29.27 an uniust man is an abomination to the iust and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked These contrary inclinations had their beginning with the world and shall not have an end untill the worlds end God is justice and righteousnesse it selfe and the divell professed enmity against him from the beginning What wonder then if he bee an enemy to the righteous man who is but Gods creature As soone as man was created he seduced and supplanted him Then God proclaimed unreconcileable warre betweene them saying to the divell who was shrowded under the shape of a serpent q Gen 3.15 I will put enmity betweene thee and the woman and betweene thy seede and her seed It shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heele The serpents seed is the brood of wicked men which have beene from the beginning namely those which persecute the Gospell The seede of the woman is our Lord Iesus Christ with the whole band of righteous men Iohn saw a battel in heaven r Rev. 12.17 Michael and his Angels fought against the dragon and the dragon fought and his Angells Iesus Christ who onely is this Michael because he onely is like unto God and his Angels and Saints fought against the divell and all the hellish rabble of wicked men and of divells like unto himselfe There is no manifest cause knowne of the Antipathies and contrarietie of dispositions which are in nature but the causes of disagreement betweene the righteous and unrighteous man are knowne They flow from contrary springs and therefore their affections their actions their effects their ends are contrary Are not God and the divell enemies The wicked man Å¿ 1. Ioh. 3.8 is of the divell the righteous man t Ver 9. is borne of God Hence it is that the children beare out their fathers quarrell the wicked is hud-winked with ignorance v Ioh. 16.3 He knoweth no the Father nor the Sonne neither will hee know them x Psal 36.3 he will not learne to be wise that he may doe good y Ioh. 17.8 The righteous man knoweth surely that Christ is come out from the Father and beleeveth that the Father hath sent him a Rom 8 5 The wicked is after the flesh and therefore he minds the things of the flesh The righteous being after the spirit minds the things of the spirit The wicked mans workes are b Gal. 5.19 20 21. the workes of the flesh which are these Adultery fornication uncleannesse lasciviousnesse idolatry witcheraft hatred variance emulations wrath strife seditions heresies envyings murthers drunkennesse reuilings and such like The righteous mans works are c Ve. 22 23 the fruits of the spirit that is to wit Love ioy peace long suffering gentlenesse goodnesse faith meeknesse temperance Where there is so great a contrarietie and repugnancie of affections of actions of workes what wonder if there be great enmitie The righteous man is light in the Lord and d Ioh. 3.20 every man that doth evill hateth the light neither commeth to the light lest his deedes should bee discovered for that cause hee hateth the righteous man as the Pharisees hated Iesus Christ because hee reprooved them of their vices The righteous man likewise hateth the wicked e Psal 139.21 22. Doe I not hate them O Lord saith David that hate thee and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee I hate them with perfect hatred I count them mine enemies When heat and cold moisture and drought hardnesse and softnesse light and darknesse shall leaue off to bee at variance then then shall the righteous and wicked man ioyne hands and enter into confederacy one with another f 2. Cor. 6.14 15 16. for what fellowship hath righteousnesse with unrighteousnesse and what communion hath light with darknesse and what concord hath Christ with Beliall and what part hath he that beleeveth with an Infidell and what agreement hath the Temple of God with Idolls In this discord there is this notable difference that the righteous man hateth rather the vice than the person of the wicked and seeketh by prayers to God by exhortations admonitions good examples to convert him whereas the wicked hateth both the vertues and the person of the righteous and seeketh to destroy him III. From thence it is that assoone as a man begins to apply his mind and heart unto righteousnesse Satan and the wicked world conspire to undoe him for like as g Dan. 3.16 17 18. Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury and the forme of his visage was changed against Shadrac Meshac and Habednego when to his face they refused to fall downe and worship the image which he had made and commanded that the furnace wherein they were to bee cast should bee kindled seuen times more than it was wont to be heat even so assoon as a man begins to draw his neck out of Satans coller to shunne the company of wicked men to draw neere unto God by repentance and newnesse of life and to register his name in the Church booke that he may be saved in the communion of the Saints Satan sets all his malice on a flame to devoure him and the wicked rush upon him with bill and claw to teare him in peeces For as theeves breake not into an house where there is nothing but straw hay stubble but onely into such places where there is gold silver precious stones and rich furniture so the divell and his limbes heede not rascals and scurvie fellowes but if any man bee a worshipper of God and doth his will they lye in waite secretly as a Lyon in his denne they hide the snare in his way they crouch they stoope to catch him into their net As soone as Christ was borne h Mat. 2.16 Herod became out of his wits seeking to slay him to teach us that as soon as we become Christians by a spirituall birth wee shall not have want of Herods to seeke our lives As soone as the i Rev. 12.3 c. red dragon saw rhe woman with child travelling in her birth and ready to be delivered hee stood before her that he might devoure her childe as soon as it was borne but her child being caught up unto God and she taking her selfe to her wings to save her life by flying into the wildernes he cast out of his mouth a floud of water to drowne her What was this vision but a type of the Church against whom the divell stirreth up a world of wicked men as so many waves of an overflowing river to swallow her up when after a long barrennesse she conceiveth againe and brings foorth children to God Then ye heare nothing amongst those blood thirstie butchers but crying k Ier. 11 19 Let us destroy the tree with the
kingdomes prosper the people have peace when generous and worthy men who hate couetousnesse flattery and envy who respect above all worldly things the honour of the King who have no other end of their actions but the weal of the State are neerest to Kings DARIVS King of Persia holding a Pomegranet in his hand wished in stead of all treasures to have as many ZOPYRES as there were graines in that Apple shewing that there is nothing so needfull and profitable to Kings as faithfull Counsellers and servants of the chiefe of the Nobilitie such as ZOPYRVS was and yet no Iewell so rare to be found For though there be many nobles about Kings there be few upon whose fidelitie wisdome and magnanimitie Kings may relie Therefore blessed is this Realme wherein so many ZOPYRES so many of the heads of the Nobilitie are ever neere our most wise religious and righteous Kings eares Amongst whom your Honour shineth as a radiant Planet among the bright and glistering starres What are generositie wisdome faithfulnesse to the King love to the native soyle good and acceptable services to the State but gorgeous and glittering sinnes if they be severed from true godlinesse from faith in our Lord IESVS CHRIST from love to his beloved Church from holinesse of life and good workes acceptable to God What are Courtiers what are the Nobles of the Land what are Kings themselves without Christian vertues but like a certaine people of Asia which were wont to carry earthen vessels in golden Boxes What are all their riches honours dignities pleasures pastimes delights but trifles but faire vanishing bubbles which must give place to things more solid that bring to true beleevers an everlasting felicitie and ioy For as the shell of an Egge howsoever it bee white smoothe and well formed must bee broken that the Chicken may come out and that wherefore the shell was made appeare So the fashion and shew of this world must passe away that the incomprehensible estate which God hath laid up and keepeth in heaven for his deare ones may shine and bee made manifest Therefore where greatnesse and godlinesse where wordly prerogatives and celestiall priviledges where carnall and spirituall nobilitie faith in Christ and faithfulnesse to the King love to the State and charitie to the Church a vehement passion for the common-weale and true zeale to God are ioyned and maried together as they are in your Honours person every man that seeth them is bound to acknowledge to admire and to praise them and to render all honour and serviceable duties to those whom God hath so mercifully wonderfully honoured This then is the cause of the Dedication of these my Sermons to your Honour For who shall blame me if so far as in me is I honour with my Penne a Lord whom God hath sorichly honoured with his Gifts And who shall denie but that Sermons of the righteous mans evils and of the Lords deliverances may yea should bee dedicated to a Lord who though living in the midst of worldly contentments eateth the Paschall Lambe not onely with unleavened bread of sincerity truth but also with the bitter hearbes of godly sorrow ever sighing ever sobbing before God for the affliction of Ioseph ever praying ever crying to heaven for the deliverance restauration of Ierusalem lapping of the glib-sliding pleasures of this transitorie and fugitive life as GEDEONS souldiers lapped of the running waters and tasting them with thanks-giving as temporall gifts of God but drinking great draughts of teares flowing from the eyes of spirituall sadnesse ever expecting with a most firme hope the accomplishment of the Prophecies by the ruine of Babylon and deliverance of the Church ever hastening setting forward that necessary glorious worke by courageous and faithfull counsels and all other meanes lawfull and possible I cannot omit that which toucheth my selfe For being banished from France for the Gospell of Christ and for my nations sake and comming to his Maiesties Court where like unto ENDIMION after his long