THE Character of Cruelty IN THE VVorkers of Iniquity AND Cure of Contention Among The People of God Held forth in TWO SERMONS Preached in the Day of Publick HUMILIATION Upon occasion of the late sad Persecution in PIEDMONT By Faithful Teate Minister of the Gospel of Peace Psal 74 20 The dark places of the earth are full of the Habitations of Cruelty LONDON Printed for George Sawbridge at the Bible on Ludgate-hill 1656. To His Highnesse OLIVER Lord Protector OF The Common-wealth OF England Scotland and Ireland My Lord REst in the Flesh is not ordinary with Gods People whose Rest remaineth Heb. 4.9 but rather trouble on every side without fightings 2 Cor. 7.5 within Fears with manifold perills by strangers and Heathen by Friends and Country-men 2 Cor. 11.26 what through the wickednesse of the wicked what through the Remainder of the Root of bitternesse in and among themselves Where Satan's seat is as to persecution Sinners Eat up Saints where the Gospell runnes as to Liberty of profession Saints are too prone to eat up each other The former is the Hurt of our Brethren abroad where the sword bereaveth Lam. 1.20 and Papists being high persecute poor Professors The later is our own Hurt at home where there is as death for God hath lifted his Peoples Horn on high but alas they have pushed at one another In respect of the former each Party of Professors amongst us are troubled and ready to say as David The men that have done it 2 Sam. 12 5. deserve to dye but I fear in Respect of the later some Nathan may come and tell one and other of Us verse 7. you and you are the Men. Now both are the Subject of this discourse and are and shall bee to mee for a Lamentation Enemies alas know not nay friends consider not How tender in themselves Joh. 21.15 and tendered by their Saviour Isa 40.11 are the Lambs of the Lamb the little ones of Christ who will not endure that One of them perish Matth. 18.14 no nor that one of them bee offended verse 6. no nor so much as that one of them bee despised who verse 10. if hee hear an Ishmael but scoffe Gen. 21.9 writes down persecution Gal. 4.29 And if hee see a Paul and a Barnabas but contend hee cals it a Paroxysm Act. 15.39 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And how can it chuse but bee painfull to the Head when there is a paroxysme in the Body But if Contention bee a Paroxysme it is high time to Endeavour a cure iâ—e for our own yea for Christs sake to ensue peace with each other if it may bee to the lenghtning out of our tranquillity for certainly the Lord otherwise will speedily Judge between Cattle and Cattle because of our thrusting with side and shoulder and pushing all the Diseased with horns till wee have scattered them abroad Ezek. 34.21.22 Toward which endeavour though I being least among the thousands of Judah am least able to contribute Let these two mites be accepted though others of Ability might cast in much more abundantly For though mine unskilfulnesse and the ordinarie Lot of the friendly Interposer among violent Contenders Moses himself not exempted therefrom might deter mee from offering my poor thoughts towards the Cure of so Epidemicall a Distemper Exod. 2.13 yet remembring the Dumb Child in the storie that could not but speak when they went about to kill his Father or rather the words of the Psalmist That out of the mouth of Babes and sucklings God hath ordained strength Psa 8.2 for the stilling of the ENEMIE and the AVENGER I am bold though but a Child that cannot speak yet as I am able to cry out to Persecutors abroad O kill not the Saints and to Saints at home O kill not one another being hopefull that the Treatise will prove it self to be Truth and TRUTH is of Age let it speak for it self For peruseall whereof if your Highnesse bee pleased but to allow any few vacant Minutes I humbly hope that my boldnesse in troubling your hands therewith shall bee pardonable unto mee since the Lord to whom the Glory belongs hath put it into your Highnesses Heart to expresse so naturall a care for the state of the Brethren abroad that are Persecuted and so solicitous a desire to redintegrate the Brethren at home that are Divided And hath put moreover so singular advantages into your Highnesses Hand of becoming a further Restorer of wast places to dwel in to the former and Repairer of the Breaches among the later Your renowned indeavors in the one the world knows are not wanting mine humble prayer to God is that the difficultie of the thing or Morosotie of any Persons may never bee a Remora to the later Surely a Lyon in the way of any dutie incumbent on your Highnesse before whom God hath stopped the mouths of so many would bee lesse plea for you than for ordinary Persons What though the Divisions of our Reuben bee dangerous the Wound great or at least contused and greatly rancoured Is there no Balm in Gilead Jer. 8.22 is there no Physitian there