Veracity of this great Judge than of the Justice of his Sentence In other terms as our Lord the King is wise according to the Wisdom of aâ— Angel of God to know all things that are before him so we believe he spoke herein with the Sanctity of an Angel and no less according to the Sense of his Royal Heart than according to the Truth of the thing Wherefore undoubtedly let some men think or say what they please he does not estimate his Subjects Loyalty by a warpâ—g Conscience or versatil humour in Reâ—gion No good or wise man Much less â—rince can in his heart approve either â—redulity and Rashness in believing or â—nstability in what is once on sober â—rounds believed There is nothing more â—oathsome to a person of any sense of Worth or Honour than a readiness to â—hange a mans Perswasion because he apprehends it may turn to his Rise or secuâ—ar Advantage To be free and open and use that Parrhesy which Honesty and Vprightness ever may I took not up my Religion from the Placits of Man but from â—he holy Scriptures of eternal Truth delivered to the world by inspired men and faithfully transmitted to us by Gods holy Church which Scriptures I have been instructed in from a Child and have read over diverse times upon my knees before God as well as otherwise with all the care I could I have thence learnt amongst other parts of my Duty my Duty to God and my Duty to my King and if any man catch me wittingly and deliberately tripping in either I decline no Censure nor Punishment But I am almost daily told by men whose Insolence I believe His Majesty if he understood would little approve that my King is not of my Religion I still answer thereto I cannoâ— tell nor am I busie to enquire but I blesâ— God and night and day pray to him to blesâ— our Gracious King for that Liberty Protection and Encouragement which we Protestants of the establisht Church enjoy in our Religion under his sweet wise happy Government And as to His Majesties Religion I say he is no more accountable to his Subjectâ— for that than he is for his Crown nor may they any more censure than prescribe to him therein All that concerns them is to pray God would guide him and inspire with all Christian Temper and Counsel those to whom under God he commits the Guidance of his Conscience And having said thus much I will only add As to my Religion from henceforth let no man trouble me For ought I know I profess the Religion the King would have me For if I should profess my self of any other I should dissemble and that I believe His Majesty with reverence be it spoken would no more approve in me or any man else than God does I have thus said what I had to say of the Occasion of publishing these Sermons It remains to the full discharging my Promise that I say a few things of their frame or make They consist not then of any profound cuâ—â—us or refined Notions nor is their Style â—curate or correct But they are what I â—prehend Sermons ought to be plain hoâ—st and strong I mean their Language is â—sie natural and such generally which is â— soon understood as heard Their Matâ—â— nothing but what in the Subjects â—andled is the sum of our certain Christiâ—â—ity And the Reasonings used in them I â—ope such as may convince There is at present a great complaint aâ—ongst the Book-sellers that there is nothing â—lls so dully as Sermons And yet I rememâ—er my Lord Verulam somewhere says in â—ommendation of the English Preaching â—hat if Preambles Transitions and passages which are purely matter of form with some such like particulars were taken out and the substance of our English Sermons extant collected into one Book it would certainly be one of the best Books in the world or words to this purpose Now what is the reason of the former complaint 'T is certain Sermons were no such Drugs in his days Has there then befallen any universal Degeneracy amongst us since his time which has altered the case None certainly universal for there have been better Sermons by far publisht since the death of that great Judge for such he was in all kinds of Learning than any I know before and particularlâ— those of the before at least matchless Bishop Sanderson And there are at this time in present being a great number of as excellent Preachers both in the City of London and disperst through the Kingdom oâ— England as most we can find to have liveâ— since the Apostles days many of whosâ— Sermons are in print But the truth of thâ— matter is this In the late days of the Liberty of Prophesying when every one took on him the honour not only of the Priesthood but even oâ— Apostleship that would and a bold pretencâ— to Grace Inspiration was enough to qualifie any man for the Pulpit there came for t such a swarm of putid and nonsensical as weâ—â— as too often unchristian Abortions of Preachments that mens stomachs then in a sorâ— turn'd many begun to abhor and ridicule thâ— Word of God and even the most sober sorâ— could not but loath such vile Entertainments Of this kind were all the Millenarâ— and generally all the Antinomian Rabble oâ— Preachers with more who followed the Parliament Camp whom I will not name Another sort there were who had some kind â—â— learning and seem'd at first hearing to havâ— something of soundness in them but in process all the Divinity you should find in their Sermons was pickt