sleepe I saw nothing but new faces and seemed to my selfe as a man fallen out of the Cloudes your Honour embraced me with such kindnesse and humanitie and recommended me to his Maiestie with such affection that I should be iustly condemned of ingratitude if I did ever forget it Let that foule vice goe and burie it selfe in the gulfe of hell where it was bred I had rather be esteemed clownish and home-bred by rendring to your Honour in these unpolished sheetes such thankes as I can than called unthankefull by neglecting of my dutie The poore woman with her mite was as acceptable to God as the rich men with their rich gifts because shee gave what she had with a free heart And great Lords receive of their Vassals strawes and trifles for homage of great tenements I doubt not but this small and unworthy hommage shall finde in your most worthy Lordship the like acceptation as comming from one who with a true heart poures out his prayers to God for the increasing of all the blessings of this life and of the life to come upon your most honourable Person and illustrious Familie and who is Your Honours most humble most obedient and most affectionate Servant Gilbert Primerose THE RIGHTEOVS MANS EVILS AND THE LORDS DELIVERANCES THE FIRST SERMON Of Evils incident to man as he is man and of the Righteous man PSAL. 34. VER 19. Many are the evills of the righteous but the LORD delivereth him out of them all I. ALl men are subiect to many evills II. Kings Princes great men III. As well as other men IV. David ascribeth to the righteous man mo evills than to other men V. If the righteous man be examined according to the rules of the Law there is none righteous VI. If in Gods mercifull acceptation of the will for the deed all true Christians are righteous VII Description of the righteous negatively and affirmatively VIII He that is righteous and holy may call himselfe so IX Although hypocrites and wicked men claime that name to themselves X. The true characters of wicked men XI Their best workes are great sinnes XII The Church is the Congregation of righteous men and is assaulted with many evills XIII Exhortation to righteousnesse I IF wee take but a slight view of man who in his own pride and loftinesse of minde hath taken to himselfe the glorious title of the Little world if wee consider him in his person in his state wee shall finde that he is but a cage of rottennesse a sinke of filth and a world of wretchednesse The seed wherof he comes is a stinking excrement and the ground wherein he is sowen is a quagmire of dirt a sinke of uncleanenesse a strait and darke pit of loathsome and pestilent putrefaction from whence he doth not escape but is thrust out as a noisom troublesome guest who neyther can be kept longer nor set at libertie without unspeakeable torments both to the mother who hath
fruit thereof let us cut him off from the land of the living that his name may be no more remembred IV. Amongst the righteous men Satan is most incensed against those whom God pickes out from amongst the rest separates for some speciall and excellent worke in the Church or in the State For as Pirates saile by Barkes and small ships and boord Carrackes and other huge ships laden with the riches of the Orient so Satan lyeth in wait for those principally on whom God hath bestowed greatest plenty of gifts and preferred to the most eminent places in his Church As long as Iacob meddled with nothing at home Esau lived peaceably with him Sought he and obtained he his fathers blessing then Esau vowed to kill him Whilest Iesus Christ led a private life and made no shew of those treasures of heavenly graces which were hid in him the divell considered him not but when the Spirit lighted upon him in the bodily shape of adove when his Fathers voice was heard from heaven saying This is my beloved Sonne in whom I am well pleased when by the Baptisme of water and of the Spirit he was installed in the dignitie and imployment of Mediatour betwixt God and man then the divell heeded him tempred him set on foote against him as many enemies as there were men which knew him When Saul was a Pharisee exceedingly zealous of the traditions of his fathers and a persecuter of the Church hee was much regarded and honoured of the Iewes but when of a Captaine he became an Apostle of a violent Persecuter a most zealous Preacher of a Iew a Christian of Saul Paul he became therwith a marke wherat the divell and his Angells did shoote all the venemous and fierie arrowes of their indignation What wonder then if the divell who hath ever his bow bent and ready aimeth chiefly at the Rammes and Leaders of Christs flocke hee knoweth by long experience and too too many tryalls that it is not written in vain l Zac. 13.7 Mat. 26.31 I will smite the shepheard and the sheepe of the flocke shall be scattered abroad V. Ye see then againe upon what condition ye are and name your selves Christians m Ioh. 15.19 If saith Christ ye were of the world the world would love his owne but because yee are not of the World but I have chosen you out of the World therefore the World hateth you Tribulation trouble sorrow griefe teares all the evills that the divells malice can find out are the Christian mans portion in this world His hopes are not of this life for no reward is promised unto him but in the world to come As the bird-catcher casteth a little corne before the birds and hideth the net wherewith he involves them and as the fisher covereth the fish-hooke with the mortall bait whereunto hee knoweth the fish will speedily swimme so these which mind to deceive promise alwayes pleasant things and like unto the Syrenes of the Poets they sing most sweete songs to charme the simple ones whom they go about to intrap but the venome is in the taile and hee who listeneth unto them is amazed to see how by too much credulitie he hath bin drawn upon the dangers is sunke among the shelves of stinging cares and killing evills n Gen. 3.4 5. The divell spake of nothing to Eve but of knowledge of good and evill but of immortalitie but of eternity of life but of being like unto God himselfe what-she found ye know all Ignorance death resemblance to the imposter who had deceived her was the reward of the lightnesse of her beleefe o Mat 4.8 9. The Tempter shewed to Christ all the kingdomes of the world and the glory of them and promised them all unto him so that he would fall downe and worship him p Mat. 7.15 The false Prophets come in sheepes cloathing that when oportunity shall serve they may dismember the whole flock The Papists and other Heretikes of this age couer their deadly poyson of false doctrine with the sugar of entising words and shew to those which have not their senses exercised to discerne both good and evill a golden cuppe of most delightfull and pleasant promises which when they put to their head they drinke nothing but gall and wormewood Fathers doe not so to their children they send them to the schoole give them Pedagogues and Tutors to instruct them and hold them in awe keepe them under a most seuere and rigorous discipline untill they come to mans age and be able to doe good service Then and no sooner they looke upon them with a cleere face they use them familiarly they open to them their purses they advance them to honours and dignities they make them their heires After this manner our heavenly Father at the beginning speakes to us most roughly of sorrowes and vexations hee schooles us in Christs Colledge where afflictions are our Tutors and rods our lessons q Mat 7.14 He forewarneth us that the way wherein we are to walke till we come to the pleasures which are at his right hand for evermore is narrow and spred over with thornes that the gate whereby we must enter if wee desire to enter into the kingdome of his glory is very straite and low to the end that when we finde such a way wherein there is nothing but narrownesse grinnes and bryars and such a gate wherein we cannot enter without pressing thrusting and stooping we may say one to another as it is written in the Prophet r Isa 30.21 This is the way walke yee in it whether ye turne to the right hand and whether yee turne to the left and concluding with reioycing as Iacob did in his great affliction Å¿ Gen. 8.17 This is the gate of heaven pray and say with David t Psal 118.18 19. Open to me the gates of righteousnesse I will goe into them I will praise the Lord this is the gate of the Lord into which the righteous shall enter VI. Flesh and blood cannot abstaine from controlling of this wise and fatherly course which Almightie God takes with his beloved children It is a strange and most uncouth thing to mans conceit that God not onely permits that his Saints which feare his Majestie which doe his will which lead among men an Angelicall life and are heaven upon earth should be thus exposed to so many calumnies vexations torments losses in commodities of this life and most dangerous tentations but also will be called the Author and cause of them all for it is he hee himselfe which asketh v Amos 3 6. Shall there be any evill in the citie and shall not the Lord doe it x Lam. 3.38 Evill and good proceede they not out of the mouth of the most High May he not represse the raging furie of our adversaries may hee not convert them all as hee did Paul If he will not convert them may he not destroy them at unawares as