why then may not the health of the Daughter of our people bee recovered Isa 53.5 10. Is not the blood of a wounded and bruised Christ effectuall to stanch the bleeding Col. 1 2â— 1 Joh. 1.7 and cleanse the festring sore of Sion Even the Blaspheming Beast can boast of his deadly wound that was healed Rev. 13.3 Therefore let not Sion say as Jer. 15.18 my wound is incurable Oh! how great a disparagement would it reflect upon Christ to account the Distance betwixt dissenting Saints to bee like the unpassable Gulf betwixt Abraham and Dives either for greatnesse or for fixedness Luk. 16.26 as if the Destroyer were a better artist in the healing of the hurts of his Party than the Saviour who hath also promised to his Party Jer. 32.39 that they shall have one heart and one way And shall serve him with one shoulder Zeph. 3.9 Zac. 14 9. And that he will bee One and his name one If any say wee will stay then till hee come and perform what himself hath spoken 't is a known principle that hee that hath made Promises makes the means of their accomplishment Who though hee be ever faithfull to his Covenant yet is not therefore bound to gratify our unfaithfullnesse to our duty If any reply however 't is enough for us to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem But endeavourlesse Prayers weigh as light in Gods ballance as Prayerlesse endeavours Now since the God of all Peace and blessings hath blessed the considerers of the poor Psal 41.1 Mat. 5.5 7 9. and with them the meek and the Peace-makers My Prayer is that all his people in generall and your Highnesse in speciall may bee ever found giving all heed to this pure Religion and Undefiled till the Lord shall
give strength to his poor Jam. 1.26 27. Psa 29.11 weak people abroad and blesse his people at home with Peace So Prayes Your Highnesse most humble Servant Faithful Teate TO THE SONS OF VIOLENCE Yee Men of Belial THe God of Peace hath sent mee this day to proclaim war against you for waging war with his People who will shortly bruise you with Satan your Leader under his feet except you speedily humble your selves under his Mighty hand Furie is not in him who would set up Briers and Thorns in battell against him Isa 27.4 5. Hee would go through them and burn them together or let them take hold of his strength that hee might make Peace with him for them and hee shall make Peace The Lord is a man of War The Lamb is a Lyon who ever hardned himself against God and prospered Your Fathers where are they and the Persecutors do they live for ever Verily nay The Lord hath sworn that hee will have war with Amalek continually Exod. 17.16 Psal 55.23 and that bloodie and deceitfull men shall not live out half their dayes Agree therefore with your Adversarie quickly whilst you are in the way Kisse the Son lest he bee angry and yee perish for hee cometh Psal 9â— 13 for he cometh to judge the Earth Slight not the Alarm though it be but a Child that blows the Trumpet THE CHARACTER OF CRUELTY In the workers of Iniquity PSALM 14.4 Have all the workers of Iniquity no knowledge who eat up my people as they eat Bread THis day of Humiliation is as the day of Hezekiah 2 Kin. 1.3 a day of trouble and of Rebuke and Blasphemy His practise therefore may bee our president who 1. Draws up a bill of Complaint against the Adversaries of Gods People or rather takes it as drawn put to his hand and spreads it before the Lord. vers 14. 2. Prefers a Bill of Petition in behalf of the People of God vers 19. Now therefore O Lord our God! save c. Thus with a Bill in each hand up hee marcheth unto the house of the Lord knowing that the way to prevail against the Esaus of the world is to prevail as did Israel vers 14 15. c. with God first Go you therefore this day and do likewise Spread before the Lord the sad Tydings that are come from the persecuted Vallies The Lilies whereof are among Cruel Thornes And say with Hezekiah Now therefore O Lord our God save c. This Psalm or Maschil Psal 53.1 i. e. Psa â— Psalm of Instruction for its singular use penned twice over by David may bee your directory in this your Duty Consisting 1 Of Complaint against the fool the abominable workers vers 1. The men void of understanding vers 2. The filthy transgressors and evill Doers verse 3. Unto which our Text is added to shew how sinners fill up the measure of their sins all way adding iniquity to iniquity even drunkennesse with the blood of Saints unto their thirst after other sins for as the Anthropophagi the Man-eaters are the most abominable with men so are these Hagiophagi these savage Saint-Eaters in the Eyes of the Lord. Wherefore 2. The Psalmist turns his bill of Complaint into a Bill of Supplication in the last verse being none other than the very Petition which I am perswaded you are on purpose Assembled to preferre before the Lord this day viz. Oh! that the salvation of Israel were come out of