THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND Established by PARLIAMENT against Disobedience and wilfull Rebellion Published by G. I. for satisfaction to his Parishioners of WATTON in the County of Hartford Printed for William Sheares at the signe of the Bible in Coven Garden 1642. TO His loving Neighbours of WATTON in the County of Hartford Brethren BE loved in the bloud of JESUS for preaching obedience to God and the King I am and have beene more then a mouth a prisoner and cannot get my liberty unlesse I would promise to forbeare preaching to you as I have done and yet I have promised to preach nothing to you but what I shall prove plainely from the word of God the doctrine of the Church of England the oath of Supremacy the oath of Allegiance and our late Protestation all which I have published for your satisfaction If you will read those oaths and these Sermons in my absence you shall find that I have dealt faithfully with you and am ready to seale my doctrine with my dearest bloud if God shall call so great a sinner to so great an honour Neither Living nor Liberty nor Life is precious to mee when I should sacrifice them all to the glory of my great good God the service of my gracious Soveraigne and the discharge of a good conscience towards my selfe and you I told you before how sensible I was of danger for this my fidelity but for Zions sake I could not I cannot hold my peace God will imprison mee to Hell if I imprison his truths Feare God Honour the King is both Law and Gospell and my prayer is that you all may live and dye good Christians and good Subjects and as the Church prayed for Saint Peter in prison so doe you for your affectionate Pastour in prison for his God his King his Conscience regulated by the word of God the Doctrine of the Church of ENGLAND and his Oaths G. I. Decemb. 3. 1642. A SERMON against Disobedience and wilfull Rebellion The first SERMON AS GOD the Creatour and Lord of all things appointed his Angels and Heavenly Creatures in all obedience to serve and honour his Majesty so was it his will that man his chiefe creature upon the earth should live under the obedience of his Creatour and Lord. And for that cause God assoone as hee had created man give unto him a certaine Precept and Law which hee being yet in the state of innocency and remaining in Paradise should observe as a pledge and token of his due and bounden obedlence which denunciation of death if hee did transgresse and breake the said Law and Commandement And as God would have man to be his obedient subject so did hee make all earthly creatures subject unto man who kept their due obedience unto man so long as man remained in his obedience unto God in which obedience if man had continued still there had beene no poverty no diseases no sicknesse no death nor other miseries where with mankind is now infinitely and most miserably afflicted and oppressed so here appeareth the originall Kingdome of God over Angels and Man and universally over all things and of Man over earthly Creatures which God had made subject unto him and withall all the felicity and blessed estate which Angels Man and Creatures had remained in had they continued in due obedience unto God their King For as long as in this first Kingdome the Subjects continued in due obedience to God their King so long did God embrace all his Subjects with his love favour and grace which to enjoy is perfect felicity whereby it is evident that obedience is the principall vertue of all vertues and indeed the very Root of all vertues and the cause of all felicity But as all felicity and blessednesse should have continued with the continuance of obedience so with the breach of obedience and breaking in of rebellion all vices and miseries did withall breake in and over-whelme the World The first Authour of which rebellion the Roote of all vices and Mother of all mischeifes was Lucifer First Gods most excellent creature and most bounden subject who by rebelling against the Majesty of God of the Brightest and most glorious Angell is become the blackest and most foule fiend and Devill and from the height of Heaven is fallen into the pit and bottome of Hell Here you may see the first authour and founder of rebellion and the reward thereof Here you may see the grand Captaine and Father of rebels who perswading the following of his rebellion against God their Creatour Lord unto our first Parents Adam and Eve brought them in high displeasure with God wrought their exile and banishment out of Paradise a place of all pleasure and goodnesse into this wretched earth and vale of misery procured unto them sorrowes of minds mischeifes sicknes diseases death of their bodies and which is farre more horrible then all worldly and bodily mischiefes hee had wrought thereby their eternall and everlasting death and damnation had not God by the obedience of his Sonne IESUS CHRIST repaired that which man by disobedience and rebellion had destroyed and so of his mercy had pardoned and forgiven him of which all and singular the premises the Holy Scriptures doe beare record in sundry places Thus doe you see that neither Heaven nor Paradise could suffer any rebellion in them neither bee places for any Rebels to remaine in Thus became rebellion as you see both the first and the greatest and the very roote of all other sinnes and the first and principall cause both of all worldly and bodily miseries sorrowes diseases sicknesses