out of little Systems and Annotators beyond which very few of the men of those days ever went Henderson himself confessing to Arch-Bishop Vsher he had never read the Fathers and lay all in some Geneva-opinions servilely taken up a few terms of Art and Notions ill applied possibly not half digested or understood and in words and phrases of uncertain significations a vein of Canting running thro the whole Of these two kinds were I believe one tenth part of the Sermons preached and printed for neer twenty years together from the beginning of our late unhappy Civil Wars in England But God be blessed though such preaching was general yet was it not universal There were all along these times a secret stock of profoundly learned Divines excellent Preachers compel'd to be too secret God knows the remains of the old scattered Church and the Seed of our restored present establisht Church of England Arch-Bishop Vsher Doctor afterwards Bishop Saunderson Bishop and after the Restauration Arch-Bishop Bramhall Bp. Brownâ—ig Dr. Hammond Doctors and Bishops Jeremy Taylor John Pierson with many others these mens Sermons and many of their Discourses which though not printed Sermon-wise yet were divers of them first delivered in Sermons before ever printed in the form we have them no one I hope will account Drugs cast by or not think to deserve a very good place in his
SIX SERMONS PREACHED in IRELAND IN Difficult TIMES I. A Temper for Loyal Joy and Grief on Psal 46. ver 10 11. II. The Reasons and Necessity of Loyal Devotion on 1 Tim. 2. ver 1 2. III. The Way to Peace and Publick Safety on 1 Pet. 3. ver 2 IV. Religion and Loyalty inseperable on 1 Pet. 2. ver 17. V. Rex Regius on Eccles 10. ver â—7 VI. The Christian Law of the Sword on St. Matth. 16. ver 52. By EDWARD Lord Bishop of Cork and Ross LONDON Printed for William Whitwood at the Crown in Little-Britain 1695. Academiae Cantabrigiensis Liber TO His Grace MICHAEL Lord Arch-Bishop of Ardmagh and Primate of all Ireland one of the Lords Justices and Lord High Chancellor of the same c. May it please Your Grace WHen I preached the following Sermons I had no thoughts of Printing them Having now on some Reasons resolved to print them there is such a Congruity of Debt arises upon them from the Consideration of Your Graces Station and their Subject matter that were there no Obligation upon their Author they ought upon their own sole account to be addrest to no other within this Kingdom but Your Graces sacred Patronage They assert His Majesties Rights and his Subjects Duties And Your Grace here sustains and represents His Majesties Person in all the most ample capacities a Subject can do in Church in State and in the highest ordinary Judicature But My Lord I have besides this Debt on Them many Debts on my Self I can never forget the Entertainment Your Grace was pleased to give me at my first Arrival in this Kingdome neer fourteen Years ago when a perfect Stranger therein together with the sweet but effectual Interpositions of that Authority which then preserved me from Ruine And what is much greater the Constancy of Your Graces Favour ever since These things all live imprinted upon my very Soul and as they daily draw forth my most ardent Prayers to God for Your Graces present and future Felicities so as long as I am capable of Gratitude they shall be matter of my publick Gratitude and Acknowledgments As one instance whereof I beseech Your Grace to accept this present Recognition And here I could willingly have closed this Dedication but I must now beseech your Grace to become my Patron in another sense How of late I have been represented is more known than I could wish it were for the Representers sake How I deserved it no one better knows than Your Grace before whom I had the Honour to preach that so much scandalized Sermon on the first Sunday after Your Graces third Reception of the Sword In which Sermon if there had been any thing wherein I had made the least disloyal Glance I should not doubtless have carried it away without Animadversion both from Your Grace and Your Graces no less Loyal than Heroical and Honourable Collegue But I humbly conceive that as there was no Cause then administred to any ill Censure so it would have been no more proper for me then and in that Audience to have preach'd a Sermon solely pressing Loyalty and Allegiance than if a man should have come up amongst the Hundred and twenty assembled together at Jerusalem fresh after our Saviours Ascension and have set himself to perswade them to constancy in the Belief of their Lords Resurrection when they were all of them inspirited with zeal to die for it I chose therefore to perform the Office of preaching Loyalty and Allegiance in places and times which more required it and at that time and place I spoke what I thought might be of more universal Edification and Agreeableness I herewith present some of the Vouchers which I have of my Fidelity to His Majesty And I humbly pray and hope that if Your Grace should judge I ever needed or should need Testimonials of my Loyalty Your Grace would vouchsafe to represent these where and as occasion may serve God in his Mercy to the poor Church of Ireland long preserve Your Grace her happy Angel and a Refuge to My Lord Your Graces most Dutiful Servant E. Cork Rosse Cork Dec. 19. 