thy chastening was upon them Look what the biting collyre is to the pinne in the eyes the scorching cauter to the headache and catharres the sharpe pricking of the Surgeons launcet bitter physick to a continual fever the Creuset and the fire to gold and silver the same are afflictions to the righteous mans sinnes which are a suffusion and web upon the eie of the mind a theume choaking Gods Spirit suffocating the heart the Pleurisie pestilent fever of the soule the dross tin of all godly affections So a Num. 12 1 2 10. Miriam was healed of her pride by leprosie So b 2. Sam. 12.11 David learned to be chaste by the incests of his owne sons so Ionas learned obedience in the Whales bellie So c Luk. 1.20 Zacharias by the losse of his speech was cured of his incredulity taught not to open his mouth in time to come but to praise and blesse the Lord his God So the whole Church of Iuda d Lev. 26.4 was humbled under the mightie hand of God and accepting of the punishment of her iniquitie learned to say with heart and mouth e Micah 7.9 I will beare the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him So the Churches of France by these last troubles were brought low and taught to walke in Gods presence with feare and trembling for howsoever they were innocent of the crime of rebellion laid to their charge their vanitie their ambition their pride their filthie covetousnesse their loathing of the Gospel their securitie was become so exceeding great that God could not beare with them any longer They trusted in their little paltrie holds and forts which they had raised as high as the clouds and said not onely in their hearts as Edom did but with their mouths also f Obad. 3. Who shall bring us downe to the ground The Lord heard the words of their pride in the turning of an hand turned them topsie turvie leaving onely some ruines as traces of his indignation whereby their Children may know that there dwelt their Fathers Then wee acknowledged then we said g Pro. 18.10 The Name of the Lord is a strong tower the righteous runneth into it and is safe For this cause S. Peter calleth Persecutions h 1. Pet. 4.17 Gods iudgements Christ calleth them i Rev. 3.19 his chastisements and S. Paul giveth the one and the other name to all kind of afflictions saying that k 1. Cor. 11.31 32. If wee would iudge our selves wee should not bee iudged But when we are iudged wee are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world I say then that the first cause of the righteous mans Evils is his owne sinnes and their first end is his correction and amendment IX Now he is not onely guiltie of sinnes past for which he is chastised but also hee is prone to fall in sin againe as bearing in his breast the seede of all iniquitie Alas Alas l Iob 15.16 how abominable and filthie is man which drinketh iniquitie like water Therefore God like an expert Physician mingleth unto him a cup of afflictions not onely to cure him of former diseases but also to preserve him from diseases to come For tribulations are not onely medicines but also antidotes preservatives against the poison of sinne They are bitter potions in taste but they either restore or preserve health m Iob 33.14 15 16 17 18. Elihu saith in the booke of Iob that God speaketh once yea twice yet man perceiveth it not He instructeth men by his word he sendeth to them his servants once twice thrice to advise them of their duetie and they yeeld not attention unto his admonitions Then hee openeth the eares of men and sealeth his chastisement upon them that he may withdraw man from his purpose and drive away pride from man So he keepeth backe his soule from the pit and his life from perishing by the sword seasoning him with the salt of afflictions that he rot not I will not enroll n Gen. 12.17 Pharao king of Egypt nor o Gen. 20.6 7. Abimelech king of Gerar among righteous men yet when they would have sinned against God by abusing Sara Abrahams wife God plagued them with so great plagues that they were affraide to touch her Surely David was a righteous man and ye may perceive how in Absolems rebellion against him God gave him with one stone two blowes he chastised him for the murther and adultery which hee had committed and restrained him from sinne for the time to come The one and the other for his good as he confessed saying p Psal 119.73 It is good for me that I have beene afflicted that I might learne thy statutes Who was more righteous then Paul yet confessing his owne infirmitie and acknowledging how he was by nature inclined to pride hee saith that q 2. Cor. 12.7 there was given to him a thorne in the flesh the messenger of Satan to buffet him lest he should be exalted above measure This Angell of Satan was not the divell himselfe but as r Chrysost ibi Homil. 1. ad popul Antiochen Chrysostome esteemeth wicked men inspired of the divell such as was Alexander the Copper-smith which did him much evill such as were also the Iewes the Gentiles the Tyrants and all Infidells which persecuted him beyond all measure This then is as if he had said The Lord might stay all persecutions and hand-fetter all those which vexe me but because I was caught up into Paradise and heard there unspeakeable words and might have waxed proude thorow the excellency of revelations be hath permitted these Angels of Satan to buffet me by divers persecutions and tribulations Because then that Peter and Paul and their mates howsoever they be wonderfull among men in holines in righteousnesse and in most rare gifts still are men and easie to be overtaken with sinne they have neede to be held in with the curbe of a sharpe and rigorous discipline lest they suffer themselves to be carried away by the boisterous wind of their owne vanitie and pride for as serpents are bred in man of that which is most inward to him even of the marrow of his bones so arrogancie and loftinesse of mind is ingendred in holy men of the knowledge which they have of their owne excellency and righteousnesse then they begin to looke too much at themselves and too little to themselves then they begin to rely upon their owne excellencie and to forget their maker as Adam and Eve did and as it befell the good king Å¿ 2. Chro. 32.31 Isa 38.2 Hezekiah when he shewed his treasures to the King of Babylons Ambassadors This is the high and broad way to hell and therefore God with bit and bridle draweth his chosen ones backe from it and manageth them with rods and spurres not for any sinne which they have done but for that
examples in the old Testament 15. And principally in the new Testament 16. The afflictions of the righteous are no tokens of Gods wrath but of his love 17. Carriage of the Churches of France in their affliction 18. Exhortation to beare Christs crosse courageously 19. Prayer I. GOD often loades the righteous man with crosses to honour him when he beareth his owne crosse a Luk. 22.33 40 41. as the malefactors which were crucified with Christ did then he is chastised and as one of them said We receive the due reward of our deeds so may he when hee is persecuted for righteousnesse sake as David was by Saul and Iob by the Divell or beares Christs crosse as b Mat. 27.32 Simon the Cyrenian did then his faith hope charitie is tryed then his patience and constancie is exercised then he is very much honoured II. Ye know that Cain slew his brother c 1. Ioh. 3.12 and wherefore slew he him because his owne workes were evill and his brothers righteous d Gen. 19.9 Lot was threatned by the vicious Sodomites because that being a forreiner and stranger he rebuked them e Gen. 37.2 Ioseph was hated and sold of his brethren because he advertised his father of their misdemeanour f Gen. 39.9 he was also cast in prison because hee would not sinne with his masters wife David complained of his enemies saying g Psal 38.20 They that render evill for good are mine adversaries because I follow the thing that good is Iohn Baptist was beheaded because hee said to Herod h Mat. 14.4 10. It is not lawfull for thee to have thy brothers wife All these suffered for righteousnesse sake and for the uprightnesse of a good conscience before God but they suffered not for God There be degrees in righteousnes The first is when a man suffereth for any good cause Is not that honourable and glorious before God and men i 1. Pet. 2.9 20. For as Peter writing to servants saith this is thanke-worthy if a man for conscience toward God endure griefe suffering wrongfully for what glory is it if when ye be buffeted for your faults ye shall take it patiently but if when ye doe well and suffer for it ye take it patiently this is acceptable with God III. The second is when hee suffereth immediately for God for the publike profession of his holy Word When k Dan. 3.18 the three children did chuse rather to bee burnt in the furnace than to worship Nebuchadnezzars golden Image they suffered for God when l Dan. 6.16 Dauid was cast into the Lyons denne because he would not obey the Kings idolatrous decree he suffered for God when m 2. Mac. 6.19 Eleazar one of the principall Scribes chused rather to dye gloriously than to live stained with the eating of Swines flesh hee suffered for God when the n 2. Mac. 7. the seven brethren and their mother were fryed scorched dismembred because they would not transgresse the Law they suffered for God when the whole Church at that time made her moane to God and said o Psal 44.22 For thy sake are we killed all the day long we are counted as sheepe for the slaughter she suffered for God If it be glorious to suffer for a good cause is it not more glorious to suffer for Gods cause IV. But to suffer for the Gospell is the most glorious of all p Rom. 1.17 For therein is the righteousnesse of God revealed from faith to faith There is evidently before our eyes set forth our Lord Iesus Christ who because hee q Dan 9.14 hath brought unto us everlasting righteousnesse and r 1. Cor. 1.30 is made unto us of God wisedome and righteousnesse and sanctification and redemption is with good and iust cause called ſ ler. 23.6 the Lord our righteousnesse Therefore hee who suffers for Christ is said after a most speciall manner to suffer for righteousnesse sake Of such speaketh Christ where he saith t Mat. 5.10.11 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousnesse sake for theirs is the kingdome of heaven What that righteousnesse is he sheweth in these words following Blessed are yee when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evill against you falsely for my sake When v Rev. 1.9 Iohn was telegated into the Isle of Pathmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Iesus Christ he suffered for righteousnesse when x Ioh. 9.3.4 the man that was borne blind and restored to sight by Christ was cast out of the Synagogue and excommunicated for Christs sake hee suffered for righteousnesse when y Ioh. 12.10 11. the chiefe Priests consulted that they might put Lazarus to death because that by reason of him many of the Iewes went away and beleeved on Iesus he suffered for righteousnesse when a Eph. 3.13 2. Tim. 2.9 10. Paul was cast into prison for preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles and endured many troubles for the Elects sake that they might obtaine the salvation which is in Christ Iesus with eternall glory he suffered for righteousnesse b Rev. 6.9 Those that were slaine for the word of God and for the testimony which they held whose soules Iohn saw under the altar suffered for righteousnesse sake V. Of such some are Confessors some are Martyrs The faithfull who were shut up in prison for Christs sake but were not yet tortured as also those which leaving their families goods friends and native soile fled to forrain nations lest they should be constrained to deny Christ were called c Cypr. epist 9. 21. Confessors All those which endured horrible great torments for the Gospels sake though they were not put to death were named Martyrs Tertullian calleth them d Tert. ad Martyres cap. 1. Martyres designatos appointed to be Martyrs e Euseb hist Ec. l. lib. 5. cap. 2. The Martyrs of Vienne in France after they had endured all kind of most cruel ignominious tormēts for Christs sake taking to thēselves the name of Confessors refused to be called Martyrs saying that the name of Martyrs pertaines to those only which have sealed their confession by their death even as Christ calleth f Rev. 2.13 Antipas his faithfull martyr because he was slain in Pergamus for the Gospel VI. In a generall signification Martyr is a witnesse The Gospel whereunto testimony is given is called g Isa 8.20 1. Ioh 5.11 the Testimony and the h Rev. 19.10 Testimony of Iesus Therefore it is said of Iohn i Ioh. 1.7 8 that he came for a witnesse to bear witnesse of the light And Christ saith of himselfe k Ioh. 18.37 I came into the world that I should beare witnesse unto the truth yea he calleth himselfe l Rev. 3.14 the Amen the faithfull and true witnesse Title which the m Euseb hist Eccles lib. 5. c. 2. Martyrs of Vienne esteemed to