and deaths And which is infinitely worse then all these as is said the very cause of death and damnation eternall also After this breach of obedience to God and rebellion against his Majesty all mischeifes and miseries breaking in therewith and overslowing the World least all things should come to confusion and utter ruine God forthwith by lawes given to mankind repayred againe the rule and order of obedience thus by rebellion overthrowne and besides the obedience due to his Majesty hee not onely ordained that in Families and Househoulds the Wife should bee obedient to her Husband the Children unto their Parents the Servants unto their Masters but also when mankind inceased and spread it selfe more largely over the World hee by his holy word did constitute and ordaine in Citties and Countries severall and speciall Governours and Rulers unto whom the residue of his people should be obedient As in reading of holy Scriptures wee shall find in very many and almost infinite places as well of the old Testament as of the new that Kings and Princes as well the evill as the good doe raigne by Gods ordinance and that Subjects are bounden to obey them that God doth give Princes wisedome great power and authority that God defendeth them against their enemies and destroyeth their enemies horribly that the anger and displeasure of the Prince is as the
good men But say they shall we not rise and rebell against so unkinde a Prince nothing considering or regarding our true faithfull and painefull service or the safegard of our posteritie No saith good David The Answer whom no such unkindnesse could cause to forsake his due obedience to his Soveraigne Shall we not say they The Demand rise and rebell against our knowne mortall and deadly enemie that seeketh our lives No saith godly David who had learned the lesson The Answer that our Saviour afterwards plainely taught that we should doe no hurt to our fellow subjects though they hate us and our enemies muchlesse unto our Prince though he were our enemie The Demand Shall we not assemble an Armie of such good fellowes as we are and by hazzarding of our lives and the lives of such as shall withstand us and withall hazzarding the whole estate of our Countrey remove so naughty a Prince No saith godly David The Answer for I when I might without assembling force or number of men without tumult or hazzard of any mans life or shedding of any drop of blood have delivered my selfe and my Countrey of an evill Prince yet would I not doe it Are not they say some lusty The Demand and couragious Captaines valiant men of stomacke and good mens bodies that doe venture by force to kill and depose their King being a naughtie Prince and their mortall enemie The Answer They may be as lusty and couragious as they list yet saith godly David they can be no good nor godly men that so doe for I not onely rebuked but commanded him to be slaine as a wicked man which slew King Saul mine enemie Though he being wearie of his life for the losse of the victorie against his enemies desired that man to slay him What shall we doe then to an evill The Demand to an unkinde Prince an enemie to us hated of God hurtfull to the Common-wealth c The Answer Lay no violent hand upon him saith good David but let him live untill God appoint and worke his end either by naturall death or in warie by lawfull enemies not by trayterous subjects Thus would godly David make answere and Saint Paul as ye have heard before willeth us also to pray for such a Prince if King David would make these answeres as by his deedes and words recorded in the holy Scriptures Indeede he doth make unto all such demands concerning Rebelling against evill Princes unkinde Princes cruell Princes Princes that be to their good subjects mortall enemies Princes that are out of Gods favour and so hurtfull or like to be hurtfull to the Common-wealth what answer thinke you would he make to those that demand whether they being naughty and unkind subjects may not to the great hazzard of the life of many thousands An unnaturall and wicked question and the utter danger of the state of the Common-wealth and the whole Realme Assemble a sort of Rebells either to depose to put in feare or to destroy their naturall and loving Prince enemie to none good to all even to them the worst of all other the maintainer of perpetuall peace quietnes and securitie most beneficiall to the Common-wealth most necessary for the safegard of the whole Realme What answer would David make to their demand whether they may not attempt cruelly and unnaturally to destroy so peaceable and mercifull a Prince What I say would David so reverently speaking of Saul and so patiently suffering so evill a King what would he answer and say to such demands What would he say nay what would he doe to such high attempters who so said and did as you before have heard unto him that slew the King his Master though a most wicked Prince If he punished with death as a wicked doer such a man with what reproaches of words would he revile such yea with what torments of most shamefull deaths would he destroy such hell hounds rather then evill men such Rebells I meane as I last spake of For if they who so disobey an evill and unkinde Prince be most unlike to David that good subject what be they who most unnaturally doe Rebell against a most naturall loving and kinde Prince And if David being so good a subject that he obeyed so evill a King was worthy