Sion Our Text is part of the former part of the Psalm viz. the Inditement which according to form is preferred in the Kings Name The crimes are alledged to bee against the Honour and Dignity of God himself in the first vers For proof of the Accusation Application is made to the judge of the Bench as an Eye-witnesse of the matter of fact vers 2 3. The Lord looked down from the heaven to see c. Now in this fourth verse which is our Text seeing the Judge is himself invoked and cannot but attest the crimes hee riseth up as Ahashuerus upon Esters complaint that shee and her people were sold to destruction Esth 7.4 saith the King who is hee and where is hee that durst presume in his heart to do so As if hee should say is there any man so imprudent any so impudent as to presume in his heart to do so so saith God here Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge who eat up my people as they eat bread Do they understand themselves no better Have they no more wit then so Have they banished all prudence from them Doth nothing but furious rage dwell with them Hath cruel passion thus put out the eye of their reason and that they might bee the more tyrannous towards others have they thus begun their Tyranny upon their own souls surely they would never behave themselves so strangely Deut. 32.27 were there any understanding or Counsell in them Have they no knowledge of MEE or of MINE that they dare presume in their hearts to do as they do Have they nothing to eat as bread but the Apple of mine eye No people to make a prey of but my people mine by Choice by Calling by Covenant by Purchase by Self-Resignation on their part and gracious obsignation on my part my called faithfull chosen ransomed sanctified sealed Servants Have they none other to make bold withall but these they must bee biting and not onely biting but eating and not onely eating but eating up and have they no knowledge how dearly they must pay for these stolen morsells of this sweet breed Ah! if they knew the people of God and who it is that saith unto them Touch not mine annointed Psa 105.15 for who so toucheth them toucheth the apple of mine eye Zech. 2 8. they would sooner choose to feed on their own flesh then on this bread but now hereby I know they have no knowledge This wisdome none of the Princes of the world knew for had they known it they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory 1 Cor. 2.8 or cut off Messiah the Prince as t is expressed Dan. 9.26 nor have eaten up his people as it is in the Text. Where then is the wise where is the scribe 1 Cor. 1.20 where is the learned of this world sith all the workers of iniquity have no knowledge where is the Ahitophel and where are the crafty Counsellors Psa 83.3 where are the persecutors that say of the Saints come let us deal wisely with them as Exo. 1.10 Surely if wee plough with the Lords heifer wee shall soon find out this Riddle The wisdome of this world is foolishnesse with God 1 Cor. 3.19 and however wise they may bee to do evil yet have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge who eat up Gods People like bread The instruction is That Folly and Fury and the extremity of both is notoriously manifest in that spirit of
Christians indeed there is Christ enough there is grace enough there is Heaven enough for you all and surely hee that would have two Worlds is too Covetous Yea there is Earth enough for you all to rest quietly in when you dye and therefore why not as well to live quietly in whilst you live The second lust is Pride which is so primely that Solomon speaks as if it were only influentiall upon the fore-mentioned Evill Prov. 13.10 Only by Pride cometh Contention and again Rom. 12.16 17. Bee not wise in your own eyes recompence to no man evill O! it were better for one and other if each of us were not so good as wee are and so wise as wee are I mean in our own eyes The Saints actings are now a dayes as if the proud Proverb of the World viz. The lye deserves a stab were become a Canon in some Catholick Councill a prime Rule for Saints to walk by no sooner can we bee crossed and our private fancies contradicted but as if wee had a dispensation from Christ to avengeour selves wee are ready to retaliate bitternesse with bitternesse and reviling with reviling Yea and so proudly fond are wee of the Births of our own brains that whoever slights the discoveries perhaps of some New-nothing that we make we are presently prone to commit such Person to the Law De comburendis Haereticis being Parties Witnesses Judges and Executioners and all within our selves And finally which is the Pride of our Pride lest conscience should fal foul upon us for falling foul one upon another and contend with us for being so contentious our Pride can yet help us with a supersedeas to the suit against us the manner is to lay the Brat at Gods door as if hee must needs foster our