but with Kings are they on the throne Job 36.7 He is totus oculus all eye he seeth you through and through his eyes are with Kings on the throne to observe what the King doth there to see whether Justice and Judgement are the habitation of his throne whether the Scepter of his Kingdom be a righteous Scepter whether he be cloathed with grace as with a garment and arrayed with purity as well as purple to see whether the zeal of Gods house do eat him up Psal. 69.9 and he prefer the Spiritual before the Temporal good of his people to see whether he will suffer them to be lawless in Religion and allow out of hellish policy that which is destructive to Piety even a cursed Toleration Gods eye Sirs may well make you look well to your walking to your hands and hearts Are uncleanness injustice oppression lukewarmness atheism bribery fit objects for Gods eye It was ordered in the Law of Moses that when any went forth of the Camp to ease Nature they should dig an hole with a Paddle and cover it and the reason is given For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy Camp therefore shall it be holy that he see no unclean thing in thee and turn away from thee Deut. 23.13 14. This Law noteth how the presence of God should keep us from polluting our selves Sin is the souls execrement Gods walking among us should work in us an hatred of such defilements Gods eye may make you work as gods among men Cesars Souldiers were prodigal of their blood when he beheld them How bold should ye be in the discouraging the sturdiest stateliest Offenders How forward in the countenancing the poorest pious Christian considering that God beholdeth you Epaminondas rejoyced much that he had done noble exploits his Parents being alive to take notice of them What noble acts soever are done for the promoting Godliness for the stopping the mouth of wickedness by the children of the most High are all known to the everliving Father who recordeth them faithfully and will reward them bountifully be therefore exact in your walkings and zealous in your working since your labour shall not be in vain for the Lord 1 Cor. 15. ult. Secondly Consider the day of your dissolutions is hastening While ye are creeping only in Gods way or doing negligently Gods Work death is posting with speed towards you Consider the verse following the Text though he hath said Ye ars Gods and called you children of the most High yet ye must die like men Your honours and your worships your Majesties and your Highnesse must shortly lie in the dust and be as low as the meanest Diseases spare none for their fine Cloaths high Places or great Estates And the Cannon of death doth as soon hit the great Commanders as the Common Souldier it maketh no difference Charles the great Pompey the great and Alexander the great were all little in Deaths hands Men in places of greatest power are not persons privileged from the Arrest of this surly Sergeant Ye that are Divine in name have human mortal natures and as ye are Shields of the earth so ye are earthen Shields What is said of the Duke of Parma's Sword is true of Death it maketh no difference between Robes and Rags between Prince and Peasant It is the way of all the Earth Josh. 25.14 The great Road in which all Travell and the end of all the living Job 30.23 The great Inn to which all travell There is no man saith Solomon that hath power of his Spirit to retain it neither hath he power in the day of death there is no discharge in that war Eccles. 8.8 It is storied of Alexander that having heard of Paradise he was very eager of seeking it out and for that end came into the East part of the Earth where an old man meeting some of his Souldiers bad them tell Alexander that he sought Paradise in vain For the way to Paradise was the way of Humility which he did not take but saith he Take this stone and carry it to Alexander and tell him that from this stone he shall know what he is Now the stone was a precious stone and of such a quality that whatsoever thing was weighed with it that was still the heavier only if it were covered with dust then it was as light as straw thereby signifying that though Alexander and men in Authority out-weigh others in life yet when they are covered with dust when death cometh they are as light as others all their greatness cometh to nothing O how little Earth containeth Great Men when they die who will not be contented with much while they live If then ye must die shortly doth it not behove you to live strictly If your time be little should not your work be great for God and your souls Whether thou wilt think of it or no death is approaching thee the Sun doth not move faster in the Heavens then thou art moving to the earth The glass of thy Life for ought thou knowest is nigh its last sand Sure I am thou art now nearer thine unchangeable estate then ever thou wert and doth it not concern