of a subject to be made a King himselfe what be they who are so evill subjects that they will rebell against their gratious Prince worthy of Surely no mortall man can expresse with words nor conceive in mind the horrible and most dreadfull damnation that such be worthy of who disdaining to be the quiet and happie subjects of their good Prince are most worthy to be the miserable captives and vile slaves of that infernall Tyrant Sathan with him to suffer eternall slavery and torments This one example of the good subject David out of the old Testament may suffice and for the notablenesse of it serve for all In the New Testament the excellent example of the blessed Virgin Mary Luke 2.1 the Mother of our Saviour Christ doth at the first offer it selse when Proclamation or commandement was sent into Jury from Augustus the Emperour of Rome that the people there should repaire unto their owne Cities and dwelling places there to be taxed neither did the blessed Virgin though both highly in Gods favour and also being of the Royall blood of the Ancient naturall Kings of Iury disdaine to obey the commandement of an heathen and forraigne Prince when God had placed such a one over them neither did she all eadge for an excuse that she was great with childe and most neere her time of deliverance neither grudged she at the length and tedious journey from Nazareth to Bethelem from whence and whither she must goe to be taxed neither repined she at the sharpenesse of the dead time of winter being the latter end of December an unfit time to travell in specially a long journey for a woman being in her case but all excuses set apart she obeyed and came to the appointed place where at her comming she found suchgreat resort and throng of people that finding no place in any Inne Luke 2.7 she was faine after a long painefull and tedious journey to take up her lodging in a stable where also she was delivered of her blessed childe and this also declareth how neere her time she tooke that journey This obedience of this most Noble and most Vertuous Lady to a forraigne and Pagan Prince doth well teach us who in comparison of her are most base and vile what ready obedience we doe owe to our naturall and most gracious Soveraigne howbeit in this cause the obedience of the whole Jewish Nation being otherwise a stubborne people unto the Commandement of the same forraigne heathen Prince Luke 23. doth prove that such Christians as doe not most readily obey their naturall and gracious soveraigne are farre worse then the stubborne Iewes
doe take care and paines and to bee at great cost and charges and universally instead of all quietnesse joy and felicity which doe follow blessed peace and due obedience to bring in all trouble sorrow disquietnesse of minds and bodies and all mischiefe and calamity to turne all good order upside downe to bring all good lawes in contempt and to tread them under feet to oppresse all vertue and honesty and all vertuous and honest persons and to set all vice and wickednesse and all vicious and wicked men at liberty to worke their wicked wils which were before bridled by wholesome lawes to weaken to overthrow and to consume the strength of the Realme their naturall Countrey as well by the spending and wasting of money and treasure of the Prince and Realme as by murthering the people of the same their owne Countrey-men who should defend the honour of their Prince Prov. 14. and liberty of their Countrey against the invasion of forraigne enemies and so finally to make their Countrey thus by their mischiefe weakened ready to bee a prey and spoile to all outward enemies that will invade it to the utter and perpetuall captivity slavery and destruction of all their Countrey-men their children their friends their kinsfolkes left alive whom by their wicked rebellion they procure to bee delivered into the hands of the forraigne enemies as much as in them doth lye In forraigne warres our Countrey-men in obtaining the victory winne the prayse of valiantnesse yea and though they were overcome and slaine yet winne they an honest commendation in this World and dye in a good conscience for serving God their Prince and their Countrey and bee children of eternall salvation But the Rebels how desperate and strong soever they bee yet winne they shame here in fighting against God their Prince and Countrey and therefore justly doe fall headlong into Hell if they dye and live in shame and with a fearefull conscience though they escape But commonly they be rewarded with shamefull deaths their hands and carkasses set upon poles and hanged in chaynes eaten with Kites and Crowes judged unworthy the honour of buriall and so their soules if they repent not as commonly they doe not the Devill hurrieth them into Hell in the middest of their mischiefe Rom. 13. For which dreadfull execution Saint Paul sheweth the cause of obedience not onely for feare of death but also in conscience to God-ward for feare of eternall damnation in the World to come Wherefore good people let us as the children of obedience feare the dreadfull execution of God and live in quiet obedience to bee the children of everlasting Salvation For as Heaven is a place of good obedient subjects and Hell the prison and dungeon of Rebels against God and their Prince so is that Realme happy where most obedience of subjects doth appeare being the very figure of Heaven and contrariwise where most rebellions and Rebels bee