suffereth in us as when the head suffereth all the members suffer and when the members suffer the head suffereth Is not Christ the head are we not the members of his body This was the cause why the Apostles after they were beaten x Act. 5.41 reioyced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for Christs name for this same cause the Apostle reioyced that he was y Eph. 4.1 the prisoner of the Lord that a Gal 6.17 he bare in his body the markes of the Lord Iesus that b Col. 1.24 hee filled up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ for though all Christs sufferings bee accomplished and c Ioh 19.30 finished in capite in the head for the redemption of the Church yet they are not all fulfilled in corpore in the body for the edification of the Church but as long as there shall be in the world one faithfull to suffer Christ shall have some evill to suffer because Christ and the faithfull are one S. Paul was scholed with this Iesson before his entry into the Church when the Lord Iesus cryed unto him d Act. 9.4 Saul Saul why persecutest thou me even as when ye tread a man upon the foot the head will cry Why treadest thou on me What wonder then if e Phil. 3.8 10. he counted all things but doung that he might know Christ and the fellowship of his sufferings that he might be made conformable unto his death and if hee rendred testimonie to all the Christians of his time that f Rom. 5.3 they gloried in tribulations O bonds more honourable than the Diadems of Kings O tribulations more glorious than the glory of Salomon Is there any golden chaine so glistering as the irons wherwith the Confessors are shackled for Christ Is there any glory to be matched with the glory of the blessed Martyrs suffering with Christ and in their sufferings made conformable to his image The Pagans say that it is sweete and honourable to dye for our countrey The souldiers glory in the wounds which they have received for the defence of their chimneyes And those which are led to the gallows for the service of their King feele glory in their shame and professe that they diâ—content seeing they die for their Soveraignes sake What is our native soyle compared with the Church what is the most glorious King of the earth paragoned with Christ Lesse than nothing We glory in our death for men which when we are dead cannot reward us and shall we bee ashamed to dye for Christ who when we are dead giveth us life and satiateth with immortall honours those which honor him for g Rom. 8.17 if we suffer with him we shall also be glorified with him For this cause h Tert. Apologet cap. 1.46 ult Iust Apol 1. the first Christians when they were condemned thanked their Iudges but principally they thanked God saying i Aug. ser de Cypriano Deo gratias Thankes be to God so did our fathers and so must we doe So then ye have heard the causes why God will have his children to suffer for their owne sakes He will eyther chastise them for the sinnes which they have committed or restraine them from the sinnes which they might perpetrate or try them to make knowne how they can carry themselves in affliction or put in practice the manifold graces wherewith hee hath endued them or honour them with the glory of his Confessors and Martyrs X. When they are thus afflicted God hath also regard to other men First their afflictions are meanes whereby the Elect are converted to God Christ when he was persecuted in one Towne fled into another and preached there He k Mat. 10.23 commanded his Disciples to doe the like By occasion of the persecution in Ierusalem l Act. 8.1 4 Act. 11.19 20. the brethren were scattered abroad throughout the Regions of Iudea of Samaria of Phenice of Cyprus of Antioch where they preached the Lord Iesus and the hand of the Lord was with them and a great number beleeved and turned unto the Lord. Why were n Act. 16.19 31. Paul and Silas cast into prison at Philippi The event shewed that God did it for the conversion of the Iaylor who was one of his Elect. And therefore Paul said o 2 Tim. 2 10. that hee endured all things for the Elects sake that they might also obtaine the salvation which is in Christ Iesus with eternall glory And writing to the Philippians from the prison at Rome where hee received the glorious crowne of Martyrdome he saith p Phil. 1.13 that the things which happened unto him had fallen out to the furtherance of the Gospel so that his bonds in Christ were manifest to all Cesars Court and in all other places For howsoever he was q 2. Tim. 2.14 bound the word of God was not bound The prison was his Church there he preached and there he converted many Thus the Albigenses of France being dispersed by a most furious and violent persecution went preaching the Gospel in Germanie in Bohemia in England All the flourishing Churches in Europe at this day are the harvest which they sowed but especially r Tert. Apologet ca. ult Idem ad Scapul cap. ult Clemens Alex Strom. 4. the seede of the Church is the bloud of Christians for those which behold their constancy wonder wondering they inquire the cause thereof inquiring they learne it learning it they are converted Å¿ Iustin Apolog 1. Euseb lib. 4. cap. 8. Iust Mart. beholding the unexpugnable constancie of Christians in the atrocitie and extremitie of their torments said to himselfe that such men which made no account of death could not bee men given to pleasures and wickednesse because voluptuous men being timorous and faint-hearted cannot suffer any thing which is grievous to be felt and above all things fear death therupon he was converted became of an Idolater a ChristiaÌ„ of a Philosopher a Martyr I might relate unto you a most true storie of a Noble man converted by the wonderfull constancy of those of whom I spake in my last Sermon and protesting at the houre of his death that hee dyed in their faith But by this which I have said ye see that the temporall death of Gods Saints is eternall life and salvation to many of Gods Elect. Likewise their constancie and wonderfull boldnesse to maintaine the Gospell against all the wisedome and power of the world their holy stoutnesse to die for it is no small comfort to the Church and a great confirmation to the weake brethren which use the Apostle found in his bonds as he saith That t Phil 1.14 by them many of the brethren in the Lord waxing confident were much more bold to speake the word without feare For this cause Saint Iohn saith that v 1. Ioh. 3.16 as Christ laid downe his life for us so wee ought to lay downe our lives for
servants by old and young The Papists saw it and wondred that the fire of persecution had not consumed but kindled and inflamed our zeale and some of them were converted So wee were corrected our devotion was increased Papists were amazed God was glorified XVIII Wherefore a Heb. 12.12 lift up the hands which hang downe and the feeble knees Though wee live here in peace yet we have no lease of peace yea in this publike peace everie one should looke for a great fight of afflictions flagging hands are not fit for the battel trembling knees cannot stand fast and upright at a meeting incounter of our enemies Let us then imitate wise prudent souldiers which in time of peace enure themselves by the exercises of war to sustaine the brunt coping of armed enemies in the day of battel When b Ps 91.7 a thousand shall fall at our side and tenne thousand at our right hand when c Rev. 12.4 the Dragon shall with his taile sweep the heavens and cast to the earth the third part of the starres when everie where yee shall see nothing but apostasies and defections of great men of wise men of Church men which are starres in the heaven of the Church stand not stil gazing upon them as d 2. Sam. 2.23 Ioabs souldiers did upon Hasael whom Abner had slaine and lost the fruit of the victorie But as e 2. Sam. 20.11 12 13. Ioabs servant removed Amaza whom Ioab had slaine out of the high way into the field cast a cloth upon him when he saw that everie one that came by him stood still and as he cryed Hee that favoureth Ioab and hee that is for David let him goe after Ioab whereupon all the people went on after Ioab to pursue after the traitor Sheba So let us remove all scandals from before our eyes and casting upon them the cloake of forgetfulnesse let us follow our Generall our Lord Iesus Christ the Prince and Captaine of the Lords Host who goeth before us fighting for the Lord our God against the Divell sinne and the world Whosoever favoureth Christ whosoever is for God let him follow Christ Let f 1. Tim. 1.18 19. us all warre a good warfare holding for shield faith and forsword the word of God not pausing on these Hymenees and Alexanders which loosing the rudder of a good conscience what wonder if they have made shipwrack of their faith yea let us tread upon their stinking carkases and trampling on the gastly examples of their lamentable revolts let us g Psal 3.14 