1685. THE Titles Texts Occasions Of the Several SERMONS I. A Temper for Loyal Ioy and Grief Text. Psalm xlvii 10 11. preached on Sunday Feb. 15. 1684. being the day of proclaiming His present Majesty and the second day after we had tidings of the Death of His late Majesty Charles the Second of blessed Memory II. The Reasons and Neéd of Loyal Devotion Text 1 Tim. ii 1. preached on St. Georges day April 23. 1685. being the day of the Coronation of His present Majesty III. The Way to Peace and publick Safety Text 1 Pet. iii. 11. preached in the Heat of Argiles and Monmouths Rebellion IV. True Religion Loyalty inseparable Text 1 Pet. ii 17. preached in the Heat of Monmouths Rebellion V. REX REGIVS Text Eccles x. 17. preached Oct. 14. 1685. being celebrated at Cork as His Majestys Birth-day VI. The Christian Law of the Sword Text Matth. xxvi 52. preached Octob. 23. 1685. being by Statute an Anniversary day of Thanksgiving in Ireland THE PREFACE TOuching these Sermons which I here publish Two things there are an account whereof I thought convenient to preface to them The Occasion of publishing them and their Frame or Nature where if I digress a little touching some ways of Preaching more usual than profitable I hope my design of doing thereby a publick good may plead my Excuse They were preached with a very single Eye or sincere Intention of conscientious performing my Duty and approving my self to God in my station by doing what lay in me at a time of exigence to confirm the wavering to animate the diffident to contain excite and advance all in their Loyalty and firm Adhesion to His Gracious Majesty our present alone rightful liege Lord and Sovereign And this End having been God be blessed happily attained and perhaps would have been by other means without these Sermons at least I am not so vain as to think otherwise there was therefore for this purpose no need of their publication nor had they for me ever been more heard of much less publickly seen but that the present Humours and Menage of some make it necessary for Churchmen not only to do their Duty but to let the world know they do it and that they are and will be honest And though I am well assured these Discourses will not only in such times as they were preached in but ever be serviceable to the Royal Interest and very beneficial to the Soul health of as many Subjects as will reaâ— them yet I will ingenuously confess thâ— conceit I had of the efficacy of them to these ends was not so great as would have prevailed with me at present to have publish'd them but that I thought it needful some people should hear of both Ears at what rate we poor Irish Protestanâ— Bishops in the Country preach It happened that
can pray for nothing else in their behalf yet may we most charitably pray that God would give them Faith and Repentance though they come in even in the end of the eleventh hour of the day There was indeed in the miraculous days a miraculous Gift of discerning of Spirits and I will not say but St. John and other like inspired persons might be able hereby to perceive what men sinned unto death and when how and in what acts But I think there is none but mad men will in the present age pretend to this Gift and then there will be no knowing who will sin unto death that is be finally incredulous or impenitent except God should reveal it to us Besides as just now intimated none can be said to be incredulous or impenitent finally that is to their end till their end that is till their death and we do not teach to pray for any persons longer Wherefore it remains except God should reveal to any of us that such and such particular persons were incorrigible and by him eternally rejected from all Grace and so by immediate Inspiration or voice from Heaven interdict us to pray for them I conceive in the present â—â—ate of the Church we stand bound in charity to pray for all men at least that God would give them repentance as long as they are in this life or on this side Hell be they never so wicked Further 2. If that Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost which our Lord has declared Matt. xii 31 32. shall not be forgiven unto men either in this world or that which is to come were as in all probability it was the Jews malicious ascribing those Miracles to Beelzebub the Prince of Devils which in their Consciences they were convinced he did by the power of the Holy Ghost then by reason of the Cessation of Miracles no man of the present age is capable of it and therefore is no man now upon supposition of this sin to be excluded from our Prayers In a word as the world goes I know not how there is any maintaining Charity or the true Christian Temper without strict observing the Apostles injunction in my Text. For allow this that we are not to pray for those who have sinned a sin unto death and withal that sins unto death are in the present age as certainly to be known as they are commonly committed there will be few men if they have but ill nature enough to maintain enmities whose Malice will not byass their Judgments to pronounce their Enemies to have sinned a sin unto death and so there will be no loving of Enemies or praying for them at least there will be a proper method to absolve us from the Obligation of that our Lords Command of loving our Enemies and blessing