thee to walk exactly among men and to work industriously for God! O how much wilt thou wish at an hour of death that thou hadst walked humbly with God and wrought hard for the Lord all the time of thy life T is observed among the Papists that the Cardinals who think their Cowle and other Religious Habits ill becoming them in their health yet are very ambitious to die and be buried in them And I have taken notice in several Churches where are the Monuments of great persons that their Effigies must be erected kneeling with a Bible in their hands holding their hands up to heaven and looking very devoutly with their eyes up to the same place when I have heard of some of them how Prophane and Atheistical they were in their Lives that they used the name of God often in swearing but seldom in praying and prized a Romance or a Play Book above and read them oftner then the Bible Truly thus it is Piety that is trampled under feet by you now in your health and life believe it will be a pearl of great price with you in your sickness and death then you will think the holiest man the happiest man the Precisest Christian in the most blessed condition then you would willingly change states with them which are now Objects of your scorn then you will wish that you had denied your selves crucified the flesh glorified God and walked after the Spirit that you had spent that time in Praying and Reading which you have spent in Carding or Dicing or vain Recreations that you had improved that wealth and strength in the Service of your Saviour for the honour of God and welfare of your soul which have been laid about the World and your lusts O Sirs when this time cometh you will have other
thoughts of sin and holiness then now ye have Sin will not be so pleasant and lovely nor holiness so mean and unworthy as now it is in your eyes Probably you can hear of death by the reports of others and be little troubled ye can stand it out stiffly against such false fire with We must all die and Nothing so sure God knoweth who shall go next and the like all this while the heart not with seriousness considering of it so as to be preparing for it The soul as much neglected God as little regarded and the affections as much inslaved to fleshly lusts as before But when Death * climbs up to your own windows and entereth into your Chamber and comely with its pale save to your bed side and boldly arresteth you with a warrant from Heaven assuring you by its symptoms on your body that you must in good earnest into the other world and there have all your walkings and workings interpreted and examined by the infinitely pure and righteous God and your souls according to your deeds sentenced impartially and sent immediately to Heaven or Hell then surely your apprehensions of a new Nature and strict Conversation will change and you will wish with all your souls for a little of others oyl for your Lamps will go out The stoutest unregenerate heart alive will droop at last when God cometh to take away his soul then his crest falls and his plumes flag Now possibly thy Cup overfloweth thou hast a large portion of the good things of this world and they have so much of thy heart that thou art little troubled about the things of the other world the Table of thy life now is richly spread with honours pleasures relations possessions and these have the largest share in thy heart in these thou solacest thy self desiring no other Heaven But what wilt thou do when Death shall come with a Voider and take all away even all thy treasure on earth then thou wilt wish thou couldst find a treasure in Heaven that thou mightest die the death of the Righteous and have thy latter end like his But oh Friend thou shouldst then have lived their lives and have had thy conversation like theirs as the Crab in the Fable told the Serpent who when she had received her deaths wound for her crooked conditions stretched out her self straight At oportuit sic Vixisse that she should have been straight in her life time The way to make thy death comfortable is to make thy life serviceable to God and thy soul He that would enjoy true rest when he dyeth must labour faithfully and diligently whilst he liveth It will be like a dagger at the heart in an hour of death to reflect upon the talents misimployed and opportunities misimproved which free grace afforded you for the honouring of God and furthering of your own salvations Sins of omission will wound deeper at a dying hour then most are aware of God hath committed a great trust to you and the day of your lives is the only time of discharging it besides ye know not how few hours ye may have to your day whether it shall be a Winter or a Summer day the shadows of the evening may suddenly stretch themselves upon you and then it will be no longer day therefore work the work of him that sent you into the world while it is day for