presse toward the marke for the prince of the high calling of God in Christ Iesus That being through Gods powerfull and mercifull assistance each of us enabled to say truely with Paul h 2. Tim. 4.7 8. I have fought a good sight I haue finished my course I haue kept the faith wee may thereupon inferre this sweete and blessed conclusion with Paul Henceforth there is laid up for me a crowne of righteousnesse which the Lord the righteous Iudge shall give mee at that day and not to mee onely but unto them also that love his appearing XIX O almightie and most gracious Father bestow this saving grace upon this thy people which is here present before thee through the all-sufficient merits of thy only and deare Sonne and our only and most powerfull Saviour Iesus Christ our Lord to whom with thee and the holy Ghost be all power all honour and all glorie for ever and ever Amen SERMON VI. Of the Lords Deliverances PSALM XXXIV XIX But the Lord delivereth him out of them all 1. THe Church compared to the Moone by reason of the vicissitude of her evils the Lords deliverances 2. Whereof there be many examples in the old Tastament 3. And in the new 4. Six principall points to be considered in the Lords deliverances 5. The deliverer of the Church is the LORD called IEHOVAH in the Heb. tongue 6. The word IEHOVAH leadeth us to the knowledge of the eternitie of Gods being and of that eternall vertue whereby he giveth being to all things and namely to his promises 7. All the qualities required in a deliverer are in the LORD 8. Thence the righteous man receiveth a most sensible and unspeakable comfort 9. God alone is the deliverer of the Church and needeth not the helpe of any 10. What is the nature of his deliverances 11. Exhortatiō not to feare men 12. Exhortation to feare God alone 13. Exhortation not to trust in men neither living 14. Nor dead though they be in heaven 15. Exhortation to trust in the Lord alone 16. Those whō the Lord delivereth are the Righteous only 17. Their righteousnesse is no cause meritorious of their deliverances 18. Notwithstanding it is a righteous thing with God to deliver them and that for three causes 19. The Lord giveth many blessings and deliverances to wicked men for righteous mens sake 20. Exhortation to righteousnesse 1. EXcellent and many are the titles wherewith the Church is adorned in holy Scripture Amongst all that wherewith shee is graced when the wise K. Salomon intitles her a Cant 6.10 faire as the Moon is the fittest to expresle her condition in this world She is faire indeed verie pleasant to behold as the Moone is Shee shineth among the people that walke in the darkenesse of ignorance as the Moone shineth in the night Her shining light is intermixed with darke staines of sinne as the bright shining light of the Moone is intermingled with blacke spots She hath her spots of her selfe as the Moone hath but b Ambr. Hexam lib 4 cap. 8. shee borroweth the light of immortalitie and of grace from the ay-during light of her brother the Lord Iesus Christ as the light of the Moone commeth from the Sunne O c Hos 139 Israel thou hast destroyed by thy selfe but in mee is thy helpe saith GOD to his Church Sinne is of ourselves destruction and death is from our sinne But d Psal 121.2 our helpe is from the Lord which made heaven and earth even from the Lord Iesus who is e Mal. 1.2 the Sun of righteousnesse f Luk. 1.78 the day spring from on high in whose wings is health g Psal 36.9 in whose light wee see light and through whose light h l. 2.15 we shine as lights in the world so that we say i Gal. 2.20 I live yet not I but Christ liveth in mee The Moone hath her rising and setting and in each of them her increasing her fulnesse her decreasing her disappearing for a few daies when she is in her conjunction with the Sun So the Church of Christ rising in one place goeth downe in another and wheresoever shee riseth is subject to manie variations to growing bigger and bigger to waning to disappearing Then through the violence of persecutions she is constrained to obey Gods commandement k Esa 26.20 Come my people enter thou into thy
know 〈◊〉 IEHOVAH and so despised God whom by this new name he judged to be a new God though the Name was not new but was from the beginning known to the Church and God served by it Therefore the Iewes are too superstitious when they maintaine it to be so secret that no man can and if any could none should be so bold as to pronounce it How it was pronounced it is hard to tell but that it was pronounced we know by the relation of Pagans for how could ſ Biblioth li. 1. part 2. cap. 5. Apud Iudaeos Moses à Deo qui vocetur IAO acceptas leges daere praese ferebat Diodorus Siculus know that the God of the Iewes was called IAO if hee never heard that Name And who doubteth but the Latin Name IOVIS whereby the Romans worshipped the God of gods was taken from this Name IEHOVAH which they pronounced as we would do if it were written IOWIS it may be that the Hebrewes pronounced IHOWA and not IEHOVAH Surely t Clemen Strom. lib. 5. Clement Alexandrin though a Christian miscarried as well as Diodorus Siculus a Pagan both in the writing in the pronūciation when transposing the letters he saith that the name of foure letters which the Priests did beare on their foreheads was IAOV VI. But he hitteth the marke when he writeth that that Name signifies as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. he that is and that shall be God calling himselfe so not to describe his essence which is infinite and incomprehensible but as v Iust cohortat ad Graecos Iustin observeth to make an opposition between himselfe and all other gods which have no being at all In our Bibles out of the Greek it is turned LORD In the French Bibles it is most properly translated ETERNALL because though no name can expresse the essence of the least and most contemptible of all the creatures farre lesse of the glorious Majestie of the Creator yet it telleth us that God hath an eternall being of himselfe and so leadeth us to the consideration of the eternitie o◠his being Esaiah saith that x Esay 57 15 he enhabiteth eternity and hee saith of himselfe exclusively to all those which are called gods l Esa 44.6 Esa 48.13 I am the first I am the last besides me there is no God For this cause Iohn calls him m Rev. 1.4 He which is which was which is to come He which was without beginning n Psal 90.2 Before the mountains were brought foorth ere ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God He which is without alteration for o Iam. 1.17 with him is no variablenesse neither shadow of turning And which is to come without end p Psal 102 25 26 27. Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the workes of thy hands They shall perish but thou shalt endure yea all of them shall waxe old like a garment as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed But thou art the same and thy yeares shall have no end And therefore he calleth himselfe in a most proper sense q Exod. 3.14 I am for neither loseth hee any thing by the time which is past neither gaineth he any thing by that which is to come but is ever like unto himselfe is ever present with himselfe having an eternall being of himselfe from himselfe in himselfe to himselfe It is also the name of his almighty power whereby he giveth being to all things r Esa 40.12 21 22 23. Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and meted out heaven with a spanne and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance Have ye not knowne have ye not heard hath it not bin told you from the beginning have ye not understood from the foundation of the earth It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth and the inhabitants thereof are as a grassehopper he that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in that bringeth the Princes to nothing that maketh the Iudges of the earth as vanity Moreover it is the Name of his fidelity constancie and truth in all his promises threatnings commandements exhortations words deeds ſ Esa 14.27 For the LORD of hoastes hath purposed and who shall disannull it And his hand is stretched out and who shall turne it backe And therefore when he was to deliver his people out of the bondage of Aegypt according to his promises made to Abraham Isaac and Iacob he said unto Moses t Exod. 6 2.3 I am the LORD and I appeared unto Abraham unto Isaac and unto Iacob by the name of God almightie but by my name IEHOVAH was I not knowne to them Not but they knew him and worshipped him with that Name as you may reade in their lives but he speaketh of an experimentall knowledge and saith that they knew him not because in their time he had not given a reall being to the promises which he made them which when he did by Moses and had led his people thorow the red sea they sang v Exod. 15.3 The LORD is a man of warre the LORD is his Name where his Name IEHOVAH is turned LORD For that cause when he threatned to smite all the first born in the land of Aegypt and promised to spare his owne people hee said x Exod. 12.12 I am the LORD For the same cause the Prophets ordinarily begin and end their prophecies of promises of threatnings saying The LORD hath spoken the mouth of the LORD hath spoken Whereunto I doubt not but David had regard when he saith that the LORD delivereth the righteous man out of all his evils He hath promised to deliver him saying y Psal 91.14 15 16. Because he hath set his love upon mee therefore will I deliver him I will set him on high because he hath knowne my Name He shall call upon mee and I will answere him I will be with him in trouble I will deliver him and honour him With long life will I satisfie him and shew him my salvation He is the LORD and will performe his promise z Num. 23 19 God is not a man that he should lie neither the sonne of man that he should repent hath he said and shall be not doe it or hath he spoken and shall he not make it good VII In this Name then are comprehended all the qualities required in him who challenges the title of a Deliverer He is All-wife All-mighty All-righteous All good All-wise a Psal 147 4 5. Hee telleth the number of the starres he calleth them all by their Names Great is our Lord and of great power his understanding is infinite How much more knoweth he the plots of