those that curse us so proper to the Religion by him instituted Wherefore by the way give me leave from hence to recommend unto you the Prudence Piety and Integrity of the first Reformers of our Church and consequently the Soundness of the Reformation it self The first thing the Apostle gives in charge here to Timothy in order to the settling the Church of Ephesus is the due constituting the publick Prayers The first part of the Reformation was the compiling the Liturgy of our Church and that almost in the very form we at present have it The primitive publick Prayers by the Apostolical Injunction in the Text were to consist of Supplications Petitions Intercessions and giving of Thanks And St. Chrysostome on the Text tells us in his time the practice of the Church was accordingly The Priests all know saith he how this is performed every day both morning and evening Our Liturgy does consist of Confessions Suffrages or Litanies of Collects of Prayers for the whole Church Hymns and Eucharistical Devotions parts perfectly conformable to what was then both enjoyned and practised And these according to the Apostle were to be made for all men and as Chrysostome tells us were actually so made We pray accordingly in our Litany That it please thee to have mercy upon all men Besides we have other Prayers for all sorts and conditions of men But especially for Kingâ— saith the Apostle and all that are in Authority And that these Prayers according to Order in our Liturgy are offered up morning and evening I need not tell you but as led hereby proceed to my main design Proposition II. Publick Prayers of the Church in all kinds are to be made for Kings and all in Authority Nothing can be more expresly said in terms than this is in the present Text. And it gives a very great emphasis to the Apostles Injunction and so makes our Obliâ—ation to the Duty much the stronger if we consider when this Epistle was writ or in what days the Apostle laid this Charge on Timothy namely in the first year of Nero's being Emperor of Rome according to Baronius in his third year say others all agree 't was under his Empire What Nero was for a Monster of a man as to all Villanies imaginable I need not speak nor will you easily think the Governours sent by him viz. the Prefects of the Army or Provinces were most of them much better than their Emperour And such a long time continued the Emperours and the other Powers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as S. Chrysostome In loc expresses it ungodly men succeeding ungodly men so that Quot erant eo tempore magistratus tot Ecclesiae hostes atque Idolatriae As many Bez. in loc Magistrates as there were so many Enemies were there of the Church so many Idolaters and God knows vast multitudes more by their example Yet even for these did the Apostle injoyn constant Prayers daily to be made in the Church So that we must necessarily if we mind this circumstance apply hereto that of the Apostle St. Peter as to be subject to so to pray for not only the good and gentle but also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the froward or perverse Yet let none by the way be so vile as to make here any misconstruction God be blessed we have no need to apply this Emphasis in our circumstances We have a King most Gracious who protects us in our Religion and has again and again promised so to do of which we have most publick and ample assurance However as long as there are such infernal Spirits in humane shape as are at this day many of the Scotch Covenanters who will not so much as say God save or God blâ—ss the King to save themselves from the Gallows it was not fit to omit this observation of the Date of this Epistle For hereby let the King have been what he could be to them they are convicted by our Apostles Doctrine to have renounced their Christianity in this case with their Allegiance and Duty to their King let them dye what they would they dyed no Christians It is not impossible there are others in the world who though to
of Miseries the Lord struck him and he died His Son Nadab succeeds him indeed or as some think reigned together with him towards the latter end of his days However before he was well warm in his Throne Baasha a person of another Tribe who had no pretence to the Crown but who might quickly have as good a Title to it as either Jeroboam or Nadab had conspired against him and slew him as would seem in the head of his Army and reigned in his stead 1 King xv 27 28. But how long will this new Title stand After Wars again upon Wars all his days his Son Ela succeeds him but within two years Zimri Captain of half his Chariots conspired against him and slew him as he was drinking himself drunk in the House of Arza his Steward Upon this Zimri sets up himself chap. xvi 9. 