conceptions and maintain our sayings and by this means how often comes that to be called a Zeal from God and for God which the fire of that day 1 Cor. 3.13 will manifest to bee a Zeal from self and for self And this though so great yet is so ordinarie an Evill that whoso justifies himself wholly from this Pride I conclude him the Prouder for so doing But besides these causes within there are some without of the Saints eating up each other As 1 Satan that Apolyon Rev. 9.10 or Devourer who because hee cannot as hee would immediatly eat up dissenting Saints therefore sets them a work by dissentions to bite and eat up one another for this is that prime principle that hee taught Machiavill his dear Disciple Divide Impera divide and devour them which maxime hee closely follows 1 By founding 2 By fomenting 1 Dividing Principles 2 Dividing Terms and Titles 3 Dividing Interests Whereas Unitie is as essentiall to all that is truly Evangelicall as is Veritie for as God is a God of truth so is hee One and his name one and the refore whatsoever is more cometh of evill The Saints so far forth as they are Godly they are One and so far forth as there is envying strife Division they are carnall and walk as men 1 Cor. 3.3 i. e. as other men and are so far fit for Satans Design Whom since hee cannot hinder from being one in the Main yet hath hee the trick to make them contest for the Method whilest they all mind the same thing That if there bee not a real difference yet there may seem so to bee that so hee may really divide where they seemingly differ or at least greatly divide where they little differ and consequently both really and greatly devour where they divide Who though hee sometimes extenuate the breaches between God and Man making great sinnes small and small sinnes none yet knows how to aggravate the breaches betwixt Man and Man and Saint and Saint that the least may bee great yea that nothing may appear something Thus having founded his next businesse is to foment these divisions betwixt the People of God and having parted them asunder to keep them asunder and having made the wound to keep it open For this purpose hee will tell the one that the other loves not his company because hee likes not his opinion and will say to the other let him come to thee if hee have a mind to bee friends with thee Thus if both bee somewhat willing to accord perhaps the proud nicity of an who shall speak first may prevail to keep them from speaking each to other till such time as something bee spoken of each other which the Birds of the aire belonging to the Prince of the power of the air will so carry and miscarry to each other that thereby the old wound may take new Air and burn and throb and swell afresh and so the latter end thereof be worse than the beginning Ah! Satan sufficiently knows what a conducement to the distancing of affections is the distancing of Godly persons And how easily hee can keep them from agreeing together if he can but keep them from speaking especially from praying together And therefore hee will have one to look proudly upon himself as a John as the only champion for the truth and to look censoriously upon his dissenting Brother as a Cerinthus that may by no means be admitted into the same Bath Secondly For this end hee wants not his Ministers and false Apostles 2 Cor. 11.15 who may still gall and chafe the sore that would almost heal alone if but let alone Neither are wee to think that these are only to bee found among those whom we least affect but some of these there are in every fort of dissenting Saints These hee will have to bee great pretenders to the light of Truth and fire of zeal above others And wherefore think you serves this their light and fire but to set the Church on a Light fire and then can they come and look on and warm their hands and more These are the Zibahs of the severall parties which get by their trade you may see by their following it And 't is sad that Gods Davids his own dear people should bee the Receivers of these Theeves And yet more sad that such false suggestions should produce such true variance as that David should not qu te clear himself of the grudge when Mephibosheth quite clears himself of the guilt Yet such Artists are these Zibahs in the trade of false accusing and such bunglers are wee Christians in the Trade of forgiving 1 Sam. 16.3 and 19.29 These are the Mad-men that make a sport of casting fire brands Pro. 26.18.19 and there are that make a sport of returning the like as if they strove who should raile for God most or lye for God fastest Whence it comes to pass that the most precious among men cannot possibly bee Congregationall but must presently be Schismaticall nor Presbyterian but presently Antichristian yea hence it is that a man cannot follow Peace with all men no not with all good men or put in a bill for an accommodation but before hee thinks