unfained commeth charitie a vehement love of God and of man for Gods sake and therefore God describeth the righteous man whom he delivereth by those two markes of knowledge and of love saying p Psal 91.14 Because he hath set his love upon me therefore will I deliver him I will set him on high because hee hath knowne my Name This love is conjoyned with a great reverence and respectuous feare of God and the keeping of his most holy commandements in the simplicitie of an upright life Wilt thou then bee assured of Gods salvation q Psal 85.9 Surely his salvation is nigh them that feare him r Psal 103.17 18. The mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that feare him and his righteousnesse unto childrens children to such as keepe his Covenant and to those that remember his commandements to doe them Å¿ Psal 116.6 The LORD preserveth the simple Such righteous cannot with dry eyes behold the sinnes of the world whereby God is exceedingly offended but they mourne and weepe before God and in their weeping have a most sure marke of Gods love and care towards them When God turned the Cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes t 2. Pet. 2.7 8. He delivered the righteous Lot who was vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked for that righteous man dwelling among them in seeing and hearing vexed his righteous soule from day to day with their unlawfull deeds When he was to destroy Ierusalem he gave commandement to his Angell saying v Ezech. 9.4 Goe thorow the midst of the Citie thorow the midst of Ierusalem and marke a marke upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the middest thereof If the righteous man sigheth for the abominations that be done in the world hee is no way a complice in them therefore God said to Elijah x 1. King 19 â—8 I have left me seven thousand in Israel all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal and every mouth which hath not kissed him If these markes of a righteous man be in thee they are sufficient to make thee partaker of Gods deliveries he looketh not to thy qualities which make thee to bee redoubted or contemned among men y Psal 147 10 11. He delighteth not in the strength of the horse he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man the LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him in those that hope in his mercy a Luk. 16.19 The purple and fine linne sumptuous and dainty fare musicke and dancing could not deliver the rich man from the torments of hell because he was wicked Povertie beggerie nakednesse pining sicknesse could not barre Lazarus from the everlasting pleasures of Paradise because he was righteous b Pro. 11.3 4 6. The integritie of the upright shall guide them but the perversenesse of transgressors shall destroy them Riches profit not in the day of wrath but righteousnesse delivereth from death The righteousnesse of the upright shall deliver them but transgressors shall be taken in their owne naughtinesse XVII The righteousnesse of the upright delivereth him not as a cause meritorious of deliverie as the Papists would perswade you for it is stained with many spots and blemishes of sinne as yee have learned in the first sermon but as a quality requisite in him whom the Lord will deliver for if we seeke the true causes of our deliveries God saith first negatively that c Deut. 9.4 it is not for our righteousnesse Next he saith affirmatively that it is d Ezech. 20.9 14 44 Ezec. 36.22 for his owne Names sake If temporall deliverie from the evill of affliction come not from our merits can eternall deliverie from sinne and hell bee the merite of any mans righteousnesse The bread for which we sweat before we can have it to eate is the gift of God and wee aske it of God in that qualitie and shall the bread of life be the reward of an hireling No no e Rom. 6.23 The gift of God is eternall life through Iesus Christ our Lord If Papists say that David praieth f Psal 7.8 Iudge me O LORD according to my righteousnesse and according to mine integritie that is in me and saith plainly g Psal 18.19 20. The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousnesse according to the cleannesse of my hands hath he recompensed me c. Answer that in these and such like places which are infinite he declareth that he was inriched with the qualities wherewith hee that waites on the Lords deliverance must bee graced but speaketh nothing of the causes of his deliverance which in the end of the 18. Psalme he acknowledgeth to bee Gods free mercy saying h Ver 50. Great deliverance giveth hee to his King and sheweth mercy to his anoynted to David and to his seed for evermore And else-where confesseth that it is Gods righteousnesse and not his when he prayeth thus i Psal 143.1 2. Answer me in thy righteousnesse and enter not into iudgement with thy servant for in thy sight shall no man living be iustified So he forsaketh all merits and asketh grace when in another part he prayeth k Psal 25.18 O bring thou me out of my distresses looke upon mine affliction and my paine and forgive all my sinnes Such prayers are they not most frequent in the Psalmes When the Papist singeth in the Church a de Profundis if hee understand what hee saith will he not be mooved to deny all merits when he considereth this prayer of righteous David l Psal 130.2 3 4 7. Lord heare my voice let thine eares be attentive to the voyce of my supplications If thou LORD shouldest mark iniquities O Lord who shal stand but there is forgivenesse with thee that thou mayest bee feared Let Israel hope in the LORD And why because forsooth there is a great deale of righteousnesse in Israel Not so why then because with the Lord there is mercy and with him is plentious redemption Let us also acknowledge and confesse with heart and mouth that m Iam. 3.22 it is of the LORDS mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions faile not XIIX Though this doctrine of the nullitie of the righteous mans merits and of the efficacie of the saving mercies of our righteous God be most true yet n 2. Thes 1.6 it is a righteous thing with God to deliver the righteous man 1. because being iust by nature o Psal 45.7 he loveth righteousnesse and hateth wickednesse and is as sensible of the one to protect it as of the other to punish it p Psal 34.15 16. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his eares are open unto their cry the face of the Lord is against them that doe evill to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth 2. Because the cause for which righteous men suffer is
meate there is sweetnesse In darknesse hee findeth light in weaknesse strength in despaire hope in trouble peace of conscience in raging and roaring furie patience in evill good in the divels most grimme and dreadfull mannonr the joyes and pleasures of paradise in all his afflictions most powerfull most wonderfull most joyfull deliveries his afflictions are many But the Lord delivereth him out of them all II. His afflictions are many they are almost infinite they are enchained and follow one another so hard so nigh that he complaineth with Iob in his griefe c Iob 9.18 Hee will not suffer mee to take my breath but filleth mee with bitternesse But who can relate the Lords deliveries and salvations whereof David which had passed thorow so many evills confessed that d Psal 71.15 he knew not the number Thinke not that any affliction severally that all the afflictions which are incident to men though they were camped and set in battell against thee can surmount his force and good will towards thee Fearest thou to starve for hunger e 1. Kin. 17 4 6 14. Commanded he not the Ravens to feed Elijah at the brook of Cherith increased hee not the handfull of meale in the widows barrell and the little oyle which was in her Cruse f Psal 147.9 Hee giveth to the beast his food and to the yong Ravens which cry and shall he forsake thee for whom his deare Sonne Iesus Christ is dead g Psal 33.18 19. Behold the eye of the Lord is upon them that feare him upon them that hope in his mercy to deliver their soule from death and to keepe them alive in famine Art thou dried up with thirst Remember that he opened l Gen. 21.19 Agars eyes and shee saw a well of water m Exod. 17.6 Psal 105.41 That he smote the rock in Horeb and the waters gushed out they ranne in the drie places like a river and quenched the thirst of his people that n Iudg. 15.19 he clave one of the grinders that was in the jaw-bone of the asse and made water to come thereout for Samson Fearest thou the plague which round about thee maketh havock of man beast and wouldst but canst not practise the cōmon precept Citò longè tardè Quickly far late The heat of the Sun the moistnes of the Moon do they annoy thee o Psal 91.5 6 7. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night nor for the arrow that fleeth by day nor for the pestilence that walkes in darknes nor for the destruction that wasteth at Noone day A thousand shall fall at thy side and tenne thousand at thy right hand but it shall not come nigh thee p Psal 121.5 6. The LORD is thy keeper the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand The Sunne shall not smite thee by day nor the Moon by night Art thou exiled for Christs sake Art thou constrained to live amongst a people whose tongue thou understandest not God who q Psal 56.8 numbered Davids wandrings r Psal 147.2 will gather together the outcasts of Israel ſ Esa 43.6 Hee will say to the North Give up and to the South Keepe not backe bring my Sonnes from farre and my daughters from the end of the earth In the meane while he will follow thee in thine exile and blesse thee as t Gen. 46.4 he went downe with Iacob into Aegypt and blessed him there Art thou cast in a low pit where thou sittest in darknesse and in the shadow of death being bound in stockes and fetters among swearers blasphemers robbers and other malefactors hee which put in v Gen. 41.9 a Courtiers heart to speak for Ioseph which sent x Act. 12.7 his Angel to deliver Peter whom Herod had imprisoned y Act. 16.26 Hee which shooke all the foundations of the prison where Paul and Silas were laid in the stockes opened the doores and loosed the prisoners bonds hath a thousand meanes to breake the gates of brasse to cut the barres of iron in sunder to loose thy bands and bring thee out of darknesse out of the dungeon of the shadow of death Art thou a seafaring man one of those of whom a Pittacus one of the seven wise men said that they are neither among the living nor amongst the dead ever living within foure inches of death and therefore ever dying When b Psal 107.25 26 27 c. God commandeth and raiseth the stormie wind which lifteth up the waves thereof They mount up to the heaven they goe downe againe to the depths then soule is melted because of trouble They reele to and fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at their wits end Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble and he bringeth them out of their distresses He maketh the storme a calme so that the vvaves thereof are still Then are they glad because they be quiet So he bringeth them unto their desired haven Do thou the like cry to the Lord as the Disciples did c Matth. 