11. and immediately slew all of Baasha 's House Here was a Recompence for Baasha's Treason But before Zimri had reigned over part of Israel full one week another part of the people would have another King and set up Omri on which Zimri burns himself in his own Palace And now ver 21. Israel is divided not only from Judah as before but within themselves divided into two parts saith the Text For half of the People followed Tibni to make him King and half Omri To be short from the time the Israelites fell off from the Royal Line that God had set over them and betook themselves to Kingchoosing from that Revolt I say to Omri which was somewhat less than five and forty years if rightly computed they had six Kings indeed but not one year of Peace and of their six Kings as far as I can find only two died the death of other men so frequent and so dismal were the Alterations of Government so unhappy the state of things I will pursue the History of this Kingdom no further as to this particular of the uncertainty of Titles and frequent Changes which you see must needs happen and when they happen they rend Nations in pieces and leave nothing stable durable or secure only out of what you have heard of the deplorable state into which this People brought themselves by breaking off the Succession and running into this kind of Elective Kingdom I cannot but note to you Secondly The dreadful Cruelties and Bloudshed which commonly ensue on such Elections to establish the New Prince Thus as soon as Baasha obtained the Throne he smote all the House that is Kinred Allies and most likely all the Adherent of Jeroboam he left not one of them that breathed until he had destroyed them 1 King xv 29. which though it were Baasha's Wickedness and Gods just Judgment executed on Jeroboams Family however by a villanous Agent yet in point of Policy and Security to himself he was in a sort necessitated to it Now so great a Slaughter certainly could not but be a sore publick Wound I might shew many instances of the like practice in in others but it is not pleasing to rake in Bloud Lastly Whereas it is ordinarily pretended by our modern State-menders that reducing Kingdoms as near as may be to an Elective form is the best method to secure a Succession of good and virtuous Princes the contrary hereto appears by this instance The People of Israel after this new modelling their Kingdom upon rejecting the true Heir descendent and electing out of themselves a King had through the Judgment of God withdrawing his Grace in punishment of their Rebellion and Revolt from this time till the utter Dissolution of their Kingdome nineteen Kings successively and not one good amongst them all And no wonder saith a sober Author For First It was a Kingdome whose Foundation was laid in 1. Rebellion 2. Schism Secondly It was maintained by a Politick Idolatry in the continuance of Jeroboams Golden Calves Thirdly Polluted with the Bloud of many of their Kings few of them going to their Grave Sicca morte by a Bloudless death And therefore having continued two hundred forty one or as others calculate two hundred fifty eight years in the ninth year of Hosea 's Reign which was the seventh of Hezekiah King of Judah the King and People of Israel were carried away Captives by Shalmanezer King of Assyria and never returned again for God removed Israel out of his sight 'T is so said twice 2 King xvii 18 23. And 't is observable no one knows to this day what 's become of these ten Tribes But even during the whole state or most settled time of their Kingdome they had no face of true Religion nor indeed any Religion constant amongst them but a Gallimafry of all the Gods and Idolatries of the Nations according to the Honour or Interest of their Kings On the other side the Kingdome of Judah which continued under the Rightful Succession and was Hereditary stood near one hundred and forty years longer than that of Israel and they had amongst their Kings many great Saints as Asa Jehosophat Hezekiah Josiah and diverse others And though the Worship of God were often foully corrupted in the Reign of some of their Kings yet as that Corruption still came in from the Kings of Israel or from Affinity or League with them so by the Succession of good Kings it was restored again and both the Church and Face of Religion kept up amongst them till it pleased God for their treading in the steps of the People of Israel to send his Church into Captivity there to be cured of Idolatry Which Cure when wrought though there still remained a general Cachexy or disorder of Manners yet it pleased God to bring back for a while their Captivity and to give them a new footing in their own Land till out of that Royal Stem was born our Lord Jesus the promised Seed of Abraham the Son of David according to the Flesh but declared by Power and Resurrection from the dead the Son of God the Lord of Lords and King of Kings blessed for evermore of whose Kingdom there shall be no end To sum up all If then there be any men to whom perpetual unsettledness and dangers to themselves and theirs to whom continued ages of War to whom ever and anon recurring Murder of Kings Massacres of Families together with all Violence and Tyranny over the people and even Arbitrary Religion as well as Government Vsurpation on God and Man be pleasing such men may plead these Arguments to enamour the world with the model of Elective Kingdoms But on the contrary If Publick Wealth Ease and Quiet I may add if continued Liberties settled Religion and general Stability as far as the state of sublunary affairs does admit be more amiable we have reason to stick to a true Legitimate Succession For it was the Observation of the wisest of Kings Blessed art thou O Land when thy King is the Son of Nobles and we see how far it proved so in the Kingdom of Judah We have hitherto as I think