the night cometh wherein no man can work John 9.4 Is it not sad that our common observation should he so much verified in the practices of great men That Bells strike thick while they are rising but stand still and give no sound at all when they are at full pitch That Magistrates should like the Sun the higher in the Zodiack move the slower The more noble creatures are the more active they are Men more active then Beasts Angels then men One I remember observeth that God would not accept the first-born of an Ass because it was a a dull slothful creature The Spirit of God which is in all that are sanctified is compared to fire Acts 2. therefore they that would not grieve it must not be slothful in business but fiery fervent seething hot as the word signifieth in spirit serving the Lord Rom. 12.11 Hence it was that the Church of Ephesus got letters testimonial from Heaven Revel. 2.2 I know thy works and thy labour how thou canst not bear them that are evil And indeed the more good a Justice hath in himself the less he will bear with evil in others Augustine hath a true saying Qui non zelat non amat He that is not zealous for God hath no true love to God For though love be a passion yet it delighteth to shew it self in acting for the party beloved When Calvin grew sickly some friends disswaded him from hard studying but he gave them this answer Vultisne Christum me invenire otiosum would you have Christ when he comes to me by death to find me idle So do ye think that when sinners Jehu-like drive furiously ye should not like Aegyptians go heavily least death find you idle Observe what became of the idle servant that hid his talent in a napkin Matth. 25.30 He was punished with an eternal long night who would not work in his short day 3. Consider the day of Judgement God will then search and sentence you discover and reward you according to your works Ye that examine and try others shall then be examined and tryed your selves and ye that acquit or condemn others shall then be acquitted or condemned your selves How should this thought move you to walk exactly since your hearts shall be anatomized and your lives manifested before God Angels and men Could ye but as Jerom hear the sound of the last trump always in your ears Arise ye dead and come to judgement surely ye would he holy Judges and Justices indeed Peter maketh this argument a strong enforcement to holiness 2 Pet. 3.10 11. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat the earth also and the works therein shall be burnt up seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness Observe the certainty of it The day of the Lord will come If it were doubtful it would not be so dreadful but it will come surely though it come slowly therefore men had need to be holy Tertullian observed of all those that profest Christianity in his time none lived so loosely as those that did not believe the certainty of the day of judgement But observe 2. the suddenness of it The day of the Lord will come as a theif in the night when men at midnight are securely sleeping they dream not of nor prepare for a theif It is sometimes called a day Matth. 25.13 propter revelationem secretorum
a Magistrate that neglecteth his duty herein is like a Winters Sun glorious for Majesty but yielding no warming or refreshing influences to them that are under him or like the Kings head on a sign-post only for shew The God of heaven doth not cast away the perfect man nor help the evil doer Job 8.20 He beholdeth the righteous with favour he woundeth the heads of sinners Psal. 68.21 He cutteth off the workers of iniquity He killeth and maketh alive with him is the fountain of life Psal. 39.9 as waters flow from Fountain so doth life from God And he can easily slay men Job 4.9 By the blast of God they perish To save and kill is a God-like priviledge The power of life and death is in the hands of these earthly Gods they enliven with their smiles their favour or the light of a Kings countenance is life they kill with their frowns The wrath of a King is the messenger of death Prov. 16.14 15. Herein their dignity and civil God-ship appeareth that they can give by reprieve or pardon or take away a life which is forfeited to the Law Caesars speech was high when he was opposed by Metellus in his takeing away the mony out of the Romane Treasury Let me alone or I will kill thee presently and then to qualifie his threat and magnifie his strength he told him Young man thou knowest it is harder for me to speak it then to do it But this is certain Rulers are not for nothing called Powers Tit. 3.1 It is in their power though not to Tyrannize at their pleasure yet to execute the Laws even to the death of the offendor 2. Magistrates are called Gods not only in regard of ther dignity but also in regard of their duty They ought to resemble God in their execution of Justice amongst