8.25 26. Lord save us we perish and hee will arise and rebuke the Windes and the Sea and there shall bee a great calme Art thou faln into the Turks pitiless hands Art thou taken in warre and condemned to the miserable slaverie of rowing night and day in the gallies hearing and feeling nothing but whips whistling and reeling upon thy naked shoulders Be of a good courage and waite upon the Lord who in his owne time will say of thee as he said of Ioseph d Psal 81.6 7. I removed his shoulder from the burden his hands were delivered from the pots Thou callest in trouble and I delivered thee I answered thee in the secret place of thunder Thy heart is it torne in peeces with calumnies and revilings The day shall come I speake by mine owne experience and therefore I say the day shall come when thou shalt sing to God e Psal 31.19 20. O how great is thy goodnesse which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sonnes of men Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man thou shalt keepe them secretly in a pavillion from the strife of tongues The wicked trayleth hee hayleth he thee before the Iudges without cause wonder not at that f Psal 37.32 33 34. The wicked watcheth the righteous and seeketh to slay him The LORD will not leave him in his hand nor condemne him when hee is iudged wait on the LORD and keepe his way and hee shall exalt thee to inherit the Land when the wicked are cut off thou shalt see it Art thou sick of a mortall disease as g 2 Kin. 20 1 2. Hezekiah was turne thy face to the wall as he did pray unto the Lord as he did Cry to God as David did h Psal 41.4 LORD be mercifull unto mee heal
fourescore and six yeares and he hath never done me any harm how then should I curse my King which hath saved me q Tert. Apolâ—get c. 1. 46. 49. All the Christians when they were condemned gave thanks as for a great benefit r Iust Mart. Apol. 1. Lucius thanked Vrbicius which had condemned him to die for Christs sake because said hee being delivered from evill masters I am going to my Father the King of heaven Amongst all is wonderfull the constancie of Felicitas a Widow of Rome like unto that of the Mother and of the seven children of whom I have already spoken for she also had seven sonnes Å¿ Gregor 1. hom 3. in Euang. tom 2. Other mothers fear lest their children die before them She feareth lest her sons live after her She converted them to Christ being taken with them shee confirmed them in the confession and faith of Christ Publius the Governor of the towne with faire words sought to entice her Have pittie saith he of thy selfe at least pittie these thy seven sonnes After with rough words hee thought to astonish her But she having in a womans body a mans breast Neither saith she are thy promises able to tickle mee nor thy threats to terrifie mee And choosing rather to loose all her Children than to see then loose Christ of a mother shee became a Preacher unto them and after she had seen them all glorifie the Lord Iesus by their death the love of Christ surmounting in her the griefe which she received of her orbitie she went also with drie eyes a laughing countenance and a most heroicall courage to the place of execution and received there the crowne of Martyrdome And therefore as Christ said of Iohn Baptiste that t Mat 11 9 he was a Prophet yea more than a Prophet so may wee say of her that she was a Martyr yea more than a Martyr Consider the tender love of a mother and ye shall confesse that the death of each of her sonnes was a martyrdome unto her She was then seven times Martyr in her seven sonnes and the eighth time in her own person After I have spoken of such a woman shall I goe back to men Shall I speak of v Euseb hist Eccles lib. 5. cap. 1. Attalus one of the Martyrs of Vienne in France in the time of Antonius Verus the yeare of Christ 178. who being set in a burning chaire of iron preached to the Romanes as if he had bin in a pulpit teaching them what God is reproving their cruelty maintaining the innocencie of Christians and saying This which you do is eating swallowing of mens flesh but we eate not mens flesh neither doe we harme to any man Shall I forget Laurentius Deacon of the Church of Rome who being laid upon an iron grate and a slow burning fire under it that he might feele his death This side said he is inough rosted turn me upon the other which being done after some space he said againe to the Governor x Prudent in hymno Coctum devora Et experimentuÌ„ cape Sit crudum an assum suavius Now both sides are well rosted come eate and try which is sweetest raw or rosted It was a common thing to all Christians in those dayes y Tertull de Idolat cap. 11. Quo ore Christianus thurarius si per Templa transibit quo ore flumantes aras despuet exsufflabit quibus ipse prospexit Minut Felix deos despuuÌ„t rideâ—t sacra when the hangmen would hale them violently to the Temples of their Idolls when the Iudges would command them to bow downe to the Altars and to worship the Idols if they had hands and feete free to breake the Images fling away the Censers trample on the sweete smelling incense and if they were bound they would puffe at the Temples spit at the abominable Images with great contempt wagg their heads at all the diabolicall superstition All this did the holy woman and couragious Martyr z Prud. in Martyrio Eulalia Martyr ad ista nâ—hil sed enim Iâ—fremit in que tyranni oculos Sâ—uta iacit simulacra dehinc Eulalia She did more shee spat upon the Governors face who by all kind of most cruell torments went about to constraine her to idolatry And this puffing and spitting at the onely naming of the false religion was most usuall in those dayes among the brethren O Faith O Courage O Victorie O gods of wood of stone of metall where is your Majestie O Tyrants where your power O cruel Executioners Dissipat impositamque molam where is your fury Loe not men onely but women but young children contemne you fight against you Thuribulis pede prosubigit overcome you XVII Shall passe under silence our own Martyrs to begin with one of the first even Ierome of Prague condemned to be burnt quicke by the bloody councell of Constantia How the stood before his passionate and ignorant Iudges without feare not onely contemning death but also lusting after it x Poggius Florent ep 3 a Papist which was an eye-witnesse of all the actes of that Tragedie relateth with admiration and praise He went to death with a cheerfull countenance when hee came to the place of execution he imbraced the post whereunto he was tied kissed it Perceiving the hangman going behind his back to set the wood on fire lest he should see it he cried unto him Come here come here and kindle the fire before my face for if I had dreaded it I should never have come to this place which I might have shunned Then with a most holy wonderful joy he sung a Psalm to God which the fire and the smoake had much adoe to interrupt Patricke Hammilton a young Gentleman of Scotland as he was going to the fire by his words and lookes affrighted in such sort Alexander Cambell a Dominican Frier his accuser that he became besides himselfe and died madde George Baynam and Iohn Frith Englishmen imbraced kissed their fagots Laurent Sanders imbraced with great joy the post whereunto the hangman was tying him and said O crosse of my good Lord. In France Steven Brun after that his Iudges had pronounced against him the sentence of death cryed with a loud voice My Iudges have condemned mee to live And Iohn Baron being advertised by his Iudges which had condemned him to appeale from them unto the Court of Parliament Can ye not said he bee content to have your owne hands defiled with my blood but ye will have other mens hands polluted with it also Amongst all I admire most the peasant of Lynri which meeting some prisoners condemned for the Religion after he had asked and known of them the cause of their condemnation leapt upon the chariot and went to dye with them Above all the victories of women are most wonderful As the hangman was ready to put to death a loving couple of Martyrs Iohn Bayly and his wife
are as a shadow and there is none abiding Earth is onely the place of their peregrination d Ioh. 17.11 16. They are saith Christ in the world but they are not of the world Heaven is their home e Heb. 13.14 For here have we no continuing citie but we seeke one to come Every day wee heare God saying vnto vs f Micha 2.10 Arise yee and depart for this is not your rest Therefore as g 1 Kings 19.8 Eliah walked forty dayes and fortie nights till he came unto Horeb the mount of God So we walke apace and goe still forward till we come to the heavenly Mannor whereof the Apostle saith that h Heb. 4.9 there remaineth a rest to the people of God i Matt. 6.21 There is our treasure there is our heart also As a way-faring mans heart is at home because at home are his wife his children and whatsoever he loveth There is k Phil. 3.20 our conversation though our bodies be here The wicked may see that which we beleeve and daily experience teacheth them to say with the women of Tekoah l 2 Sam. 14.14 We must needs die and are as water spilt on the ground which cannot be gathered up againe Yet notwithstanding they m Phil. 3.19 minde earthly things n Psal 49.11 Their inward thought is that their houses shall continue for ever and their dwelling places to all generations They call their lands after their owne Names Therefore seeing they have nothing before their eyes no end of their thoughts and actions but the earth it is no wonder that they should be called the inhabitants of the earth Out of the earth were they taken In earth they dwell in earth they have their portion to earth shall their bodies returne and if hell be in the center of the earth as