there is the expresse similitude of Hell and the Rebels themselves are the very figures of fiends and Devils and their Captaine the ungracious patterne of Lucifer and Sathan the Prince of darknesse of whose rebellion as they bee followers so shall they of his damnation in Hell undoubtedly bee partakers and as undoubtedly shall the Children of peace bee Inheritours of Heaven with God the Father God the Sonne and God the Holy Ghost To whom bee all honour and glory for ever and ever Amen The fourth SERMON FOr your further instruction good people to shew unto you how much Almighty God doth abhor disobedience and wilfull rebellion specially when Rebels advance themselves so high that they arme themselves with weapons and stand in the field to fight against God their Prince and their Countrey it shall not bee out of the way to shew some examples set out in Scriptures written for our eternall erudition Wee may soone know good people how haynous an oftence the treachery of rebellion is if wee call to remembrance the heavy wrath and dreadfull indignation of Almighty God against subjects as doe onely but inwardly grudge mutter and murmur against their Governours though their inward treason so privily hatched in their breasts come not to open declaration of their doings as hard it is whom the Devill hath so farre entised against Gods word to keepe themselves there No hee meaneth still to blow the coale to kindle their rebellious hearts to flame into open deeds if hee bee not with grace speedily withstood Some of the children of Israel being murmurers against their Magistrates appointed over them by God were stricken with foule leprosie many were burnt up with fire suddenly sent from the Lord sometime a great sort of thousands were consumed with the pestilence sometime they were stinged to death with a strange kind of fiery Serpents and which is most horrible some of the Captaines with their band of murmurers not dying by any usuall or naturall death of men but the carth opening they with their wives children and families were swallowed quick downe into Hell Which horrible destructions of such Israelites as were murmurers against Moses appointed by God to bee their head and chiefe Magistrate are recorded in the booke of Numbers and other places of the Scriptures for perpetuall memory and warning to all subjects how highly God is displeased with the murmuring and evill speaking of subjects against their Princes for that as the Scripture recordeth their murmure was not against their Prince onely being a mortall creature but against God himselfe also Now if such strange and horrible plagues did fall upon such subjects as did onely murmure and speake evill against their heads what shall become of those most wicked impes of the Devill that doe conspire arme themselves assemble great numbers of armed Rebels and lead them with them against their Prince and Countrey spoyling and robbing killing and murthering all good subjects that doe withstand them as many as they may prevaile against But those examples are written to stay us not onely from such mischiefes but also from murmuring and speaking once an evill word against our Prince which though any should doe never so secretly yet doe the holy Scriptures shew that the very birds of the ayre will bewray them and those so many examples before noted out of the holy Scriptures doe declare that they shall not escape horrible punishment therefore Now concerning actuall rebellion amongst many examples thereof set forth in the holy Scriptures the example of Absolom is notable who entring into conspiracy against King David his Father both used the advice of very witty men and assembled a very great and huge company of Rebels the which Absolom though he were most goodly of Person of great Nobility being the Kings Sonne in great favour of the people and so dearely beloved of the King himselfe so much that hee gave commandement that notwithstanding his rebellion his life should bee saved when for these considerations most men were afraid to lay hands upon him a great
Prophet Baruch saith unto Gods people being in this captivity Bar. 1.11 Pray you saith the Prophet for the life of Nabuchodonosor King of Babylon and for the life of Balthasar his Sonne that their dayes may bee as the dayes of Heaven upon the Earth that God also may give us strength and lighten our eyes that wee may live under the defence of Nabuchodonosor King of Babylon and under the protection of Balthasar his Sonne that wee may long doe them service and find favour in their sight Pray for us also unto the Lord our God for wee have sinned against the Lord our God Thus farre the Prophet Baruch his words which are spoken by him unto the people of God of that King who was an Heathen a Tyrant and cruell Oppressour of them and had beene a Murtherer of many thousands of their Nation and a Destroyer of their Countrey with a confession that their sinnes had deserved such a Prince to raigne over them And shall the old Christians by Saint Pauls exhortation pray for Caligula Claudius or Nero Shall the Jewes pray for Nabuchodonosor these Emperours and Kings being strangers to them being Pagans and Infidels being Murtherers Tyrants and cruell Oppressours of them and Destroyers of their Countrey Countrey-men and Kinsmen the Burners of their Villages Townes Cities and Temples And shall not wee pray for the long prosperous and godly raigne of our naturall Prince No stranger