men God administreth Justice impartially and so should the Gods The Judge of all the earth doth right and the Judges that are on the earth should do right God doth judge the world in righteousness and ministreth judgement to the poor in uprightness Psal. 9.8 And they who rule over men must be just ruling in the fear of God 2 Sam. 23.3 Justice and Judgement are the habitation of Gods Throne Psal. 89.14 The holy Ghost alludeth to the Thrones of earthly Princes which were under-propped with Pillars as Solomons Throne with Lions 1 Kings 19 20. that were both a support and an ornament to it Now saith the Psalmist Justice and Judgement are the Pillars upon which Gods Throne standeth or as Calvin expoundeth it the Robe and Diadem the Purple and Scepter the Regalia with which Gods Throne is adorned Thus Magistrates ought to make good their pattern and to take heed what they do because they judge not for man but for the Lord who is with them in the Judgement 2 Chron. 19.6 Magistrates are therefore called Gods because they should as God doth do impartial justice without respect of persons protecting the godly as being the Ministers of God for their good Rom. 13.4 and punishing the wicked which are malignant enemies to God and them Now the impartiality of the Gods as of God in executing justice appeareth in these three particulars First in not favouring any for their neerness Magistrates must imitate God in this who is no respecter of persons but judgeth every man according to his works 1 Pet. 1.17 Though Coniah be to me saith God as the Signet on my right hand yet I will pluck him thence Jer. 22.24 That is though he were as near and dear to me as a Kings sealing-ring which is most carefully kept and tenderly preserved worn commonly yea continually on some finger yet I would do justice in plucking him off and casting him from me Nay when Gods own Son who was the Son of his infinite love and choicest delight became liable to the lash of the Law as being a sinner by imputation God would not spare him in the least but made him bear the curse of the Law Rom. 8.32 Zaleucus the Law-giver having enacted that every person guilty of adultery should lose both his eyes did yet when his own Son was found guilty of that fault put out one of his own eyes and one of his Sons But the great God was more just when his Son was a Surety for sinners he caused him to pay the utmost farthing he suffered the law to have its full stroak at him O how just was God that rather then violate the least Tittle of his Law would sign a warrant with his own hand and confirm the Commission with his own Seal for his dearest Sons execution Thus should Magistrates hear and determine without any respect to friends or relations Prov. 24.23 To have respect of persons is not good yea it is very evil Magistrates must hear the cause not the person and mind not the man but the matter which is brought before them David was faulty and he smarted sharply for it in sparing Amnon guilty of Incest and Absolom guilty of Murder because they were his Sons But Levi did nobly who said to his Father and to his Mother I have not seen him neither did he acknowledge his brethren nor knew his own children Deut. 33.9 Pompey aspiring to the Roman Empire and perceiving that Cato was against him sent his friend Minucius to Cato to demand his two Nieces One for himself the other for his Son But when the Messenger had delivered his errand Cato gave him this Answer Go tell Pompey Cato is not to be won by women as long as Pompey shall deal uprightly I shall be his friend and in a greater degree then any marriage can ever make me Surely this Moralist will condemn many Christian Rulers of whom it is said that the Sun might assoon be hindred from running his race as he from doing what was just and upright God will not upon any pretence whatsoever have his own person accepted Job 13.8 much less the persons of men Secondly In not sparing or fearing any for their greatness Rulers ought to be men of courage Exod 18.21 The fear of man bringeth a snare Prov. 29.25 and is often the cause why justice is perverted Pilate feared Caesar John 19.12 13. and therefore against his conscience condemned Christ The great God of heaven feareth none spareth none for their glory or greatness He putteth the mighty out of their Seats Luke 1.52 He bindeth Kings in chains and Princes in Fetters of Iron Psal. 149.8 The day of the Lord shall be upon all the Cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up and upon all the Oaks of Bashan and upon all the high Mountains and upon every high Tower and upon every fenced Wall Isa. 2.12 13 14. He is the Almighty Al-powerfull God and therefore cares not for any might or power of man Thus the Gods on earth should do justice on all great as well as small fearing none but the God of heaven Deut. 1.17