many say there shall they have their last and eternall habitation VI. For what cause will the Lord visite them so rigorously For their iniquitie that is to say for the excessivenesse of their most immoderate sinnes as the word must be taken here what sinnes were those Questionlesse too too many amongst a people enemies to God and to his Church but above all the persecution of the Church They thought undoubtedly that all the harme which they did to the Church was righteousnesse and good service done to their gods As Christ hath forewarned us that they who shall kill us will deeme o Ioh. 2.16 that they doe God service But God calleth this their pretended service iniquity a most hainous and enormous sinne and if ye desire a specification of the kind of this sin God in the text calleth it blood or according to the Hebrew word bloods for by that word God signifieth the extreame and unquenchable thirst of bloud wherewith these murtherers were so dry that when they had shed it all they would have gladly shed more and wished that each of those whom they had slaine had possessed a hundred lives to furnish to them more blood to spill They kill because they take pleasure in killing like unto the Tyrant Caligula who wished that the people of Rome had all one necke that at one blow he might cut it off VII O Tyrants O bloud-thirstie butchers ye slay the Saints of God under coolur of justice and ye think that not onely God will not avenge it but that he will rather allow and reward it Whereas God saith that the earth shall disclose her bloods and shall no more discover her slaine The earth it selfe shall open her wombe and unfold her bowells and cry to God Loe here is the innocent blood which thy enemies have shed Loe here are the bodies of thy beloved servants whom these Massacrers have slaine p Iob 26.6 Hell is naked before him and destruction hath no covering O then shall the earth conceale your murthers from him Have ye not read that q Psal 5.6 the Lord will abhorre the bloudy and deceitfull man Doubt not but that which is written is true r Psal 116 1â— Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of all his Saints and therefore hee will with an hand of yron thrust hard together the bellies of those horse-leeches which have drunke their bloud and straine them till they spue it out of their bloudy throats He hath said that Å¿ Gen. 9.5 6. he will require the life of man at the hand of every beast and at the hand of every mans brother How much more will he require the life of his deare servants at the hands of their murtherers Hee hath ordeined before the law of a most just and inexorable law that who so sheddeth mans blood by man his blood shall bee sbed whereof he rendreth two reasons The first that mens lives are in their bloud The second that in the image of God made he man Vnder the Law he confirmed this Law by another law and said t Num 35.33 that bloud unjustly shed defileth the land though it bee the blood of an ill man And the land cannot be cleansed of the bloud that is shed therein but by the bloud of him that shed it This law is irrevocable for Christ hath also said in the Gospell that v Mat. 26.52 all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword If men put it not in execution God will and till he doe it the land where the blood of his Saints who are restored to his image is shed shall remaine polluted x Gen. 4.10 The voice of Abels blood cryod unto him from the ground and hee listened unto it The soules of a great many Abels which are under the Altar cry unto him with a loud voyce y Rev. 6.9 10. How long O Lord holy and true doest thou not iudge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth And will hee not heare them He will he will z Rev. 13.10 for he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword Here is the patience and the faith of the Saints They expect with patience it shall be so because they know by faith it must be so IIX God who hath spoken it is truth it selfe he is strength it selfe a 1. Sam. 15.29 The strength of Israel will not lie nor repent for he is not a man that he should repent Therefore it must be so He is justice it selfe therefore it shall be so For howsoever we be sinners the cause for which we are molested and vexed is his His who is Almighty and just his who loveth it his who will not suffer it to bee overthrowne by the malice and wickednesse of men his who will defend them who maintaine it and destroy them who seeke to overthrow it This is the comfort which the Apostle giveth to the Thessallonians who bare a crosse as heavy then as your brethren beyond seas doe now saying unto them b 2. Thes 1.6 7. It is a righteous
persecutions Know they not that she is e Gen. 8.4 the Lords Arke which as the water increaseth mounteth up higher and higher and cannot be submerged Vndertake they to beate her with stormie winds and with the violent streames of afflictions Experience might have taught them long agoe that she is f Mat 7.24 25. the Lords house founded upon the rocke and that the gates of hell shall not prevaile against her Have they dismantled her populous townes and laid her open to the violence of all her enemies I g Zech. 2.5 saith the LORD will be unto her a wall of fire round about and will be the glory in the midst of her Is she h Rev. 11.11 Rev. 13.7 overcome by the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomlesse pit and thrust downe into the grave of death and of eternall oblivion As the belly of the Whale was a safe habitation to i Ion. 1.17 Ionah so the graves shall been most sure lodging and bed of rest to them till he who k Ion. 2.10 spake unto the fish and it vomited out Ionas upon the dry land shall speake to the earth to the sea to the fire to all the creatures that have the least bone of his faithfull servants committed unto them and l Esa 43.6 say to the North Give up and to the South Keepe not backe bring my sonnes from farrre and my daughters from the ends of the earth Thou the Church shall rise againe to the great astonishment of those that persecuted her and shall remaine upon the earth till her time be come to bee received into the glory of her spouse where she is already in many thousands of her members which now m Rev. 7.9 stand before the thrane and before the Lamb cloathed with white robes and palmes in their hands This is her hope this is her trust which shall not bee disappointed and therefore when the sharpe rods of affliction whizze with multiplied blows upon her back eares she comforteth her selfe and saith n Mich. 7.7 8 9 10. I will looke unto the Lord I will wait for the God of my salvation my God will heare me Reioyce not against me O mine enemie when I fall I shall arise when I sit in darkenesse the Lord shall bee a light unto me I will beare the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him untill he plead my cause and execute iudgement for me he will bring me forth to the light and I shall behold his righteousnesse Then she that is mine enemy shall see it and shame shall cover her which said unto me Where is the Lord thy God mine eyes shall behold her now shall she be troden downe as the mire of the streets XXIV 1. Vse Let us all dearely beloved rest in this hope and possesse our soules with patience whereof we have a o Tertul. de Patientia c. 15. Satis idoneus Patientiae sequester Deus Si iniuriā deposueris penes tum ultor est c. Gardian most excellent most trustie most sure even God himselfe If thou commit unto him thy iniury hee is a revenger If thy dammage he is a restorer If thy payne he is a Physician If thy death he is a raiser up from the dead what cannot patience doe which hath God for debtor It will hope against hope when it is brought to the red sea and seeerh nothing before behind on all sides but present death it will p Exod. 14.13 stand still and see the salvation of the Lord knowing that he with draweth his healing hand till the wound be desperate that it is his glory to deliver out of danger 2. Vse when it is come to the height and cannot bee shunned by the wit and strength of man that his power is more conspicuous where there is no wine he turnes water into wine and raiseth Lazarus when he is dead buryed and stinking He hath said of the afflicted man who calleth upon him q Psal 51.15 I will be with him in trouble let us thanke him for his promise and chuse r Bern. in Psal Qui habitat serm 17. Bonum est in cammo habere te mecum quà m esse sine te velin coelo rather to bee with him in the middest of Nebuchadnezzars burning furnace than in heaven without him saying as David said ſ Psal 73.25 Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none in earth that I desire besides thee And because he is faithfull in all his promises and t 2. Cor. 1.4 comforteth us in all our tribulations let us looke with the eye of a stedfast faith for the sweet fruit of this bitter seed v 2. Cor. 4.17 for the eternitie of blessednesse which is hid in the moment of our afflictions for the exceeding weight of glory which these light wounds of weake and mortall mens hands worke in us O let us this day x Rom. 8.23 2. Cor. 5.2 groane within our selves most earnestly and cry to heaven for the comming of the great day wherein y Rev. 20.14 15. death and hell and whosoever shall not be found written in the booke of life shall be cast into the lake of fire which is the second death and we z 1. Thes 4.17 shall be caught up in the clouds to meete the Lord in the aire and so shall we ever be with the Lord by a most fruitfull and glorious exchange For whereas he is now with us in the fulnesse of grace to shew us the paths of life we shall be then with him in the fulnesse of glory and living with him for ever shall with one heart and mouth sing this song of David Full many be the miseries That righteous men doe suffer But out of all adversities The Lord doth them deliver O Lord this is the desire of our hearts this is our request unto thee Heare us and answer us through the precious and infinite merits of Iesus Christ thy Sonne to whom with thee and the holy Ghost be all praise honour and glory both now and for evermore Amen FINIS ERRATA PAg. 66. l. 8. for sent r writ p. 71. l. 28. r. cleannes l. 34. As. l. 35. d. they p. 95. l. 34. Caves p 97. l. 3. d. of p 104. l. 16. d. the. p. 107. l. 5. r. seale l. 28. inwardly p. 124. l 7. with you p. 130. l. 6. circuits p. 198. l 18. d. not p. 204 l. 6. a little p. 125. l. 2 d. of