which is observed as a great blessing in the Scriptures of our Christian our most gracious Soveraigne no Heathen nor Pagan Prince Shall wee not pray for the health of our most mercifull most loving Soveraigne the Preserver of us and our Countrey in so long peace quietnesse and security no cruell person no tyrant no spoyler of our goods no sheeder of blouds no burner and destroyer of our Townes Cities and Countries as were those for whom yet as yee have heard Christians being their subjects ought to pray Let us not commit so great ingratitude against God and our Soveraigne as not continually to thanke God for his Government and for his great and continuall benefits and blessings powred upon us by such government Let us not commit so great a sinne against God against our selves against our Countrey as not to pray continually unto God for the long continuance of so gracious a Ruler unto us and our Countrey Else shall wee bee unworthy any longer to enjoy those benefits and blessings of God which hitherto we have had by him shall bee most worthy to fall into all those mischiefes and miseries which wee and our Countrey have by Gods grace through his government hitherto escaped What shall wee say of those Subjects may wee call them by the name of subjects who neither bee thankefull nor make any prayer to God for so gratious a Soveraigne but also themselves take armour wickedly assemble companies and bands of Rebels to breake the publique peace so long continued and to make not warre but rebellion to endanger the person of such a gracious Soveraigne to hazard the estate of their Countrey for whose defence they should bee ready to spend their lives and being English-men to robbe spoyle destroy and burne in England English-men to kill and murther their owne Neighbours and kinsfolkes their owne Countrey-men to doe all evill and mischeife yea and more too then forraigne enemies would or could doe What shall wee say of these men who use themselves thus rebelliously against their gracious Soveraigne who if God for their wickednesse had given them an heathen Tyrant to raigne over them were by Gods word bound to obey him and to pray for him What may bee spoken of them so farre doth their unkindnesse unnaturalnesse wickednesse mischievousnesse in their doings passe and excell any thing and all things that can bee expressed and uttered by words Onely let us wish unto all such most speedy repentance and with so greivous sorrow of heart as such so horrible sinnes against the Majesty of God doe require who in most extreame unthankfulnesse doe rise not onely against their gracious Prince against their naturall Countrey but against all their Country-men Women Children against themselves their Wives Children and Kinsfolkes and by so wicked an example against all Christendome and against whole mankind of all manner of people throughout the wide World such repentance I say such sorrow of heart God grant unto all such whosoever rise of private and malicious purpose as is meet for such mischeifes attempted and wrought by them And unto us and all other subjects God of his mercy grant that wee may bee most unlike to all such and most like to good loving naturall and obedient subjects nay that wee may bee such indeed not onely shewing all obedience our selves but as many of us as bee able to the utmost of our power ability and understanding to stay and represse all Rebels and rebellions against God our gracious Prince and naturall Countrey at every occasion that is offered unto us And that which wee all are able to doe unlesse wee doe it wee shall bee most wicked and most worthy to feele in the end such extreame plagus as God hath ever powred upon Rebels Let us make continuall prayers unto Almighty God even from the bottome of our hearts that hee will give his grace power and strength unto our gracious King Charles to vanquish and subdue all as well Rebels at home as forraigne enemies that all domesticall rebellions being suppressed and pacified and all outward invasions repulsed and abandoned wee may not onely bee sure and long continue in all obedience to our gracious Soveraigne and in that peaceable and quiet life which hitherto wee have led under his Majesty with all security but also that both our gracious King Charles and wee his subjects may all together in all obedience unto God the King of Kings and unto his holy Lawes load our lives so in this World in all vertue and godlinesse that in the World to come wee may enjoy his everlasting Kingdome which I beseech God to grant as well to our gracious Soveraigne as unto us all for his Sonne our Saviour IESUS CHRIST sake to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost one God and King immortall bee all glory prayse and thankes giving World without end Amen The second SERMON AS in the first Sermon of this Treaty of obedience of subjects to their Princes and against disobedience and rebellion I have alleadged divers sentences out of the holy Scriptures for proofe so shall it bee good for the better declaration and confirmation of the said wholesome doctrine to alledge one example or two out of the holy Scriptures of the obedience of subjects not onely unto their good and gracious Governours but also to their evill and unkind Princes As King Saul was not of the best but rather of the worst sort of Princes as being out of Gods favour for his disobedience against God in sparing in a wrong pitty the King Agag whom