are Caesars so we must give unto God the things that are Gods Matth. 22.21 22. One observeth that the Greek Article is twice repeated when be speaketh of God more then when he speaketh of Caesar to shew that our special care should be to give God his due It was noble speech of those Worthies mentioned Dan. 3.16 17.18 who were commanded by the King to worship the Image which he had set up O Nebuchadnezar we are not careful to answer thee in this matter Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us out of thine hand O King But if not be it known unto thee O King that we will not worship thy God nor fall down to the golden Image which thou hast set up And it was a gallant answer of the Prince of Condee who being taken Prisoner by Charles the ninth of France and put to his choice Whether he would go to Mass or be put to death or suffer perpetual imprisonment The former said he by Gods grace I will never do and for the two latter let the King do with me what he pleaseth God I hope will turn all to the best We are also to honour Magistrates both by praying for them and paying tribute to them the former is our duty and the latter is their due I will saith the Apostle that prayers and supplications be made for all men for Kings and all in authority 1 Tim. 2.1 2. The burden which lyeth on them is weighty we had need therefore to beg of God to strengthen their backs otherwise they can never bear it There is a truth in that saying Did men but know the weight of a Crown they would not stoop to take it up Pride indeed is so prevalent with many persons that they will venture their lives to satisfie their ambition these mens great care is to get the Sword the Scepter not how to use them for God and his people but certainly they who mind a faithful discharge of their trusts find the Magistrates Throne to be a place of little ease They are shepherds Isai. 44.28 and we know the life of a shepherd is a laborious life they endure the scorching heat of Summer and the nipping cold of the Winter to keep their flocks safe Cares and Fears about publike concernments molest them night and day as weights hang on a clock and will not suffer them to sleep If they watch to protect us should not we watch unto prayer for them The embleme of King Henry the seventh in all the windows of his house was still a Crown in a bush of thorns surely to tell us that great places are not free from great cares that no man knoweth the weight of a Scepter but he that swayeth it We are bound likewise to pay tribute to them as well as pray for them Render to all their dues tribute to whom tribute belongeth custom to whom custom Rom. 13.7 It is observable The Holy Ghost calleth it their due To pay tribute or custom is not an act of curtesie but a duty which must be done out of conscience God commandeth it from us in lieu of the Magistrates care of us as v. 6. For this cause pay ye tribute praestatis non datis you pay not you give for they are Gods Ministers c. Your paying tribute and custom is a sign of your subjection to them and a thankful acknowledgement of your protection from them and v. 5. For this cause ought you to be subject not only for wrath but for conscience sake God taketh care for the maintenance of the Magistrate as well as of the Minister and doth strictly enjoyn us that both they who watch for our souls and they which watch for our bodies should have an honourable subsistence Did such as are private but seriously consider this word conscience for conscience sake they durst not as they do cozen the publike The same mighty Possessor of Heaven and Earth who giveth me a right to the whole giveth them a right to a part of my estate and therefore to cozen them of their dues in tribute or custom is to cozen and defile my conscience by the violation of Gods righteous command * I shall in the next place lay down two or three thoughts to enforce the duty of honouring Magistrates First Consider the necessity of Magistracy without Magistracy one man would be but bread for another and the world which is like the Sea for storms and tempests would also resemble it in this that the Inhabitants of it would be as the fishes of the Sea the great would devour the small Men are like the fishes of the Sea saith the Prophet that have no ruler over them Hab. 1.14 No man could call any thing his own were it not for these Gods Did not they defend us by their power every one would rob and wrong us at his pleasure Our liberties estates and lives would quickly be a prey to the covetousness and cruelty of vicious persons Liberty and property are quite banish't where authority is not established Who can express the malice and murders the rapine and robberies the mischiefs and miseries that raign where the Magistrate doth not raign In those days there was no King in Israel every man did that which was right not in Gods but in his own eyes Judg. 17.6 Judg. 19.1 And what evill is not good in his eye who hath the Devil for his guide and leader and corrupt nature for his law and rules When the gate of Magistracy is shut the floodgates for all manner of enormities are open When these that bear up the pillars of the house are removed how soon will the building be ruined When God intended the destruction of the Jewish Common-wealth he took away their Sanedrim And in the glass of our times it is too too visible what a sad deformed face things have when Magistrates are overturned Constantinople will witness to this truth where upon the grand Signiors death till his Successor be on his Throne all things are in a confusion and the Janizaries have the rule and Dominion Some write that the Persian law commandeth that upon the decease of their Kings there should be a susspension of the Laws for certain five dayes that Subjects might know the necessity of Government and learn to value it more by being bereft of the benefit of it for a time Nay when God is exceedingly provoked by sin how sharply doth he make men suffer by taking away their stay and their staff The mighty man the Judge the Prophet and the Prudent Isa. 3.1 2 3 4. The taking away the civil stay and staff the Prince and the spiritual stay and staff the Prophet will quickly cause the fall yea the utter downfall of the people Men often murmur at the Magistrate and tell us many times falsly He is a Tyrant if he were gone all would be well but
when he is out of the way do they not find many Tyrants for one Every man would be an oppressor were there no man to be a restrainer What would a Nation without goverment be but a desert of savage beasts what would Towns be but dens of Thieves and what would families be but stages of unclean birds yea what would most men be but like dogs trying all right and title by their teeth and strength Men naturally are more afraid of the noise of the Musket then of the Bullet I mean of the frowns of the Rulers then of the fire of Hell and therefore were they once free from them they would do that which would soon undo both themselves and others Now the necessity of Magistrates calleth for reverence and obedience to their authority The more needfull things are the more gratefull they should be Things that are superfluous may be slighted things that are only convenient may be the less valued but things that are absolutely necessary must be highly esteemed I tell thee the Ministry is not more necessary to the well-being of the Church then the Magistracy to the well-being of the State You may as soon see a Tree thrive without a root as a Common-wealth flourish without a Ruler Magistrates are in Scripture called the heads of the people Exod. 18.25 because they are as necessary to the body Politick to direct and govern it as the head is to the body natural therefore as the members yield respect and are subject unto the head if the head do but ake all the humours of the arm as some observe run to the head and therefore the arms are thin and slender because they want their proper nurture yea if the head be in danger how do the other parts hazzard themselves for its shelter many an hand and arm hath been wounded that the head might be saved thus should subjects shew their respect to and tenderness of their superiours for if a member or some of the inferiour parts be cut off the body may live but if the head be taken off if Governours be set aside Actum est de republica that Kingdom that Common-wealth cannot stand long Secondly Consider the severity of God against the contemners of Magistrates There are several in the word of God that stand up like the Mast of a Ship cast away by Sands to warn us that we steer not their course least we be sunk also Those who opposed the preservers of our civil lives have not seldom been punished with violent deaths Corah and his company Abimelech Athaliah Adonijah Absolom Zimri Joab Sheba with several others will confirm this truth And humane as well as divine writings speak to the same purpose James the first King of Scots was murthered in Perth by Walter Earl of Athol in hope to attain the Crown for so had his Sorcerers prophesied and crowned he was with a Grown of red hot Iron clapt upon his head being one of the tortures wherewith he ended at once his wicked dayes and desires Becket Mortimer Tyler Warbeck Sanders Story Campian the Piercies the Powder-Plotters Rhodulphus Duke of Suevia Richard the third of England and many others have been marked with divine vengeance for contemning this divine Ordinance My Son saith Solomon fear thou the Lord and the King and meddle not with them that are given to change For their calamity shall arise suddenly and who knoweth the ruine of them both Prov. 21.22 i.e. of them that fear not God and of them that fear not the King And Eccles. 10.8 9. He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it and whoso breaketh an hedge a Serpent shall bite him Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby These four proverbial expressions speak the danger of them that go about to supplant their Rulers Whilest they are digging pits to catch others the earth falleth on them and murdereth themselves When they are breaking up the old hedge of Government Serpents and Adders which use to harbour in old walls and hedges will sting them God will make men know that it is a dangerous thing to confound rule and subjection and to break down the partition wall which he hath set up between Magistrates and people When these sharp instruments which they run against wound them deep they will believe that it is bad medling with edged tools and that there is a truth in those words of the Apostle They that resist procure to themselves damnation Rom. 13.2 that is both corporal punishment and eternal torment saith Peter Martyr If thou wouldst not therefore suffer with others take heed of sinning with other Depart I pray you from the Tents of these wicked persons saith Moses to the Congregation upon the conspiracy of Corah Dathan c. against their rulers and touch nothing of theirs least ye be consumed in all their sins Numb. 16.26 They that join in common rebellions must expect to be joyned common destructions Be not impatient of rule as thou desirest to avoid that ruine which Gods mouth doth threaten and his hand will execute on such rebellious ones Let those many examples which are in Scripture and other Authors mentioned of them that are hung on Gibbets as monuments of Gods fury fright thee from their acts least thou partake of their ends Believe it no King can possibly be so tender of his own honour as God is of his own Officers Do not therefore shoot off thy guns of opposition against the Gods least they recoil and kill thy self Reviling of natural parents was banishment by Plato's Law death by Gods Law Exod. 21.17 Those then that revile civil parents shall not alwayes go unpunished Thirdly Consider thy felicity and welfare doth under God depend much on the Gods The Apostle enforceth this use by this very Argument For he is the Minister of God for thy good Rom. 13. If he labour to do thee good why shouldst thou imagine evil against him To render evil for good is God-like Mat. 5 ult. but to render evil for good is devilish Magistrates are shields Psal. 47.9 they defend their subjects from the darts and bullets with which the sons of violence would wound them Shepherds Numb. 27.17 to defend them from the devouring mouths of ravenous creatures They are called the foundations of the earth because they support the building from ruine and sinking Prov. 10.25 Coverings Ezek. 28.16 which importeth that Engine under which Souldiers used to be protected in assaulting the walls of an enemy against the stones and darts which were thrown down upon them Guides Prov. 6.7 because they lead and direct the people Angels 2 Sam. 14.15 in that they defend and protect the people The Fathers and Mothers of the Countrey Gen 41.43 Judges 5.7 because they take care of and provide for their people Healers Job 34.17 because they cure their wounds and make up their breaches They deliver the poor that cryeth and the fatherless
the road to Hell How deep wilt thou sink into hell that shalt be pressed down under the weight of thy own and thine other mens sins I remember Luther mentioneth this to be one of the Papists tenents That if the Pope be so neglectful of his own and his Brethren salvation and so unprofitable and remiss in his place that he carries a long with himself innumerable people to be eternally tormented no mortal man ought to reprove him for this sin But sure I am the Immortal God will reprove both him and you for such crimes when ye shall meet in the other world where the weight of sin will be sufficiently felt and the worth of the soul which is destroyed by it shall be fully known Further It behoveth you the rather to walk as Gods because others do not only sin with you but suffer for you When King David numbred the people out of pride how did God number the people to the Pestilence 2 Sam. What bitter fruits doth God make Israel to feed on Jer. 15.2 Such as are for death to death such as are for famine to famine such as are for the sword to the sword But if you would know the root from which those swore fruits spring Because of Manasseh the King of Judah for that which he did in Jerusalem v. 4. Whether saith one a Gangreen begin at the head or the heel it will kill but a Gangreen in the head will kill sooner then one in the heel Even so will the sins of great ones overthrow a state sooner then the sins of small ones therefore the advice of Sigismund the Emperour when a motion was made for Reformation was Let us begin at the Minorities saith one No rather saith he Let us begin at the Majorities for if the great ones be good the meaner cannot easily be evill Secondly It exhorteth you to work as Gods I shall branch this Use into three Particulars 1. Executive Justice impartially 2. Excell in shewing Mercy 3. Promote Piety to the utmost of your power First Execute justice impartially God is a God of Justice judgement Isa. 30.18 The most just Job 34.17 Others may do justly he cannot but do justly Justice which is an accident in others and therefore may be separated from them is his very Essence his Being Be ye therefore like God Let Justice run down like water and Righteousness like a mighty stream Wear the same garments which he doth Isa. 59.17 He putteth on Righteousness for a Breast-plate and the Helmet of Salvation upon his head Such garments did holy Job wear I put on Righteousness and it cloathed me my Judgement was as a Robe and a Diadem Job 29.14 Kings and Princes wear Crowns and Diadems Judges and other Officers wear Robes and other Ornaments Now saith Job others place much of their glory and state in their Robes in their Purple vestments which strike a reverence in the Subject toward his Superior adding in the estimation of men Majesty to the person and solemnity to the action of the wearer but I place my honour in Justice and Judgement I think my self better cloathed with these real vertues then others with their empty marks ensigns of dignity I say Execute Justice impartially that is without fear or favour Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgement thou shalt not respect the person of the poor nor honour the person of the mighty Lev. 19.15 as if he had said ye cannot deal righteously if ye spare any because he is poor or because he is rich It is a principle in Moral Policy That an ill executor of the laws is worse in a State then a great breaker of them And the Egyptian Kings presented the Oath to their Judges not to swerve from their consciences though they received a command from themselves to the contrary Neither fear of greatness It is a mercy to have Judges saith Cicero modo audeant quae sentiunt nor favour of nearness should make Magistrates deviate from the Rule When Caricles the son in law of Phocion was accused for taking bribes he desired his Father to defend his cause but he answered him I took thee for my son in law in all honest matters only A Magistrate should be an heart without affection an eye without lust a mind without passion or otherwise his hand will do unrighteous actions He that goeth to the Seat of Judicature must leave his affections as Abram his servants when he went to the Mount behind him A Justice must like the earth cherish and nourish the low Violet as well as the tall Cedar The Graecians placed Justice betwixt Leo and Libra thereby signifying that there ought to be both magnanimity in executing and indifferency in determining But the impartiality of a Ruler is notably set out by the Throne of the house of David which was placed in the gate of the City towards the Sun rising as some observe In the gate to tell us that all who went in and came out at the gate might indifferently be heard and have free access to the Judgement Seat but towards the rising of the Sun to shew that their judgement should be as clear from corruption as the Sun is clear in his chiefest brightness It would be an ornament unto and tend to the settlement of Magistracy for the Throne is established by righteousness Prov. 16.12 if those two Verses which some say are written in letters of gold over the Tribunal in Zant were practised by every Court of Justice Hic locus odit amat punit conservat honorat Nequitiam pacem crimina jura bonos In the executing of Justice there are two things mainly to be minded 1. That you be terrors to evil doers this is expressed as one of your chief duties Rom. 13.3 If men be fearless in sinning surely you should not be fearful in sentencing them for their sins God hateth iniquity He is of purer eyes then to behold it the evill of sin never got a good look from God and why should it from the Gods Edward the Confessor was held a bad Prince not by doing but enduring evil God was angry with Eli and telleth him that he would judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knew because his Sons made themselves vile and he restrained them not 1 Sam. 3.13 Eli was a Magistrate and should have put forth his authority and punished those ungodly children but because he did not God punisht both him and them O it is dangerous to do the work of the Lord negligently Sir Do not you or might you not upon inquiry know of them that prophane Gods day blaspheme his name frequent Ale-houses and the like do you restrain them Do you fright such offenders with your frowns and shew your love to their souls by executing Justice on them for their sins If you do not look to your self for God hath Iron hands for Justices that have leaden heels and will one day strike them home